Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says that the attackers in the Garissa College massacre were embedded in the Muslim community. He called on Muslim leaders to do more to combat radicalization. The Kenyan government has offered a reward for information leading to the capture of the suspected mastermind of the massacre, a man named Mohamed Mohamud (Mohammed Coefficient: 200%). Meanwhile, al-Shabaab says that more terror attacks are coming to Kenya.
In other news, a group called Reclaim Australia staged anti-Islamization demonstrations all across the country today. “Anti-racist” counter-demonstrators attacked the marchers, and had to be restrained by police. The most violent clashes occurred in Melbourne.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, JD, Papa Whiskey, Steen, Vlad Tepes, 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.
Americans Not in Labor Force Exceed 93 Million for First Time
The number of Americans 16 years and older who did not participate in the labor force — meaning they neither had a job nor actively sought one in the last four weeks — rose from 92,898,000 in February to 93,175,000 in March, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That is the first time the number of Americans out of the labor force has exceeded 93 million.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
With all of that job creation being claimed by the Obama administration and disseminated by mainstream media outlets as signs of a sustained recovery you’d think most college graduates would have no trouble keeping up with their bills.
But new data released by the Department of Education tell a different story.
According to the report as many as 33% of American college grads with student loan debt are now in delinquent status on their repayments.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Said to Prepare “Grexit”, Drachma, Bank Nationalization Plans
On Thursday morning, we took an in-depth look at what the progression of events is likely to be in the event a cash-strapped, negotiation-weary Greece finally, for lack of will or for lack of options, fails to scrape together enough cash to pay its creditors. As BofAML notes, a missed IMF payment and/or failure to make interest payments to either the ECB or private creditors over the coming weeks would likely lead to default within 30 days, at which point “mark-to-fantasy” becomes mark-to-market and then “mark-to-default” in very short order.
Although Greek officials came out midday with a “categorical” denial of reports that the country was set to run completely out of cash in just 7 days, it now appears Athens may be prepared to chance a missed IMF payment and all that comes with it if it means saving face and preserving Syriza’s campaign promises to the beleaguered Greek populace.
More, via The Telegraph:
Greece is drawing up drastic plans to nationalise the country’s banking system and introduce a parallel currency to pay bills unless the eurozone takes steps to defuse the simmering crisis and soften its demands.
“We are a Left-wing government. If we have to choose between a default to the IMF or a default to our own people, it is a no-brainer,” said a senior official…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iceland Looks at Ending Boom and Bust With Radical Money Plan
Icelandic government suggests removing the power of commercial banks to create money and handing it to the central bank
Iceland’s government is considering a revolutionary monetary proposal — removing the power of commercial banks to create money and handing it to the central bank.
The proposal, which would be a turnaround in the history of modern finance, was part of a report written by a lawmaker from the ruling centrist Progress Party, Frosti Sigurjonsson, entitled “A better monetary system for Iceland”.
“The findings will be an important contribution to the upcoming discussion, here and elsewhere, on money creation and monetary policy,” Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson said.
The report, commissioned by the premier, is aimed at putting an end to a monetary system in place through a slew of financial crises, including the latest one in 2008.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
If Anyone Doubts That We Are in a Stock Market Bubble, Show Them This Article
The higher financial markets rise, the harder they fall.
By any objective measurement, the stock market is currently well into bubble territory.
Anyone should be able to see this — all you have to do is look at the charts.
Sadly, most of us never seem to learn from history.
Most of us want to believe that somehow “things are different this time”.
Well, about the only thing that is different this time is that our economy is in far worse shapethan it was just prior to the last major financial crisis.
That means that we are more vulnerable and will almost certainly endure even more damage this time around.
It would be one thing if stocks were soaring because the U.S. economy as a whole was doing extremely well. But we all know that isn’t true. Instead, what we have been experiencing is clearly artificial market behavior that has nothing to do with economic reality. In other words, we are dealing with an irrational financial bubble, and all irrational financial bubbles eventually burst. And as I wrote about yesterday, the way that stocks have moved so far this year is eerily reminiscent of the way that stocks moved in early 2008. The warning signs are there — if you are willing to look at them.
The first chart that I want to share with you today comes from Doug Short. It is a chart that shows that the ratio of corporate equities (stocks) to GDP is the second highest that it has been since 1950. The only other time it has been higher was just before the dotcom bubble burst…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Warning Sign: U.S. Economy Only Adds 126,000 Jobs
The U.S. only added 126,000 jobs in March, the lowest since December 2013 and well below the CNNMoney economist survey forecast of 244,000.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Abilify belongs to a class of drugs called “neuroleptics.” Chlorpromazine was the first of the neuroleptic drugs, and indeed the first of the modern-day psychiatric medications, and its history is instructive.
Chlorpromazine was first synthesized in 1944 by chemists at the Rhone-Poulenc company in France. A French naval surgeon, Henri Laborit, tested this new compound as part of a “lytic cocktail” he used to sedate patients prior to surgery, and was pleased with the results. At a 1951 meeting of the Société Belge de Chiurge, he noted that chlorpromazine could produce “a veritable medicinal lobotomy,” and in a paper the following year he suggested the new drug might be of interest to psychiatry.’
[…]
Almost from the beginning it was obvious that chlorpromazine and related drugs were causing serious, long-term damage to patients, including a disfiguring, socially-isolating disorder called “tardive dyskinesia.” “Dyskinesia” means inability to control muscle movements, and “tardive” refers to the delayed onset of the condition, which may begin even after medication has been stopped. Signs include twisting of the tongue, puffing cheeks, lip smacking, sucking motions, tremors, rocking, and bizarre postures. In patients treated with neuroleptics for six months to two years, as many as 10 to 20 percent may develop tardive dyskinesia. Among elderly and long-term patients the rate may be as high as 40 percent. There is no cure…
But isn’t it true that these drugs enabled hundreds of thousands of patients to be released from confinement in “snake-pit” mental hospitals and be integrated into their communities? That trope is largely a myth, as psychiatrist Peter Breggin demonstrates in his 1991 book Toxic Psychiatry.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The explosions started after a truck crashed into a utility pole, causing a surge around 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning.
When the customers in more than 5,000 homes get their power back on will depend on how badly damaged their meters are.
Neighbors in the South Stockton area described it as a large pop, a bomb going off, and strong enough to shake a house.
[Comment: The old style analog meters were FAR superior. There are reports of meters from the 1930s still functioning fine. The new smart meters reliability is around 10 years. Smart meters also record the electricity usage to the point where one can tell what device is being switched on in the house.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ACLU Lays Off 7 Percent of National Staff
The American Civil Liberties Union this week laid off 23 employees, about 7 percent of the organization’s national staff.
The cuts affected employees in New York, D.C., California and Wyoming.
ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero announced the impending reductions internally in a March 26 email to employees, and the affected staffers were notified Monday.
In the email, which was obtained by The Washington Post, Romero cited the need for the ACLU to cut costs. In addition to the layoffs, the organization during the fiscal year ending March 31, eliminated ten national staff positions, postponed its nationwide staff conference to 2016 and increased employee contributions to health plan costs.
Over the last five fiscal years, the ACLU’s annual operating deficit averaged more than $15 million, and the organization has used reserves to fill the gap, Romero wrote.
[…]
“Nobody saw this coming,” said one former employee who was affected by the cuts and asked not to be named in order to preserve professional relationships. “The organization is lush with funds and then suddenly we’re told of the layoffs. I was told to box my belongings and leave the premises as soon as possible. The very organization entrusted with protecting civil liberties didn’t even respect the civil rights of its own employees.”
[Oh, the humanity! — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Are They Arming for Riots Across America? Homeland Stockpiling “Less Lethal Specialty Munitions”
One of the biggest stories for years in the alternative media was the mysterious and foreboding purchase by Homeland Security of more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition.
Thanks to coverage on prominent sites like DrudgeReport, the story reached into mainstream media, prompting official spin and downplaying of the purchase.
Now, a new Homeland Security purchase order listed on FedBizOpps also raises an eyebrow or two, given the heated and divided political and social climate at hand. Just look at what happened in Ferguson… A request for “less lethal specialty munitions” for use by Homeland Security dated March 23, 2015 reads:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intends to solicit responses to Request for Information (RFI) 20082225-JTC for Less Lethal Specialty Munitions (LLSM) for use by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Army Seeking ‘Crisis Actors’ For Ohio Military Drill in June Ahead of Jade Helm
Opportunities for upcoming mass casualty drills in Ohio for the month of June. Need a p/t job; you can check out the role player opportunities here. Why are they so busy preparing for disasters and mass casualties in America or is this just preparation for the next huge false flag event? Do they know something that we don’t know? Interestingly enough, the opportunity begins on May 19th, 2015 and runs for UP TO 5 YEARS!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Colleges Teach 1st Amendment Suppression
David Knight takes the studio for Alex Jones and discusses an article by Kit Daniels which details how a college is suppressing free speech.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DHS-Funded Drill Simulates Nuke Attack on US-Mexico Border
A Department of Homeland Security funded drill which took place yesterday in New Mexico simulated a nuclear attack on the US-Mexico border and how authorities would deal with thousands of people crossing over from Mexico to escape the catastrophe.
The exercise simulated, “an emergency involving the detonation of a weapon of mass destruction near the U.S./Mexico border that causes a mass migration of about 3,000 people,” reported KFOX 14.
The drill, which involved numerous police and fire departments as well as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, included an exercise where thousands of people were in need of decontamination and oxygen.
The news station featured an interview with a resident who said he would be happy to participate in a drill where police went door to door to evacuate people under a simulated emergency.
[Comment: Once they are out, then it’s easy to kick the doors down and grab the registered guns. Just like RCMP did in Canada.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Drug-Resistant Intestinal Illness Shigellosis Spreading in US
An intestinal illness carried by international travelers is spreading across the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The culprit bacteria have proven to be resistant to the antibiotic Cipro, most commonly prescribed to treat the infection. Called Shigella, the bug turned up in 243 cases in 32 states and Puerto Rico…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook Post on Muslims Costs Fryeburg Coach His Job
By Daymond Steer
FRYEBURG — After four years at the helm of Fryeburg Academy’s boys lacrosse team, Scott Lees of Conway said he was forced by academy officials to resign as head coach after sharing on Facebook an open letter to President Barack Obama that was unflattering to Muslims.
The letter, written by “An American Citizen,” was about Obama’s speech given in Cairo in 2009. In that speech and in another made last month, the president said Islam has long been a part of American history.
In the first part of the letter, it wonders whether anyone has have ever seen a Muslim hospital or heard a Muslim orchestra. The writer goes on to charge that Muslims “are still the largest traffickers in human slavery,” that they were allied with Adolf Hitler in World War II and that they were either pleased with or silent on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The writer adds that the Barbary pirates were Muslims.
“I just thought it was an interesting article,” said Lees, who added he’s a politically minded independent conservative. “I thought it was an interesting letter to President Obama and his current administration who are not paying attention to Israel and focusing on Iran.”
Lees, 48, shared the letter on his personal Facebook page on March 17. Two days later, he was handing in his resignation as Fryeburg Academy’s lacrosse coach. He said that although he was supposed to meet with Head of Schools Erin Mayo and Dean Charlie Tryder on March 19, Athletic Director Sue Thurston told him a decision to fire him had already been made…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
As you may have heard, yesterday the FBI “uncovered” yet another of its own terrorist plots, the latest in a very long line of “terrorist plots” the FBI has “uncovered” — in which the details always show that it was an undercover FBI “informant” (often doing this to get off leniently for some other issue), who more or less goads hapless, naive people, into a “plot” that had no real chance of ever happening. This appears to be the same sort of thing.
Still, politicians never leave an opportunity like this unexploited, and so in jumps Senator Dianne Feinstein, arguing that the only proper way to deal with this is to, of course… censor the internet:
I am particularly struck that the alleged bombers made use of online bombmaking guides like the Anarchist Cookbook and Inspire Magazine. These documents are not, in my view, protected by the First Amendment and should be removed from the Internet.
