Dutch Freedom Party Pushes Euro Exit as €2.4 Trillion Rescue Bill Looms
The Dutch Freedom Party has called for a return to the Guilder, becoming the first political movement in the eurozone with a large popular base to opt for withdrawal from the single currency.
“The euro is not in the interests of the Dutch people,” said Geert Wilders, the leader of the right-wing populist party with a sixth of the seats in the Dutch parliament. “We want to be the master of our own house and our own country, so we say yes to the guilder. Bring it on.”
Mr Wilders made his decision after receiving a report by London-based Lombard Street Research concluding that the Netherlands is badly handicapped by euro membership, and that it could cost EMU’s creditor core more than €2.4 trillion to hold monetary union together over the next four years. “If the politicians in The Hague disagree with our report, let them show the guts to hold a referendum. Let the Dutch people decide,” he said.
Mr Wilders is not part of the coalition. However, the minority government of Mark Rutte relies on the Freedom Party to pass legislation. The two men were in talks on Monday on €16bn of fresh austerity cuts needed stop the budget deficit jumping to 4.5pc of GDP.
The study said the eurozone cannot survive in its current form. The longer Europe’s politicians dither, the more costly it will become. “The euro can only survive if it becomes a fiscal transfer union with national sovereign debt subsumed in eurozone bonds,” said co-author Charles Dumas…
| — Hat tip: PVV | [Return to headlines] |
Iceland Calls Its Former PM to Account for Financial Crash
Haarde, 60, is to date the only politician anywhere in the world to face criminal charges over the financial crisis. The charges, which he denies, include “serious neglect of his duties … in the face of major perils looming over Icelandic financial institutions and the state treasury, a danger he knew of, or should have known of”.
If convicted he could face up to two years in prison.
If the world has been rocked by the financial collapse, its effect on Iceland was convulsive.
Successive politicians privatised Iceland’s natural resources and dismantled its regulatory mechanisms, sparking an economic bonanza for its bankers and mixing for its citizens the now-familiar toxic cocktail of bountiful credit, flaccid financial oversight and an unspoken collective agreement not to ask too many questions but just keep on spending. In 2007 Iceland topped the UN Human Development Index as the most developed country in the world.
Its three main banks, controlled by a tiny elite cabal, had a paper value of more than 10 times the country’s GDP.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is This Greek Rescue the Biggest Scam in History or Ponzi Finance 101?
Don’t you love Europe? The way it messes with your head. The way really, really bad things somehow get blotted out in so much waffle, double-speak and spin, you start doubting your own instincts. Like, is it you or is it them?
Take the bold European rescue of Greece. A broad-shouldered continent saving a country in peril. Yes, that country brought its difficulties on itself, but the wise heads of the Brussels Eurocracy have ensured that the country is obliged to work its own way out of trouble, as far as that can be managed.
So: the Greek government will find a new sense of adult responsibility. The EU will continue to supervise things. The ECB will lard the entire system with money. And all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.
The trouble is there’s so much wrong with this picture, it’s hard to find anything right with it. I could probably, if I put my mind to it, find fifty horrible things lurking like undetonated mines in small print. But, from that fifty, here are my top five.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Not So Fast on That Whole Economic Recovery Thing
Not so fast. Those that are publicly declaring that an economic recovery has arrived are ignoring a whole host of numbers that indicate that the U.S. economy is in absolutely horrendous shape. The truth is that the health of an economy should not be measured by how well the stock market is doing. Rather, the truth health of an economy should be evaluated by looking at numbers for things like jobs, housing, poverty and debt. Some of the latest economic statistics indicate that unemployment is getting a little bit worse, that the housing market continues to deteriorate, that poverty in America continues to soar and that our debt problem is worse than ever. If we were truly experiencing the kind of economic recovery that the United States has experienced after every other post-World War II recession we would see a sharp improvement across the board in most of our economic statistics. But that simply is not happening. Sadly, this is about as much of an “economic recovery” as we are going to get because soon the economy will be getting much worse. So enjoy this period of relative stability while you can.
The Obama administration would have us believe that unemployment in the United States has declined, but the truth is that the percentage of working age Americans that are employed has stayed very, very flat for more than two years and now there are some measures of unemployment that are actually getting worse.
What the U.S. economy could really use are millions of good jobs. But those are being shipped out of the country at a staggering pace.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Military Actions in Syria May be Impeachable
On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Obama administration would seek “international permission” before engaging in war in Syria. Besides the possibility that it is merely a ruse — as there is growing evidence that the United States may already be covertly involved in Syria’s war — for the United States to seek permission from other nations to go to war is unconstitutional. For that reason, Representative Walter Jones (R-N.C., left) has just introduced House Concurrent Resolution 107, calling for the impeachment of the President if he declares war without congressional approval.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
On WLIB, It’s 1984 on the Dial
To understand the left, you have to speak its language. That language is Newspeak. It is not a language of values, but of ideas. It is fluid, flexible, and above all else, political.
If you are reading this, the odds are that you define racism as an expression of racial bigotry. That is the formal definition, but it is as meaningful to the actual use of the terminology as reaching for a Latin dictionary or trying to make sense of the vocabulary of the Picts. That definition has long been as outdated as the steam engine.
To the progressive left, and by that I mean the people who actually write the policies, set the agenda and control the national dialogue, racism is not about race, misogyny is not about gender and anti-semitism is not about ethnicity or religion. They are forms of reactionary behavior and thinking.
Remember that definition because it’s important. It is why asking questions like, “What about liberal misogyny?” is as useless as asking Nazis why their leadership didn’t seem to include a lot of blonde supermen. The Nazi definition of Ubermensch was not based on physical or intellectual qualities, but on political ones. It was impossible to be a true member of the Master Race and not be a Nazi. It is equally impossible for a liberal to be a racist.
The left describes bigotry not in terms of the act, but in terms of a reactionary mentality…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Regionalism is Communism
Is it any wonder that when, in 1975, I asked William Rusher, the former Editor of National Review “why don’t conservative organizations and media ever deal with the dangers of regional government?” the answer was “Oh, I guess they just don’t think it is very important.” Oh, really? They thought it was so important they didn’t want anyone to know about it; that it is the system of governance supported by the left and the right, completely necessary for international socialist government, with its planned economy using charter schools, and use of unelected councils (soviets) to run not only our schools but all of us lifelong (UNESCO agenda).
Wake up to the dangers of REGIONALISM, which, as you will read below, is defined as “communism” in an article in The Communist Daily World, 1975.
