Editor’s note: This is another in a series of “WND/WENZEL POLLS” conducted exclusively for WND by the public-opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.

The faux stone columns from his Denver acceptance speech are crumbling, the fireworks have fizzled and the unadulterated adulation of Barack Obama is a sour feeling of disillusion, as a new poll reveals half of Americans wants him impeached, including a stunning one in four Democrats.

“It may be early in the process for members of Congress to start planning for impeachment of Barack Obama, but the American public is building a serious appetite for it,” said Fritz Wenzel, of Wenzel Strategies, which did the telephone poll Thursday. It has a margin of error of 4.36 percent.

“Half or nearly half of those surveyed said they believed Obama should be impeached for the trifecta of scandals now consuming Washington.”

Actually, on the issue of the Benghazi scandal, where four Americans were killed when in what may have been a politically motivated series of moves, a surging danger to Americans at the foreign service facility there was ignored until al-Qaida-linked terrorists attacked, 50.1 percent of Americans said Obama should be impeached. That included 27.6 percent of the responding Democrats.

On the scandal of the Internal Revenue Service intentionally harassing conservative and Christian organizations? Forty-nine percent said they agree that impeachment is appropriate, including 24.4 percent of the Democrats.

And on the fishing trip the Obama administration took into AP reporters’ telephone records in search of something that may well have been done by his own administration, 48.6 percent impeachment is appropriate. That included 26.1 percent of the Democrats.

Sign the petition urging Congress to impeach Obama.

It was only two months ago that respondents to the same poll suggested, although in smaller numbers, that impeachment was appropriate for other Obama scandals. At that time 44 percent said he should be impeached for his campaign to give amnesty to illegal aliens inside the U.S., and 46 percent said he should be impeached for launching the war to remove Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

“What is clear from the data is that Obama is at risk of losing his base,” Wenzel explained. “On each of these questions, about one in four Democrats said they agreed Obama should be impeached. What could be more alarming to the White House is that it appears that most of American is tuned in to these issues now, as 93 percent of registered voters said they get at least one news update on these issues every day.”

He continued, “Of the three issues now in the news, the one that has been there the longest, and the only one that has to do with the death of American citizens, is seen as the most important to Americans. While 49 percent said the Benghazi murders of U.S. diplomatic personnel is the most serious issue, 26 percent said IRS harassment was most serious, and 25 percent said the seizure of AP phone records was most serious. With news still breaking on all three fronts, it is impossible to know which of the three scandals will ultimately be the most damaging to the Obama administration. These findings clearly show Americans are concerned about what is going on in Washington.”

It spells headwinds for Obama, too, as he lobbies American voters to grant him his wish of having a Democrat Congress during the last two years of his reign, Wenzel said.

“What could be most concerning to the White House is that the Democratic Party effort to retake the U.S. House of Representatives next year may be at risk because of these issues. Asked whether they would lean to vote for the Democrat or the Republican in their own congressional district based on what they know about these three situations, 46 percent said they would lean toward voting for the Republican, while 39 percent said they would lean toward voting for the Democrat. Another 16 percent said these issues make no difference in their congressional vote,” Wenzel said.

He said, “The appetite is growing for impeachment proceedings. It is too early to say it is time for those proceedings to start, but it’s now possible to see that day on the far horizon.”

Of those who did not vote in 2012, based on their knowledge of Obama’s administration now, 37 percent say they would have gone back to vote for Republican Mitt Romney, 27 percent for Obama, and others undecided.

That the situation is serious for Obama was confirmed by former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan.

“We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. No one likes what they’re seeing. The Justice Department assault on the Associated Press and the ugly politicization of the Internal Revenue Service have left the administration’s credibility deeply, probably irretrievably damaged. They don’t look jerky now, they look dirty. The patina of high-mindedness the president enjoyed is gone,” she said.

“The president, as usual, acts as if all of this is totally unconnected to him. He’s shocked, it’s unacceptable, he’ll get to the bottom of it. He read about it in the papers, just like you. But he is not unconnected, he is not a bystander. This is his administration. Those are his executive agencies. He runs the IRS and the Justice Department,” she continued. “A president sets a mood, a tone. He establishes an atmosphere. If he is arrogant, arrogance spreads. If he is too partisan, too disrespecting of political adversaries, that spreads too. Presidents always undo themselves and then blame it on the third guy in the last row in the sleepy agency across town.”

It’s even being compared to Watergate, that breakin episode that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon.

That was confirmed by no less than Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, whose reporting on Watergate eventually snared the sitting president.

Woodward said recently, “If you read through all these emails, you see that everyone in the government is saying, ‘Oh, let’s not tell the public that terrorists were involved, people connected to al Qaeda. Let’s not tell the public that there were warnings.’ And I have to go back 40 years to Watergate when Nixon put out his edited transcripts to the conversations, and he personally went through them and said, ‘Oh, let’s not tell this, let’s not show this.’ I would not dismiss Benghazi. It’s a very serious issue.”

A Republican congressman recently brought up the subject.

“I would say yes. I’m not willing to take it [impeachment] off to take it off the table, but that’s certainly not what we’re striving for,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told CNN.

