“I have found these meetings to be constructive, forthright exchanges on the key issues facing our state and nation. Obviously there are some matters on which we’ve agreed, and others where we have differences. Ultimately, the input of my constituents has always been invaluable to me in doing my job as Senator.”-- Sen. Snowe on RLC mtg.

From Eric Dondero:

It is not known if the Senator arranged for the meeting or local libertarian Republicans. But the Lewiston Sun is reporting that Maine's longtime Senior Senator Olympia Snowe held a private meeting with representatives of the Republican Liberty Caucus.

From the Lewiston Sun-Journal, "Snowe meets with Republican Liberty Caucus to defend record," Feb. 25:

The Maine chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus on Sunday posted on its blog the details of a recent meeting with U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

The post says the meeting took place on “neutral ground,” at a hotel conference room in Augusta — a description that underscores the tension between Snowe, considered a moderate, and the right wing of the GOP.

The RLC is a national organization. It’s considered a libertarian group that is connected to the tea party. According to the post by Ken Lindell, chairman of Maine RLC, also invited were representatives from other conservative organizations including tea party activists, constitutional conservatives, libertarians and devotees of the John Birch Society, as well as representatives from the Maine Legislature and the Republican State Committee. The common thread, Lindell said, was that "all the participants represented factions of the Republican Party that were either critical of Senator Snowe’s moderate track record, and in some cases outright hostile to the senator."

The Maine chapter of the RLC last spring backed Gov. Paul LePage in the GOP primary.

The Senator is longtime friends with Governor LePage (who grew up in Lewiston), and also with Lewiston libertarian Republican activist and former legislator Stravos Mendros.

Ironically, Andrew Ian Dodge, Tea Party activist, an RLC member, and friend of this website, is the only declared candidate against her for the GOP nomination.

Editor - Photos of Gov. LePage and Stravos when he was much younger and dashing.

Taxpayers subsidizing Foreign Students to come to the US

"Several of the 9/11 hijackers used the student visa program to get into the United States"

From Eric Dondero:

In recent years, many faux english language schools have been set up nationwide, used as a means to get immigrants into the country by legitimate means.

As this 2010 report indicates, in a South Florida school as many as "95% of all applicants" were fraudulant. The school was set up as nothing less than a front to process student visas so that illegal immigrants could get into the country.

Are accredited universities and colleges any different?

We have now learned that Saudi Muslim terrorist Khalid Al-M Aldawsari spent a short while at a language school at Vanderbilt Univ. in Tennessee, before heading to Lubbock, Texas to attend Texas Tech. He first attended the impressive sounding TTU college of engineering. But a short while thereafter, he dropped out and tranferred to a less rigorous 2-year community college nearby to "study business."

According to this report from UNLV the Saudi government gives scholarships to study english in the US "by thousands of Saudi students annually."

Nationally, over 55,000 foreign students come to the US each year to study English as a Second Language, (source: Universitiesandcollegesinutah.com)

Incredibly, many of this state-subsidized colleges and universities such as Harvard, Amherst and MIT give away free financial aid to these foreign students. See a full list from InternationalStudent.com, of colleges who offer such taxpayer-subsidized assistance.

Combat Troops to be pulled off Front Lines for Training

From Eric Dondero:

And so it begins...

Opponents of the Obama administration policy allowing Gays to openly serve in the Military, opposed the idea not out of any dislike of homosexuals, but rather out of fear of rampant political correctness, and turning the Big Bad-ass fighting Men of the United States Military into "sensitive" foot soldiers for liberal special interest causes.

And now this. From the Washington Times, "Combat troops to get gay sensitivity training - New policy OK’d for battlefield" Feb. 25:

American combat troops will get sensitivity training directly on the battlefield about the military’s new policy on gays instead of waiting until they return to home base in the United States, the senior enlisted man in Afghanistan said Thursday.

The Pentagon is launching an extensive force-wide program to ease the process of integrating open homosexuals into the ranks, including into close-knit fighting units.

Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill, the top enlisted man in Afghanistan where 100,000 U.S. troops are deployed, said that the sessions on respecting gays’ rights will go right down to the forward operating bases, where troops fight Taliban militants.

One strong advocate for Gays in the Military, Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill in Afghanistan, said any soldier or Marine who does not agree with the training, or conform to military discipline on the matter will be immediately kicked out of the service.

Reminder - the individual who currently serves in the office of Commander in Chief, photo above, is not a Veteran, and never served in the United States Military.

MORNING UPDATE!

