I think everyone needs to band together and have a anti-illegal imigrant rally at the courthouse.

If you would like to know what an infidel is, let me fill you in. If you are not Muslim, then you are an infidel. Depending what kind of infidel you are will determine the punishment you deserve. If you don't believe me, then read it all for yourselves. Me? I am a patriot, and I will not bow down to Islam. I do not want Islam in my country. Period.

-- Posted by Bob Johanse on Fri, Aug 8, 2008, at 7:06 PM

Isn't it funny you just described yourself when talking about Islam...

I am a journalist too. In my toolshed, along with my doctors degree, my law degree. Anyone can say something and point to a link. Anyone can be a member of Associated Content, which is not a part of the Associated Press. Really I am happy you want to be a part of this, but to argue with people over semantics gets no where fast. Write your article and when done, let us know. I am interested in reading it.

***************

Oh, and vandalyzed, don't come in here proclaiming you're a journalist unless you can post some credentials. As far as I can see, you're merely a silly blogger who pretends to be highly educated liberal with a big mouth and a large keyboard.

-- Posted by Bob Johanse on Thu, Aug 7, 2008, at 9:52 PM

***************

Please, Bob... If you are going to try to sound intelligent, there is no need for 100% plagiarism from other websites. And yes, I ran it through a plagiarism tool, so don't come back and deny it.

That is to say, the same plagiarism tool I run my articles through to both ensure that I don't infringe upon anyones work and that others haven't stolen mine.

As for whether I am a journalist or a big-mouthed blogger... Google me. Greg Wendland

-waits a few seconds-

Happy now?

I pretend nothing. Not only am I a credible person, but I'm an honest person.

It's ok, no need for you to feel foolish or anything, I understand that you like to type without thinking. No worries.

Actually you would have gotten away with attacking my credibility and integrity... this is the first time I've been back here since the last post I made. Only stepped back in because of needing to provide some information to the editor for the ARTICLE I'VE WRITTEN...

-blinks-

Oh, that's right.. forgot.. not a journalist.

How very unamerican!!!! In any relationship there is compromise so why not give employees a choice of which holiday they prefer. So what if on labor day the few have to carry a bigger load on one single day it is the price everyone has to pay to work together.

If America is going to be a big melting pot then we have to learn to accomodate both and not punish Americans. Lets be fair here.

To all the Muslims that don't feel welcome here in Shelbyville and feel like we are not welcoming you with welcome arms, there are job openings in a town that wants you there, read the link below.

http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromi...

What will they ask for next? Oh, I know, all the women in the plant must cover their entire bodies and only show their noses!! (First in the plant and then in the town) Outta' here!! In some of these muslim countries you can't even carry a cross, because they'd lynch you. You come to this country and you adapt to its ways, not the other way around. We don't go around trading National Holidays for holy days. Yes, we are a melting pot, but we line-up single file. No Tyson chicken in my house. I can make my own hamburgers at home so I won't have to stop at McDonalds or Burger King who are also supplied by Tyson. At least until they break off with them. KFC you'd better get another supplier too, because I won't buy from you either while your doing business with those who would probably sell their relatives to make a buck. Oh, and I will stick with it. I routed this at work and everyone is on board with the boycot. Tyson management, you have made the mistake of your life!! Perdue, you can crank-it-up a notch, and I won't mind paying a little bit more. The sacrifice will be worth the respect for our values, our culture and our whole way of life.

The figures have been muddied by various newspaper accounts but, from what I have been able to gather, the Tyson chicken operation in Shelbyville employs some 1,200 people and 1,000 of them are union workers. Of the workers, 250 are Somali Muslims, so, if 80% of union members voted for this agreement as the union has stated, that means that, assuming that all 250 Muslims are union members and voted for the Eid provision, something like 550 American workers knowingly and deliberately voted to replace their established, well known secular celebration of Labor Day with the Muslim religious celebration of Eid; perhaps to demonstrate their profound commitments to religious diversity and multiculturalism and their love for the Somalis.

I found this to be ludicrous on its face and just, frankly, unbelievable i.e. a lie.

So, just how many American union members who are not Muslims actually voted and what were they told they were voting on? Were they told or even aware that the contract contained this provision about Eid? I just can't imagine that if, say, they got to vote on a stand alone Eid provision, any of these American union members would vote for it.

So, what really happened here?

Oh, and vandalyzed, don't come in here proclaiming you're a journalist unless you can post some credentials. As far as I can see, you're merely a silly blogger who pretends to be highly educated liberal with a big mouth and a large keyboard.

-- Posted by Bob Johanse on Thu, Aug 7, 2008, at 9:52 PM

So what are you? A silly blogger who pretends to be slightly educated red neck with a big mouth and a ginormous keyboard? I mean really, what in the hell does that have to do with this conversation.

And all of the whiners about "prayer in school.." get over it, your kids and their teachers can pray all day long, they just can not force other students to pray with them... And I guarantee you the vast majority of you who piss and moan about not being able to pray never say your prayers before bed, and most certainly do not pray before your meals...

It is highly ironic that you complain you can't pray when all you have to do is shut up and pray...

@ Vandalyzed:

What about the Crusades?

The obvious response to this question is, "Well, what about them?" Violence committed in the name of other religions is logically unconnected to the question of whether Islam is violent. But, by mentioning the Crusades, the hope of the Islamic apologist is to draw attention away from Islamic violence and paint religions in general as morally equivalent.