An article in The Times Record, Brunswick, Maine, dated 2/1/04 entitled “Regional Efforts Taking Root” says “About 50 elected officials, planners, natural resources advocates and economic development specialists gathered from every town in Sagadahoc County, Brunswick and Harpswell Thursday to talk about regionalism, a concept that is being encouraged statewide by Governor John N. Baldacci.” (Note: Maine’s Governor Baldacci had one of the most, if not the most, socialist voting record of any Congressman during his tenure in Congress. Shouldn’t that be adequate warning to our elected officials to at least keep this concept of regionalism at arms length and not to embrace it without studying its origins, unless they themselves are socialists?)
The article goes on to quote an elected official on the Town Council as saying: “A first step will be to educate the public about the importance of regionalism so citizens will support these efforts. We need to shock people a little bit.”
Well, she sure shocked me with that comment. She has also given us fair warning that resistance to this change in governance will not be tolerated; we must be educated to see the benefits of failed socialism (regionalism) over those of our highly successful republican form of government which is designed to protect the rights of the individual rather than those of the group (state).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rick Warren’s Prayer to ISA (Esau)
On February 23 the Orange County Register broke a story concerning Rick Warren Builds Bridge to Muslims. Since then, several sent me Warren’s own Pastor’s response where he categorically denied any overall truth associated with most of the content of the article. Warren’s wranglings over Jim Hinch, the reporter’s, statements included Hinch’s comments that Warren and evangelical Christians were attempting to work with Muslims (and mosques) in Southern California to “heal divisions”, and the wording implying Warren “acknowledging that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.”
Pastor Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries further explained the semantics of the use of words such as “same God” and “one God” from his 25 years of experience in the field of Comparative Religion, and clarified other issues mentioned in the Register’s story in his excellent blog after a personal conversation where Jim Hinch defends the accuracy of his reporting.
The question remains, why wont Rick Warren, and/or Saddleback, or other powers that be allow full disclosure of the theological document at the centre of this controversy? The document , as Hinch reported, was unveiled as part of an effort to build bridges of friendship and cooperation at the King’s Way Outreach last December, 2011, at a dinner at Saddleback Church, attended by 300 of its members and representatives from Southern California’s Muslim community. Part of the understanding for the evening was Warren’s agreement to promise that neither side, Muslim nor Christian, would evangelise each other.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tea Party Patriots, Harvard and the Constitutional Convention, Part 1
The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government — lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. -Patrick Henry
The September 24th and 25th, 2011 Conference on the Constitutional Convention was sponsored by Harvard Law School’s Lawrence Lessig, Rootstrikers (which works to reduce the role of special interest money in elections, and is backing the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators) and Tea Party Patriots, represented by co-founder Mark Meckler. The list of attendees reads like a who’s who of the left with a few moderates from the right thrown in for “balance.” Even Cenk Uygur and Bill Walker, two vociferous proponents of opening a Con-Con were invited. Obviously absent were the anti-Con-Con folks, the John Birch Society, Eagle Forum, American Policy Center’s Tom DeWeese, Daughters of the American Revolution, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and virtually every Second Amendment organization (other than NRA) and countless others who could have balanced the attendees.
The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) group is not only demanding the UN one-percent tax, but now they are also demanding a Constitutional Convention for the purpose of changing the entire social structure of the US. Those of you who read my articles know I’ve written several times about the dangers of a Constitutional Convention. See The Constitutional Convention Con, Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing?, and Occupy Wall Street and the Constitutional Convention for the full ramifications of a call for a convention. Leftist commentator, Cenk Uygur (mentioned above in my OWS article) has announced the formation of Wolf-PAC to campaign for a Constitutional Convention. His call to action was featured on a website, Amped Status, run by David DeGraw who is one of the original founders of the OWS movement. Here is a video of Cenk’s dangerous Constitutional Convention announcement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The 5 Most Dangerous Cities in the U.S.
FBI data suggests that these destinations struggle with safety — but hope is on the rise
Every year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) releases its annual Uniform Crime Report. From this report, we can list (statistically) America’s most dangerous cities. Some might surprise you; others not so much. Regardless, all are selected based on hard data compiled by the bureau’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) unit.
#1: Flint, Mich.
The birthplace of General Motors went into a tailspin when the auto industry collapsed and its workforce went from 80,000 to around 8,000. Michael Moore, a Flint native, documented the decline in his 1989 film Roger & Me, which memorably showed laid-off workers being evicted from their homes on Christmas Eve. With a median income of $27,049 — a whopping 46 percent below the national average — and 36 percent of its population living below the poverty line, gang activity and drugs have hit Flint hard. But police Chief Alvern Lock is stepping up community policing with such federally funded programs as the Blue Badge Volunteer Corps and by cementing partnerships with state police and area task forces. Early 2011 FBI statistics show that something is clearly working: The violent crime rate was down in nearly all categories.
#2: Detroit, Mich.
Few cities have had as precipitous a decline as Detroit. The bankrupt auto industry, the collapse of the housing bubble and the flight from the inner city — all have had a hand in Detroit’s Shakespearean fall from vital Midwestern hub to urban wasteland. But hopeful signs are everywhere. FBI statistics for the first half of 2011 indicate that violent crime is down 24 percent compared with the same period in 2010. Revitalization projects have pumped $1.5 billion into the city and have included a spiffed-up riverfront with the RiverWalk and green spaces. The Detroit Tigers (MLB) and Lions (NFL) both had stellar 2011 seasons. Urban farming is another proposal on the table, with 30,000 acres of vacant land ripe for crops.
#3: St. Louis, Mo.
This handsome riverfront city has plenty to recommend it, including several major sports teams and art museums. But violent crime, particularly gunplay, has exacted a grim toll. St. Louis has the country’s second-highest citywide gunshot rate for residents between the ages of 10 and 19 — a sorry statistic, indeed. It also recorded 41 murders per 100,000 people, five times the national average. Still, the city is seeing measurable overall declines in violent crime, with a 9 percent fall in 2010. It’s also one of 24 cities that have earned a grant from IBM’s Smarter City Challenge, with a mandate of making public safety a priority and creating a coordinated approach to tackling crime.
#4: New Haven, Conn.
The home of prestigious Yale University, New Haven has long wrestled with inner-city crime and poverty, and the result is a high ranking on the list of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. It had nearly 628 robberies per 100,000 people — nearly triple the number found in comparable urban areas. The good news is that violent crime dropped by 11 percent in the first six months of 2011, a regional trend. What’s more, award-winning urban renewal developments have revitalized the once-blighted downtown area. A proposed Downtown Crossing project, if approved, will convert an elevated 1950s-era expressway into urban boulevards, swaths of green spaces and bike paths, and a pedestrian-oriented street plan.
#5: Memphis, Tenn.
