An estimated 35,000 Yezidis are thought to have escaped from Mount Sinjar in Iraq, where they were surrounded by ISIS troops, but another 20,000 to 30,000 may remain on the mountain. The United States and Britain are continuing their airdrops of water and food to the stranded Yezidis.
In other news, the first confirmed European victim of Ebola, a Spanish priest, has died of the disease in Madrid.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Egghead, Fjordman, Gaia, Jerry Gordon, JP, Papa Whiskey, RR, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
China’s Surging Investment in US Heralds New Multinational Era
Chinese investments in the United States now exceed American investments in China in an historic shift that may see the emergence of joint Sino-US multinationals, but one that is also fraught with geopolitical risks, said analysts.
“Chinese FDI (foreign direct investment) into the US will be one of the great economic stories of the next decade,” said Mike Margolis, a partner at US law firm Blank Rome.
For decades since the mainland’s economic liberalisation in the 1980s, investment between the two countries was dominated by American investment in China for its cheap costs and fast growing market. That trend has reversed, according to data compiled by the Rhodium Group, a US consultancy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Congressman on Mission to Disarm Federal Agencies
Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, introduced HR 4934, also called the Regulatory Agency De-militarization Act or RAD, in late June, and it has since gained more than 30 co-sponsors in the House.
The RAD Act has three pieces:
| 1. | It repeals the arrest and firearm authority granted to Offices of Inspectors General in the 2002 Homeland Security Act. | |
| 2. | It prohibits federal agencies, other than those traditionally tasked with enforcing federal law — such as the FBI and U.S. Marshals — from purchasing machine guns, grenades and other weaponry regulated under the National Firearms Act. | |
| 3. | It directs the Government Accountability Office to write a complete report detailing all federal agencies, including Offices of Inspectors General, with specialized units that receive special tactical or military-style training and that respond to high-risk situations that fall outside the capabilities of regular law enforcement officers. |
[…]
| — Hat tip: Egghead | [Return to headlines] |
‘F*** White America’! Race-Obsessed Jerks Lash Out at Robin Williams’ Mourners
We suppose this was inevitable … but that doesn’t make it any easier to stomach. After news of Robin Williams’ suicide broke, it didn’t take long for identity politics to rear its ugly head.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lauren Bacall, Sultry Movie Star, Dies at 89
The actress Lauren Bacall died on Tuesday, her family said.
Her death was confirmed by Robbert de Klerk, a co-managing partner at the Humphrey Bogart Estate with Ms. Bacall’s son Stephen Bogart.
Ms. Bacall, 89, was known for her roles in “The Big Sleep” and “Key Largo” and for her marriages to the actors Humphrey Bogart and Jason Robards. She starred in dozens of films, including “How to Marry a Millionaire” with Marilyn Monroe, “Designing Woman” with Gregory Peck and the all-star “Murder on the Orient Express.”
| [Return to headlines] |
NASA Probe Sees Pluto and Its Moon Charon Like Never Before
A NASA spacecraft hurtling toward a 2015 rendezvous with Pluto has captured an amazing video of the dwarf planet and its largest moon, Charon.
The New Horizons probe used its onboard telescope to record a video of Charon and Pluto locked in their orbital dance. The movie is composed of 12 individual images taken from July 19 through July 24 — almost exactly one year before the spacecraft’s flyby of the distant dwarf planet, which is scheduled for July 14, 2015.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pensacola Rally Stands for Israel; Florida Legislature Unanimously Passes Resolution for Israel
The Pensacola Rally for Israel witnessed an outpouring of support in the Northwest Florida community for the Jewish nation exceeding organizers’ expectations. The rally, sponsored by the Pensacola Jewish Federation, was underwritten by anonymous donors from the Jewish community. The Pensacola Police security detail estimated the crowd in excess of 500 attendees. The large polite crowd was composed of Jews from several denominations, Baptists, Pentecostals and other Christian groups. Mike Bates of Northwest Florida’s 1330amWEBY and this writer served as co-hosts for the rally. A climactic event was the appearance of Florida House Representative Mike Hill. A Pensacola News Journal article on the rally, “Hundreds gather to support Israel,” reported: “He brought the crowd to their feet when he announced a Stand with Israel resolution to be voted on in a special session this week in Tallahassee.”Hill said: What is being done to Israel is evil. Israelis are our allies, and they need our support. Let’s show the nation that Florida is leading the way in support for Israel.. Rep. Hill texted both Bates and the author on the afternoon of August 11th that the House unanimously passed a resolution supporting Israel in Operation Protective Edge and condemning Hamas. Hill commented in a text message: “proud of the body, today.” Sen. Alan Hays texted a companion unanimous vote in the Florida State Senate.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Police in riot gear fired tear gas and bean-bag rounds on Monday night to try to disperse a crowd in a St Louis suburb where an unarmed black teenager was fatally shot by a police officer over the weekend.
Between two nights of unrest, a community forum hosted by the local NAACP chapter on Monday drew hundreds to a sweltering church in Ferguson, the suburb where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot multiple times…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Robin Williams Hanged Himself, Reports Say
Robin Williams hanged himself in his San Francisco area home, according to multiple reports.
TMZ reported, citing sources, that Williams’ hanged himself in his house. CBS News published an audio clip they say is of the Marin County Fire Scanner, in which a dispatcher can be heard saying the incident was an “apparent suicide attempt by hanging.”
The Academy-Award winner was 63.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Robin Williams Death: The Difference Between Depression and Normal Sadness
“Depression is one of the most tragically misunderstood words in the English language,” writes Stephen Ilardi, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of Kansas, in a blog post on the Psychology Today website. “When people refer to depression in everyday conversation, they usually have something far less serious in mind,” than what the disorder actually entails. “In fact, the term typically serves as a synonym for mere sadness.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
This State Benefits Big From the Export-Import Bank. Want to Know Why?
The home state of Boeing’s airplane division [Washington state] benefits the most from financing by the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and by a huge margin, a state-by-state analysis shows.
From 2007 to 2014, about 44 percent of the agency’s financing went to the Evergreen State, home to the commercial airplane division of Boeing, the aerospace giant that also is the agency’s largest beneficiary.
Texas and California accounted for 10.5 percent and 9 percent, respectively, of Ex-Im’s total disbursements since 2007.
The 80-year-old agency provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies. Its charter expires Sept. 30, and Congress is debating whether to reauthorize the bank or allow its life to end.
De Rugy found that 42 states received less than 2 percent of the bank’s disbursements from 2007 to 2014. Of them, 35 received less than 1 percent.
