LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR CAIR BANQUET - TOP

Today is your last chance to register for CAIR's 16th annual banquet and leadership skills training conference on Saturday, October 9 in Arlington, Va. If you do not register online or call 202-646-6045 by 5 p.m. today, you will not hear from speakers such as University of Chicago Professor Robert Pape, the author of a groundbreaking new book showing that foreign occupation -- not religion -- motivates suicide terror attacks.

Other speakers at the CAIR annual banquet will include Park51 developer Sharif El-Gamal, Muslim 9/11 first responders, noted journalist Helen Thomas, and internationally-renowned Muslim scholar Dr. Tariq Ramadan. Mo Amer of the "Allah Made Me Funny" comedy group will provide entertainment.

Register for CAIR's conference and banquet.

To make a reservation over the phone or to reserve an entire table for eight people, call202-742-6454, or e-mail banquet@cair.com [NOTE: No tickets will be sold at the door and CAIR banquets have in past years been sold out events.]

CAIR's day-long training conference will include sessions for public speaking, on-camera interviews, using social media, political engagement, challenging Islamophobia and knowing your legal rights with law enforcement agencies.

See descriptions of the training sessions.

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CAUGHT SPYING ON STUDENT, FBI DEMANDS GPS TRACKER BACK - TOP
Kim Zetter, Wired.com, 10/7/10

A California student got a visit from the FBI this week after he found a secret GPS tracking device on his car, and a friend posted photos of it online. The post prompted wide speculation about whether the device was real, whether the young Arab-American was being targeted in a terrorism investigation and what the authorities would do.

It took just 48 hours to find out: The device was real, the student was being secretly tracked and the FBI wanted their expensive device back, the student told Wired.com in an interview Wednesday.

The answer came when half-a-dozen FBI agents and police officers appeared at Yasir Afifi’s apartment complex in Santa Clara, California, on Tuesday demanding he return the device.

Afifi, a 20-year-old U.S.-born citizen, cooperated willingly and said he’d done nothing to merit attention from authorities. Comments the agents made during their visit suggested he’d been under FBI surveillance for three to six months.

An FBI spokesman wouldn’t acknowledge that the device belonged to the agency or that agents appeared at Afifi’s house. . .

Afifi’s attorney, who works for the civil liberties-focused Council on American-Islamic Relations, said this kind of tracking is more egregious than the kind her office usually sees.

"The idea that it escalates to this level is unusual," said Zahra Billoo. "We take about one new case each week relating to FBI or law enforcement visits [to clients]. Generally they come to the individual’s house or workplace, and there are issues that arise from that."

However, she said that after learning about Afifi’s experience, other lawyers in her organization told her they knew of two people in Ohio who also recently discovered tracking devices on their vehicles. (More)

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ANGLE: MUSLIM LAW TAKING HOLD IN PARTS OF US - TOP
Cristina Silva, Associated Press, 10/7/10

LAS VEGAS — U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle told a crowd of supporters that the country needs to address a "militant terrorist situation" that has allowed Islamic religious law to take hold in some American cities. . .

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based advocacy group, called Angle's statements "bizarre."

"This seems to be an example of incoherent bigotry. It is pretty clear that she has something against Islam and Muslims but she is so incoherent you don't know what she stands for," Hooper said. "The proper response would have been, 'American Muslims are citizens like anyone else. They are free to practice their faith,' not seeming to agree that Muslims are somehow seeking to take over." (More)

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MOSQUE CONTROVERSY HEATS UP IN NEW COURT MOTIONS - TOP
Nick Beres, News Channel 5, 10/7/10

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. - The controversy over construction of a new mosque inRutherford County is heating up. This comes in the wake of a strongly-worded court filing this week that is part of the ongoing lawsuit by opponents of the mosque. They want an injunction to stop construction.

Opponents of the mosque argue, among other things, that the county did not legally approve plans for the mosque. County officials strong dispute that.

Joe Brandon, the attorney for opponents of the mosque, wrote in the motion: "The localRutherford county government is engaging in willful obstruction of justice." And he asks: If Osama bin Laden made application, would they have felt led then to look into what was being proposed?"

"When you get into where Osama bin Laden gets mentioned, I think it shows you have no argument," said NewsChannel 5 legal analyst Jim Todd. (More)