The blues were born on Beale Street in this atmospheric Southern city, where the cultural scene and barbecue are legendary. Indeed, early each May, the Beale Street Music Festival celebrates the rich musical heritage. But Memphis has struggled with poverty and gang activity for years, and the city’s 2010 robbery statistics were double that of the national average, earning it a spot on the list of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. The bigger picture is rosier: Violent crime has dropped 23 percent in the last five years, and efforts to stem youth involvement in crime have become shining examples for similarly afflicted urban areas.
| — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo | [Return to headlines] |
Two Irish Hackers Caught Up in FBI Swoop on Lulzsec
The FBI infiltrated hacker group LulzSec via its apparent leader Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka, “Sabu” and some of the major arrests include two Irish hackers. They are accused of crimes that have affected more than 1m people and including an attack on Fine Gael’s 2011 election website.
Five men were arrested today, including two Irish alleged hackers: Darren Martyn, aka, ‘Pwnsauce’ and Donncha O’Cearbhail, aka, ‘Palladium’.
They are charged with crimes that have affected over one million people. To read the full indictment click here
The others arrested include Ryan Ackroyd, aka, ‘Kayla’ of London, Jake Davis, aka, ‘Topiary’ of London and Jeremy Hammand, aka, ‘Anarchaos’ of Chicago.
It is understood the FBI infiltrated LulzSec when Monsegur was tracked down at his home in New York last year.
LulzSec, which is affiliated with Anonymous, undertook several high-profile cyber attacks against Sony, Nintendo, Fox.com and the US Senate last year.
After being arrested at his home in New York’s Lower East Side by the FBI, Monsegur began co-operating with the authorities, according to Fox News.
A case against the hackers, including the two from Ireland, is expected to be heard in the Southern District court of New York.
Last September, the FBI arrested 23-year-old Cody Kretsinger. Kretsinger, also known online as “recursion,” was alleged to be part of an attack which used an SQL injection against Sony Pictures’ computer systems. He masked his IP address using a proxy server.
| — Hat tip: McR | [Return to headlines] |
United Defeats Divided Every Time
Sadly, watching the GOP primary unfold is a bit like watching paint dry. You don’t have to be Nostradamus to see the future outcome of this process, nor do you have to be a political science major to know how it is able to happen.
It’s true that the two major political parties are more alike than different today. It’s not true that we don’t know how this happened or how to fix it.
For decades now, conservatives have been complaining that it is impossible to advance a truly conservative candidate within the Republican Party primary process. Yet, not one of those complainers has been smart enough or focused enough to solve that problem by simply putting an end to open primaries.
Simply stated, you will never get Democrat and Independent voters to help you nominate a real conservative in your party, so why do you allow them to vote in your primaries? It was party suicide from the start and now we are reaping the consequences with RINOs galore.
As of the final Super Tuesday tally, here’s how the GOP primary shapes up…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Wind Farm Being Paid NOT to Produce Power
Pacific Northwest green power project another in a long list of state-subsidized failures in the new carbon economy
Wind farms in the Pacific Northwest — built with government subsidies and maintained with tax credits for every megawatt produced — are now getting paid to shut down as the federal agency charged with managing the region’s electricity grid says there’s an oversupply of renewable power at certain times of the year.
The problem arose during the late spring and early summer last year. Rapid snow melt filled the Columbia River Basin. The water rushed through the 31 dams run by the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency based in Portland, Ore., allowing for peak hydropower generation. At the very same time, the wind howled, leading to maximum wind power production.
Demand could not keep up with supply, so BPA shut down the wind farms for nearly 200 hours over 38 days.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vetting Obama’s Pastor
Rene Cruz Rodriguez: murderer, executioner, drug smuggler, friend of Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
“I have been affiliated with the Cuba Council of Churches since the 1980s,” boasted Rev. Jeremiah Wright in a sermon on July 16th, 2006. “I have several close Cuban friends (italics added) who work with the Cuba Council of Churches and you have heard me preach about our affiliation and the Black Theology Project’s trips to Cuba. The Cuban Council of Churches has been a non-partisan global mission partner for decades. I have worked with them for two decades.”
“Non-partisan,” Reverend Wright? Not according to Cuban intelligence defector Juan Vives, who from hands-on experience reports that the Cuba Council of Churches is in fact an arm of Cuba’s ICAP (Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos) itself an arm of Cuba’s KGB-founded and mentored DGI (Directorio General de Inteligencia.) The ICAP’s long-time chieftan was Rene Cruz Rodriguez, by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s own admission perhaps one of his “friends.”
Rodriguez’ meteoric rise through Cuba’s Stalinist bureaucracy was facilitated by his diligence as an early executioner, often beating out Che Guevara and Raul Castro themselves in his zeal to shatter the firing-squad victim’s skull with a coup d’ grace from his .45. (Here is some dramatic proof of Rene Cruz Rodriguez’ zeal. That’s him on the right giving the firing squad their order of “FUEGO!”)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Was Boy in K.C. Fire Attack Burned by His School’s Racist Teaching?
The boy raised his hand, eager to answer the question. “What would you know about it?” exclaimed the teacher dismissively. “You’re not our race.”
This was not dialogue from a Hollywood movie. According to a woman named Melissa Coon, it was what a teacher at East High School in Kansas City told her 13-year-old son, Allen, when he attempted to answer a question during Black History Month. Coon identifies that teacher as Mrs. Karla Dorsey, who is black; Allen is white.
As has already been reported, Allen was a victim of a vicious racial attack last week in which two older black teens doused him with gasoline and set him alight, saying “This is what you deserve. You get what you deserve, white boy.” Not surprisingly, Coon has pulled her son out of East High and, concerned about further racial violence, intends to leave the K.C. area.
While this crime is making headlines, Coon states that it was merely the horrible culmination of continual racial harassment her son had to endure at East High. Moreover, after conducting an investigation that included extensive interviews with parents and students, I’ve learned that Coon’s son is not alone. Other white students also report a pattern of racial harassment at the high school at the hands of their peers — and, shockingly, their teachers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why Are Police in America Treating Women Like Dogs?
[Warning: Disturbing content.]
When I was growing up, police in America generally treated women with gentleness and respect. It was generally understood that women were not to be thrown around or mistreated by police unless they were being openly violent. But in most areas of the United States those days are long gone. Sadly, many police officers seem to make it a point to be especially mean and degrading to women. All over the country women are being openly abused and humiliated by police. In America today, women are being yanked around by their hair by police, women are being pepper sprayed directly in the face by police, and women are being brutally strip-searched in front of leering male police officers. This is not how a civilized nation should be treating women and there is no excuse for treating women like dogs.
The incidents that you are about to read about are absolutely shocking. They reveal just how far America has fallen. If police will treat non-violent women like dogs, then what will they do when the time comes to arrest you? That is something to think about.
[…]
Yes, there are still lots of good police officers out there in America. Many work incredibly hard in extremely difficult circumstances to try to make our communities a safe place to live.
