Fort Hood was terrorism; Protestors descend on Washington; Senate advances climate change bill

"It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." --Samuel Adams 1) More evidence that Islam is definitely a religion of peace…Troubling portrait emerges of Fort Hood suspect WASHINGTON – His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a medical student because of problems with patients. There are many unknowns about Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base. Most of all, his motive. But details of his life and mindset, emerging from official sources and personal acquaintances from officials, and are troubling. For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in July, the 39-year-old Army major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center pursuing his career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. …At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades. They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case. One of the officials said late Thursday that federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorize the seizure of Hasan's computer. Retired Army Col. Terry Lee, who said he worked with Hasan, told Fox News that Hasan had hoped President Barack Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Lee said Hasan got into frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars, and had tried hard to prevent his pending deployment. …On a form filled out by those seeking spouses through a program at the mosque, Hasan listed his birthplace as Arlington, Va., but his nationality as Palestinian, Khan said. "I don't know why he listed Palestinian," Khan said, "He was not born in Palestine." See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091106/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_fort_hood_shooting_suspect More on this…A cousin, Nader Hasan, told Fox News Malik Hasan has "always been a Muslim" and was not a convert as had been reported. …Retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales told Fox News the massacre did not appear to be the act of a mentally ill or extremely stressed person. "This was a deliberate act of execution," he said. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=115137 1a) Gunman made 'outlandish' comments about foreign policy 'He said, precisely, that maybe the Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor' See: http://www.breitbart.tv/co-worker-ft-hood-gunman-made-outlandish-comments-condemning-us-foreign-policy/ 2) 'Kill the bill' protesters target health care WASHINGTON – Chanting "Kill the bill," thousands of conservatives incensed over the Democrats' health care overhaul protested at the Capitol on Thursday, arguing that the legislation amounts to a government takeover of the nation's medical system. The crowd, invited on national television by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., was staunchly anti-government — "Politicians lie, people die," read one sign — but loudly cheered the House Republicans who hosted the event. The protest attracted many of the so-called Tea Party demonstrators angry with increased spending and an expanded government role under the Obama administration. "This bill is the greatest threat to freedom that I have seen," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio told the crowd. "We're not going to leave this Hill until we kill this bill," declared Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. That's highly unlikely. House Democrats hope to pass the sweeping legislation on Saturday, buoyed by endorsements on Thursday from the American Medical Association and the AARP, the powerful seniors lobby. President Barack Obama makes a final appeal to Democrats during a rare visit to the Capitol Friday. …Capitol Police arrested a dozen anti-abortion protesters in the hall outside Pelosi's office in the Cannon House Office Building. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091106/ap_on_go_co/us_health_overhaul_capitol_rumble 2a) GOP's Boehner: Pelosi plans 'monthly abortion premium' House minority leader says 2,032-page health-care takeover specifies payments U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is warning voters across America that the "government takeover of health care" pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., contains a "monthly abortion premium" for participants of a proposed government insurance company. The issue of abortion funding in the Democratic plan has been contentious, with many moderate Democrats who recognize their constituents oppose mandating taxpayer funding for abortion concerned about the underlying support for the industry in the proposals. Members of the GOP largely have opposed the health-care plan for a multitude of reasons, including abortion funding. Today on his House blog, Boehner said the plan sets up funding for abortion-industry leaders that could include Planned Parenthood. "Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions," Boehner wrote. "Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life – not end it." But, he said, line 17 of page 110 of Pelosi's 2,032-page plan specifically states, "Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed." There, Boehner explained, the Health and Human Services Secretary "is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan." "What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run plan," Boehner continued. "It's right there on line 16, page 96, section 213, under 'Insurance Rating Rules.' The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account – and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=115123 2b) Anti-abortion activists arrested at Pelosi's suite WASHINGTON — U.S. Capitol Police have arrested a dozen anti-abortion activists outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office after a massive protest against the Democrats' health care bill. The charges ranged from unlawful conduct to disorderly conduct and unlawful entry in the incident, which happened around 2:15 p.m. EST Thursday outside a second-floor suite in the Cannon House Office Building, Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said. Pelosi's aides said the suite is hers. The speaker also has offices in the Capitol, which is harder to enter to stage a protest. It was unclear whether the group attended the Tea Party protest that ended around that time. But the speaker's staff said those arrested were objecting to language in the health care overhaul that they said would allow federally subsidized abortions. See: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmYVBGgbSpIRUL_SEY4lCkWK5ZEAD9BPKB2O0 2c) Block the Pelosi Health Care Agenda The pro-life issue is all that is standing between Nancy Pelosi and her radical health care legislation. Now, she is attempting to peel away opponents of health care reform by pressuring them to accept a phony pro-life compromise called the Ellsworth Amendment. All this amendment does is create a middle man to handle the federal funding of abortions. Since she is using trickery to prevent debate on abortion funding, pro-life Representatives are forming a coalition to vote down the Rule to prevent any debate on health care reform whatsoever. Urge your Representative to join this coalition. See: http://www.sba-list.org/c.ddJBKJNsFqG/b.5424609/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?aid=13293&msource=c4alerts 2d) Obama's 'army' crashes colleges for health 'reform' Students recruited to lobby Congress in major push for Obamacare President Obama's "grassroots army" has descended upon college campuses, knocking on dorm doors to recruit students and slam lawmakers with phone calls pushing health-care "reform." Obama for America, Obama's 2008 political campaign, merged with the Democratic National Committee in January and is now known as Organizing for America. The grassroots army that some refer to as "Obama 2.0" is hosting a contest to see which college can call the most state and U.S. representatives by the end of November, the Arizona State University campus newspaper reports. According to the report, Arizona OFA Director Jessica Jones said students may win bragging rights and other prizes if they blast legislators with the most calls in favor of health-care legislation. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=115078 3) The Love Affair is Over: In 2008 Independents Proved They Weren’t Racist by Voting Obama. In 2009, Independents Vote GOP to Prove They Aren’t Socialist. New York’s 23rd Congressional District is, at this writing, too close to call, but it looks like the GOP Establishment’s candidate helped throw the race to the Democrat after the GOP spent $900,000.00 on her. That said, the Democrat’s lead keeps shrinking and there are 10,000 absentee ballots to count. We know for certain that if we combined the Republican and Conservative votes, that team would win. What we do know for sure, from Virginia and New Jersey, is that in elections without the unusual circumstances of NY-23, is that the voters threw out the Democrats big time. …In every state in which Barack Obama campaigned for a candidate, the candidate lost. Too bad he did not make it up to NY-23. See: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/11/03/the-love-affair-is-over-in-2008-independents-proved-they-werent-racist-by-voting-obama-in-2010-independents-vote-gop-to-prove-they-arent-socialist/ 4) Senate Democrats advance climate bill without GOP WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats sidestepped a Republican boycott Thursday, pushing a climate bill out of committee in an early step on a long and contentious road to passage. Other committees still must weigh-in on the measure, but the partisan antics early on threatened to cast a pall over the bill — one of President Barack Obama's top priorities — as it makes its way to the Senate floor and as nations prepare to meet in Copenhagen, Denmark next month to hammer out a new international treaty to slow climate change. Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, had delayed the crucial vote for days because of a Republican protest over whether the cost of the legislation had been fully examined. But the California Democrat moved quickly to pass the bill Thursday, which for the first time would set mandatory limits on heat-trapping gases, without any of the seven GOP senators on the panel present. The measure cleared the panel on a 11-1 vote. …Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the committee, implored the panel to not proceed with what he called a "nuclear option" minutes before the vote. He left shortly after making his statement. "We have not been able to find a time when a bill has been marked up without minority participation," Inhofe said. Later, in a statement, Inhofe said the move would signal "the death knell" for the Kerry-Boxer bill. …Now the legislation will be merged with legislation written by at least five other Senate panels. And in the hopes of broadening support, Kerry announced Wednesday he was working with Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham and the White House to secure votes. The House narrowly passed its version of the bill in June. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_bi_ge/us_climate_bill And: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE5A42WB20091105 5) Israel: Commandos seize huge Iranian arms shipment JERUSALEM – Open crates from a cargo ship seized Wednesday by Israel revealed dark green missiles inside. Containers from the vessel bore writing in English that said "I.R. Iranian Shipping Lines Group." Israel alleged that the shipment of hundreds of tons of rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades and anti-tank weapons — the largest it ever seized — was headed for Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Israel stopped the ship, named the Francop, off the coast of Cyprus and towed it to the port of Ashdod. It carried orange, red, white and blue containers piled three deep on its deck. Rows of crates from the vessel were displayed on the dock, and inside were rockets, hand grenades, mortars and ammunition. At least 3,000 missiles were on board, the Israeli military said. The seizure spotlighted the dangerous tensions between Israel and Iran. Israel considers Iran a strategic threat because of its nuclear program and long-range missile development, dismissing Iranian denials that it is building nuclear weapons. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_arms_boat 5a) Clinton: US wants Israel settlement halt 'forever' CAIRO – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the U.S. stance toward Israeli settlement building to worried Arab allies on Wednesday, saying Washington does not accept the legitimacy of the West Bank enclaves and wants to see their construction halted "forever." Still, she said an Israeli offer to restrain — but not halt — construction represents "positive movement forward" toward resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/clinton 6) Obama appoints anti-Israel senator to head intel team Israelis were given yet another reason to view US President Barack Obama with suspicion last week when he appointed former senator Chuck Hagel as the new head of his Intelligence Advisory Board. Hagel has long rubbed Israel and its supporters the wrong way, and last month he reiterated his antagonistic positions when addressing the liberal Jewish lobby group J-Street. Hagel told his audience that meeting Arab demands for a Palestinian state on ancient Jewish lands is "is central, not peripheral, to U.S. vital security interests in combating terrorism." …Hagel also said that while the US may have a special relationship with Israel, the Middle East's only true democracy, it "must not come at the expense of our Arab relationships." …Hagel strongly criticized former President George W. Bush during his first term for refusing to meet with Yasser Arafat, while at the same time questioning the loyalty of American Jews who pushed for the US to back Israel against its enemies. Later, Hagel refused to join an effort to convince the European Union to declare Hizballah a terrorist organization, and was one of only four senators to not sign a declaration backing Israel at the outset of the second Palestinian intifada, better known as the "Oslo War." See: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=19891 7) Maine voters reject gay-marriage law PORTLAND, Maine – Maine voters repealed a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a heartbreaking defeat in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage. Gay marriage has now lost in every single state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine — known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate — and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_el_st_lo/us_gay_marriage_maine