Bankruptcy: Cities First, Then the States
Though the States have original authority, and hold all powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution, there are also prohibitions to the States listed in the Constitution. For the individual States to remain strong, and out of the way of the necessary workings of the federal government, Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution provided some prohibitions to the States that disallowed the States from functions like making treaties, entering into alliances, and matters of national defense. Among those prohibitions were also those that disallowed the States from coining money, or going into debt.
Article I, Section 10 states that no State shall emit Bills of Credit.
After the American Revolution all of the colonies were in debt, and the federal government assumed that debt under the federal umbrella. In return, for the purpose of protecting the States from future economic ruin, the allowance to go into debt was taken away by the Constitution. The bail-out of the States was only supposed to happen once.
Cities, under the State Constitutions, may issue bonds, and other bills of credit, but even debt at the municipal level is a dangerous endeavor. In California, three cities have now decided to declare bankruptcy, a trend that may become less extraordinary as the weight of public employee pensions and the mismanagement of city funds catches up to each of these cities. The lies that emerged when the City of Bell was caught with its officials’ hands in the cookie jar seem to be something that was not limited to just that city.
The real question is that if bankruptcy becomes the only choice a State can make, what becomes of the State? The State has already acted in an unconstitutional manner by going into debt. Should the federal government, as it did over two hundred years ago, bail out the States, or would the State’s inability to manage its own finances force the State to lose its statehood and become a territory existing under the complete control of the federal government as provided in Article IV, Section 3 where the Congress is granted the power to “make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States?”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Portugal: Economic Activity and Consumption -2.1% in June
(ANSAmed) — Madrid, July 20 — Portugal’s economic activity and consumption fell by 2.1% in June compared to June 2011, according to information released Friday by the Bank of Portugal.
The number represents the least negative result in grim news over the last six months. The 3.1% contraction in the economy and consumption registered in February, was the worst since the survey began in 1978.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Valencia Seeks Bailout From State Liquidity Fund
(ANSAmed) — Madrid, July 20 — The autonomous community of Valencia requested bailout funds from the Spanish government, the Valencia government’s vice president and spokesman, Jose Ciscar, announced Friday after a weekly government council meeting.
Valencia is the first Spanish region to seek assistance from the country’s Liquidity Fund, set up by the Spanish government to help financially troubled regions face payment deadlines. Ciscar did not clarify how much aid Valencia is seeking from the finance ministry, but sources close to the government council said the region sought roughly three billion euros. Spain’s finance minister, Cristobal Montoro, after initially denying the loan request, then admitted that it had been approved by Valencia’s government council, and that it “will oblige the imposition of new conditions” on the region in order to respect the deficit ceiling established for the year.
Spain’s council of ministers created the Liquidity Fund on July 13, with a financing of 18 billion euros, to guarantee liquidity for regions that are unable to face essential payments, such as for pharmaceuticals and to avoid debt default.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
A United Nations Gun Control Treaty Coming Soon
Government representatives from more than 190 countries, under the watchful eyes of gun control advocates such as Amnesty International and the Control Arms Coalition, are currently in negotiations at the United Nations headquarters in New York to hammer out the terms of the first UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The treaty is supposed to fill the gap caused by the absence of commonly agreed international standards for the transfer of conventional arms, including guns, and their diversion to the illicit market.
Negotiators are working feverishly towards completing their work so that a treaty will be ready to be signed by the end of this month. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may be in New York for the occasion.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
An Anti-Muslim Witch Hunt in the U.S. Congress and Conspiracy Theories on Bulgaria Attack
by Natasha Mozgovaya
Michele Bachmann launches a campaign reminiscent of the McCarthy era; an interview in Russia Today suggests that Israel was behind the bombing that killed 5 of its citizens this week.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, some conservative ideologists who specialized in bashing the Communist menace were baffled: What were they going to do next? Luckily, the opening of the Soviet archives proved that some of those suspected of being communist spies had spied indeed, which brought some consolation that the witch hunt hadn’t been all in vain. When Senator Joe McCarthy died on May 1957 in Bethesda Naval Hospital, he was far from being the most popular man in America. But it turns out that McCarthy’s spirit lives on, though the communists were replaced by the radical Muslims as the enemies of state.
Last month, five congressmen, including conservative Congresswoman Michele Bachman (who dropped out of the presidential race around the very beginning of the primaries) sent a letter to the Department of State Deputy Inspector General, with copies to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee, raising concerns about the alleged influence of “individuals and organizations associated with the Muslim Brotherhood” on the Obama administration’s policies.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Islamic Activist Dumps $100 K Into Tennessee Primary
A new super PAC targeting a Tennessee House primary has raised all its funds from a board member of a local anti-Islamic conservative group who is also the one-time finance chairman of one of the candidates in the race.
Citizens 4 Ethics in Government registered as a super PAC with the Federal Election Commission on July 2. Its first disclosure, filed today, shows that it has raised all of its $105,000 in funds from Andrew Miller, the owner of Nashville-based Healthmark Ventures and a conservative activist who helps lead the anti-Islamic Tennessee Freedom Coalition. The group has spent more than $30,000 so far on the 6th Congressional District primary contest between incumbent Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) and tea party activist Lou Ann Zelenik.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Barack Obama’s Racist Roots, Part 1
The morning after Election Day, 2008, The New York Times proclaimed that Barack Obama’s victory had swept “away the last racial barrier in American politics.” However, as the President’s first term draws to a close, a case can be made that the historic election was anything but post-racial; rather, it has been the most racially polarizing presidency in modern times.
This is not a surprise, however, to those familiar with Obama’s background and thinking on racial matters, nor to those who have studied the role played by Communist Frank Marshall Davis in raising him as a young man in Hawaii during his critical coming of age period. Davis was not only a slavish follower of Joseph Stalin, but a black racist who saw sinister white plots in the foreign policies of the United States and other Western nations.
Davis, a poet and writer, had written a controversial poem, “Christ is a Dixie Nigger,” dismissing the object of the Christian faith as “another New White Hope.”
Paul Kengor’s new book, The Communist. Frank Marshall Davis: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor, examines the Davis mentality and ideology which shaped Obama in more detail.
As Kengor’s book documents, Davis:
- Considered American racism a “disease” that “Red Russia” had solved
- Wrote in a column on July 20, 1946, that the Soviet Union had, “in less than a generation,” abolished “discrimination and racism”
- Wrote that “the only people” Winston Churchill cared about were “the white people of the British empire”
- Labeled the Marshall Plan for Western Europe after World War II a form of white imperialism, designed to “help maintain European empires at the expense of exploited dark colonial peoples”
- Considered anti-communism a form of racism
“Davis was first and foremost a communist,” Kengor notes. “Thus, we titled the book, The Communist. That was who he was. And yet, anyone who dared to expose that communism was framed as a racist.”
[…]
In April of 2012, a poll released by Newsweek/Daily Beast indicated that America was facing a “deepening level of racial division and polarization.” No matter how the data was analyzed, respondents held a firm belief that race relations in the country had grown worse after the election of the first black President. The numbers were stunning:
“Nearly four years after the election of the nation’s first African-American president, majorities of both whites and African Americans surveyed say that race relations in the country have either stayed the same or gotten worse. Sixty-three percent of whites and 58 percent of African-Americans say race relations have either stayed the same or worsened—while only 28 percent of whites and 38 percent of African-Americans say they have gotten better.”
[…]
In early May, Democrats in the House of Representatives attended an actual training course on how to address the issue of race as a way to defend government programs. Maya Wiley, President of the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI) as well as the Chair of the Tides Network Board at the George Soros-funded Tides Foundation, showed Democrats how they can take seemingly mundane free market rhetoric, and transform it into incendiary material branded with racism.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Carbon Capture, Carbon Sequestration, And Carbon Tax
“Climate change is shorthand for global warming.” (Alan Caruba)
In spite of evidence from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado that “Arctic summer sea ice has increased by 409,000 square miles, or 26 percent, since 2007,” it is politically and financially convenient for carbon capture, carbon sequestration, and carbon tax proponents to continue the push to fundamentally alter the U.S. economy with the worn out lie, “man has caused global warming.”
“And the planet is certainly warming. Humans releasing trapping gases into the atmosphere are almost certainly responsible for much, if not all, of that warming; the particular patterns of warming, comparison to the historical record, and the basic precepts of physics all indicate this.” (Op-ed, Washington Post, July 18, 2012)
How can one argue with such non-scientific liberal thinking, backed up by “basic precepts of physics?” Science is not “almost certainly,” science has to be factual and exact. If you search, “basic precepts of physics,” you realize that the above statement is shameless and worthless propaganda.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Choose Your Poison, Communism or Other Dictatorship?
Economic abundance had lead to complacency, laziness, apathy, and dependence on government as a nanny state.
I live under the dreaded Home Owner Association rules. The person in charge of checking yard compliance is the worst offender — his back yard looks like it was overtaken by the nearby forest weeds five years ago and he has given up. Since he lives next door to me, I wish I could rent a goat and let it loose on his property until she eats all the knee-high weeds.