Unfortunately though, there is a cultural shift happening in America and the number of good police officers continues to decrease. Many good officers are being slowly but surely replaced by brutal monsters that have no problem with treating people like garbage.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Working on the Fundamental Transformation of Canada
“These are high level Americans with deep ties to the left wing of the Democratic Party now trying to overturn Canadian democracy.”
Activists behind the move are claiming that an online petition represents a “grassroots” move of the Canadian people. Social media has become Socialist media in this Web grassroots petition.
In short, the “grassroots” is the same group of New Democrat Party, Liberals and the Greens who tried to form the coalition to take down the Stephen Harper Government when it was still in its second minority status.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Trouble in Odense
A quiet Danish town of Odense, the birthplace of the great storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, is close to becoming the arena for clashes between natives and immigrants from Muslim countries. Danish websites are full of reports stating that followers of Islam are particularly aggressively squeezing the Danish from the local area of Volsmese.
Once Andersen named island Fyn where Odense is located, the “Garden of Denmark.” Today, however, the city does not match the romantic description. According to the Internet portal Bt.dk referring to police sources, immigrants from Muslim countries conduct targeted attacks nearly exclusively at the indigenous population. “If your last name is Hansen or Nielsen and you live in Odense, especially in the area of Volsmese, the risk of being robbed is several times higher than that for those with foreign last names,” says the Danish website.
“Robberies of ethnic Danes became particularly frequent in the past few months. There is something racist about it. As a result of frequent crimes against local residents, we observe that the indigenous islanders began to leave their homeland. Over the past four months 150 robberies have been officially reported, 90 percent of which were committed against ethnic Danes,” said a police officer.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
It’s Official: The Majority of Britain’s Most Dysfunctional Families Have No Dad at Home
Almost two-thirds of Britain’s ‘problem families’ have no father at home, official research has found.
Some 72,000 of the most dysfunctional families — 60 per cent of those identified by the Government as ‘troubled’ — are headed by a single mother.
An official review into what caused last summer’s riots is expected to highlight the lack of good male role-models in the lives of many of the young people arrested for taking part in the disturbances, the Telegraph reported.
Last night Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said these ‘troubled families’ were in ‘total breakdown’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Breivik Charged With ‘Acts of Terror’
Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in twin attacks in Norway last July, was on Wednesday charged with committing acts of terror and voluntary homicide, according to an indictment by prosecutors. The charges carry a penalty of up to 21 years in prison, although the term can be extended for as long as he is considered a danger to society. If he is found criminally insane, he would be confined to a psychiatric ward instead.
Police read the 19 pages of charges to Behring Breivik on Wednesday morning at the high security Ila prison outside Oslo where he is being held pending the beginning of his trial on April 16th. Afterwards, police officer Tore Jo Nilsen told reporters gathered outside the prison that the confessed killer had been “completely calm” during the 30 minutes it took to read the charges.
On July 22nd, the man who has claimed to be on a crusade against multi-culturalism and the “Muslim invasion” of Europe set off a car bomb outside government buildings in Oslo, killing eight people. He then went to Utøya island north-west of Oslo, and, dressed as a police officer, spent more than an hour methodically shooting and killing another 69 people, mainly teenagers, attending a summer camp hosted by the ruling Labour Party’s youth wing.
The prosecution said last week it was prepared to accept that Behring Breivik was criminally insane and therefore not responsible for his acts, and as such may not call for a prison sentence. But it reserved the right to alter that view if new elements emerged about his mental health by the end of the trial.
The 33-year-old right-wing extremist is currently undergoing a second court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, after the initial one late last year found him criminally insane. The diagnosis, which if supported by the court would rule out prison, sparked a wave of criticism, with many pointing to the years he spent planning the massacre and his calm demeanor as he executed his attacks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Terror Indictment Unveiled Against Right-Wing Extremist Breivik for Norway Massacre
OSLO — Norwegian prosecutors on Wednesday formally indicted Anders Behring Breivik on terror charges, more than seven months after he confessed to attacks that killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage.
As expected, prosecutors charged the 33-year-old right-wing extremist under a paragraph in Norway’s anti-terror law that refers to violent acts intended to disrupt key government functions or spread fears in the population.
Breivik has confessed to the July 22 attacks but denies criminal guilt, portraying the victims as “traitors” for embracing immigration policies he claims will result in an Islamic colonization of Norway.
Eight people were killed when a bomb exploded in downtown Oslo and another 69 people died in a shooting spree on Utoya island outside the capital, where the youth wing of the governing Labor Party was holding its annual summer camp.
Reading from the indictment, prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh said 34 of the victims at Utoya were between 14 and 17 years old, 22 were aged 18-20, six were between 21 and 25 and seven were older than 25.
She said 67 died of gunshot wounds, and two died of fall injuries or drowning. In addition, 33 people were wounded by bullets, but survived.
The terror charges carry a maximum penalty of 21 years in prison but prosecutors have indicated they consider Breivik mentally ill and will seek involuntary commitment to psychiatric care instead of a prison sentence.
| — Hat tip: heroyalwhyness | [Return to headlines] |
UK: After Libya Shame, Memorial to Afghan Dead is Wrecked by Vandals… In ESSEX
A memorial garden for British troops killed in Afghanistan has been desecrated by vandals who struck at a military chapel in Essex.
A plaque in honour of seven soldiers who lost their lives in 2007 was smashed to pieces and a wooden cross destroyed.
News of the attack comes after The Mail on Sunday last week revealed how an armed mob in Libya had filmed themselves desecrating the war graves of more than 150 British servicemen at Benghazi.
The latest outrage happened in the memorial garden in the grounds of the chapel of The Royal Anglian Regiment in Warley, Brentwood.
| [Return to headlines] |
UK: Companies Will Get £6,000 if They Find Job for Ex-Prisoner
Private companies and charities will be responsible for looking after ex-convicts and will be paid almost £6,000 for each one they get into work.
More than 30,000 people leaving prison each year will be referred to a specialist employment adviser who will be “paid on results” for finding them a job. Jobcentre staff will also be posted in prison to help convicts before release.
Prisoners refusing to co-operate with the Work Programme will lose benefits. The scheme is to be introduced after research showed that a third of all those claiming jobseeker’s allowance had criminal records and that two years after being released from prison, 47 per cent of offenders were still claiming out-of-work benefits.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Children Are Being Banned From Playing Outside by Parents Who Roamed Free When They Were Young.
Fewer than a quarter are allowed out to play today even though most of their parents enjoyed doing so when they were young, a survey found.
Despite the increasing problem of childhood obesity, over-protective parents are preventing children experiencing the adventures and exercise they benefited from.
Games such as hide and seek, hill-rolling and climbing trees are banned by many parents. Ten per cent of under-10s are never allowed to play outside.
