Why Muslims regard images of Mohammed as blasphemousAlthough the Koran does not specifically forbid physical depictions of the Prophet Mohammed, many Muslims follow a tradition which regards such images as blasphemous. By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter
Published:  02 May 2010 The Koran contains a general reference to the worshipping of idols being a “manifest error”, without referring to pictures of Mohammed, but ancient oral traditions, called Hadith, quote Allah as saying it is “unjust” to “try to create the likeness of My creation”. Another Hadith says that “all the painters who make pictures would be in the fire of Hell”. Islamic scholars are divided over whether it is ever permissible to depict the Prophet, though the biggest controversies in recent years have followed depictions which are mocking or disrespectful. In 2005 a Danish newspaper caused worldwide controversy by publishing a set of cartoons depicting Mohammed, including one in which he wore a turban shaped like a bomb. Angry protests were staged outside Danish embassies in London and elsewhere, and in 2008 police in Denmark arrested three men on suspicion of plotting to murder one of the cartoonists, Kurt Westergaard. The cartoon show South Park, which has a history of satirising religious figures including Jesus, featured Mohammed in an episode in 2001, without provoking a major backlash. In 2006 its creators intended to feature Mohammed in another episode, inspired by the Danish cartoon controversy, but were banned from doing so by the Comedy Central network. The cartoonists did feature Mohammed, dressed in a bear suit, in an episode broadcast on April 14 this year, but references to him in subsequent broadcasts were heavily censored after warnings of reprisals.    

  Boston firepower lacking, FBI says Calls city vulnerable to a terrorist attack; Urges arming police with assault rifles By Jonathan Saltzman and Maria Cramer Globe Staff / August 19, 2009


Boston is making itself vulnerable to a terrorist attack like the rampage in Mumbai last year by not adequately arming its police with the semiautomatic assault rifles widely available to officers in many of the nation’s other major cities, the top FBI agent in Boston said yesterday.
Not only could the police force not easily defend against an attack by well-armed terrorists, but the absence of weapons could actually make the city a target, said Warren T. Bamford, the special agent in charge of the local FBI field office.He said a recently shelved plan to arm as many as 200 neighborhood officers with the weapons “should be revisited sooner rather than later.’’“There’s no imminent threat,’’ Bamford told the Globe.But, “all things being equal, if a terrorist decides, ‘OK, we’re going to do something like what took place in Mumbai,’ well, where would you go?’’ Bamford said. “If you have a choice of a metropolitan city, would I go to New York, with 40,000 police officers, would I go to Los Angeles, with 8,000, or would I go to Boston, with 3,500? . . . And I know there’s no assault rifles in the Boston Police Department?’’Bamford said he had discussed the issue of assault rifles with Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis, whose original plan met resistance from Mayor Thomas M. Menino and community leaders. But Bamford said he had not been pressured to publicly defend the program.The Globe first reported in May on the initiative to arm 200 officers with M16 rifles provided free by the US military, based on accounts from law enforcement officials who had been briefed about it and spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not have permission to discuss it publicly.Davis said yesterday that his original plan was considerably less ambitious than was reported and only entailed arming 12 to 24 specially trained officers at any one time.He has since scaled back even that plan, he said, and about two weeks ago deployed a limited number of “gun cars,’’ specially equipped sport utility vehicles supplied with high-power assault rifles, to patrol the city 24 hours a day. He declined to say how many such vehicles were deployed, but said that previously such cars were on the streets only 16 hours a day.“The mayor has made it clear, and I agree, that this is not a weapon that an average patrol officer should have in his car or slung over his shoulder,’’ Davis said.Menino could not be reached for comment. His spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, said Menino feels that the weapons should be made available to only a limited number of officers within specialized units, not patrol officers. Community leaders seemed even cooler to the idea yesterday despite Bamford’s warning, saying such weapons could unnecessarily frighten…

   Glenn Beck (Helayne Seidman - Helayne Seidman Ftwp) Fox News host Glenn Beck's national domination
By Dana Milbank
Sunday, January 3, 2010;
It's official: Americans admire Glenn Beck more than they admire the pope. This news, at once unsettling and unsurprising, came from the Gallup polling organization on Wednesday. Beck, the new Fox News host who has said President Obama has a "deep-seated hatred for white people" and alternately likens administration officials to Nazis and Marxists, was also more admired by Americans than Billy Graham and Bill Gates, not to mention Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush. In Americans' esteem, Beck only narrowly trailed South Africa's Nelson Mandela, the man who defeated apartheid. The 45-year-old recovering alcoholic and Mormon convert has become the first true demagogue of the information age. His nightly diet of falsehoods and conspiracies on Fox, and his daily outrages on the radio, have propelled his popularity past even Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. His method is simple: He goes places where others are forbidden by conscience. Death panels? Government health insurance for dogs? FEMA concentration camps? An Obama "civilian national security force" like Hitler's SS or Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard? An administration official advocating forced abortions and sterilization agents in drinking water? Beck trafficked in them all in 2009. He also proposed on his radio show that people should read Hitler's "Mein Kampf" to prepare for Obama's health-care plan -- and that's in addition to the 28 times the Fuhrer made an appearance on Beck's Fox show in 2009. The Anti-Defamation League identified the secret to Beck's success when it noted that he, unlike other prominent right-wing talkers, was willing "to give a platform to the conspiracy theorists and anti-government extremists." His critics during his ascent over the year have compared the pudgy Fox News host to Father Coughlin, George Wallace and Joe McCarthy. Time magazine put Beck on its cover and asked: "Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?" A better question might be: "Is Glenn Beck America?" All ages have their charlatans. The fact that Beck's stew of venom and fabrication has been such a triumph probably says less about Beck than about us. He has merely captured the moment. There's scant evidence that Beck holds his zany views with any conviction -- even if he often breaks into tears on the air to demonstrate his passion. At the very least, he has come to his views recently, after years as a morning-zoo radio DJ with libertarian leanings. The Atlantic's James Warren reported that the comedian Stephen Colbert recently spoke about the difficulty of lampooning Beck, reasoning that "if somebody doesn't believe what they're saying, it's very hard to out-stupid them." But if Beck isn't a true believer, he's a brilliant entertainer, and he has calculated, correctly, that a large number of Americans would turn on cable news for more of the insults and conspiracies they get online. In terms of the…

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  In Blagojevich Corruption Trial, a Political WindowBy MONICA DAVEY Illinois Democrats are worried about what might emerge during the trial of Rod R. Blagojevich, which begins Thursday and could last until Election Day. Read Article