He takes his job very seriously — he walks around the neighborhood early in the evening with a tablet in hand, diligently writing down minor offenses that will then appear in threatening letters to the respective homeowners. He reminds me of the neighborhood informant under communism who, for a small fee, a few extra crumbs of food, and access to the communist hospitals, would keep a daily log of everybody’s comings and goings and record information on their own relatives and then report it to the security police.
I do not know who snitched on my neighbors across the small pond. They had a beautiful vegetable garden within the perimeter of their well-tended yard. A painted fence surrounds the property in order to keep the deer and other forest critters at bay. They toiled in this garden every morning and every evening and it was a beauty: green and bell peppers, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, and squash. The garden was not visible from the street and it certainly did not violate the 300-page HOA rulebook that each homeowner was handed upon signing the agreement to move into the neighborhood.
Two days ago, two men with smirks of satisfaction on their faces were busy pulling out every plant by the roots in this beautiful garden and throwing it over the fence, while the lady of the house was crying, wringing her hands helplessly nearby and wiping away silent tears. It was heart breaking to see such injustice. Do we still live in free America?
[…]
The most recent viral YouTube video shows a man, stopped three times at roadblocks in California within a 90 minutes ride, asked to prove that he is American. He protested, had a camera ready, and refused to show his papers since he did nothing wrong,
The police was surprised that he said no, everybody else was compliant collectively, like sheep going over a cliff, “Is this not America anymore, is it Nazi Germany,” he asked. The rest of the drivers submitted, gave up their Constitutional rights, and yielded to the intrusion by police. Whatever happened to the requirements of probable cause and a search warrant?
We are just a few steps from ratifying the UN Small Arms Treaty. Once ratified, we must surrender our personal guns for protection and hunting. We will be defenseless against home intruders, thieves, and drug gangs. Criminals can always procure guns in spite of bans.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Corlew Stays His Mosque Rulings
Says Federal Court trumps his decision
Murfreesboro — Chancellor Robert Corlew III has stayed his own previous rulings that would have prevented the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro from moving into its mosque upon completion. “The court learned today that a federal district court has determined to accept jurisdiction with regard to those issues herein, and under the doctrine of federal pre-emption, this court then finds that all matters of issue in this court should be stayed indefinitely,” Corlew wrote in a court order Thursday. “This cause then will be subsequently dismissed except to the extent that the federal court remands or otherwise refers issues to us,” Corlew concluded.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
General Motors, General Electric: Guilty of Economic Treason?
You, like me, may be tired of the presidential political ads — from both sides. The one that is fingernails on a blackboard for me is Barack Obama’s accusations that Mitt Romney has been for sending jobs to China. This entire television ad is a lie — and at its end the familiar voice of the man known as President Obama that tells me he approves the lies.
It was Barack Obama who gave TARP money to General Motors (which now builds 70 percent of its cars in China) and it was Barack Obama who appointed Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric CEO, his Chairman of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Mr. Obama evidently didn’t realize Immelt was so stupid he needed to explain he meant American, not Chinese, jobs. Immelt calls China “GE’s second home.” I think Americans should make China GE’s only home.
It is Barack Hussein Obama, not Mitt Romney, who had the nerve to make this television ad about sending jobs to China when two men who belong to Obama — GM’s Dan Akerson and GE’s Immelt — are sending jobs to China so fast my head is spinning!
[…]
Your Shanghai speech, Mr. Akerson, left no doubt that General Motors is now China Motors. You are shrinking your U.S. operations while increasing your Chinese business. You also said:
“We have eleven joint ventures in China with SAIC and FAW — vehicle manufacturing, sales, distribution, engineering, design, financing, (etc.). We operate 11 final assembly plants in China and 4 power train plants in 8 cities across the country… We have more than 2,700 dealerships and sales outlets nationwide.” SAIC is Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp — run by the communist government of China. FAW is another Chinese government-owned manufacturer.
“We regard our 11 joint ventures as 11 keys to success not just in China, but globally. Our commitment to working in China, with China, for China remains strong and focused on the future.” That’s what you said. (Akerson actually refers to China as ‘the crown jewel in the GM universe.’)
[…]
Because of GM’s un-American activities and willingness to ask the Chinese “how high?” when they are told to jump, China’s AVIC now owns the famed WWII ‘Arsenal of Democracy, Willow Run Plant, Saginaw Michigan.
AVIC, Saginaw’s largest employer, exports anti-ship missiles to… the Islamic Republic of Iran. No wonder nations of the Middle East consider the United States government a joke. It is.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hidden Government Scanners Will Instantly Know Everything About You 164 Feet Away
Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everythingabout your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 164 feet (50 meters) away. From traces of drugs or gun powder on your clothes to what you had for breakfast to the adrenaline level in your body—agents will be able to get any information they want without even touching you.
And without you knowing it.
The technology is so incredibly effective that, in November 2011, its inventors were subcontracted by In-Q-Tel to work with the US Department of Homeland Security.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is Congressional Christian Brotherhood Group Behind GOP Islamophobia?
Sheila Musaji
It is interesting how many of those in Congress who have an Islamophobia problem are members of the same group CAPITOL MINISTRIES which hosts regular Christian Bible studies for, and ministers to, members of Congress. Capitol Ministries has a website at www.capmin.org/site/ They say about their purpose that The motto of Capitol Ministries is delivering the gospel to every political leader, in every capitol, every year. Since our founding in 1996, our vision has always been the same: to evangelize elected officials and lead them toward maturity in Christ. We stay away from politics altogether.
Who are the elected representatives active in this group?
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Praises ‘Democracy’ Fighters
Ramadan has a special meaning ‘for those struggling for universal rights’ in Middle East and North Africa, says American president
US President Barack Obama congratulated Muslims around the world on the start of the Ramadan holiday and used the occasion to praise those striving for democracy and freedom in the Middle East and North Africa. “On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I extend our warmest wishes to Muslim Americans and Muslims around the world at the start of Ramadan. For Muslims, Ramadan is a time of fasting, prayer, and reflection; a time of joy and celebration. It’s a time to cherish family, friends, and neighbors, and to help those in need,” read a statement issued by the White House Friday.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Greets Muslims at the Start of Holy Ramadan
US President Barack Obama has extended “warmest wishes” to Muslims in America and around the world at the start of the holy month of Ramadan. In a message to Muslims on the occasion of the starting of the month of fasting, Obama said that this year’s holy month holds special meaning for those in the Middle East and North Africa who are courageously achieving democracy and self-determination and for those who are still struggling to achieve their universal rights.
“The United States continues to stand with those who seek the chance to decide their own destiny, to live free from fear and violence, and to practice their faith freely,” Obama said In the US, Ramadan reminds that Islam is part of the fabric of the Nation, and that — from public service to business, from healthcare and science to the arts — Muslim Americans help strengthen the country and enrich its people lives, he said. Even as Ramadan holds profound meaning for the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, it is also a reminder to people of all faiths of our common humanity and the commitment to justice, equality, and compassion shared by all great faiths,” Obama said. “In that spirit, I wish Muslims across America and around the world a blessed month, and I look forward to again hosting an iftar dinner here at the White House,” the President said.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Outsourcing Millions of Dollars in Handouts to China, Russia
Despite President Barack Obama’s campaign team accusing his GOP opponent, Mitt Romney, of outsourcing jobs and money, in a transaction that would have angered American taxpayers — if the news media ever bothered to tell them — the People’s Republic of China receives millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to help with their so-called green projects thanks to a generous President Obama, according to a political strategist who spoke with NewswithViews.com on Saturday.
The outrageous part of the story is that the U.S. is indebted to China for almost a trillion dollars, according to a Washington, D.C. watchdog group that investigates government corruption.
“The Obama Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Lisa Jackson, who launched an enormously expensive program to make America’s minority communities green, has sent millions of taxpayer dollars to environmental causes in nations overseas, including China, Russia and India,” said Michael S. Baker, an attorney and political strategist.
[…]
Ranking members of a congressional energy committee call it “foreign handouts” amid record deficits, soaring unemployment and U.S. cities declaring bankruptsy. The money — close to $30 million — has been issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is headed by Ms. Jackson, according to Judicial Watch, a group that pursues government documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or through lawsuits filed in federal court.
The cash was distributed via 65 foreign grants that don’t even include what’s given to Canada and Mexico, according to a report released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and obtained by Judicial Watch that reveals in the past the U.S. EPA over $100M in foreign grants to battle pollution … in grants to foreign countries aimed at reducing global pollution.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Our Scotus Chief Justice Turns Liberal on US and Gang of 20 Rinos Support UN Tax Scheme Lost
What could have been even more galling and hurtful to the people was the brash and unrepentant “Gang of 20 RINOs” who, while the Roberts’ scenario was culminating, were acceding with the corrupt denizens of the United Nations to a tax and regularatory scheme called the Law of the Sea Treaty appropriately dubbed, LOST; which also applies to the sovereignty of the United States by granting immense control of the high seas to the treacherous United Nations One Worlders, who are seeking control of the populations of the entire planet through these stealth treaties while we are distracted with other matters.