For what it’s worth, Dianne Feinstein’s “view” is wrong. The Anarchist Cookbook is very much protected by the First Amendment. While the book is banned in other countries, who don’t have the equivalent of the First Amendment, it’s perfectly legal in the US. The FBI/DOJ has extensively investigated the Anarchist’s Cookbook in particular over the years, and as far back as 1997 directly told Senator Feinstein that she could not ban it. This is from the DOJ back in 1997:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) For the first time in history, the California government has declared mandatory water restrictions designed to save the state from a water collapse. (But it still won’t work, see below…)
An order went out yesterday from Governor Brown’s office, requiring water agencies to “…implement new pricing models that discourage excessive water use,” reports the LA Times. In other words, your water consumption costs are about to get even higher if you live in California.
The directive aims to reduce water consumption by 25% across the state — an aggressive restriction that clearly qualifies as an emergency reduction goal…
A NASA scientist named Jay Famiglietti recently warned that California’s water reservoirs have just one year remaining before a catastrophic collapse. In his own words, as published in the LA Times:
…the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought… [groundwater] pumping rates are excessive and unsustainable … Wells are running dry. In some areas of the Central Valley, the land is sinking by one foot or more per year.
Famiglietti was, of course, heavily attacked for stating this, because the one thing that most Californians absolutely don’t want to hear about right now is THE TRUTH. And as we’ve all learned from watching the mainstream media’s deceptions over the years, it’s far easier for people to believe a lie than to believe the truth…
* Within just a few years, we will begin to see a mass migration out of California which will be described in the media as a “wave of climate change refugees.” But the climate didn’t cause this — human lack of foresight did.
* The water supply will eventually collapse because no one has any real interest in sacrificing their quality of life right now in order to protect a resource for future generations.
In other words, today’s California voters are generationally selfish because they’ve collectively decided to use up all the water TODAY, leaving no water for future generations TOMORROW. Gee, does that sound familiar, anyone? (National debt, soil erosion, fossil fuels, deforestation…)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How Big Business is Helping Expand NSA Surveillance, Snowden be Damned
Since November 11, 2011, with the introduction of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, American spy agencies have been pushing laws to encourage corporations to share more customer information. They repeatedly failed, thanks in part to NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations of mass government surveillance. Then came Republican victories in last year’s midterm Congressional elections and a major push by corporate interests in favor of the legislation.
Today, the bill is back, largely unchanged, and if congressional insiders and the bill’s sponsors are to believed, the legislation could end up on President Obama’s desk as soon as this month. In another boon to the legislation, Obama is expected to reverse his past opposition and sign it, albeit in an amended and renamed form (CISPA is now CISA, the “Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act”). The reversal comes in the wake of high-profile hacks on JPMorgan Chase and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The bill has also benefitted greatly from lobbying by big business, which sees it as a way to cut costs and to shift some anti-hacking defenses onto the government.
For all its appeal to corporations, CISA represents a major new privacy threat to individual citizens. It lays the groundwork for corporations to feed massive amounts of communications to private consortiums and the federal government, a scale of cooperation even greater than that revealed by Snowden. The law also breaks new ground in suppressing pushback against privacy invasions; in exchange for channeling data to the government, businesses are granted broad legal immunity from privacy lawsuits — potentially leaving consumers without protection if companies break privacy promises that would otherwise keep information out of the hands of authorities.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How Many People Will Have to Migrate Out of California When All the Water Disappears?
The drought in California is getting a lot worse.
As you read this, snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada mountains are the lowest that have ever been recorded.
That means that there won’t be much water for California farmers and California cities once again this year. To make up the difference in recent years, water has been pumped out of the ground like crazy. In fact, California has been losing more than 12 million acre-feet of groundwater a year since 2011, and wells all over the state are going dry. Once the groundwater is all gone, what are people going to do? 100 years ago, the population of the state of California was 3 million, and during the 20th century we built lots of beautiful new cities in an area that was previously a desert. Scientists tell us that the 20th century was the wettest century in 1000 years for that area of the country, but now weather patterns are reverting back to normal. Today, the state of California is turning back into a desert but it now has a population of 38 million people. This is not sustainable in the long-term. So when the water runs out, where are they going to go?
I have written quite a few articles about the horrific drought in California, but conditions just continue to get even worse. According to NPR, snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada mountains are “just 6 percent of the long-term average”…
[…]
And scientists tell us that this might just be the beginning. There have been megadroughts in that area of the country that have lasted more than 100 years in the past, and there are fears that another megadrought may have begun. The following comes from National Geographic…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Smart Meters Simultaneously Explode
The utilities lied when they said “smart” or “AMI” meters would make the electricity grid “resilient” and “self-healing .”
Nothing could be further from the truth, and this latest episode is more proof of the failure of “smart” metering programs everywhere.
On Monday, hundreds of “smart” meters simultaneously exploded in Stockton, California, when a truck ran into a utility pole. Watch the video:
The catastrophic failure of these non-UL approved PG&E “smart” meters not only damaged meter bases and other homeowner property, but left over 5,800 customers without power.
That’s right — when these plastic, modernized meters fail, they shut your power off.
CBS News reported that “neighbors in the South Stockton area described it as a large pop, a bomb going off, and strong enough to shake a house.”
Last July, the province of Saskatchewan ordered the removal of all 105,000 “smart” meters, following a string of fires. Portland (Oregon), Lakeland (Florida), Arizona and Ontario followed suit with mass removals.
Quebec firefighters are up-in-arms that Hydro-Quebec agents have actually been prematurely removing smart meters from fire scenes prior to investigation.
The total number of separate incidents of fires and explosions caused by “smart” meters is now very likely to number in the thousands.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Indiana Nurse Charged With Felony ‘Resisting Arrest’ For Driving to Safer Area for Traffic Stop
A Portage, Indiana, nurse is facing felony resisting-arrest charges because she didn’t immediately pull over when a police car flashed its lights behind her on a dark county road. DelRea Good, 52, said she assumed the car behind her was a police officer but, as a woman traveling alone late at night, she was concerned for her safety. So Good put on her emergency flashers, motioned out the window to acknowledge the car, and drove less than a mile down the road to pull over in a lit Kohl’s parking lot.
Porter County Sheriff’s Department Patrolman William Marshall wrote in his incident report that he initially flagged Good for speeding. In the department store parking lot, he handcuffed Good and took her to the county jail, where she was booked on a felony charge of resisting arrest. From The Times of Northwest Indiana:
“I felt I didn’t do anything wrong,” Good said. “I got to a safe place and I told him that.”
Porter County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Larry LaFlower said, “The sheriff’s office supports our officer’s decision in this matter.” He cited state law requiring motorists to yield to emergency vehicles and said Marshall was driving a fully marked squad car and used the lights and siren.
The fact that Marshall’s car presented as a police car isn’t really the issue, though. Good doesn’t dispute recognizing it as a likely police car — which is why she waved out the window, turned on her flashing lights, and pulled over as soon as she reached a public area. She simply felt afraid to stop in an isolated place, and that’s not unwarranted.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jade Helm: Texas Labeled ‘Hostile’ Yet Again by Army
Soldiers with the National Guard’s 143rd Airborne invaded the North Texas Regional Airport which was held by “hostiles” as part of an “assault landing exercise.”
The airport takeover falls in line with the scenario outlined in the U.S. Army’s upcoming Operation Jade Helm 15.
“Jade Helm is a challenging eight-week joint military and Interagency (IA) Unconventional Warfare (UW) exercise conducted throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado,” according to an unclassified military document announcing the training drill, which runs from July 15 through September 15.
Multiple branches of the US military, including Green Berets, Navy Seals, and the 82nd Airborne Division, will participate in the 8-week long exercise, which may result in “increased aircraft in the area at night.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Marathon Bombings Report: ‘Weapons Discipline Was Lacking’ In Watertown
A newly released report by local authorities details the response of law enforcement following the Boston Marathon bombings.
The full report is available here.
The report says that during the early morning shootout in Watertown on Friday, April 19, 2013, the first officers to arrive “practiced appropriate weapons discipline while they were engaged in the firefight with the suspects.” But it added that “additional officers arriving on scene near the conclusion of the firefight fired weapons toward the vicinity of the suspects, without necessarily having identified and lined up their target or appropriately aimed their weapons.”
After the firefight, one officer fired upon plain-clothes officers in an unmarked Massachusetts State Police vehicle that was wrongly reported as stolen, according to the report, which also cites lack of weapons discipline by law enforcement during efforts to apprehend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev when he was hiding in a boat behind a Watertown home.
The report also highlights what it found to be successful elements of the response to the bombings, such as a well-prepared medical operation near the marathon finish line, the reopening of Boylston Street after evidence collection and cleanup, and coordination between agencies and leaders following the bombings.
[What it likely omits is the police ban on citizens so much as stepping out into their yards, and the Gestapo-goon tactics used on residents of houses being searched in the area. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Marxists and Crony Capitalists Driving the Information Highway Bus
Google is a de facto government agency. As soon as he was elected, savvy President Barack Obama held his very first formal business meeting with up and coming super stars of the technology world; Google visited the White House 230 times in 2009.
There’s more:
While the FCC is taking the flak for the recently spawned ‘net neutrality’ that will close off the Information HIghway for millions who will no longer be able to afford access to it, it was really Google who ushered it in.
Up to now during the past seven tumultuous years, it was the government taking on the hypocritical starring role as the Department of Truth. Now Google will filter all internet news and determine what is truth.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
McDonald’s Downfall: Even Kids Aren’t Eating Fast Food Anymore
And we’re not talking about a small change here. You have to remember that the fast food industry absolutely thrives on convincing children to eat their chemical-laden garbage. It’s the heart of their ‘unchanging market’ as I would call it. A market that, quite unfortunately, cannot process the reality of what they’re eating.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Media Fail: Arkansas Passes Religious Liberty Bill
A religious liberty bill similar to the one causing a phony uproar in Indiana this week was just passed by Arkansas lawmakers Tuesday and serves as yet another sign of the left-wing mainstream media’s waning power to intimidate and bully. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said he is going to sign the bill, which will then offer the Faithful the same legal civil rights protections offered in 20 other states.
One of the primary reasons the media joined the political left in a coordinated and massive bullying misinformation campaign against Indiana was in an obvious attempt to intimidate other states from passing similar laws that give a legal standing to people of all faiths.
The fact that Arkansas moved forward unafraid shows that the heyday of the mainstream media is coming to an end.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Montana Gov. Bullock Vetoes Anti-Commandeering Bill: Ignorant of the Law, Or a Liar?
Either Montana Gov. Steve Bullock doesn’t understand the constitutional relationship between his state and the federal government, or he’s a liar.
On Friday, Bullock vetoed a bill that would have prohibited state and local agencies in Montana from enforcing any future federal gun laws.
Rep. Art Wittich, sponsored HB203. The bill banned the state “from enforcing, assisting in the enforcement of or otherwise cooperating in the enforcement of” a federal act enacted on or after Jan. 1, 2015 that “prohibits, restricts, or requires individual licensure for ownership, possession, transfer, or use of any firearm or any magazine or other ammunition feeding device.”
Bullock vetoed the bill, saying it “puts law enforcement officers in the position of violating laws they have sworn to uphold.”
To put it bluntly, Bullock is full of crap. It does no such thing.
The governor vetoed a similar bill in 2013 and gave the same reason.
He was wrong then.
He’s still wrong now.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
MSNBC: Police Lives in Danger Because of Armed Law-Abiding Citizens
On March 28, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry suggested the push away from gun control and toward expanded gun rights — which means more armed, law-abiding citizens — actually puts police lives in danger.
Harris-Perry read a summary from a recent Department of Justice report on police activity in Chicago and New York City. She then specifically focused on Philadelphia police, whom the report claims “averaged about one shooting a week from 2007 to 2013.” She said that during this time period “the percentage of unarmed suspects shot by the police increased from 6 percent to 20 percent.”
Harris-Perry then paused and asked, “Is is possible that our lack of national, common sense gun control laws leads to a situation where it is more dangerous to be a police officer and so police officers begin acting in ways that they expect everyone to be armed?”
In other words, instead of adopting the gun control measures pushed and rejected on the federal level in 2013, we are now seeing a push to repeal gun control and expand concealed carry and could it be that these things make police feel that their lives are in danger?
