After Defeat of Senate Cybersecurity Bill, Obama Weighs Executive-Order Option
Senate Republicans recently blocked cybersecurity legislation, but the issue might not be dead after all.
The White House hasn’t ruled out issuing an executive order to strengthen the nation’s defenses against cyber attacks if Congress refuses to act.
“In the wake of Congressional inaction and Republican stall tactics, unfortunately, we will continue to be hamstrung by outdated and inadequate statutory authorities that the legislation would have fixed,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in an emailed response to whether the president is considering a cybersecurity order.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CAIR: American Muslims Stand With Sikhs After Wis. Shootings
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2012 — Houses of worship urged to review advice in CAIR community safety kit
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said today that American Muslims “stand with their Sikh brothers and sisters” following a deadly shooting attack targeting a house of worship of that faith this morning in Wisconsin. In a statement, the Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization said: “While details of the attack and the motivation of the attacker are still emerging, American Muslims stand with their Sikh brothers and sisters in this time of crisis and loss. We condemn this senseless act of violence, pray for those who were killed or injured and offer sincere condolences to their loved ones.” CAIR officials are in contact with the Milwaukee Muslim community as it offers support to its Sikh neighbors.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Crosses Next Door to Murfreesboro Mosque a Message of Christianity
MURFREESBORO — Islamic Center of Murfreesboro members will pass a field lined with 13 white crosses in front of Grace Baptist Church on Bradyville Pike on the way to their new mosque once it opens. “It was more or less to make a statement to the Muslims about how we felt about our religion, our Christianity,” said Mack Richards, a Middle Tennessee Baptist Church member who built the crosses at the request of Grace Baptist member and friend Bobby Francis. “We wanted them to see the crosses and know how we felt about things. That’s what the church voted to do,” said Francis, who has been a member of Grace Baptist since the 1970s when it was on Dill Lane. Grace Baptist moved into its current home of about 6,000 square feet two years ago and is currently served by Interim Pastor Dan Watts.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Experts: ‘Electronic Armageddon’ Most Serious Threat Facing Nation
Experts on a panel assembled by Florida-based The United West have warned that the aftermath of an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) attack would be devastating on the United States, with up to 90 percent of the population dead or dying.
According to Fritz Ermarth, chairman of the National Intelligence Council, “A significant EMP event would bring about the prompt and early delayed death of millions of people.”
In what has been called an “Electronic Armageddon,” an EMP strike delivered from a single bomb would result in the United States losing two-thirds to 90 percent of its population within six months of the event.
One major form of damage would be to the electrical power grid. An EMP would strike the electrical transformers that are part of the electrical distribution system, rendering them inoperable. There are more than 2,000 large transformers throughout the United States, a sizable proportion of which would fall victim to the blast.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Frank Gaffney: The G.O.P.’s One-Legged Stool?
Ronald Reagan forged a winning electoral majority on the stable foundation of what he described as a three-legged stool: fiscal discipline, traditional values and peace through strength. He understood it to be an appealing platform to the American people writ large, including of course economic, social and national security conservatives and the rest of his Republican Party.
Unfortunately, it seems increasingly, that today’s Republicans want to bet that they can regain the White House by cutting off two legs from that stool — disregarding, if not dismissing outright conservative social issues and national security themes.
A case in point came last week as the G.O.P.’s 2012 presidential nominee, Governor Mitt Romney, declared that his campaign was “not going to talk about” the Left’s attempt to punish the owners of Chick-fil-A for their stand on gay marriage. Neither would it be talking about the request made by Rep. Michele Bachmann and four of her colleagues for an investigation into Muslim Brotherhood influence operations that appear with increasing success to be targeting the Obama administration…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
Hospital Chain Internal Reports Found Dubious Cardiac Work
HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country, is confronting evidence of unnecessary cardiac treatments at some of its medical centers in Florida after a nurse’s complaint prompted an internal investigation.
The inquiry found that the complaint was far from the only evidence that unnecessary — even dangerous — procedures were taking place at some HCA hospitals, driving up costs and increasing profits.
HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain in the United States with 163 facilities, had uncovered evidence as far back as 2002 and as recently as late 2010 showing that some cardiologists at several of its hospitals in Florida were unable to justify many of the procedures they were performing. Those hospitals included the Cedars Medical Center in Miami, which the company no longer owns, and the Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point. In some cases, the doctors made misleading statements in medical records that made it appear the procedures were necessary, according to internal reports.
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Low-Tech EMP Could Send U.S. Back to Stone Age
Eid-ul-Fitr, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, was an appropriate setting for a panel discussion today on the threat of an Electromagnetic Pulse, or EMP, attack on the United States.
The live event, hosted by Florida-based The United West, was held to raise awareness of the looming threat.
The warning presented was startling: A crude nuclear device placed on top of a 50-year-old SCUD missile and launched by a tramp steamer could cause the collective collapse of the nation’s power grid in a matter of minutes.
It is estimated that Iran could launched such an attack in just a few years, and it would leave the U.S. essentially in the “Stone Age.”
Tom Trento, founder of The United West, called an EMP attack the equivalent of an “Electronic Armageddon.”
Intelligence sources have indicated Iran is within two years of bringing the revolution to the United States in the form of an EMP attack.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Michele Bachmann Joins Board of Ann Arbor-Based Christian Activists
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., was named Thursday to the citizens advisory board of an Ann Arbor-based legal center that fights for conservative Christian causes. The appointment of Bachmann, who dropped out of the presidential primary in January, brings another high-profile conservative to the Thomas More Law Center, which increasingly has focused on Islam in recent years. In May, the center named U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., whose views also have sparked controversy, to the advisory board.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Microchip-Laden Drugs Given FDA Approval
Rumors regarding the development of a ‘digital pill’ with a microchip inside have been circulating for some time, but today, the FDA actually green lighted the product.