[…]
So these operations are typically stealth movements under the guidance and control of the devious liberal Democrats to undermine and destroy America’s sovereignty. But, bad as they are, they pale in comparison to another blooming United Nations surreptitious nefarious action that is meant to spell doom for the United States under the inoffensive sounding title of “Agenda 21”. This proper and business-like sounding term is as AmeriPAC states in an online article on July 01, 2o12, “Something Wicked This Way Comes”.
This, as AmeriPAC explains, is a result of George Soros and UN participation in “infecting this country with delusions of a green economy, biodiversity and sustainable development;” all buzzwords of diabolical intent “designed to fool America into giving the United Nations the land under our feet without even a fight, so that the UN can finally implement their master plan for global control.Agenda 21.”
This “agenda” is a killer for the United States if left unchallenged. The AmericPAC article continues that it plans to take 50 percent of our American land and make it uninhabitable and inaccessible to humans who will be relocated to “Sustainable Human Development Zones.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon’s Mega Stun Gun Could Blast You Unconscious
Imagine a stun gun that doesn’t just drop you to the floor, but renders you unconscious for several minutes. This tech is called a “nano-second electrical pulse,” and the Pentagon believes it could be used in a gun that would hit targets with high voltages of electricity for an amazingly short amount of time — we’re talking billionths of seconds here. That would make the enemy an easy capture. But today’s stun guns are already linked to dozens, if not hundreds, of abusive incidents. What happens if they become even more powerful? The stun gun is only one of several projects that the Department of Defense showcased at the Non-Lethal Weapons Industry Day in Quantico, Va. on June 22, an opportunity for the Pentagon to give a glimpse of the present and future of its weapons that are designed to injure, rather than kill.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Indoctrinating U.S. Soldiers With Islamic Propaganda
As part of its mission to “win the hearts and minds” of people who despise the United States of America, including those who live in the U.S., the Pentagon released a new military manual that’s sure to please groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization some allege is a Fifth-Column for radical Islamic terrorist organizations.
According to the blog on the web site of a non-profit watchdog group that investigates government corruption and misconduct, in this new era of rampant political correctness, the U.S. Army has published a special handbook for soldiers that appears to justify Islamic jihad by describing it as the “communal military defense of Islam and Muslims when they are threatened or under attack.”
Because radical Muslim groups consider Islam to be perpetually under moral, spiritual, economic, political and military attack by the “secular west” they consider military jihad a “constant necessity” and use it as a “rallying cry to resist and attack all this is un-Islamic,” according to the new Army manual.
According to Judicial Watch’s blogger, the handbook was created to help soldiers become “culturally literate” ambassadors with sensitivity and understanding of Islamic civilization.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Soetoro’s 2012 Election Contingency
It was a conversation with my source inside the DHS that I did not want to have, but was not totally unexpected. “I’m not sure how long I can continue to provide you with information.” he stated. I was unable to tell if he made his statement with relief or sadness, or perhaps a mixture of both. “I could be wrong, but I don’t think there’s much time left, if I am interpreting certain information and actions correctly.”
[…]
What’s the agenda?
Our conversation turned to the agenda of the person in the White House. Short on time, my source stated that the current resident of the White House has been tasked to implement a “robust agenda of change” using the agencies and government infrastructure previously created for him.
“He’s been instructed to fully remove ‘God, guns and guts’ from America and Americans, to neuter our military, bankrupt our country, and force everyone into dependency through a well-planned economic disaster that was crafted long before he stepped foot into the Oval Office. The financial crash of September 2008 was one such well planned economic terrorist attack. It had the blessing of many bankers and politicians in the U.S. and now I’m finding, some overseas. It was an important part of the framework given to Obama to ‘grease the wheels’ for a complete financial collapse. And I’m sad to say that a lot of people I once thought were on our side played an important role in setting us up — all of us.”
“The objective, or the agenda, is much bigger than I think anyone can comprehend,” stated my source. “It’s global in nature, and it involves other governments, communist governments,” he added. It’s evil in its simplicity. It’s to destroy our country from within and take away our ability to fight what’s coming. It’s to change our way of life, and he’s got the people in place to do it, at least for the most part. And forget about the Republicans versus the Democrats, because nearly all of them are all playing for the same team. Both sides have helped to get us to this point. They’ve allowed Communists to enter every government institution inside the beltway, and just about everyone let it happen, helped it happen or watched it happen.”
[…]
And this is where I can offer you information about what’s going on at DHS, because it’s DHS that is tasked to be the enforcers. It’s like the old military saying, ‘hurry up and wait,’“ said my source.
[…]
“Remember when I told you about DHS planning a response for chaos, civil war, rioting, insurrection or whatever you want to call it? Well, that’s not happening fast enough, and there are people who don’t think it can be accomplished in one term. That’s why a second term is critical, and that’s why there’s desperation sinking in. Napolitano is corresponding a lot with the White House, to Valerie Jarrett, to the Secret Service, and to others I won’t name. But there is some plan in place to assure the reelection of this guy so he can finish the job he was given,” he said.
“We’re talking about something taking place to make sure that Obama stays in office. I’ve been privy to ‘contingency plans’ ordered by Jarrett for one that defines the protocol for DHS response to the ‘temporary suspension of U.S. elections due to international and domestic crisis.’ It’s a real document, ordered by Jarrett and contains plans for travel restrictions, gun possession ban by citizens, and in general, ‘martial law.’“
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
SOS: Save Our Adults
by Diana West
There is one operative word in Andy McCarthy’s illuminating examination of some of the facts obscured by the weird and racuous apotheosis of Huma Abedin currently enlivening the hysterical demonization of Rep. Michele Bachmann by the media and John McCain, a grotesque and shameful display triggered by a question — one question — Bachmann and four other House Republicans have raised about Abedin’s close family connections to the rapacious Islamic supremacist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
That word is “adults.”
Having outlined these connections, which are not, the former federal prosecutor writes, “contrived or weightless,” McCarthy notes it’s not “a crime to have close relatives who are either members of, or associated with members of such an organization. Again, however,” he patiently explains, “no one is accusing Huma Abedin of a crime.”
He continues:…
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The Constitution, Vattel, And “Natural Born Citizen”
We have been visited recently with several very silly articles which assert that Marco Rubio is a “natural born Citizen” within the meaning of Art. II, §1, cl. 5, U.S. Constitution (ratified 1789), and hence is qualified to be President:
[…]
But “subjects” are not “citizens”; and we fought a war so that we could be transformed from “subjects of the British Crown” to Citizens of a Republic!
The four writers don’t know what they are talking about. But I will tell you the Truth and prove it. We first address Word Definitions.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Mother of All Hoaxes
There was a brief flurry of stories in the media at the beginning of what has become a historic summer of hot weather across the U.S. that global warming was to blame. They faded swiftly because the public has concluded that global warming is the mother of all hoaxes, because we are in the midst of a failing economy and the political campaigns that will decide if the nation literally lives or dies.
This has not stopped the Public Broadcast System’s News Hour from airing a new series “on how climate change in the Pacific Northwest is affecting the region’s Native American Indian tribes—flooding their reservations and threatening the region’s salmon fisheries.” Climate change is shorthand for global warming.
While the nation’s media continues to propagate the hoax, what hope is there for the TRUTH?
Significantly “the NewsHour’s year-long Coping with Climate Change series is funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.” The nation’s leading foundations have been funding the global warming hoax for decades and continue to do so.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Welcome Back, Khadr?
Tarek Fatah would gladly have terrorist Omar Khadr over for dinner, he told the Canadian Patriotic Society in Toronto on Wednesday evening. Most certainly the young Canadian, an inmate at Guantanamo, can come back to Canada, his country.
Fatah, a Muslim, and tireless human rights activist, is speaking at The Return of Omar Khadr- the Unholy Alliance of Islamism and the Left, not to the usual deluded who frequently gather to decry the alleged “torture” of this “child soldier.” The cold blooded killer, who trained eagerly and willingly with al Qaeda in poisons, bomb making, and urban warfare tactics, is the darling of the “social justice” crowd. There is the usual dead silence from these about the hundreds of thousands of innocent children enduring real torture and slavery and rape and castration, but an unrepentant jihadist? Now there’s a Canadian hero.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Algerian Jailed for Funding Sweden’s First Ever Suicide Bombing After Terrorist Blew Himself Up in Stockholm
An Algerian national has been found guilty of funding terrorism but cleared of conspiracy to murder following a suicide bombing in Stockholm. Nasserdine Menni, who was living in Glasgow at the time of the attack, was convicted of transferring money to Taimour Abdulwahab, who later blew himself up in the Swedish capital on December 11 2010. He was also convicted of immigration and benefit fraud.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Teeth Thief Hits Graves of Great Composers
Dentures of two of the world’s most famous composers have allegedly been stolen from their graves by a Slovak man who boasts of his crimes on YouTube saying he intends to use the purloined choppers to start a museum. Ondrej Jajcaj, the self confessed thief, says the teeth he extracted from the tombs of the famous 19th century composers Johann Strauss and Johannes Brahms will be part of an exhibition of hundreds of objects plundered from more ordinary graves.