While a quarter of parents enjoyed after-school activities such as riding a bike, nearly a third of today’s children spend their free time watching TV or playing computer games.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Council That Spent £1MILLION on Pavements Are Forced to Spend Thousands More Because They’re TOO SLIPPERY
Having spent a £1million on brand new paving a council could fork out thousands more after being inundated by complaints the stones are too slippery.
The authorities in Bolton are looking at splashing a further £13,500 for an anti-algae treatment after the costly pavement was causing people to slide in the town centre’s historic Churchgate.
Officers claim the slippery surface there is caused mainly by overhanging trees from the Parish Church grounds, however, the council is now thinking of treating other recently laid stretches.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Far Right Hardcore ‘Willing to Prepare for Armed Conflict’
‘Study finds 40% of BNP supporters believe armed conflict between ethnic, racial or religious groups could be justifiable
A hardcore of far-right supporters in the UK appears to believe violent conflict between different ethnic, racial and religious groups is inevitable, and that it is legitimate to prepare even for armed conflict, according to a new report.
The study, From Voting to Violence? Rightwing Extremists in Modern Britain (pdf), by Matthew Goodwin, of the University of Nottingham, and Jocelyn Evans, of Salford University, was launched at Chatham House on Thursday .
The report questioned more than 2,000 supporters of “radical-right” and “far-right” groups and found that many endorsed violence, with a “hostile inner core” apparently willing to plan for and prepare for attacks.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Girl Tells Rochdale Sex Grooming Gang Trial She Woke Up to Find She Was Being Raped
The girl told police she woke to find the one of the men semi-naked on top of her, raping her. First, she noticed someone breathing heavily on her neck, she told officers. It was like ‘dog breath’ she said. She said: “Then I woke up and I screamed and my friend woke up and said basically ‘what do you think you are doing?’.”
The girl said the man just ignored her screams. Long silences punctuated the girl’s interview in which she repeatedly said she was ‘embarrassed’ and did not want to go into details. She said: “I would rather just forget about it and not go through the detail. It is disgusting.”
The girl also described twice being violently raped at a house in Rochdale. She said the owner, a man she knew as Shah, would grab her neck and slap her face if she tried to stop him kissing her. She described another man she named as Hamid watching as Shah tried different sexual positions. She said: “I tried screaming, but he just slapped me. It was gross.” She described another occasion at the same address when Hamid slit his own wrist, causing ‘deep, deep’ cuts, before threatening to slit her throat unless she had sex with him.
The prosecution says that Shah is Liaquat Shah and Hamid is Hamid Safi, both of Kensington Street, Rochdale. Kabeer Hassan, 24, Abdul Aziz, 41, Abdul Rauf, 43, Mohammed Sajid, 35, Adil Khan, 42, Abdul Qayyum, 43, of Ramsay Street, Rochdale, Mohammed Amin, 44, Qamar Shahzad, 29, Liaquat Shah, 41, and Hamid Safi, 22, are charged with conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16. They have all pleaded not guilty along with a 59-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons. He also denies two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, one count of sexual assault and an allegation of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation. Mr Hassan, of Lacrosse Avenue, Oldham, and Mr Shahzad, of Tweedale Street, Rochdale, also deny rape. Mr Aziz, of Armstrong Hurst Close, Rochdale, denies two counts of rape and one allegation of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Mr Khan, of Oswald Street, and Mr Rauf, of Darley Road, both in Rochdale, have also pleaded not guilty to trafficking for sexual exploitation. Mr Sajid, of Jepheys Street, Rochdale, denies trafficking, two counts of rape and one allegation of sexual activity with a child. Mr Amin, of Falinge Road, Rochdale, denies sexual assault. Mr Shah and Mr Safi, both of Kensington Street, Rochdale, each denied two counts of rape and Mr Safi has also pleaded not guilty to trafficking.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Knifeman With a Hatred of Police is ‘Safe to be Freed’… But Only to an Area Where There Aren’t Too Many Officers on the Beat
A notorious police killer is being released after 15 years — but he must be housed in an area with few police on the streets to protect his mental health.
Magdi Elgizouli, 44, was diagnosed as having a pathological hatred of the police after he knifed a young WPC (Woman Police Constable) to death in 1997.
The schizophrenic has now been deemed well enough to be transferred from a secure unit to a community hostel, but psychiatrists still fear his mental state could be adversely affected if he sees police on patrol.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mum of Two Signed Her Own Death Warrant
A MUM-of-two “signed her own death warrant” when she told her abusive husband to stay away, a court heard yesterday.
Mumtahina Jannat, 29, suffered years of violence before being strangled by possessive Abdul Kadir, 46, a jury was told.
Mumtahina allegedly told him not to return while he spent two months in his native Bangladesh.
The court heard Kadir replied: “I will not let you go. I will finish you off.”
Two weeks later, on July 5, her body was found with a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck.
Zoe Johnson, prosecuting, said: “In an attempt to break free, she signed her death warrant.”
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Man Jailed for Rape of Girl, 14
A MAN who raped a 14-year old girl was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, following a week-long trial at the Old Bailey.
Ishola Adeyomi Adeoye, 26, took the victim to his house in Woolwich, south east London, having met her on the street in nearby Plumstead.
Adeoye raped the schoolgirl after giving her alcohol, which caused her to pass out.
Police say the victim awoke in the morning and was not aware of what had happened to her, but began to suspect something when she began to feel pain.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Nothing Being Done to Stop Massive Electoral Fraud in Tower Hamlets
GoldspCllr Peter Golds, leader of the Conservative opposition in Tower Hamlets, says the police and the Electoral Commission are ineffective in ensuring free and fair elections in his borough
In terms of the conduct of elections, the Borough of Tower Hamlets is in a league of its own. The lack of action taken on fraud and intimidation can be laid at the police and election officials. However, the system itself must share responsibility.
In 2010 we had the combined general and local elections and in this borough a referendum as to whether there should be a directly elected Mayor.
- On 1 December 2007 the borough electorate was 152,466
- On 1 December 2008 it was 156,712
- On 1 June 2009 it was 158,251
- On 1 September 2009 it was 158,549
- On 1 December 2009 it was 160,278
- On 1 April 2010 it was 164,847
- On 4 May 2010 it was 171,870
In one month, in the lead up to the combined elections we had a 7,000 person increase in the electorate.
In 2009 I handed over to the police copies of emails regarding postal vote farming. The police spoke to the sender who “promised not to do it again” and therefore indicated a prosecution would not be in “the public interest”, despite the fine for this being £5,000.