The company, Proteus Digital Health, gained FDA approval for its 1 square millimeter device (the size of a grain of sand), which it believes will “shift the care paradigm” into an era of digital medicine.
According to Proteus Digital Health’s website:
Digital Medicines are the same pharmaceuticals you take today, with one small change: each pill also contains a tiny sensor that can communicate, via our digital health feedback system, vital information about your medication-taking behaviors and how your body is responding.
The company added “As a result, you can be sure you’re taking your medicines as prescribed, while at the same time receiving unprecedented feedback on your physical response to treatment.”
The aim of the “ingestible sensor” is to electronically verify patient compliance in taking the medication. Proteus Digital Health estimates that over 50% of patients do not get the full benefit from the pharmaceuticals they take because of taking the wrong dose or taking the medication inconsistently.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Military Veteran Kills Six at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin Before He is ‘Put Down’
SIX people have been killed in a shooting at a Sikh temple in the US, with the gunman shot dead by police.
The gunman, described by witnesses as a tall, bald-headed white man with a September 11 tattoo, stormed a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, south of Milwaukee, and opened fire, killing six people. One police officer was critically wounded with multiple gunshots before a second shot the gunman dead. Two more victims were also taken to a Milwaukee hospital with critical gunshot wounds. A source close to the case told Fox News that the suspect is a former military member and is in his 40s.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
NASA Mars Landing: Curiosity Arrives on the Red Planet
Nasa has successfully landed Curiosity, a car-sized rover, on Mars in a triumph for space exploration which could establish if life ever existed on the Red Planet.
The $2.5 billion mission saw the one-ton, six-wheeled, nuclear-powered vehicle blaze through the pink Martian sky and touch down inside an ancient crater. After a journey that had lasted eight months, and covered 352 million miles of space, Curiosity performed a series of aerial acrobatics before landing safely near the equator. Jubilant scientists hugged, wept and distributed Mars chocolate bars to each other as one of them announced: “Touchdown confirmed. We are wheels down on Mars. Oh, my God.”
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Obamacare to Create Big Brother, Says Lawmaker
“Under Obamacare, taxpayers will have to provide within 30 days, notification to a government agency about key information in their lives: did they get a raise or take another job; did a family member move into the household; were they married or divorced; what is the nature of their employer-paid health care coverage. The IRS is ill equipped to deliver customer satisfaction in addressing disputes or questions with the public, according to key metrics and government surveys.
The IRS is also ill equipped to handle the massive staffing and technology ramp-ups required to handle this data,” Chairman Issa told the panel.
According to Issa, under Obamacare, taxpayers will have to provide within 30 days, notification to a government agency about key information in their lives: did they get a raise or take another job; did a family member move into the household; were they married or divorced; what is the nature of their employer-paid health care coverage.
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Scores of new federal mandates and about 21 different tax increases totaling $400 billion are imposed under Obamacare, many of the increases hidden from voters, according to finance experts such as Fox Business Channel’s Stuart Varney.
In addition to more complicated tax returns, families and small businesses will be forced to reveal further tax information to the IRS, provide proof of government approved health care and submit detailed sales information to comply with new excise taxes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sikh Temple Shooting: Gunman Had Been on Investigators’ Radar
WASHINGTON — Federal investigators had “looked at” Sikh temple gunman Wade Michael Page more than once because of his associations with right-wing extremists and the possibility that he was providing funding to a domestic terrorist group, but law enforcement officials at the time determined there was not enough evidence of a crime to open an investigation, a senior U.S. law enforcement official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, would not say Monday which law enforcement agency had considered investigating Page, or when.
Before his rampage Sunday at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., that left him and six others dead and three critically wounded, Page was known to civil rights groups as a member of two racist skinhead bands — End Apathy and Definite Hate. He was also believed to have been a low-level member of a national white supremacist group called the Hammerskins.
Racist skinhead bands and record labels have been known by law enforcement to raise money for extremist groups in the U.S.
Both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center had tracked Page for several years. The nonprofit organizations collect publicly available information on hate groups from Web forums, pamphlets and other sources.
But the FBI is prohibited under federal law from collecting information on U.S. citizens not suspected of committing a crime. In order to open a domestic terrorism investigation, FBI agents must believe a suspect has threatened violence, has broken federal law and is trying to advance a political or social agenda.
This sets the bar high for opening a domestic terrorism case before someone has made a specific threat of violence or committed a crime…
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Solar Superstorm Could Knock Out U.S. Power Grid: Experts
U.S. weather has been lousy this year, with droughts, heat and killer storms. But a solar superstorm could be far worse.
A monster blast of geomagnetic particles from the sun could destroy 300 or more of the 2,100 high-voltage transformers that are the backbone of the U.S. electric grid, according to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Even a few hundred destroyed transformers could disable the entire interconnected system.
There is impetus for a group of federal agencies to look for ways to prepare for such a storm this year as the sun moves into an active period called solar maximum, expected to peak in 2013.
Some U.S. experts estimate as much as a 7% chance of a superstorm in the next decade, which seems a slight risk, but the effects would be so wide-ranging — akin to a major meteorite strike — that it has drawn official concern.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Gurdwara Shooting Suspect Described as Tall, Bald With 9/11 Tattoo
Authorities said a tall, bald, white man in his 40s opened fire just before services had begun, entering the kitchen at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in suburban Milwaukee at about 10:30am CDT (1530 GMT) as women prepared a Sunday meal, sending worshippers fleeing to escape the barrage. The gunman killed six people and critically wounded three at a Sikh temple before police shot him dead in an attack authorities are treating as an act of domestic terrorism.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Will the US Really Experience a Violent Upheaval in 2020?