Army Recruiting Ctr. Killer Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad - Arkansas, 2009

From Eric Dondero:

The Associated Press this morning is reporting an interesting bit of information on the Muslim student terrorist from Saudi Arabia. While at Texas Tech Khalid Ali-M Aldawsar lived right above and Army Recruiting Center.

Newser.com:

Prosecutors: Texas college student charged with plotting US terror attack was moved by 9/11...

[A] Feb. 24, 2011, photo shows the front of the complex where Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari lived in Lubbock, Texas. Aldawsari's residence is behind the apartment that can be seen above the Army Career Center...

Overnight it was confirmed that Aldawsari spent a few months in Tennessee at Vanderbilt Univ. studying English.

Recall this story from June 1, 2009, LR, "Little Rock Military Recruiter Killer visited Yemen on a Somali passport: Possible ties to radical Somali Muslims in Nashville"

New information is pouring in regarding the double shooting this afternoon at an Army-Navy Recruiting Center in West Little Rock, Arkansas.

Just Breaking from ABC News...

The suspect arrested in the fatal shooting of one soldier and the critical injury of another at a Little Rock, Ark., Army recruiting booth today was under investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force since his return from Yemen, ABC News has learned.

The investigation was in its preliminary stages, authorities said, and was based on the suspect's travel to Yemen and his arrest there for using a Somali passport.

Meanwhile, Arkansas Blog is reporting that the suspect is originally from Tennessee. From the Blog:

The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, lived on Mara Lynn Drive. He was formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe and apparently moved to Little Rock from Memphis two to three months ago. He also had lived in Nashville, Tenn. recently.

Tennessee, Nashville specifically, is home to a sizeable Somali immigrant population.

See photo of Aldawsari's apartment complex at AP linked story.

Terrorist blogged that fellow Muslims in US were not being agressive enough in Killing Americans

From Eric Dondero:

The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram offers a specific timeline on Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari's activities in the United States.

Stacy McCain and Libertarian Republican were the very first media in the entire Nation to connect the dots late last night, to a crush Aldawsari had on a Vanderbilt co-ed Sarah Rice Stender. (Photo from her Facebook Page). However, it was unclear how Aldawsari could have met her since she was at Vanderbilt, not Texas Tech.

Now, the Star-Telegram has confirmed his residency and other media confirmed his student status at Vanderbilt in Nashville.
Wrote Aldawsari in a blog post May 19, 2009:

I am falling in love of her..... She is goregeous that I cann't forget her just right away... I am asking Allah the great to covert her to Islam and marry me.

September 2008: Aldawsari enters the United States.

October 2008 to August 2009: Aldawsari lives in Tennessee, studying English.

August 2009 to January 2011: He attends Texas Tech University, majoring in chemical engineering.

March 11, 2010: On his blog, Aldawsari expresses his displeasure with the current condition of Muslims, lamenting what he viewed as their passivity and pacifism.

Aldawsari planned to blow-up American Youths at a Dallas Nightclub

There's also this interesting new bit of information. Though, it was reported last night that Aldawsari had targetted a nightclub, there was no indication from the various media reports, in what city in the US. We now know it was Dallas.

Continuing:

Feb. 19: Aldawsari does keyword searches for "party in dallas" and "can u take backpack to nightclub." The FBI believes that he was targeting a nightclub with an explosive concealed in a backpack.

Rude Terrorist?

Finally, this less important, but still rather interesting, if not outright amusing new informaton. Aldawsari was under surveillance from the FBI for two weeks after a North Carolina chemical company reported a "suspicious request" for a chemincal used in the production of the explosive T.N.P. The chemical company (undercover FBI agent) questioned Aldawsari about the order.

And now we learn he actually complained about being questioned:

Feb. 3: Carolina Biological Supply officials contact Aldawsari, questioning him about the phenol. Aldawsari tells them that he is associated with Texas Tech University and that the phenol is for "off-campus, personal research." At the time, Aldawsari is a student at South Plains College, not Tech.

Feb. 10: Aldawsari calls Carolina Biological Supply officials and complains about being questioned

Editor's comment - Sounding a little like CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) complaining about harrassment of Muslims.

Came to US on a Student Visa, specifically so he could carry out Terror Acts

From Eric Dondero:

Just breaking from CNN, Fox News, and various local media...

A Saudi national has been arrested on charges of planning a terrorist attack on the home of former President George W. Bush. In addition, he is alleged to have plotted to use weapons of mass destruction on at least 12 hydroelectric dams and nuclear power plants located in Colorado and California. There are other indications that he might have been planning a bombing at a nightclub, as well.

