Why are the Somalis in Omaha? In Lewiston, Maine, breaking the social services net of a town with few resources and many indigenous poor? In Minneapolis, refusing service to the blind (those with seeing-eye dogs), or others carrying liquor, but managing to vote as a block, as new voters, for Keith Ellison, and all that he stands for?

Who decided in the government, or the INS, that this made sense? Who decided the United States needed immigrants from Somalia to make things even better than they are? And given what we now know, and possibly even some in our government know, especially those in Congress who take a special interest in immigration, have steps been taken to cut off the source of this particular problem? What is going on? Where is the Immigration Oversight as part of the -- oh god -- "war on terror"?

Posted by: Hugh at May 26, 2007 7:43 AM

Who decided in the government, or the INS, that this made sense? Who decided the United States needed immigrants from Somalia to make things even better than they are?

Check who is representing the states where these problems are occurring, such as Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan, etc.; and you will KNOW who in the government decided this made sense.

What is going on? Where is the Immigration Oversight as part of the -- oh god -- "war on terror"?

Do we dare call it treason or sellout? Perhaps we should write nice sweet letters of polite inquiry -- that will get us someplace alright.

Swift and Company officials had said sunset prayers could take too many workers off production lines at once, forcing them to shut down

Swift and Company ought to be shut down for good along with a few other companies that hire these people.

A mass consumer boycott would be nice, but the American people couldn't stomach such a notion.

No, most Americans will knock each other over trying to appease these islamics and try to accomodate the shifting prayer schedules.

Why, they'll even give grants to their mosques and put ritual footbaths in public places and their own expense rather than offend the sensibilites of these vermon.

Posted by: witness at May 26, 2007 8:00 AM

What are a bunch of vile, infidel hatin', jew bashin', Mohammed lovin' jihadist doing packing meat that may make it to my dinner table?

Are 1 in four of this group under 30 years old? If 25% of young muslims approve of suicide bombing why would not that segment also approve of slipping some nasty chemical or other toxics into the stuff they put into packages?

I am writing to Swift informing I will not buy their products. Here's the email address if you wish to send one also:

emailus@Swiftbrands.com

Posted by: Leave Iraq Now at May 26, 2007 8:11 AM

Im sure that the haven't gotten around to insisting handling swine is anti islamic yet, Or that seeing non muslim women dressed like whores or hearing music ,or any of the 10,000 things kafirs do that bother muslims .One step at a time.
Cave once you will be forced to cave again.

Posted by: KAOSKTRL at May 26, 2007 8:48 AM

I'm surprised these people will even work in a meat packing plant - surely the meat isn't halal ?

That will be the next thing, no doubt - they will refuse to work unless the animals are killed in accordance with islamic ritual.

Swift should fire the lot of them. If every poster on Jihad Watch sends Swift an email, maybe they will begin to see the light.

Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at May 26, 2007 9:01 AM

There will be no end to the demands for these concessions! And CAIR is helping these whiners all the way.

Posted by: Always On Watch at May 26, 2007 9:09 AM

Note to all employers: STOP HIRING MUSLIMS

Posted by: Prickzilla at May 26, 2007 9:27 AM

Shutting down a production line is NOT a reasonable accommodation for religion.

Move them off the production line and let them do something like sweeping the floors, something that does not require holding up other people's work.

Jobs are a privilege, not a right. You take a job only if you can take it on terms that the employer requires. If not, find a job or another employer that can accommodate your religious practice.

Posted by: Dave at May 26, 2007 9:49 AM

"But a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations says the workers have flexibility about when they are required to pray. And he says prayer should only take about five minutes."

Well, call me stupid, but doesn't the CAIR statement refute the chief complaint--not having enough time for sundown prayers.

They don't have to pray at a specific time (ergo; the scheduled break should suffice) and it only takes five minutes.

So, what's the beef?