What Harris-Perry failed to note is that Chicago and New York City — two of the prime focuses of the DOJ report — are not cities with a high rate of concealed carry permits. Moreover, New York City is in a state where the SAFE Act mandates the very gun control measures rejected on the federal level in 2013. But gun control does not impact criminals and criminals are the ones who endanger the lives of police officers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
It should be obvious given the recent hacks against essential infrastructure that America faces a major cyber security threat from foreign governments and rogue organizations. In just the last few years it has been reported that hackers have infiltrated everything from critical physical components that manage water utilities to23 orbiting spacecraft managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The problems have been highlighted by major cyber security firms like Symantec and McAfee.
The threat is real and the government knows it. In an open letter to her successor, outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned that a massive attack against the U.S. power grid is imminent.
But while private and public organizations should be working to secure their networks and prevent outside access to components that could bring down the grid, the question of how much involvement is required by the Federal government has now come to the forefront.
According to the Obama Administration’s latest move, it is apparent that they believe central control is the only solution.
As such, President Obama has issued a new Executive Order that, for all intents and purposes, cedes total control of the internet and domestic infrastructure to the U.S. government.
It’s business as usual in Washington. President Obama has just signed another Executive Order declaring a National Emergency to deal with cyber threats:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Plans ‘Executive Order’ For UN Climate Rules
The Obama administration’s plan for U.N. climate change talks encountered swift opposition after its release Tuesday, with Republican leaders warning other countries to “proceed with caution” in negotiations with Washington because any deal could be later undone.
The White House is seeking to enshrine its pledge in a global climate agreement to be negotiated Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 in Paris. It calls for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels within a decade, using a host of existing laws and executive actions targeting power plants, vehicles, oil and gas production and buildings.
But Republican critics say the administration lacks the political and legal backing to commit the United States to an international agreement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The 47-year-old heir to one of America’s greatest oil fortunes has been found dead with traumatic injuries but police do not believe foul play was involved.
Andrew Getty, a member of the billion-dollar Getty oil dynasty, was found on Tuesday afternoon unconscious and naked from the waist down at his 5,000 sq ft-mansion in the Hollywood Hills.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Operation Jade Helm: Should We be Worried?
At the risk of sounding paranoid, ever since 9/11, our federal government has targeted America’s homeland for all sorts of surveillance, spying, snooping, etc. The National Security Agency (NSA) routinely collects virtually all electronic communications, telephonic transmissions, etc., from the entire American citizenry. The U.S. Congress and federal courts have become nothing more than rubber stamps for an executive branch of government determined to know the most intimate details of every person in the nation. The United States now has the dubious distinction of being the most spied-on country in the history of the world.
For the first time in U.S. history, we have U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), a full active military division (3rd Infantry Division) assigned to the Continental United States. We have the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has turned our local and State police agencies into miniature military units, and has armed them with all sorts of military weaponry and equipment — including some of the most sophisticated intelligence-gathering equipment in the world.
The Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, NDAA, etc., authorize the federal government to basically treat the U.S. citizenry as “enemy combatants.” As far as the passage of these laws is concerned, we Americans have already lost our right to trial by jury, habeas corpus, the right to have an attorney, the right to a speedy trial, the right to be secure in our persons, houses, effects, etc. Martial Law may not be the experience of most U.S. citizens YET, but understand that the laws are already in place for such an event.
The whole idea of practicing “extractions” (a nice word for kidnappings) in U.S. cities sends chills up my spine. Using the aforementioned laws, this kind of activity has already been made “legal” in this country. So, first we have laws authorizing such activity, and now our military troops are practicing doing it? Please tell me, again, how we have nothing to worry about.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Our Weasel of the Week!! — 04/02/15
Once again, It’s time to present this week’s statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!
Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week’s nominees were all disgusting, but the votes are in and we have our winner… the envelope please…
The Noisy Room: My nomination this week is Grover Norquist. Glenn Beck should be commended for taking on Grover Norquist. He should have been outed years and years ago. Beck devoted two shows to Norquist this week. The first laid out his connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. In the second show, he had Grover on to defend himself. The weasel did a very bad job of defending his record. His demeanor and posturing screamed that he was lying. He only went on Beck’s show after he petulantly emailed Beck that he was backing out and then reversed himself because he realized how bad it made him look.
The best line of the whole interview by Beck to Norquist: “If I take you at face value, you’re the most unlucky person … I’ve ever met in my life,” Beck said. “Only Barack Obama is this unlucky with a string of friends who are radicals.” I think that pretty much says it all.
Ah, unlucky perhaps from the infidel point of view, but very lucky in terms of inserting Islamism and the Ikhwan deep into the American body politic saddiqh! Why it was Grover, a good friend of Karl Rove who started an Islamic lobbying group, the Islamic Institute with the help of thousands of dollars from Hamas and Hezbollah supporter Abdulrahman Alamoudi. Alamoudi was later revealed as a top Brotherhood leader in the U.S. involved in massive terrorism fundraising operations and is now imprisoned for his part in trying to assassinate Saudi head of State Prince Abdullah.
Grover also introduced Sami-al-Arian in GOP circles, including presidential candidate George W. Bush. Al-Arian was Islamic Jihad’s man in America, later imprisoned for laundering money raised in America for Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
As a matter of fact, Grover Norquist as been one of the most influential ‘borers from within’ around when it comes to Islamists and the Muslim Brotherhood. You don’t get more weasel than that.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Personnel Now Talking on ‘NSA-Proof’ Smartphones
The Defense Department has rolled out supersecret smartphones for work and maybe play, made by anti-government-surveillance firm Silent Circle, according to company officials.
Silent Circle, founded by a former Navy Seal and the inventor of privacy-minded PGP encryption, is known for decrying federal efforts to bug smartphones. And for its spy-resistant “blackphone.”
Apparently, troops don’t like busybodies either. As part of limited trials, U.S. military personnel are using the device, encrypted with secret code down to its hardware, to communicate “for both unclassified and classified” work, Silent Circle chairman Mike Janke told Nextgov.
In 2012, Janke, who served in the Navy’s elite special operations force, and Phil Zimmermann, creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP, in short), started Silent Circle as a California-based secure communications firm. The company is no longer based in the United States, ostensibly to deter U.S. law enforcement from seeking access to user records.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Police: Men Who Beat Train Passenger for Mike Brown Not Charged With Hate Crime
Speaking with CBS St. Louis, local ADL Director Karen Aoresty argued that the incident should be investigated more closely.
“If in fact those kids did choose their victim because he was white, then there’s a legitimate question to ask whether or not hate crime enhancement is appropriate,” Aoresty said.
While some outright reject the basis of hate crime laws to begin with, noting that the motivation behind a crime does not change the crime itself, many others feel the law is selectively used in a politically correct fashion.
Police in St. Louis also refused to file hate crime charges last December when a group of black males killed a white Bosnian immigrant with a hammer shortly after residents began chanting “f*ck the white people” and “kill the white people.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Obama Wanted to Release Taliban Five Without Bergdahl in Return
President Obama originally wanted to release the “Taliban Five” as part of a largely one-sided exchange to empty out Guantanamo Bay and only asked for Bergdahl in return after he met resistance from the intelligence community, according to a report cross-checked with other documents.
The president initially only asked the Taliban to open a “political office” in Qatar to “conduct peace negotiations” in exchange for the five prisoners, but had to modify the deal to include Bergdahl to appease intelligence officials, the Investor’s Business Daily stated in a report that’s plausible when cross-referenced with a 2009 executive order and a 2012 article reporting on Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
On Jan. 22, 2009, five months before Bergdahl found himself in Taliban captivity, President Obama signed Executive Order 13492 to launch the “review and disposition” of Gitmo prisoners, including the Taliban Five, as part of a process to ultimately close the facility.
“Bergdahl, who walked off his post and into the arms of the Taliban in June 2009, wasn’t even part of the negotiation back then,” the IBD stated. “The original deal was a one-sided release, naked any trade for a ‘POW’ or ‘hostage’ or soldier who allegedly had served ‘with honor and distinction.’“ A 2012 news article on the proposed prisoner release also alluded to a one-sided exchange when reporting on a statement from then-President Karzai asking for the release of the Gitmo prisoners.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Hopefuls Take Turns Criticizing Iran Nuclear Deal
Republican hopefuls in the 2016 presidential race are criticizing the Obama administration’s tentative nuclear deal with Iran, saying the agreement is dangerous for the United States and its allies and showing again that the White House contest is underway.
“Obama’s dangerous deal with Iran rewards an enemy, undermines our allies and threatens our safety,” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who sits atop several early polls, tweeted shortly after the tentative deal was announced Thursday.
Like essentially all of the potential GOP candidates, Walker has used the agreement to strike a sharp contrast with Democrats, with Election Day roughly 18 months away, and make the case that the deal appears to give Iran enough space to remain a nuclear threat to Israel and other allies in the region.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sarah Brady, Widow of James Brady, Dies at 73
(CNN) Sarah Brady, who with her husband, James Brady, pushed for stricter gun control laws, including the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, died Friday, her family said.
Brady, 73, died of pneumonia, the family said.
“Sarah courageously stepped up after Jim was shot to prevent others from enduring what our family has gone through, and her work has saved countless lives,” the statement said.
James Brady was shot in the head by John Hinckley Jr. during his attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Brady spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, advocating against gun violence.
He died in August.
His wife was also involved in gun violence prevention for the past 30 years. She was the chairwoman of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence from 2000 until she died.
The National Rifle Association said its thoughts and prayers were with the Brady family.
“Although we disagreed on public policy, Sarah Brady was an honorable American who we always respected,” the gun rights organization said.
[It is unfortunate that this woman’s family tragedy moved her to support a villainous cause. Disarmed is not what we need to be in the face of criminal and jihadi wickedness. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Shaken Baby Syndrome Used to Imprison Parents to Cover Up Vaccine Damage
(NaturalNews) Every year, hundreds of U.S. parents are tried and convicted in criminal court for supposedly killing their babies by shaking them. But the nebulous condition known as “shaken baby syndrome,” or SBS, appears to be a grand misnomer contrived for the sole purpose of covering up the real causes of SBS death, which include vaccine damage.
The presupposition is that if a deceased child exhibits things like bleeding at the back of the eye, bleeding from the protective area around the brain or brain swelling, then he must have been vigorously shaken by someone prior to his death. But this may or may not actually be the case, especially with new research suggesting that most humans aren’t capable of shaking an infant hard enough to produce the symptoms commonly associated with SBS.
The Washington Post (WP) recently indicted this faulty diagnosis, pointing out that up to two-thirds of the SBS cases prosecuted each year show no outward signs of physical injury. This means that something else besides physical abuse is responsible for most cases of SBS falsely attributed to external maltreatment by a parent or guardian.
“[T]his is the reason SBS is such a convenient diagnosis,” wrote Radley Balko for the WP. “It allows prosecutors to charge a suspected abuser despite no outward signs of abuse.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spring Break Violence is a Black College Thing
By Colin Flaherty
Being a self-proclaimed “simple man,” Bill O’Reilly has no reason to know about the long history of black mob violence associated with Spring Break.
So earlier this week when he wanted to know why seven black people were shot following a large fight at a large party in Panama City, Florida, O’Reilly was probably not aware that just few weeks before, a group of black people attacked Dak Prescott, a Heisman Trophy candidate from Mississippi State. They left the dazed quarterback on his back in a parking lot, his assailants doing the victory dance on social media. On video.
Nor was he aware that the vast majority of violence and gunplay getting so much attention at Panama Beach City is more than just a “young person” thing. It’s a black thing. So trying to understand a problem he misstated, he was flummoxed.
For answers, he turned to Fox News contributor Mary Kathryn Hamm. She begged off because her wildest spring break memories happened at the Reagan Library, she said.
That left just one guest to explain it all to the Big Man: Former Washington Post and NPR guru Juan Williams. He surprised a lot of people in two ways: 1) Knowing the truth. 2) Speaking the truth.
Williams reminded O’Reilly of Freaknik, the annual celebration of black violence and anarchy that got so bad that even the Chocolate City of Atlanta had to pull the welcome mat. Then he mentioned Urban Beach Week in Miami Beach — only reporters call it anything but Black Beach Week — and how that was a celebration of chaos and violence as well.
The annual mayhem continued until 2013, when city officials ran out of ways to describe the “living hell” that 400,000 black people created in Miami Beach. So they turned that small town into a large armed camp.