In 41 states, about 98 percent of exports had no Ex-Im backing….
| — Hat tip: Egghead | [Return to headlines] |
White Teacher Wins $350k in Racial Discrimination Lawsuit
A former Maryland teacher won a $350,000 jury award after accusing a black principal of forcing him out of his job because he is white.
Jon Everhart sued the Prince George’s County school board, alleging that he faced years of racial discrimination by Principal Angelique Simpson-Marcus at Largo High School, The Washington Post reported.
“She called me ‘poor white trash’ and ‘white (expletive),’“ Mr. Everhart said. “Her behavior was so outlandish.”
Mr. Everhart, who was fired in 2010, said the principal told students that the “only reason a white teacher teaches in P.G. County is that they can’t get a job elsewhere.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
An unusual calm for history’s constant cauldron.
by Victor Davis Hanson
The Mediterranean (“in the middle of the earth”) has been history’s constant cauldron. It provided too easy access between three vastly different and usually rival continents — Asia, Africa, and Europe. And it helped birth and spread three major and often warring religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Without it, there would have been no Roman or Ottoman Empire.
Most of the Mediterranean’s history, then, is one of abject violence.
As the world heats up, and as the U.S. global deterrent forces erode, there is no intrinsic reason why history’s most contested sea might not be so again. We should remember that when we talk of defense cuts, and before we pull too many American ships out of a maritime intersection where peace has usually been the exception.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Are Incumbent Conservative MPs Running Scared of UKIP?
Run, run as fast as you can? It would seem that despite the dismissive tough talking of some Conservatives, those on the frontline against UKIP are collectively bottling it.
Mark Simmonds yesterday announced that he is to step down from the Boston and Skegness seat. Mr. Simmonds cited family commitments…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
‘British and Islamic Values Can Go Hand in Hand’ Says Dr Rowan Williams on Visit to Lincolnshire
Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, was a special guest at an event at the Lincolnshire Showground that saw thousands gather for four days of debate about Islam. He told the crowds at Living Islam that Muslims have brought back “open, honest and difficult public discussion” as one of their “greatest gifts” to the UK…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Leaders Meet to Discuss Rise in Anti-Semitism
Political leaders are meeting in Copenhagen with Jewish and Muslim representatives today to examine the extent of the rise in anti-Semitism in Copenhagen and the rest of the country. The tension is being triggered by the current conflict in Gaza.
The Jewish Society said that they have reports of 29 physical, verbal and online attacks on Jews since the conflict in Gaza flared up in early July.
“A non-Jewish Danish man with a Star of David necklace on a Copenhagen bus was spat upon by a Middle Eastern-looking man,” read the report from the Jewish Society in Berlingske newspaper. “The perpetrator also tried to rip the necklace from him.”
Students from the Jewish Carolineskolen in Copenhagen have been advised not to wear religious symbols when they leave school to prevent them from being harassed or attacked.
There are also reports of people shouting “Jew pig” in the streets. Almost all of the assaults, according to the Jewish Society, have been committed by “people with a Middle Eastern look or name”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Father of Finnish Jihadi: “Deceased Extremist Cousin May Have Radicalised My Son”
The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) estimates that there are about 200 people in Finland who have contacts with violent groups abroad. Yle interviewed the father of one of them, a young Somali Finn linked to the extremist group Islamic State. According to Faisal Ali Warabe, a Somali-born Finn who reportedly died fighting in Syria earlier this year was his son’s cousin — and may have encouraged him to join the extremist group.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Mayor Fined €3,000 for Saying Hitler ‘Didn’t Kill Enough’ Roma
An appeals court has ordered a French mayor to pay €3,000 in fines after he told a local journalist that “Hitler didn’t kill enough” Roma.
The court in Angers, in western France, convicted Gilles Bourdouleix — a French MP and the mayor of the small city of Cholet, near Nantes — of condoning a crime against humanity with the remark…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Berlin Police Say Mosque Fire Likely Negligence
BERLIN (AP) — Police say a fire at a mosque in Berlin was probably the result of negligence rather than arson.
The blaze occurred Monday night in an unfinished extension of a mosque in Berlin’s immigrant Kreuzberg neighborhood. Police spokesman Klaus Schubert said Tuesday that an initial probe found no evidence of arson…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Hague Riot ‘Unacceptable’, City Council in Panic, Mayor on Holiday
The riot in The Hague last weekend is ‘unacceptable’ and the city council must take action, justice minister Ivo Opstelten said on Tuesday.
The riot broke out in the Schilderswijk district when around 150 Muslim youngsters began an illegal protest, blocking the route of the legal Freedom March against Muslim radicals and the IS (formerly ISIS) terror group.
The situation on the streets of the Schilderswijk has remained turbulent since the Sunday riot, with young men throwing stones and fireworks at the police.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Ebola Victim Dies in Madrid
MADRID, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — Father Miguel Pajares, the Spanish priest who was flown back to Spain suffering from the Ebola virus, died on Tuesday morning, the Spanish Health Authorities confirmed.
Father Pajares is the first Spaniard and also the first European known to have been infected by the Ebola virus, which has currently killed over 1,000 people in Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Republic of Guinea…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK Politicians ‘Terrified’ of Military Intervention in Iraq — Former General
The “commitment-phobic” British government is “terrified” of intervening militarily in Iraq before next year’s general election, former general Sir Richard Shirreff says. He joins a growing list of politicians calling for UK military intervention in Iraq.
Former general Sir Richard Shirreff told the Times on Tuesday “the longer we sit on our hands and prevaricate, the more dangerous the situation is going to become. This government is terrified of any form of intervention involving boots on the ground before an election next year,” Shirreff said. “We have politicians who want to posture, who make a lot of noise but do not have any stick.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘**** Off’, ‘You ******* Rag Heads’: Football Fans’ Tirade Against Palestinian Protest
Palestinian protesters in London have been subjected to a tirade of abuse at the hands of some angry football fans, as they marched through the city. A video posted on the Evening Standard website showed activists walking past The Green Man pub on Euston Road being called “rag heads” and told to “**** off”…
[Reader comment by TrulyDisgusted on 12 Aug 2014.]
I never really approved of noisy football fans in the street, until today.
Seems these Pro-Palestinian hooligans don’t like it up them!
[Reader comment by Ethelwulf on 12 Aug 2014.]
Tensions are rising among the native populous in Britain. Politicians need to start thinking about which side they are going to finally take.
[Reader reply by CrossingtheDelaware to Ethelwulf on 12 Aug 2014.]
If they have to think about which side to take on this matter, they are not worth keeping.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Football Fans Hurl Racist Abuse at Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators
Football fans outside a pub in central London can be seen hurling racist abuse at pro-Palestinian demonstrators in a video being shared online.
