Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Funding Research Into Bracelets That Track Mental, Emotional Responses
(NaturalNews) Pushing vaccines on the entire world is apparently not the only goal of the infamous Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is reportedly now funding research into human tracking bracelets capable of gauging both emotional and physical responses to various stimuli. According to The Washington Post (WP), the Gates Foundation has already quietly spent more than $1 million on research into the biometric bracelets, which could forever alter the way students learn and teachers teach.
In a controversial move that was only recently brought to light, the Gates Foundation allegedly forked over about half a million dollars to South Carolina’s Clemson University late last fall, and another more than $600,000 to the National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL), a group dedicated to improving student achievement. Both grants were intended to fund test studies on the effectiveness of the “galvanic skin response” bracelets, which assess the physiological responses of students to learning material.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Educating Conservatives About Sharia’s Threat
An ignorant column spurs much-needed discussion.
Matthew Schmitz, deputy editor at First Things, wrote an essay titled “Fears of Creeping Sharia” that was published at NRO on Wednesday, June 13.
The piece was striking in its willful ignorance about:
- the intrinsic nature of Sharia itself;
- the frequency and intensity of efforts by mainstream American Islamic organizations to promote Sharia in America (and we now know these are Muslim Brotherhood appendage organizations, who unfortunately do seem to represent the masses as per the only available polling data we have);
- the legal basis for American Laws for American Courts (ALAC)
Schmitz compounded this fundamental ignorance by maliciously spraying charges of “anti-Muslim bigotry” at those who confront Sharia encroachment. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann were specifically condemned for their alleged role in “dignifying the disreputable anti-Sharia movement.”
My rebuttal pieces addressed Schmitz’s uninformed views on Sharia itself, and the copious evidence of Sharia encroachment.
I summarized, for Schmitz’s edification, the liberty-crushing, dehumanizing nature of Sharia: open-ended jihadism to subjugate the world to a totalitarian Islamic order; rejection of bedrock Western liberties — including freedom of conscience and speech — enforced by imprisonment, beating, or death; discriminatory relegation of non-Muslims to outcast, vulnerable pariahs, and even Muslim women to subservient chattel; and barbaric punishments which violate human dignity, such as amputation for theft, stoning for adultery, and lashing for alcohol consumption.
Refusing to acknowledge Sharia’s ugly, living essence, Schmitz instead made a factually challenged, immoral equivalence between totalitarian Islamic law — a form of state governance — and modern Church canon law, which is deliberately confined to religious affairs, even glibly asserting: “Surely Catholics would love to see canon law cover the globe.”
I also pointed out what Schmitz steadfastly ignored: ominous polling data from U.S. Muslims; jihad funding trial revelations and the content of more banal Muslim litigation proceedings; mosque surveillance reports; analyses of Islamic education institutions and their Muslim schoolchildren’s textbooks; the issuance of obscurantist “fatwas” (Islamic legal rulings) by the respected, mainstream Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America; and an open declaration by one of America’s largest mainstream Muslims organizations, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), in its 2010 ICNA Members Hand Book, which calls for the (re-)creation of a global Muslim Caliphate and the imposition of Sharia in America.
But the coup de grace in debunking Schmitz’s diatribe was supplied by David Yerushalmi, who corrected Schmitz’s mischaracterization of American Laws for American Courts (ALAC) legislation (such as Kansas’s recently passed law), elucidated a legal case study cited in the Center for Security Policy analysis I had referenced as part of my rebuttals to Schmitz, and reminded us all that the earliest of these laws (now passed in Kansas, Tennessee, Arizona, and Louisiana) have been in effect for several years without being challenged, let alone overturned.
Yerushalmi also provided a clear, didactic example of the need for ALAC-style laws. He described in brief an appellate court decision from Maryland, cited in the Center for Security Policy Study, where:…
| — Hat tip: Andy Bostom | [Return to headlines] |
EPA in Huge Power Grab to Control All Ditches and Gullies on Private Land
(NaturalNews) As the federal Leviathan becomes ever larger and all-powerful, its Executive Branch tentacles reach further and further into the American fabric as it seeks to exert authority and control over more and more of our lives.
The latest power-mad grab can be attributed to the not-so-illustrious Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is using (misusing, actually) the Clean Water Act (CWA) to control all ditches, gullies and other ephemeral areas by trying to say they are navigable waterways. Sure — like the ditch in front of your home can support barge traffic or a U.S. Navy warship.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Holder, DOJ File Lawsuit Against Florida Despite Proof of Illegal Voters
The Attorney General Eric Holder isn’t going to allow his legal problems get in the way of Department of Justice officials announcing their intention to sue Florida over its so-called “purge” of the state’s voter rolls. The DOJ lawsuit announcement occurred the same day that Florida’s government announced it was suing a different federal agency over the same purge.
So far, Florida officials have identified over 180,000 registered voters who may not be U.S. citizens. Their list doesn’t include the names of deceased Floridians still listed as registered voters nor does it include convicted felons.
When Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. Justice Department demanded that the State of Florida — considered a vital electoral state — stop checking voter records in its probe of illegal voter registrations, Democratic Party operatives swarmed broadcast media outlets and echoed the assertion that illegal voting is not a problem in the United States.
[…]
However, a major research project [url] completed earlier this year suggests that the United States is fast approaching the status of Third-World Nation when it comes to the integrity of local and national elections and voter fraud is far from being a few isolated incidents.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Islam Navigates the Shoals of Extremism
by Cathy Young
Which is the more serious problem today: Islamic extremism or anti-Islamic bigotry?