In both the Western academia and media as well as in the Islamic world, the Crusades are viewed as wars of aggression fought by bloody-minded Christians against peaceful Muslims. While the Crusades were certainly bloody, they are more accurately understood as a belated Western response to centuries of jihad than as an unprovoked, unilateral attack. Muslim rule in the Holy Land began in the second half of the 7th century during the Arab wave of jihad with the conquests of Damascus and Jerusalem by the second "rightly-guided Caliph," Umar. After the initial bloody jihad, Christian and Jewish life there was tolerated within the strictures of the dhimma and the Muslim Arabs generally permitted Christians abroad to continue to make pilgrimage to their holy sites, a practice which proved lucrative for the Muslim state. In the 11th century, the relatively benign Arab administration of the Holy Land was replaced with that of Seljuk Turks, due to civil war in the Islamic Empire. Throughout the latter half of the 11th century, the Turks waged war against the Christian Byzantine Empire and pushed it back from its strongholds in Antioch and Anatolia (now Turkey). In 1071, Byzantine forces suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in what is now Eastern Turkey. The Turks resumed the jihad in the Holy Land, abusing, robbing, enslaving, and killing Christians there and throughout Asia Minor. They threatened to cut off Christendom from its holiest site, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, rebuilt under Byzantine stewardship after it was destroyed by Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in 1009.

It was in this context of a renewed jihad in the Middle East that the Roman Pope, Urban II, issued a call in 1095 for Western Christians to come to the aid of their Eastern cousins (and seems to have harbored the hope of claiming Jerusalem for the Papacy after the Great Schism with Eastern Christianity in 1054). This "armed pilgrimage," in which numerous civilians as well as soldiers took part, would eventually become known years later as the First Crusade. The idea of a "crusade" as we now understand that term, i.e., a Christian "holy war," developed years later with the rise of such organizations as the Knights Templar that made "crusading" a way of life. It worth noting that the most ardent Crusaders, the Franks, were exactly those who had faced jihad and razzias for centuries along the Franco-Spanish border and knew better than most the horrors to which Muslims subjected Christians. At the time of the First Crusade, the populations of Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine, though ruled by Muslims, were still overwhelmingly Christian. The "Crusading" campaigns of the Western Christian armies were justified at the time as a war liberating the Eastern Christians, whose population, lands, and culture had been devastated by centuries of jihad and dhimmitude. Conquering territory for God in the mode of jihad was an alien idea to Christianity and it should not be surprising that it eventually died out in the West and never gained ascendancy in the East.

Following the very bloody capture of Jerusalem in 1099 by the Latin armies and the establishment of the Crusader States in Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem, the Muslim and Christian forces fought a see-saw series of wars, in which both parties were guilty of the usual gamut of wartime immorality. Over time, even with reinforcing Crusades waged from Europe, the Crusader States, strung out on precarious lines of communication, slowly succumbed to superior Muslim power. In 1271, the last Christian citadel, Antioch, fell to the Muslims. No longer having to divert forces to subdue the Christian beachhead on the Eastern Mediterranean, the Muslims regrouped for a 400-year-long jihad against Southern and Eastern Europe, which twice reached as far as Vienna before it was halted. In geostrategic terms, the Crusades can be viewed as an attempt by the West to forestall its own destruction at the hands of Islamic jihad by carrying the fight to the enemy. It worked for a while.

Significantly, while the West has for some time now lamented the Crusades as mistaken, there has never been any mention from any serious Islamic authority of regret for the centuries and centuries of jihad and dhimmitude perpetrated against other societies. But this is hardly surprising: while religious violence contradicts the fundamentals of Christianity, religious violence is written into Islam's DNA.

Next question:

If Islam is violent, why are so many Muslims peaceful?

This question is a bit like asking, "If Christianity teaches humility, tolerance, and forgiveness, why are so many Christians arrogant, intolerant, and vindictive?" The answer in both cases is obvious: in any religion or ideology there will be many who profess, but do not practice, its tenets. Just as it is often easier for a Christian to hit back, play holier-than-thou, or disdain others, so it is often easier for a Muslim to stay at home rather than embark on jihad. Hypocrites are everywhere.

Furthermore, there are also people who do not really understand their own faith and so act outside of its prescribed boundaries. In Islam, there are likely many Muslims who do not really understand their religion thanks to the importance of reciting the Quran in Arabic but not having to understand it. It is the words and sounds of the Quran that attract Allah's merciful attention rather than Quranic knowledge on the part of the supplicant. Especially in the West, Muslims here are more likely to be attracted by Western ways (which explains why they are here) and less likely to act violently against the society to which they may have fled from an Islamic tyranny abroad.

However, in any given social context, as Islam takes greater root -- increasing numbers of followers, the construction of more mosques and "cultural centers," etc. -- the greater the likelihood that some number of its adherents will take its violent precepts seriously. This is the problem that the West faces today.

So um, stick that in your liberal pipe and smoke it... :p

Only the members of the UNION got to vote on this Holiday. If you were not a member of the Union you could not vote. You HAVE to sign up to be in the union to vote for or against the Holiday. And that itself does not seem fair to me. They said only the people in the union have to take the new holiday off instead of Labor day, and that people who are not in the union can still take Labor day off but they want get paid for it.

So my question would be, How many employees are union members and how many are not? This would let you know how many actually voted on this new change and how many did not get to vote.

And as far as the sanitary issue, Citizens have the right to know about the sanitary issues that are being spoken of with this company. We have a right to demand better sanitary conditions. I bought Tysons chicken in the past and still have some of it's products in my freezer, and if I find out this company is allowing this type of unhealthy acts to take place with its workers and the food they are selling and making a profit of, I will be seeking legal advice.