Today, lots of attendees complain how the cops, the towers, the dogs, the drones, the license plate scanners, the lights, the Homeland Security and the cameras are all killing their buzz. And attendance is down.
[…]
Atlanta World Daily put it all in perspective following Black Beach Week 2013, when it realized black people were running out of places to party — and destroy. And that paper did not like it one bit because large gatherings of black people are “extensions of the civil rights movement.”
And it is just not fair that so many places, like Miami Beach, “despise the ground we walk on,” said the paper’s Jineea Butler.
“Remember Freaknik in Atlanta, the Greekfest in Philadelphia, Black Family Reunion in Daytona Beach, Jones Beach in New York and Virginia Beach Labor Day Weekend? Most of these events have been canceled because the local residents in each town voted against hosting our events.”
[Woman, get a clue. But she won’t. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Study: 70% of People on Antidepressants Don’t Have Depression
If sales for antidepressants such as Zoloft, Lexapro, or Prozac tell us anything, it’s that depression is sweeping the nation. But a new study questions the validity of most of these sales. The study has found that the majority of individuals on antidepressants — a whopping 69% — do not even meet the criteria for clinical depression. These individuals are likely just experiencing normal sadness and hardships that most of us experience.
In addition to finding that nearly two-thirds of antidepressant-takers don’t meet criteria for depression, the researchers also note how 38% of those taking antidepressants for other psychiatric disorders do not meet the criteria. These include panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, social phobio, general anxiety, and a number of other arguably fabricated mental disorders.
The study, published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, reads:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Biggest Threat to American Liberty
George Washington pointed out, “Overgrown military establishments, which under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty.”
Wise words by the father of our country, but ones, unfortunately, rejected by modern-day Americans, who love and idolize the enormously overgrown military establishment that now characterizes our federal governmental system.
Eastern Europeans are getting a gander at America’s overgrown military establishment. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that a huge contingent of US military forces is winding its way through Eastern Europe as some sort of good-will tour and also to serve as a message to Russia that the United States is ready to go to war to protect Eastern Europe from Russia’s aggressive designs. Never mind that it is America’s overgrown military establishment that gave rise to Russia’s so-called aggressive designs. Ever since the end of the Cold War, NATO has been absorbing Eastern European countries with the ultimate aim of absorbing Ukraine, which would enable the US military to place bases and missiles on Russia’s borders.
There was never a possibility that Russia was going to let that happen, any more than the US national-security establishment would permit North Korea to place military bases and missiles on Mexico’s side of the Rio Grande. In the eyes of those who believe that America’s overgrown military establishment can do no wrong, that makes Russia the aggressor in the crisis.
But let’s face it: These people are ingenious at producing crises and then playing the innocent.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Soros-Koch Criminals Lobby
The Koch Brothers are working hand-in-glove with the Obama Administration and the “progressives” to empty the prisons. Van Jones, a former activist with the group, Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM), has emerged as a point man for Koch Industries in a multi-million dollar campaign for “criminal justice reform.” This campaign used to be financed by billionaire hedge fund operator George Soros. Watch this show to understand how Republicans like Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are part of this effort.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Worst Common Core Assignments Forced Onto America’s Youth — Videos
2+2=5… Or at least that is what Common Core wants you to think.
Since the federal curriculum first appeared, parents and teachers alike across America have protested the obvious agenda to indoctrinate the country’s youth.
Whether attacking the Constitution or mathematics itself, these are the worst Common Core assignments seen so far.
Some teachings of Common Core:
1. Middle School Assignment: Second Amendment Requires Gun Registration
2. Second Amendment Only Applies in Militias
3. Students Asked to Change “Outdated” Bill of Rights
4. 3X4=11… If You Want it To
[Comment: Watch the videos.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
TrueCrypt Doesn’t Contain NSA Backdoors
A security audit of TrueCrypt has determined that the disk encryption software does not contain any backdoors that could be used by the NSA or other surveillance agencies. A report prepared by the NCC Group for Open Crypto Audit Project found that the encryption tool is not vulnerable to being compromised.
However, the software was found to contain a few other security vulnerabilities, including one relating to the use of the Windows API to generate random numbers for master encryption key material. Despite this, TrueCrypt was given a relatively clean bill of health with none of the detected vulnerabilities considered severe enough to lead “to a complete bypass of confidentiality in common usage scenarios”.
NCC’s report reveals a total of four vulnerabilities in TrueCrypt, with two of them being marked as severe. The most worrying — although it must be stressed that the report does not suggest that there is real cause for concern — stems from the fact that random numbers are generated based on values from a Windows API. Should this API fail for any reason, TrueCrypt may continue to generate keys with the possibility of an element of predictability — clearly not ideal for encryption software.
[Comment: Best to use ver.7.1a, https://www.grc.com/misc/truecrypt/truecrypt.htm (7.2 can only read encrypted containers, not create them.) ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Victim of Castro Round-Ups ‘Worried Immensely’ About Jade Helm
A victim of Fidel Castro’s mass round-ups of dissidents in Cuba has expressed alarm about the upcoming Jade Helm exercise, writing that he is ‘worried immensely’ about the military drill set to take place in nine U.S. states this summer.
In a letter to the editor of the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Larry Daley remarks that he was shocked to see video out of Fort Lauderdale which features military and police training together to arrest citizens and take them to internment facilities.
“It has been more than 55 years since 1961 and the Castro-ordered round up suspected resistors in Cuba. According to some press reports in excess of 200,000 were arrested during the Bay of Pigs,” writes Daley. “My youngest sister and I were arrested and taken to improvised holding facilities. We ended up in the huge Blanquita Theater. We tried to sleep under lights on the theater seats for days on end. There were bodies on the floor. The sanitary facilities overflowed with sewage.”
His memories were stirred after reading about Jade Helm, a “realistic” military training exercise, which will involve the Green Berets, Navy Seals, and the 82nd Airborne Division, and is set to take place from July 15-Sepember 15.
Some fear that the drill is an escalation of preparations for martial law in America, plans for which have been in place for decades. During the exercise, troops will operate “undetected amongst civilian populations,” to see if they can infiltrate without being noticed.
The issue attracted controversy after Texas and Utah were labeled “hostile” territory in documents related to the exercise.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Were USDA Scientists Harassed for Questioning Roundup’s Safety?
It continues to be revealed to the public that the only legitimacy Monsanto and the rest of the biotech industry tout comes from payoffs, censorship, and bullying. On March 26th, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), an advocacy group for local, state, and federal researchers, filed a legal petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop the “political suppression or alteration of studies and to lay out clear procedures for investigating allegations of scientific misconduct.”
Reading in Between the Lines
According to Reuters, PEER’s Executive Director Jeff Ruch said that at least 10 USDA scientists have been investigated or faced other consequences arising from research that called into question the safety of certain agricultural chemicals. Ruch goes on to say that his organization had received mounting complaints over the last year from USDA scientists claiming they have been ordered to retract studies, water down findings, remove their names from authorship, and experienced delays in approvals for publication of research papers. The petition does not identify any specific research or scientists. One senior scientist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, who asked to not be named, told Reuters “Your words are changed, your papers are censored or edited or you are not allowed to submit them at all.” These increasing attacks and censorship on scientists all seem fitting as the world is currently rejecting glyphosate after its newclassification to a 2B carcinogen by the World Health Organization.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Witnesses: Police Let K-9 Maul Handcuffed Unconscious Man’s Face as They Beat Him to Death
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Phillip White, of Cumberland County NJ, died yesterday in custody after being beaten in the street by two Vineland police officers.
Police were arresting White at a home on the 100 block of Grape Street when witnesses say the officers proceeded to beat him brutally after he was already restrained and on the ground.
One of the officers is heard on the dispatch recording saying “Subject under…tried to disarm me.” However, eyewitness Agustin Ayala paints a different story, saying he saw the officers handcuff White and take him to the ground.
Ricardo Garcia, another eyewitness, is outraged. “The guy was out cold,” stated Garcia. “They punched him, stomped him, kicked him and then they let the dog out of the car. The dog bit him on his face and around his body. There’s no call for that. Once a man is handcuffed and unconscious, you should have stuck him in the patrol car and take him to the police station. Instead, they decided to beat him right here.”
White was taken into custody around 11am Tuesday morning and died shortly thereafter.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
You Are Not Going to Like This: What California’s Drought Means for US Food Prices
Almonds, avocados, artichokes, alfalfa — these foods may be easy on your belt, but as California’s historic drought deepens, they’ll get tougher on your wallet. The driest span on the West Coast in at least half a millennium is likely to make a whole range of produce more expensive across the country.
The Golden State produces nearly half the nation’s fruits and vegetables, including 95 percent of broccoli, 98 percent of garlic and 99 percent of walnuts. “California is basically all over your market basket,” says Penn State Professor James Dunn, who studies how weather affects food prices. “It’s important in almost any commodity,” Dunn says.
Though the USDA has previously predicted scant overall food price increases this year, Dunn says it’s now clear that the drought will have a “big impact” on grocery bills.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“GM-Free” Domino’s Caught Selling GMO-Laden Pizzas
It seems that the fast food giant Domino’s has been caught selling genetically modified ‘Frankenfood’ pizzas to customers while claiming to be ‘GM-free’ on its website, according to research by campaign group GM Freeze.
It has been revealed that Domino’s’ ‘thin and crispy’ pizza bases have been made using genetically modified soya bean oil and maize flour since February, despite the company’s website touting ‘GM-free.’
Similarly, Waitrose supermarket chain has been selling American sweets made with GM sugar beet and a soya derivative despite the company’s policy stating that no GM products will be used in its own-brand goods. Marks & Spencer has also been stocking American sauces and cookies containing GM soya and corn despite being ‘GMO-free.’
In response to the report, Domino’s did confirm that it has been using GMO ingredients with its thin and crispy pizza bases since the beginning of February. The change was reportedly sparked after a factory fire occurred to its usual supplier in Ireland. The firm apologized for not updating its website, and confirmed that it hopes to return to using non-GM bases in September.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Books About Islam Selling Out in France After Charlie Hebdo Terror Attack
Sales of books about the religion were three times higher in the first quarter of 2015 in France compared to the same time last, according to the French National Union of Bookshops.
Books about Islam are flying off the shelves and selling out in France after the deadly Charlie Hebdo terror attacks in Paris raised questions about the religion.
Sales of books about the religion were three times higher in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same time last year, according to the French National Union of Bookshops.
Mansour Mansour, who runs the Al Bouraq publishing house specialising on Islam and the Middle East, said his sales have shot up by 30 per cent since the attacks.
He said: ‘The same happened after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
‘Now the spike is likely to last longer because Islam will continue to pose a geo-political problem.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Researcher: “The Better Integrated, The Higher the Risk of Radicalization”
By Nicolai Sennels
Muslims are not radicalized by poverty, racism or lack of integration. Muslims are radicalized by Islam. The fact is that Islam is the only religion where its followers become more violent, the more they follow their religion.
Translated by Thomas from Standaard:
“The better integrated, the higher the risk of radicalization.
Author: Dr. Marion van San, Senior Researcher at RISBO, an independent research institute, active in the field of learning and society that is affiliated with the Faculty of Social Sciences at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Since 2009 she has conducted ethnographic studies of families of radicalizing youths.
Since we know that many young people left Belgium, but also from other European countries, to join the armed conflict in Syria, a fierce debate has erupted. However, the debate as conducted in Belgium is permeated by a series of stereotypes, that are not consistent with what is known from international literature, and that block a proper analysis of the phenomenon.
That young people from Europe who leave for Syria are victims of a society that does not accept them, and does not offer them sufficient opportunities — a proposition that Rik Coolsaet has supported in an earlier edition of this newspaper — is however not supported by empirical evidence.
[…]
[…] the children and grandchildren of immigrants, who were born and raised here, focus heavily on Belgian society. They seek social acceptance and mobility, and do everything possible to integrate. The result is that they have higher social expectations than others and are often more sensitive to exclusion and (alleged) discrimination. Negative experiences can turn them away from society and cause them to seek refuge in a deviant group identity.
I therefore dare say that the better young people are integrated, the greater the chance is that they radicalize. This hypothesis is supported by a lot of evidence.