Austrian cops started an investigation in May and they found the claims on the video were true, the famous musicians’ teeth had been removed.
The Federal Criminal Police Office, the Austrian equivalent of the FBI, is checking other graves in the cemetery of such great Viennese composers as Ludwig von Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Arnold Schoenberg.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: A Halal Certificate for the Port of Zeebrugge and a Muslim as the Leader of the “Christian” Democrats in Ghent…[But Don’t Worry: Vlaams Belang is Still the Islamophobic Scapegoat in Corrupt Belgium]
“Belgium’s second major port, the Port of Zeebrugge, just received, as the first port on Europe’s West Coast, a halal certificate, issued by the ‘Halal Food Council of Europe’. As such, Zeebrugge hopes to cater to a new market.
The Halal Food Council recognizes, with its halal certificate, that Zeebrugge fulfills several conditions with regards to where the halal meat comes from, the transport, the way it is packed and the handling of containers with halal products. Halal is arabic for “pure” and indicates what is allowed for muslims.
Only the Port of Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast, already has another halal certificate. “Zeebrugge has started up an entirely new procession line so that halal meat will certainly not come into contact with other meat”, says Joachim Coens of the Port of Zeebrugge.”
[…]
Meanwhile in Ghent, a major Flemish city some fifty kilometers to the east, the Christian Democrats have come out with their candidates’ list for the upcoming municipal elections on October 14.
The list is headed by Veli Yuksel. A Turkish muslim. Apparently Yuksel was the most christian Christian Democrat they could come up with in a city of 250,000…
[…]
Never mind. Those Vlaams Belang guys, now, THESE are dangerous!
The hypocrisy of our moral betters and PC elites, not to mention of our muslim politicians themselves, is nothing less than breathtaking. The Vlaams Belang is currently undergoing a barrage of hysterical insults (with yesterday a federal minister, Didier Reynders, calling them ‘gangrene’), intimidation, negative propaganda etc around the clock.
Its many serious lawmaking proposals are never mentioned, by contrast, whenever some petty trivial personal fact about this VB member or another emerges it’s highlighted as major news… and this all in the name of safeguarding Belgian society against ‘racist hatemongers’.
At the same time the many muslim politicians already active in their parties are treated like the Epitome of Democracy, while these people keep jetting to their countries of origin and back, where non-muslims suffer REAL daily abuse and REAL discrimination, apart from the humiliation of being second rank citizens.
Politicians like Yuksel and Almaci KNOW FULL WELL, when visiting their political-religious confrères or even just family in Turkey or Morocco or whatever, that the pitiful remnants of christians there cannot even renovate their decrepit little churches, that what few monasteries are left are robbed of their grounds, that the dwindling christian clergy is imprisoned or at best fined when there’s even a suspicion of proselytizing, that trials are grossly unfair for each and every non-muslim….
…. and yet Yuksel, Almaci, Korkmazer, Koçak and Co. arrive back again in Belgistan on the tarmac of Zaventem or Charleroi with broad smiles and are happy and eager to lambast those pesky Vlaams Belang nazis and racists for … ‘islamophobia’…. And the gazillion of cowards and traitors in our midst are eager to go along with that.
[This report is from Outlaw Mike at Down East blog in Belgium]
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Bulgaria: ‘Base of Jihad’ Claims Responsibility for Burgas Attack
An unknown organization going by the name “The Base of Jihad” has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack against Israeli tourists in Burgas. “The month of Ramadan is a month of holy war and death for Allah,” a statement on behalf of the group said. “It is a month for fighting the enemies of Allah, the Jews and their American facilitators.” The statement further noted, “The holy war is not confined to a particular arena and we shall fight the Jews and the Americans until they leave the land of Islam.” (Roi Kais)
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Chemical Bond Discovered That Only Exists in Space
There’s a new bond in town, and this secret agent works best in extreme situations.
The bond, of the chemical variety, occurs in the presence of very strong magnetic fields, such as those found around ultra-dense white dwarf stars. Its discovery not only demonstrates the existence of an unfamiliar and exotic type of chemistry, it may also give insight into the behaviours of these mysterious stellar bodies.
White dwarfs are the remnant cores of low-mass stars that have exhausted all their fuel. They are thought to be the final state for most of the stars in our galaxy. Though they have masses comparable to that of our sun, white dwarfs only occupy the same amount of space as a small planet like Earth, making them incredibly dense.
They also exhibit super-strong magnetic fields on the order of 100,000 tesla — 10 billion times greater than Earth’s magnetic field, and 10 million times greater than that of an average refrigerator magnet. This intense field can affect the behaviour of the electrons that make up chemical bonds.
Exclusion principle
On Earth, atoms usually bond either covalently, by sharing electrons with neighbouring atoms, or ionically, via electrostatic attractions created by the transferral of electrons.
The electrons that give rise to these bonds are governed by the Pauli exclusion principle: two cannot occupy the same quantum state simultaneously. To avoid this scenario, electrons in bonds normally pair up in couples of opposing spin. But under the intense magnetic field of a white dwarf, “this spin interacts with the external field, acting like a little magnet,” says lead author Kai Lange at the University of Oslo in Norway.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China in Talks to Build UK Nuclear Power Plants
British officials talking to Chinese about plan that could see up to five reactors being built at cost of £35bn, sources say
China is poised to make a dramatic intervention in Britain’s energy future by offering to invest billions of pounds in building a series of new nuclear power stations.
Officials from China’s nuclear industry have been in high-level talks with ministers and officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) this week about a plan that could eventually involve up to five different reactors being built at a total cost of £35bn.
Greenpeace described the move as desperate, while others warned of security fears, but the government has been courting China as the UK atomic programme has been hit by rows over subsidies and worries that EDF — the French company with the most advanced plans to build new reactors in the UK — could be hampered by the change of government in Paris.
China has operated its own atomic plants since 1994. It is awash with cash from its hugely successful industrial expansion and sees the UK as a potential shop window for exporting its atomic technology and expertise worldwide.
Companies from China have already invested in or taken over other infrastructure assets in Britain, such as Thames Water, the port of Felixstowe and the Grangemouth oil refinery. They also own businesses ranging from Weetabix to the Gieves & Hawkes tailoring brand.
The China National Nuclear Power Corporation (CNNPC), which is keen to invest in Britain, has just unveiled plans to raise about £17bn through a domestic share offering.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Disillusioned German Islamists Abandoning Jihad
More than 200 Islamists are believed to have left Germany to join the jihad in Pakistan. But, after learning what life there is really like, many of them are abandoning the cause and heading home — right into the unwelcoming arms of the law.
Istanbul’s Kumkapi neighborhood is normally the kind of place where belly dancers can be found gyrating their hips in front of drunk patrons. For Peter B., who is currently locked up in a cell in Kumkapi, it’s the place where God is testing him for paradise. The Turkish prison for detainees awaiting deportation is a beige, sandstone building. Surveillance cameras monitor the three floors, and guards armed with submachine guns are posted at the entrance. In a room on the ground floor, Peter B. is kneeling on white tiles in front of his 3-year-old son, Uwais. The boy asks his father: “Why did the police arrest you?” Stroking his father’s face, he adds: “If you pray a lot, they’ll let you out.”
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
French Budget Minister Calls Ibrahimovic’s Salary “Indecent”
(ANSA) — Paris, July 19 — French budget minister Jerome Chauzac denounced the salary offered to star soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic as “indecent”, and the sort of compensation that “makes (people) better understand” what is pushing the French government toward the introduction of a 75% tax for incomes above one million euros, in statements Thursday.
The soccer team Paris Saint-Germain offered the Swedish forward Ibrahimovic 14 million euros net per year. “These numbers are not impressive. They’re indecent,” Chauzac declared. “They’re indecent in an moment when, in the entire world, everyone must make sacrifices.” Chauzac added that the 75% tax would be a temporary measure, lasting only for “the period of debt reduction”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Irish Doctor Wanted for Child Sex Abuse in Florida Flees Bail
Irish judge upset at police for allowing extradition flight
An Irish judge has strongly criticized Irish police (Garda) for allowing a doctor wanted for sex abuse of children in Florida to escape an extradition request.
Irish police did not become aware the suspect had fled for over a month after he absconded.
Dr. Rory Doyle, also known as David West, a name he used after changing it by deed poll, absconded in December 2011 after being granted bail on foot of an extradition request from the US.
Police did not notice until a month later despite a requirement that he sign in every day.
He is wanted for three charges of molestation of children in St.Petersburg and Treasure Island, Florida between 1994 and 2000.
The allegations include molestation of two girls aged 13 and eight while they slept. He had previously failed to show up for his trial in Florida on the charges and was later arrested in Ireland.