Circa 1870, the North fought the South in the Civil War. Half a century later, around 1920, worker unrest, racial tensions and anti-Communist sentiment caused another nationwide upsurge of violence. Then, 50 years later, the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement triggered a third peak in violent political, social and racial conflict. Fifty years after that will be 2020. If history continues to repeat itself, we can expect a violent upheaval in the United States in a few years.
It sounds like pseudoscience, but it’s a published theory. “My model suggests that the next [peak in violence] will be worse than the one in 1970 because demographic variables such as wages, standards of living and a number of measures of intra-elite confrontation are all much worse this time,” said Peter Turchin, an ecologist, evolutionary biologist and mathematician at the University of Connecticut.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
French National Identity Must Integrate Islamic Culture
For 3.5 million French Muslims, Ramadan began Friday, July 20. Enthusiasm for fasting seems stronger than ever this year, with 71 percent of Muslims in France observing Ramadan as opposed to 60 percent 20 years ago, according to the daily newspaper La Croix. Today, iftar dinners, when the fast is broken, such as the welcome iftar recently at the Grand Mosque in Paris, are being attended by newly elected French politicians. These individuals have been eager to demonstrate their commitment to a renewed relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims in France, following the recent presidential and parliamentary elections.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Christians, Muslims and Even a ‘Vegan Turkey’ Seek Converts at London 2012
by Ian Johnston
Followers of various religions, philosophies and causes jostle to spread the word near Olympic Park
As hundreds of Olympics fans milled around them, an Italian dressed in a turkey costume stood debating the rights and wrongs of eating meat with a man wearing a sports-themed T-shirt proclaiming he was a member of “Team Islam.” With tens of thousands of people entering the Olympic Park every day, it was perhaps only natural that various religions, philosophies and causes would jump at the chance to win some of them over. And so just outside Stratford Bus Station — which many sports fans must walk past on their way to the park — there was a collection of Christians, Muslims, vegans and others eager to spread the word.
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[JP note: Note the big beard in the accompanying photo.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Step Up Hunt for Sex Attacker in Moss Side and Hulme After Sixth Assault
Police have stepped up a hunt for a suspected sex monster following a sixth attack earlier today.In the latest incident, a woman in her 20s was attacked as she made her way home though Moss Side at about 4am. Her attacker had followed her along Moss Lane East before he grabbed her and sexually assaulted her. He fled after she hit him and screamed for help. The victim has described the attacker as black, aged 18, 5ft 5in and skinny. Police are linking the incident to five other sexual assaults in the last 17 days. During the early hours of Saturday morning two teenager girls were molested as they walked through Moss Side at 4.50am. In the first incident, a woman in her 40s was on Great Western Street when a man approached her and then walked past her shortly after 8am on July 19. He then turned around and sexually assaulted her. She told police her attacker was black, aged between 19 and 23, and about 5ft 6in tall. He wore a blue bubble jacket.
The next attack happened on Princess Road in Hulme at about 10.30pm on July 31 when a teenager was sexually assaulted. The victim told officers her attacker was black, aged 18 or 19, skinny and 5ft 8ins. He wore a blue shirt and blue tie. A woman in her 20s was sexually assaulted at 11am last Wednesday, August 1, as she entered a house in Moss Side. Her attacker had followed her along Wilmslow Road and Moss Lane East before molesting her. The victim said the man was in his early 20s, dark-skinned, slim and 5ft 9in. Police say the incidents appear to be increasingly serious and have stepped up patrols in and around Moss Side.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Serial Sex Attacker: Police Launch Manhunt
A string of alleged sexual assaults in recent weeks are linked and police say further attacks took place in the past four nights.
Police are investigating after a 20-year-old woman was sexually assaulted as she walked home in south Manchester, in an attack believed to be linked to several others in the area.
The attack occurred about 4am as the woman made her way home on foot along Fairbank Avenue, Moss Side. The offender — who remains at large — allegedly followed the woman along Moss Lane East and then sexually assaulted her. Police described the man as an 18-year-old black male, about 5ft 5in tall with a skinny build. At the time of the attack he was wearing a grey hooded top with red stripes along the arms. Police believe the incident is linked to a series of sexual assaults reported in the area over recent weeks.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Should the Khilafah Top the Olympics Medals Table?
“Their achievements in this life may be impressive, but it is their dedication to the truth that raises their rank among people.”
The London Olympics Motto is to “inspire a generation.” With the governments spending cuts keeping the young out of higher education; jobless whether they have degrees or not; lumbered with debt and unable to buy property the £8 billion spent on the games might also have the motto “in-spite of a generation”
(and) that He may admit the men and women who believe to Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever, and remove their bad deeds;- and that is, in the sight of Allah, the highest achievement (for man)
There are many achievements in the life of this world which people aspire to and worldly ambitions are a normal part of life. However the “greatest achievement” is one that is accessible to all people regardless of their status, wealth, family, connections or nationality. Our role models with regards to this start with the Messengers, the Sahaba and their righteous followers to the present day. Their achievements in this life may be impressive, but it is their dedication to the truth that raises their rank among people.
Success in Islam highlights many personal attributes such as honesty, patience, the commanding of good and forbidding evil. This being the highest attainment impacts the mentality of individuals, the community and the state. This being the objective of the individual, the state itself strives to be a vehicle for its citizens to achieve success on Qiyama. The most basic success for a future Khilafah would be for it to stand for the Word of Allah (swt) in all matters and support its citizens to worship Allah (swt) in both their spiritual and “temporal lives” comprehensively such that they might attain success in the next life. Failure in this would be a basic failure of the state.