The group of men appear to be Leeds Football Club supporters who have travelled to the capital to watch the team play Millwall on Saturday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
An extremist who posted a YouTube video warning of a terror attack on the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was jailed today for 31 months.
Afsor Ali, 27, was found guilty by an Old Bailey jury of three counts of possessing terrorist material and admitted jumping bail.
Before his trial Ali, of Bethnal Green, had acquired a stolen passport and was on the verge of boarding a Eurostar to Paris when he was re-arrested…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: School Heads Warn of Trojan Horse Overreaction
Anti-extremism measures for schools in the wake of the Trojan Horse inquiries are rushed and could have unintended consequences, head teachers warn.
They claim proposed regulations could inhibit “free discussion” and are calling for a longer time for consultation. The rules apply to England’s academies, independent and free schools. A Department for Education spokeswoman said they promoted “tolerance and respect of all faiths and cultures”.
But a Christian campaign group says the proposals are a “classic case of the government over-reacting” and are so broad-ranging that schools could become subject to “every whim of the PC brigade”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Trojan Horse: New Rules ‘Could Curtail Teaching of Christianity’, Warns Christian Group
Legal challenge to new rules to prevent Islamic extremism in schools amid claims they could be used to restrict Christian traditionalists
Teachers could be restricted from teaching traditional Christian values in independent schools because of new rules designed to combat Islamic extremism, it has been claimed.
The Christian Institute is preparing a legal challenge to proposed new regulations issued following the so-called Trojan Horse scandal involving hard-line Muslim groups attempting to take control of schools in Birmingham…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Ramadan in the Finnish Army
The holy month of Ramadan is when Muslims around the world fast from dawn until sunset — including a number of those in the Finnish army. Increasing numbers of Muslims now serve in Finland’s armed forces, though Muslims have served in the country’s military formations since the 1870s.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why British People Are Protesting About Gaza, Not Iraq
by Lindsey German
We have a deep movement in solidarity with Palestinians and our government is complicit in Israel’s oppression of them
The hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets of Britain over the past month in support of and solidarity with the people of Gaza have seen their protests denounced by neocons and rightwingers because they aren’t about some other group of people, somewhere else…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Police Chief Assassinated
The head of police in the Libyan capital Tripoli has been killed by unknown gunmen.
Col Muhammad Suwaysi was shot while leaving a meeting in Tajoura, a suburb in the east of the capital. Two of his colleagues were also taken captive, the interior ministry said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Masked Gunmen Kill Police Chief in Libya’s Capital
TRIPOLI, Libya — Masked armed men killed the police chief of Libya’s capital Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said, amid an ongoing battle for the city’s international airport.
As militia violence raged throughout the country, lawmakers voted Tuesday for a measure that would have the country’s president elected in a direct, popular vote — a first for the North African nation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
By Stephen Brown
Never again!
This is the rallying cry Jewish communities worldwide have lived by since the Nazi Holocaust of World War Two. But the recent explosion of violent Jew-hatred among radical Muslims and their leftist supporters in Europe has caused European Jewry to adopt measures to ensure that ‘never again’ really means ‘never again’…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Reportedly Executing Tunnel Diggers to Keep Locations Secret
Hamas reportedly has been executing tunnel diggers out of fear that they will reveal secrets to Israel’s military, which has been on a mission to destroy the militant group’s sophisticated network underneath Gaza.
A report on Israel’s Walla news site said many of the tunnel diggers employed by Hamas worked shifts of up to 24 hours long — often under coercion — and were paid $150-300 a month for their services, according to the Algemeiner.
“They would take some 100 men in trucks, their eyes blindfolded so that they could not know the accurate location of the tunnel entries,” a Gaza source familiar with the tunnel digging told Walla. “Hamas were fearful that one of them was collaborating with Israel.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian journalist Gabriele Barbati said he was able to speak freely about witnessing a Hamas misfire that killed nine children at the Shati camp, confirming the Israel Defense Forces version of events, but only after leaving Gaza, “far from Hamas retaliation.”
On Twitter, Barbati, Jerusalem Correspondent for Radio Popolare Milano, and a former reporter for Sky Italia, in Beijing, said, “Out of #Gaza far from #Hamas retaliation: misfired rocket killed children yday [yesterday] in Shati. Witness: militants rushed and cleared debris.”
He said, “@IDFSpokesperson said truth in communique released yesterday about Shati camp massacre. It was not #Israel behind it.”
On Tuesday, the IDF released aerial photos showing how a rocket from Gaza targeting Israel hit the Shati camp, run by the UNRWA, and Al Shifa Hospital, which has become a de-facto Hamas headquarters, against international rules of war.
Barbati said he was unable to speak about the Al Shifa hit, but he was certain that it was a Hamas rocket that hit the Shati camp, and a witness saw militants rushing to clean the debris.
Blogger Elder of Ziyon, who praised Barbati for telling the truth in a war where many journalists have been intimidated by Hamas, noted that “When Hamas made the area off limits to reporters, it was cleaning the area from any debris that could show the truth.”…
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
‘Atrocity Porn’, and the Online Campaigners Who Use Dead Children to Push Political Points
By Dan Hodges
I haven’t seen the decapitated Palestinian child, though quite a few others have. But I have seen countless other corpses; mostly infants. And the man having his throat slit by an Isis fighter.
Social media — in this context, the most inappropriate of phrases — has a new craze. Atrocity porn…
[Reader comment by alegitbritcit on 12 August 2014.]
It seems this is now the favoured tool of the Left Jewish hating BBC and Guardian and their present love in with all things muslim, you can see the little lefty Journo’s salivating in the knowledge their one sided views and specially selected videos will be beamed around the World faster than you can say Karl Marx.
Never ever have i been so disgusted by the standard of Journalism in this Country, it would make Goebbels proud so bias/ full of half truths/deliberate omission of facts innuendos and being economical with the truth to add credence to one sides view to the deliberate detriment off the opposing factions .
The nearest half of these reporters have been to a true Journalist must have been to sleep with one.
Honest media UK RIP
[Reader comment by alexswanson on 12 Aug 2014.]
The passage from Shirer that always stays with me is from before the war started, when he himself was living in Nazi Germany and witnessed the effect that a controlled media had on the population, otherwise intelligent people spouting what he knew was rubbish but which they believed with a rigidity he could not shake them out of.
Today, in the Western Democracies, the media is dominated by left wing ideologues who are not obliged to lie or deceive but choose to do so and attempt so far as they can to suppress those who try to tell the truth. This behaviour is truly evil.
[Reader comment by Alltaxationistheft on 12 Aug 2014.]