In January 2010 the Irish High Court found he should be extradited but he was freed on foot of an appeal. He disappeared in late December last year and has not been seen since.
Judge Michael Peart stated his absence raised “a serious defect in the system,” and “reflected badly on Ireland.” He confiscated the $200,000 that his mother who is 89 had put up for his bail. She had put her own house up as the bail.
The judge stated he had no doubt Dr Doyle had “manipulated and used” his mother in a “callous fashion” and that she was “blameless” in her son’s absconding.
| — Hat tip: McR | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Children ‘Second-Most Obese’ After US
Junk food taking over Mediterranean diet
(ANSA) — Milan, July 17 — Second only to the United States, obesity in Italian children has reached epidemic proportions, the Barilla Center for Health and Nutrition said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a seminar organized in Milan by the Barilla Center, Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Naples Federico II, Gabriele Riccardi said that 31.6% of Italian children are overweight, following the United States where the average is 35.5%.
In OECD countries the overall average is 22.1%, with the United Kingdom at 24.7% and Brazil 22.1%, while China registers the lowest figures at 5.2% and Japan 15.3%.
“Lack of physical activity, which has almost completely disappeared as a requirement in schools, is a contributor, as is junk food, which is taking over the traditional Mediterranean diet,” said Riccardi.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Record Storks Spotted in Sicily After 500-Year Absence
‘Most nest in power lines’ says protection group
(ANSA) — Palermo, July 19 — A record 70 stork couples are nesting in Sicily just two decades since the return of the migrating bird after a 500-year absence, LIPU-BirdLife Italia reported Thursday.
The bird-protection group cited the provinces of Siracusa, Agrigento, Trapani and Palermo as popular nesting spots for the stork, which returned to the island for the first time 20 years ago.
Before that, it had been 500 years since the long-legged birds were spotted in this part of the Mediterranean.
LIPU-BirdLife Italia credited its artificial nests for first luring the stork to Sicily, in its migratory path from North Africa.
“Today,” it said, “the majority of their nests are in the medium-tension power lines by Enel,” the Italian energy giant.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mystic Lamb Abused in Fake Vlaams Belang Poster
Fake posters bearing an old Vlaams Belang slogan started appearing in Antwerp on Wednesday. The posters show a parody of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the Van Eyck brothers and include the slogan “Hands off our country”. The poster shows a close up of one of the greatest Flemish masterpieces. The Mystic Lamb, however, has turned black. In addition to the party logo the poster also bears the words “asylum fraudsters, illegal Islam radicals, immigration profiteers”. The posters have been printed professionally and have been stuck to information boards in our northern port city. Vlaams Belang supremo Filip Dewinter says he’s mystified about where the posters come from. Vlaams Belang is filing a complaint. It otherwise risks being taken to court for causing a public nuisance. It is unclear whether the posters are intended to damage or support the Vlaams Belang cause. Meanwhile the church authorities have not been sitting idly by. They say that the fraudulent use of the Mystic Lamb is an abuse of our art heritage. Canon Ludo Collin of the St Bavo Cathedral in Ghent where the Van Eycks’ masterpiece is kept: “We are asking the people behind the poster to have it removed immediately and to stop its distribution.”
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
UK: “Ramadan Mubarak”: A Message From Cameron to All Muslims and Syrian
Today begins the holy month of Ramadan and Prime Minister David Cameron while wishing all Muslims “Ramadan Mubarak” also reminds of Syrian people, who are still suffering because of the civil conflict going on in the Middle East. From today onwards, there would be sunrise-to-sunset fasting and therefore during this holistic time, Cameron wants to send his warmest wishes to Muslims in Britain and across the world. This particular period of every year is considered as one of the most important time in Muslims life as it reminds them of the importance of contributions and kindness. There are certain values and traditions that reside at the heart of Islam but then these are also shared by many lives living in Britain too. He says “At a time of great change and uncertainty across the world, I am proud of the role Britain plays on the international stage to help those less fortunate through our aid budget and work with our allies and friends”. Last year, thousands of people suffered because of the civil war in Middle East, especially those belonging to Syria. And therefore during this holy time, Cameron wishes them all peace, happiness and unity from the core of his heart.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: A Man Directed His Lover to Dunk Her One-Year-Old Baby Head First in a Bucket as He Watched on Skype Had Been Masterminding Months of Abuse Against the Child, Including Forcing Her to Eat Chilli Powder, It is Alleged.
Ammaz Qureshi, 33, instructed Yasmin Chaudhry, who was in Norway, to hold baby Huaina by the ankles and dunk her in a bucket of water as punishment as he watched live from his north London home.
But after the girl had her nose and mouth submerged for the second time she lost consciousness. Chaudhry called the emergency services and Huaina was rushed to hospital but died the next day.
It was part of a litany of cruelty that Qureshi allegedly instructed Chaudhry to carry out, which the prosecution say included spraying Huniana in the face with a bottle of water, forcing her to stay awake, and eat chilli powder.
She was also allegedly made to stand for hours in the ‘naughty corner’ with her legs bound, forced to sleep on the floor and had her head held under running water in the sink.
When Chaudhry was arrested for manslaughter she confessed to police that the married accountant had been directing her to abuse her child since they started a relationship in April, it is said.
Qureshi, 33, of Pinner, north London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today and is facing extradition to Norway accused of cruelty to a child and manslaughter.
Wearing beige chino’s, a striped shirt and a dark green mac he looked relaxed. He is fighting his extradition but it in unclear on what grounds.
The pair were introduced by Yasmin’s brother, who had gone to school with Qureshi, when she visited London in February 2010.
Despite having been married for seven years, Qureshi and Chaudhry began a sexual relationship after which she returned to Oslo in April 2010. They continued their relationship over MSN, Twitter, and Skype as well as texting frequently, prosecutor Peter Caldwell alleges.
By this time Huniana was 15 months old and the pair committed acts of violence and cruelty against her as they chatted by phone and over the internet, papers handed to the court claim.
Mr Caldwell alleges that Qureshi instructed to hit the girl in the face and on the bottom with a flat hand, sat her naked in the shower and showered her with cold water, taped her mouth when she cried, put a sock in her mouth and left her fastened in a chair in the hallway.
Qureshi allegedly watched by Skype from his home in Pinner, north London.
The culmination of the alleged abuse came on October 3 when during a 3am Skype call Qureshi told Chaudhry to hold Huaina by the ankles and dunk her in a bucket of water so that her nose and mouth were submerged.
A short while after the second dunk Huniana, whose real father lives in Pakistan, lost consciousness and died in hospital the next day.
When she was arrested Chaudhry told Norwegian police that her lover controlled her and suggested how she discipline her daughter as he watched live on video link, it is alleged.
Qureshi handed himself in to British police on June 7.
When he was interviewed in London Qureshi, who has never been to Norway, is said to have confessed to his part in the seven month campaign of abuse and even admitting directing the act which led to the child’s death, it is claimed.
He will face a full extradition hearing in October and was remanded in custody.
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Exclusive: Members of RSPB and National Trust Could Elect Own Peers Under Tory MPs’ Peace Plan Over Lords Reform
Nearly 60 rebel Tory MPs have offered ministers a seven-point peace deal over Lords reform which could give organisations like RSPB and National Trust their own peers to sit in the Lords, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The final proposals were sent by the rebels’ leader Jesse Norman MP to Patrick McLoughlin, the Tory party chief whip and to Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin on Thursday. The seven point plan includes a proposal to allow mass membership organisations — such as the CBI, TUC, General Medical Council or even the RSPB — to elect their own peers. The MPs hold the key over whether David Cameron and Nick Clegg can force their plans to reform the Lords through Parliament. The Government wants to replace the Lords with an 80 per cent elected second chamber — and the Tory MPs are vehemently opposed.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ed Miliband’s Ramadan Message
Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:
“On behalf of the Labour Party, I wish Muslims in every part of the United Kingdom and the world a peaceful Ramadan. Ramadan is when Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. It is a time when Muslims the world over gather to fast, pray, and reflect on Islam and its teachings. Ramadan this year is a good time to recall the contribution that Muslims have made to British life, including to our cultural life, our Armed Forces, and the Olympic team. It is also a time to reflect on the values we all share — values of service, charity, solidarity with those less fortunate than ourselves, and of looking out for others. Those are values which British Muslims and non-Muslims alike show in the quiet acts of responsibility and compassion they perform every day — giving to charity, travelling far to comfort a relative who is ill, or gathering together to work for a more compassionate society. This Ramadan, my thoughts are with Muslims here and across the world. Ramadan Kareem.”