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[JP note: Gibberish.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Second Mosque Protest is Planned
ANOTHER protest to campaign against a city centre mosque being extended is likely. Members of the Essex division of the English Defence League held a demonstration in Chelmsford on July 21. Three members of the group were arrested on suspicion of committing a racially aggravated public order offence as about 30 members of the far right group marched through the city. The demo, which was marshalled by police, was to highlight disquiet over a proposal to rebuild the Muslim Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat of Essex, behind the Royal Mail office, in Victoria Road.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Shafilea Ahmed: Contrasting Media Responses
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[Reader comment by Sarko on 5 August 2012 at 11:19 am.]
I was glad to see the excellent Sara Khan piece in the Graun — nice that just occasionally the Graun seems to pull itself together. Just a pity the piece had to be “balanced” with the embarrassing guff from Barbara Ellen. Ellen and others like her simply hide behind a gigantic straw man — i.e. the “literalist” dogma that insist they could not be said to be part of the problem of looking the other way unless someone could actually quote them as saying, “I think honour killing is a custom that it is not for us to condemn”, or “I agree with the legal arrangements in Muslim-majority countries that are soft on honour killings”…Naturally they have never said anything like that, or even thought it. What they have done, and do, however, is to duck the severe challenge presented by this concrete problem to to their primarily anti-racist, anti-Islamophobe world view: characteristically, they have responded to dreadful cases of this kind, and to occasional overall reports released on the subject (by the police or NGOs), with an unwillingness to discuss what needs to be done, straightforwardly, and a great willingness to sideline the whole painful issue into a swamp of secondary argument over the “correct” way to view it.
The main escape route is into what I call the “flowerpot game” about religion, culture and ethnicity: like the street entertainer who puts some object under one of three flowerpots, and then rapidly moves the flower pots about until challenging you to say which flowerpot the object is under (and however hard you try to follow the flowerpot movements you are always wrong!)…so here: ha! you silly person, “honour killing” is not under the flowerpot marked religion.it’s under the “culture” flowerpot…ha! got you again, how can it be under the culture flowerpot when if you say it is you’re demonising a whole culture? Okay — so it must be under the “ethnicity” flowerpot?? Good lord no! — look, it’s not there at all…or rather, because it’s under every flowerpot in the world, it’s not actually under this flowerpot at all…
This ****** around -but with great sanctimoniousness — is what exposes the Ellen-type view as trivial and irresponsible. Though always accompanied by insistence that all kinds of “sensitive” measures be taken to protect potential victims, in terms of action and prevention it is at best totally practical-suggestion-free and at worst encourages hesitancy and double-think. Let’s hope that judges (like the one in this case), prosecutors (ditto — obviously a star, this one, and a Muslim — good), police and sensible commentators just leave these idiots like Ellen to play with their flower-pots by themselves.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Shafilea Ahmed’s Death Was Not the Fault of Liberal Lefties
by Barbara Ellen
As Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed were sentenced, there was a feeling that their crime happened because of a cult of political correctness
Reading about the case of Shafilea Ahmed, the 17-year-old Warrington girl murdered by her parents in front of her siblings for being “too westernised”, there was much to contemplate: the jarring oxymoron of the phrase “honour killings”, which, to their credit, the police refused to use; the astounding courage, indeed the honour, of Shafilea’s sister in standing alone and telling the truth about the murder; the despair of Shafilea, who drank bleach to avoid a forced marriage, but still slipped through the net of social services.
There was another strange aspect of the story, a sidebar in the scheme of things, but gathering force as Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed were sentenced. It amounted to an open season on liberal-bashing: the overwhelming consensus that a culture of political correctness, liberalism, leftie cultural squeamishness, call it what you will, was largely to blame. That this kind of thing only happens because people are too scared of offending other cultures to confront such problems as forced marriage, “ownership” of females, and other embedded misogynies. That this is where slavish PC tolerance gets us: girls such as Shafilea Ahmed are betrayed. What dangerous, foolish nonsense.
Do people seriously believe that tolerance towards other races and cultures is a “problem”, equal to, or worse, say, than intolerance towards other races and cultures? In fact, I’m confused: where is this liberal-leftie sensibility that’s so often cited and attacked, this blinkered ideology that’s so far up its own right-on backside, so anxious not to cause offence, that it finds it acceptable to leave young girls such as Shafilea in danger? Does it exist or is it just a convenient myth?
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[Reader comment by youngbirds on 5 August 2012 at 12:37 am.]
I do not think anyone is suggesting ‘liberals’ (whatever that means now) deliberately set out to ignore the plight of this tragic youngster. But, white people have been battered down by political correctness for so long now I think it is sometimes hard for them see sense. Certainly, on more than one occasion when speaking to white people I have almost laughed out loud at the mental acrobats on certain issues. The police also failed to act in the Rochdale rape cases leaving many vulnerable young girls to suffer further abuse.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Woman Dragged Off Street in Rochdale and Raped After Night Out
Police have stepped up patrols in Rochdale after a woman was raped behind a row of houses at the end of a night out. The victim was grabbed from behind by a stranger before he sexually attacked her. The incident happened at 2am on Saturday, near Belfield Lane, Rochdale. The woman had been on a night out when she was grabbed from behind by an unknown man near to the junction with Samson Street, forced behind a row of houses and raped. The rapist is described as Asian, 5ft 2ins, muscular, in his late 30s, clean shaven with short dark hair with long spikes on top.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
What’ll Happen When Europe Falls Off Its Bike?