I don’t want to waste my time arguing with the Jew haters who seem to be out in force today but for once Dan makes a lot of sense.
I & most Brits I know don’t respond to the pages of appeals with pictures of Gaza kids all over them. I think we recognise that the same animals currently murdering & enslaving in Iraq/Syria are the soul mates of Hamas. We also know that Hamas cares nothing for its own kids & sees them only as fuel to be used to further their Jihadist aims.
There is a sad type of western liberal, often women that whilst supporting every right on cause (as long as it doesn’t cost them anything) seem to crave an outlet for their baser instincts & supporting the Palestine cause gives them the perfect cover for a bit of down & dirty Jew hating.
Sadly the children of Gaza, as with the children of most of the Islamic world will only see there lives improve when so called liberals stop supporting the terrorists & help defeat them.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Baghdadi of ISIS Pushes an Islamist Crusade
“He was a street thug when we picked him up in 2004,” said a Pentagon official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. “It’s hard to imagine we could have had a crystal ball then that would tell us he’d become head of ISIS.”
At every turn, Mr. Baghdadi’s rise has been shaped by the United States’ involvement in Iraq.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Children’s Decapitated Heads Mounted on Sticks in a Mosul Park in Iraq
Horrific details emerged out of a park in Mosul, Iraq where decapitated heads of children were mounted on sticks.
“They are systematically beheading children, and mothers and fathers. The world hasn’t seen an evil like this for a generation. There’s actually a park in Mosul that they’ve actually beheaded children and put their heads on a stick,” National spokesman for Iraqi Christians and Chaldean-American businessman, Mark Arabo, told CNN in a video.
[All in accordance with Qur’anic verses 8:12 and 47:4. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Hurling themselves at the helicopter, desperate Iraqis scramble to escape a barren mountain range where they have been trapped by Islamic State militants for a week with no food or water.
Amid the chaos, the lucky few were pulled on board while the agony of those who weren’t was clear to see. As the aircraft took off, it kicked dust in their despairing faces.
Their plight has been captured in dramatic video on board an Iraqi air force helicopter supplying aid to the thousands of Yazidis being hunted by the Islamic State on Sinjar Mountain.
Evacuations have so far been very much a piecemeal process whenever relief flights deem it safe to land while delivering supplies. But with hundreds of Yazidis dying of thirst and hunger, critics have questioned why there is not a unified rescue plan being put in place by the international community…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
by Katie Pavlich
The brutal terrorist organization known as ISIS or ISIL, made up of former al Qaeda fighters, has renamed itself the Islamic State.
Regardless of the terrorist group’s own classification and stated goals to implement and maintain an Islamist caliphate going back years, the Obama administration wasn’t worried about the “absurd” concept and had no plans to stop it from happening according to then White House Counter-Terrorism Advisor and current CIA Secretary John Brennen. From 2011:
“Our strategy is also shaped by deeper understanding of al Qaeda’s goals, strategy, and tactics over the past decade. I’m not talking about al Qaeda’s grandiose vision of global domination through a violent Islamic caliphate. That vision is absurd, and we are not going to organize our counter-terrorism policies against a feckless delusion that is never going to happen. We are not going to elevate these thugs and their murderous aspirations into something larger than they are,” Brennen said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iran’s Bid for Own Plane to Defy Sanctions Blocked by Crash
Iran’s efforts to escape the impact of western sanctions by founding its own aerospace industry are in tatters after four crashes in 12 years involving the aircraft around which the plan is based led the model to be grounded.
Iran-140 turboprops like the one that went down shortly after takeoff at the weekend, killing 39 of 50 people on board, won’t fly again until regulators determine whether the spate of accidents can be traced to faults intrinsic to the plane, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Twitter.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Crisis: My Night on the Mountain of Hell With Dying Yazidi Refugees
Exclusive Telegraph dispatch by the first Western journalist at Mount Sinjar, where exhausted, starving Yazidis are struggling to survive after fleeing Islamic State
By Jonathan Krohn on Mount Sinjar
9:20PM BST 11 Aug 2014
The lights of their towns, controlled by jihadists, twinkle beneath them in the moonlight. The people of the mountain can see their towns and villages, and the headlights of the jihadi patrols snaking through the streets they have abandoned, and know they cannot return.
Small campfires light up the side of the mountain, stretching towards the Syrian border just visible in the distance, where the Yazidis eke out their lives in a desperate search for sleep, food and water…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Assyrian Refugees in Lebanon Recall Horror of Militant Attacks
BEIRUT — The memory of that brutal June evening in his home near Mosul, Iraq, brought 48-year-old Joseph, now a refugee in Lebanon, to tears.
“These people know no limits of humanity, decency, or respect for human life,” he said of the Islamic State fighters.
Meeting with Catholic News Service Aug. 8 at the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center in Beirut, he and other Catholic Iraqi refugees asked that their real names not be used to protect their identities as they shared the traumatic experiences that led to their exodus…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Carves Jihadist Hub in Heart of Middle East
(Reuters) — Ridiculed at first, the new power which has seized a third of Iraq and triggered the first American air strikes since the U.S. troop withdrawal in 2011 — has carved itself a powerful and possibly lasting presence in the Middle East.
The jihadist army, whose ambition for a cross-border caliphate between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers was not initially taken seriously by their opponents, is now brimming with confidence, emboldened by blood and treasure.
The warriors of the new caliphate are exploiting sectarian and tribal faultlines in Arab society, petrifying communities into submission and exploiting the reluctance of Washington and the West to intervene more robustly in the civil war in Syria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait: Citizenship of Prominent Cleric, Activists Revoked — 15 Naturalized
The Cabinet revoked the citizenship of 10 people yesterday including opposition activists and an influential young cleric who has openly criticized the government of bowing to pressure from Washington to clamp down on financial assistance to Syrian rebels. The Cabinet said the decision was based on a provision in the nationality law that allows citizenship to be revoked of those who threaten Kuwait’s security, social order or economy. The Cabinet, on the other hand, approved a draft decree granting citizenship to 15 people — children of military men who took part in repelling the attack on a convoy of late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 1985.
A few weeks earlier, the Cabinet stripped five critics of their citizenship in what appears to be part of a larger crackdown that casts a net on both suspected financiers of extremist groups and people calling for political reform. Human Rights Watch over the weekend criticized the Kuwaiti government’s decision to strip citizens of their nationality, and called on authorities to “drop this malign policy”. “No government has the right to strip away its people’s citizenship simply because it disapproves of them, their opinions, or their actions,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “This is yet another downward step in Kuwait’s assault on the right to free speech.”