[JP note: Difficult to find a similar message for Christians in the UK and worldwide at Christmas, but Miliband did find the time to thank and praise the British Armed Forces
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/8967914/Ed-Miliband-praises-Armed-Forces-in-online-Christmas-message.html# ]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: How the Would-be Oldham Terrorists Became Radicalised
Mohammed Sajid Khan was born in Pakistan but was raised a British national from the age of three or four years old. He had run a car valeting service in Bradford but was unemployed at the time of his arrest. Shasta Khan was born in the UK and her marriage to Sajid Khan was her third. She ran a hairdressing business from the couple’s home on Foster Street, Oldham. The couple met on a Muslim dating site in July 2010 and were married roughly six weeks later. After a honeymoon in Turkey where they were pictured in Western clothing, they appear to have become quickly radicalised and by November 2010 were listening to extremist material. Changes in their demeanour and dress show that by July 2011 they had strict Islamic beliefs and radical views.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Joylessness Council Wardens Take the Gold for Grinding the Spirit Out of the Olympics
by Graeme Archer
- wa- te—ted t- wr-te th-s ent-re —e-e w-th-ut referen-e t- the 15th, 12th, 25th, 13th, 16th, 9th and 3rd -etters -f the a—habet*. But it was too hard, so we’ll just need to run the risk of some Olympic copyright protection authority coming down on top of us. I’m anyway pretty sure that you’re still allowed to use the letters “Olympic” in non-corporate-sponsored sentences [subs — please check with lawyer], and if anyone complains, we’ll run rings around them. Just not five particular-coloured, particularly overlapping rings, of course.
I’m joking, of course, but the news that a baker’s shop in Southwark was ordered to remove a window display of five bagels, artfully arranged to resemble the Olympic logo, is still depressing. It makes Boris’s rallying cry for Londoners to get behind the Games just that little bit harder to, er, rally behind. Who would ever have suspected that the chance of a lifetime, to show London off to the world, would have become an excuse for council officials to get all jobsworthy, and stamp out such insults to Olympic athletes as, you know, five bagels stuck in a window?
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Teacher at Blackburn Mosque Used ‘Torture Positions’ On Pupils
A TEACHER at a Blackburn mosque has admitted using beatings and torture positions as a form of discipline on four pupils. Irfan Patel, 33, pleaded guilty to four counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 at Preston Crown Court yesterday. Using an Urdu translator to enter his plea, the teacher of several years, showed no emotion. The court heard Patel used physical violence to discipline the boys aged between 10 and 16 between January 1, 2011 and October 19, 2011. He used to strike the children around the back of the head and on the back with his fists during religious lessons at the mosque.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Islamist Ex-MP Gets Jail for Indecent Act
An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced Ali Wanis, a Muslim cleric and ex-lawmaker, to 18 months in prison after he was found guilty of committing an “indecent act” in a car with a female university student. Wanis, however, can avoid jail by paying 1,500 Egyptian pounds ($250) in bail as the case goes to an appeal court.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s Tantawi Defies Muslim Brotherhood Declaring: Egypt is for All, Not Just One Group
The Muslim Brotherhood is a worldwide terrorist organization banned in Egypt for many years. They cleverly rode the wave of the youth uprising and with their powerful voice heard by a huge population of sympathizers (from years of MB propaganda and charity to the poor) converted the force for true democracy into empty words and rhetoric. Now they lead the state of Egypt, and the West has been playing their game, according to some sources from the Egyptian press.
While Egypt and the world awaited the Presidential Election Commission to announce the results in a much delayed press conference, the Arabic press recorded the consensus inside the country. Many Egyptians believe that the U.S. administration threatened SCAF in some way, perhaps militarily, forcing their candidate to bow out of the race and make Mr. Morsi the winner in spite of Mr. Shafiq getting the most votes. This may explain pro-democracy activists shunning Mrs. Clinton’s congratulatory comments for Mr. Morsi following the presidential announcement and their disinterest in her pending visit to Egypt. Some thought SCAF denied Mr. Shafiq his legitimate victory to spare the outbreak of war within Egypt based on missile sightings throughout the country linked to the MB and their foreign allies.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: Tension With Spain Over Chafarinas Islands
Rabat calls Spanish ambassador after operation announced
(ANSAMed) — RABAT, JULY 16 — Moroccan Foreign Minister Saad Dine El Otmani has asked the Spanish ambassador for “clarification” on recent statements by Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz during his visit to the Melilla Spanish enclave, that Spain would deploy civil guards troops in the Chafarinas Archipelago, officially to help combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking, government spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi said today.
Morocco is claiming rights to the Chafarinas Islands, which belong to Spain but are in Moroccan territorial waters.
“The minister has expressed the Moroccan government’s worry about these statements, given that these kinds of measures require total coordination with the Moroccan authorities that have jurisdiction, and a common initiative, far from any unilateral action,” El Khalfi said.
A similar 2002 incident almost degenerated into an armed conflict between the two countries over the island of Persil (Leila to the Moroccans), located 250 kilometers from the Moroccan coast. Moroccan troops landed on the island and set up camp, ostensibly to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Spain responded by sending elite military units, who captured 6 Moroccan soldiers. The entire Arab League except Algeria supported Morocco, and the entire EU except Portugal and France, sided with Spain. The stand-off was resolved peacefully thanks to US diplomatic intervention.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Report Puts Morocco on Trial
Still too many violations, says human rights group
(ANSAmed) — Rome — Violations of human rights in Morocco reflect the lack of real political will within the state to respect human rights and freedoms, a human rights organization said Friday.
The government of Morocco is acting against commitments made at national and international forums, says Khadija Ryadi, president of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH.) Rabat spoke as she presented a 2011 report on human rights in Morocco.
Morocco speaks well regarding the ratification of numerous international charters and conventions on human rights, yet still contravenes those agreements, she said.
In 2011, her group found “numerous violations directly or indirectly by the state, which threaten the right to life.” As an example, she cited violence inflicted upon citizens by police in public and also in prisons, where survival is threatened by overcrowding, unhygienic conditions and increased violence.
Civil liberties are also being eroded more often, including violations of press freedom, freedom of association, freedom of movement and peaceful gatherings.
As regards freedom of the press, the report says that political party and state control of media occurs through the restriction of the “right of access” to important decisions and information.
The state is also using the courts to pronounce unjust sentences and to repress journalists, trade unionists, political activists, participants in social protests, and human rights defenders.
There are also concerns over the right to education, as poverty and sexual discrimination force too many school dropouts and threaten to increase illiteracy, says the report.
UNESCO estimates that fully 44% of Moroccan adults cannot read nor write, while in the age group between 15 and 24 years, the rate is 21%, mostly women.
Woman also continue to suffer from different forms of violence, while the rights of children are subject to numerous violations, including sexual and economic exploitation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
This Year’s Ramadan Arrives High Heat and Political Transition in Arab World
by Rod Norland
CAIRO — This year’s Ramadan holy month may prove to be the toughest in decades — and not just because it falls when the heat is at its highest and the days are particularly long.
Traditionally, Ramadan, which began Friday in most of the Arab world, is a time for introspection, for charity toward the poor, for an increased focus on religion. It is a time when Muslims strive to avoid not only drinking, smoking, eating and having sex during daylight hours, but also gossiping and swearing — and even fighting with one another. The holy month is a time for solemn reflection during the day, and festive meals with family and friends at night.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Wheat at Record is the Worst Thing That Could Happen to Egypt
by David P. Goldman
The price of wheat on the active futures contract shot up to $943 a bushel from only $625 a bushel just a month ago, due to the drought in the US Midwest and other factors. That is a further blow to stability in Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, dependent on foreign sources for half its caloric consumption. Egypt now imports 800,000 metric tons of wheat a year. At $943 a bushel its import bill is about $28 billion, a $9.5 billion increase over the cost at $625. Egypt has about $15 billion in total foreign exchange reserves but only $7 billion in liquid reserves. I’d say they are in trouble.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Palestine-United Nations Perfidy Exposed
The canard — supported by countless United Nations General Assembly Resolutions — that Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal in international law — has been dealt a crushing blow with the the recent release of the Levy Committee Report in Israel rebutting that claim.
The Committee comprised a retired Supreme Court Judge — Edmund Levy — a Tel Aviv District Court Judge — Tchia Shapira — and a former Foreign Ministry legal adviser Alan Baker. They were appointed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January 2012 to consider among other matters the legality of Jewish settlements established in the West Bank.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
British Flotillas Prepared for Syria Evacuation
The navy is preparing contingency plans for a mass evacuation of British citizens from Syria and neighbouring countries, as growing violence has caused tens of thousands to flee major cities.