The latest contribution to this debate comes from The Nation, the leading magazine of America’s left, in its current special edition on “Islamophobia: Anatomy of an American Panic.” Its articles address a real and serious issue — but they also illustrate the pitfalls of ignoring its other side. There’s no doubt that virulent rhetoric depicting all Islam as inherently evil and violent, and virtually all Muslims as potential jihadists, has gained alarming currency on the right. Such Muslim-bashing is not simply demeaning but can lead to violence, harassment and infringements on the fundamental liberties of Muslim Americans. The New York Police Department has been criticized for overly broad surveillance of ordinary Muslims. Recent years have seen a wave of attempts to block construction of mosques and Islamic centers across the country. Bills seeking to outlaw the use of Shariah law in American courts — already illegal if it infringes on citizens’ constitutional rights — could interfere with private contracts rooted in religious law.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Lance Armstrong Named in Massive 12-Year Doping Conspiracy
(NaturalNews) Former professional road racing cyclist and Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is the target of a new investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which alleges Armstrong engaged in a “long running doping conspiracy” between 1998 and 2007. Armstrong has already been barred from competing in upcoming Ironman triathlons as a result of the accusations, and if found to be guilty of the charges, he could also lose all seven of his Tour de France titles.
The Washington Post (WP) reports that a 15-page letter issued by USADA accuses Armstrong of taking performance-boosting drugs such as erythropoietin (EPO), getting blood transfusions, and supplementing with human growth hormone (HGH) during his glory years — and the group says it has convincing proof to back its claims. The letter also accuses Armstrong of distributing and administering performance-enhancing drugs to other cyclists between 1998 and 2005.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
More From DHS Insider
“Before we get into the grit, I want to make sure you’re clear about what we talked about before, especially about the economy. You know there’s talk at the highest levels about a coming financial meltdown. When I say the highest levels, I mean the highest. But certain information is being compartmentalized, and almost no information is being sent to out-of-the-loop law enforcement agencies about why things are about to get ugly. They’re getting bigger and better equipment and loving it — not questioning it beyond what they’re told. But here’s what you need to make sure everyone understands when you write about our talks: Despite the fact our economy is on life support, DHS will be budgeting another trillion dollars in surveillance measures and equipment for police state tactics for two reasons.The first is to protect the politicians and the elite who are concerned about their physical safety, and rightfully so. This is why you hear no meaningful objections from either party, because both sides are benefiting, at different levels, from the controlled economic meltdown. They are all in the pockets of the big banks, along with the regulators, and so on. They are paranoid. Even the few who aren’t neck deep in graft — just knee deep. When everything starts to unravel, they will be exposed as complicit, so they have been reminded not to object to the increase in police state tactics,” said my source.
“Secondly, everything is preemptive. The power elite are enabling the looting process by oppressing the truth, so they need to monitor everything. If the top can’t stop the details from getting out, and I’m not talking about news from [expletive deleted] MSNBC or the MSM news, but real news, they figure it’s going to get real ugly. DHS is not just being used as the controlling mechanism to stop people from seeking revenge against the people in power who caused the financial ruin or simply allowed it to happen, but to control information through surveillance, intimidation, and force if necessary,“ stated my source.
[…]
“Why do you think DHS added a bunch of silly domestic threat categories to their list, like people overly concerned with the U.S. Constitution, the Federal Reserve, and so-called conspiracies that in any world except their global financial shell game, makes absolutely no sense,” my source asked rhetorically. “Just make sure you emphasize that there is a degree of urgency at DHS over this that’s coming right from the top.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Unmasked
No one in the mainstream media has performed the essential function of exposing the details of Barack Obama’s sordid political history pre-dating his 2004 run for the United States Senate. Virtually every other President in modern time has had his life’s history investigated in detail and published, but not Barack Obama, the darling of the liberal media. Barack Obama’s background remains, for most Americans, a mystery. With the publication of former New York Times Magazine editor Edward Klein’s biography, The Amateur, as well as select pieces in other publications, including The Washington Times, National Review, and World News Daily, we can now see that Obama’s education in politics and political affiliations took him not to the far left but beyond, to those who view America as an evil colonial power that has to be humbled economically and politically before it can become part of a grand international community of socialist states.
Klein’s book is filled with details recording Obama’s radical political affiliations…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
When the Power Grid Goes Down, All Grid-Tie Solar Systems Will Go Down With it
(NaturalNews) A lot of people believe they are becoming “power independent” by installing grid-tie solar systems, but what many don’t realize is that virtually all such systems are designed to actively go offline when the power grid goes offline.
A “grid-tie” solar system is one that ties into the power grid, pulling electricity from the grid when needed, then pushing excess electricity back into the grid when the local customer isn’t using the full capacity being generated by PV panels (photovoltaic). As long as the grid stays up, it’s a clever solution because it reduces or even eliminates the customer’s electric bills while generating “clean” energy.
Because of the very fact that these systems are tied into the power grid, however, they all have a safety feature that disconnects them from the grid when the grid goes down. In other words, if the power grid goes offline, your entire grid-tie solar array becomes instantly useless and you can’t power a laptop computer even if you have $100,000 worth of solar panels sitting on your roof. In a grid-tie system, they all are instantly shut off.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Stops Russian Ship Carrying Attack Helicopters for Syria
A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.
The British marine insurer Standard Club said it had withdrawn cover from all the ships owned by Femco, a Russian cargo line, including the MV Alaed. “We were made aware of the allegations that the Alaed was carrying munitions destined for Syria,” the company said in a statement. “We have already informed the ship owner that their insurance cover ceased automatically in view of the nature of the voyage.” British security officials confirmed they had told Standard Club that providing insurance to the shipment was likely to be a breach of European Union sanctions against the Syrian regime. They said they were continuing to monitor the ship, which has been the subject of a fierce international row since US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week revealed it was adding to the arsenal of weaponry available for Mr Assad to use against rebellious Syrian towns.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Europe’s on the Brink of Probably the Gravest and Most Frightening Tumult of Our Lifetime
by Max Hastings
We spent most of yesterday on a beach in Devon — the family and me, that is. The sun was shining, the sand golden; gentle surf washed the shore against a backdrop of soft woods and green fields rising from the shore. I mention these holiday scenic details only to make the point that our world yesterday — and yours, too, I expect — looked pretty much the way it did the day before and, for that matter, in years gone by. Because this is so, because no bombs are dropping, nor Viking hordes sacking villages nor dinosaurs roaming city streets, it is difficult for us all to get our minds around the notion that hell is a’popping; that Europe is in the early stages of what will probably prove its gravest and most frightening tumult of our lifetimes.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Europe: Hotbed of Islamophobic Extremism
Europeans are not threatened by a Muslim minority. It’s the other way round, Gary Younge points out.