The official Kuwait News Agency reported the Cabinet’s latest decision, which said that the 10 had been naturalized citizens but failed to meet requirements for the status. The Cabinet statement did not list the names of the people whose citizenship was revoked and did not specify which requirements for naturalization they had failed to meet. Local media however said among those affected were cleric Nabil Al-Awadhi, who is close to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Saad Al-Ajami, a former journalist turned spokesman for the opposition Popular Action Movement.
Awadhi confirmed on Twitter that he was among those affected and wrote, “To God we belong, and to God we will return” along with a video about how good can come from hardship. Awadhi, who has nearly 4.5 million followers on Twitter, is part of a collective of religious Sunnis in the Gulf who raise funds for Syria. He has advocated for supporting Sunni rebels and foreign jihadist fighters in Syria battling President Bashar Al-Assad’s Shiite-backed forces.
Just last week, the US sanctioned three Kuwaitis it said helped finance terrorist groups. Two of the men sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for allegedly helping finance Al-Qaeda and the Nusra Front in Syria and Iraq have close ties to Awadhi. Washington called on its Gulf ally to do more to curb the financing of such groups, and the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US responded last week by saying that his country is committed to fighting terrorism. In a recent interview on television, Awadhi said he was under mounting pressure from the Kuwaiti government to stop collecting even humanitarian aid for Syria, but said that money is still finding its way through back channels.
On July 21, Kuwait revoked the citizenship of the owner of a pro-opposition television station and newspaper, Ahmad Jabr Al-Shemmari, and former Islamist opposition MP Abdullah Al-Barghash along with his family members. The Cabinet had said the citizenships of Barghash and his relatives were revoked because they had been granted on the basis of false information. OPEC member Kuwait has a native population of 1.25 million, a large number of them through naturalization, and hosts 2.8 million foreigners.
| — Hat tip: RR | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Arsal Assesses Damage After Clashes
ARSAL, Lebanon: The northeastern town of Arsal was still reeling from last week’s five-day clashes as officials arrived Monday to take stock of the damage inflicted during the fighting.
The fighting between Islamist militants and the Army, which began on Aug. 2 and was instigated by the arrest of the ISIS-linked Fajr al-Islam battalion leader Imad Jomaa, has damaged homes and numerous properties in the town, and will likely cost millions to repair…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Brotherhood Congratulates Turkish People on Electing Erdogan President
In a statement Monday, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood congratulates the Turkish people on putting their Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the country’s top post, as President of the Republic.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon: Airstrikes Haven’t Slowed Islamic State’s Goals in Iraq
The Pentagon acknowledged Monday that its limited airstrikes in northern Iraq have done nothing to slow the overall operational goals of the al Qaeda spinoff group, the Islamic State.
Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the Pentagon’s joint operations chief, said 15 air strikes by F-15E, F-16 and drones had slowed the Islamic State’s advance toward Irbil in Kurdish territory, and that’s about it when it comes to battlefield effectiveness.
“These strikes are unlikely to affect ISIL’s overall capabilities or its operations in other areas of Iraq and Syria,” he said. “ISIL remains focused on securing and gaining additional territory throughout Iraq, and will sustain its attacks against Iraqi and Kurdish security forces and their positions as well as target Yazidis, Christians and other minorities.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
President Erdogan and the New Turkey
by Robert Ellis
Turkey’s new president is often quoted for having said: “Democracy is like a streetcar. You ride it until you get to your destination and then you get off.” In which case, it won’t be long before Erdogan reaches his destination.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
RAF Makes Second Aid Drop to Yazidi on Mount Sinjar in Iraq
Group Captain Simon Edwards from RAF Brize Norton says they have been able to drop a second planeload of “essential supplies” on behalf of the Department for International Development over Mount Sinjar in Iraq to assist thousands of people trapped as they flee advancing militants
British forces have dropped a second round of aid to thousands of people trapped on a mountain as they flee advancing militants in Iraq.
The RAF was able to deliver “essential supplies” over Mount Sinjar last night to assist the Yazidis, the Department for International Development (DfID) confirmed…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Report: U.S. Airdrops to Stranded Yazidis Lacked Parachutes, Exploded on Impact
I was on board an Iraqi Army helicopter, and watched as hundreds of refugees ran towards it to receive one of the few deliveries of aid to make it to the mountain. The helicopter dropped water and food from its open gun bays to them as they waited below. General Ahmed Ithwany, who led the mission, told me: “It is death valley. Up to 70 per cent of them are dead.”
However, Iraqi officials said that much of the US aid had been “useless” because it was dropped from 15,000ft without parachutes and exploded on impact.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia Tells Israel Only Peace Can Ensure Its Survival
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia told Israel on Tuesday that it must reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians if it is to survive as a nation, and criticized Muslims for being divided and failing to stop the Jewish state attacking its Arab neighbors.
“Israel has to realize that peace is the only solution for its survival,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the world’s largest Muslim body, on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
“As we see, Israel does not shy away from taking its terror to any level, with total disregard to any laws, rules, religious edicts or humanitarian considerations to achieve its goals.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Forces Kill 35 Rebels in Idlib
DAMASCUS, Aug.12 (Xinhua) — As many as 35 rebels were killed on Tuesday by the Syrian troops in the country’s northern province of Idlib, according to the state news agency SANA.
Most of those killed in the town of Takharim in Idlib belonged to the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, said SANA, adding that the army destroyed rebels’ vehicles outfitted with machine-guns in that area.
The Syrian troops have been making considerable advancement against an array of radical groups in Idlib…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The US, IS and the Conspiracy Theory Sweeping Lebanon
Is America behind the creation of the Islamic State? The BBC’s Suzanne Kianpour, in Beirut, looks at the latest conspiracy theory doing the rounds in Lebanon.
“In the Middle East, conspiracy theories are in our blood,” one former Lebanese official said over lunch in a restaurant in central Beirut…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
‘They’re Killing us’: The Disturbing Rise of the Islamic State
The Islamic State is conquering cities in Syria and Iraq with disturbing frequency and tens of thousands of Christians and Yazidis are fleeing. The US has begun air strikes, but the Islamists are benefiting from instability in both countries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
This Time, Iraq Should be Broken Up
by Andrew Lilico
We must go back into Iraq. Then when we leave, we must not leave an Iraq.
In the immediate aftermath of the 2003 invasion, there were two strategic errors. The first was when the Americans took down the US flag in Baghdad. In some American stores the sign says: “If you break it, you own it.” We broke Iraq, but then we refused to own it — we refused to raise our flag and say: “It’s our responsibility now if your power doesn’t work or someone tries to rob you.”
