CAIR-MN: Electrolux Asked to Clarify Ramadan Accommodation

Muslim workers have not agreed to proposed change to meal schedule during month-long fast ST. PAUL, Minn., July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today called on Swedish appliance manufacturer Electrolux to clarify a statement claiming that it will now offer legally-mandated religious accommodation to Muslim employees at its St. Cloud, Minn., plant during the upcoming Ramadan fast. Earlier this week, CAIR-MN requested accommodation because of a new policy that prohibits all food on the production floor, except for food required by those with medical conditions such as diabetes. Since that policy was...

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MPs criticise housing for forces

Living conditions for the armed forces will remain substandard for 20 years unless improvement work is given a higher priority, MPs have said. The Commons public accounts committee said half of the Ministry of Defence's housing for single soldiers was poor, as well as 40% of its family homes. Committee chairman Edward Leigh said the government should "get its priorities straight". But Defence minister Derek Twigg said improvement work was "making progress". 'Tennis courts' The committee noted that the MoD had cut £15m from its estates management budget in 2006/07 after "unforeseen rises in the cost of fuel and other...

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Talking to al Qaeda? Don't rule it out, some say (MEGAHURL!)

LONDON (Reuters) - Six years after the September 11 attacks, a few cautious voices are beginning to suggest the unthinkable -- maybe it is time to consider talking to al Qaeda. The idea will revolt some people and raises obvious questions -- through what channels could such a dialogue take place and what would there be to negotiate? But proponents say al Qaeda has established itself as a de facto power, whether the West likes it or not, and history shows militant movements are best neutralized by negotiation, not war. "No insurgency or terrorism has been defeated by warfare or...

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Military Expert Questions West Point's Reward of Pro-Homosexual Dissent

(AgapePress) - A conservative military watchdog says she intends to question West Point Military Academy officials about why a former cadet was given an award for a thesis objecting to the U.S. military's ban on homosexuals serving in the armed forces. Second Lieutenant Alexander Raggio describes himself as the straightest guy imaginable; but in his senior thesis at West Point Academy, he argued that the military's policy banning homosexuals from service is not only wrong but harmful to America's armed services. For his controversial paper, the then-senior cadet received an award from the Academy's English Department. This incident has led...

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Political Factions: A Modest Proposal for Dealing with Islam (Madison,"Mischief of Factions!")

Terror Sanitized After the terror attacks in London, a few TV commentators said they would go after those in the media who want to sanitize terrorism. Such bravado may be admirable, but it is a bravado that does not recognize how terrorism has already been sanitized. The leaders of Western democracies have sanitized terrorism because they cannot publicly admit they are helpless to prevent more attacks. Most analysts who study the so-called war on terror could have told you a year ago that there would be a terrorist attack targeting the London subway. Likewise, there are those who will tell...

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Bush demands Israel's blood

<p>Speaking in London on Wednesday, President Bush said, "Israel should freeze settlement construction, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, and not prejudice final negotiations with the placement of walls and fences."</p><p>Happy Thanksgiving! It's time to carve up the turkey. It is, however, customary to kill the bird and drain its lifeblood before serving it. I find it strangely coincidental that every time Tony Blair is in trouble over the Iraq war, Bush runs to the rescue by donating Israel's lifeblood!</p>

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