“We want truth, we want to bring the people who perpetrated the terrorism in Benghazi to be brought to justice, and we want to have the president do what he has said he would always do. And that is be open and transparent. Thus far, the White House has not done that.”

Earlier, Chaffetz was interviewed by the Salt Lake Tribune, and was asked if impeachment were within the realm of possibilities.

“It’s certainly a possibility,” he told the paper. “That’s not the goal but given the continued lies perpetrated by this administration, I don’t know where it’s going to go. … I’m not taking it off the table. I’m not out there touting that but I think this gets to the highest levels of our government and integrity and honesty are paramount.”

Chaffetz has been championing the call to probe the Sept. 11, 2012, onslaught at Benghazi that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Other Republicans have also voiced impeachment as a potential final outcome.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said last week impeachment was possible over the “most egregious cover-up in American history.

“People may be starting to use the I-word before too long,” Inhofe told radio host Rusty Humphries, according to the Hill.

“The I-word meaning impeachment?” Humphries asked.

“Yeah,” Inhofe responded.

Additionally, radio host Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and one-time presidential candidate, predicted Obama won’t serve out his full second term because of his complicity in a cover-up with Benghazi.

Other members of Congress who have uttered possible impeachment for a variety of reasons in recent years include Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.; Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas; Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla.; and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

Others who have raised the subject?

Rock legend and gun-rights defender Ted Nugent said there’s “no question” Obama should be impeached, and he’s calling CNN anchor Piers Morgan an “effective idiot” in the battle over the Second Amendment.

Referring to Obama, Nugent says: “There’s no question that this guy’s violations qualify for impeachment. There’s no question.”

He blasted “the criminality of this government, the unprecedented abuse of power, corruption, fraud and deceit by the Chicago gangster-scammer-ACORN-in-chief.”

“It’s so diabolical,” he said.

Nugent made his comments in a recent interview with radio host Alex Jones.

Even Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin called for the impeachment of Obama over his policy of permitting drone strikes on American citizens overseas who are members of terrorist organizations.

On WABC Radio’s “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” Benjamin affirmed she believes the drone warfare is an impeachable offense.

You asked for it! Sign the petition urging Congress to impeach President Barack Obama.

See Denis Kucinich advocate for impeachment over Libya:

See Texas congressman lobby for impeachment over gun control:

See Andrew Napolitano talk about impeachment over the budget:

WND also compiled a special report on the various offenses Obama is blamed for committing and reported what experts on the Constitution believe should be happening.

See detailed results of survey questions:

Overall, how would you rate the job performance of President Barack Obama – would you say he is doing an excellent job, a good job, only a fair job, or a poor job?

The administration of Democrat Barack Obama has still not satisfied congressional and media questions about just what it knew and when it knew it about the terrorist attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya, last September 11. That attack killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. The Obama administration has changed its explanation of that attack several times since and has so far refused to identify those officials who made key decisions not to send help to stop the attacks, and who decided not to initially call the killings a terrorist attack. Knowing that and anything else you may be aware of about this issue, do you agree or disagree that President Obama should be impeached over his handling of this situation?

It has been learned that the Internal Revenue Service, under the administration of Democrat Barack Obama, has purposely targeted conservative and Christian groups for harassment over their tax exempt status while giving liberal nonprofit groups little or no scrutiny. Further, the IRS apparently leaked private tax information from these conservative groups to opposing liberal groups who were able to use that confidential information for political advantage. Knowing this and anything else you may be aware of about this issue, do you agree or disagree that President Obama should be impeached over his handling of this situation?

It has been learned that the U.S. Department of Justice under the administration of Democrat Barack Obama secretly obtained confidential telephone records of many reporters of the Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Attorney General Eric Holder has said his department obtained the phone records without the permission or knowledge of the Associated Press in order to find who in the federal government was leaking information about terrorist plots against America. AP officials have strongly protested this invasion of their privacy but the administration stands by its actions. Knowing this and anything else you may be aware of about this issue, do you agree or disagree that President Obama should be impeached over his handling of this situation?

How much would you say you are paying attention to news coverage of these issues in recent days and weeks?

Thinking of the issue regarding the murders of American diplomats in Benghazi, the IRS’s harassment of the president’s political opponents, or the government’s secret snatching of private telephone records without permission, IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE, which of the three issues do you think is the most serious?

Please tell me if you agree or disagree with this statement: None of these three issues involving Barack Obama is enough to trigger impeachment proceedings against him, but the totality of the mishandling or wrongdoing involving all three issues together IS enough to justify impeaching Obama?

Considering the totality of these three issues and their impact on our nation, and knowing that Obama is the head of the Democratic Party, are you more likely to vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress or the U.S. Senate in your area so Obama might have more political support in Congress – OR – are you more likely to vote for the Republican candidate to counter Obama in the final years of his term?

Thinking about everything you know and have heard about these three issues, if you could go back and change your vote for president because of what you have learned about them, would these current situations cause you to change your vote?

Thinking about everything you know and have heard about these three issues, if you could go back and vote for president because of what you have learned about them, would these current situations cause you to vote for Republican Mitt Romney, Democrat Barack Obama, or would you still not have voted? (Includes only those who did not vote in the November 2012 election.)

