The Local Puppy Trainer covers a man running for Congress in Florida’s 2^nd district – Candidate: Islam is against everything America stands for

PANAMA CITY — A Congressional candidate told local high school and middle school students Tuesday that Islam’s plan is to destroy the American way of life.

“I’m totally against it. If I had my way, it would pretty much be over my dead body,” said Ron McNeil, a candidate for the U.S. House District 2 seat, who was referring to a controversial plan to build an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City. “That religion is against everything America stands for. If we have to let them build it, make them build it nine stories underground, so we can walk above it as citizens and Christians.”

Some people in the audience applauded McNeil’s response. However, one student appeared up-set and asked McNeil what gave him or the federal government the right to tell an American that they can’t build an institution.

“This religion’s plan is to destroy our way of life,” McNeil said.

The student responded by saying he did not feel it was a Christian’s place to determine whether Islam is right or wrong.

“It’s our place as Christians to stand up for the word of God and what the Bible says,” McNeil replied.

The last time I checked there isn’t a single reference to Islam in the Bible and a lot of references to being nice, and not judging. There’s also that document called the Constitution that allows non-Catholics to live in Florida, which wasn’t the case when the area was ruled by Spain. There have been Muslims in the United States since the country’s founding, so they aren’t working very hard at destroying our way of life.

I fail to see what a zoning decision in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City has to do with who represents Florida’s 2^nd Congressional district. Oh, yes, dude, you were pwned by that kid when you couldn’t respond to his question.

It’s Monday in Australia and no one is sure who won the election. Last time I looked Labor had 73 to the conservatives 70 with three seats still undecided. Independents are down to 3 seats and the Greens have 1. The guess/prediction is a 73-73 draw with the winner being the party that promises the independents the best package.

I was off the ‘Net for a while due to more severe than normal thunderstorms this afternoon. When the lightning is close enough to essentially suck the electricity out of your display it is time to shut things down, even if you have battery back-up. So far this month we have had 4 days without rain, 4 days with just rain, and 14 days with thunderstorms. It’s time to find out what an “ell” is and where you get “gopher wood”. The fireants are hoarding magnolia leaves.

That is an artist’s conception of what the Park51/Cordoba House project will look like. You will never get that view after it’s built because the two-lane street is one-way with parking on both sides and the building across the street has an awning over the the sidewalk.

The building is going to be a standard glass and concrete box that is 13 stories high and is going in the north side of Park Lane. It will not have a view of “Ground Zero” unless you have x-ray eyes because south of it is 100 Church Street, a 20-story office block, and, if that wasn’t there the next block south is another 20-story office block.

Because all of the streets in the area are one-way, if you see this building on the way to “Ground Zero”, you are either lost, or being ripped off by a cab driver.

If you are interested, this is what a mosque in Manhattan looks like. The article talks about the site and building requirements needed for a mosque.

Position: 14.2N 35.9W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [315°] near 13 mph [20 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [80 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1000 mb ↓.

Currently about 770 miles [1240 km] West of the Cape Verde Islands.

It looks like it will become the second hurricane this season sometime tomorrow.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]