Another Solar Company with $1.2 Billion Taxpayer Loan in Trouble?

(Weekly Standard) Will it turn out worse than Solyndra?: As failed solar panel manufacturer Solyndra rides through the investigative ringer in Congress, revelations of another politically-connected company that received what appears to be a less-than-virtuous $1.2 billion loan guarantee are surfacing. The company, SunPower, received its $1.2 billion loan guarantee in September, immediately before the program’s deadline. SunPower isn’t as financially sound as the public was led to believe when it secured a loan guarantee twice the size of Solyndra’s $535 million loan. Just this week — less than a month after taxpayers landed on the hook for SunPower’s $1.2 billion loan guarantee — company executives announced that they expect to lower their 2011 earnings projections. The company also carries $820 million in debt, which is $20 million more than its market capitalization. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations chairman Rep. Cliff Stearns is already looking into the company.

Hamas official: Schalit won't be last solider we kidnap

10/12/2011 (h/t Doc)/(JPOST.COM STAFF AND KHALED ABU TOAMEH)
Group spokesman says releasing those left in Israeli prisons after exchange is "top priority"; Mashaal reportedly arrives in Cairo to finalize deal. Hamas on Wednesday warned that Gilad Schalit will not be the last soldier that they will kidnap. Abu Obaida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Izzadin Kassam said that Schalit, who is set to be released as part of a prisoner exchange deal, "will not be the last solider kidnapped by Hamas as long as Israel keeps Palestinian prisoners detained."
The senior official added that his forces were committed to all the prisoners that remain in Israeli prisons after the prisoner swap deal, and their release will be the organization's top priority.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, accompanied by a delegation, arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to finalize the prisoner exchange deal, DPA reported.
Tuesday night called the deal to exchange Schalit for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners a “great achievement.” “We are happy with this great achievement and we thank our God for that. But our happiness is mixed with sorrow because we were not able to gain the freedom of all prisoners,” Meshaal said from Damascus, speaking in a televised speech.
Hamas presented the prisoner exchange agreement as a “historic victory,” saying Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors.
Abu Obaida said the agreement includes prisoners from east Jerusalem, Israeli Arabs and all the women and minors among the security prisoners.
He also pointed out that two-thirds of the prisoners who would be released in return for Gilad Schalit are serving lengthy terms in prison.
“This is an historic deal,” Abu Obaida boasted. “Hamas will remain faithful to the cause of the prisoners and will continue to work toward securing the release of all of them.”
Comment: Israeli policy for kidnapped soldiers must change. Compassion is one thing, putting citizens at risk in the future is quite another thing. The research is clear-50% of released terrorists returned to practice of terror-do the math on this prisoner exchange. We can count on minimally 500 of these terror experts to again kill,murder and maim our citizens-how many of our citizens will now die? It is also useful to understand how this release is perceived in the Arab culture that surrounds us. I have been watching video after video clip of the celebrations by these people starting last night and continuing to this day. Guns, masks, shouts and screams of joy, signs demeaning Israel and additional mean spirited and rascist words in play. This is a major victory for them, this motivates and helps recruitment into terror teams, this not only condones it strongly reinforces this horrific behavior. The western world had best get off its "buts" and recognize who the enemy truly is and then dramaitcally shift its policies and security strategies.

...and yet Shalit was not only symbolic... there would of been no Egypt to negotiate with shortly. It is important for Israel to accurately account for what happens to these 1000 released people. It is also important to note that there might be so many killers out there that 1000 people will not make a difference. Also it should be noted that if these 1000 go rouge on Israel again that guns should be at shoot to kill. This is survival time now. The international community has no respect for Jewish hostages. They didn't care during the Holocaust and they didn't care about Gilad Shalit. The Israeli prisons were scrutinized, but the Red Cross didn't make one visit to Gilad during his captivity. Let the Palestinians celebrate. They have made the Jews desperate to survive... and maybe that is exactly what Israel needs. The Malaise is over.

Why does your media ignore these stories?