Israel turned 65 last week. It has been a long and difficult journey, with many more bumps to come. But then, winning the war for Israel’s acceptance, like nation-building itself, is not the work of a couple of generations.

Congress members call on Abbas to oust Fatah official who said murderer of Jewish man in W. Bank in April was a heroic fighter.

One can only begin to imagine the moment; huddled beneath a tarp, severely wounded from a shootout with police, his brother and accomplice dead potentially by his own hand, hiding from one of the largest manhunts in American history, and all but certain

(IBTIMES) — Warrants? We don’t need no stinking warrants.

According to new documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union, government officials may not always obtain warrants when they snoop through our emails, Facebook messages, and other electronic communications — and the FBI apparently doesn’t even believe it’s legally required to do so.

The documents, which were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and posted on the ACLU website, suggest that the U.S. Department of Justice is flouting a 2010 federal appeals court ruling that declared warrantless access to email a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

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Anti-Semitism, as exrpessed through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, has been the latest symptom of the degeneracy of the Western intelligentsia.

The U.S. says that Israel’s approval of new homes in Beit El is “counterproductive to the cause of peace.”

(CNN) When Peter Sprigg speaks publicly about his opposition to homosexuality, something odd often happens.

During his speeches, people raise their hands to challenge his assertions that the Bible condemns homosexuality, but no Christians speak out to defend him.

“But after it is over, they will come over to talk to me and whisper in my ear, ‘I agree with everything you said,’” says Sprigg, a spokesman for The Family Research Council, a powerful, conservative Christian lobbying group.

We’ve heard of the “down-low” gay person who keeps his or her sexual identity secret for fear of public scorn. But Sprigg and other evangelicals say changing attitudes toward homosexuality have created a new victim: closeted Christians who believe the Bible condemns homosexuality but will not say so publicly for fear of being labeled a hateful bigot.

Republican senator says alleged Israeli air strikes will put more pressure on Obama administration to intervene in Syria: “Every day that goes by, Hezbollah increases their influence and the radical jihadists flow into Syria.”

(CBS News) Before Game 2 in Boston between the Bruins and Maple Leafs on Saturday night, the Bruins had a special guest in their fan banner captain ceremony before the game. It was Jeff Bauman, a victim of the Boston Marathon bombings who lost both legs below the knee in the attack and was instrumental in helping to identify the bombing suspects.

Bauman wasn’t waving a Bruins banner, but a Boston Strong banner in Bruins colors. Making it all the better was seeing the ear-to-ear smile on Bauman’s face.

Bauman also released a statement about the experience.

Epic failure. Obama scrubbed our counter terror materials and manuals of jihad, so what would you expect to happen? Even in the wake of the blood and carnage, Eric Holder is admonishing Jews to be tolerant of Islam and warning of "anti-Muslim backlash." That's his takeaway.

Canadian jihadi under interrogation told Russians about Tamerlan Tsarnaev; they then told FBI Jihadwatch

And the FBI did nothing to stop the Boston Marathon jihad
bombing. They received the warning but did nothing, because it had to
do with Islamic jihad, and Obama’s FBI is forbidden to study Islamic
jihad. This is because the Obama Administration in 2011 mandated the scrubbing of counter-terror training materials of the truth about Islam and jihad. It is the terror threat that dare not speak its name.

Those who called for counterterror training materials to be scrubbed
of truthful information about jihad are responsible for this, and have
blood on their hands; they include the Hamas-linked Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which mounted a huge campaign in 2010 to have me dropped as a trainer of FBI agents.
Nor was that campaign personal: they mounted similar campaigns against
any trainers and training materials that told the truth about Islam and
jihad.

Others responsible for the politically correct scrubbing of
counterterror training materials of any mention of Islam or jihad
include hard-Left pseudo-journalist Spencer Ackerman, who published a series of “exposes” of “Islamophobic” counterterror training; Farhana Khera
of Muslim Advocates, who wrote a letter to Obama’s then-chief
counterterrorism adviser and current CIA director, John Brennan,
demanding that this material be removed. Brennan, who readily acquiesced
to this demand, also bears responsibility, as does Salam al-Marayati
of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who piled on in the mainstream
media. They got what they wanted: now FBI agents are woefully
ill-equipped to deal with the Islamic jihad threat, which they largely
must pretend does not even exist.

"Jihadi told Russians about Tamerlan," by Matt Stout and John Zaremba in the Boston Herald, May 4 (thanks to Kenneth):

A slain Canadian jihadi gave Russian counter-terrorism
agents the tip that put alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev
on their radar two years ago, Bay State U.S. Rep. William R. Keating
confirmed yesterday — raising questions about whether Tsarnaev’s direct
link to the known militant was ever passed on to the FBI or local
authorities.

Keating told the Herald yesterday his staff in Russia has learned
William Plotnikov, while under interrogation in the militant hotbed of
Dagestan, named Tsarnaev as a fellow extremist.