I have read all of this post and what they prove to me is that the American people are really angry! Yes, this country was formed by people for the people and when America was a developing country we needed more immigrants to come and help build it, and they came by the millions with all of their cultural differences and religion. That was they norm then and everyone some how melted in to make the most wonderful county in the world. Freedom is enticing and most humans desire it so millions more came and millions and millions keep coming for what we here have to offer. I would come too if I were not already here, what's not to love? Come to America, get a good paying job with benefits and people to fight for your right to have off on your religious holiday, your right to pray at work and get paid for it and you get your very own room to do it in. I myself think the Christians, Jews, Buddhist, Wicca's, etc., should also take that same time to share that room with the Muslims and pray or do chants or what ever their religions require of them to do. All the Muslims are doing is taking advantage of the freedoms we have for our citizens, why are we not taking the same advantages at work or where ever?

As for Tyson, if they indeed have cleanliness issues, they need to be investigated by the Federal Government since germs from such a large company can hurt millions of Americans.

What I would like to know is this, if there are 900 or 1,200 folks working at that plant, was there a vote taken by the Union from all workers there to see if everyone agrees? If there was and the majority voted to allow this holiday then everyone should shut up, if not and the Union did not take into consideration the needs and desires of the Majority well then that is another story. As far as those immigrants being rude well folks have to say this, speak up and tell them that they are rude and it is unacceptable behavior here.

If you are angry well then, you are also afraid since anger stems from fear. Be strong and unafraid, stand up with your voices, votes and legal avenues and change what you don't like, isn't that what the Muslims did? If you don't do the above, shut up and learn to live with what will happen.

As a former resident of Shelbyville and having worked at this establishment, I would like to (calmly I hope) add my 2 cents worth.

First of all the management at Tyson Foods at Shelbyville doesn't make a move of ANY kind without say-so from the corporate office. This goes for any kind of management decision. This establishment bends over backwards to make things difficult for any non-alien employee, (meaning illegal Hispanic workers, Somalis, whatever, take your pick) so the other workers(white, black, asian) will leave the plant and make it easier for the company to do whatever they please. The sanitation issues (or lack thereof) are real. Question-why does a major news outfit CNN, CBS, NBC whoever, not do a documentary on the claims? The USDA can only do so much with the P.C. croud at this particular plant.

As for religion, everyone in this blog, however well meaning or not, is wrong. This country was stolen from the rightful inhabitants who were murdered wholesale because they wanted to have their country for themselves (beginning to sound familiar?) The inhabitants I am refering to are Souix, Apachies, Algonquin, Huron, Cherokee, and so on.

If anyone out there believes that foreigners, illegal or otherwise will not screw up this country, take a look at the not so distant past and learn. this plant had a very heavy influx of illegal Hispanics (not all Mexican, Hispanics of many nations) 10 years ago, even they are leaving due to the pressure from the Somalis. The Somalis (the ones in and around Shelbyville) are some of the most rude people I have ever had the misfortune to be around. they will force their way into lines at any store you would care to mention. I have yet to meet one who doesn't act like the world owed them something. I have yet to meet one who has even a hint of had a bath in the last year or so.

I was born and raised in this country and served in the military for 28 years. This is NOT what I served for. If you want to have things the way they are in the country you left, go back there and pray. I'm sure who ever is in power there will accomodate you, just before they cut off your head.

This is AMERICA. Be American or be gone-back to wherever you came from.

I posted this last night but it disappeared.

Wow, have we got a forum!

What I really want to know is: is anybody reading what I am writing? Or are we all just making "noise"...

I have to say, we are a hot-headed group!

Percentage wise it looks like many contributors have the gut reaction to DO something (boycott Tyson's products) in response to the news that Tyson has Muslim employees taking advantage of our American way of kindness and consideration of others.

The wrong is not in the American manners, but in the apparent inability to see clearly what is really happening. We are being eroded from within.

My point is to look at the root of the problem. We have overcompensated for oppressing/abusing the Black population (through hideous slavery practices) which has in turn created a certain depravity in their culture (am I wrong?). I am a Yankee, don't "shoot" me.

Now our passion for overcompensating for the perceived wrong of being wary of the Muslim population (inverted prejudice) will instead lead to a more dangerous condition in their culture and ours, namely, dominance over Americans.

Within the Muslim culture there is the faction that adheres to violence as a way of "life". Osama bin Laden told us that Americans love life, but Muslims love death. They plan violence, and planned violence could define the word terrorism.

The current MO of the Muslim movement in America and elsewhere is to "build a city within a city and then take over the city". (Spoken by an Imam in Albany, NY)

My plan is to use the opportunity to win their hearts to Christ.

Last year I met a man in the waiting room who said(in broken english)that he was Muslim. I scooted over and asked him "Do you really beat your wives?" (Either he could not understand or couldn't answer). When I told him Allah and our God are NOT the same God, he looked like he had heard good news. Yes, there is hope for Muslims to be free.

In conclusion, if the American way is the Christian way, and it is, then I maintain that prayer AND tough-love (Godly love) IS the correct response to Tyson's news and other unsettling stories.

We all seem to want to be heard. Why else do we send our comments? Praying to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Jesus) is the best way to be heard. Our effective, fervent prayers WILL touch the heavens, and we will be heard by the One who is awaiting our cries for help.

Turbulence is everywhere in America, as seen in many of the comments below. Tough love is saying NO to ridiculous requests for paid Muslim holidays. When things don't improve but DO get worse, we will all be praying anyway, so start now!

I am sure I have missed the mark somewhere, so forgive me.