Another Florida Imam Arrested by the FBI, Media Ignores (h/t:Docs Talk/Creeping Sharia)
On August 23, 2011 the FBI arrested Imam Abu Taubah aka Marcus Dwayne Robertson. The charge was possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, Case Number: 6:11-mj-1380 Attached to Imam Abu Robertson’s case is a Notice of Intent To Use Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Information (FISA).
The U.S. Government’s intention to use its FISA powers signals probable cause to charge Imam “Taubah” Robertson “the target of such search is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power”.
The facts presented in these filed charges leads this reporter to suspect an element of foreign intrigue may be a key component in the prosecution of this case. Imam Robertson’s Mosque is located at 6630 Pershing Road in Orlando, FL. The Mosque’s website Masjid al-Ishaan is down for maintenance and hopefully out of business, if these charges prove the Imam’s guilt. Thank you to The Internet Haganah for breaking this story, and shame on The Orlando Sentinel’s refusal to publish a story on the arrest. This reporter sent all the court case documents to Sentinel reporter Jeff Kurneth, a letter to the editor accompanied the documents.
On September 2nd the Orlando Sentinel did run a front page story on Imam Muhammad Musri who was charging his fellow Muslims $5 to park for Friday Jumma prayers calling it the infamous “Pay to Pray” scandal. As important as “pay to pray” may be to some, it does not take a Sentinel Editor to realize that when the FBI arrests an Orlando Muslim Imam it is big news, especially to the residents who live and work near the Mosque in question.
In another Orlando Imam related story, the Orlando Sentinel neglected to print an alarming incident with Imam Musri back in 2010. A team of eight investigative reporters caught on film Orlando Imam Muhammad Musri hosting a fundraiser featuring the infamous George Galloway, who raised over $50,000 from local Orlando Muslims for Hamas – video link. After the video was released George Galloway’s visa to enter the United States was revoked by United States Government. Imam Musri remains on the Governor of Florida’s Faith Based Advisory Council and is considered the “go to” person in Orlando for all things Islamic.
A poster at Internet Haganah states correctly that,
“In Brooklyn, NY during the early 90s, Abu Taubah and a group of young Muslims executed a number of postal office and bank robberies under the direction of Abu Taubah, who used his military expertise to plan the armed robberies. When the young men and a sister were apprehended by authorities, Abu Taubah turned to a federal witness testifying against the very Muslims he trained to commit crimes.”
Imam Taubah Robertson was a snitch who sold out his Muslim friends to successfully receive a lighter sentence for himself. Imam “Snitch” Robertson is out of jail while his Muslim partners in crime are serving 50+ year sentences according to court records. The Qur’an demands harsh punishments against those Muslims who turn on their fellow Muslims.
Read it all.
A bio from Robertson/Taubah’s website states he is a former United States Marine and the first mosque he attended was that of unindicted co-conspirator to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Siraj Wahhaj.
Also read this post at The Ummah.com for the comment thread as Muslims defend Taubah and infight.
Comment: We are entering a critical stage in the evolution of the world and specifically the democracy in the USA. From the beginning the media had a major responsibility in our developing Democracy and it has abandoned its necessary role at this point in time. The tragedy is that the public is not receiving the information that is required of a responsible citizen in a democracy in order to make correct judgments. The cost to a republic is enormous. This is but one of an ever increasing nimber of such stories that is going unreported.

Orlando Sentinel? Covering up Islam? Nah!

Shalit Agreement Shows Moral Failure of International Human Rights Frameworks

(NGO Monitor) JERUSALEM – While welcoming the agreement to release kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as an important humanitarian act, Professor Gerald M. Steinberg, president of human rights watchdog NGO Monitor, noted that this episode further exposes the moral bankruptcy of international human rights mechanisms.
“Throughout the five years of Shalit’s captivity in Gaza, during which every human rights obligation was blatantly violated, organizations such as the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), Gisha, and the International Red Cross demonstrated very little interest,” Steinberg stated. “Similarly, the report of the UN Fact-Finding Commission on the Gaza War, headed by Judge Richard Goldstone, downplayed Shalit’s captivity in blatant violation of international law. This moral stain will never be erased.”
In addition, NGO Monitor noted that the agreement to release hundreds of terrorists, responsible for heinous crimes, and tried and convicted according to due process of law, highlights the continued erosion of international legal principles. Instead of serving their time for these convictions, the murderers have been freed under extreme duress and compulsion, adding to the incentives for similar actions in the future. Organizations dedicated to human rights have an obligation to condemn such immoral extortion.

Gilad Shalit. It was worth it! 1000 terrorists that Israelis humanely have to pay for versus one hostage that the NGO community was ignoring and was abused is completely worth it. further it allows the Israelis to now shoot those they had to care for before. There is no loss here. Had Bibi waited a month there would of been no Egypt as we know it to negotiate with. It is a hard pill to swallow, but think of the outrageous torture Gilad would of endured that Amnesty International and the Red Cross would of ignored. it's another example of how comparing the numbers is irrelevant. If we were to compare numbers there would be no Israel at all. We can only compare numbers when we make the assumption that the enemy captives are treated like Israeli captives. This would be a prime example of denying the correlative.

