Microsoft: Tea Party App "Divisive" for Report on Islamic Terrorism

The Obama Administration's IRS criminally targeted the tea party, Jewish, and minority conservative groups to interfere with the 2012 election. The DOJ targeted reporters to silence scandals during the election. The White House jailed an innocent man to support the Benghazi cover-up prior to the election. Government, however, might not be the only powerful entity in America bullying groups. Microsoft may be discriminating against the tea party on the Windows App Store.

Our tea party group, The San Diego Local Order of Bloggers (The SLOBs), is not based on political party, religion, race, gender, age or sexual orientation. We are concerned with taxes and the growth of government as it infringes upon civil rights. Occasionally, we address other important issues as individuals concerned for the freedom of humanity. The tea party is about civil rights.

Our Windows 8 app is the only tea party news app on the Windows App Store. A recent technical update to our app was rejected by Microsoft's testers as "divisive" because one article discussed the roots of Islamic supremacists.

Bloggers use attention grabbing story titles. The post in question is titled, "Islam: Violence Emanates from its Core." Microsoft's reviewers use personal judgement in reviewing content compliance issues. In fairness, it is understandable that this post was subjected to review based upon the title. Lets look at this article. The article begins:

The Boston Marathon bombings, by a seemingly “average” college student and his more obviously troubled and radicalized older brother has led to discussion on our policy towards Muslim immigrants; and our Visa policy regarding foreign students in general. What it should also trigger is a meaningful policy discussion on the nature of Islamic violence. Because unlike any other religion in the world, violence is an integral part of Islam.

The problem lies within the Quran itself.

Microsoft's reviewers noted:

The content in this app appeared, to our reviewers, to be to divisive.

The precise violation referenced is:

5.2 Your app must not contain content that advocates discrimination, hatred, or violence based on membership in a particular racial, ethnic, national, linguistic, religious, or other social group, or based on a person’s gender, age, or sexual orientation

There are two concerns with this content issue.

1. The certification requirements do not specify "divisive" as a violation. "Divisive" is a subjective term that might apply to dog lovers who are offended by pictures of cats. ( KT Cat would be "divisive.")
2. "This is one example of the issue." This statement suggests that there are multiple examples of "content that advocates discrimination, hatred, or violence."  There are not.

Obviously, the post topic is politics and religion, but there is no "advocating discrimination, hatred or violence." It is quite the opposite. The article opposes violence perpetrated by those who are part of a violent subset of the Islamic faith.

But to the truly dedicated, observant, fundamentalist Muslims these more cerebral (nice) Muslims aren’t really Muslims at all. To the ones we call “radicals”, a real Muslim has the Allah-given task of converting, enslaving, or killing the rest of us.

“Good Muslims” are commanded to kill other Muslims who stray from the path.  Consequently, the nice Muslims have to keep their mouths shut. This slows down the spread of the nicer varieties of Islam; while the radicalization of Mosques (or ”cells” within those Mosques) goes unabated.

The topic in this article is controversial. It is not politically correct, but it is factually correct and observable.

Since 9/11/01, there has been an average of 5 attacks a day by Muslim terrorists!

The blog post in question was written prior to the beheading of British soldier Lee Rigby in London by a British born convert to Islam and his friend. Since the post, video by Human Rights Watch showed a Syrian rebel eating a soldier's heart to the chant "Allahu Akbar." Currently, the top story on Google news is President Obama's comment that America is at a "crossroads" in fighting terrorism.

"America has confronted many forms of violent extremism in our time. Deranged or alienated individuals - often U.S. citizens or legal residents - can do enormous damage, particularly when inspired by larger notions of violent jihad," Mr. Obama said. "Homegrown extremists. This is the future of terrorism."