I believe that we need to pray more than anything. God sees our plight, but He will only move when we give him the go ahead! So, go ahead! Repent and pray: they go hand in hand!

I refuse to by Tysons food, because of the "HYGEINE ISSUE". I had a cousin that worked their who told me they wipe their rear-ends with their hands and they always take a cup of water in with them when they go, and they will not use soap to wash their hands. Now I would like an investigation done on the hygiene issue. As far as the holiday issue, Let the Americans have Labor Day as their 8th "Paid Holiday" and the Muslims have this new holiday as their 8th "Paid Holiday" and be done with it.

I also feel their is discrimination issues in hiring employees. How is it their are so many somalis from another country being hired to work their, and their are no help wanted ads from this company hardly ever seen in the paper? How come the Union is not fighting for better pay for the workers (Somalis, mexicans, and others) Their is alot of un-normal talks about this company dating back to the hiring of illegal immigrants. If it is that "Crooked in its dealings and business" then I wouldn't doubt they allowed this type of unsanitary dealings to go on.

van,

Dude you know what you write your article all you want you do your research @ your fingertips. I'm sorry if I don't meet up to your expectations, I've lived in this town all my life so yes excuse me if I come off a little angry. You want to get on here & slam someone for standing up for what is right YES right now it is LABOR DAY-- so dude tell me what's next CHRISTMAS umm maybe let's see THANKSGIVING-- OH wait--maybe MEMORIAL DAY--you want to call someone IGNORANT i am not ignorant you my friend you would fill those shoes..

****

I read some of your posts to you, we are an embarrassment. People maybe laughing @ us & joking about this little town in TN, but you know what I wouldn't laugh too soon.

****

"Justwonderin" -- At what point did I state that you, or anyone down in Bedford County, was an embarrassment? At what point did I attack anyone individually and have the audacity to assume that I knew something about them?

Your comments are ignorant and filled with hate and anger. That is all there is to it. Your comments are ignorant because you turn your anger towards anyone that does not think like you do and start to talk AT them as if you know them and their motivations.

You so "graciously" concede that this issue is about Labor Day, and the Union, but then continue on to make the issue bigger and broader.

I have seen no post, pro or con, that shows anyone laughing at you or "that little town in TN". I think you're lack of control is starting to show that you're not paying attention to what people are saying.

There is not one single post on here, pro or con, that actually AGREES with the replacement of Labor Day as a paid holiday. Merely, people that are not preaching hate, boycott, and fear are just saying... "Dude, they negotiated a contract for a single plant and you're turning it into an Islamic Crusade against Americans".

I, personally, never stated that I agreed with it. I only said that in the context of the contract, employees had a their choice of 8 paid holidays. So what?... they did something different. Bravo!

Do I think Pandoras Box has been opened up? Hell yeah, I do. This is going to cause problems down the line. But NOT because of some Muslim Invasion or destruction of American Life. The problems down the line will become the fact that this sets a precedent for future religious discrimination. Plain and Simple.

What I find very interesting is that this contract was negotiated almost a year ago. And the news is just coming out now?

Anyone want to take guesses as to why? I'm pretty sure I can take a stab and hit almost dead center.

I'm also a bit irritated that I complete an article concerning this situation, and now today, Mr. Brian Mosely has written another article discussing Tysons reaction to the feedback. And within that article are things I mentioned in my posts. Things not brought up before... Rather his article remained so ambiguously neutral that it created this kind of public reaction.

My guess... Intentionally.

On another site I ran across while researching the next article (thanks to "Can't Stand It"), I found someone that has been following this situation, and more importantly, Brian Mosely.

All I can say is that it's no wonder y'all are so inflamed down there. Mr. Moselys articles have an inflammatory bent to them towards the Somalis.

My article is still going to publication, but this next one I'm keeping close to my hat this time.

All I can say is Good Luck to you folks in Bedford County. I can understand, sincerely, why you're all upset and angry. But, you're letting that anger cause you to lash out at people that have no quarrel with you.

Just remember, when you start drawing lines between country folk, city folk, Northern, Southern, Christian, Muslime, Insider, Outsider... We don't have to fear anyone else... They'll all be sitting in their own countries waiting for us to finish each other off.

Take Care, Bedford County

Thank God I don't buy Tyson Products!!!

OH, by the way where is the prayer room for the christian employees?

Tyson closed 2 plant's in Nebraska due to TB brought in by Somali Refugees.

http://cjonline.com/stories/112507/kan_2......

OSHA 1-800-321-OSHA (6742)

1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)

Tyson closed 2 plant's in Nebraska due to TB brought in by Somali Refugees.

http://cjonline.com/stories/112507/kan_2......

OSHA 1-800-321-OSHA (6742)

1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)

**Our country wasn't founded on ISLAM' BUDHA' THE KORAN' it was founded on the LORD JESUS CHRIST on CHRISTIANITY' the only one I will ever acknowledge as my lord & savior.**

This statement is inaccurate. This country was not founded on Jesus Christ or Christianity. This country was founded by Masons and based on the principles of Masons.

If you don't believe that, then I invite you research it. I won't engage in a religious discussion for quite a few reasons. It only leads to arguments. Religious faithful will never believe anything except what they have been taught to believe. Early on in my studies of world religions, I used to engage in debate. Then I realized it was futile. Nothing ever got solved and it only created more discord.

I will say this, though, for the self-righteous people. There are 3 Abrahamic religions. The original 3. As far as the "One True Religion"... Neither Christianity nor Islam are it.

Islam is hated and feared for the words in the Koran and the acceptable violence. Yet, the rise of Christianity marks some of the darkest times of human history. "Who will cast the first stone?"