The navy is preparing contingency plans for a mass evacuation of British citizens from Syria and neighbouring countries, as growing violence has caused tens of thousands to flee major cities. A substantial Navy task force will deploy to the eastern Mediterranean for large scale exercises after the Olympics but will have the capability to help civilians fleeing the growing violence.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Holy Month of Fasting Not So Sweet for Muslim Diabetics
“SOME people inherit houses. I inherited diabetes,” said Hajeh Hana of Lakemba. For most of Australia’s 496,000 Muslims, the start of Ramadan today is a holy month of fasting by day and feasting by night. But for the estimated 22,000 Australian Muslims with diabetes, it can be a time of fluctuations in blood sugar levels that can be dangerous, even deadly. “I’ve seen people die one or two minutes before the fast is ending,” said a visiting endocrinologist from Saudi Arabia, Dr Al Saeed. “They developed hypoglycemia but refused to break their fast. They became unconscious and died.” The Koran specifically exempts those who are sick or suffer from a chronic condition such as diabetes from fasting. Yet 43 per cent of people with type 1 diabetes and 79 per cent of patients with type 2 diabetes fasted through Ramadan, reported the Diabetes Journal.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Oldest Mosque in Dubai Still Stands Tall
Of over 1,418 mosques in the emirate, Bur Dubai Grand Mosque, built in 1850 and then rebuilt in 1952 and 1999 in the style of the original Grand Mosque, is the oldest in Dubai. Originally served as a Kuttab (an Islamic elementary school) where boys and girls learned to recite and memorise the Holy Quran, the mosque is located in the Grand Souq area in Bur Dubai, near the Ruler’s Court. Accommodating up to 1,965 people, it boasts of Dubai’s tallest minaret at 70 metres. The minaret is the tower from which the call to prayer is broadcast.
Mohammed Jassim Al Mansouri, Head of the Engineering Section at the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai, told Khaleej Times that the mosque, considered one of the largest in the UAE, is at the heart of Dubai’s religious and cultural life. Visitors can take photographs but cannot enter the mosque. “The current Grand Masjid consists of 45 small and nine large domes with stained glass panels, sand-coloured walls and wooden shutters. The masjid is a superb example of a building from yesteryear, making it a notable landmark and important place of worship,” he said. “The new Grand Masjid’s sand-coloured walls and wooden shutters blend perfectly with the surrounding old quarter of Bur Dubai and is known for its size and elaborate design. The best time to see it is at night, when it is spectacularly lit up,” he added.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Syria Takes WMD Out of Storage: US Says Situation is Very Dangerous
As part of its ongoing war maneuver, Syria Thursday, July 12, this week drilled the firing of advanced Scud D ballistic missiles capable of carrying chemical weapons and nerve gas — a clear message from Bashar Assad that weapons of mass destruction are now in play to save his regime. American officials, alarmed by the movement out of storage of parts of his vast arsenal of sarin nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide, warned it could escalate the Syrian conflict and expand it to other parts of the region.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Ramadan, The Mosque and Booze
by Mustafa Aykol
A controversy over alcohol has been making the Turkish news since last weekend. A rock festival called “One Love” was organized in an area next to Istanbul Bilgi University’s santralistanbul campus, and the main sponsor was Efes, Turkey’s leading beer brand. Lots of young people, therefore, were expected to come, roll with the music and enjoy some beer.
Many young people came indeed. But they realized that they could not drink beer, for the organizers had decided to go “dry” because of pressure from the authorities. The pressure came from a larger camp, though: Days before the event, certain Islamic newspapers had begun criticizing the “beer festival” as an insult against the Eyüp Sultan Mosque, probably the most sacred Islamic spot in Istanbul. Since the concert was within Eyüp Municipality’s boundaries, and the time was a little before Ramadan, these “sensitive Muslims” of Turkey were disturbed. (The most agitated among them were disturbed enough to come to the concert area and protest against “alcohol drinkers” who actually found the booze thanks to local street vendors.)
In the face of all this, I wrote a column in Turkish, explaining my stance. It was wrong to ban alcohol at the concert, I argued, and “One Love” should be a place where people drink freely in the years ahead. I also noted that there was at least a kilometer between the Eyüp Mosque and the concert area, and thus it was absurd to see this as an “insult to the mosque.”
[…]
[JP note: Mustafa Beer.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Father of the Taliban Deals Blow to Polio Vaccination Drive in Pakistan
One of Pakistan’s most influential clerics has renounced his previous support for polio immunisation, claiming that the programme is a cover for American spies and dealing a fresh blow to efforts to rid the world of the crippling virus.
Sami ul-Haq, nicknamed the Father of the Taliban for his role in educating many of the Afghan students who rose up to capture Kabul in the 1990s, also offered foreign governments a chilling deal: end American drone strikes or leave children unprotected. He had been an unlikely ally of the World Health Organisation and Unicef. Earlier this year Mr Haq administered polio drops to his grandson and urged followers to do the same. But now he says he cannot back the policy after it emerged the CIA had used a fake hepatitis drive to hunt for Osama bin Laden last year. Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who organised the vaccination campaign, has been sentenced to 33 years in prison and sparked a wave of paranoia about foreign aid workers.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Angered by India Court-Translation Ruling
Documents in local dialect and English only
(ANSA) — Rome, July 17 — Italy’s defence ministry on Tuesday expressed its “total displeasure” at the decision by an Indian court not to have the legal documents pertaining to the case of two Italian anti-piracy marines accused of murder translated into Italian.
Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are on trial in the southern state of Kerala on charges of killing two Indian fishermen after allegedly mistaking them for pirates during an anti-piracy mission in February. The ministry said the decision by Kollam Court prevents “the free exercise of the defence”, describing it as “a choice that goes against the universally recognised right of access to court documents in the language of the defendant” and which “is incomprehensibly part of repeated attempts to prevent what international laws and treaties consider to be a ‘fair trial’“. Earlier in the day the court rejected the defence’s request for the legal documents to be translated into Italian on grounds that translations are not contemplated under the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure. The court documents are partly in the local Malayalam dialect and partly in English.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: NATO Trucks Remain Stalled in Pakistan’s Southern Port
KARACHI, Pakistan — Hundreds of NATO supply trucks are stuck in Pakistan’s southern port, Karachi, despite Islamabad’s decision to re-open routes to Afghanistan earlier this month. Some trucks and drivers have been waiting for months to return to the road. Entry points to Afghanistan were closed after the United States mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in an airstrike last November. But truck owners say they are not moving until they are compensated for the money lost during the shutdown that stranded more than 1,500 shipments on the road.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Reinventing the Dreaded Jihad Wheel
by Ayesha Siddiqa
The Deep State’s antics have emboldened the militant non-state actors, who are itching to expand internally, regionally and internationally
ABU JUNDAL’S capture may appear exciting to many Indian analysts with him providing more information that links the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, but it has not impressed Pakistan’s security establishment, which seems committed to allow LeT to flourish in the country. In fact, the State is allowing greater space to LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and many others like him to legitimise their presence in the society. This is borne out by the way in which the LeT-led Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) is operating over the past few months, holding rallies in major cities and challenging the government’s authority to make foreign policy.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Roadside Bomb Kills 5 Policemen in South Afghanistan
At least five Afghan policemen, including a police chief, have been killed in an accident when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the southern part of the volatile country, Press TV reports. According to local officials, the blast took place in the Sarab district of the Uruzgan Province, situated about 370 kilometers south of the Afghan capital Kabul, on Thursday night.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Lash Men in Public in Afghanistan: Official
Taliban militants lashed two men in public on Saturday, witnesses and officials said, just weeks after a video surfaced of a woman being executed for adultery before a crowd of cheering men. The men received 40 lashes each with a leather whip in front of more than a hundred people in Shash Qala village of Charkh district in Logar province, some 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of the capital Kabul.
They were arrested by Taliban insurgents while trying to kidnap the son of a rich man three days earlier, Bashir, a villager, told AFP.
“This morning, the Taliban called people on loudspeakers to gather and watch two men being lashed by them for trying to kidnap a 10-year old boy,” Bashir said. “They were lashed 40 times each by two armed Taliban whose faces were covered.”
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: Muslims Still Overwhelmed by Nation’s Biggest Mosque
COTABATO CITY—No matter how often they come here for prayer, Muslims are still overwhelmed by the largest mosque in the country—a masterpiece of Islamic architecture. The glittering Grand Mosque, also known as Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid (Muslim center of worship), is located in the seaside village of Inawan. It is a five-hectare cultural complex constructed and funded by the Brunei government in 2008, on land donated by the family of former Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen. It can accommodate 15,000 people.
The mosque, with gold-plated domes, is about eight kilometers away from the national highway. But the distance has not kept people from going there to pray, Grand Mosque executive director Ustads Norulam Abdullah told the Inquirer on the eve of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. “Those who have no vehicles pay a P15 fare for the motorbike from the main road,” Abdullah said.
Cultural agreement
The construction of the mosque is covered by a cultural agreement between the Sultanate of Brunei and the Philippine government.
“At the back of the mosque, we are planning to build a grand function hall that can hold international activities,” he said. Abdullah said the waterfront location is perfect, as the mosque can be viewed by those arriving by sea from the Moro Gulf in the east and those arriving by air through Awang Airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao. Abdullah said the mosque was designed by architect Felino Palafox Jr.
It is equipped with closed circuit television and fire protection systems, with the design incorporating elements of Filipino, Asian and Islamic traditions. The mosque was also constructed two meters from the ground. It can be accessed from three sides, with two front stairs, four side stairs and two pedestrian ramps.