The second great error is the one that’s really coming to haunt us now: we decided to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Yazidis ‘Still Trapped’ On Iraq Mountain
Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped by militants on a mountain in northern Iraq and need “life-saving assistance”, the United Nations warns.
Members of the Yazidi sect fled there 10 days ago after fighters from Islamic State (IS) seized the town of Sinjar. US air strikes continued on Tuesday, with a drone targeting an IS mortar near Kurdish troops, the Pentagon said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands Escape From Sinjar Mountain in N. Iraq: UNHCR
GENEVA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — Around 35,000 people have escaped from the Sinjar mountains in northwest Iraq — where they were besieged by fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) — and have reached the Dohuk Governorate in the Kurdish region during the past 72 hours, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday.
UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a press conference the people made their way back into Dohuk Governorate via Syria, and were moving to places including Zakho and Dohuk town where 16 school buildings have been made available. Food, water and medical care were also being provided.
Edwards said that to date an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people remain trapped on Sinjar mountain with no food, water or shelter, and access to these people was “extremely limited.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Ready to Help New Iraq Leader, Iran Welcomes Choice
(Reuters) — Iraq’s new prime minister-designate won swift endorsements from uneasy mutual allies the United States and Iran on Tuesday as he called on political leaders to end crippling feuds that have let jihadists seize a third of the country…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Food Ban is High-Risk, Low-Reward
Russia is quite vulnerable when it comes to food. Why vulnerable? Because Russians spend a very large percentage of their incomes on food, substantially more than in developed countries, and a significant portion of this food is imported.
Russian consumption patterns are simply much closer to those of developed countries than to those that characterize the rest of the BRICS.
The problem is that, due to Russia’s lower overall level of development, this spending accounts for a much larger portion of earnings (32 percent) than in France (13 percent), the U.K. (9 percent) or the U.S. (7 percent).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Six Government Soldiers Killed in Eastern Ukraine
KIEV, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — Fierce battles in Ukraine’s restive eastern regions over the past 24 hours left at least six government troops dead, a Ukrainian government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, over 30 servicemen were wounded in combat action against independence-seeking rebels, said Andrei Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).
Government forces had clashed 26 times with insurgents over the past 24 hours, Lysenko added…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Will Not Allow Russia to Escort Aid Across Border
Ukraine announced on Aug. 12 that it will not allow Russia to escort a humanitarian aid convoy currently on its way to the Ukrainian border across Ukrainian territory.
“The Red Cross is responsible and is coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid. As it stands, the contents should be reloaded onto trucks rented by the Red Cross, and we will not allow Russian emergency services or military to escort it,” said Valery Chaly, deputy head of the Presidential Administration in a press conference today…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghan Conflicts Leave 9 Dead Including NATO Soldier, 45 Militants Give Up Fighting
KABUL, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — Conflicts have left nine persons dead including a soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since Monday night.
A soldier with the NATO-led ISAF lost his life in militants’ attack on Tuesday, the alliance said in a statement released here.
“An International Security Assistance Force service member died as a result of an enemy forces attack in eastern Afghanistan today, “ the statement of ISAF said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
China’s development of a long-range missile capable of hitting anywhere in the United States suggests the PLA has made a significant leap in countering American military might through its strategy of “asymmetrical” warfare.
The approach, which has its roots in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, avoids trying to match strength with strength, and instead seeks to create threats that draw an opponent into making a costly response. Amid such calculations, China appears set to introduce the Dongfeng-41, which analysts say will have repercussions at the global and regional levels and alter the US and Japanese military build-up.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Muslim Teenager Abu Bakr Storms Off SBS Insight Show
PARENTS of vulnerable Australian-born Muslim teenagers are becoming increasingly fearful they’re helpless to stop them travelling overseas to fight for the Islamic State.
And increasingly young Muslims are at risk of being radicalised by prayer groups as mosques — with their old school imams and mainstream, moderate Islam — lose their appeal…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Australians Acting as Islamist Extremist Propagandists: ASIO Head
Australia and the United States have agreed to take the issue of foreign fighters to the United Nations, as ASIO chief David Irvine today outlined an increasing local threat from Islamist extremists.
After today’s AUSMIN meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry said the two countries intended to put foreign fighters “on the [UN] agenda in a way that will elicit support from the source countries as well as those countries of concern”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
A teenager whose passport has been cancelled on security grounds turned up to a TV discussion about Australians fighting in Syria wearing an Islamic State flag symbol and then dramatically stormed out.
Abu Bakr, 19, who is on the radar of security services, walked off set during an SBS Insight episode due to be shown on Tuesday night.
The teenager, who was born in Australia but has an Italian and Iraqi background, turned up to the discussion wearing an Islamic State flag logo on his black jacket.
Bakr thinks Muslims are obligated help fellow Muslims overseas and reportedly does not feel connected with his home country of Australia…
[Reader comment by Leann Cogzell, Bundaberg, Australia on 12 Aug 2014.]
These people are all barbaric thugs and if they leave Australia to fight and murder as they do they are not welcome back into our civilized World . They can stay where they are .
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Peter Nettleton Says Bring His Aussie Terror Grandchildren Home Now
THE grandfather of a boy pictured holding up the severed head of a Syrian soldier has begged the government to help bring the seven-year-old and his siblings home.
“I’m scared for the children,” truck driver Peter Nettleton said at his Panania home last night.
“What life are they going to have now?”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism Laws ‘Not Aimed at Muslims’
THE country’s leading spy boss wants to reassure Sydney’s Muslim community the new terrorism powers he is seeking are not aimed at them.
ASIO Director-General David Irvine said last night it was not Muslims he was after, but terrorists, and warned the threats against Australia would remain for years ahead.
In a speech in Sydney to the Australian institute of International Affairs, following the publication of more graphic images of the brutal activities of Australian jihadists in Iraq, Mr Irvine urged the Muslim community to work with ASIO to track potential terrorists…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Why Are Young Aussies Joining the Conflicts in Syria and Iraq?
by Anne Lin
As the Australian Government looks to beef up its counter-terrorism measures, Insight asks: why are Australians being drawn to the fights in the Middle East, either to do humanitarian work or to join the fight?
“Abdullah” is worried about his teenage son.
The Melbourne man says his 17 year old has not only dropped out of school, but has changed his behaviour dramatically in the past year or so.
Before Abdullah’s son used to go to the gym and listen to young music, now he constantly talks about Shias and Sunnis, has grown a long beard and has even smashed things in the house he considers “haram”or sinful.