[If they attend universities, they are also subjected to a lot of hard-left race indoctrination, which heightens their resentment. “You are a victim of racism, you are the downtrodden ‘Other,’ whites are privileged in ways that you are not, etc. etc. ad nauseam. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
France Moves in the Direction of Banning Cash
At least compared to the new emerging form of “electronic money” (i.e. debit cards, credit cards, online banking, etc.), cash at least still holds onto that one positive quality, which is the privacy it can offer its user.
Although, that may be set to change. Western governments around the world have turned their eyes in the direction of cash and are pushing forward with laws and regulations to restrict its use.
One country that is leading the charge against its people is France, who hide behind the illusion that the changes they are moving towards are simply an effort to combat terrorism. Again, “the war on terrorism” has become the common scapegoat that western governments have used whenever they are taking away privacy or ramping up control over its people.
Come September, France will begin more closely monitoring its citizens’ transactions and withdrawals of money. People will not be able to make cash payments of more than 1,000 euros in one transaction, this is down from the already low 3,000 euro limit.
Additionally, any withdrawal of more than 10,000 euros in one month will automatically trigger an investigation by the Tracfin anti-fraud and money laundering agency.
Furthermore, the ability to use cash will be further limited by the fact that in order to convert more than 1,000 euros into another currency, you will need to show a valid ID card. This threshold has plummeted from the previous 8,000 euro limit.
Of course, this is all hogwash. Unfortunately, despite the French government’s best efforts, if a terrorist wants to gain access to funds, then they are going to do so. These laws and restrictions are going to do nothing to stop them. Rather, they are going to hinder even more of its peoples freedom to access and use their own money.
This is the true point of these changes. Western governments around the world have already taken similar actions, although not yet as severe as France. But don’t rejoice yet, more will be following suit.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jihadists Undergo Radicalisation Training in Deepest Rural West Wales
Locations in Ceredigion, Powys and Pembrokeshire, pictured, are being used by jihadists to radicalise other Muslims, according to an officer from the Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sales of Books on Islam Soar in France After Paris Attacks
Books on Islam are selling out in France after deadly extremist attacks in the capital raised uncomfortable questions about Europe’s fastest-growing religion.
A special magazine supplement focused on the Koran has flown off the shelves, and shops are selling more books on Islam than ever after the Paris attacks in January that left 17 dead.
“The French are asking more and more questions, and they feel less satisfied than ever by the answers they’re getting from the media,” said Fabrice Gerschel, director of Philosophie magazine, which published the supplement.
Sales of books on Islam were three times higher in the first quarter of 2015 than this time last year, according to the French National Union of Bookshops.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists Say New Study is a ‘Death Blow’ To Global Warming Hysteria
A new study out of Germany casts further doubt on the so-called global warming “consensus” by suggesting the atmosphere may be less sensitive to increases in carbon dioxide emissions than most scientists think.
A study by scientists at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Meteorology found that man-made aerosols had a much smaller cooling effect on the atmosphere during the 20th Century than was previously thought. Why is this big news? It means increases in carbon dioxide emissions likely cause less warming than most climate models suggest.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Taxing Itself Into Oblivion
I have two months left in Sweden before I return home to USA. Honestly, I’m starting to feel like the guy in a bad movie that manages to get his plane off the ground two seconds before the runway crumbles into the abyss.
The security concerns with returning ISIS fighters aside, the social tensions are mounting rapidly alongside the enormous cost of the unprecedented increase in immigration.
Aftenposten, one of Norway’s major newspapers, did a big story yesterday comparing the very generous (by European standards) immigration of Norway vs. the jaw-dropping kamikaze approach of Sweden.
The article is entitled “Facts about immigration to Sweden that the Swedes would rather not talk about” and summarizes the madness pretty well. If you don’t want to run it through a translator, the graphs speak loud and clear for themselves:…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Military Puts Focus on Equality in Design
The Swedish military is launching a major equipment design overhaul in the interests of equality. The aim is to ensure all military gear, from uniforms to weapons, is suitable for everyone serving, regardless of gender or body size.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: All Babies to Receive Meningitis Vaccine, Despite Package Insert Warnings
The UK government has announced it will begin vaccinating babies two months of age and older against meningitis B, an audacious campaign undertaken despite published warnings from vaccine manufacturers.
“I am very proud that we will be the first country in the world to have a nationwide MenB vaccination program, helping to protect our children from a devastating disease,” Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt stated over the weekend.
UK officials made the announcement after reaching a pricing agreement, of which “details will not be disclosed,” according to New Scientist, with vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline after the pharmaceutical giant bought competitor Novartis’ vaccine division.
The vaccine schedule, launching in September, will be rigorous.
“The vaccine will be introduced into the UK routine programme for babies at 2, 4 and 12 months of age,” Meningitis.org explains…
Warnings that come directly from the previous vaccine manufacturer, Novartis, also aren’t too reassuring.
The final version of the vaccine’s insert states that its “safety,” particularly in young children, is an issue.
“Safety and effectiveness of BEXSERO have not been established in children younger than 10 years of age,” Novartis’ insert notes, adding that “Sufficient data are not available to establish the safety and immunogenicity of concomitant administration of BEXSERO with recommended adolescent vaccines.”
Adverse events include anything from myalgia (muscle aches), to erythema (redness of the skin), fatigue, induration, nausea, headaches and joint pain.
Other meningococcal vaccines, produced for serotypes A, C, Y and W-135, have also been responsible for a multitude of reported adverse reactions, including death.
[Comment: Slow Kill depopulation agenda moving towards Faster Kill.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Abu Rahin Aziz Who Skipped Bail to Join ISIS Brags of Ex-Rapper Jihadi Friend
Abu Rahin Aziz, 33, from Luton, fled the UK before he was handed a 36-week jail sentence in absence for attacking a football fan with a pen in London after claiming the man ‘insulted the Prophet Mohammed’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Drug Company Novartis ‘Bullied Doctors to Block Cheap Treatment for Sight-Loss’
Drug company Novartis has been accused of trying to block trials aimed at promoting a ‘cheap, safe and effective’ treatment for sight loss which would save the NHS around £102million a year.
A drug company has been accused of trying to block trials aimed at promoting a ‘cheap, safe and effective’ treatment for sight loss on the NHS.
It has ‘bullied’ experts who have tried to prove that a cancer drug can be used to treat one of the most common forms of blindness, according to the BMJ.
The respected medical journal says Avastin is just as effective at tackling wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) as the current treatment, Lucentis.
Avastin is much cheaper and it is estimated that widespread use of the drug would save the NHS around £102million a year.
But the BMJ says the drug company has consistently tried to ‘undermine and divert attention’ from trials to prove Avastin works — even turning to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) for help.
Wet AMD is the most common form of blindness in people over 50. Findings from clinical trials suggest Avastin is safe and effective in treating AMD — but it costs £70 per treatment compared with £740 for an injection of Lucentis.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Father of Teenage Jihadist Arrested in Turkey Works in Ministry of Defence Post Office
It is believed the man, from Brent, north west London, works in the military’s post office, where he would have had access to the names and address of all military personnel at home and overseas.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: New Dads to Get Six Weeks Off Under Lib Dem Plan to Treble Paternity Leave
The move by the Liberal Democrats will be seen as a bid to woo women voters and young families ahead of the General Election, but will concern the business community.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sheikh Given Permission to Build Six-Storey Car Park in London for Luxury Cars and Driving Staff
One of the world’s richest men is planning to build a six-storey car park next to the River Thames so he can house his fleet of luxury vehicles.
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 65, is planning to build the development, which will cost an estimated £20 million, next to the Battersea heliport.
According to the Daily Mail, it will include offices, bathrooms, three triple-bedroom flats for his drivers, as well as space for 114 cars.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Under 18s Should Not be Allowed to Vote in an EU Referendum Say UKIP
The party said children were being exposed to ‘propaganda’ from Brussels in a bid to ‘catch them young’ — including ‘colouring-in books on the Common Agricultural Policy’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgaria Breaks Islamist Propaganda Network
Bulgaria, a transit country for the so-called foreign fighters traveling to and from Iraq and Syria, is in the process of dismantling a radical Islamist propaganda network of its own.
Police near the country’s second biggest city of Plovdiv, some 130 kilometres southeast of Sofia, arrested eight men on Tuesday (31 March) on charges of belonging to a group that “spread an antidemocratic ideology and war propaganda”.
The arrests were made in poor Roma neighbourhoods of Plovdiv and the near towns of Asenovgrad and Pazardzhik.
Bulgaria, a 80-percent Christian Orthodox country of 7.2 million, is home of some half a million of ethnic Turks all of whom are Muslim, about 400,000 Roma who are partly Muslim, partly Christian, and a smaller minority of Bulgarian-speaking Muslims, the so-called Pomaks.
Neighbouring Turkey is a major transit route for European jihadists who travel to Iraq and Syria or return after having fought there.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chaos in Yemen: Chinese Troops Arrive as US-Armed Rebels Set Sights on Central Bank
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are now in control of the central Crater district in the key Yemeni port city of Aden.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chaos, disaster and death that will remain ongoing for as long as this administration remains in charge, chasing its self-aggrandizing “historic” legacy.
No one ought to be more embarrassed by this latest development than the Obama administration, whose ongoing determination to label Yemen a counter-terrorist success story, now borders on Orwellian. The descent into ideologically-induced denial began last August when all non-essential U.S. personnel were ordered by the State Department to leave the country, and all other Americans were urged to leave because of “the continued potential for terrorist attacks.” One month later, President Obama insisted the “strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: ISIS Loses Battle for Tikrit as Government Forces Raise Flag in City
Iraq claims security and allied forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition aircraft retook the hometown of former president Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi tricolour was raised.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Minister Reveals Mass Murder Burial Sites Located
Whether we’re a believer or unbeliever or not, most of us would like to think that as human beings we all exist to improve our surroundings, enrich the lives of those around us, and together leave the world a better place than we found it.
Seeing horrible acts, and anguished people day in and day out for years now, one comes to the realization that, there is more to the struggle between believers and unbelievers — good and evil, there is something even greater, more fundamental, beneath everything we base our lives on, from our decision making, to whether or not we are going shopping this weekend.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Militants Massacre 30 Civilians in Syria by ‘Burning, Beheading and Firing on Them’
The Sunni extremists carried out a savage attack on the village of Al-Mabujeh in the central Syrian province of Hama earlier this morning, according to a monitoring group.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Surrender to Iran Postponed
According to an Associated Press report, the Iranian nuke negotiations have engendered an agreement — to continue taking in hopes of reaching a final agreement by the end of June. As an unnamed senior U.S. official put it, talks between Iran and the P5+1 powers (the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany) would continue past yesterday’s deadline for the outline of an agreement if enough progress was made to justify that extension. By late yesterday that contention was confirmed: talks will continue through today.
As talks wound down in Lausanne, Switzerland, the words “framework agreement’ had been softened to “framework of understanding” reflecting the reality that major issues remain unresolved. They include differences regarding the allowable scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, where stockpiles of enriched uranium should be located, what limits on Iran’s nuclear research and development should be imposed, and the timing and range of sanctions relief that would be granted in return.
The change of language was apparently a response, at least in part, to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who voiced his opposition to a two-stage agreement earlier this year. Khamenei wants a single deal with specifics that doesn’t allow for any wiggle room by Western nations that could “make things difficult’ for Tehran.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Poisonous Petrostates: Iran Could Become a Second Saudi Arabia if Sanctions Are Lifted
You could argue that Iran is already Saudi Arabia’s mirror image — Tehran’s Shia theocracy reflecting Riyadh’s Sunni-fundamentalist visage. But, constrained by economic sanctions, Iran has lacked the resources to match Saudi Arabia’s influence. They may never be equals, but without the economic restraints, the Islamic Republic will have the ability to spread mayhem across the Middle East, more overtly, more effectively, and with more immediate destabilizing consequences, than the kingdom ever has.
Even if the US Congress decides Iran isn’t keeping to the deal and imposes new sanctions, the Obama administration would not be able — if indeed it were inclined to try — to get the other Western powers to go along, much less Russia or China. Although the negotiators have until the end of June to work out the nitty-gritty of the Lausanne arrangement, the other members of the P5 +1 have signaled they will drop sanctions as soon as Iran has complied with the terms.