“That’s when the Russian government started looking at Tamerlan and
he showed up on a jihadist website,” Keating (D-Bourne) said. “That’s when they contacted the U.S.”

The interrogation prompted Russian authorities to ask the FBI to
investigate Tsarnaev in 2011. It is unclear whether the Russians told
the FBI that Tsarnaev was associated with Plotnikov or another suspected
extremist, Mansur Mukhamed Nidal.

An FBI spokesman yesterday did not respond to the Herald’s request to view the Russian authorities’ plea for help.

Both Nidal and Plotnikov were killed in police raids last summer, and
Tsarnaev fled back to the United States shortly thereafter.

The detail of the information from the Russians to the FBI — and
whether the feds passed it on sufficiently to local authorities — is
sure to come up next week on Capitol Hill, where the House Homeland
Security Committee will hold a hearing on the bombings.

“I have no idea what the Russians did or did not share, but
the fact they brought up his name should have been a flashing red
light,” U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a member of the committee, told the
Herald last night. “You combine that with international travel, and
somebody’s going to have to answer some questions.

“The information is only good if it gets to those who can actually
act on it,” he said. “I want to know specifically if they shared that
information with the authorities in Boston.”…

US President has not ruled out options as it investigates chem. weapons use but does not foresee sending troops to Syria.

Just as it is necessary for mothers to “suspect” all strangers and American soldiers to suspect all Afghans, so it may become necessary to suspect all devotees of Islam in order to ferret out the terrorists hiding among them.

(National Review) Rand Paul is describing an episode from his trip to Israel in January: “I went to a Shabbat,” he tells me, “it was the first time I’ve ever done that, and I had a wonderful time. I went to the yeshiva, and all the young men were singing and dancing, they had me dancing around the table. I hope I was singing something that was fine — it was all in Hebrew, so I had no idea what I was singing.”

If there’s any doubt that Rand Paul isn’t his father’s son on the issue of Israel, that trip and his posture afterwards should have ended it. He returned to the U.S. to tell Breitbart News, “Absolutely we stand with Israel. What I think we should do is announce to the world — and I think it is pretty well known — that any attack on Israel will be treated as an attack on the United States.”

His father, former Texas congressman Ron Paul, recently started a think tank that includes a “NeoCon Watch,” which asks supporters for tips on the latest neoconservative mischief. “If you see something, say something,” the website says. So Rand Paul’s statement came as a surprise to his supporters and detractors alike, and it was the first in a series of such remarks.

Tukey is the key factor in controlling inevitable Middle East turmoil in the wake of Syria’s collapse — whether or not the Obama administraiton realizes it.

The US government announced that it has launched a review of the handling and sharing of intelligence prior to the Boston Marathon attacks.

(LONDON DAILY MAIL) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sent a written warning about accused Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2012, long before pressure-cooker blasts killed three and injured hundreds, according to a senior Saudi government official with direct knowledge of the document.

The Saudi warning, the official told MailOnline, was separate from the multiple red flags raised by Russian intelligence in 2011, and was based on human intelligence developed independently in Yemen.

Citing security concerns, the Saudi government also denied an entry visa to the elder Tsarnaev brother in December 2011, when he hoped to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the source said. Tsarnaev’s plans to visit Saudi Arabia have not been previously disclosed.

(ONLINE.WSJ) — Investigators have found female DNA on at least one of the bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks, though they haven’t determined whose DNA it is or whether its presence means a woman helped the two brothers suspected in the bombings, according to U.S. officials briefed on the probe.

In another development, Russian officials revealed details about contacts between the older brother and suspected Islamist radicals in the Caucasus, including Internet exchanges that led to concerns by investigators that he was trying to join up with jihadist fighters.

Speaking Monday about the DNA discovery, the U.S. officials cautioned that there could be multiple explanations for why genetic material from someone other than the two bombing suspects—Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar—could have been found on remnants of the exploded devices. It could have come, for example, from a store clerk who handled materials used in the bombs or a stray hair that ended up in the bomb.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says “much more” work needs to be done to verify assessments that Syria used chemical weapons.

There already are plans for a National Day of Prayer on May 2, as well as a a National Day of Prayer and Fasting on Sept. 11 and a coming day of repentance.

But now the hope that the U.S. will recognize its sins and return to the God of its Founders is going global.

According to Breaking Christian News, the national day of prayer team in Australia is offering encouragement to Americans.

In addition, the International House of Prayer is pushing the campaign on its website, which reaches readers in 130 nations.

The plans call for people to set aside “time with the Lord” in local churches and homes during a 72-hour window, April 30-May 2.

Repentance, fasting and prayer will be the focal points.

And the goal, BCN reported, is “for the United States to return to its earlier dependence on God.”

Explained the BCN report: “April 30 is an appropriate day for repentance. The legislature in Pennsylvania has designated April 30 as its day of fasting and prayer. And April 30 marks the 224th anniversary of President Washington’s inaugural remarks thanking God for His miracles in founding America.

See the stunning DVD documentary “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” and the book on which it is based, “The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery That Holds the Secret for America’s Future.”