Posted by: PRCS at May 26, 2007 10:09 AM

ImNoDhimmi:

You beat me to it! I'm pretty sure their next demand is going to be ensuring that all the meat they ever touch is Halal.

dolphin.
http://www.acage.org/

Posted by: dolphin at May 26, 2007 10:39 AM

What I don't understand, or hasn't been made clear in several stories such as this one, is about compensation. Are prayer times for Muslim employees deducted from their lunch/coffee break times? If not, then that means major discrimination against workers who are not taking time off for prayer...also, I would be willing to bet that they drag out prayer time, and who would know? They could take five minutes for prayer, but also 15 minutes for their ritual washing, 15 minutes to take out their prayer rugs from their lockers or cars, etc,etc...I have the same question as Leave Iraq Now. At what point in the production line are these young radical Muslims? Are they where they can slip some poison into the meat? Are there Mexicans working with them? Mexicans are frequently employed in meat packing plants. If so, are the Somali Muslims also conducting Hate/the/Americans..Come/Join/Islam classes for their Mexican co-workers on the Swift premises? Swift meats are definitely off of my shopping list and I will e-mail them about my decision.

Posted by: maryrose at May 26, 2007 10:52 AM

I was completely against all illegal immigration. Stories of 12 million illegal immigrants, many whose children are taught in bilingual classes. Where I live(not a border state), there are thousands of more workers from Mexico each year.

Bought as time passes by, all this talk of protecting the border, keeping out Mexicans crossing the border, rings false to me. And it has everything to do with the need for immigration. There is a supply of cheap labor from Mexico and a need(US demographics).

Bringing me back full circle: would you rather have 12 million illegal Muslims from Algeria, Iraq or Pakistan... escaping their failed time bombs of Islamic civilization, or would you rather have 12 million mostly hard working traditional Catholics with a strong sense of faith and family.

In the ideal world, there would be no illegal immigration. The looming threat to civilization comes not from that construction gang of traditional Catholics from south of the border. Thank g-d we don't live in Europe with their tens of millions of increasingly legal and illegal immigration that created Algeria by the Seine and a London out of the Starwars bar fight scene.

Posted by: biorabbi at May 26, 2007 12:10 PM

The question is... Is Swift meat company allowing jews, christians and people of other religions allowed to take time and pray or that just reserved for those special Muslims?

Posted by: callmeinfidel at May 26, 2007 12:39 PM

Does anyone remember our military experience with these people?
http://inquirer.philly.com/packages/somalia/nov20/default20.asp
Sooo, we just import a lot of them into the midst of the American people. Smart move, one more time.

Posted by: interestinconundrum at May 26, 2007 12:50 PM

Not to turn this into a general immigration thread, but this:

There is a supply of cheap labor from Mexico and a need(US demographics).

doesn't ring true. Yes, US demographics among the white population are awful (I'm part of the problem, having no children), but the idea that by allowing illegals into the country, big business is making out off cheap labor is clearly untrue. What skills does the average illegal have? Nothing that big business needs to make real money. I work as a corporate strategy consultant and our talent needs are at the top end of the corporate ladder, not the bottom. Illegal immigrants compete with automation technologies, not skilled labor and those industries using automation the most are usually the least profitable because they sell commodity products.

We have every reason to boot out all illegal immigrants, but let's not bash big business while we're at it.

Posted by: venividivici at May 26, 2007 1:05 PM

NO WAY.....!

Posted by: MZ at May 26, 2007 1:22 PM

Gee i bet the humiliations and persecutions they have to tolerate here are waaay worse than what they dealt with in Somalia eh?

Ingrates.

Get with the program.

Give an inch, take a mile.

Posted by: MoBlows at May 26, 2007 2:29 PM

..#*!?%* rug chewin' muppets..I'm glad Swift
has a problem..let other corporations observe and become loathe to employ these ingrates..

Posted by: Madduck at May 26, 2007 4:24 PM

Howabout the religion of:

Yer fired!

Posted by: profitsbeard at May 26, 2007 5:23 PM

Assalamau Laikum all,

What's the problem with 5 minutes in a day for prayers to allah...muslims make the best butchers ..that is why they are employed there!

Posted by: Naseem at May 26, 2007 6:20 PM

Would Swift be so accommodating if their Mexican employees all took time off to pray the Rosary? I doubt it. That's because Catholics don't threaten terror if their demands aren't met.

Maybe that's a way to fight back. While the Muslims are praying, have a few Catholics stand by loudly praying the rosary... or an Orthodox priest praying the "Jesus prayer" or a Jew reciting the Shema, or... a loud fire-and-brimstone bible-thumping Pentacostal preacher shouting at the Muslims that they need to be born again!

After all, if Swift accomodates one religion, it must give equal accomodations to all.

Posted by: Provoslavni at May 26, 2007 6:39 PM

muslims make the best butchers ..

we see that every day here on jw/dw.

Posted by: mrockroll1969 at May 26, 2007 6:40 PM

"muslims make the best butchers ..that is why they are employed there!"