“I’m worried … he wants to go to Syria and join those groups and he kill some innocent people and he (might) die himself,” Abdullah tells Insight…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Don’t Eat Bush Meat, Sultan Warns Muslims
The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, on Tuesday warned the Muslim ummah (community) against the consumption of monkeys and bush meat to avoid contracting the dreaded Ebola virus.
Abubakar noted that since it was first confirmed medically that the disease was discovered in monkeys and fruit bats, it would be reasonable for Muslims to avoid such, including other bush meat…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Suspected Ritualists Kill Four Okada Riders in Nasarawa
Corpses of unidentified persons, believed to be okada riders (commercial motorcyclists) have been found at an uncompleted building around El-Kabir Housing Estate, Keffi, Nasarawa State. It was learnt that the corpses were without eyes and private parts.
Investigations by The PUNCH correspondent in Lafia, on Tuesday revealed that the four Okada riders were stopped by unknown persons, who disguised as labourers holding tools including shovels, cutlasses and measuring tapes…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico Replaces Police With Army in Rural Area Plagued by Drug Gangs
MEXICO CITY — The government has replaced local police forces with army troops in a rural area about 100 kms (62 miles) southwest of Mexico City that has been plagued by drug gangs.
The strategy announced late Monday is the first time the tactic has been used so close to the Mexican capital.
Army troops have replaced generally untrustworthy municipal police in more outlying parts of Mexico, amid fears that cops were cooperating with gangs.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
116 Migrants Heading to Europe Captured in Two Days
A total of 116 migrants who attempted to cross into Europe through Turkey have been captured by security forces in the Aegean region over two days.
A total of 5,789 migrants were captured in the Aegean Sea by Turkish coast guards in 2014. The officials also detained 38 people who helped the migrants in their escape to Europe via Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Mother and Baby Stabbed Repeatedly: Police
41-year-old father pled not guilty to stabbing his 16-month-old baby and 33-year-old wife, the latter of whom was stabbed at least ten times in the neck.
The 33-year-old woman who was attacked by her husband in Copenhagen on Monday was stabbed as many as 11 times in the neck, while her 16-month-old son was stabbed numerous times in the neck and upper body.
According to Ritzau, the man is a Somali citizen who has a previous criminal record. He is in Denmark under a scheme known as tålt ophold, in which rejected asylum seekers are allowed to remain in the country due to dangerous conditions in their homelands.
Several residents witnessed the Monday attack and onlookers managed to wrestle the knife away from the man and hold him down until police arrived.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Feds: Kids ‘Entitled’ To U.S. Education, No Matter Immigration Status
The Department of Education said in a recently released fact sheet that it doesn’t matter if children are illegally in the country — they’re entitled to the same taxpayer-funded public education as everyone else.
The declaration comes as states and localities around the nation have sought clarification from the federal agency about what to do with the scores of illegal immigrant youths who’ve crossed the border in recent months, insofar as schooling goes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Makeshift Migrants’ Camp Firebombed in Patra
Police in the western port of Patra on Tuesday were seeking the perpetrators behind an arson attack on a small makeshift settlement close to a derelict paper factory where dozens of undocumented immigrants had been camping out.
Unidentified assailants pelted the settlement with makeshift firebombs in the early hours of Monday morning, causing no injuries but serious damage to the camp, according to local reports.
Hundreds of migrants aiming to leave Greece and seek a better life in Western Europe regularly try to sneak onto ferries leaving the western port for Italy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: 470 More Sub-Saharan Immigrants Picked Up From 49 Boats Off Tarifa Coast
The huge influx of immigrants across the Mediterranean to the shores of Tarifa, in Cádiz province, continued early on Tuesday as Spanish rescue services located 49 more small migrant boats. So far this morning the Spanish coastguard, the Civil Guard and the Red Cross have rescued 470 further people, among them 49 women and 15 children.
Over 500 sub-Saharans have been taken to the center in the last 72 hours.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Religion Unimportant to Most LGBT Americans
Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) are much less likely to be religious than non-LGBT Americans, according to a new Gallup poll.
Just less than half of LGBT Americans said religion is important in their daily lives, compared with about two-thirds of non-LGBT Americans.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cassini Tracks Clouds Developing Over a Titan Sea
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft recently captured images of clouds moving across the northern hydrocarbon seas of Saturn’s moon Titan. This renewed weather activity, considered overdue by researchers, could finally signal the onset of summer storms that atmospheric models have long predicted.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
IS – Caliphate
Mohammedan expansion
Today we are seeing IS in action, but what was it like in the earliest days of mohammedan expansion?
A very good explanation to understanding this is given in “The Veiled Genocide” by Tidiane N’Diyae, in which he explains the Arab slave trade spreading over large areas into Africa, from the 7th century on.
HERE is some really good old * NIFTY * news!!
Catholic News Agency
2014-08-13 01:25 GMT
***The Knights of Columbus have established a matching fund to assist Christians and other religious minorities facing severe persecution or displacement in Iraq and nearby countries.****
“The unprovoked and systematic persecution and violent elimination of Middle East Christians, as well as other minority groups, especially in Iraq, has created an enormous humanitarian crisis,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said Aug. 12.
“It has shocked the conscience of the world that people are systematically being purged from the region where their families have lived for millennia — simply for their faith,” Anderson continued.
“It is imperative that we stand in solidarity with them in defense of the freedom of conscience, and provide them with whatever relief we can.”
In addition to an initial pledge of $500,000, the Catholic fraternal organization will match another $500,000 in donations from the public.
Militants with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIL or ISIS, have seized large areas of Iraqi territory. They took the country’s largest Christian city, Qaraqosh, on the night of Aug. 6, forcing tens of thousands to flee.
The militants have ordered Christians and other minorities to convert, pay a tax known as a jizya, or be killed.
Anderson cited Pope Francis’ request that the world pray and support those affected by the “terrible persecution.”
“We are asking our members, and all people of good will, to pray for those persecuted and support efforts to assist them by donating to this fund,” the head of the Knights of Columbus said.
Donations may be made through the webpage http://www.kofc.org/Iraq or via check or money orders sent to K of C Christian Refugee Relief, Knights of Columbus Charities, P.O. Box 1966, New Haven, CT 06509-1966.
The Knights of Columbus said that 100 percent of all donations will be used for humanitarian assistance.
Knights of Columbus Charities, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax-deductible.
Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, was a special guest at an event at the Lincolnshire Showground that saw thousands gather for four days of debate about Islam. He told the crowds at Living Islam that Muslims have brought back “open, honest and difficult public discussion” as one of their “greatest gifts” to the UK…
What planet is that hairy faced druid on? If he wants to know about the greatest gifts from islam, he should ask fellow Christians in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey etc. Blair appointed him as Archbishop of Canterbury
It is difficult to understand what goes on behind Rowan’s bushy eyebrows. However, what is certain is that he doesn’t do Christianity any favours! Years ago, someone should have told him to convert to Islam. He would now probably be more comfortable with himself.