To stop the terrorism, we must understand it. To understand it, we must discuss it from all perspectives. There is an observable trend around the world which must be considered for the sake of survival. Because Americans are intimidated from honest debate on Islamic terrorism, President Obama made this statement today:

Moreover, we have to recognize that these threats don’t arise in a vacuum.  Most, though not all, of the terrorism we faced is fueled by a common ideology — a belief by some extremists that Islam is in conflict with the United States and the West, and that violence against Western targets, including civilians, is justified in pursuit of a larger cause.  Of course, this ideology is based on a lie, for the United States is not at war with Islam.  And this ideology is rejected by the vast majority of Muslims, who are the most frequent victims of terrorist attacks.

Nevertheless, this ideology persists, and in an age when ideas and images can travel the globe in an instant, our response to terrorism can’t depend on military or law enforcement alone. We need all elements of national power to win a battle of wills, a battle of ideas.  So what I want to discuss here today is the components of such a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy.

First, we must finish the work of defeating al Qaeda and its associated forces.

This statement is a failure of leadership. It is lukewarm to the observable threat. These comments are a politically correct mess from a man trying to manage his image without uttering "Islam." A fate that Microsoft might impose on us via the term "divisive."

Word Warrior does not mince words on the subject. To be fair and balanced, his conclusion does use the term "evil". Those unable or unwilling to consider the point of the article could challenge the semantics of the conclusion:

Religiously, it is unique to Islam. There are no Christian terrorist organizations or movements, financing and sponsoring terrorism in the name of Christ. Nor are there any such Buddhist nor Hindu groups.

Liberals hate the idea of evil. But radical Islam is as evil in the 21st Century as Christianity sometimes was in the Middle Ages. And Islam has no prospect of getting any better, of internal reformation because the evil in it comes from its most fundamental tenets.

The evil in Christianity came from ignoring its fundamental tenets.

Conclusion

Word Warrior explored Islamic supremacists, but does not "advocates discrimination, hatred, or violence." He is reporting on a hard truth in an effort to save lives. We hope that Microsoft reviewers keep this in mind when reviewing our technical app update which has nothing to do with content.

With all this said, the post in question is no longer displayed in our app. The SLOBs app includes dozens of articles. The articles update with the news cycle and feature only the most recent posts. Most of the content is created by our authors, but we also include feeds from respected news organizations as supplemental information on our top story. The constant updates keep our content dynamic and fresh.

We also have an Android app which has been perfected over many revisions. It never ran into similar content issues. As bloggers, we consistently deal with politically incorrect issues. The issue of Islamic terrorism is one topic requiring open discussion despite pressures to acquiescence to intimidation and fear.

We have re-submitted app Release 3 to the Windows App Store. It will be interesting to see what they say this time.

How to Help

Please go download our free Windows App and support our efforts. Hopefully, Release 3 will be waiting for you to download.

If you are interested in reaching tea party members, consider purchasing an advertisement for the "SLOBS W8" ad unit under the category "News" (250px by 250px). We have graphics to help you create your ad.

UPDATE: A Happy Ending

Revision 3 was approved by Microsoft and is now on the Windows App Store.

Islamic Supremacists Not Mentioned in Obama's Comments on Terrorists

President Obama ignored the greatest threat to the civilized world while talking about "whatever warped, twisted ideas" from self-radicalized individuals. Frankly, his oratory seemed poised to point at the tea party as he stated that he had indicated to (@30 sec):

"entire counter-terrorism team,what more can we do on THAT threat that is LOOMING on the horizon."

I was under the knife today, and have been taking some pain medication, so maybe I am hearing this wrong. So, decide for yourself.  Fully in-context clip of statement from C-SPAN CLICK HERE (1 min 34 seconds)

One passing mention of Al Qaeda which is dismissed as he pivots to "self-radicalized individuals." The president makes no mention of radical theology, only generic "ideas." No mention of the numerous jihadist attacks preceding and during his presidency, only attacks "looming on the horizon."

Many people today have commented upon President Obama's encore performance. A statement on a gay basketball player who "can bang with Shaq," where Shaq is a retired NBA player who, to my knowledge is heterosexual.(In basketball terms, "bang" refers to a physical style of post play. Not that post, post refers to under the basket. No not... I give up.) My offense at this statement is not about sexuality, it revolves around the lack of mention of patriotic Americans who died under President Obama in Benghazi and never received an encore.