“April 30 also is the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s ‘National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer’ in the midst of the despair of the Civil War. Issuing the proclamation, Lincoln said in part: ‘We have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray in the God that made us. It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to prayer for … forgiveness.’”

April 30 is scheduled to be the National Day of Repentance. And the U.S. National Day of Prayer will be May 2.

In asking for support for the 9/11 National Day of Prayer and Fasting, organized by WND CEO Joseph Farah, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., entered a statement into the Congressional Record.

She pointed out that the future of a nation appears to be up to Christians.

“I join together with other Americans who have called for September 11, 2013, to be set aside as a day for personal prayer, reflection and fasting, for ourselves and for our nation,” Bachmann said in a statement. “At this time of national mourning, as we search for comfort in the aftermath of this loss of innocent life, we would be wise to consider afresh 2 Chronicles 7:14: ‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’ As we humble ourselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways, we can take assurance from the Holy Scripture that God has promised to hear from heaven, will forgive our sin, and will heal our land.”

Jonathan Cahn, the No. 1 bestselling Christian author of 2012 and 2013 with “The Harbinger,” also is on board for the September event.

So is Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Fellowship, known for massive evangelistic events that fill the largest stadiums and arenas in the country. He is also a weekly faith commentator for WND and the honorary national chairman of the 62nd annual National Day of Prayer called for May 2. The organizers of the May 2 event have pledged to shift their attention to the 9/11/13 project after May 2.

“If we pray, God will hear,” Laurie said. “When He hears, who knows what He might do?”

Laurie said the nation needs much prayer, not just a single event.

“As this year’s honorary chairman of the National Day of Prayer I support WND’s 9/11/13 National Day of Prayer and Fasting. I agree with Joseph Farah that America faces a spiritual crisis and there is nothing more effective we can bring our requests to God,” Laurie said. “In Scripture, God tells us ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jer 33:3)”

Laurie, like Farah, notes that in times of crisis, the U.S. frequently has called on God. The Scripture chosen for this year’s event is Matthew 12:21, which says, “And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.”

Farah’s action plan includes the following:

• Make a note on your calendar now to join in the commitment to participate;
• Help spread the word to the remnant of Americans who understand what the nation is up against on Facebook and Twitter and by word of mouth;
• Talk to pastors and Bible study leaders and get them on board;
• Pray daily for believers across the nation to take serious the promise of II Chronicles 7:14 and follow its prescription;
• Sign up to register your commitment of support and your intention to participate.

“We’ve got our instructions,” said Farah of II Chronicles 7:14. “God is waiting on us to act – His people. He’s not waiting on the whole world to act. He’s not waiting on a majority of Americans to act. He’s waiting on us – his children, his followers, his believers.”

A “human rights” organization is calling on government authorities to shut down three U.S. mosques it claims are not merely religious centers, but political entities and “breeding grounds for jihad terror.”

The American Freedom Defense Initiative, or AFDI, explains its demands are part of an 18-point plan to protect the nation from Islamic terror in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.

AFDI Executive Director Pamela Geller said in a statement, “In accord with those calls for responsible law enforcement regarding subversive activities in U.S. mosques, we are asking that government and law enforcement officials launch immediate investigations into the Islamic Society of Boston, the Dar al-Hijrah Mosque of Fairfax County, Va., and the Noor Center of Columbus, Ohio.”

“Any mosque advocating jihad or any aspects of Shariah that conflict with constitutional freedoms and protections should be closed,” AFDI insists.

AFDI argues shutting down the mosques wouldn’t be a violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment protecting freedom of religion, because Islam is not merely a religion, but a “political system.”

“AFDI calls for the U.S. and other non-Muslim governments to recognize officially that Islam is a political movement and so not solely religious in the strict sense of the U.S. Constitution,” the organization states on its website. “Islam in its mainstream theological formulations and its dominant form throughout its history – not ‘extremist Islam’ or ‘hijacked Islam’ or ‘Islamism,’ but Islam in the Qur’an and Sunnah as understood by Islamic jurists and theologians – can and should be regarded as an authoritarian and supremacist political system as well as a religion, and thus Muslim groups should be subject to all the scrutiny and legal requirements of political organizations, without being able to shield their political activities behind the protection of religious freedom.”

AFDI, therefore, is calling for “immediate investigation into foreign mosque funding in the West and for new legislation making foreign funding of mosques in non-Muslim nations illegal,” as well as for “surveillance of mosques and regular inspections of mosques in the U.S. and other non-Muslim nations to look for pro-violence materials.”

AFDI explained in a statement why it specifically called for closure of the three mosques in Massachusetts, Virginia and Ohio.

The Islamic Society of Boston, AFDI claims,

• Was founded by Abdulrahman Alamoudi, now in prison for financing al-Qaida;
• Was attended by Aafia Siddiqui, now serving an 86-year-sentence for plotting a jihad attack in New York City;
• Was attended by Tarek Mehanna, now serving 17 years in prison for conspiring to aid al-Qaida;
• Was attended by Ahmad Abousamra, who has fled to Syria and is wanted by the FBI;
• Was attended by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the accused Boston Marathon bombers.