And given what Iran has managed to do with its few resources thus far — protecting Bashar al-Assad in Syria, supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, backing the Houthis in Yemen, and building new militias in Iraq — it is frightening to contemplate how much more havoc the regime will wreak when the sanctions shackles come off.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Proxy War in Yemen: Saudi Arabia and Iran Vie for Regional Supremacy
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition continues to bombard Yemen in an effort to stop the advance of an Iran-backed Shiite militia there. The conflict is becoming a proxy war for regional supremacy. The risks to the House of Saud are great.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Ready to Sell S-300 Missiles to Iran if Sanctions Fall
Russia may resume a deal to deliver S-300 surface-to-air defense systems to Iran if only the UN decides to lift its ban on arms sales to Tehran, a leading Russian defense expert said on Friday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Half of Kingdom’s Population Will be Diabetic by 2030
Half of the Kingdom’s population will be diabetic by 2030 if precautionary measures are not taken, according to official statistics from the International Diabetes Federation. Dr. Kamel Salama, secretary general of the Diabetes and Endocrine Glands Association in the Eastern Region and former director of surgery and diagnosis at Dhahran Health Center at Saudi Aramco, said the Kingdom occupies first place in the prevalence of diabetes in the MENA region with nearly 24 percent of the population having been diagnosed with the disease.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Al-Qaeda Commander at Home in a Governor’s Palace
An al-Qaeda commander freed in a prison raid that took advantage of the chaos engulfing Yemen has been photographed sitting in the office of the local provincial governor.
Khaled Batarfi was among hundreds of prisoners freed when fighters from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) swept into the prison, in the Yemeni port city of Mukalla on Thursday morning.
He had been held for four years, after being captured as AQAP swept across southern Yemen, seizing Abyan province, of which he briefly became “emir”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Video Purportedly Shows ISIS Destroying Ancient Iraq City
Islamic State extremists at Iraq’s ancient city of Hatra destroyed the archaeological site by smashing sledgehammers into its walls and shooting Kalashnikov assault rifles at priceless statues, a new militant video purportedly from the group shows.
Militants attacked Hatra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, last month, officials and local residents said, though the extent of the damage remains unclear as it is in territory still controlled by the Islamic State group.
The video, released overnight Friday, shows a militant on a ladder using a sledgehammer to bang repeatedly on the back of one of the carved faces until it crashes to the ground and breaks into pieces. The video also shows a militant firing a Kalashnikov rifle at another, while men chop away the bases of some of the larger wall sculptures.
The video corresponded with Associated Press reporting on the attack and was posted to a militant website frequently used by the group.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
When the Iran Deal Hits the Fan
President Barack Obama is acting much like Neville Chamberlain did, heralding a deal with Iran over their nuclear endeavors that is being put together. Obama practically called the deal “peace in our time,” and then warned the Republicans, who are not so fast to trust Iran, that they better forget about their constitutional authority to take action against the final deal that is in the works at this moment.
“The issues at stake here are bigger than politics,” Obama said during remarks in the White House Rose Garden. “These are matters of war and peace, and they should be evaluated based on the facts.”
The facts, however, are being ignored. Islam desires war, and is playing the appeasers for fools…
Obama’s actions are no longer just actions dangerous to our American System. Now, the lives of people around the world are in danger because of his radical leftist actions. The “diplomacy” he claims he is pursuing is setting the world up for the next world war.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgarian PM Criticises France and Germany for Accepting Crimea Annexation
Bulgaria’s prime minister Boiko Borisov has criticised the leaders of Germany and France for de facto accepting Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
“On a purely diplomatic level, this move (the annexation) will always be protested but somehow the western world swallowed Crimea”, Borisov told the Sofia-based TV+.
Borisov added that the West would never utter “in its diplomatic language that it has stomached Crimea” but that it actually had because of “the very fact that the Crimea is never mentioned when we speak about the Minsk agreement”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In the Army, Now! Ukraine Officials Raid Dorms to Draft Students
Representatives of enlistment offices burst into student dormitories to ‘catch’ those evading the military service.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Neo-Nazi Right Sector Becomes Part of Ukrainian Armed Forces
Ukraine’s Right Sector volunteer battalion is joining the Ukrainian armed forces to serve as part of the 79th Mobile Air Brigade, a senior presidential advisor said in Kiev on Friday.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Semyon Poltorak said that all volunteer battalions taking part in the so-called “antiterrorist operation” in Donbass must report to the country’s top military brass.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Poroshenko Submits Bill on Martial Law to Ukraine’s Parliament
KIEV, April 3. /TASS/. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has submitted a draft law on legal procedures for introducing a martial law to the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament said on its website on Friday.
The document stipulates rules for introducing and lifting martial law in the country.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Did Not Threaten West With Nukes to Protect Crimea — Kremlin
Russia did not threaten the West with nuclear weapons over the protection of the Crimean Peninsula, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
“Of course not,” Peskov told journalists in response to a question of Russia’s apparent threat of using nuclear arms to protect Crimea.
Earlier Thursday, two British newspapers, The Times and The Independent, claimed that Russia intended to use nuclear force to protect Crimea in March 2014 if NATO had moved additional forces to the Baltic states. Western media reports of Russian alleged threats to use nuclear weapons in the Baltics is a clear example of ongoing hysteria in demonizing Russia, Kremlin spokesman said.
“This is a classic example of the continuing hysteria in demonizing our country, that is they are literally twisting the situation around themselves in their information plans, while not even being guided by any fundamental information, then they get scared over what they wrote,” Peskov told journalists in Moscow.
He added that “such publications shouldn’t be taken seriously.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Brothers Who Let Off Firecrackers at Joint Wedding Face Terrorism Charges in Pakistan
Officers in Karachi said the grooms went ‘too far’ during the celebrations, and have charged the brothers and three other people under the explosive provisions of anti-terrorism legislation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tashkent’s Shakespearean Drama: Scandal Shakes Uzbekistan’s Ruling Family
Germany’s closest ally in Central Asia is a brutal dictator. Islam Karimov has ruled Uzbekistan with an iron fist for a quarter-century. Now, Shakespearean plotting within his own family is raising questions about who will succeed the 77-year-old leader.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Building a ‘Great Wall of Sand’ In South China Sea — US Navy
The US has accused Beijing of “unprecedented land reclamation,” claiming China is “creating a great wall of sand” over four square kilometers, in the disputed area in the South China Sea. The move has caused concerns over China’s territorial intentions.
Speaking at a naval conference in Australia, US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Harry Harris Jr. said China has been “pumping sand on to live coral reefs — some of them submerged — and paving over them with concrete. China has now created over 4 square kilometers (1.5 square miles) of artificial landmass.”
“But what’s really drawing a lot of concern in the here and now is the unprecedented land reclamation currently being conducted by China,” Harris said.
Harris reminded that the region is known for its beautiful natural islands, but “in sharp contrast, China is creating a great wall of sand with dredges and bulldozers over the course of months.” Submerged reefs in the Spratlys archipelago have been turned into artificial islands with buildings, wharves and runways.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Islam and Anti-Racism Protesters Clash Around Australia
Thousands of anti-Islam and anti-racism protesters clashed in angry rallies around Australia on Saturday.
The most violent clash was in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, where police struggled to separate 3,000 opposing demonstrators.
Reclaim Australia, a community group, organized rallies in 16 cities and towns around Australia against Islamic extremism, the “Islamization” of Australian society, Islamic Sharia law and the Halal-certification of most meats sold in Australia.
The protesters condemned the cost of the certification for a Muslim minority that is less than 3 percent of the Australian population as a “Halal tax” on the nation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Al Shabaab Threatens More Attacks Against Kenya
Al Shabaab threatened Saturday to stage more bloody attacks on Kenya after the jihadist group’s fighters killed nearly 150 people at a university on Thursday, while Kenyan authorities announced they had arrested five suspects.
The al-Qaeda aligned group said the attack was retribution for Kenya’s presence in Somalia as part of the African Union force supporting the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu. They also cited mistreatment of Muslims within Kenya.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Terror Group Targets Christians in Bloody Attack on Kenyan University, Over 140 Dead
NAIROBI, Kenya — Over 140 Kenyan students were shot dead today as an Islamic terror group carried out a bloody attack aimed at Christians at a university in Nairobi.
“We sorted people out and released the Muslims,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the spokesman for the group Al-Shabaab, which took responsibility for the armed assault, announced. “There are many dead bodies of Christians inside the building. We are also holding many Christians alive.”
The incident occurred at Garissa University in the early morning hours on Thursday, where four masked gunman threw explosives at the main gate outside of the property, and then entered the building and began gunning students down. Reports state that shouts of “Allahu Akbar,” or “Allah is the greatest,” were heard as the attack was underway.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: Extremists Vows More Attacks; President Responds
GARISSA, Kenya (AP) — Somalia’s Islamic extremist group al-Shabab warned Saturday of more attacks in Kenya like the assault on Garissa University College that killed 148 people.
“Kenyan cities will run red with blood,” said al-Shabab according to the SITE intelligence monitoring group.
The Islamic militants said the attack on Garissa college was in retaliation for killings carried out by Kenyan troops fighting the rebels in Somalia.
“No amount of precaution or safety measures will be able to guarantee your safety, thwart another attack or prevent another bloodbath,” said al-Shabab….
| [Return to headlines] |
Kenyatta Says Campus Attackers ‘Embedded’ In Kenya’s Muslim Community
(Reuters) — Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Saturday that those behind an attack in which al Shabaab Islamist militants killed 148 people at a university were “deeply embedded” in Kenya, and called on Kenyan Muslims to help prevent radicalization.
His televised speech in response to Thursday’s 15-hour siege at the Garissa university campus came after the Interior Ministry said five suspects in the assault had been detained, some while trying to flee to Somalia.
Four suspects were Kenyans of Somali origin, and the fifth was Tanzanian, the ministry said. The suspected mastermind, Mohamed Mohamud, a former teacher at a Garissa madrasa, is still on the run. Kenya has offered a 20 million shillings ($215,000) reward for his arrest.
“Our task of countering terrorism has been made all the more difficult by the fact that the planners and financiers of this brutality are deeply embedded in our communities,” Kenyatta said.
“Radicalization that breeds terrorism is not conducted in the bush at night. It occurs in the full glare of day, in madrasas, in homes, and in mosques with rogue imams.”
[“Rogue” imams, Mr. Kenyatta? In what sense, pray tell? Can you cite the Qur’anic mandates these creatures are violating? No, you cannot — because they’re following the ignoble Qur’an, chapter and verse. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
A manhunt is under way for the terrorist who masterminded the murder of 147 people in Kenya.
The country’s most wanted man has been identified as Mohamed Mohamud, a former teacher who has a £145,000 bounty on his head for orchestrating the massacre at Garissa University College.
The attack on the university by al-Shabaab terrorists, acting on Mohamud’s orders, was the deadliest on Kenyan soil since the bombing of the American embassy in 1998.
Mohamud, who is a Kenyan national of Somali heritage, is a former teacher with three wives and is thought to be in his mid-40s.
He has been linked to a number of previous attacks and is thought to have been the key figure in the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, where 67 shoppers were killed in 2013, a Somali security source told The Guardian.
[…]
He then taught and became a principal at an Islamic school from 1997 to 2000, where his ‘extremist tendencies’ intensified, according to the paper. Mohamud later joined Al Shabaab in Somalia and now leads the group in Kenya.
His organisation has lost several men following some successes by Kenyan security forces, including the loss of his associate Sheikh Mohamed Ali Kheir.
A security source claimed: ‘He has become extremely offended by the latest counter-terrorism activities in Garissa and seeks to avenge these deaths.’
[Always avenging something, aren’t they? Like our very existence. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Laughing Somali Gunmen Taunted Victims in University Massacre
By Adow Jubat
Garissa (Kenya) (AFP) — Piles of bodies and pools of blood running down the corridors: survivors of the Kenya university massacre described how laughing gunmen taunted their victims amid scenes of total carnage.
Salias Omosa, an 20-year-old education student, said the victims were woken up at gunpoint in Thursday’s pre-dawn attack, and Muslims and non-Muslims picked out by “how they were dressed”.
“‘We don’t fear death, this will be a good Easter holiday for us,’ the attackers were shouting in Swahili, then shooting their guns,” Omosa recounted, still trembling with terror and sitting in the refuge of a military camp.