This entire affair induced my OXYCODONE filled brain to embark upon a Twitter rant of epic proportions. A rant to which, I apologize. To view the rant go look up #TwistedRadicalIdeas. The moral of this story is that even while on pain killers, some of us take responsibility for our own actions... even reactions, while America's president fails the character test at every turn.

Mr. President, for one day please be reasonable. Just one, that is all we ask.  For one day, no #AttackWatch, no accusing the peaceful tea party movement of racism or terrorism, no undermining Israel, no submission or appeasement to Islamic supremacists, no selling weapons to our enemies, no trying to setup the confiscation of our second amendment, no undermining jobs with false promises of free health care, no hindering Americas massive reserve of fuel to further Climate Change policy, no Tides foundation nudging.... just one day without their Doo Doo Economics. A day without a fundamental transformation administration would be preferable.  Maybe go golfing.

In return, this blogger will, for a day, sleep, perchance to dream.

Update: fixed about 1000 typos.

Boston Terrorism Link to Benghazi

Update:

The Saudi suspect in the Boston bombing is being deported:

According to ICE the reason is under section 212 3B -- "Security and related grounds" -- "Terrorist activities"

 "looks like they were trying to make this a 'lone wolf' crime so, the Saudi government would be spared embarrassment and the U.S. would avoid explaining how a terror cell was active when we had AQ on the run."

There is some question as to how the deportation occurs in order to keep it as quiet as possible.

Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi is connected to an important Saudi family with ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) per this terrorist list (h/t Atlas Shrugged).

Reuters reported President Obama had an unscheduled meetings with the Saudi Foreign Minister to discuss developments in the region:

- U.S. President Barack Obama met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the White House on Wednesday and discussed the conflict in Syria, a spokeswoman said.

The meeting was not on Obama’s public schedule.

The spokeswoman, Caitlin Hayden, said the president joined a meeting between the Saudi official and Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon.

President Obama must believe that the Saudi government is better able to quietly pursue Al Qaeda connections in the Boston Marathon attack. AQAP became powerful in Yemen because the Saudi Arabia branch of AQ was nearly eliminated by the Saudi government. The AQ members in Saudi Arabia were forced to retreat and join with Yemeni AQ.

This also keeps DHS, FBI and other domestic law enforcement resources concentrating on the domestic tasks at hand.

Please help us keep an eye out on how the secretive Saudi government handles the return of Abdul Al Harbi.  You may recall that reports in Boston considered him "cooperative" with law enforcement.

The Motives

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is an Algerian based jihadist cell which sometimes took orders from Osama Bin Laden. AQIM claimed responsibility for killing U.S. Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya. They took credit on facebook through their affiliate Ansar al-Sharia (AAS).

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is the Yemeni-Saudi organization founded by Osama Bin Laden. On the AQAP website, they invite jihadists to "attack sporting events" of  "the West". AQAP faces U.S. military forces assisting Yemen’s military efforts to maintain control since Arab Spring protests erupted in 2012.

AQAP is believed to have several hundred members and are Al Qaeda's most active and biggest threat to the U.S. homeland (per CIA). AQAP announced the Benghazi attack was in retaliation for the killing of the network’s number two Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi.

The Boston Marathon attack may be in retaliation for the killing of AQIM leader Abdelhamid Abou Zeid. Zeid was killed in fighting in northern Mali.  Djamel Okacha, also known as Yahia Abu El Hamam has taken control of AQIM. Okacha is believed to have participated in the 2009 killing of American aid worker Christopher Leggett.  Since changing leadership, AQIM has taken credit for the assault on Timbuktu.

A spokesman for al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb issued a statement on the al-Sharq website in Mauritania, saying that the attack on Timbuktu was led by an Algerian suicide bomber, belonging to the Yusuf bin Tashfin brigade, a platoon under the command of the late al-Qaida emir Abou Zeid, who was killed last month by French forces.