Vandalyzed:

Costs of labor information: Department of labor:

State of Tenn - assistance for business programs, subsised labor costs for at-risk labor groups

both on Dept of labor pages state and federal.

Foreclosure info: county court house for house count and names of owners: Federal Foreclosure site on FHA page list of foreclosure numbers

Census bureau for demographics.

Word is the local S'ville plant projects near 900 more workers and they are trying to standardize around a muslim model to attract Somalis from other chicken plants in Atlanta. Somali are loose and wander around, like herding cats. They get the word out by word of mouth. No one will work there, even Mexicans anymore because of the terrible atmosphere created by the Somalis. Except for the re-habbers that are forced to work there, by contract, or they will be in jail. Re-habbers are another source of slave labor. They are subsidized too. This whole thing is a massive scam. If you research into it, it will blow your mind.

Since Michiginers are moving to TN by the hour to work at Nissan, you might want to hitch a ride and see Bedford County for yourself. Sit in any mexican restaurant and get the skinny on what is going on in Tyson. And I can point you to a few other places. I have the word out for a bounty to get a picture of the fingercup. That source is plentiful since I heard that many times and witnessed it in the Walm-mart bathrooms. I won't shop in my local store anymore. I don't care if these people come from Mars. We as Americans have been tolerant to anybody up and down. But we have as a nation have spent years and billions on hygiene, clean water, clean food, safety, all to be wiped out in the last 5 years since this dramatic insurgence of immigration. To have this much immigration in percentage dumped on one county of 35,000 with NO FEDERAL assistance is worth your article alone. Had I known what was going to happen here, I would have not moved my horses and my retirement and my money here.

Bedford county needs new leadership. They need to saw off the area around Tyson and form a new county or get Tyson out.

THEY think "bigotry" is why so many people are upset ... well lets reflect the the day which is fast approaching its anniversary SEPTEMBER 11, 2001... I know you should FORGIVE thats what GOD wants us to do.. BUT we SHALL never FORGET.. I am sorry to those of you who feel that us as "CHRISTIANS" are not sympathetic.. BUT that has been our problem for WAYYY to long. I am thinking that they were rejoicing the day so MANY people lost their lives. we've got guys losing there lives for OUR country to make our world a better place to live & they want to call it "BIGOTRY" well as far as I am concerned that rocks me to the bone.. Our country wasn't founded on ISLAM' BUDHA' THE KORAN' it was founded on the LORD JESUS CHRIST on CHRISTIANITY' the only one I will ever acknowledge as my lord & savior.

Yes I can sit here & type this because we have been given that right! I surely do understand that these folks want to have their own place to "WORSHIP" but I am sorry THEY are not going to shove it down my throat, OR my CHILDREN.. as they don't care one eye blink about our LORD & SAVIOR..or about US.. I know that this is one place, but what do you think they do to our FOOD, that we put in our mouths...if the codes are so strict on RESTARAUNTS. why hasn't the state shut them DOWN!!

yes to the folks who say why don't CHRISTIANS take their breaks & pray.. THAT's between them & GOD..

That's allot of peoples problems because he doesn't do this & he's supposed to be a CHRISTIAN...But if Jack & Jill would just worry about themselves then their you go. Their would be no "well he's not doing this".. Because I believe this with my whole heart & SOLE that one day "EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW & EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD & SAVIOR" whether you are atheist, buddha, whoever you are one day it will happen.. We aren't perfect, but we are forgiven.So there yes I am one person, but I have to small souls that I have to think about & it's just going to get worse it says so in the BIBLE & like I said I believe that, but while I can I will stand up for what I believe whether it be typing out this, or not supporting a company who supports EVIL!! & that my friends is all this so CALLED RELIGION is .... THANKS & HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!

"The union also claimed that in addition to the observance of the Muslim holiday, "two prayer rooms have been created to allow Muslim workers to pray twice a day and return to work without leaving the plant."

Is there a prayer room for Christians? Jews? Hindu's? All the other faiths? This is BS and we are letting it happen while we stand by and watch. The only way to fight this is to avoid the products. Tyson might get the hint if profits shrink.

My family has purchased the last Tyson product. One of the most appalling acts ever.

I am on board with most of the comments posted.

Here's the employment law view of Tyson's decision.

http://hrheroblogs.com/theword/2008/08/0...

Tyson,your done here in the U.S. !! I can not believe your decisions,where is your CEO`s thoughts at anyway ? Course you are not the only company out there doing Anti-American antics. We (all real-roots AMERICANS)will ban Tyson products forever,garbage food anyway, so no big deal. To all of you that are employed by Tyson...DID any of you lose a loved one @ 911 Twin Towers ? No, you all should be ashamed, We all NEED to pray to GOD, yes The God that most of us in the U.S.A. are pushing away. America...WHERE is your BRAINS, Lots of dummies out there voting for a "CHANGE" yea, go ahead vote Barack Huessine Mohammed Obama,Huh...Think of what this all means,HELLO !!