Charles Moore reviews: A Doomed Marriage: Britain and Europe by Daniel Hannan (Notting Hill Editions)
Denis Thatcher, imitating, for once in his life, Chairman Mao, used to speak of the “Long Marchers”. He meant the people who had struggled for Thatcherism before it even had that name. Although he is still almost young (40), Daniel Hannan is the most determined Long Marcher in another, related cause — that of Euroscepticism. Tirelessly and eloquently, in these pages, or tramping across the nations of Europe, often speaking in their languages, he has made the case. As Daniel in the lion’s den, he has made it in the European Parliament, of which he is a member. His speeches must be the only ones from that assembly that are global YouTube hits. Euroscepticism has taken up the whole of his adult life. I have never known his good humour or determination flag, but nor have I ever known him claim that success is in sight.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Morsi Calls for Safeguarding Copts’ Houses in Dahshur
Presidential spokesman Dr. Yasser Ali said that President Mohamed Morsi is following up, with much interest, efforts exerted to contain the crisis of Dahshur noting that President Morsi phoned Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmed el-Tayyeb and Acting Pope Pachomius to activate the Family House initiative and resolve the Dahshur crisis. Moreover, President Morsi gave directives to Interior Minister Major General Ahmed Gamaleddin to swiftly restore security and stability and put law into effect against anyone who attempts to intimidate the people or disrupts their interests. Meanwhile, Ministry of Awqaf has described incident that broke out in the village of Dahshur, Giza as an unfortunate crime which rejected and denounced by Islam and criminalized under the law. Awqaf on 4/8/2012 urges wise people in the village to reject conflict and division and work to instill the spirit of love and harmony till security, safety, and peace return to the village.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Clashes Leave Dahshur With No Christians, Angry Muslims, And an Impotent Police
Sectarian clashes last week leave one Muslim man dead, dozens injured and an entire Christian community of one hundred families fleeing their hometown
Dahshour, a once quiet village in Giza, is now a busy, tense and angry place bustling with police and security personnel. Central Security and National Security forces are deployed at the entrances to the village and in front of the church there, while also guarding the already trashed and looted houses of Copts who fled their homes Wednesday when a fight that erupted between a Christian and a Muslim led to wider clashes and the death of one Muslim and the injury of a dozen people.
The strife reportedly started when a Christian man working in a laundry shop burnt a Muslim man’s shirt while ironing it. They had an argument and later in the evening the family and friends of the Muslim man gathered in front of the Christian man’s house to continue the argument. According to eyewitness accounts, they gathered carrying knives and swords. The Christian man who was alone with his family threw Molotov cocktails at the crowd leading to the serious injury of one Muslim passerby who died last Tuesday in hospital.
According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), who were monitoring the situation from the beginning and released a report 31 July urging the police to protect citizens and properties, “A mob tried to attack the local Mari Girgis Church, but a group of Muslims prevented them and protected the church until a police force came and dispersed the crowd. The mob later burned a Christian man’s house and police failed to intervene.” The report warned against escalating violence and collective punishment of citizens who are not part of the argument. It also warned that in similar cases the police have remained passive.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism Fears Over Jihadists
Western and Arab security specialists say they fear jihadists who have taken over northern Mali will turn it into a base for Islamist terrorism across the Sahel region and Western Europe. Much will depend on whether Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a veteran jihadist and one of the deadliest leaders of al-Qaida’s North African wing, is dead or alive. Belmokhtar, an Algerian dubbed “the uncatchable” by French Intelligence, was reported killed June 25 in the battle for Gao in northern Mali between Tuareg separatists and the Islamists of the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa. If Belmokhtar, 40, has been slain, the jihadists have lost a resourceful and seasoned leader who’s built up a network of alliances across the vast region over the years. He achieved this in part by marrying four female relatives of Arab and Tuareg tribal leaders who give him safe haven and logistical support.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Power Elite and the Muslim Brotherhood, Part 14
Concerning the recent so-called spontaneous democratic revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, as I have written in previous parts of this series, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is behind most of these. When there are exceptions, such as The Alliance of National Forces (ANF) candidate Mahmoud Jibril (not an MB member) winning in Libya’s July 7 election, one should take note of the fact that just like Mohamed Morsi (the MB’s candidate) in Egypt, Jibril is American-educated (and perhaps an intelligence “asset”).
In Egypt on June 14, the Supreme Constitutional Court annulled the Islamist-dominated parliamentary election results, and the military council via constitutional decree gave itself the power to legislate, control the budget, and limit the future president’s powers until a new parliament is elected (which may take several months). The MB’s Freedom and Justice Party rejected the dissolution of the parliament, thus beginning a showdown with the military council.
According the David Ignatius in the LEBANON DAILY STAR (June 18), the U.S. government actually sees Kairat al-Shater (the leading strategist of the MB) as “the likely power behind the mild-mannered Morsi.” And Caroline Glick in the JEWISH WORLD REVIEW (June 22) assessed that the MB had already outmaneuvred the Egyptian military, and “the inevitability of the Islamic takeover of Egypt means that the peace between Israel and Egypt is meaningless…In their attempt to maintain their power and privilege, the first bargaining chip the generals will sacrifice is their support for the peace with Israel.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Beware the Woman Who Bids to Lead the Greens
by Martin Bright
Over the summer, almost unnoticed amid the blanket coverage of the Olympics, the future of one of our political parties is being decided. Across the country, hustings are taking place to allow the Green Party to decide its next leader. One of the four candidates is Pippa Bartolotti, a former fashion designer and businesswoman who was arrested and jailed by Israel after participating in the “flytilla” last year. Ms Bartolotti’s chances were improved last week when favourite Peter Cranie said he might have to reconsider standing if he were expected to support his young family on the London “living wage”, as is proposed by his party. (Ms Bartolotti is wealthy enough to live on expenses only). Pippa Bartolotti’s slick leadership website contains some interesting insights: “I have lived in Cuba, backpacked round India, and driven a convoy of humanitarian aid across Europe to Gaza. In Syria, though I bear no arms, they call me Mujahadeen.”