Just one Ingredient away from Trinitrophenol or T.N.P.

From the Houston Chronicle "Saudi citizen at Texas college arrested in bomb plot":

WASHINGTON - Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas, was arrested late yesterday by FBI agents in Texas on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his alleged purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and his research of potential U.S. targets.

This was not a sting operation. Rather, a chemical company located in North Carolina, became suspicious of Aldawsari's order, of a unique substance concentrated phenol. The substance can be used in explosive material trinitrophenol, also known as T.N.P.

The Chronicle further explains:

Aldawsari allegedly attempted to have the phenol order shipped to a freight company so it could be held for him there, but the freight company returned the order to the supplier and called the police.

Aldawsari had already obtained all of the other ingredients to make the explosive.

Even more alarming, Aldawsari used his status as a Student "researcher" to obtain the chemical compounds.

Continuing:

Later, Aldawsari falsely told the supplier he was associated with a university and wanted the phenol for "off-campus, personal research."

Additionally:

He has also acquired or taken a substantial step toward acquiring most of the ingredients and equipment necessary to construct an IED and he has conducted online research of several potential U.S. targets...

Internet Posts: "Wage Jihad on the Infidels," opposed Iraq War

Aldawsari obtained a student Visa to come to the US specifically to launch the attacks. Records indicate he was attending a mainly career training 2-year school, South Plains College in Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock is also home to Texas Tech. (Texas Tech has a very active and organized Muslim Student Association. TTU MSA website).

Federal authorities say Aldawsari's diary indicated the young man had been plotting an attack for years and obtained a scholarship so he could come directly to the United State to carry out jihad.

Plans were also found by authorities in Aldawsari's possession, on chemical ingredients needed to construct Nitro Urea explosives, booby traps, and cell phone detonators.

Aldawsari was apparently just days away from launching the attacks, "and that the suspect was one chemical away from finishing a bomb." An entry in his diary states:

"And now, after mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for Jihad."

Aldawsari also made extremist posts on the internet.

From WTSP Tampa Bay (via CBS):

"It is war ... until the infidels leave defeated," the student wrote in online postings.

He also referred to one of his targets, Bush's Dallas-area residence, as "the Tyrant's home."

"I am falling in love with her... She is goregeous that I cann't forget her just right away"

From Eric Dondero & Stacy McCain:

Bryan Preston of Texas, a friend of this website, and currently co-editor of Pajamas Media has been hastily researching the background of the accused Saudi student terrorist Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari.

Aldawsari was a chemical engineering student at Texas Tech, and Southern Plains college nearby in Levelland.

Preston located a blog in the name of a Lubbock resident Aldawsari, called From Far Away.

From PJ Tattler:

A little searching around facebook turns up this page, which belongs to a Khalid Aldaswari of Lubbock, TX. Going by the activities and interests listed on the page, he’s Saudi and despises Israel. We’re basing the Saudi connection on his link to this page, and his link to this page, which calls for a revolution in the KSA, and his Israel hatred speculation on his link to this page. So everything points to this being Khalid Ali-M. Aldaswari’s facebook page, though of course it’s possible that there is another Saudi by the same name, in Lubbock, population about 264,000.

The English part of the blog is mostly about school, cars and girls, and his dream to work for Google.

This is an opportunity to be in the US to achieve my dream that I am working very hard and I am doing my best to catch it, that dream is mainly and simply to be an employee in google which is not impossible to achieve even if it is hard...

Was Aldawsari rejected by an American girl?

Minutes ago, the New York Times confirmed that From Far Away is indeed Khlid Ali-M Aldawsari's blog.

The affidavit says that in his journal, Mr. Aldawsari said he was inspired by the speeches of Osama Bin Laden and wrote that the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had produced a “big change” in his thinking. It also contends that he was the writer of a blog called FromFarAway90, published in a mix of English and Arabic.

The Arabic posts on that blog speak at times about war and distress in Palestine and other Muslim lands and about driving infidels out of the Islamic world, and they ask that Allah make the writer a martyr.

Searching way down in the "Older Posts," I found this gem, dated Tuesday, May 19, 2009:

I met my language partner Sarah Rice Stender and she was nice and pretty, so I like her so much. Me and my friend Adbullrahman Alhamdi were with her today for out first meeting with her and she asked us to discuss about a topic, yet she likes to talk about religioun so we did. I think she has a good point about Islam and she is knowing better about this great faith and religioun.