How’s this for the fashion police? In late May, in a suburb of Brussels, a Muslim woman was arrested for wearing aniqab — the garment worn by a tiny proportion of Muslim women that covers all of the face but the eyes. In the subsequent melee, the woman broke an officer’s nose while being frisked. Her arrest sparked clashes between Muslim youth and police in the area. A week later, the hard-right Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang offered a 250 euro bounty to anyone reporting veiled women to the police.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
France: Two Female Police Officers Shot Dead
French police say a man has confessed to killing two female paramilitary gendarmes who were shot dead with a gun belonging to one of them.
The officers, who were aged 29 and 35, were killed in the village of Collobrieres, in the Maures mountains near the southeastern town of Toulon.
It is believed to be the first time two female gendarmes have been killed in the same incident in France.
And Toulon prosecutor Xavier Tarabeaux told a news conference that a suspect — who he said had recently completed a six-year stretch in prison — had confessed to the killings.
The man matching the description of the killer — aged 30, tall, well built and with a shaved head — was arrested in the village after a manhunt involving 300 people.
A police spokesman for the local Paca region said the force was “deeply shocked.” The elder victim, Audrey Berthaut, had two daughters aged five and 13 while the other, Alicia Champlon, was another gendarme’s partner.
The pair had reportedly intervened in an argument involving an alleged burglar.
The attacker — who investigators say appeared to be drunk — apparently knocked one of the police officers over, took her gun and shot her, before pursuing the other gendarme and killing her in a nearby square.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Stockholm Terror Trial: Bomber’s Wife Had Money Wired to Her, Court in Glasgow Hears
THE wife of a man who blew himself up in a busy Stockholm street had money wired to her by an accused conspirator to further her husband’s terrorist aims, a court has heard.
Taimour Abdulwahab died in the explosion on December 11 2010 in the Bryggargatan area of the Swedish capital.
Nasserdine Menni, whose age is unknown, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow charged with conspiring with Abdulwahab and others to further terrorist aims, which included the use of explosive devices in the commission of an act of terrorism directed against members of the Swedish public, with intent to murder them.
Abdulwahab’s wife, Mona Thwany, 29, gave evidence at the trial today and said that in the weeks following her husband’s death, she left the family home in Luton, Bedfordshire, with her three children after it was searched by police.
She stayed with a friend, Hemel Tellis, a 29-year-old science teacher also from Luton, for about two weeks before looking for a new place, Mrs Thwany told the court.
During that time, Menni, who Mrs Thwany said she only knew as Azzedin, sent £1,000 to her through Mrs Tellis’ bank account, she said.
Mrs Thwany told the court she did not know Menni personally but that she had seen him around and had probably heard her husband mention him.
She said: “It is a cultural thing that when someone passes away, you ask the family if they need anything.”
The court heard that Abdulwahab’s parents and sister lived in Sweden.
Mrs Thwany also told the jury that her son had changed his name from Osama but would not say what he had changed it to.
At one point during her evidence, trial Judge Lord Matthews gave Mrs Thwany a warning after she refused to answer certain questions.
As she took to the stand, she told the Advocate Depute Andrew Miller: “I am here for one reason and one reason only, and that is to assist with the case concerning Mr Menni.
“As you know, previously I have had contact with the police, so I am respectfully asking you to ask questions which are relevant to this case please. I wouldn’t want to incriminate myself.”
Lord Matthews said: “It will be for me to judge what questions are and are not relevant, so you just answer them.”
Later in the proceedings, Mrs Thwany refused to say her email address out loud over fears for her privacy, but the judge told her: “Whether you like to or not, you will just have to give us it.”
She eventually wrote the email address down and it was handed around the jury.
Menni is also charged with transferring money to or for the use of Abdulwahab, in the knowledge it would be used for the purposes of terrorism.
It is alleged he conspired with Abdulwahab and others from addresses in Glasgow, Luton, Bedford, Syria, Iraq and Sweden between January 1 2003 and March 8 2011.
He denies all of the charges against him.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Stop Giving Foreign Criminals a Right to Stay in the UK, Say MPs Following Landmark Vote
In a landmark vote, MPs last night ordered judges to stop granting foreign rapists and killers a ‘human right’ to stay in Britain.
The motion — the first of its kind — was passed after the Commons heard the horrifying scale of the way overseas convicts are abusing Labour’s controversial Human Rights Act.
According to Home Office figures, 1,888 overseas offenders played the legal system by lodging appeals under the legislation last year.
Of these, 409 were allowed to stay — 185 of them because the criminal had a right to a ‘family life’ here under Article 8 of the Act.
This is despite the fact that, in many cases, the convicts destroyed British families by their actions
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: A Ban on Bangers: Hundreds of School Pupils Denied Pork Because of ‘Religious Reasons’
Roast pork and sausages have always been a staple of British diets. But now hundreds of school children will be denied them for school lunches because of ‘religious reasons’. Pork, which is not eaten by devout Jews or Muslims, has been banned by councils across the country to satisfy the needs of staff and pupils who are not allowed contact with it. However, it is thought many schools do not serve halal or kosher meat, so Jewish and Muslim children would not be able to eat it anyway.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bangers Ban in Hundreds of Schools
Pork is being banned from school dinners even where the majority of parents have no religious objection to it.