Environmental concepts
Palafox, in an earlier interview, said he incorporated environmental concepts into the design, maximizing the sunlight for efficiency, reduction of electricity bills and low maintenance. The mosque has four minarets (towers) rising 40 meters high. Inside, there are two prayer rooms (for men and women) separated by an eight-meter-high partition. The prayer rooms are flanked by courtyards. In their Friday prayer, Abdullah said Muslims emphasized the importance of the duration of the monthlong fasting, which starts today. “We are praying for a peaceful Mindanao. We are happy that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government are talking peace,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Sends Ramadhan Message
Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has sent best wishes to Muslims in Australia and around the world as the fasting month of Ramadhan begins this week. “Ramadhan is a time of prayer and reflection for Muslims. It’s a time to reflect on the wisdom and guidance that for many people comes with faith. It is also an opportunity for families and friends to come together, and to promote goodwill and harmony in the wider community,” he said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Thursday. Australia is home to nearly half a million Muslims and Islam is the country’s fourth largest religion. The Australian Muslim community is diverse and is drawn from over 60 different ethnic backgrounds.
Carr, who was appointed foreign minister in March after replacing Kevin Rudd, said the Australian government was actively engaging with Muslim communities around the world and promoting interfaith and intercultural dialogue with many of Australia’s close and important partners, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Gulf States and Egypt. In his first speech to the Australian Parliament on March 21, Carr spoke about the importance of fostering the ‘overlap of cultures’ and encouraging racial and religious tolerance. “I will continue to promote these values,” he added.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Q&A: Indigenous and Muslim ‘A Growing Trend’
Dr Peta Stephenson is an honorary fellow at the Asia Institute. She has interviewed dozens of Indigenous Muslims as research for her book ‘Islam Dreaming’, and says numbers of those converting are on the rise.
Dr Stephenson, Has There Been An Increase in Indigenous Australians Converting to Islam?
If we look at the 2006 census and the two before that, we do see that the numbers are rising. In 1996 and 2001 there were just over 600 Indigenous Muslims in Australia in each of those censuses. In the subsequent one, in 2006, the number had risen 60 per cent to more than 1,000. So, not huge numbers if we look at the population of Australia, but it’s still a significant climb.
What Can You Tell Us About the Motives for Converting to Islam You’ve Found During Your Research?
I conducted interviews with Indigenous Muslims for my book ‘Islam Dreaming’. Some of those were descended from Muslim fathers or forefathers, but wouldn’t classify themselves as practicing Muslims. Perhaps they had an Afghan cameleer father or grandfather or a so-called ‘Malay Man’ who came to work in the pearl shelling industry. Then there were others who didn’t have that family history but had decided to embrace Islam.
And I found that the men and women who converted to Islam shared many commonalities with converts globally. Their experiences were that they enjoyed feeling part of a community, that they found Muslims to be extremely welcoming and hospitable. In many ways, they felt that by becoming Muslim they were going back to their traditional pre-colonial indigenous identity, because they could see that there were many similarities in traditional Indigenous societies and Islamic ones. For instance, men can have more than one wife, arranged marriages were common to both societies, men were usually much older than their wives, they had gendered spheres of influence, so, sort of ‘men’s business’ and ‘women’s business’.
The indigenous people I spoke to felt re-affirmed in their Aboriginality by becoming Muslim, and that wasn’t something I expected to find at all. That’s something that’s quite distinct from non-Indigenous people who embrace Islam. Another difference was that Aboriginal people are coming to Islam against a backdrop of Christian ‘missionisation’, so some of them were attracted to Islam because it’s a non-Christian faith, and something they embraced by choice, not something that was imposed upon them.
Did You Come Across Any Difficulties Where the Two Cultures Might Not Particularly Be Compatible?
I think that Aboriginal people haven’t really found that to be a difficulty, I mean, some people say they have foregone or given up their Aboriginality by becoming Muslim, but as I’ve just mentioned, the Indigenous Muslim people I’ve spoken to say, on the contrary, they feel more Aboriginal by becoming Muslim, particularly because in Islam, language differences and colour and cultural differences are recognised in Islam. It’s seen as a sign of God or Allah’s will to make people different.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Northern Mali Braces for Ramadan Under Strict Islamic Rule
Normally a joyous time of fasting and prayer, the looming Muslim month of Ramadan has raised fears of stricter rule by the jihadists occupying the north Malian town of Gao. The power cuts, water shortages and high food prices that have hit Mali’s occupied north at a time when the sun scorches at some 40 degrees C (101 F) have also dried up enthusiasm. “I am afraid that the Islamists will take advantage of the Ramadan period to toughen the rules with, for example, a ban on smoking and watching television,” said a teacher in the Sahel town, which borders Niger.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
M.A.S.H. Star Partners With Castro’s Spy Agency
Though a consistently good show, few conservatives mistook M.A.S.H for anything but pinko propaganda. Last week long-time M.A.S.H star Mike Farrell (Capt. B.J. Hunnicut) took the last few baby-steps and started spouting outright Communist propaganda.
In a letter to President Obama, Farrell officially partners with Castro’s KGB-trained DGI urging the release of five of their agents and officers who were convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S. and conspiracy to murder Americans. The Supreme Court has twice upheld the convictions of these Communist terrorists and accessories to murder.
In 1933 Stalin’s propaganda chief Willi Munzenberg re-monikered the Soviet Comintern as the “International Aid Committee for the Victims of Fascism.” The Soviet’s Cuban satraps and their celebrity propaganda auxiliaries have one-upped even Munzenberg. These convicted Castroite terrorists—we’re now given to understand by the former M.A.S.H star—are actually peace-loving anti-terrorists, flower-children of sorts. Here’s the heart of Farrell’s letter:
[…]
But according to the FBI’s affidavit, the convicted Castro-agents who Farrell champions were engaged in, among other acts:
- Gathering intelligence against the Boca Chica Air Naval Station in Key West, the McDill Air Force Base in Tampa and the headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command in Homestead, Fla.
- Compiling the names, home addresses and medical files of the U.S. Southern Command’s top officers, along with those of hundreds of officers stationed at Boca Chica.
- Infiltrating the headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command.
- Sending letter bombs to Cuban-Americans.
- Spying on McDill Air Force Base, the U.S. armed forces’ worldwide headquarters for fighting “low-intensity” conflicts.
- Locating entry points into Florida for smuggling explosives.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
National Disgrace: Illegal Aliens in Good American Jobs!
Contrary to a popular stereotype, not all illegal aliens are uneducated, unskilled blokes suitable only for menial labor like picking fruit, serving food in fast food restaurants, cleaning rooms, or operating leaf- blowers.
Indeed, some illegals are properly trained and educated to work in high-technology, construction labor, and other high-paying jobs with benefits.
Without exception, all such people are in jobs that should be filled by American citizens of which there are 23 million whom are presently unemployed, or under employed.
The notion that all illegals are in jobs that Americans simply will not do is self-serving rubbish, promulgated by reckless Democrats and RINOs who could care less about the suffering of citizens, and whom look to imported illegals as a resource for growing the Democrat voter base.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
When Governments Elect Another People
Demographics is destiny. The left is reshaping countries to match its demographic targets
The most obvious way to play the demographic game of thrones is with gerrymandered districts. A gerrymandered district is shaped to include a majority of the winning demographic leading to a nearly automatic victory for the party. It’s the political equivalent of stacking the deck.
Gerrymandered districts are of dubious legality, except when shaped to create a majority minority district, in which case it becomes an obligation under civil rights laws. This stacks the deck, creating permanent sinecures for some horribly incompetent politicians and permanent seats for the Democratic Party.
But that is just a matter of rearranging the cards in the deck. What if you could bring in cards from outside the deck? What if you could change the value of some cards? Then you would be on the way to being the best card sharp in Washington D.C. or London or Paris.
Sure you could win elections by creating a few gerrymandered districts, but you couldn’t win a country that way. To do that, you have to change the national demographics.
[…]
You run the United Kingdom and what you do is open up the doors to bring in as many Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and that sort into the country as you can. And that way you can create a demographic that will support you, even when the native workers won’t.
Not that this sort of thing could ever happen. A political party could never decide to use its power to import huge numbers of foreigners to displace its domestic base and create a new demographic picture more favorable to its political ambitions. Except that is exactly what happened in the UK.
The huge increases in migrants over the last decade were partly due to a politically motivated attempt by ministers to radically change the country and “rub the Right’s nose in diversity”, according to Andrew Neather, a former adviser to Tony Blair, Jack Straw and David Blunkett. He said Labour’s relaxation of controls was a deliberate plan to “open up the UK to mass migration” but that ministers were nervous and reluctant to discuss such a move publicly for fear it would alienate its “core working class vote”.
[…]
Can’t win elections with your current agenda in a country with the current makeup? Dream big, plan even bigger. Drag everyone into college, import the right sort of immigrants, make divorce as common as possible, kill jobs. Don’t start now. Start doing it forty or fifty years ago. Turn Leave It to Beaver into Modern Family and suddenly the liberals will stop looking like commie egghead freaks and the conservatives will start looking like square robotic freaks who keep talking about someone they call “God”, something they call a “Traditional Family” and something they describe as “Jobs.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
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