I am reading this day a lot of my prophet mohammed ( peace be to upon him ) to build my knowledge about my religioun and about him...

I am falling in love of her.....

She is goregeous that I cann't forget her just right away...

I am asking Allah the great to covert her to Islam and marry me.

A search for Sarah Rice Stender comes up with the photo above at this Facebook Page. Interestingly, it lists Vanderbilt Univ. in Tennessee and virtually all of her Facebook friends are college age. (Strong Caution! It is possible that there is another Sarah Rice Stender, and this is not the same individual talked of by Aldawsari).

Did a rejection from Sarah Stender possibly lead to Aldawsari’s life of Jihad?

HUGELY IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! Just 20 minutes ago, Channel 9 News out of Nashville, Tennessee broke the following story - "Terror Suspect Has A Tennessee Connection"

Following 4 background paragraphs, this new information:

Aldawsari, who previously studied at an English language center at Vanderbilt University, was legally in the U.S. on a student visa.

This is the first media to report on Aldawsari attending Vanderbilt, the same college as Sarah Rice Stender.

Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life. She will be with us during the 8:00PM hour to discuss various pro-life funding bills that are currently sailing through the House.

At 7-00 p.m. Colorado State Senator Bill Cadman will be calling in to talk about his bill to ban public employee unions.

At 7-30 There will be a debate between Joe Hargrave and Monica Miller about whether it's ok to lie to stop abortion. He does not agree with Lila Rose's methods of exposing Planned Parenthood; he considers it entrapment. Of course, Ronald Reagan, Elvis, or Flush Limbaugh might stop by.  Host Andre Traversa, Co-host Jim Lagnese

Call in at 949-203-4821

Stream from here.

Any different from Egyptian assault of CBS News Reporter Lara Logan?

From Eric Dondero:

Tabitha Hale of the Tea Party group, Freedom Works, gives a detailed description of the violence she faced covering the Union protests at the State Capitol in Madison, over at RedState. Hale was hit and her camera pushed away by a protester with Communication Workers of America. She describes a big brawly grey-bearded unionist who assaulted her and verbally attacked her colleague calling him a "little shit." She writes, "Union Thuggery Descends On FreedomWorks."

Basically, it’s ridiculous. I’m a 5?1 female in a dress, and he was standing up on a garden wall above me in the courtyard. He hardly felt threatened. I was stunned, because generally protesters are there to, you know, get their message out. They don’t normally shy away from the camera.

I’m very much okay, and very appreciative of the support from my fellow bloggers and activists today. I am, however, shaken up by the level of sheer hatred I experienced today. The look of fury on his face in the close up is appalling.

I was not asking for this. There was no confrontation between the thug and myself prior to this. He had not asked me to put the camera away

You can see the video at RedState.

She then compares the violent reaction she received in Madison to that of CBS reporter Lara Logan in Cairo a week and a half ago. Continuing:

This just can’t be tolerated anymore. It’s one thing to be called a violent teabagger. It’s another to be called a violent teabagger while you’re being assaulted. They’ve been comparing themselves to the Egyptians ousting Mubarak. Looks like they’re not too far off, given that they share the tendency to assault women with cameras.

Note - Tabitha is a friend of our own Stacy McCain. Stacy writes this morning at TheOtherMcCain:

For all their sermons about “civility,” the Left never hesitates to unleash this kind of frenzied carnival of hate against their designated scapegoats, without concern for whether they thereby create a climate in which a union goon roughs up Tabitha Hale.

Additional - Tabitha blogs and is Media Director at the Palinite, libertarian-conservative SmartGirlPolitics.

TweetLPIN Executive Director Chris Spangle participated in a debate this past Saturday with Indianapolis attorney Mark Small on the subject of education. Should America’s educational system be nationalized or should more localized with more choice? Part 1: Untitled from Mark Small on Vimeo. Part 2: Federal control of primary and secondary education debate, Part II [...]

Tweet(By Dan Drexler, Vice Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Indiana.) Regardless of the ultimate position one takes on Right-to-Work (RTW) legislation, the vote along party lines to move this bill out of committee and onto the full House floor for debate was the right action to be taken. In a session that has seen [...]

TweetFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – State House Democrats imitated their counterparts in Wisconsin by fleeing the state and failing to do the job Hoosiers hired them to do: Meeting Indiana’s challenges head on. Instead of exercising bipartisanship they pulled a political stunt to kill HB 1468, or the Right to Work bill. “Legislators are hired to [...]