However we also suffer from appalling intimidation at polling stations. Polling Stations are besieged by activists, overwhelmingly male, who harass voters on their entry to the polling stations, canvassing support and worse of all standing with electoral registers giving names to people entering the polling station — a kind of reverse telling operation. The numbers often reach 40-50 people at individual stations. I have numerous statements to this effect and it has been described by a journalist, Ted Jeory who lives in the borough and Andrew Gilligan who takes an interest in the borough. In the case of Andrew Gilligan, he was present at a polling station in Mile End, when some of these men have tried to turn away women voters for “not being modestly dressed”
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Prisoners, Terrorists, Gipsies Need More Human Rights, Declares Equality Quango
Prisoners, gipsies, terrorists and union activists routinely have their human rights abused, a highly controversial report will claim today.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has spent at least £150,000 of taxpayers’ money publishing a review into how public bodies safeguard people’s rights.
The left-wing quango, led by former Labour politician Trevor Phillips, has concluded that ‘more could be done to improve human rights protections of some,’ which also included vulnerable people in care homes and victims of crime.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Wales: Police Investigate Dishonesty Claims at Ethnic Minority Association
Police have said they will investigate a scandal-hit race relations charity.
In recent weeks, the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association (Awema) has been dogged by allegations of financial mismanagement following the publication of two highly critical reports.
It is claimed chairman Naz Malik had used Awema’s funds in “an inappropriate way” by using them to pay off credit card debts of more than £9,000 as well as giving himself and his daughter unauthorised pay increases.
Mr Malik and finance director Saquib Zia were sacked earlier this month, and Awema’s public funding was withdrawn by the Welsh Government.
Administrators were called in to wind up the organisation’s affairs.
Now it has emerged that a Welsh Government and Big Lottery Fund report into the spending of £8.4 million in public funding has been passed to the police.
Detective Inspector Dave Runnalls, of South Wales Police economic crime unit, said: “I can confirm we are investigating allegations of dishonesty by Awema personnel.”
Awema’s main role was to promote equality across Wales by distributing funds to ethnic minority projects.
Following a damning report from its own trustees, auditors in a Welsh Government inquiry said they had found a “complete lack of oversight of the financial processes and controls” at the Swansea-based charity.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Elites and the Muslim Brotherhood
After “courting” the MB in 2009, Patrick Cooper in “U.S. Embassy Sponsors Irish Muslim Business Conference” (IrishCentral.com, October 7, 2010) related how the U.S. ambassador to Ireland presented President Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope, to the Irish MB leader Imam Hussein Halawa (who has strong ties to the global MB). Cooper indicated “a main point of the conference was the need for Sharia law compliant financial products to be used… Ambassador Dan Rooney congratulated the organizers and said that the U.S. was ‘solid partners’ in the venture.”
In Egypt, on January 11 Mohamed Morsy (head of the MB’s Freedom and Justice Party) stressed that U.S.-Egyptian ties in the future must be “balanced,” and that the U.S. should adopt a “positive position concerning Arab and Muslim causes.” On the same day, Egypt’s 3-phase lower house parliamentary elections concluded, with the MB controlling 47.18% of the seats and the Salafist Al-Nur Party gaining 24.29%. The Salafists want to impose Sharia Islamic religious law, and the MB says it will not “immediately” insist on an “integral application of Sharia.” In other words, it’s only a matter of time before the MB imposes Sharia.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Arab Countries Sending Mercenaries Into Syria
Arab countries are sending mercenaries to Syria to thwart any chance of a negotiated settlement to end President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on a year-long uprising against his rule, Iran’s ambassador to France said on Thursday.
Iran, a close ally of Assad’s government, was initially very supportive of the way the Syrian authorities were putting down the uprising, but has lately been saying that Assad should enact reforms that take account of popular grievances.
Speaking in an interview with Reuters in Paris, Iran’s newly appointed envoy, Ali Ahani, accused certain Arab countries of financing and supplying weapons to those opposing Assad.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Michael J. Totten: Hezbollah’s Relentless Rage
A gripping new history of Lebanon’s Party of God
The only reason Israel has been able to survive in the Middle East, and even to flourish there, is because its enemies’ armies are incompetent. When asked how and why Israelis win every battle, the celebrated general Moshe Dayan said it’s because they fight Arabs. “We’re a feuding people, not a warring people,” Lebanese historian Kamal Salibi said to me once in Beirut. “We haven’t been good at war for hundreds of years.” If Arabs could fight as effectively as, say, the Russians, Israel would have ceased to exist long ago. Most likely it would have died before its first birthday. Syrian and Egyptian armies tried three times to destroy the Jewish state, and the Jordanian army tried twice. Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization have spent decades harassing Israel with terrorist, guerrilla, and low-level rocket attacks, but they’ve never come close to threatening the country’s existence.
Hezbollah—Lebanon’s Syrian- and Iranian-sponsored Party of God—is different. Hezbollah is the most formidable non-state army in the world and by far the deadliest and most effective fighting force ever fielded against Israel. And it’s just as sworn to Israel’s destruction as the would-be conquerors of the past. Nicholas Blanford’s gripping new book, Warriors of God, explains in peerless detail how Hezbollah grew into such a major force.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Aid to Saudi Arms Factory
[translated summary by Freedom Fighter]
Authority Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) is helping Saudi Arabia to plan the construction of a missile factory. The project has been ongoing since 2007 under heavy security, show documents that echo on the radio station seen.
| — Hat tip: Freedom Fighter | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Spy: New Book Reveals How Putin Has Riddled the West With Suburban Secret Agents
At the heart of this conspiracy is the successor to the KGB as the nation’s security service, the all-powerful FSB (Federal’naya sluzhba bezopasnosti), which Putin once headed.
It acts as the Russian regime’s enforcers, punishing the brave and bullying the cowardly to head off any credible political or economic challenge. It faces no constitutional, legal or democratic oversight.
It is a state within a state; a law unto itself. But its evil influence does not stop at the country’s borders.
With almost limitless wealth and the full armoury of state resources, from spy satellites to submarines, at their disposal, it has developed unprecedented capabilities in snooping and manipulation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan Corruption Creates More Terrorists
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
The sidelining of justice by the Afghan government and its international backers following the accidental burning of Korans by U.S. soldiers is fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan and presents a serious strategic risk, claims a new report from a British international security think-tank.
The report — which was published before Barack Obama’s apologies and statements on the violence against the US war forces in Afghanistan by some Afghan soldiers, police and protesters — argues that any strategy to create long-term stability in Afghanistan must place justice at its core. (Read: Quran Burning Leads to Numerous US Apologies)
No Shortcut to Stability: Justice, Politics and Insurgency in Afghanistan documents how illegal land grabs, the “political marginalizing of tribal and factional rivals and arbitrary detention” have motivated Afghans to join or support the Taliban. Other factors — money, drugs and foreign interference — also drive the insurgency but case studies of Helmand, Kandahar and Badghis provinces demonstrate the central role of injustice in the growth of the insurgency.