“The hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets of Britain over the past month in support of and solidarity with the people of Gaza have seen their protests denounced by neocons and rightwingers because they aren’t about some other group of people, somewhere else.”
This vile piece of calumny was written by Lindsey German in The Guardian.
I can remember when the Guardian was a respectable journal. Now it is a mouthpiece for the lying left and, talking about the Lying left brings me to Lindsey German.
She is a member of the Socialist Workers Party, a bunch of Trotskyite rabble rousers also known as Looney Rent a Mob. They peddle nothing but lies and threaten with violence anyone who dares to argue with them. Don’t believe a word they say.
Meanwhile MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS stayed home and could not possibly care less about ” GAZANS”
The talking head currently on CNN International is earnestly arguing that the jihadis are all just having a “personal crisis” such as “irrational fear” of arranged marriage. This simply motivates them to “conquer as much land as possible.”
Good grief….our media are well and truly blind and insane.
Now some not so good old ” bad omen” News!
Have a close friend who is an employee at a large food bank/pantry in a Southern State. She reported to me last night… and was quite disturbed about she experienced.
They were flooded with illegal aliens yesterday…. dropped off by a mystery short bus. There were about 18 women and 6 men. Plus a few translators. They arrived 1 hour before the 9 AM opening time for registration. Took up all the seats in the outdoor lobby and out on the ” patio”
ALL wanted supplies for at least 5 people in their residence. NONE spoke English.
When the 30 or so senior citizens, black and white people , arrived during the next hour to sign up for food, there was no place for them to sit. NONE of the illegals gave up a seat. Also it was very warm out and the sun was beginning to beat down on all.
Each person got a number, were then called into the small office to register. IT was a very slow process . Due the fact that ALL the illegals claimed at least 4 persons per family, it meant that not only was the food going to run out, it would be much longer for the food boxes and bags to be given to the SENIOR ” LATE COMERS”.
Long story short, they ran out of all the food before they got half way through the list of about 30 seniors. Many of those well past 70 years old.
In this type of emergency the Pantry gave out $20 grocery store gift cards to the remaining seniors.
All the illegals were waiting for their MYSTERY BUS, they saw some seniors with the cards and many started shouting about not getting cards.
Their translators explained that the seniors got NO FOOD and were given cards to buy some food.
My friend said the hooting and howling continued till their bus arrived a few minutes later. She said many illegals made nasty hand gestures at the staff and a few newly arrived seniors as they walked from the parking lot….
She expects this will only get worse as more and more illegals are brought to their center. Of course, she expects that many seniors will complain and it has been suggested that become a strictly over 65 year old senior center. But it is highly unlikely as the obummer admin. is dead set against AGE RESTRICTIONS in any form.
GIMME!! A new Spanish word for ALL FOR ME, NONE FOR YOU!! It is also obummer’s by-line.
OOPS… typo it was ONLY at least 4 persons per household…. which is a lot!! Most seniors are just only 1 or 2 person household.
My friend says it is really a situation where the seniors registered in the center have to chose between food or medicine …or between food and utilities. They have no cars and usually people from their church or a neighbor will bring them over.
AND yes, obummer care did take money from MEDICARE.
OK, my view is going to be unpopular.
Social Security is a gimme. Medicare is a gimme. Gimme YOUR money to pay MY bills or else OUR mutual government (which takes a healthy cut of the proceeds) will come get YOUR money for me at the threat of a gun.
Food banks can also be a gimme. Gimme YOUR food to eat instead of ME or MY extended family providing its own food.
For example, are you seriously going to tell me that NONE of those black and white seniors have ANY family that can feed them? Really? None?
So, seniors who supported the gimme state are now seeing the gimme state TAKE from seniors to give to illegals in the SAME way that seniors have taken from young people to give to seniors.
And, although we may want to pretend that seniors were more polite, threatening and sending armed agents of the state to confiscate money from young people to pay for Social Security and Medicare is most IMPOLITE.
You’re entitled to your view, Egghead, but if the people of a country cast their votes in favour of a party which promises to redistribute some of your income, you should respect the will of the majority, as democratically expressed.
You can dress it up any way that you want to ‘feel’ better about STEALING, but it is STILL slavery in whole or in part.
If the people of a country cast their votes in favour of a party which promises to redistribute MY income to others, then the people are voting to steal from me and are voting for MY slavery – which is a SIN and a SHAME.
Obama’s putative ‘father’ promoted the idea that the state should tax 100% of income as long as the state provides ‘benefits’ to some people…. This is simply an argument for slavery.
When in school we were told that the media is the fourth power in a democracy. “In a democracy the other Three Powers are separate. And Legislative power oversees the Executive Power to prevent abuse. ” And the rest of empty hot air talk.
Today we discover that was an egregious lie. Democracies seem to be created to lie in order to deceive their own people and invite islam to replace them. All the four powers are blessed by allah to serve islam and to lie for islam and to do taqqiya for islam. How could All continents become so villainously subservient and slavish to a proven history of 1400 years of a murderous cult? Once they said tolerance. But they can’t tolerate Judeo-christianity. Once they said secularism. But they visit mosques and listen and sense and take the pulse of islam.
Once they are out they gear and adjust their policies to what islam wants and more. They have no shame of going and sitting with a row of muslims learning how to pray and curse infidels.
This transmogrification of unrecognizable politicians is puzzling: they are sikh, Hindus, black, Bbrown, muslim, Ismaili, Hanaffi, Ahmadi, Sufi, Muslim Brotherhood, they wear clothes of this people ot that. They are everything and actually nothing.
Have you ever seen a LIAR visiting a church or synagogue? That would be impossible. Because being a Jew or Christian will twist his righteous decisions.
Having islamic ideas seems to help a LIAR to come up with upright decisions
It is not that they are tolerant. They are tolerant only of any great power: namely islam.
They are morally inanimate. So any powerful foot can tread on it/him.
To heck with liars lacking honor and who sell themselves to islam.
Just look at Gaza: Four or five times a year provokes Israel, and no zombie LIAR (politician or reporter) opens his mouth.
Once Israel is forced to retaliate then they know how talk. To hell with LIARS.
“This transmogrification of unrecognizable politicians is puzzling: …”
Puzzling or fatal?
Maybe a severe constitutional jolt can reawaken the peoples of the British Isles back towards a more traditional and recognisable political reality i.e. Scottish Independence.