Omosa managed to escape amid the carnage at Garissa University, after seeing two of his friends executed by the Al-Qaeda-linked attackers, who he said were wearing masks and military-style uniforms.
“I have seen many things, but nothing like that,” said Reuben Nyaora, a clinical officer working for the aid agency International Rescue Committee (IRC).
“There were bodies everywhere in execution lines, we saw people whose heads had been blown off, bullet wounds everywhere, it was a grisly mess,” Nyaora told AFP.
[…]
He described how he witnessed three women apparently dead, covered head to toe entirely in blood but in fact physically unharmed, pick themselves up from a pile of corpses.
“The ladies said the gunmen had screamed out in Swahili as they shot the men: ‘We have come to be kill and be killed,’“ Nyaora said.
“Then they told the women to ‘swim in the blood’“, as though they were making fun of them, playing games and apparently enjoying the killing, he said, before moving on after apparently forgetting to shoot them too.
[One — ONE — good man with a .45 automatic could have stopped this Saturnalia of slaughter. This is why the Pact of Umar, imposed upon Christians in Syria by their Muslim conquerors in the 7th century, stipulates that We shall not mount on saddles, nor shall we gird swords nor bear any kind of arms nor carry them on our persons. Do not let yourself be disarmed. And if you live in a country whose government has already imposed civilian disarmament, score for something on the black market. It is your unalienable right. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Media Hides Muslims Killing Christians
Alex Jones breaks down the latest Kenyan shooting and how the media is refusing to call this a product of radical Islam.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muhammadu Buhari Beats Goodluck Jonathan in Nigerian Elections
General Muhammadu Buhari, 72, (right) beat incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan(left) by 2.1million votes as the ballots in Nigeria’s 36 states have been counted.
General Buhari, who has previously made three failed attempts to win the presidency, ruled Nigeria from 1984 until mid-1985, after a seizing power in a military coup.
His brief dictatorship saw him rule the nation with an iron fist, jailing people for trivial missteps such as public littering, and punishing civil servants who arrived late to work with gruelling physical exercises.
Buhari was eventually was overthrown by his own soldiers after attempting to cover up Nigeria’s deepening economic crisis, by silencing the press and jailing journalists.
[Comment: Obama’s Axelrod was in Nigeria to help the Islamists. “The Nigerian presidential election is coming up Saturday, March 28, 2015. AKPD, the political consulting group founded by Obama confidante David Axelrod, is assisting Retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim presidential candidate from Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria, where Boko Haram was spawned and wields the most influence.” www.examiner.com/article/obama-obstructing-battle-against-boko-haram-to-promote-axelrod-s-nigeian-client]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Somali Militants Threaten ‘Another Bloodbath’ In Kenya
(CNN) Somali militants threatened Saturday to stage “another bloodbath” in Kenya following their assault this week on a university in which they killed 147 people in Garissa.
The threat drew a sharp response from Nadif Jama, the governor for Garissa county.
“The fallacy and satanic mindset of Al Shabaab is that in Somalia, they kill Muslims and Somalis,” Jama said. “They cross the border here and then say they are killing non-Muslims. That is a tricky way of doing business.”
Jama said the militants were “bent on nothing but destruction” and aimed to sow division between Muslims and non-Muslims.
“But that is something we need to fight,” Jama said.
[Given that the division between the Dar al-Harb (House of War) and the Dar al-Islam (House of Islam) has been propounded in Islam for many centuries, that’s going to be an uphill fight indeed. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa: Poaching the Creature That’s More Valuable Than Gold
Last year a record 1,215 rhinos were slaughtered for their horns in South Africa — and at the same time, 42 poachers were killed by rangers and police. This bloody conflict is fuelled by the mistaken belief in Asia that rhino horn cures cancer, and it’s growing more intense every year.
Wildlife crime is the fourth largest global illegal trade, according to WWF, after drugs, counterfeiting, and human trafficking. Rhino horn is one of the world’s most expensive commodities, fetching about $60,000 (£40,500) per kilogram — it’s worth more, gram for gram, than diamonds and gold.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. Cynthia Cheroitich’s rescue, 50 hours after the attack in Kenya began, came as a photograph of a blood-stained classroom filled with bodies was revealed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why Mass Shooters Target Gun-Free Zones
The Al-Shabaab terror attack which left 147 people dead at a college in Kenya Thursday may have been averted if citizens had been permitted to carry firearms, as previously outlined by the chief of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Former President Fidel Castro Appears in Public in Cuba After More Than a Year
HAVANA — Former longtime Cuban president Fidel Castro has appeared in public for the first time in more than a year, official media reported.
The Cubadebate website says Castro greeted a group of Venezuelans visiting the capital of Havana.
Cubadebate on Friday published four images that show Castro sitting inside a vehicle, each with a different person stretching an arm through the window to shake his hand. Castro’s face is largely obscured by a dark-colored baseball cap. He sports longish gray hair and a beard.
The website said the encounter occurred Monday, but did not explain the delay in publishing the photos.
Castro will turn 89 on Aug. 13. He was last seen in public at the inauguration of an artist’s studio in January 2014.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mass Killings of Dogs Stuns Mexican City
Somebody is systematically poisoning the dogs of Hermosillo, an industrial city in northern Mexico, and not just strays: At least 64 dogs, all with owners, have died of a similar poison since mid-March. More stray animals have probably been killed, but had no one to file a complaint, authorities say.
An organic phosphate compound, possible an insecticide or rat poison, apparently was used in most of the cases, and local media have dubbed the person responsible the “Mataperros,” or “The Dog Killer.”
Not even dogs kept behind the walls of their owners’ homes are safe: Officials say the killer has tossed poison into the gated patios of some homes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela: The Price of Revolution
Venezuela has more oil than Saudi Arabia and more poverty than Brazil. As the world’s only left-wing petrostate, it hopes to light a revolutionary path to prosperity for Latin America’s poor. The country’s an economic and social mess, though, with inflation pushing 70 percent, the world’s highest rate, and a homicide rate second only to Honduras. With the price of oil falling by half in the second half of 2014, the legacy of the late President Hugo Chavez is at risk as his hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, struggles to keep providing cheap oil and other subsidies to buy influence abroad and popular support at home. Citizens wait in long lines to find scarce household items from deodorant to toilet paper.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
18 Asylum Seekers Heading for England Found in Dutch Port
18 people have been found hidden in a consignment of tyres in a truck in the port of Hoek van Holland, local broadcaster RTV Rijnmond reported on Saturday. The driver, a 58-year-old man from Lithuania, has been arrested on charges of human trafficking, the broadcaster said. The 18 people — 15 men and three women — come from Afghanistan, Syria, India, Pakistan and Iraq, the border police said. All have been told they will have to leave the Netherlands immediately. The lorry was heading for England by ferry when the asylum seekers were sniffed out by a pollice dog.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
On Friday, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, along with Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) and Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), sent a letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and ICE Deputy Assistant Secretary Saldaña warning them not to release an illegal immigrant with drug-resistant tuberculosis into the general public.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Using Your Tax Dollars to “Resettle” Central Americans in the United States
Judicial Watch reports today the Obama administration is offering to move illegal minor aliens from Central America to the U.S. and will provide free transportation.
The administration has assigned a new title for Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC). They will be known by a more politically correct name: Central American Minors (CAM).
The “program provides certain children in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras with a safe, legal, and orderly alternative to the dangerous journey that some children are undertaking to the United States,” according to a DHS memo obtained by Judicial Watch.
Bureaucrats and activists are attempting to hide the program from the media and avoid criticism.
[Comment: Part of the population replacement agenda aka importing Democrat voters.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Concerned about the alleged “mistreatment” of Border Patrol and other Homeland Security employees who are trying to enforce immigration law, Republican senators want to know how may DHS employees have been disciplined over the last six years for refusing to comply with the Obama administration’s “prosecutorial discretion” policy.
“We write regarding potential retaliation against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel for upholding their oaths of office and faithfully discharging the duties of the offices in which they serve,” eight Republicans said in a March 31 letter sent to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson.
The Republicans pointed to President Obama’s Feb. 25 remarks in an MSNBC/Telemundo interview, in which the president said:
“There may be individual (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officials or Border Patrol who aren’t paying attention to our new directives. But they’re going to be answerable to the head of the Department of Homeland Security, because he’s been very clear about what our priorities should be…If somebody is working for ICE and there is a policy and they don’t follow the policy there are going to be consequences to it.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Why is No Major Party Addressing Immigration?
by Stephen Glover
There is an issue which apparently matters to voters more than any other: immigration. Yet in the election campaign no party except for Ukip has mentioned it, writes STEPHEN GLOVER.
Here is a conundrum. There is an issue which apparently matters to voters more than any other. More even than the economy. It’s called immigration. And yet so far in the election campaign no party except for Ukip has bothered to mention it.
That it is of pre-eminent concern to millions of people can scarcely be doubted. According to the respected pollster YouGov, throughout last year it was consistently the most important political issue to voters, outscoring the economy and even the NHS. There is no reason to suppose this situation has changed.
Could there be any more telling example of the detachment of the political class from the anxieties of ordinary people than its refusal to address — at any rate so far — the question that most troubles them?
[Comment: Major parties are ignoring it intentionally. Their marching orders are to use migration to eliminate the “nation state”. Major parties never worked for the people.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“Hate Speech”: YouTube Deletes Viral Anti-Feminist Video
A viral anti-feminist video which showed men defending themselves against violent assaults by women was controversially deleted after YouTube deemed the video to be a form of “hate speech”.
Uploaded by a YouTube user called RedPillPhilosophy, the video received over 1.1 million views and over 9,000 likes on YouTube alone before it was taken down.
The clip showed numerous instances of women attacking men and men defending themselves in an effort to make the point that feminists don’t truly believe in “gender equality”. “All the video ever did was document people defending themselves against bullies, aggressors (and) violent people,” commented the uploader, noting that the idea we live in a “patriarchy” is discredited if men defending themselves against violence was considered to be “hate speech”.
“Apparently we live in a society where a woman who is bullying somebody should get a free pass,” he added, noting that a video showing women defending themselves against men would have been celebrated.
The incident also illustrates how YouTube’s policy on deleting videos is driven by mob rule. So long as enough individuals can be encouraged to flag a video, it is automatically censored no matter the nature of its content.
Watch the original video that was deleted here and decide for yourself whether it represents “hate speech”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
After Indiana Backlash, Cracks Appear in Texas Bills
As Indiana faces boycotts and national ridicule for its recently-passed “religious freedom” law, a handful of bills facing Texas lawmakers this session would go much further, threatening to gut a 15-year-old law that offers protection to gays and lesbians from discrimination.
Texas’ Religious Freedom Restoration Act states the government cannot “substantially burden” someone’s free exercise of their religious beliefs. Unlike the law passed in Indiana this month, Texas’ was a bipartisan effort that civil rights groups say has done a good job of balancing religious liberty and nondiscrimination, particularly because it includes a number of exemptions to protect civil rights and local ordinances. When then-Gov. George W. Bush signed it into law in 1999, some faith-based groups complained that it represented a “victory for gay rights groups around the country.”
Unhappy with the current law, a number of state legislators this session are attempting to “enhance” Texas’ religion freedom laws. They already are pumping the brakes, however, in the wake of intense opposition from the business community, agreeing to tweak their bills to ameliorate concerns that it targets the gay community. Civil rights and business groups, however, say the changes do not go far enough, voicing hope that the outcry lobbed at similar proposals in Indiana, and now Arkansas, will kill the legislation before it gains legs in Texas.
“This thing is equally bad or worse than Indiana, and look what’s happening there,” said Bill Hammond, head of the powerful lobbying group the Texas Association of Business. Organizations as disparate as NASCAR, Walmart and Apple have blasted Indiana and Arkansas for their laws, already prompting the governors of both states to backpedal on their support.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Apple CEO: Hates Indiana Christians But Does Business With Countries That Execute Gays, Stone Women
Apple CEO Tim Cook is making a particular point this week to attack Christians in Indiana calling them “dangerous” but it seems he has no problem at all selling his products in Muslim-led countries that kill gays for being gay and stone women when they are raped. Nor does he have a problem making his product in China, the world’s leading violator of human rights.