Staying on topic, I have to say, we are a hot-headed group! Percentage wise it looks like many contributors have the gut reaction to DO something (boycott Tyson's products) in response to the news that Tyson has Muslim employees taking advantage of our American way of kindness and consideration of others. The wrong is not in the American manners, but in the apparent inability to see clearly what is really happening. We are being eroded from within. However, getting a perspective (looking at the big picture), I will offer that hot-headedness often results in bad behavior. Off topic, I refer to the recent protests in South Korea getting out of hand. They got violent when they saw they were beginning to lose ground. (Here is where a link should go to the article I read). As far as I know, violence kicks in when frustration is up and restraint is down. (Violence being unplanned attacks. War is therefore not violence, but offense and defense.) That was off topic by a couple of blocks. My point is to look at the root of the problem. We have overcompensated for oppressing/abusing the Black population (through hideous slavery practices) which has in turn created a certain depravity in their culture (am I wrong?). I am a Yankee, don't "shoot" me. This overcompensation for the perceived wrong of being wary of the Muslim population (inverted prejudice) will instead lead to a more dangerous condition in their culture, namely dominance over Americans. Within the Muslim culture there is the faction that adheres to violence, not necessarily as a result of frustration and lack of restraint but as a way of "life". Osama bin Laden told us that Americans love life, but Muslims love death. They plan violence, and planned violence could define the word terrorism. The current MO of the Muslim movement in America and elsewhere is to "build a city within a city and then take over the city". My plan is to use the opportunity to win their hearts to Christ. Last year, when I met a man in the waiting room who said(in broken english) he was Muslim, I scooted over and asked him "Do you really beat your wives?" When I told him Allah and our God are NOT the same God, he looked like he had heard good news. Yes, there is hope for Muslims to be free. In conclusion, if the American way is the Christian way, and it is, then I maintain that prayer AND tough-love (Godly love) IS the correct response to Tyson's news and other unsettling stories. We all seem to want to be heard. Why else do we send our comments? Praying to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Jesus) is the best way to be heard. Our effective, fervent prayers WILL touch the heavens, and we will be heard by the One who is awaiting our cries for help. Turbulence is everywhere in America, as mentioned in many of the comments below. Tough love is saying NO to ridiculous requests for paid Muslim holidays. When things don't improve but DO get worse, we will all be praying anyway, so start now! I am sure I have missed the mark somewhere, so forgive me. But I do believe that we need to pray more than anything. God sees our plight, but He will only move when we give him the go ahead! So, go ahead! Repent and pray: they go hand in hand! And also, do DO something. I just put a bunch of Tyson chicken in my freezer, should we eat it and then not buy anymore? (or should I return it?) I'm getting an old fashioned hen-house for my backyard! Stop by for some good, fresh brown eggs, and next year for the old-hen stew...it IS the best (sweetest)! Actually, it's the old roosters that make the good soup. At least that off topic comment was about chicken:)

This is unreal!!! I urge everyone to boycott Tyson products (which are horrible anyway...full of preservatives and fillers). Wake up America....we are being taken over by these creeps. I'm so glad that I was able to spend the best years of my life in the 60's 70's and 80's...i.e. before America began its decline. I feel so sorry for today's children.

There are so many religious groups in this country - Hindus, Catholics, Jews - and no one practicing those religions seems to need their company to alter the rules for these folks. They take one of their vacation days or a personal day to follow their special traditions. Only the Moslems seem to demand exceptions, and they do it in every country they immigrate to. Look what is happening in Europe, especially Denmark. And that is what they are going to do in the US of A. What the Moslems have done to Tyson and the Tyson union they will do as their population grows in other companies, and towns, and eventually states. Shame on Tyson. Shame on the union. And shame on anyone else that fails to see what the Moslems are going to do in the rest of this country given half a chance. Please don't let us lose our unique American character.

Just because someone doesn't see things your way does not make you right.

-- Posted by misspris on Tue, Aug 5, 2008, at 9:32 PM

The same could be said for you...

Hell's Bells! What else? Now we've got to have Catholic Day, Baptist Day, Pentecost Day, Methodist Day, LDS Day- you get my drift. You're stirring it up for sure. Just stick them all on Christmas Day- oops! (Can't even say that) & unite for your king- whoever that may be- How about Baracka Day? Geez!

Yes, 80% of union membership voted for this contract, but bear in mind that the change of holiday was NOT the only thing they were voting for. That was a concession for 20% of the union - and bear in mind that this affects non-union workers as well.

I would be upset if I worked there. It will be confusing to all the non-Muslims (trying to figure out when their holiday will be and planning ahead since even Muslims cannot decide far in advance when the end of Ramadan will be).

Furthermore, it disrupts a long-standing American tradition of a 3-day holiday.

You can't tell me 600 other union workers actually supported this holiday change.

Also, the idea of allowing employees to take one or the other of the 2 holidays is not practical because there is overhead in opening the plant and having 80% (correction - 83% - don't forget the non-union workers) of your workforce out on Labor Day might not even be possible.

We should really ask ourselves why our immigration policies are so friendly towards certain other nations.

Things are tough all over the world, but we cannot simply take everyone.

I do not know if anyone mention this but The Somalis do not use toilet paper, just a litlle rinse. Can we say Health Problems???? Also Tyson sells their chicken to KFC.

What ever happened to them just using thir prayer beads, now they need prayer rooms, foot baths, Holidays etc.....

OK I didnt read all the comments since there are way too many, so perhaps someone has already suggested my idea. To be less divisive, why not just change the agreement a little bit to make both Labor Day and Eid al-fitr a paid holiday, with the stipulation that the employee can choose either one (but not both) at their discretion. In this way, both interested parties are satisfied. If an employee desires to take both holidays, fine, but one of them will not be a paid day. Simple solution? I think so. And a good way to show support to a major portion of the employees.

Just happened to run across this web site looking at article on the holiday. After reading the comments, it is easy to see how a certain German dictatorship was able to eradicate the Jews. They just played to the prejudices of people like you.