The report shows how justice issues are also implicated in the insurgency’s spread outside its southern Pashtun base.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
China Looting the West
The incredible scale of Chinese subversion in Western countries has gone virtually unreported.
It is most starkly revealed by a joint report on Chinese subversion between the Canadian intelligence services and police force published in 1996.
The process is simple. The cabal ‘first buy a Canadian company so as to obtain “local identity”, legally concealing their foreign identity. Then, the “Canadian” company invests heavily or buys other companies in various economic sectors.
‘In fact, control lies in Hong Kong or Beijing, and the financial benefits or fruits of research, often paid for by Ottawa or the provinces, are likely to make their way to Asia.’
The businesses owned by the triads are ‘used to pursue criminal activities, such as money-laundering and heroin trafficking, as well as assisting the ChIS (Chinese Intelligence Services).’
The report estimated that a staggering 200 Canadian companies -this was in 1996 — are under Chinese control, including some of the country’s biggest banks and corporations; Merrill Lynch, Husky Oil, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
They take advantage of under-reported “foreign trade zones” popping up all over the US. These are semi-autonomous regions exempt from US trade and customs laws. A reporter from Veterans Today called up the organizers of a FTZ being set up in his area and found:
‘Corporations producing whatever they produce can manufacture and export products tax-free, but if the products made in the FTZs are sold in the US, taxes are paid! By us! It’s like a reverse tariff! Americans are punished for being Americans but foreigners get a free ride. And “American” corporations get a free ride.’
| [Return to headlines] |
Australian Children to be Sterilized Without Parental Consent Under New Eugenics Law
The Government of Western Australia’s Mental Health Commission (WAMHC) has basically conjured up a proposal for new mental health legislation that bypasses parental involvement in the mental health treatment process, and instead tasks children under age 18, and of any age, with making the decision about whether or not to be sterilized, or whether or not to have their brain tissue destroyed with psychosurgery procedures. If a “mental health professional” can convince children that they need such treatments for their own good, in other words, than Australia’s youngest members of society will be open game for the eugenicist agenda.
It almost sounds like the plot of a sick movie, but it is all true and fully documented right in the WAMHC Mental Health Bill 2011, which you can access here: www.mentalhealth.wa.gov.au
Eugenicists want to sterilize Australian children without ever telling the kids’ parents
In the twisted minds of those who have seized positions of power all over the world, separating children from their parents and performing medical experiments on them in secret is a fully acceptable form of “medicine.” And this form of child abuse is exactly what WAMHC has proposed in its new mental health bill.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Congolese Witch Doctor Dances in London
During a recent Congolese protest march in London, a witch doctor walked at the head of the march
With recent high profile crime involving witchcraft and murder among the Congolese community in London, these photographs go some way to highlighting the fact that witchcraft is a part of Congolese society.
Several members of the march told press that the witch doctor was clearing the road in front of the march of evil spirits before the march.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa: Jailed for Rape
Abel Pana Qhisa of Mshenguville had a night out with Mosele Mashiya at a local tavern in Kutlwanong.
Just as they were about to leave the two had an argument.
According to Free State police spokesman Captain Stephen Thakeng, Qhisa got so angry he suddenly took out a knife and stabbed Mashiya repeatedly.
Thakeng said as Mashiya lay on the ground bleeding, Qhisa repeatedly raped her before leaving her for dead.
Seun Setungoane, 20, who allegedly witnessed the brutal stabbing and rape, also joined in and raped the dying Mashiya.
Luckily, Thakeng said, passers-by witnessed what was happening and called the police.
Thakeng said police arrested Setungoane on the crime scene while Mashiya died shortly afterwards.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
China’s New Export to America: A Baby Boom
Zhang Xuemei is just three-months pregnant but has already decided not to have her baby in her native China. Instead, the housewife and her husband, Wei Zhonghai, a wealthy mining boss, are paying tens of thousands of dollars to give birth to their third child in the United States.
Ms Zhang and Mr Wei, both 40, are just one of a growing number of anxious Chinese couples willing to spend from 100,000 to 250,000 Chinese renminbi (£10,000 to £25,000) to give birth abroad, paying 20 times more than the average cost of delivering a child at home. They have turned to a Beijing-based agency that offers services for “birth tourists” keen to travel to the US.
The benefits are myriad. Chinese parents giving birth in the US can skirt China’s one-child policy — a priority for couples such as Ms Zhang and Mr Wei, who might otherwise face an exorbitant fine by the Communist government. Going to the US buys top-notch healthcare and, above all, secures automatic birthright citizenship for their baby. Once children turn 21 they can petition the government for permanent-residence status for their parents.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
100,000 Urge President Obama to Sign Anti-Discrimination Order to Protect Federally Contracted LGBT Employees
WASHINGTON, DC — More than 100,000 people have joined Tico Almeida’s campaign on Change.org urging President Obama to sign an executive order banning anti-gay discrimination among federal contractors.
Tico Almeida, Founder and President of Freedom to Work, started the petition on Change.org to call attention to the millions of workers at U.S. federal contractors who could be fired from their jobs solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Estimates from the Williams Institute at UCLA indicate that more than 16 million workers with federal contractors are currently unprotected from anti-gay discrimination in the workplace.
“The strong response to this petition and Freedom to Work’s push for an executive order shows that Americans don’t want their taxpayer dollars squandered on workplace harassment and anti-LGBT discrimination,” said Almeida, whose organization has been working toward an executive order on federal contractors for the past year. “Our government should never subsidize prejudice.”
By signing the executive order, President Obama would effectively require all businesses under contract with the U.S. government to protect their employees from harassment and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The order would give the U.S. Department of Labor enforcement oversight to insure that government contractors have appropriate policies in place. Additionally, under the proposed executive order, workers at federal contractors would be able to seek back-wages and reinstatement if they are fired for their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Almeida recently won another campaign on Change.org, urging DynCorp International, a defense contractor that does more than $3 billion in business with the U.S. government, to add anti-discrimination policies that protect employees based on perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity. More than 55,000 people signed that petition, spurring DynCorp to act. But dozens of other federal contractors do not have workplace anti-harassment policies that protect LGBT employees.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
American Bar Association Seeks Nominations for First-Ever Stonewall Award
CHICAGO — The American Bar Association (ABA) will formally honor lawyers who have considerably advanced LGBT individuals in the legal profession and/or successfully championed LGBT legal causes.
The ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is seeking nominations of exceptional lawyers, judges and legal academics for its first-ever Stonewall Award. The annual award is named after the Stonewall Inn police raid and riot of June 28, 1969, in New York City, credited as a turning point in the gay rights movement.
The Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, founded in 2007, works to secure for LGBT people full and equal participation in the ABA, the legal profession and the justice system.