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When she was arrested during the “flytilla” demonstration against Israel’s blockade of Gaza, she questioned Mr Gould’s independence and objected to being represented by a member of the UK diplomatic staff with a Jewish name. She told this paper last December: “I questioned the wisdom of having a Jewish Zionist ambassador in Israel and stated that their loyalty was a matter for the FCO to investigate.” She added: “The vice-consul was called Levi. From the university of life I have learned that Jews often have a conflict of interest in matters relating to Palestine.”
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Gunmen Who Shot Dead 16 Egyptian Guards Killed
Five gunmen who slew 16 Egyptian guards near the border with Israel before crossing into the Jewish state in an armoured vehicle have been killed, an army spokesman said Monday.
“The bodies of the five gunmen have been found by the Israeli army,” said the spokesman a day after the incident but did not give details. An Egyptian medical official said earlier the gunmen in Bedouin attire drove up in two vehicles and opened fire on the checkpoint near the Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom in Hebrew) border crossing and opened fire.
The health ministry said 16 soldiers and border guards were killed, while a security official said another seven were wounded. Egypt’s official MENA news agency said the gunmen were “jihadists” from inside the Islamist Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Official: Intel Stopped Militants Who Killed 16 Egyptian Troops From Targeting Israelis
JERUSALEM — Israeli intelligence services had reports of an impending attack from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and therefore were able to thwart the latest assault by suspected Islamist militants who killed 16 Egyptian soldiers at a border checkpoint, then stole two of their vehicles to burst through a security fence into Israel, Israel’s chief military spokesman said Monday. The attack Sunday evening — which Egypt and Israel blamed on Islamist militants from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula — was one of the bloodiest in years and the deadliest against Egyptian troops who have increasingly become targets of militants along the desert border.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Confirms Barring 5 Ministers From Abbas Conference
JERUSALEM, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) — Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday banned five foreign ministers from entering Ramallah to attend a Non-Aligned Movement conference. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor confirmed the report to Xinhua. “These foreign ministers decided to come into Ramallah with complete disregard from Israel towards their next conference, which is scheduled to take place in Iran next month,” Palmor said. The blacklisted envoys hailed from Bangladesh, Cuba, Indonesia and Malaysia — countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel.
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‘Bomb Attack’ On Syria State TV Building in Damascus
A bomb blast rocked Syrian state television headquarters in the heart of Damascus wounding several people on Monday just two days after the army said it had seized the last rebel-held area of the capital.
In commercial capital Aleppo, the army bombarded a string of rebel neighbourhoods after government security officials said that troops had completed their build-up and that a 20,000-strong force was poised for a ground assault. Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi said there were no deaths in the morning bombing of the state television buildings in the heavily protected Omayyad district of Damascus. “It is clear that the blast was caused by an explosive device,” Zoabi said. “Several of our colleagues were injured, but there were no serious injuries, and no dead.” The broadcaster said that the blast hit the third floor of its headquarters. It remained on the air despite the bombing.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Preparing Mahdi’s Special Forces
The Quds Forces, a special Iranian unit of thousands of operatives tasked with exporting Iran’s Islamic revolution, are being told to step up preparations for terrorism for the coming of the last Islamic messiah and the destruction of the West.
Ali Saeedi, the Iranian supreme leader’s representative to the Revolutionary Guards, emphasized during a Friday sermon in Tehran that the Islamic republic must directly confront America so that the necessary environment is created for the reappearance of Mahdi, the Shiite’s 12th imam, who will kill all infidels and raise the flag of Islam in all corners of the world.
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This is the first time a high-ranking Iranian official has stated on the record that the Quds Forces are not only involved in the region, but also internationally for a final confrontation with the West.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Awakening Has Reached Saudi Arabia: Haddad-Adel
TEHRAN — MP Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel has said that the Islamic Awakening has reached Saudi Arabia. “The wave that has started in the Muslim world has certainly reached Saudi Arabia, and the people in Saudi Arabia are also witnessing the repression of (the people) in Bahrain by their country and their own situation in Saudi Arabia,” Haddad-Adel said on the sidelines of an open session of the Majlis on Sunday.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait ‘Tolerant Country’ To Practice Religious Beliefs — Discrimination Not Widespread
KUWAIT: Hindus represent the majority of the more than one billion people in India. Although Kuwait Times failed to secure official statistics as to how many Hindus are represented in Kuwait, surely there are thousands of them. However, Hindu is not a welcome religion here, as compared to Christians and other religious denominations. Kuwait bars their religious practices here, as they found some of their rituals offensive to Islam and, so, they are instructed not to build temples for their religious worship.
Last Monday the US State Department released their International Religious Freedom Report in which they classified Kuwait among the rows of countries to be classified as a ‘tolerant country’ for practicing religious beliefs. Although the report says there are minorities who are experiencing some discrimination on an individual level, it was neither systematic nor widespread.
The constitution calls for “absolute freedom” of belief and for freedom of religious practices, in accordance with established customs, provided that it does not conflict with public order or morals. Speaking with the Kuwait Times on the condition of anonymity, a follower of the Hindu religion said they might have no physical temple, but Hindus can practice and worship their gods privately. “We have lots of underground temples here,” admitted a Hindu follower.
“They are being run privately, because of the ban on Hindu practices, but we do worship our gods secretly. Temples can be in private villas and flats, and there are some in schools,” he added. “We are not being barred from doing that, thanks to the government for being so lenient and tolerant when it comes to that. For instance, we can celebrate diwali here openly, if you will come to the houses of Hindus during diwali you can see electric lights everywhere, and we are not being barred from displaying those, and we can sell sweets related to our festival, so we are happy in that regard,” the source added.
For Christians and the likes, they are free to practice their religious beliefs here. In fact, some Christian denominations are requesting the Kuwaiti government to provide them with land to accommodate their growing number of members.