As a long time butcher I have already been told by several of my customers that they are are done with Tyson products. I will do my best to steer them away from this pitiful excuse for an AMERICAN company. My Grandfather was French, should I petition my union to have Bastille Day off? Hell NO, I am not a French American, i am an AMERICAN. When my Grandfather came here he did not expect everyone to speak french or celebrate French holidays, he did not fly the French flag from his home. He was proud to be from France but now his loyalty was with AMERICA. This makes me sick. Our Country is being eaten alive from the inside out and nobody cares.

No.1 I dont under stand when this contract was brought to the rank and file how was it ratified (2/3 or 50%) of the membership? no2 If Tyson chicken needed these people so bad why dont they relocate to somila,like some of the other companys do. no3 Totally disgusted,and thru with Tyson chicken,never again will i purchase ,and eat chicken at restaurant that serves your somailan,no handwashed,foot bath//// Your P.C. is totally out of control,good luck and goodbye

Well if your stupid enough to give the muslims a holiday then you can keep your damn chicken I will no longer buy tyson products.You people better remember there are americans that could use thoes jibs you gave to the damn muslims shame on you TYSON for doing this & I hope tyson goes belly up over what you have done.You people must have forgotton it was muslims that did 9-11 you have the nerve to have muslims at your plant.I'll never buy your products again

The comment (Can't stand it) posted pretty well covers it all, people who dont live here have no idea!

I cant take my teenage girls to Wal-Mart without the Somalian men and I mean MEN gawking at all of us like perverts. Let me go to Wal-Mart on a bad day and everyone will know my real name, it will be listed on the jail intake!

Another reason to Boycot Tyson:

Workers told me the Somalis refuse to use toilet paper at Tyson. Tyson allows them to use cups filled with hot water to dip thier hands in after they make a bowel movement, then go back to cutting chickens. It is not uncommon to see them walking around with thier "fingercups" around the plant. Talk about YUM brands.

People, e-mail Yum brands, (KFC) louisville, wal-mart, and Kroger and let them know you refuse to buy thier products if it packaged by Tyson.

GET TYSON OUT OF BEDFORD COUNTY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Posted by Can't stand it on Tue, Aug 5, 2008, at 2:26 PM

My daughter told me the Somalians also wash their feet in the commodes. Some nationality maybe not the Somalians also bring in whole dead fish and cut them up, mix them in a large bowl with something else and eat this, several eating out of the same bowl with their hands. The same hands that go back to handle chicken.

Tyson Corporate Core Values lists "We strive to honor God and be respectful of each other, our

customers, and other stakeholders." I guess they'll be replacing God with Allah soon.

We will never buy Tyson products again.

Is this what we (the USA) have come to? God help us!

The only thing companies understand is $$$$$. First of all call 1-800-643-3410 (consumer relations) and tell them you are finished with Tyson Foods and their products. They made a point to tell me that they will still have a Labor Day holiday. I told them they just do not understand that this is America, not the Middle East - we are not a MUSLIM nation. Next, go to their website to Investor Relations and let them know that if you or any of your friends own stock that that stock will be sold asap.

Can't Stand It -- Thank you for your post. It's information like this that leads to discovering facts and implemeting change.

You're right, I am unfamiliar with the county. I do not work there and I do not live there. However, if I may make a small note, you are the first person to describe the situation within the plant, and county, without having an emotional outburst based on nothing but inner expression.

I have a couple questions. How much is based in fact? I don't meant that insultingly. I just need to know if I can find proper research.

Secondly, you say that Tyson Foods, or at least that plant is trying to attract more Somalians. Are they making a public effort, as a company, to attract these people? Or is this more related to the Somalian relief project based in Nashville? In other words, are they accepting more Somalians based on tax incentives due to that project?

Folks, let me explain something. I'm American, and prideful of it. I live in Michigan. Nearby is a city, Dearborn, that is the largest Arab population outside of the middle-east. The entire city was on lockdown after 9-11. I have seen firsthand prejudiced and bigotry. I have seen first hand unwarranted accusations to a foreign people that SOME DO actualy want to have the same pride in calling themselves Americans. While others, sneer at "American Fools" and continue to take advantage of our "generosity" in accomodating them in our country.

The only way to BE Americans is to respect and enforce the beliefs and laws that make us Americans. But, we can't do that without understanding what IS happening and what we perceive to be happening.

Another personal note: I don't buy Tyson Chicken. Never have. No particular reason, I just don't. So, my statements regarding the company are not out of a misguided need to defend their product.

Anyway, if you have pertinent and factual information that can easily be checked and verified, I welcome you to write to me personally, so that I can write an article that is factual and best shows the situation with this plant in Shelbyville.

I am not anyones enemy here, but as a journalist, I cannot stand biased and one-sided news reports that does not aptly show the truth.

You can reach me at vandalyzed@hotmail.com

I will block and ignore any communication that is not factual and aimed only to create discord.

Thank you.

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

�

'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Shame, shame on all Americans? who were in involved in this. I believe that all concern should be fired, Americans (true Americans) placed in these jobs. That special treatment is given to this group makes me sick.

Bottom line, like it or not this is a CHRISTIAN nation and IF they do not like the way it is then by all means LEAVE. We (Christians) need to follow up every time something like this happens, VOTE with your dollars.

Tyson is no longer a brand that I will purchase.

If you think this is bad, wait until the media messiah, Barack Hussain Obama, become President.( God forbid) After he gets done swearing in on the Koran or whatever he uses, his Muslim relatives (all of his fathers side) will try to change our ways thru "Sharia law".

Our American way of life is being replaced by 3rd world customs and people. Save America!

This country was founded on Judeo-Christian values.

Keep it that way!