A deal with the devil

Israel has now gone back on its previous opposition to such a deal, apparently because it fears that with Egypt about to turn hostile any chance of freeing Shalit would disappear out of the window. The Jerusalem Post reports:

‘The framework for this deal has been on the table for years, but was rejected as Israel demanded that the terrorists with blood on their hands be deported to Gaza or abroad, and Hamas demanded that all the names they submitted be on the list. In the final analysis, both sides showed flexibility, with Israel agreeing to let hundreds, but not all, of the released terrorist remain in the West Bank, and Hamas dropped some of the names on its list.’

via melaniephillips.com

That doesn't sound like Israel is optimistic about it's future with Egypt. While I'm sure the Arabs will rejoice, but a desperate Israel would no longer care about world opinion... and would do what it should of all along

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired guns in the air and blared their car horns to celebrate the deal.

(REUTERS AND JPOST.COM STAFF via Docs Talk) Revelers in West Bank, Gaza cities fire shots in the air, honk horns to celebrate pending release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinians took to the streets in Palestinian cities from Ramallah to Jabalya in northern Gaza to celebrate news of a prisoner swap in exchange for captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.
The agreement, approved at an emergency cabinet session Tuesday night, included the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Family members of prisoners fired shots in the air in West Bank cities, celebrating in the streets of Hebron, Nablus, and Ramallah.

Doc seems to think the deal might go sour.

Stealth Jihad Invades Columbia University (Again)

JanSuzanne Krasner (Docs Talk/American Thinker) Columbia University students, along with others on the campus, will be able to get a good look at "stealth jihad" in action as the "Students for Justice in Palestine" (SJP) hold a three-day training program next weekend on campus.

The attraction being used to seduce the students to this event is a rapper named "Immortal Technique," who, according to claims made by the National Conference on Jewish Affairs (NCJA), is an entertainer "who extols and incites violence and criminality, spews brutal anti-American vitriol, and is a condemner of Israel ... and a fan of the Nation of Islam, among other repellent views." The event is to take place on October 14-16. Organizers hope to raise $30,000 in preparation for the upcoming 2012 national campus event called "Israel Apartheid Week" that has been held the past seven years in February or March. When one enters their website, the most prominent message that appears alongside the face of Hatem Bazian, Professor at UC Berkeley and Chair of American Muslims for Palestine National (AMPN), is "America's college students are at the cutting edge of the global free Palestine movement in the US and across the globe and they are making a difference."
Scrolling the site, one finds quotes from individuals and organizations that proudly attest to the success of the SPJ. The list includes several professors from highly acclaimed universities, lecturers, authors and journalists, founders and organizers of anti-Israeli movements like BDS, and a human rights attorney. Most striking is the endorsement by the Free Gaza Movement that reads: "Organizations such as the student movement, SJP, are an integral part of the non-violent revolution now sweeping the world."
Folks, it couldn't be any clearer as to what is happening on our college campuses.
Under the guise of Israel-bashing, it is really our country that has become the target of attacks at universities across the U.S., but most students don't realize that. The creation of the SJP organization at UC Berkeley in the early '90s has now grown to a national movement where anti-Israeli supporters argue that "Israeli Apartheid" is analogous to the anti-Apartheid student mobilizations some decades ago directed at South Africa.
Their claim can't be farther from the truth, but that is another subject. However, it must be said that the delegitimization of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state (where Arabs are also permitted to be citizens) must be contrasted against the SJP's demand for a state for Palestinians (where 45% of its Palestinian residents will be denied citizenship), where no Jews can live. It seems like SJP should be looking in a mirror to see what apartheid really looks like.
In an effort to stop Columbia from allowing this event, the NCJA is asking in its recently released "Action Alert" why "President Bollinger and the Board are turning Columbia, a university once known for its rigor and academic excellence, into one that instead is gaining the reputation of sell-out to ugly hatred and flaccid standards." Furthermore, the NCJA believes that the SJP event "violates Columbia University's own code of 'Civil Behavior and Community Standards' as written[.]"
It is expected that in and out of the classroom, on and off campus, each student in the School of General Studies will act in an honest way and will respect the rights of others. Freedom of expression is an essential part of University life, but it does not include intimidation, threats of violence, or the inducement of others to engage in violence or in conduct which harasses others. Conduct which threatens or harasses others because of their race, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or for any other reason is unacceptable and will be dealt with very severely. For all to benefit from the diversity to be found at Columbia, all must live up to these standards.
The NCJA is taking a lead to express the frustration felt by many about the excuses Columbia University's representatives have used in the past to explain the school's political activities:
Of course we will not be surprised to hear from President Bollinger and the Board that this is just a "student group" and the university is "not involved" and that this is "the free expression of ideas," intellectual freedom" or even "art." But we can no longer accept these excuses for what appears to be pure hatred and efforts to intimidate pro-Israel Jewish students and others who do not agree with SPJ's views. We need to know if Columbia University is providing any financial or other support to SJP and this event, including providing the building in which Immortal Technique is performing.
American parents and alumni (not to mention all who believe in our democratic republic), it is time to recognize how Islamism is encroaching on our society with its patient, systematic plan to infiltrate from within and slowly end democracy as we know it. The Muslim Brotherhood actively supports and finances student organizations like SJP and the Muslim Student Association (MSA). Islamists have found that invading Western culture through its educational institutions is an extremely effective strategy to spread the word of Allah.
The Muslim Brotherhood's three-stage blueprint for covert jihad, written in the early 1920s, still has the power to inspire many Muslims to continue their required participation in a "non-violent jihad." The first stage of this plan calls for the spread of the Islamic message through propaganda, media, confrontation, and character assassination of opponents, and the training of messengers of Islam in the form of professors and lecturers to reach schools, mosques, and public facilities. Keeping this in mind helps to put a clear perspective on this "training event' at Columbia University, as well as appreciating the true mission of Islamists.
The NCJA also questions Hillel, the organization for Jewish campus life, as to why "they are failing to stand up against hatred and the incitement of violence against Israel and Israel supporters." Considering the lack of interest or courage in the Columbia University's community towards this event, the NCJA is reaching out for public support.
First, they are asking for individuals to contact the Office of the President Lee Bollinger in NYC by calling (212) 854-9970, by sending a fax to (212) 854-9973, or by sending an e-mail to officeofthepresident@columbia.edu. You can also call the university's chapter of Hillel at (202) 449-6500 and voice your anger that they are not protecting Columbia's Jewish and non-Muslim students. If people make their disapproval known, they will have the power to change the situation.
In recognition that both the SJP and the SMA are making formidable strides to further an Islamic radical agenda on our American youth, the NCJA is also forming an "Education and Campus Life Task Force" to address these concerns on campuses around the country.
Readers, now is the time to take action to prevent the "stealth jihad" disguised as "freedom-fighting" from continuing to reach our children through the hate-filled rhetoric promoted by these Muslim student associations and the professors and lecturers that carry their message of hate.