Head teachers are deciding for “cultural” and “religious” reasons to drop traditional sausages and ham from children’s lunches. One council has issued “best practice” advice to all schools in its area to “ban all pork products in order to cater for the needs of staff and pupils who are not permitted contact with these for religious reasons”. The guidance, issued in Haringey, north London, does not specify what proportion of a school’s intake should object to the meat — which is not eaten by devout Muslims or Jews — before it is dropped.
The policy was criticised last night by MPs and farmers’ leaders, who accused head teachers of depriving other children of a choice and pointed out that all schools already offer vegetarian options. Pabulum, a school caterer in south-east England, said that around 20 of the 48 primary schools it supplied chose only non-pork lunches. Most serve no halal or kosher meat, however, so many Muslim or Jewish pupils would not be able to eat the dishes anyway.
In Luton, 23 out of 57 schools which contract their dinners from the local authority have a “no pork” policy. In Bradford the figure is 24 out of 160; in Newham, east London, it is 25 out of 75; in Tower Hamlets, east London, it is 85 out of 90. In Haringey’s infant, junior and primary schools, 37 out of 47 serve no pork. At Cypress Junior School, in Croydon, south London, Nicky Godetz, the head teacher, announced in this month’s newsletter that the school had opted for a pork-free menu “as a result of pupil and parental feedback”.
“The sausages served will now be chicken rather than pork,” she added. Muslim and Jewish pupils are in a minority at the school, where most of the intake are of white British, black Caribbean or black African heritage. Other pork-free schools include Cranford Park Primary School in Hayes, Middlesex, and Dog Kennel Hill Primary, in East Dulwich, south London, both with pupils from a wide range of ethnic minorities. Muslim and Jewish leaders said they had never asked for schools to ban pork.
In its most recent report on “meeting the needs of Muslim pupils in state schools”, the Muslim Council of Britain asked only for halal and non-halal meat to be handled separately, to avoid contamination, and for clear labelling. Jon Benjamin, the chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “This is simply not an issue. Jews of a certain level of observance would not eat in non-kosher restaurants or dining halls. Children at mainstream school who are bothered would probably have packed lunches. Children who are comfortable with using the same cutlery and crockery as everyone else would choose their dishes from the options available. It is live and let live — we are certainly not calling for this.”
Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley, West Yorkshire, who has campaigned for clear labelling of halal and kosher meat in shops and restaurants, described the pork bans as “misguided political correctness”. “Whilst I very much agree that pupils should be able to choose not to have pork, I believe it is totally wrong for schools to in effect force all pupils to abide by the religious beliefs of some by denying them the opportunity to choose to have pork,” he said. “This is the type of misguided political correctness which builds up resentments which otherwise would not exist, and I very much hope these schools will change their stance and allow pupils a much more free choice.”
Stewart Houston, the chief executive of the National Pig Association, which represents commercial producers, also criticised the bans. He said: “It is disappointing that schools can not be sufficiently organised to give children a choice of meat. Sausages and roast pork are staples of a British diet and children enjoy eating them. If products can be labelled with warnings that they contain nuts and vegetarian dishes can be made and kept separate from meat dishes, I don’t see why the same can’t apply to pork.” Healthy eating rules on school meals mean sausages can only be served once a fortnight. Many schools across the country already supply halal meat either as an option or exclusively. Some have been criticised for not informing parents or consulting with them about the decision to switch to a fully halal menu.
[Reader comment by RecklessProcess on 18 June 2012 at 05:16 PM.]
Let’s outlaw the local culture of London going back hundreds of years in order to accomadate Muslims who hate London and London Culture while straining to impose Sharia law on London. There is no reason that the Leftist Totalitarians can see that they should not outlaw local culture to accomadate a primitive and barbaric culture of death.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Exorcising Enoch Powell’s Ghost
Mohammed Amin is Vice Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum. He is writing in a personal capacity.
When I wrote “Winning Muslim Votes” for the Tory Reform Group magazine “Reformer”, I asked why:
“Muslim business owners and professionals who, if they were white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) would be expected to vote Conservative but who actually vote Labour despite their wealth and socially conservative attitudes.”
I decided the key reason was a form of collective memory:
“As someone who has lived in the UK for over 50 years, I still remember the Labour Party as the promoter of the Race Relations Act while the Conservative Party had Enoch Powell making speeches about “Rivers of blood.”
I made a similar point in my piece “Hard-edged but inclusive” written for the book “Are we there yet? A collection on race and Conservatism” published by DEMOS and the Runnymede Trust:
“As Conservatives we can be proud of our party’s early pioneering of racial equality by selecting a Jew, Benjamin Disraeli, as our party leader and then prime minister. At the same time we need to be objective and recognise that our party produced Enoch Powell, who I regard as a racist; while Ted Heath sacked him from the shadow cabinet he was never expelled from the party and instead left voluntarily over the European Economic Community.”
After I wrote these pieces, some of my younger Party friends accused me of being an old fogey, and were incredulous that Enoch Powell could still be relevant to voting patterns today. Accordingly I had a feeling of quiet vindication when I read “Degrees of separation — Ethnic minority voters and the Conservative Party” by Lord Ashcroft. If you search the full report, Enoch Powell gets five mentions. The focus groups organised by Lord Ashcroft and his team show that Enoch Powell’s ghost still haunts us, and is costing us votes.
[…]
[Reader comment by Paul Harris on 18 June 2012 at about 1 am.]
It might be a surprise to know, Mr Amin, but most people I know do not want Britain invaded by millions of Third World immigrants. Try thinking how you would feel if it were your country. However much social engineering you spend out of our tax money to try and paper over this issue, it is not going to go away, just like the Third World settlers in this country, who are disproportionately responsible for much of the serious crime. We want our country back. We never agreed to this in the first place and we do not agree to it now, and we never will.