Muslims belong in their own world and country...not here!!!!!

iheartseinfeld -- As I pointed out in one of my comments, Tyson Foods has been showing that respect to their employees long before this incident came up.

How can an accusation be made, if you do not know what a company has or has not done?

Dianatn -- Good Question. But, I ask you this: If they choose not to take the paid holiday of Christmas, does that really affect people like you and I?

If you were working at that plant, would you refuse to take the day off, paid, just because you don't honor or respect the holiday? Personally, I neither honor or respect it and I would take the day off gladly. Knowing that I get paid to stay home and do something with my kids.

Honestly, Labor Day? If most of you folks work at companies that give you Labor Day off, with pay, then I think that is great. But in 22 years of working, I have never been employed with a company that gave Labor Day off with pay. I've worked for companies that closed on Labor Day, but no pay. And, as I mentioned before, I have always gotten to celebrate Labor Day, by working!

Welcome to the Jihad. You are now on the frontlines of the "peaceful" Jihad that militant Muslims are waging all over the West and in America by stridently demanding evermore increasing and expanding "accommodations" to their ways of doing things, their customs and beliefs and the dictates of Shari'a law; these demands are the more "peaceful" but perhaps ultimately more subversive and destructive counterpart to violent Jihad, both always with the same aim: the domination and triumph of Islam over all unbelievers--their religions, customs and civilizations--the central goal called for by Muhammad and the Qur'an.

As Muslims expand their numbers and, thus, their political and economic power, their leaders will use every tool that a democracy such as ours gives them--legal, economic, political, cultural--to work toward the dominance and triumph of Islam and naive, politically correct, soft and clueless Americans will fall all over themselves to make such self-destructive "accommodations."

First, it was Somali cab drivers at the Minneapolis airport who were unwilling to carry blind passengers accompanied by service dogs (Muhammad hated pets, particularly dogs) or passengers with alcohol (which is forbidden by the Qur'an); so far, Minneapolis airport authorities have said these cabbies will carry all passengers or be fired. In Minnesota and other places throughout the U.S., more recently, it was Muslim calls for the installation of ritual foot washing facilities (Wudu) and separate, private prayer rooms at certain airports and at several universities--all clearly religious accommodations; the relevant authorities at some places have complied at public expense, using the excuse that these "accommodations" were for the Muslim's safety or were a gesture of religious tolerance (not mentioning that non-Muslims are not welcome in Muslim prayer rooms (see Northern Virginia's George Mason University as an example of how this goes at: http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/ar....

Most recently there have been Muslim demands for closure of university or other swimming pools to all but Muslim women at certain times; Harvard has already agreed to this. Just within the last few weeks some Muslim leaders are calling for the creation and acceptance of financial instruments and ways of doing business that conform to the demands of Shari'a law.

Tyson, by dumping our traditional secular celebration of Labor Day in favor of the celebration of the Muslim religious holiday of Eid, is clearly making an illegal "religious accommodation," however they want to disguise it. Tyson and its non-Muslim workers have been steamrollered by the "peaceful" Jihad and they don't even know it. If we give up more and more of our traditions and ways of doing things and allow Muslim ideas, customs, standards and laws to prevail, we will wake up one morning to find that--as Muslims fervently hope--it is their country, dominated by Islam, it's customs and laws--and no longer ours.

Don't listen to what people say Islam is, read the three foundation texts of Islam--Qur'an, the Hadiths (the Words and Deeds of the Prophet and his Companions) and the Sira (Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad) (http://www.cspipublishing.com/) for yourself and learn.

I hope to God that there are many christians who work there and they themselves demand a room if they want to pray to themselves or have a break to read their bible! Don't get me wrong, i am respectful to others beliefs, but as a christian it upsets me if say the name of Jesus Christ, whoa whoa!, you have crossed the line!!! You wanna practice your beliefs, fine i go for it, but as a christian who believes in Jesus Christ, just show me the same respect!

Tyson set a dangerous precedent, and it is a slippery slope.

In the big picture, this is not about accommodating someone's religion, but rather about the precipitous intentional destruction of western society by an "islamic culture" that absolutely does not tolerate other beliefs, and mandates infiltrating western society via exactly these kinds of techniques.

As are most people, I am disgusted that while we as a society are quickly diminishing the religious foundation of our country (Christmas is now "holiday season", Easter is now "spring break", no prayer in schools, no "one nation under God", etc, etc, all in the name of religious tolerance, we are supposed to bend over to accommodate the one "religion" that has no tolerance and blatantly seeks our destruction.

I will no longer purchase Tyson products, and will encourage others to follow suit.

A couple more things to add to my latest comment:

The press release that this article mentioned is here:

http://www.tyson.com/Corporate/PressRoom...

Reading this thoroughly, you will note that it mentions the Union at this plant has a 12 member bargaining committee. 3 of which are Somali employees.

Therefore 9 non-muslim members of this board put forth the request to have this holiday paid.

Once the vote by employees to proceed with this request came, it was approved by 80% of the employees.

Out of a 1200 employees, 1000 are covered by the Union. 80% of that 1000 membership approved the contract.

Going with the number of 20% Muslim/Somalian employees, and assuming that every one of them voted to approve, that means 60% of approval votes were non-muslim/somalian.

No matter which way you crunch the numbers, there had to be an overwhelming majority of non-muslim workers approving this contract.

So, what does this tell us? I can only speculate that in THIS particular plant, the employees themselves (as a majority) do not have any objections to this new contract and it's provisions.

So, truly, who are we (as non-employee observers) to judge what has happened inside this plant?

My last thing to note.