More Obama Rumors

Terrorism Training Casts Pall Over Muslim Employee : NPR. Now, to understand why the accusations against Omari were so surprising, it is important to know that at the time he ran a key Muslim outreach program for the state of Ohio. What he was doing for the state’s Department of Public Safety was considered so effective, counterterrorism officials in Washington sent him overseas to talk about it.

For those of you haven’t heard yet, a new book is coming out Monday called Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction. Written by David Kuo, who was a well-placed person in the Office of Faith Based initiatives, it details how the Bush administration used faith to further a political agenda. Via Street Prophets, I found this interview hosted on Crooks and Liars. To me the most pertinent passage is: One official who rated grant applications told Kuo, “ when I saw one of those non-Christian groups in the set I was reviewing, I just stopped looking at them…

This is What Democracy Looks Like?Making Sense of the Pew Poll on Egypt « The Revealer. The latest Pew Research Center poll results on Egypt are in, as Egyptians continue to debate what form the country’s nascent democracy should take in the wake of the January 25th Revolution. I was one of the millions of Egyptians participating in the 18-day uprising that toppled the Mubarak regime last February. I’m also a graduate student conducting research in Egypt.  So for multiple reasons, I hoped the poll would provide concrete answers on what Egyptians think at this critical juncture of our country’s…