FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.
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June 17: A picture posted on Twitter shows thousands protesting after disputed presidential elections in Tehran.
June 17: A picture posted on Twitter shows thousands protesting after disputed presidential elections in Tehran.
CAIRO — They're the most feared men on the streets of Iran.
The pro-government Basij militia has held back its full fury during this week's street demonstrations. But witnesses say the force has unleashed its violence in shadowy nighttime raids, attacking suspected opposition sympathizers with axes, daggers, sticks and other crude weapons.
At least once, the militiamen opened fire on a crowd of strone-throwing protesters. State media said seven were killed.
If supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei authorizes a crackdown on protesters calling for a new presidential election, as he warned on Friday, the Basij will almost certainly be out in force.
Formed during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Basij became one of Iran's most zealous forces in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, often leading charges through minefields.
The group, which is controlled by the elite Revolutionary Guard, also was unleashed on dissidents in the 1990s, when teenagers and young men in plainclothes beat protesting students with batons. It's an intimidation tactic opposition supporters say has been revived during this week's outpouring of anti-government protest.
"The Basij began as cannon fodder for the Revolutionary Guard during the war with Iraq. Now, they are there to do the dirty work for them: breaking up parties, hassling women about their hijab (head covering) and much more violent acts," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born independent analyst living in Israel.
The Basij has leaders based in mosques in every village and city throughout Iran, giving it the widest security network in the country, said Mehdi Khalaji, a senior fellow with The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a specialist in Iranian politics.
The Iranian government says there are 5 million members in total, but Khalaji told The Associated Press on Friday that active members number around 1 million.
The Revolutionary Guard, a military force that answers to Iran's supreme leader, is considered a strong supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Basij was used to mobilize support for him in the 2005 election as well as during last week's vote, Khalaji said.
In addition to their salaries, militia members — known as Basijis — get incentives such as easy entrance to universities and licenses and loans for businesses.
The most senior members are issued guns. But the majority use sticks, pepper spray and other crude weapons. "They carry guns, batons and they are driving motorcycles," Khalaji said. "With the motorcycles they go suddenly, they start to drive into the crowd with high speed. They beat people with electric batons."
Some Basijis shave their beards and wear jeans to blend in with opposition supporters, infiltrating a crowd and then attacking, he said.
Amateur videos and photographs from Iran posted online in recent days have shown what appear to be attacks on people and property in cities around Iran carried out by young men wearing ordinary clothing. The images cannot be authenticated because of Iranian government restrictions on the media and telephone and Internet communication in and out of the country.
Khamenei's personal bodyguards, who protect his home and office, control Tehran's Basij force, and his stern warning Friday of a crackdown if protests continue was an unambiguous threat to send the militiamen into the streets, Khalaji said.
Members of the Basij and the Revolutionary Guard were on the streets of Tehran after midday prayers Friday, though not in overwhelming numbers.
So far, the Basij has refrained from widespread attacks on demonstrators. But witnesses say the militiamen took part in a police raid on Tehran University dormitories on Sunday night after students hurled stones, bricks and firebombs at police — one of the few violent episodes during this week's rallies.
Basij members used axes, sticks and daggers to ransack student rooms and smash computers and furniture, wounding many students, according to witnesses.
A day later, students attacked a compound used by the Basij and tried to set it on fire. Gunmen on the roof fired on the crowd and killed seven people, according to state media.
Amateur videos that appear to be from that clash showed men carrying away the wounded on streets spattered with blood as fires burned in the distance and gunfire crackled.
This doesn't look like NOT reporting about Iran to me.
credible source. I happen to think it is. I am satisfied with the b/c photos there AND the certification. What would it take? Does Obama need to go door to door with the b/c? I really don't expect the SC to ever even hear the case. The lawsuits are obviously brought with people who have an axe to grind.
As for the Constitution.........George W. Bush would have destroyed it, didn't he say something like "it's just a piece of paper." Why no uproar about that?