“As a Christian, I never experienced discrimination here. In fact, we are very happy that every Sunday or Friday we could come and visit our churches here to worship our God freely,” said a Christian believer, talking with this reporter. The US State Department claimed that popular protests in Bahrain during the ‘so called Arab spring’ and the subsequent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) intervention resulted in increased sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shia in Kuwait during the year, and some members of the Shia community were subjected to harassment and threats of physical violence.
“Well, there are reports of such, but we are okay here, we are normal, just like the Sunnis, I don’t think we can mix religion in politics, but we are as free as anyone else here,” said Hussein, a member of the Shiite Islamic religion. The US report revealed that based on voting records and personal status documents, 70 percent of Kuwaiti citizens belong to the Sunni branch of Islam and the remaining 30 percent are Shiite. There are approximately 150-200 Christian citizens and a small number of Baha’i citizens. An estimated 150,000 non-citizen residents are Shia. While some areas have relatively high concentrations of either Sunnis or Shia, most areas are religiously well integrated.
The largely non-citizen Christian population is estimated to include more than 450,000 members. The government-recognized Christian communities include the Roman Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, and the National Evangelical (Protestant) Church. Other recognized denominations include the Armenian Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church (referred to in Arabic as the Roman Orthodox Church), the Greek Catholic (Melkite) Church, and the Anglican Church. There are also many unrecognized Christian religious groups with smaller populations. There are an estimated 300,000 Hindus, 100,000 Buddhists, 10,000 Sikhs, and 400 Baha’is.
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United Nations Ignores Al-Qaeda Link to Syrian Rebels
A day after Kofi Annan, the Joint Special Envoy for the UN and the League of Arab States for the Syrian Crisis, announced his decision to resign in frustration over the failure of the United Nations Security Council to pass a strong resolution that would enforce compliance with his six-point Syrian peace plan, Arab League members led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar went to the UN General Assembly for a symbolic vote on a resolution strongly condemning the Assad regime. The resolution said nothing about al Qaeda and other Islamist jihadists who are hijacking the armed opposition and committing their own atrocities.
The final draft resolution passed on August 3rd, with 133 in favor, 31 abstaining and 12 against. In order to secure more votes in favor of the resolution, the measure’s Arab League sponsors had to water down its text. They agreed to remove a demand that President Assad resign. They also agreed to water down a call for other nations to impose sanctions on Syria. Without such dilution, the resolution would most likely have failed to gain a supporting majority.
Nevertheless, the final resolution text retained its focus of condemnation on the Syrian regime. It called out the “the increasing use by the Syrian authorities of heavy weapons, including indiscriminate shelling from tanks and helicopters, in population centres and the failure to withdraw its troops and the heavy weapons to their barracks…”
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Yemen: Suicide Bomber Kills 45 People at Funeral Wake
A suicide bomber struck at a wake in Yemen’s southern city of Jaar overnight, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens more, the defence ministry said, in the deadliest attack since the army declared victory over Islamist militants in June.
The bomber appeared to have been targeting the head of a group of tribal fighters that sided with the Yemeni army during an offensive that drove al-Qaeda-linked militants from their strongholds in the southern province of Abyan. “This is a cowardly, criminal, terrorist attack,” said Jamal al-Aqel,, the Abyan governor, adding that an investigation was underway to determine the bomber’s identity. The attack highlighted the enduring threat of Islamist militancy in Yemen and may alarm the United States and Saudi Arabia, which increasingly view the impoverished state as a front line in their war on al-Qaeda and its affiliates. A local official said charred bodies were strewn around the site of the blast in which Abdul Latif Al Sayed, the leader of tribal fighting units known as “Popular Committees”, who has previously survived assassination attempts. “Bodies were flying in all directions because the explosion was so powerful,” he said.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Donkey Bomb Kills District Police Chief, Wounds 3 in Afghanistan
CHEGHCHERAN, Afghanistan, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) — The anti-government militants planted mine on the back of a donkey and targeted a district police chief killing him on the spot and injuring three others in Ghor province 360 km west of Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, provincial police chief said. “The rebels planted mine on a donkey and stopped it near the gate of the district headquarters of Charsada district and when the district police chief arrived at the gate at around 09:00 a.m. local time to go to his office, the rebels exploded it by remote control killing the police chief on the spot,” Dilawar Shah Dilawar told Xinhua.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
New Zealand Military Committed to Afghanistan Despite Deadly Attack: Defense Chief
WELLINGTON, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) — The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) remains committed to a smooth handover of its responsibilities in Afghanistan’s Bamyan Province to the Afghan authorities after two New Zealand soldiers were killed and six wounded at the weekend, the NZDF’s most senior officer said Monday. Lance Corporal Rory Patrick Malone and Lance Corporal Pralli Durrer, both aged 26, were deployed with the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team in April and were both on their first deployment in Afghanistan, said Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Rhys Jones. They died when NZDF personnel came to the assistance of local security forces who encountered suspected insurgents near a village south of Do Abe, in the northeast of the province.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan Police Suspended After Couple Forced to Parade Naked Through Town
Several police officers in Pakistan have been suspended after forcing a couple accused of adultery to parade naked through a town on their way to the police station.