[JP note: See piece below on shutting down the Conservative Muslim Forum.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: It’s Time to Shut the Conservative Muslim Forum Down
The Conservative Muslim Forum (CMF) was founded in 2005, as part of the Conservative Party’s ‘modernisation’ strategy, the group was formed “when the Conservative Party recognised that it needed to do more to appeal to Muslim voters“. The group uses an ‘@conservatives.com’ e-mail for all official correspondences. The CMF could have played a progressive part in enticing Muslim voters towards the Conservative Party. That has not happened. Instead, the Conservative Muslim Forum appeases and bids for Islamists within the Conservative Party.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: One Direction Singer Zayn Malik: Global Pop Star, And Muslim
As the British-Irish boy band One Direction soared in the pop charts, making teen and tween girls around the world swoon and scream, band member Zayn Malik tweeted a message that would perplex a large segment of his fans, while being immediately recognizable to millions of others. “La ila ha ill lalla ho muhammed door rasoolalah.” The 47-character tweet is a common declaration of faith among Muslims: “There is no god but God and Mohammad is the prophet of God.” It was one signal from Malik that as part of his public persona he would embrace a religion that is often feared and reviled in the West, while otherwise acting the traditional teen idol alongside his four floppy-haired band mates in One Direction.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Owen Jones, The Justin Bieber of the British Left
by Dan Hodges
[…]
In the immediate aftermath of Anders Breivik’s Norwegian massacre, I wrote a piece for the New Statesman critical of those who in my view had attempted to appropriate those horrific events for political ends. In particular I singled out Owen’s statement that “working class Norwegians have just been slaughtered”. “Of the dead and dying of the Norwegian middle and upper classes there was no word”, I pointed out. Again, the fury from Owen’s acolytes could scarcely have been more vituperative if I’d actually endorsed Breivik’s murderous rampage. But as I’ve written before, this is how the self-styled elements of Britain’s radical elite conduct their politics. It’s not just that a particular alternative viewpoint is deemed to be wrong. The mere fact of forming an alternative viewpoint is itself viewed as an outrage.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman Accuses Daily Mail of Telling Porkies
Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman has refuted allegations that the borough has banned pork sausages from being served in schools.
Mayor Rahman responded on his blog to an article in the Daily Mail which claimed the council has banned sausages due to “religious reasons.” The article stated that 85 out of 90 schools in Tower Hamlets do not offer pupils a pork option, a figure which Mayor Rahman attributed to a lack of demand. He wrote: “The facts are that pork sausages are available to the minority of schools where there is a continuing demand for them. However, it is the case that in a majority of our schools there isn’t any demand for them. Clearly there is no demand for pork sausages for Muslim and Jewish school pupils, but that is hardly a new development. At a time when there are severe pressures on local authority budgets, why should our council be obliged to waste money on unwanted pork sausages?”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Top Doctor’s Chilling Claim: The NHS Kills Off 130,000 Elderly Patients Every Year
NHS doctors are prematurely ending the lives of thousands of elderly hospital patients because they are difficult to manage or to free up beds, a senior consultant claimed yesterday.
Professor Patrick Pullicino said doctors had turned the use of a controversial ‘death pathway’ into the equivalent of euthanasia of the elderly.
He claimed there was often a lack of clear evidence for initiating the Liverpool Care Pathway, a method of looking after terminally ill patients that is used in hospitals across the country.
It is designed to come into force when doctors believe it is impossible for a patient to recover and death is imminent.
It can include withdrawal of treatment — including the provision of water and nourishment by tube — and on average brings a patient to death in 33 hours.
[…]
Professor Pullicino revealed he had personally intervened to take a patient off the LCP who went on to be successfully treated.
He said this showed that claims they had hours or days left are ‘palpably false’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Life Support After Being Declared ‘Clinically Dead’ By His Doctors
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is being kept alive by life support after he was rushed from a prison hospital to a military one in a rapidly worsening condition, officials said.
The 84-year-old ousted leader’s health crisis added a new element of uncertainty just as a potentially explosive fight opened over who will succeed him.
The state news agency Mena said Mubarak was ‘clinically dead’ when he arrived at the hospital and that doctors used a defibrillator on him several times. It initially said the efforts were not successful.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Brotherhood Accused of ‘Vanishing Ink’ Trickery at Polls — Islamists Rumored to Have Distributed Pens With Disappearing Ink to Those Who Would Vote Against Them
CAIRO (AP) — Rumor had it a devious conspiracy was afoot: Egyptians voting for a new president Saturday were being tricked into using pens with disappearing ink so their choice on the ballot would vanish before it was counted.
“Is this the right pen?” an old man in a traditional galabeya robe shouted, holding one up to the judge supervising at a polling station in Giza, the sister city of Egypt’s capital, Cairo.
There was no concrete evidence for the rumors, but some voters in polling stations around the city were clearly concerned as they marked their paper ballots. Talk of a plot just deepened Egyptians’ worries that the dirty tricks rife in elections under authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak were still in play and that powers greater than them still manipulate the system, even after a revolution last year aimed at bringing transparency.
The claim seems to have emerged two days before the vote. A right-wing, Rush Limbaugh-style TV host, Tawfiq Okasha, known for his backing of the ruling military, accused the Muslim Brotherhood of importing 180,000 disappearing-ink pens from India. He proclaimed that they intended to distribute the pens outside polling stations to voters they believed would vote for Ahmed Shafiq, the former Mubarak prime minister running against the Brotherhood’s candidate, Mohammed Morsi.
“I warn everyone. I warn the Shafiq campaign. I warn all voters,” Okasha shouted on his show on the satellite channel he owns. “The voter will make his mark on the ballot with it and four hours later the mark disappears. The vote counters will open the ballot and find it blank.”