The ABA, with almost 400,000 members, is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Beta Blocker Heart Pill Combats Racism
A commonly used beta-blocker drug used to treat heart disease could affect a person’s subconscious attitude towards race.
Scientists, ethicists and psychiatrists at Oxford University discovered the connection after investigating the psychological effect the heart drug had on patients’ prejudice attitudes.
The study involved two groups of 18 participants who were asked to take a ‘racial Implicit Association Test’ (IAT) a few hours after taking the propranolol beta-blocker drug or a placebo.
The test involved a combination of positive and negative language, alongside images of black and white individuals. The participants were asked to use the ‘feeling thermometer’ approach — a psychological tool used to assess explicit prejudice. They were asked how ‘warm’ or ‘cold’ they felt towards the images on a rating of 1 to 10.
Researchers discovered a third of volunteers who’d taken the beta-blocker drug had a negative IAT score, meaning they were subconsciously biased towards non-racist views.
The study also found that propranolol had no effect increasing the levels of explicit racial prejudice, as well as religious and sexual prejudice.
These results were compared to the attitudes of those who took placebo pills.
Co-author Professor Julian Savulescu from the study added: “Such research raises the tantalising possibility that our unconscious racial attitudes could be modulated using drugs, a possibility that requires careful ethical analysis.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Children With Gender Dysphoria at a High Risk of Psychiatric Problems
The opening of a US gender clinic has led to a four-fold increase in the number of people diagnosed with gender identity disorder (GID) in the area, pointing to a “pent-up demand for medical intervention” and, according to an Australian expert, highlighting the debate around early intervention.
Reported in the first study to characterise a group of US children with GID, the results showed those who did not receive treatment could be at high risk of behavioural and emotional problems, including psychiatric disorders.
Of 97 GID patients under 21 years old, 44 per cent had a history of psychiatric symptoms, 37 per cent were taking psychotropic medications, 22 per cent had a history of self-mutilation and 9 per cent had attempted suicide, researchers from the Children’s Hospital, Boston, reported in the journal Pediatrics.
Following the gender clinic opening at Children’s Hospital, Boston, the researchers found the GID population increased four-fold, with 58 per cent receiving treatment after consultations.
The increase in the number of GID patients reflected a “pent-up demand for medical intervention… the number of youths entering GID clinics worldwide has been rising,” they said.
The authors advocated early evaluation of children exhibiting gender dysphoria, with lead author Dr Norman Spack noting anecdotally that children who receive interventions early do better psychologically.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Gender-Neutral No Excuses for UNC-Chapel Hill
Safety for transgender college students needs to be a priority. According to Campus Pride’s 2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People, less than 7 percent of institutions of higher education have inclusive nondiscrimination polices with regard to gender identity and expression of transgender students, faculty, and staff. More than a third of all transgender students, faculty, and staff fear for their physical safety, and over half attempt to hide their transgender identity to avoid intimidation and harassment on campus.
On Feb. 7, 2012, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorpe rejected a student- and faculty-led proposal to adopt a gender-non-specific housing program. At the time national organizations like Campus Pride noted concern and displeasure at Thorpe’s decision and its failure to meet the safety needs of UNC-Chapel Hill’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) student population.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Is Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax a Nazi Propaganda?
Political correctness combined with intellectually inferior parents will be the ruin of this nation.
Former Reagan administration Department of Education employee and author Charlotte Iserbyt describes in her book “The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America” many plausible explanations as to how we ended up where we are as a fully dumbed down society in the 21st century. I highly recommend the book.
This sick cartoon movie “The Lorax” indoctrinates children into the far left eco-terror movement. It plays on their vulnerability and is actually raping the little undeveloped minds of our children. It is a form of child abuse to expose children to this masterfully designed brainwashing machine.
Today’s parents are too stupid, too ignorant and too lazy to reason out the potential damage that comes from exposing their children to these distorted facts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Transgender Ex-Nanny Now a Celebrity
Jakarta — Barack Obama’s former nanny, Evie, is overwhelmed by her jolt from transgender slum-dweller to local celebrity. TV crews troop in and out of her tiny concrete hovel. Estranged relatives finally want to meet. She even has a promising job offer.
Evie, who was born male but considers herself a woman, decided after enduring years of abuse and ridicule she’d be better off trying to just fit in. She stopped cross-dressing and has since eked out a living hand-washing clothes.
But since being the subject of a recent article by The Associated Press about the struggles of transgender people in this predominantly Muslim nation, the 66-year-old has been showered with attention.
It’s mostly because of her long-ago connection to the now-US president — though she hopes it might generate more openness on gender issues.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Time is Running Out’ For Gender Quotas at Work
Debate has been fierce in Berlin following the release of new wage inequality data and an EU threat to enforce a binding gender quota on companies. Amid growing support for such measures, German commentators agree that the dismal situation must change, but doubt that a quota is the best solution.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Freeview Porn Available in Millions Children Bedrooms, Prompts Ofcom Investigation
Parents have called for broadcasters to stop showing pornography on Freeview channels available in millions of homes.
They are furious that TV companies are allowed to broadcast X-rated material that can easily be seen by children.
Channels such as Dutch-based Babestation and Smile TV show naked women massaging each other and simulating sex to entice viewers to call premium-rate numbers for more hardcore content.
Some 77 per cent of British households have Freeview — leaving most of the nation’s children in danger of accidentally accessing the graphic images.
Although the UK has strict child-protection laws, European legislation stipulates that TV companies are moderated by the regulators from their home country, and not the ones they air in.
This means the channels in question are regulated by the Netherlands’ permissive watchdog, the Commissariaat voor de Media.
As a result, they are free to broadcast graphic, sexually suggestive content on free-to-air digital channels between 10pm and 6am.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
The United States of Islam
Arabic Caliphate is not a figment anymore: fragments of the Middle Eastern regimes will soon form a group of islands called The Muslim Archipelago.
A veteran member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Ahmad Gad called “honorable Al-Azhar to rally the Islamic streams in order to unite the Muslim word and effort, restore the Caliphate… O Allah, guide us, open our hearts to faith, and restore this nation to its previous self—one united nation worshiping You and You alone”.
Dr. Kamal Al-Helbawy, former Muslim Brotherhood spokesman in the West named this future Caliphate—”the United States of Islam”. He implied that Arabs want to erase borders that were drawn up by imperialist nations and build global Islamic State.
This is how another Egyptian Islamic Scholar Ibrahim Al-Khouli has formulated the concept of the Muslim Brotherhood: “Forget about Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. That’s not what I’m talking about. I am talking about Jihad which is led by the Islamic scholars … I am talking about the Jihad of the entire nation. We must conduct jihad against the West, who are aggressors against the Land of Islam “.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
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