The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Fairfax County, Va., AFDI asserts,

• Was established with funds from a Muslim Brotherhood group;
• Was led by Mohammed al-Hanooti, the mosque’s imam from 1995-1999, who was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing;
• Was led by Anwar al-Awlaki, the mosque’s imam from 2001-2002, who the U.S. government says was involved in al-Qaida terrorist operations and has had extensive contact with three 9/11 hijackers, the Fort Hood jihad murderer and the Christmas underwear bomber;
• Included Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a camp counselor at the mosque now in prison for plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush;
• Was attended by Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood jihad mass murderer.

The Noor Mosque in Columbus, Ohio, AFDI asserts,

• Is led by Dr. Hany Saqr, previously an imam for another mosque, which at that time was the base of operations for al-Qaida, including convicted jihadists Iyman Faris, Nuradin Abdi and Christopher Paul;
• Has been directly linked to the Somali Muslims who have gone from the U.S. back to Somali for jihad terror training;
• Has had members who threatened the life of Rifqa Bary, a teenage girl who left Islam for Christianity.

“These mosques are not unique,” Geller claims. “There are many others like them. But they are the tip of the spear. It is time that our officials demand that they obey American laws or be held accountable for not doing so.”

AFDI asserts itself as a “human rights” organization because of its stance against the encroaching tyranny of Islam’s Shariah legal system, claiming it defends the freedom of speech from Islamic “blasphemy” laws, the freedom of conscience from the Islamic death penalty for apostasy and the the equality of rights of all people before the law – as opposed to Shariah’s “institutionalized discrimination against women and non-Muslims.”

Next month, the fourth International Conference of the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism will convene in Jerusalem under the auspices of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

The US, as well Sunni leaders in Lebanon and Syria criticize the terror group’s intervention in Syria’s civil war.

read more

Boston Marathon bomber sent text messages to his mother as early as 2011 suggesting he was willing to die for Islam.

Tsarnaev’s best chance to avoid execution may be to convince jury he was “brainwashed” by his older brother.

A taste of Israel has come to California. Last month, Ashley Gershoony, along with two business partners, opened the first North American offshoot of the Israeli fast-food franchise Burgerim, on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California.

Hebrew for “multiple burgers,” Burgerim opened its first store in Tel Aviv in 2008 and is now a successful Israeli franchise; with more than 70 stores in Israel, it has more outlets than competitors like Burger Ranch and BBB Burgus Burger Bar. Gershoony, a Persian Jew who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, visited Israel recently to see the franchise in action. “There are so many of them,” she said. “On every corner is a Burgerim. And the burgers were so delicious. We’re hoping to replicate that success here.”

Continue reading “Burgerim Offers L.A. an Israeli Spin on the Hamburger” at…

(NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) Was Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev brainwashed by a radical Muslim he met at a Boston-area mosque?

Not according to his  mother.

According to the Associated Press, Tamerlan appeared to take the first steps toward terrorism after falling under the spell of a mysterious red-bearded Armenian known only as Misha.

Rights council official insinuates the “darkly glamorized” Boston bombings happened because of Obama’s love-letter to Israel.

Special to WorldTribune.com TEL AVIV — Israel’s new defense minister was expected to scrap plans to assemble a fleet of tactical missile and rocket defense systems. Defense sources said Moshe Ya’alon would abandon plans by his predecessor to procure dozens of Iron Dome batteries to protect Israel from missile and rocket attacks. The sources said [...]

The revelation today that the two Islamic suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday immigrated to the United States is making waves already in Congress, where eight senators have proposed an immigration reform plan that critics say is no more or less than amnesty.

At the first hearing on the “Gang of Eight” Senate plan today, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he wants to know the status for the suspects.

“Given the events of this week, it’s important for us to understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system,” the Iowa Republican said, according to the Washington Times. “While we don’t yet know the immigration status of people who have terrorized the communities in Massachusetts, when we find out, it will help shed light on the weaknesses of our system.”

The new Senate plan, sponsored by four Republicans and four Democrats, is advertised to legalize illegal aliens.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., however, the Times reported, said senators should not allow anyone to “conflate” the issue of amnesty for illegals and the status of two suspected terrorists.

“In general we are a safer country when law enforcement knows who is here,” he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano did not appear to testify as expected.

In Boston, police identified Dezhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, as the bombing suspects. Tamerlan was killed in an overnight shootout and Dezhokhar was on the run following Monday’s attack that killed three and injured nearly 200.

In other hearing testimony, Peter Kirsanow, a partner with the Cleveland law firm of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan and Aronoff LLP was invited to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the effects of illegal immigration on blacks.

Kirsanow cited how illegal immigration and amnesty has a “disproportionate effect on African-Americans” as there are those who have lower incomes

The current black unemployment rate is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 13 percent, though according to the Huffington Post, black youth unemployment in February rose to 43.1 percent.

Kirsanow said “to grant lawful status” to illegal aliens would “force out higher skilled labor” and therefore “swell the rate of black unemployment.”

When questioned by Grassley, Kirsanow advocated strongly against amnesty and illegal immigration on behalf of both blacks and non-blacks by saying if amnesty is granted “the tiny advantage Americans have….evaporates.”