A Brotherhood spokesman, Mahmoud Ghozlan, denied the claims…
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
How I Became an Irish Zionist
By Nicky Larkin
Summer 2012 — An Israeli flag proudly flies outside the front of a Dublin city centre pub. An insignificant event perhaps in other parts of the world — but not in Ireland. Six months previously Dublin city council allowed a day-long enactment of mock executions of “Israelis” by “Palestinians” on our main shopping thoroughfare, organized by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Being anti-Israel has somehow become part of our Irish national identity — the same way we are supposed to resent the English.
I was no different. My interest in the Israeli-Arab conflict had been sparked by Operation Cast Lead. I posed in the striped scarf of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation for an art show catalogue, in a gesture of solidarity. While I never had any notions of “Throwing The Jew Down The Well,” as Borat might have it, I had definite opinions on Israeli foreign policy. The Irish papers were full of stories of Israeli aggression every day that summer — between flotillas and bombings it didn’t look good. You can’t polish a turd.
But I wanted to go and see for myself. I wanted to see just how nasty these Israeli’s actually were. I wanted proof that I was right.
Several months later, I arrived in Ben Gurion Airport expecting all sorts of security checks. We were Irish, and we were filmmakers — therefore we were not to be trusted. Thankfully, we cleared security without the involvement of latex gloves or free prostate exams.
But suspicion followed us everywhere we went in that first week in Israel. Once we told people we were Irish it was harder to get interviews, and people were more reluctant to speak on camera. I understood why.
After that first week in Israel we crossed over into the West Bank. Being Irish wasn’t a problem on this side of the divide. Everyone was our friend. IRA graffiti adorned The Wall; tiny German flags affixed to car number-plates. Bethlehem was Las Vegas for Jesus-freaks, the neon crucifixes punctuated only by posters of martyrs.
I was confused by the constant Palestinian repetition of the mantra of “non-violent resistance.” Why put up all the posters of martyrs, if you advocate non-violent resistance? I was supposed to understand all this somehow because I’m Irish. But even the IRA didn’t blow themselves up … at least not on purpose.
I was also frustrated by the unquestioning attitude of the foreign activists. Anything seemed acceptable in the name of the Palestinian cause. No questions asked. But would these war-tourists apply this same liberal attitude if it was happening at home in their own country? If buses were exploding in their own home cities? If they weren’t out here on holidays in their summer playground?
My opinions didn’t change overnight. I spent seven weeks in the area, the time divided equally between Israel and the West Bank. Then I spent several months trawling through hundreds of hours of the interviews we’d filmed. I’d spoken to everyone from Ultra-Orthodox Settlers to Marxist Palestinians. Everybody had an opinion, and everybody was sure that their opinion was right.
The problem began when I resolved to come back with a film that showed both sides of the coin. Actually there are many more than two. Which is why my film is called Forty Shades of Grey.
But only one side was wanted back in Dublin. My peers expected me to come back with an attack on Israel. No grey areas were acceptable.
Beginning in March I published a series of articles in The Sunday Independent, Ireland’s most widely circulated Sunday paper, detailing my political shift.
The fallout from the articles has been quite spectacular. I’ve been called everything from a Protestant to an agent of Mossad. Letters to the editor have been flying in every Sunday since, like rockets from the Strip.
But unlike the rockets from Gaza, not all the letters have been sent with spleen.
I expected hate mail. And I got it. But I didn’t expect the support from a largely silent group of people — Irish people. It seems there are true liberals out there. People prepared to listen to both sides of the story.
Since my initial article in March, a multitude of other Irish writers have been questioning our automatic anti-Israel bias in several national newspapers. For the first time ever Irish people are starting to think about the Israel issue in a rational light. There is a genuine sea-change taking place.
I opened a previously closed debate, and I would like to think that the Israeli flag now flying in Dublin city centre has more than a little bit to do with me.
Nicky Larkin will be presenting his film, Forty Shades of Grey, and answering questions Monday at Library & Archives at 7 p.m. (freethinkingfilms.com).
| — Hat tip: JLH | [Return to headlines] |
Positive Changes in the Arab World
[…]
Many key players in the political movement like non- Muslim citizens and professional women have not been given their due share of appreciation. I feel very disappointed at the situation in prevailing in the region. I feel that the Islamic groups are hungry for power, and that worries me. This is because most of us want to live in a liberal atmosphere to exercise their freedom of choice and beliefs. If a new system, Islamic or not, assume power with the aim of oppressing people, the situation will be akin to replacing one tyrant with another.
Right now, many people in several Arab countries, including Kuwait, are having second thoughts about supporting the Arab Spring. They fear that this issue will spill over into their region, threatening their lives and security! Now, there are many people who ask how much we have benefited from the Arab Spring? Has it made life easier for the poor? Are women more empowered today? Is human rights and freedom being observed? Is there more tolerance and flexibility in accommodating all non-Muslims who live in our countries?
If no marked changes have taken place, it is time to think and reflect on the damage created. Has a plan been charted out on dealing with the West today, aside from making calls to wage a war against devil West? The French Revolution reshaped the public mind. It is time for some introspection. Are we trying to learn from others’ experiences and history? Are we using our senses to rebel against leadership? Is it eye for eye and what lives by the sword only ends with the sword? How can we control the damage?…
| — Hat tip: RR | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Muslims Can Spray on Perfumes Containing Alcohol: Grand Mufti
However, if a Muslim wants to be cautious, he can use oil-based perfumes
It is permissible for Muslims to use perfumes containing alcohol, according to Dr Ali Ahmed Mashael, Grand Mufti at the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai. He said this fatwa is based on the fact that the proportion of alcohol in perfumes is small and thus does not affect the purity of a Muslim’s prayers. However, if a Muslim wants to be cautious, he can use oil-based perfumes which are alcohol-free, he added.