Sbarro Female Terrorist Among Those Freed for Shalit

27 female prisoners included in the Gilad Shalit deal, including the woman who drove the suicide bomber to the Sbarro restaurant in 2001.
By Elad Benari
First Publish: 10/12/2011

Among the terrorists who are to be released as part of the deal to free Gilad Shalit are 27 female terrorists.
One of them is Ahlam Tamimi, the first woman to join Hamas and the person who drove the suicide bomber who carried out the attack at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem in August of 2001.
16 people were killed in that attack, including five members of the Schijveschuurder family from the community of Neria in Binyamin.
Tamimi has previously declared, “Despite the fact that I’m sentenced to 16 life sentences I know that we will become free from Israeli occupation and then I will also be free from prison.” Also included in the deal to release Shalit is Amna Muna, who in January of 2001 lured 16-year-old Ophir Rachum to Ramallah, where he was shot to death by terrorists.
Rachum met Muna, then 24 years old, on the internet. After gaining his confidence, Muna persuaded Rachum to come to Jerusalem to meet her.
When Rachum arrived at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station, Muna drove him to the outskirts of Ramallah, where they were greeted by her two partners, both terrorists belonging to the Fatah organization. The two tried to get Rachum out of the car and when he refused, one of them shot him to death.
After the murder, Palestinian Authority Arabs took Rachum’s body to Ramallah, where they buried it.
In total, Israel will release 280 terrorists with blood on their hands in exchange for Shalit. These do not include arch-terrorists such as Marwan Barghouti; Abdullah Barghouti, serving 67 life sentences; Hassan Salameh, serving 38 life sentences; and Jamal Abu Al-Hijja, serving nine life sentences, all of whom are imprisoned for planning suicide bombings. Also reportedly not included in the deal is the killer of Israeli minister Rechavam Ze'evi, Ahmed Saadat.
On Tuesday night, the Israeli cabinet voted to approve the deal. 26 ministers supported the deal with only three – Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau, and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon – voting against the deal.

via docstalk.blogspot.com