Think for a minute of what would happen if Obama were to be disqualified as you and others seem to want. The election was held. It is over. People had ample time to study the candidates BEFORE the election. The PEOPLE spoke. We're at the brink of disaster on so many levels. I have researched probably as much as you have...including Factcheck. One thing is sure, I don't watch Fox News!
Re FactCheck, I'm a
democrat, and there have been plenty of times through the years that FactCheck and Snopes have posted facts/findings that I haven't liked and that were none to flattering, so I do believe both sources try to stick to FACTS.
And as far as everything else you posted, I agree 100%! How can ANYONE with a brain still argue against a certified birth certificate AND an old birth announcement from the newspaper archives?! People are grasping at straws. But then again, these are people who think the country was doing great under republicans, that Iraq attacked the WTC, and who don't even recognize the impending DEPRESSION Bush threw us into, which McCain would've continued exactly the same, so what else can you expect from these people.
Aaaah, there's that factcheck you seem to get
Don't forget that factcheck.org is part of the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania and is funded by the Annenberg Foundation that employed Obama in Chicago
AND here's the LATEST proof of which you have none to refute it....
AND IF YOU WILL DO YOUR HOMEWORK.....you will discover this case HAS NOT been dismissed as of today.....it's still going forward
Ah, there's that factcheck.....hmmmm
Don't forget that factcheck.org is part of the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania and is funded by the Annenberg Foundation that employed Obama in Chicago.
A second false quote has Obama saying he would "stand with the Muslims," words that don't appear in his book. What he actually said is that he would stand with American immigrants from Pakistan or Arab countries should they be faced with something like the forced detention of Japanese-American families in World War II:
They call it worst security glitch to date in state's voting machines and a 'big deal'
By Stephanie Desmon Sun reporter
May 12, 2006
Computer security experts say they have found the worst security flaw yet in the oft-criticized touch-screen machines that Maryland voters will use in this year's elections, leaving one computer scientist to warn that the state should have stacks of paper ballots on hand in case of a complete Election Day breakdown.
The machines, made by Diebold Elections Systems, are much, much easier to attack than anything we've previously said, said Avi Rubin, a Johns Hopkins University computer science professor who first cast doubt on the reliability of the technology in a 2003 report.
On a scale of one to 10, if the problems we found before were a six, this is a 10. It's a totally different ballgame, he said.
The new problem is being described as an intentional hole left in the system to allow elections workers to update voting software easily. Instead of using pass codes or other security protocols, anyone with access to a voting machine could install new software that could easily disable a precinct full of machines, Rubin said.
Diebold officials say they are aware of the situation and, although they say any problem can be avoided by keeping a close watch on voting machines, they are developing a permanent fix.
Still, said company spokesman David K. Bear, it's one more what-if scenario. ... It's becoming somewhat ridiculous.
Maryland elections officials said they have known about the latest concerns for two weeks and will have an independent security consultant look into them next week to ensure that the state's Diebold machines are safe.
We are taking steps, said state elections administrator Linda H. Lamone. She said she is confident that the problem will have little effect in Maryland because of strict rules about who is permitted to handle voting machines in the state. Everyone that has access to them has to undergo a criminal background check, she said.
Before the Diebold machines were distributed statewide about two years ago, questions arose about whether hackers might be able to get into the automated-teller-like computers and alter their software, allowing multiple votes, vote-switching and other problems.
Computer experts, including Rubin, said security measures were insufficient and poorly designed. Activists pushed to add a paper ballot component to the machines in case a recount was needed.
Still, the state moved forward and nearly every voter in Maryland used a touch-screen machine in the 2004 presidential election. There were few complaints or problems.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. called on the state this year to abandon its touch-screen machines, saying he had no confidence in the technology, in part because lawmakers adopted other voting changes such as early voting.