[…]
[JP note: Get the little things right and the rest will surely follow.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
World’s Most Powerful Imam to Rise? — Middle East Invites Islamist Billionaire to Return From Exile
In a stunning move, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for Fethullah Gülen, the reclusive imam of arguably the most powerful Islamist movement in the world, to return home to Turkey from his self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania.
Erdogan’s appeal to Gülen came after he received an award during the closing ceremony of the Turkish Olympics.
“We want this yearning to come to an end,” the prime minister said. “We want to see those who are abroad and longing for the homeland to be among us. … Absence from home is loneliness. We have no tolerance for loneliness. We are saying that this absence from home [of Gülen] should end. To be honest, I understand that this is also what you all expect. So, let’s say the absence should be ended. As the child of an ancient civilization, I am extending my thanks to the ones who call on us and the entire world tonight in Turkish, the language of a rich culture. This is what I am saying, let’s put absence from home and longing for the homeland to one side.”
Although Erdogan did not use Gülen’s name, his comments were widely understood by the Turkish audience and media to refer to Fethullah Gülen. This invitation represents the first time that Erdogan has ever publicly reached out to the man that many consider to be Erdogan’s spiritual mentor and the most dangerous Islamist in the world.
But according to the Turkish media, Erdogan’s comments “received a lengthy standing ovation from the huge crowd that had jam-packed the over 50,000-seat Türk Telekom Arena.”
Others prominent Turkish leader’s joined in Erdogan’s calls…
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Lash Out at Ban on Religious Books
The Russian Council of Muftis has voiced its protest against banning some Muslim religious books in the country as extremist. “We consider the prohibition of religious literature as an attempt at the revival of total ideological control,” the body said in a statement published on its website. “Such practice is unacceptable in a democratic society…and is an alarm signal for Russian citizens,” the council pointed out. The Islamic scholars’ anxiety followed a ruling made earlier by a district court in Orenburg which banned 65 religious and historic books issued by “almost all Islamic publishers in Russia.”
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Burma: Death Sentences for 2 Muslims in Murder Case That Set Off Myanmar Unrest
Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) — A court in western Myanmar has sentenced two Muslim men to death for robbing, raping and killing a woman last month, a case that provoked sectarian clashes in the area that left at least fifty people dead. The two men — named Mamed Rawphi and Khuchi — received the sentence Monday at the Kyaukpyu District Court in Rakhine State, the government-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on its website. A third man, Htet Htet, who had also been charged in relation to the killing, hanged himself using his clothes while in detention on June 9, the newspaper said.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Seven Killed in NATO Base Attack in Afghanistan
Seven attackers were killed today after storming a base of the Nato coalition in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan. The attackers breached the outer security of the base in Shah Wali Kot district, but were then killed by guards at the compound. Initial reports suggested that at least one foreign worker was killed and two other foreigners were wounded, but this was not confirmed. Earlier, Afghan officials said three Afghan policemen were killed when their checkpoint was attacked in Kandahar city. US and Afghan officials said three individuals dressed in Afghan police uniforms turned their guns on coalition troops in Zhari district of Kandahar province yesterday, killing one Nato service member and wounding several others.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Soldier Dies After Men Dressed in Police Uniform Turn Guns on Him in Afghanistan
A U.S. soldier was killed and several others injured on Monday when men dressed in Afghan police uniforms turned their guns on them in southern Afghanistan. The three Afghan shooters fled after what is thought to be an insider attack and authorities are searching for them.
Although they were dressed in police uniforms, it was not yet certain if the men were actually Afghan police or were just wearing the clothing.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
China Police Begin House Searches in Restive Xinjiang
Authorities in China’s western-most Xinjiang region have launched house-to-house searches after a clash at an Islamic school left 12 children injured, police and a rights group said Tuesday.
Xinjiang is home to around nine million mainly Muslim Uighurs, many of whom complain of religious and cultural repression by Chinese authorities — a claim the government denies — and the region is regularly hit by unrest. The US-based Uyghur American Association (UAA) said police were stepping up a crackdown on underground Islamic schools after the June 6 clash in Xinjiang’s Hetian city and were threatening to break down doors if locals did not cooperate.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria’s Boko Haram ‘Bombed Kaduna Churches’
Radical Islamist group Boko Haram has said it was behind Sunday’s suicide bombings of three churches in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna.
The blasts were in revenge for what it said were previous Christian “atrocities” against Muslims, the group said in an email sent to local media. At least 50 people were killed in the bombings and reprisal killings, the Red Cross says. Boko Haram has carried out a series of deadly attacks in the past two years.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Kaduna Violence: Doctors Confirm 66 Dead, 140 Hospitalised
SIXTY-SIX persons have been confirmed dead following Sunday’s bomb attacks on three churches in Kaduna State. Red Cross officials also told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Kaduna that 140 victims of the attacks were taken to various hospitals for treatment. Two churches were bombed in Zaria and one in Kaduna on Sunday. They are Christ the King Catholic Church (CKC), located at Yoruba Road, Sabon Gari, Zaria; ECWA Church, situated at Wusasa, Zaria and Shalom Church of God at Tirkania area of Kaduna metropolis.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: 2000 Jihadists Storm Southeast, Says CAN
Enugu — THE Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Southeast chapter, has placed Christians in the zone on red alert over reports that about 2000 youths have been deployed from the North to the region ahead of a planned jihad. Addressing journalists yesterday after an enlarged caucus meeting of the Christian body yesterday at the All Saints Church, Enugu, the CAN chairman in the zone, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, disclosed that information at their disposal showed that apart from the 2000 jihadists in the region, about 2500 and 2000 were in the south-south and south-west respectively for the same purpose. Alluding to the bombing of churches on Sunday by suspected Boko Haram members, Chukwuma who is also the Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese expressed dismay that despite assurances from the Federal Government, the killings had continued unabated. ‘From the information we have gathered, it is pure jihad. Already a good number of them, about 2000 have arrived the Southeast. It is a form of jihad; they want to make sure that Nigeria is frustrated and Islamised’, the CAN leader stated.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: the Asylum Seeker Visas for Hostile Detainees
FAILED asylum seekers who have been abusive and threatened to destroy property in detention are being released on bridging visas while they appeal to stay permanently.