Kirsanow was appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights by then-President George W. Bush in 2001 and was subsequently reappointed for a six-year term. He currently practices labor law in Cleveland, Ohio.

Schumer attacked Kirsanow’s philosophical positions for “wanting to deport all illegals.”

He said the deportation of the estimated 11 million or 12 million illegal aliens in the U.S. now simply won’t happen, so wouldn’t it be better to have “a system where they can legally work?”

Kirsanow responded to Schumer that he does not believe in deporting all illegal aliens, but explained, “We’re living in a fantasy land if we think that if we have something on paper that people will follow it.”

He said people will still find ways to hire workers under the table to take advantage of them.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., lamented the future decline of American wages and attacked the integrity of the Senate bill, saying it was written by “big business interests and big agricultural interests and not for the public interests.”

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, of American Action Forum, testified on the economic and national security benefits of amnesty, but both Grassley and Kirsanow agreed if amnesty is granted, there will not be enough jobs for both blacks and illegal immigrants.

The Senate’s so-called “Gang of Eight” formally introduced its 844-page plan for so-called “comprehensive immigration reform” just this week.

The eight supporting senators at a press conference yesterday said it was the “best” and “most” viable solution for a compromise for both sides of the aisle.

“We will oppose all amendments that inhibit a bipartisan resolution” said Sen. John McCain R-Ariz.

McCain attacked the current immigration system, saying, “The status quo is not acceptable,” and America is “a nation with a conscious and cannot tolerate violations of human rights,” which he suggested the current system does by forcing illegal aliens to “remain in the shadows.”

The comprehensive immigration reform plan can be viewed online.

Despite an apparent showing of bipartisan support for the legislation, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told WND in an interview that he has “major concerns” with the Senate plan.

“I do not think it is a good idea to start out an immigration reform bill that tries to address the needs of the 11 million upfront,” said Lee, adding, “We have the opportunity to straighten border security, reform our visa system and implement fully our long-sought-after visa entry and exist system.”

Lee criticized the plan, saying, “This bill tries to do all of that at once.”

Rather, he suggested, “What we ought to be doing is trying to fix the issue of border security. Then we can better deal with the 11 million here.”

“What we want is for people to come here legally,” Lee said, adding that in the past, “We have made it very easy for people to come here illegally, but not come here legally.”

As for the claim that 11-25 million illegal aliens being legalized in the workforce will increase job competition, Lee said, “We need to address that issue carefully rather than legalizing 11 million people in one fell swoop.”

He said he will likely propose amendments to the bill, but his staff is “still working through” reading it.

Lee is not alone in his concerns. This week, the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform, or FAIR, hosted its “Hold their Feet to the Fire” event.

At the FAIR event, WND spoke to former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who predicted the Senate plan has a 50-50 chance of passing the Senate, upon which it will be confronted by the House’s anti-amnesty “Gang of Six.”

The House’s “Gang of Six” includes Reps. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.; Lou Barletta, R-Pa.; Mo Brooks, R-Ala.; Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Steve King, R-Iowa; and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

King recently spoke out against the Senate plan, calling it “aggressive and outrageous amnesty.”

In an interview with WND, Gohmert said the plan is “a magnet drawing people into this country, some for jobs, some for amnesty.”

During the Gang of Eight press conference Thursday, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., took a subtle shot at his tea party base, saying, “To my friends who believe in limited government and free enterprise … who helped me got elected, … we are a nation of immigrants. We’re not going to deport them.”

In addition to the concerns about job displacement and declining wages, both Sens. Al Franken, D-Wis., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., expressed concerns about the effects the proposed immigration law will have on immigrant homosexual couples.

At the opening of the hearing, Leahy declared that it is time to “end the discrimination against gay and lesbian immigrant couples.” Franken also declared that current law hurts homosexual couples.

Manhunt continues for 19-year-old Dzhokar A. Tsarnaev; police kill 26-year-old brother Tamerlan after reports of gunfire and explosions following shooting of cop on MIT campus; Boston put under lockdown.

New York police officers arrest Stephan Stowe. Photo: Youtube.

_{A melee broke out on a New York City subway train after a teenager harassed a Jewish man and told him “They should have killed all of you.”}

_{According to the New York Daily News, Stephan Stowe, 17, and a group of eight friends approached a Jewish man wearing a yarmulke aboard a  subway train on Monday.}

_{“Assalamu Alaikum,” Stowe said to the man, using a common greeting among Muslims that means, “Peace be with you,” court documents allege.}

_{The man ignored Stowe, and he became combative.}

_{“You think you’re better than me?” the teen allegedly said. “We are cousins.”}

_{“No we’re not,” The man shot back, and told Stowe to leave him alone.}

_{“I’m going to kill you right now,” Stowe said, according to cops and court records. He then swore at the man, according to cops and court records, and in an apparent reference to the Holocaust added, “They should have killed all of you.”}

_{The man alerted a conductor on the train and at the next stop police were waiting for him. But Stowe would not go quietly, which is what initiated the chaos that can be seen in the video below.}

_{Stowe was arraigned on eight charges, including grand larceny, which was charged as a hate crime, resisting arrest and harassment.}

_{Watch a video of the incident below:}

King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia. Photo: wiki commons.