Posted by: Naseem

----

Naseem, your right! Muslims are experienced butchers. 1500 years of butchering kaffirs and each other will give experience. I just don't want the guy who cuts my steak to have learned his trade by cutting off human heads and cutting out women's clitorises.

Posted by: Provoslavni at May 26, 2007 6:44 PM

but the idea that by allowing illegals into the country, big business is making out off cheap labor is clearly untrue.

I'm not sure what planet you live on, but all the
business owners I know disagree with you. They are the ones that are lobbying for the immigration.

What skills does the average illegal have? Nothing that big business needs to make real money.

Skills? All they have to know how to do is use the automated machinary. Many corporations that set up shop a few years back on the Mexican side of the border were able to teach the most illiterate to operation machinary that was computerized anyway.

I work as a corporate strategy consultant and our talent needs are at the top end of the corporate ladder, not the bottom.

The top end usually comes cheaply from China, India, or Pakistan for things like engineering on the H1-B visa program.

The cool part, is that many business were being subsidized by the US government to either move most of their production lines to these countries or to hire foreign workers over domestic Americans. It was part of the treaties and foreign trade agreements discussed by these governments and our own.

Illegal immigrants compete with automation technologies, not skilled labor and those industries using automation the most are usually the least profitable because they sell commodity products.

And some of those operators of automation technologies are low skilled illegal immigrants.

We have every reason to boot out all illegal immigrants, but let's not bash big business while we're at it.

We have every reason to boot out the illegal immigrants, arrest the owners of the big business who hire them, and charge the people in our government with treason for allowing this situation to exist in the first place.

Most of our high technology has been shipped to China and now we are worried that our high technology will be used to make advanced weaponary that could be used to kill us all!

A few of the big business have made big money in the world market at the expense of the American people who created the means for them to be in business in the first place.

That is criminal as far as I am concerned and I refuse to hire illegals or to export our production offshore -- I still make lots of money and employ lots of REAL AMERICAN citizens too!

You may not be happy about this, but so far our shareholders and board members are not complaining!

Posted by: witness at May 26, 2007 6:56 PM

The sound of both hands clapping for witness's comment.

Posted by: the poetess at May 26, 2007 7:06 PM

Can I tell you something I worked in the middle East many years ago for a Muslim firm. Ramadan was a farce. You told someone to go and do a job, they said that they had to go and pray. You could not do a thing about it, production almost stopped. When I say stopped I mean stopped. If we worked for 2 hours a day that was the maximum. . We finally got over the problem by arranging for them all to pray at the same time. We discussed it with the workers. I personally arranged the pray area I marked it out, had it swept clean, marked out area in white paint bought pray mats for them all, out of company funds . I even aligned it so that it was pointing directly towards Mecca with the help of a compass. They were very impressed that a Dhimmi would take so much trouble for them. I have some wonderful pictures of several dozen rag head praying towards a concrete mixer. We had been having quiet a lot of trouble with this particular machine. I thought that perhaps divine intervention might help so I made sure that the concrete mixer was in direct line between the concrete mixer and Mecca, It didn't work. Nothing works if you agree to their demands. Swift or any other firm should not employ Muslim and if they do should employ only non Muslims when they leave. It is as simple as that, demands like this will eventually bankrupt a firm or at least seriously reduce profits

Posted by: Holger Dansker at May 26, 2007 7:31 PM

~muslims make the best butchers...

Naseem, in this one instance I'll have to agree with you.

Posted by: Shakey_Premise at May 26, 2007 8:29 PM

I thought that the KS governor wanted these Somalis, and the NE governor offered to send them her way. What happened?

Posted by: Infidel Pride at May 26, 2007 8:36 PM

Moslem meatpackers? Do they wash their left hand? Do they use stones at the end of the toilet process? It evokes all sorts of unappetizing pictures, never mind their prayer demands. Also, do they touch meat that is not slaughtered according to Islamic specifications?

Did we import these Somailis as a gesture of thanks for how they treated our troops in Mogadishu?

So many Somalis, so many demands. Cabdrivers, meatpackers, Dell employees, where else have these Mahometans taken foothold?

Our own EOE, anti-discrimination laws will be our downfall. These, as well as any other laws that can be used against us, are being used by such villains as the CAIR crowd and their Islamic clients.