It comes as the government has revealed it cost $185,000 to fly asylum seekers from Cocos Island to Christmas Island this month after four boats arrived direct from Sri Lanka.One 30-year-old who was taken to Silverwater jail after the Villawood Detention Centre riot in April last year has been granted a visa.
He was later cleared by police over the riots but an Ombudsman’s report noted the man was involved in “two incidents of aggressive or abusive behaviour including threats to destroy property.”
Release is being considered for another 30-year-old long-term detainee who has been involved in several fights, escaped detention and who has been abusive to staff.
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Face of the Failed Asylum Seeker Who Bludgeoned Father to Death in Front of His Family as He Headed for Work
A hard-working father was bludgeoned to death with a brick by a stranger as he left for work. Umesh Choudhari, 41, was repeatedly hit over the head with a brick in front of his wife, children and neighbours by a failed asylum seeker with an electronic tag. Mr Choudhari was working 70 hours a week at two jobs to support his family but now his wife says she will not be able to send their children to university. Rostam Ahmadi, 23, was bailed to the same street six days earlier, accused of robbery offences, despite objections from police. One of the conditions was an electronic tag, monitoring a curfew in the evenings.
[…]
[Reader comment by IanA, Stirling on 18 June 2012 at about midnight.]
It is about time the law was changed. Any immigrant legal or not should realise that if they commit any crime; with a custodial sentence that they will be deported without right to appeal following completion of their sentence.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Fabianism in Education
Recently, a colleague referred to the current capitulation to multilingualism as creeping Fabianism. Not certain what he meant, I did some research. I learned that the Fabian Society was a British organization whose members sought to extirpate existing societal and cultural norms by advancing the principles of democratic socialism through gradual processes rather than revolution. They adopted their name from the Roman general Fabius, nicknamed “the delayer,” whose dilatory strategy brought about Hannibal’s defeat.
Fabianism brings to mind the theory that a bullfrog, placed in tepid water, won’t notice a one-degree-at-a-time increase in the water’s temperature until it’s too late, and will succumb to death by boiling. As a college teacher, I have observed a sort of one-degree-at-a time Fabianism in education, as academic standards succumb to ideas that work against this country’s most valuable resource: its young people.
Obeying the mutual outcome mantra and promoting diversity and multiculturalism, many schools have lowered academic minimums to levels approaching irrelevancy, and as a result, some incoming students disregard as idle threat what I say on the first day of class:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Esposito Speaks on New Book Islamophobia
John Esposito’s latest work draws out the role of Arab dictatorships in exaggerating the image of political Islam before the West
Questions have arisen across the Arab Spring where the rise of political Islam has left the West wondering about the nature of the Arab revolutions. John Esposito stands among the handful of Western scholars able to take a deeper look at the scene and resist the tide of Islamophobia, about which he has written a book in cooperation with Ibrahim Kallin and published recently. Esposito attended the Nyon Process discussions in Tunisia and gave his insights to Ahram Online, shedding light upon the possible futures of the Arab Spring.
Esposito is professor of international affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University and director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Proposed International Trade Rules Would Give Corporations the Power to Overrule Governments
(NaturalNews) As long and as hard as some nations (especially the United States) have fought through the years to achieve and maintain independence, it’s mind-boggling to think they would ever voluntarily surrender that sovereignty. And yet, many seem willing to do just that, according to newly exposed international trade rules that would give transnational corporations the kind of rights once reserved only for governments.
According to a report from the Citizens Trade Campaign (CTC), a “national coalition of environmental, labor, consumer, family farm, religious, and other civil society groups founded in 1992 to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement,” transnational corporations would be given unprecedented authority to resolve trade disputes.
Under the rules, which were drafted by a collective of nine nations working to form the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which — according to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Web site is “an ambitious, next-generation, Asia-Pacific trade agreement that reflects U.S. priorities and values” — international corporations would have “special authority to challenge countries’ laws, regulations and court decisions in international tribunals that circumvent domestic judicial systems,” the CTC said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UN Warns of Global Collapse Due to Pesticides; Agenda 21 is Pushed as Solution
(NaturalNews) The United Nations (U.N.) Environment Program has released a 525-page report in conjunction with its upcoming Rio+20 conference on sustainable development that warns about “sudden, irreversible and potentially catastrophic changes” that will occur in the world if drastic measures are not taken to stop them. In correctly identifying pesticides and other chemicals as one of the primary causes, however, the U.N. also tacks on the global warming myth in an attempt to push for a centralized, world government.
The Associated Press (A.P.) reports that the U.N. manifesto correctly pinpoints out of control pesticide and herbicide use as a major global problem that is polluting rivers, streams, and waterways, and contributing to ecosystem destruction. But it also highlights the typical scare scenarios often associated with global warming as well, including melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels, and a so-called excess of greenhouse gases.
This crafty mixture of truth and lies appears to be the U.N.’s latest attempt at garnering more support for its global governance agenda, which includes things like establishing a global internet police force [url], and setting up a global taxation system for imposing things like mandatory vaccinations in developing countries [url]. The U.N.’s goal, in other words, is to centralize as much power for itself as it possibly can.
[…]
Under the guise of “sustainable development” and saving the planet from destruction, the U.N. is pushing what is known as Agenda 21, a plan to collectivize private property globally, reeducate the world into a single, globalist mindset, and eventually depopulate the world. And one of the ways the U.N. is ushering in Agenda 21 is through the vehicle of global warming and environmental destruction, two issues that it says must be addressed globally.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
0 comments:
Post a Comment