He put money into his budget to pay for optical scan machines, which were used in the state for years before 2004. The General Assembly did not approve a voting machine switch during this year's session, which ended last month.
Rubin said he fears that the latest security problem could be serious enough to cause an Election Day meltdown that could put precincts of machines out of action. He recommends that counties have a pen-and-paper alternative on hand as insurance.
Joseph M. Getty, the governor's legislative and policy director, called the newly disclosed security flaw not really a new problem.
It's the same problem of vulnerability to outsiders, he said.
Getty said the latest Diebold problem bolsters the administration's case against early voting, which was approved by the legislature last year. He said any security risk can be minimized in one day of voting but is multiplied when machines are in public use for six days.
Michael Shamos, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a Pennsylvania voting machine examiner, pushed his state, which will have a primary election next week, to lay out strict new rules for installing software and sealing machines for safety.
It's a big deal. It's a very big deal, Shamos said. The good part is it's very easy to fix. You have to repair it. You can't just do nothing. ... It's not just like leaving the key to your door under the mat. It's like leaving the key dangling from a string from the door.
The temporary fix, Shamos said, involves reinstalling the proper software just before the election, preferably in a public setting, then locking the machines to keep them from being tampered with before voting begins.
In 2004, Shamos testified on behalf of the state of Maryland in a suit filed by a citizens group asking a court to compel the state to address possible security problems and give voters the option of using paper ballots instead of the new machines. The state won.
If I had known about this problem then, I wouldn't have had good things to say, he said.
The latest security hole was discovered by Finnish computer scientist Harri Hursti, who was doing work in Utah for Black Box Voting Inc., a nonprofit group that has focused on computerized voting.
Most computer scientists don't want to disclose too many details about the problem because they fear that would provide hackers with the tools needed to cause havoc during an election. They waited many weeks before making their findings public.
We were worried the threat was so serious that if the details were to get out, someone could actually do it, Rubin said.
The financial crisis is happening NOW and has to be handled NOW. Our country is collapsing. If we do not do some sort of bail out, we all will still suffer from this. The value of the dollar will go down. It will be much much harder and pretty much impossible for some to get loans from banks. This means people won't be buying anything big like vehicles, homes, etc. That will ruin sales even more than it is now. Car companies will have to cut back on production because people can't get loans to buy. The car dealers will start closing down because you can't make money if you can't sell vehicles. Think of the jobs lost right there and that is just with vehicles.
I don't feel that we should have to foot the bill. I'm totally disgusted that our government has allowed it to get this far out of wack but we have to do something to get money back into the market. If we do nothing, the consequence will be horrific. We have to do something and we have to do something fast and that is more important than a debate especially since we have until November for elections.
why, I don't know. It could be that the post office changed our street address 4 times yet lived here since ྈ. I wasn't on the list even though I've been registered since 1988 and voted every election. All of a sudden, I had to fill out a special form to vote. Last local primary, they wouldn't let me vote and I had to re-register. Stupid!
This year I called to make sure I was registered and they said yes. Got a new registration card with the old address on it, but no trouble this year. I was #235 at 7:30 a.m.
this country and makes us ripe for the end. He does not support Israel. Keep your eyes on Israel. I look for them to bomb Iran before Bush's term is up because they know Obama will not suport them. (2008-11-05)
So they didn't attack Iran, they invaded the Gaza Strip, but they made their move before Mr. Bush's term was up. I also posted Biden's own words regarding Obama - "Mark my words, it will not be six months for the world tests Barak Obama...."
Looks like Obama's test has begun. I hope he's ready, but I know he is not. He doesn't support Israel and that will be a huge mistake!
The McCain/Palin GOP is already in the process of stealing the Ohio vote, as was done in 2004. Among those at the center of the GOP strategy is Bush Family computer operative Michael Connell, who programmed the key vote counting mechanisms that were used to give George W. Bush his second term.