TweetDisorderly behavior by the House Democrats has exposed the root of the right to work debate.  When does the individual right not to be forced to work become a violation of another’s right to have the work performed?  When there is a contract. Elected officials take an oath of office paramount in that sworn duty [...]

TweetIf you are looking to travel this spring, Pat Bauer can help you plan your next trip! We hear Urbana, IL is lovely this time of year.

TweetAt last count, 23 bills were killed by the House Democrats fleeing Indiana yesterday to avoid a quorum. Meeting quorum meant a vote had to be taken on several important bills. One of the worst victims of this political stunt is a nonpartisan redistricting commission, HJR 0001. This would establish a commission to draw electoral [...]

TweetIf Mitch Daniels gets effusive praise from Republicans for being a “political genius,” why did they ignore their leader? Going in to this legislature, his message was clear: avoid the unnecessary divisive issues. You’ll need that political capital for the budget fight. This is the long session for a reason. The General Assembly must draw [...]

Tweet Phyllis Klosinski over at LPIN.org wrote an article on the Democrats fleeing and the Constitution. I urge you to read it. The Democrats keep trying to cry filibuster, but that’s not what this is… A filibuster is NEVER mentioned in the rules of the Indiana House or Constitution. In my own opinion, the Democrats [...]

TweetAs reported in the Michigan City News Dispatch last week, local residents and small business owners have grave concerns about the proposed LaPorte County Joint Zoning Ordinance. Folks who work out of their homes may share in questioning the plan. The ordinance prohibits home-based workers from conducting business before 7:00 AM and from receiving deliveries [...]

TweetI ran into my old buddy Stinky Wilmont the other day, and in the course of our conversation, the subject of New Year’s resolutions came up. I asked Stinky if he was going to make any, and he replied that in 2011, he was going to resolve to gain 20 pounds and acquire a few [...]

LR FOLLOW-UP

Both the NY Post and UK Daily Mail pick up on Lovesick Saudi Terrorist angle

From Eric Dondero:

Late Wednesday, hours after the Saudi - Texas Terrorist Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari story broke, LR along with Stacy McCain of TheOtherMcCain connected the dots to Sarah Rice Stender at Vanderbilt University.

We wrote here at LR early Thursday morning, "Confirmed! Aldawsari attended Vanderbilt in Tenn. from Oct. 2008 to Aug. 2009":

Stacy McCain and Libertarian Republican were the very first media in the entire Nation to connect the dots late last night, to a crush Aldawsari had on a Vanderbilt co-ed Sarah Rice Stender. (Photo from her Facebook Page). However, it was unclear how Aldawsari could have met her since she was at Vanderbilt, not Texas Tech.

Now, the Star-Telegram has confirmed his residency and other media confirmed his student status at Vanderbilt in Nashville.

Classmates describe "A loner," liked Bin Laden, wished for Martyrdom

And now this from the New York Post "Tour of evil duty
'Doll-bomber' scouted targets on NYC trip" Feb. 26:

Classmates of Aldawsari -- who prosecutors say was inspired by bin Laden's rhetoric as a boy in Saudi Arabia -- described him as a loner.
He sporadically posted on his blog, "FromFarAway," an odd mix of Arabic prayers and wishes for martyrdom, and mused about watching "Resident Evil" trailers on YouTube.

Studying English as a second language at Vanderbilt University, he fell in love with his conversation partner, Sarah Rice Stender, a 58-year-old former professor of medicine at the Nashville, Tenn., school.

"She is [so] gorgeous that I can't forget her just right away . . . I am asking Allah the Great to convert her to Islam and marry me," he wrote in 2009.

Stender did not return a call for comment.

Obviously, the Post gets the "58-year-ld former professor of medicine" part wrong.

Stender's Facebook Page taken down

The UK Daily Mail confirms it is indeed the woman in the photo that we broke here at LR, by running the same photo with their story, "Saudi terror suspect loved ultra-violent video game," and adds:

Aldawsari, who was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, also blogged about his love for Sarah Rice Stender, the student who helped teach him English

Miss Rice Stender was listed as one of Aldawsari's Facebook friends.

So, we scooped both the NY Post and the UK Daily Mail. LR's piece is the second link to come up on Google seach for "Sarah Rice Stender." So, there's little doubt where the Post and Daily Mail got this news from. Though, we did not receive any link or acknowledgement in either article.

One final intriguing note: Sarah Rice Stender's Facebook Page has been taken down.