JPost – The US Department of Defense is nearing the finalization of a $10 billion arms deal with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, The New York Times reported Thursday. The arms sale is aimed at bolstering defenses against possible future Iranian threats, the report said.

According to the Times, Israel would be permitted to purchase from American contractors the KC-135 refueling tanker planes, “antiradiation” missiles that target air-defense radars, new advanced radars for jets and the V-22 Osprey aircraft.

Read full story.

Although it is not known yet who is responsible for Monday’s heinous bombings at the Boston Marathon that killed three and injured more than 100 people, a source within Iranian intelligence services told WND the Islamic regime was behind them and to look for trails through Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The source said the bombs were planted near the end of the race so that the horrific images of the blasts would be captured by all the media there and be replayed over and over throughout the world.

A senior commander of the Islamic regime had warned less than two months ago that terrorism was coming to America.

“If the people of America and Europe do not confront the aggressive policies of their governments, they cannot then remain far from the possible future events (terror attacks),” the regime’s armed forces deputy chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, said in a Feb. 23 interview with Fars News Agency, a media outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards. “Al-Qaida groups and other services which operate for the interests of America (in Syria) will soon change the region of their operations and thereafter create new problems for America and Europe.”

Jazayeri, objecting to U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war, warned that explosions similar to those in Syria would take place in other countries.

With information from a source in the supreme leader’s office, WND reported exclusively on Dec. 11, 2012, that a team of Quds Force terrorist leaders had infiltrated the United States to attack from within in 2013. The source said the team is to create instability in America through terrorism should the U.S. fail to accept the regime’s illicit nuclear program or increase sanctions, confront Iran militarily or intervene in the Syrian civil war.

In a WND exclusive report on Feb. 28, the source said that a six-member team, including an explosives specialist, was to join 10 Quds Force commanders who already have a cell of 50 terrorists in the U.S. The source added that Iran is working with al-Qaida factions because al-Qaida attacks would not leave behind a link to Tehran.

The source for today’s information blamed the Islamic regime for the Boston attack and pointed to the collaboration of the regime’s Quds Forces with Hezbollah and elements of al-Qaida with links to individuals in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He said that under Quds Force guidance, Hezbollah recruited Sunni terrorists allied with al-Qaida factions in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who then entered the U.S. for terrorist activities.

The information has been shared with U.S. officials.

But until the FBI and other U.S. agencies complete their investigations, all information regarding the bombings must be considered with great caution and any conclusions would be premature.

If the source is correct, however, then three individuals will likely have had a hand in planning and preparing for the attack:

• Mustafa Badr Al Din, the brother-in-law and cousin of the dead terrorist Imad Mugniyah, who now serves as Mugnyiah’s replacement as the military leader of Hezbollah and who also serves as the deputy of Qasem Soliemani, the head of the Islamic regime’s Quds Forces.
• Mohammad Ali Hamadei, on the FBI’s most-wanted list, a Hezbollah operator responsible for operation and infiltration of forces into America who was based in New Mexico with a Latin American passport and who was also seen last year in England.
• Talal Hamieh, the head of Hezbollah’s External Security Organization responsible for operations outside of Lebanon. He has been in Mexico collaborating with drug cartels to raise funds for Hezbollah cells and facilitates the transfer of arms and terrorists into the U.S.

Both Badr Al Din and Hamieh were designated for sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for their involvement in terrorist activities throughout the world.

In the aftermath of the Boston bombings, Fars News Agency put out a piece headlined, “Obama in deep trouble if Boston bombing was by Salafis (ultraconservative Sunni Muslims).”

Fars said one reason that Obama has not linked the Boston bombing to al-Qaida is that his administration wants to show it has defeated al-Qaida and any mention of the terrorist group would undermine his position.

It ominously mentioned that America is now allied with the Salafis and al-Qaida in confronting Syria’s Bashar Assad and that if it’s proven that the same elements were responsible for the bombings in Boston, then Obama would be severely criticized by the American public.

Fars, as with the earlier warning by Jazayeri, denounced Obama’s decision to help the opposition in Syria and hinted that the Boston attack is related to al-Qaida and the hardcore Sunnis. It concluded that Obama would likely not name them as the guilty party to save face.

Although the Islamic regime has long warned that America will not be safe from its reach and that it must not only accept Iran’s nuclear program but also end its support for the opposition in Syria, there is no proven link yet between Boston and Tehran.

Two large explosions were heard at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Two people were reported killed.

(Jerusalem Post) — As Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day this week, Jonathan Pollard – still incarcerated in North Carolina – marked his 10,000th day behind bars.

In all, the spy who helped Israel, but did not harm America, has been imprisoned for 28 years – much longer than spies who were convicted for far greater offenses. By any reasonable yardstick his release is long overdue.

This is not just our opinion.

Parents of slain Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl light a flame at Yom Hazikaron ceremony in Jerusalem.

Tehran is planning to launch its own 3D mapping service, after accusing Google Earth of being a spying tool used by western agencies.