Those 2 elections didn't leave a
shred of honesty in our election process. As I recall in 2000 GWB declared himself to be president before he was declared the winner wrongly. And people talk about Obama's b/c and want to know the "truth" about that. I'd like to know the truth about the 2000 and 2004 elections and then I might be willing to talk about the "truth" of O's b/c.
This is the year 2008 - times have changed
So you think that because you work at home that's the way it should be for everyone. Sorry but this is the year 2008. I for one am glad that woman are out working in society/public. I'm glad that a mother can also be a govenor or senator or anything they want to be. My working at home is my choice. Thank goodness we as woman have that choice. And thanks to people like Sarah Palin it can only get better for us.
2.6 million jobs lost in 2008 alone.
There are plenty of able-bodied folks out there who are out of work ALSO through no fault of their own, in view of this ever shrinking job market. Handicapped have to overcome THAT obstacle, too.
and in 2006, he stated he would not run for president in 2008 (nm)
This is why there should be no machines involved. How about paper votes. How about a piece of paper with two name and a picture of each of them next to their name. This way if you cant read english you will recognize the person. Then you have a box next to it, put an X, a check, or even fill in the box and let people handcount the votes (no chads). I'd rather wait a day or two to find out who won and know it is a legitimate vote.
2 elections stolen? baloney. Meaningless war? Go
nm
Has the country decided not to hold any more elections
Was 2008 the very last election? I thought every four years there is an election. I also thought, according to past elections, that people should not just assume someone will win. They assumed Gore would win and he didn't, they assumed Kerry would win and he did not. Hence I would not assume Obama will win a second term. If he turns out to be a good president and we still have elections in 4 years, and nothing happens between now and then, then and only then will he most likely be re-elected. But since the guy has not even been sworn in yet and made any major decisions I would not be so bold as to just go on like he's going to be in for eight years. There is that slight possibility that he could very well be a crappy president like Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter (especially with all the people he is picking for his cabinet). I know the country is ready for a change and GW hasn't been the best, but until a man serves in the office we don't know what kind of a president he will be.
Unless of course you have heard something that none of us have heard and there will never be any more elections in the future. I have heard and read that Obama is a socialist, and maybe we are heading toward the same thing Cuba faces. The leader just appoints himself to the office every time. So maybe that is what you are referring to.
Hallelujah! Leftists in EU elections across Europe are
Don't think this will go unnoticed on this side of the pond as well. Obama's numbers shriveling, the Democratic-dominated Congress even worse numbers...and the Republican gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, of all places, is leading the Democrat incumbent by double digits in the polls. Those who crowed prematurely about the demise of conservatism are going to find that the toe tag has been switched - and they're the ones who will end up wearing it. Why? Because they got above themselves and WENT TOO FAR. It's so true, isn't it - "pride goeth before a fall".
Conservatives Racing Ahead in EU Parliamentary Elections:
'Iran does not allow international election monitors. During the 2005 election, when Ahmadinejad won the presidency, there were some allegations of vote rigging from losers, but the claims were never investigated.'
ALEXANDRIA, VA. --- The Media Research Center today announced its Best Notable Quotables of 2008: The 21st Annual Awards for the Year’s Worst Reporting, and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews “won” the dubious honor of Quote of the Year for gushing over a Barack Obama speech back in February: “I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often….And that is an objective assessment.”
Top runner-up for Quote of the Year went to Reuters for this ridiculous post-election headline: “Media bias largely unseen in U.S. presidential race.”
MRC President Brent Bozell: “Year after year, the liberal media outdo themselves in providing conservatives the sheer joy of laughing at their own words. The year of the Obama Paparazzi was no different, as they salivated over their savior and did everything in their power to crush conservatives. And we wonder why Americans don’t trust the media.”