Additionally, trumpeting of "I killed Bin Laden" occurred in election year political ads from April 2012 through September 2012. President Barack Obama personally declared “al Qaeda is on the path to defeat and Osama bin Laden is dead.” A few weeks later Ambassador Stevens was dead, the first US Ambassador killed since 1979.

Another possible al Qaeda motivation for the Boston Marathon attack is the fact that April 15th is the day of decision to attack Abbottabad and kill Osama Bin Ladin. Per a jihadist website:

This day coincides with the anniversary of Lincoln's assassination. Two weeks from now is the anniversary of Usama bin Laden's assassination. The attack decision on Abbottabad was taken on April 15, according to the American version of the story.

The Means

The Al Qaeda terrorists claiming responsibility for the death of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi have not been reported killed or captured.

A private intelligence group is reporting that Jihadist Says al-Qaeda's Strategy in Line with Boston Bombings

the attack is in line with al-Qaeda's strategy to exploit security vulnerabilities and weaken the enemy with small attacks that spread fear.

Al Qaeda's English language magazine Inspire taught pressure cooker bomb-making techniques. The technique was used in Islamic terrorism in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. The pressure cookers are easy to transport across borders. The Washington Times reports on Inspire:

[..]proposing a long list of possible targets for attacks, among them “crowded sports arenas” and “annual social events.” [..]

The chapters, including the one on pressure cooker bombs, were compiled into a booklet titled “The Lone Mujahed Pocketbook,” released on Islamic militant web sites in March, according to SITE.

Logistically, Islamic terrorist have the ability to move trained operatives and support personnel into the U.S. Mexican drug cartels work with Islamic militants to traffic drugs, weapons, para-military training and sex slaves. The cartels have the available infrastructure to move men and material across our border and into major cities. 

Recent assassinations of law enforcement might be a tactical diversion for drug cartel logistical activity. Theories linking the assassinations to the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang have been investigated since December 2012 without results. On March 21st, Brietbart News interviewed a district attorney on the subject: (italics ours)

Breitbart News: Earlier you said you didn’t want to comment on the investigation, and I understand. But I have to ask. Some have said you guys were going after the Aryan Brotherhood. Some have said low-level Mexican cartels have had involvement with the Aryan Brotherhood in Texas regarding methamphetamine trafficking?

(Kaufman County District Attorney Mike) McLelland: Interesting. I can’t comment on any of that.

Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia were found assassinated on March 30th.

The Money

As mentioned above Islamic terrorist use drugs, weapons, slavery, and other crime to generate money.

AQIM received a $17 million ransom paid by France for four French citizens who were kidnapped from their guarded villas in Arlit.  Former US Ambassador to Mali Vicki Huddleston spilled the story to iTele.

Huddleston explained that like all ransoms, France paid the Malian government, “which forwarded at least some of the funds to the Salafists [Islamists].”

The statement was denied by France. However, when U.S. Navy SEALs raided Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011, they found a cache of documents called “the Abbottabad papers.” The papers included communications between Osama Bin Laden and AQIM: (italics ours)

In April 2011, as the Western military intervention in Libya accelerated, bin Laden offered AQIM a point-by-point plan for how the group should handle some French hostages it had taken. He was worried that killing them would inflame Arab public opinion, at that moment grateful for France’s intervention, against al-Qaeda (in Libya). The AQIM leadership largely followed his advice.

The money is being used to kill Americans by any means necessary.

• Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) offered a 3 kilogram of gold bounty ($150,000) for the killing of the US ambassador to Yemen, Gerald Feierstein. 
• AQAP also put a bounty of about $500 on any American soldier in Yemen.

Why No Claim of Responsibility Yet 

My research has arrived at three theories why Al Qaeda might wait to claim responsibility.

More Likely

Al Qaeda may be waiting to claim responsibility until operatives and support members have retreated to safety. We may see a claim of responsibility in a few hours.  We will not see a claim of responsibility if further attacks are in progress.

An organization with hundreds of members can run a sophisticated support network. However, such networks are difficult to create and they would not want to dissemble it after a single attack. Successful operatives might be planning or executing additional attacks. A rash of attacks, like the ricin senatorial attack, would maximize the terror effect.