These laws are not engraved on two tablets that were brought down from Mt. Horeb or whatever. Laws can be changed. they will have to be. Never have so many caused so much discord.

Posted by: unicorns62000 at May 26, 2007 9:37 PM

witness,

I just don't see it at my level within a major corporation and I interact with the CEO on a fairly regular basis. 90%+ of people in the US know my company's name, but we absolutely, positively have no need for illegal immigrants to fill jobs to boost our bottom line.

Those are the facts. I am sure there are some landscaping businesses out there that salivate at the prospect of more illegal aliens in the country, but big business has no need for those people.

Posted by: venividivici at May 26, 2007 9:37 PM

I think that the prayer time demands serves multiple purposes for the Somalis. They can have lots of company time to do nothing and get paid for it, appear to be very pious and put a stick in the wheel, so to speak, at any company where they are employed. I had a friend whose ex-husband was from Kuwait. While living there with him, she told me that the average work day of her husband and other male relatives, all in their 30's, was between 3 and 4 hours a day, with lots of days off. Basically, the men had no work ethic. The hard workers in the Middle East were the Maronite Christians, which is why parts of Lebanon looked ordered and civilized. (before so many left) The Swift Company probably deserves all of the loss of money and production that will occur with these Muslim slackers on their payroll.

Posted by: maryrose at May 26, 2007 9:38 PM

South Omaha, once a separate city used to be the home of the largest stockyard in the US. The town’s nickname ‘The Magic City’ was derived from the booming economy and standard of living that the beef industry brought. Czech immigrants and later German and Italians originally populated the area. The jobs at the packinghouses also brought in Blacks from North Omaha and paid good union wages that enabled them to achieve their place in the middle class American Dream, while keeping their culture and languages alive. In 1893 Antonin Dvorak paid a visit to a friend and fellow Czech in Omaha, and scored his 9th Symphony: From The New World based on his impressions of the region and nation. What a fine tribute to the peoples of the US.

In the 1980’s, the beef industry underwent a radical transformation. In order to maximize profits, new beef processing plants were located in rural communities closer to cattle production areas. The proximity to feedlots reduced transportation costs, and through corporate bankruptcies and mergers the unions were forced out of business. Rural areas typically offered lower wages than in cities, and union workers would not relocate for smaller wages. There had to be a new pool of ready labor to man the plants. Immigrants from Mexico were actively imported, and ready to take the place of displaced unionized workers. Soon, the stockyards and packinghouses in the city closed and jobs dried up.

In the 1990’s, a few packinghouses reopened in Omaha, staffed by Mexican workers. South Omaha underwent revitalization much like the Czech Renaissance of the century before, with the beef industry driving the economy. As the new immigrants took jobs in the new processing plants, they were supporting families back in Mexico. In the late 1990’s, Mexico opened a Diplomatic Mission in the city. Many of these newcomers retain their ties to their nation, rather than assimilate into America’s middle-class as previous groups did.

Now come the Sudanese and Somali refugees, brought to Nebraska from Minnesota by Lutheran church groups, the same groups by the way that sponsored their relocation from Africa to Minneapolis. I am surprised to hear that they are working in the packing industry. I am more surprised that the Lutheran groups are supporting such large scale and widespread immigration by cultures that historically do not and will not assimilate into mainstream America.

It has been a while since I have been home to Omaha; I wonder how the Mexicans are receiving the shift in packinghouse worker demographic from Mexican national to African Islamic. It is frightening that the evolution of worker demographic in South Omaha bears out Marx, in that civilizations are manipulated by the needs of business. Samuel P. Huntington writes, “The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” It appears that business, while being profit driven and looking for cheap labor is unwittingly selling out The Good Life and Western Civilization right along with it. It is as sad as it is ironic that the tune of South Omaha began with the sweet music of Dvorak, morphed into the lively conjunto of Mexico and may very well end as the ugly crow of the azan.

Posted by: Shakey_Premise at May 26, 2007 10:44 PM

"It is as sad as it is ironic that the tune of South Omaha began with the sweet music of Dvorak, morphed into the lively conjunto of Mexico and may very well end as the ugly crow of the azan"

What a fine post.