This year’s winners were selected by a panel of 44 judges, consisting of radio talk show hosts, magazine editors, columnists, editorial writers, and media observers. Judges this year include columnist Cal Thomas, radio host Neal Boortz, economist Walter Williams, American SpectatorEditor R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., and former National Review publisher William A. Rusher. To read all the award-winning quotes, along with audio and video clips of the broadcast quotes, please visit www.MRC.org.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MRC’s 2008 AWARDS:
The Obamagasm Award "Some princes are born in palaces. Some are born in mangers. But a few are born in the imagination, out of scraps of history and hope." — Time’s Nancy Gibbs in the November 17 cover story.
Half-Baked Alaska Award for Pummeling Palin "The fact of the matter is, the comparison between her [Sarah Palin] and Hillary Clinton is the comparison between an igloo and the Empire State Building!" — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Hardball, October 14.
The Irrelevant Reverend Wright Award "To see his [Jeremiah Wright’s] career completely destroyed by three 20-second soundbites, all of the work he has done, his entire legacy gone down the drain, has been absolutely devastating to me — to him, sorry....We are still a racist country." — Washington Post writer Sally Quinn on PBS’s Charlie Rose, April 30.
From Camelot to Obamalot Award "Today, the audacity of hope had its rendezvous with destiny....Obama is now an adopted son of Camelot. His candidacy blessed not just by the Lion of the Senate, patriarch of the clan, but by JFK’s daughter." — David Wright on ABC’s Nightline January 28.
The Crush Rush Award for Loathing Limbaugh Author/humorist P.J. O’Rourke: "It’s the twilight of the radio loud-mouth, you know? I knew it from the moment the fat guy [Rush Limbaugh] refused to share his drugs...." Host Bill Maher: "You mean the OxyContin that he was on?...Why couldn’t he have croaked from it instead of Heath Ledger?" — HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, February 8.
Politics of Meaninglessness Award for the Silliest Analysis "Not doing it [fighting global warming] will be catastrophic. We’ll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years, and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals." — CNN founder Ted Turner on PBS’s Charlie Rose, April 1.
Madness of King George Award "When somebody asks you, sir, about the cooked books and faked threats you foisted on a sincere and frightened nation; when somebody asks you, sir, about your gallant, noble, self-abnegating sacrifice of your golf game so as to soothe the families of the war dead; this advice, Mr. Bush: Shut the h@!! up! Good night and good luck." — MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann in a "Special Comment" on Countdown, May 14.
Barbra Streisand Political IQ Award for Celebrity Vapidity "If you have a few hundred followers, and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If you have a billion, they call you ‘Pope.’ It’s like, if you can’t pay your mortgage, you’re a deadbeat. But if you can’t pay a million mortgages, you’re Bear Stearns and we bail you out. And that is who the Catholic Church is: the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia." — Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time, April 11.
Admitting the Obvious Award “When NBC News first assigned me to the Barack Obama campaign, I must confess my knees quaked a bit....I wondered if I was up to the job. I wondered if I could do the campaign justice.” — NBC reporter Lee Cowan in an article for NBC’s “The Peacock” advertising supplement, March 23-29.
Other 2008 Award Categories:
• The "Pay Up You Patriots" Award • D%$N Those Conservatives Award • Let Us Fluff Your Pillow Award for Soft & Cuddly Interviews • Media Hero Award • The Great Goracle Award • Good Morning Morons Award • The John Murtha Award for Painting America as Racist • MSNBC = Maudlin Sycophantic Nutty Blathering Chris Award
In a stinging blow to the Bush administration, the Supreme Court has ruled prisoners in Guantanamo Bay can challenge their detention in civilian federal courts. The ruling marked the third time in four years the Supreme Court has ruled against the Bush administration concerning the rights of Guantanamo prisoners.
In the year 1993 the Palestinians concentrated in the 'Gaza Strip', this is a tiny, tiny land strip where 1.5 million Palestinians are living under horrible circumstances and in fear of Israeli attacks.
November 2008 Israel invaded Gaza and massacred Palestinians living there and the whole world condemned this act.
This is history!
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