Witnesses in the town of Gambat, in the south-east of the country, said the pair were frogmarched more than half a mile through the streets as a crowd gathered to watch. When they complained and tried to help the couple, police allowed the woman into their vehicle, while the man was forced to continue walking in front of the car. A third woman detained by police was allowed to remain clothed. Grainy mobile phone footage posted online appears to show police shining torches on a naked man and woman and preventing them from dressing. The BBC Urdu service identified the man as Mumtaz Mirbahar, who said he was “deeply scarred” by the incident.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand Steps Up Security at Bus Terminals After Bomb Threat
BANGKOK, Aug, 6 (Xinhua) — Thailand’s state-owned Transport Company has stepped up security at its bus terminals in Bangkok after a bag of arms was found on a bus last weekend, the company said on Monday. Security preparations have been boosted at all the bus terminals in the capital city, particularly Mo Chit, according to the company.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Breakaway Rebels Attack Filipino Troops; 3 Killed
Gunmen from a breakaway Muslim rebel group attacked army outposts in the southern Philippines, sparking clashes that killed at least three people and shattered years of calm in the notoriously violent region, officials said Monday. Dozens of armed fighters from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement launched simultaneous attacks on army camps and detachments in four towns in Maguindanao province late Sunday, Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said, adding that sporadic clashes were continuing Monday. The gunmen also attacked two army outposts in nearby North Cotabato province.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Families ‘Proud’ of NZ Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan
The families of the two New Zealand soldiers slain in Afghanistan on Saturday night say they are proud of their commitment to the army. Lance Corporals Rory Malone and Pralli Durrer, both 26, were killed after a fierce three-minute gun fight in a village near Do Abe, in the north east of Bamiyan Province. They were deployed to Afghanistan as part of the Provincial Reconstruction team in April 2012. The families of the men both released statements at a press conference today, expressing their loss and speaking of the commitment they had made to the armed forces. “Rory’s family is extremely proud of his service to the NZ Army. Rory went to Afghanistan to do what he considered an important job which contributed to the greater good of the region. “He did his job with honour and pride. Rory will be dearly missed by his family,” Malone’s family said. Durrer’s family said: “We are all thankful for the 26 years we had with Pralli and are proud af all that he accomplished in his short time with us. “He has had a rewarding career as a soldier and we know he had a positive effect on all those he worked alongside throughout his time with the NZ Army.”
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Car Suicide Bomber Kills 8 in Northeast Nigeria
DAMATURU, Nigeria — Police in northeastern Nigeria say a suicide bomber has killed six soldiers and two civilians in a city wracked by violence. Yobe state police chief Patrick Egbuniwe said a suspected member of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram on Sunday set off explosives in a car after being surrounded by military patrol vehicles in the city of Damaturu. Egbuniwe said six soldiers were killed, and nine others were hospitalized.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
France to Support African Military Intervention in Mali
PARIS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) — France will support African military intervention in Mali to crack down on Islamist insurgents but will not send troops, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday. “An African military intervention is desirable and inevitable,” Le Drian told France Info Radio. However, France will not take a military initiative in Mali, he said. France hopes that African forces could be the first to take action in Mali in line with the UN Security Council resolution. The minister expressed concern over the situation in northern Mali, which has been under the control of Islamist groups for almost five months.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: Ncic Steps in After Mosque Brought Down
QUICK action by members of Kajiado county security team, Ministry of Education and members of the National Cohesion and Integration (NCIC) saved what could have degenerated into chaotic scenario after students of Olkejuado High School went on a rampage and brought down a mosque under construction in their institution. Yesterday, members of NCIC led by commissioners Halakhe Waqo and Millie Lwanga led a fact-finding mission in Kajiado town and met with religious leaders from the Muslim and Christian communities, Community Commissioner Arthur Osiya and Ministry of Education officials.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Malawi: Bee Swarm Attacks Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tour of Malawi had an inauspicious finale on Monday as she and her detail were targeted by a swarm of bees at the airport.
Clinton and her detail were headed to board her plane at Kamuzu International Airport in the capital, Lilongwe, when a swarm of bees descended on the farewell gathering. According to press reports, Malawi and American officials scampered for cover while Clinton ran onto the jet for cover.
“There was a slight panic as the bees winged across the airport. People could be seen running away to keep cover as the Secretary of State swiftly boarded her plane to avoid any stings,” a witness told the Nyasa Times.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Jonathan Will Never Resign — Abati
President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said that he would neither resign nor convert to Islam as demanded by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
“The President cannot be intimidated by any group or individual. The President will never resign. He has the mandate of Nigerians to serve his father land and nobody should imagine that he will succumb to blackmail,” Reuben Abati,the presidential spokesman told journalists in Abuja. The Boko Haram, in a youtube broadcast on Saturday asked Mr Jonathan to either resign or change to Islam before it could cease fire.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Official Won’t Say Whether the Justice Department Will Strip Americans of Free Speech, Criminalize Criticism of Radical Islam
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas Perez refused to say Thursday whether the Justice Department would ever “entertain or advance a proposal that criminalizes speech against any religion.”
During a House subcommittee hearing examining fairness in voting rights enforcement, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, referenced an article detailing a meeting between top Justice Department officials and Islamist advocates, where the advocates reportedly lobbied officials for “a legal declaration that U.S. citizens’ criticism of Islam constitutes racial discrimination.” “We must continue to have the open and honest and critical dialogue that you saw in the robust debate,”
Perez was quoted as saying. “I sat here the entire time, taking notes,” he said. “I have some very concrete thoughts … in the aftermath of this.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Scalia Opens Door for Gun-Control Legislation
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Sunday the Second Amendment leaves open the possibility of gun-control legislation, adding to what has become a slow-boiling debate on the issue since the Colorado movie theater massacre earlier this month.
Scalia, one of the high court’s most conservative justices, said on “Fox News Sunday” that the majority opinion in the landmark 2008 case of District of Columbia v. Heller stated the extent of gun ownership “will have to be decided in future cases.”
“We’ll see,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
1 comments:
@ UK: Should the Khilafah Top the Olympics Medals Table?
"Wouldn’t it be better to build that prestige by establishing a state that worships none but Allah; treats with kindness the elderly, children, orphans and those in need; speaks fairly in domestic and international affairs; upholds prayer and practices charity supporting the poor and destitute in this world."
Oh the irony.
If just those HuT guys understood Western way of life, they would see that every Western country is a better version of islam than islam it self, without the silly superstition and blind faith.
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