"In 1893 Antonin Dvorak paid a visit to a friend and fellow Czech in Omaha, and scored his 9th Symphony

A mine of information.

leaves , whistling the 9th Symphony

Posted by: ewha1 at May 26, 2007 11:27 PM

Interesting how Muslims in their ignorance have a way of always shooting themselves in the foot.Muslims who can't scan pork, Muslims who don't want to drive people with beer or guide dogs, Muslims who want extra prayer time over and above their scheduled breaks.I'm sure the union told the Muslims they couldn't have more breaks then non-Muslims employees which is why they returned to the productions line. The reality is that employers don't need these kinds of headaches.They need employees who will do a days work for a days pay while leaving their religion out of the workplace. No employer will hire large numbers of Somali Muslims again, when almost any other group including Satanists have a better work ethic and cause less trouble.This is one reason why Americans no longer want immigrants legal or illegal coming into the country.The Somalis are legal and look at the problems they are causing, they have no place in modern civilized societies.Let them return to their hellholes in Somalia.

Posted by: Roxane at May 26, 2007 11:50 PM

ewha1, Thank you. Thank you very much. I want to be Hugh when (or if) I grow up.

ps~I was lucky enough to be in the audience at the Omaha Symphony celebrating the 100th year of the premier of the 9th. Dvorak's great grand daughter was there as a special guest. Fabulous evening.

Posted by: Shakey_Premise at May 26, 2007 11:51 PM

but big business has no need for those people.

I keep telling people the same things -- and I
have no problem finding plenty of American engineers, scientists, and highly skilled technicians to hire either.

Yes, Americans want these jobs and can do these jobs -- I don't have to go offshore to staff our high end needs.

Wishing you the best!

Posted by: witness at May 27, 2007 9:51 AM

From Shakey Promise

"ps~I was lucky enough to be in the audience at the Omaha Symphony celebrating the 100th year of the premier of the 9th. Dvorak's great grand daughter was there as a special guest. Fabulous evening"

That must have been something. Orchestras typically play above themselves when there's an anniversary going on , or the music is by the local nationalist composer.

And, on reflection, doesn't his music seem just so typical for Idaho? His expansive orchestral instincts seem to perfectly suggest the broad Idaho geography while the Czech folk melodies would identify with the Czech diaspora in the towns and villages?

Posted by: ewha1 at May 28, 2007 6:17 AM

Shakey_Premise -

Excellent post, interesting and well-written, from an insider's view.
I learned a lot.

Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at May 28, 2007 8:33 AM

For Idaho , read Nebraska.

Silly silly me

Yes, ind , a fine post from Shakey Promise.

I, on the other hand, get simple geographic locations mixed up.

DUH

Posted by: ewha1 at May 28, 2007 8:41 AM

When thousands of Jews emigrated to America at the beginning of the last century, did any of them demand this kind of velvet-glove treatment? No, they did not. Nobody dreamed of demanding special treatment or privileges due to religion. America was a Christian-majority country, but mainstream Christian. Fringe Christian groups, and there were many, got no special consideration either. The Jewish immigrants, like everyone else, just worked hard, adapted, studied, and got on with it, becoming, in a few generations, one of the wealthiest and most highly-educated minority groups in the nation, with their religion and their distinctive culture fully intact. Living well is the best revenge. These Muslim immigrants on the other hand, seem to have very little faith in their own talents, which is why, decades from now, they may well be a majority but still as poor, backward, and poorly-educated as when they started. All of which will be cold comfort to all the miserable rest of us suffering under their medieval tyranny.

Posted by: angloirishslav at May 28, 2007 6:22 PM

Dozens of Muslim meatpackers in Omaha, Nebraska
-------------------------------------------------
Don't work the Muslims in our meat packing plants!!! Poison???

Remember our other foods! Remember dog/cat food!

Haven't they already recalled some meat recently!

Posted by: Cher at May 28, 2007 9:12 PM

do not hire Muslims....in fact a ban on Muslim immigration would be fine...

Posted by: exsgtbrown at May 29, 2007 5:55 AM

I wonder if the Meatpacking Muslims have figured out that a combination of smoke breaks and prayer breaks will effectively eliminate working for more than a stretch of 30 minutes?

I'd like to know how many Meatpackers take both smoke breaks and prayer breaks.

I wonder if I shouldn't turn Muslim? Special accommodations at the workplace, sex partner rotation, justification for anything I want to do regardless whether it's 'legal' or not, nothing to bother my conscience so long as I do certain rituals, the feeling that I'm top of the heap, king of the hill, A number Onnnnnne....

not bad. Especially the womens. :)

Posted by: A_Plague_on_Both_Houses at May 29, 2007 9:43 AM