Armed and trained citizens are more effective than law enforcement at stopping attacks. We are everywhere, always. Examiner evaluated citizen vs police statistics in mass shooting attacks:

The average number of people killed in mass shootings when stopped by police is 14.29

The average number of people killed in a mass shooting when stopped by a civilian is 2.33

With this in mind, the next attack might be in a "gun free" zone state: Hawaii, California, Illinois, New York, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut,  Rhode Island, or Massachusetts.

Gun Deaths: Gun Suicides + Gun Murder + Gun Personal Defense

(This theory is supported by the fact that the FBI released video and photos of two suspects.)

The Internet Conspiracy

Google, Facebook, Twitter and the like may be filtering claims of responsibility. We searched French and British sources, but have not yet contacted Arabic speakers who monitor satellite channels. If the internet is locked down enough for this to be the case, we have bigger problems than terrorism.

With that said, Barracuda networks could effectively shut down some selected internet traffic.

The Ugly

America gives billions of dollars in foreign aid to countries who hate us. This aid allows us some leverage over those countries because we can take the aid away. America can always threaten to take away foreign aid, whether the aid is money, weapons or training.

Al Qaeda in Iraq admits it is fighting in Syria. The fighting in Syria is being propelled by western heavy weapons from Benghazi, Libya and American run training camps in Jordan. Al Qaeda fighters are being trained in these camps as revealed by the Washington Post: (italics ours) [This article disappeared or is blocked .. you can see the Washington Post facebook link to the article to confirm its authenticity webcache version, PDF version]

The Obama administration, which sent a force of about 150 U.S. military personnel to Jordan last year, has repeatedly refused to comment on reports that the force is training Syrian fighters.[..]

Despite growing enthusiasm, it may be too late to separate moderates from radicals among those fighting in southern Syria.

“Whether we fight under the banner of Jabhat al-Nusra or the Free Syrian Army, we are all defending our families in the name of God,” said Abu Momen, who crossed the border (from Syria to Jordan) last week along with the nightly influx of about 2,000 people. The 22-year-old said he was a fighter with the Jabhat al-Nusra group, which the Obama administration has said is a wholly owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The future of Syria is a political bargaining chip. Al Qaeda and other Islamic forces are vying for control of the future of the country. This might allow the administration some leverage in this situation. The Syrian bargaining chip might be cashed in because the current administration would be badly damaged by linkage between the Boston Marathon attack and Benghazi attackers. Attackers who have not been brought to justice and remain at large.

Sources:

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/24/AR2010082406763.html
• http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/benghazi_osamas_revenge_on_obama.html
• http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/24/us-algeria-qaeda-okacha-idUSBRE92N0C020130324
• http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/international/africa/2013/04/al_qaida_takes_responsibility_for_timbuktu_attack
• http://www.mediaite.com/tv/emails-reveal-al-qaeda-linked-militants-took-credit-for-benghazi-attack-hours-after/
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/9998886/Boston-Marathon-bombs-al-Qaedas-Inspire-magazine-taught-pressure-cooker-bomb-making-techniques.html
• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/16/al-qaeda-magazine-pressure-cookers-make-bomb-kitch/
• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/25/al-qaeda-north-africa-appoints-new-chief-france-co/
• http://www.ndtv.com/article
• http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/al-qaeda-in-iraq-admits-it-is-fighting-in-syria
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/22/what-the-osama-bin-laden-raid-discovered-on-al-qaedas-links-in-algeria/
• http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/wheels_coming_off_uOnuODm7bwRX33t0JilbkN
• http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/03/31/Last-Words-Breitbart-s-Darby-Interviewed-Slain-Texas-DA-Before-Death
• http://www.examiner.com/article/analyzing-shooting-rampage-statistics-after-newport-school-shooting
• http://news.siteintelgroup.com/component/content/article/6-jihadist-news/2979-jihadists-hope-boston-bombings-are-acts-of-jihadi-terrorism