Clearly Tim Cook is a huge hypocrite… like all liberals are.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
First Amendment Violated by LGBT Bigots; Indiana Law Should Stand
For some reason, attorneys representing those reeling from malicious lawsuits levied to destroy livelihoods don’t appear to be accessing last year’s Supreme Court precedent-setting decision in favor of Hobby Lobby.1 Just as it was found that the Affordable Care Act contraceptive mandate “requires the Hahns and Greens to engage in conduct that seriously violates their sincere religious belief that life begins at conception,” forcing Christian business owners to provide services explicitly for same-sex marriages, effectually condoning the ceremonies, also “seriously violates their sincere religious belief.” Declining to provide service for these unions does not violate the right of those participating in the union to go forward with their plans. Nor does it discriminate against the individuals any more than Hobby Lobby discriminated against their employees. The employees were, and are, free to receive the service elsewhere as are the participants in same-sex nuptials.
Pressuring religious business owners to go against their faith “seriously burdens the exercise of religion.” Those from the LGBT community compelling others to defy their closely held religious beliefs are, in fact, the discriminators. They discriminate against religious business owners by targeting them for legal action under the guise of having suffered harm. In fact, no harm was done or intended. Any one of the businesses enduring discriminatory lawsuits have or would provide service as long as it did not contravene their beliefs, such as a birthday cake or photos for a family reunion.
Shallow attempts to equate protecting an individual’s religious belief with Jim Crow laws are inexcusable. Refusing to serve an individual because of their skin color does not correlate to a business not providing a service for a specific occasion. A human being and a festive occasion are two completely separate issues; one is a living, breathing person and the other isn’t even an inanimate object but an activity — it’s a party.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gay Agenda Trumps First Amendment?
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were crystal clear on the priority of religious liberty. The first sentence of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The oft-ignored second portion of that, the free exercise clause, is essential. It assures any American citizen can practice the religion of their choice without interference from the government.
Throughout our 200-plus-year history, the First Amendment has stood strong. It’s been challenged by society at times, but thankfully upheld by our courts and supported by our government.
Until 2015.
The state of Indiana recently passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. According to Gov. Mike Pence, it was intended to protect the constitutional rights and privileges of freedom of religion for people of faith and families of faith in Indiana. This is a good thing, right? Steeped in American tradition as old as the Constitution itself.
Wrong. Freedom to exercise your own spirituality somehow offends the gay community. They claim it is intolerant and is an attack on their lifestyle. Ironically, their response has been to attack supporters of the law with intolerance of religious beliefs.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hands Up, Don’t Discriminate Against Gays!
Evidently, the sole function of the media these days is to subject the public to a steady stream of manufactured events: “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot”; nuclear power kills; Lena Dunham’s rape by a college conservative at Oberlin; the “mattress girl” raped at Columbia University; Jon Stewart is funny; a fraternity gang-rape at the University of Virginia; and a law protecting religious freedom will lead to separate water fountains for gays in Indiana.
The whole country has to keep being dragged through these liberal hate campaigns, but as soon as the precipitating event turns out to be a gigantic hoax, the truth is revealed like a bedtime story being read to a child: The ending is whispered and the narrator tiptoes out of the room.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hidden Cam: Gay Wedding Cakes at Muslim Bakeries?
Will Muslim bakeries make a gay wedding cake? Surpriiiise!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Indiana Legislature Caves, Guts Religious Freedom Restoration Act
In caving to the demands of the left, the state of Indiana actually enshrined more special rights for gays and lesbians than had existed before the RFRA was passed. Indiana law made no reference to sexual orientation in its anti-discrimination statutes prior to the RFRA; now the RFRA itself will be used as a weapon against religious Americans in Indiana who believe that homosexuality is a sin, since the law affirmatively prohibits a religious freedom defense with regard to failure to serve gays and lesbians.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is Liberty Now a Thing of the Past?
Many now say that America is now land of the free and home of the brave in concept only. It is getting more difficult to argue with that assessment. When Indiana governor, Mike Pence initially signed into law a religious liberty bill I was pleased and thought highly of the Hoosier State leader. Unfortunately, after a hot air blow back from the usual progressive suspects, a proposal to amend changes to the bill was brought forth by the governor. So basically, certain individuals and anti- Christian groups don’t approve of Christians exercising their religious beliefs in the operation of their businesses. Even NASCAR went to nutsville, making some idiotic proclamation about welcoming homosexuals to their events. NASCAR’S little statement was nothing more than phony grand-standing event to make brownie points with anti-Christians zealots.
No-one advocates not allowing homosexuals to be prevented from being treated with the same respect due anyone else. By the way, for you anything goes promoters, the personal life choice of an individual or group does not supersede the right of another to operate according to his or her religious beliefs. It is about time that homosexuals and their progressive supporters grow up and stop trying to bully people who don’t think and believe as they do. I know that many homosexuals, just like liberals, progressives, dedicated muslims, etc. are not stupid. So let’s cut to the chase. You people and groups want to fundamentally change America into a land void of the Christian values she was founded upon, including virtue and traditional family values. It is you liberals, homosexuals, dedicated muslims and progressives who truly discriminate against sovereign individuals who don’t believe, act or think like you do.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Leftists Attempt to Shut Down Fundraising for Memories Pizza
Irate leftists furious at a pizza restaurant in Indiana which has made national headlines for saying it would refuse to cater for a gay wedding are now attempting to shut down a fundraising campaign for Memories Pizza which has reached over half a million dollars.
The controversy began after the passage of Indiana’s largely symbolic Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibits state laws that “substantially burden” the right of a person, a religious institution or a business to follow their religious beliefs.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence yesterday signed revisions into the law which forbid businesses from discriminating against people based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
The revision completely defeats the original intention of the bill, meaning that businesses in the state will now face retribution if they refuse to serve gays and lesbians in accordance with their religious beliefs, with the state being empowered to enforce behavior and conduct at the barrel of a gun.
Following the controversy, Indiana-based Memories Pizza went public to assert that they would refuse to cater for a gay wedding. The owner of the restaurant made it clear that they would be happy to serve gays and lesbians otherwise, but that clarification didn’t stop the onslaught of vitriol from leftists and gay rights activists that soon followed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Over $828,000 Raised for Indiana Pizzeria That Said it Won’t Cater Gay Weddings
A fundraiser for the owners of an Indiana pizzeria that became the target of widespread animosity after they said they wouldn’t cater a same-sex wedding reception has collected more than $828,000 from anonymous donors.
A GoFundMe page started by a producer from The Blaze, a conservative news network founded by Glenn Beck, has drawn more than 28,500 donors.
“The intent was to help the family stave off the burdensome cost of having the media parked out front, activists tearing them down, and no customers coming in. Our goal was simply to help take one thing off this family’s plate as the strangers sought to destroy them,” wrote Lawrence Jones, a producer who works for Blaze personality Dana Loesch. “But other strangers came to the rescue and the total just keeps going up.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Professor: Indiana RFRA ‘Fix’ Could Send Christians to Jail
The greatly anticipated “fix” to the Indiana religious freedom law has been released by the Indiana legislative committee, and it is far worse than conservatives feared.
According to law professor Mark Rienzi, the new fix will allow the state to prosecute Christians criminally for denying gay weddings their professional affirmation.
Rienzi, of the Becket Fund and Catholic University School of Law and who was lead attorney in the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case that upheld a claim under the federal religious freedom law, said this would “criminalize religious objectors.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Should the Government Force Businesses to Serve Gays?
What’s the bigger danger? Giving the government the power to enforce behavior and conduct, at the point of a gun, within people’s own private property, or a tiny tiny percentage of gays not being served in restaurants?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Lesson From Indiana is That We Need to Repeal Public Accommodation Laws
“Freedom of association includes the freedom not to associate.” — Ayn Rand
The past week has presented this nation with the spectacle of raw, unadulterated freedom-hating liberalism in action. The state of Indiana passed a law which allowed for religious freedom to be used as a defense for both individuals and businesses when facing discrimination lawsuits.
Because one of the key points in the leftist cultural marxism agenda has been to create a legal environment in which businesses (and eventually churches) can be punished for refusing to participate in gay “weddings,” the Left went absolutely bonkers because this law worked directly contrary to that goal. The radical Left desires nothing less than a regimen in which any wrongthink by a business owner can be penalized, and laws which place gays into “protected” categories can be used as a bludgeon to destroy the enemies of the Left.
Indeed, that is what started this whole thing to begin with — the use of the radical gay agenda to go after Christian businesses that refused to participate in gay “marriage” ceremonies. The gays would seek out these businesses, purposefully target them knowing they would refuse service, specifically so they could then hound them legally through short-sighted and wrong-headed laws on the books. Indiana’s law was intended, among other things, to prevent this sort of thing from happening. It was not a proactive law that “encourages” or “allows” discrimination; rather, it was a defensive law designed to help protect religious liberty by requiring the state government to apply a strict “compelling interest” argument when considering whether to override a citizen’s or a business’ religious liberties. And it protected everyone, not just Christians — under it, a Jew couldn’t be compelled to arrange flowers for a Neo-Nazi event, nor would a gay baker be compelled to bake a cake for Westboro Baptist church.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Real Power of the One Percent
In the name of “non-discrimination” homosexuals want to force Christians and other religious believers to violate the principles of their faith.
Statistics show that 1.6 percent of the population identifies itself as gay or lesbian. But judging from the hysteria over Indiana’s religious freedom law, it seems that many of them are in positions of power in the media. These power brokers are not only openly gay, but also anti-Christian. Even Holy Week hasn’t kept them from demonstrating their anti-Christian animus…
Liberal media bias is an old problem. The new wrinkle over the last several years has been the relentless promotion of the homosexual lifestyle.
Two years ago a Pew Research Center study of news media coverage of the gay marriage debate found that “Stories with more statements supporting same-sex marriage outweighed those with more statements opposing it by a margin of roughly 5-to-1.’ Pew reported, “The findings show how same-sex marriage supporters have had a clear message and succeeded in getting that message across all sectors of mainstream media.’
The media know they’re biased, of course. They are careful to conceal the depth and extent of the bias, in the sense that few members of the public are being told that most of the major news organizations are financial backers of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA). Literally all of the major media, ranging from MSNBC on the left to Fox News on the right, are in bed with the NLGJA.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ulster: “Before God, This is Something We Couldn’t Make” Christian Baker Tells Court
The Ulster baker who has been taken to court for refusing to make a cake celebrating gay marriage said that his religion was too important to him to go against his beliefs, the Daily Express reports.
Daniel McArthur, general manager of family run Ashers Bakery, told Belfast County Court, “Before God, this is something we couldn’t make.”
The business refused to undertake an order by a gay activist who wanted it decorated with Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie, arm-in-arm under the words “Support Gay Marriage”. Same Sex marriage is still illegal in Northern Ireland; a country where only 10 per cent of people described themselves as atheist in the last census, compared to 41 per cent who were Roman Catholic, 20 per cent Presbyterian and 13 per cent Anglican.
Instead of tolerating other people’s religious beliefs, Northern Ireland’s Equality Commission took action against Ashers on behalf of gay rights activist Gareth Lee.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Unholy Assault on the Hoosier State
With Google in the news because of its clout and influence with the Obama administration, it is important to note that Swisher has announced on her website that Megan Smith, a former vice president at Google and Swisher’s “longtime spouse from whom I am now separated and have two children,” is now the Chief Technology Officer of the United States, working for President Obama.
Smith’s White House bio also discloses that she previously served as CEO of PlanetOut, a company that targeted lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. It was then acquired by Here Media Inc., which owns the Alyson Books publishing division.
Do you remember the “children’s books” which carried the titles Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s New Roommate? Those were published by Alyson. Some of its more recent titles include the “S/M classics” Coming to Power and Leatherfolk. The latter is described as a book about a “distinct subculture” known as “the gay and lesbian leather underground.”
But don’t expect any coverage of this “lifestyle” by the major media, except perhaps to promote it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
This Fully Customizable Computer is Built Entirely From Legos
Legos have been experiencing something of a renaissance lately. With adults now using their childhood building bricks in more creative ways than ever, it was only a matter of time before somebody decided to bring a portable, customizable, Lego-based desktop computer into the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Happy Easter and Happy Passover to everyone.
“Anti-racist” counter-demonstrators attacked the marchers, and had to be restrained by police.
The Left ( i.e. the traitors, naive, gullible, ) are more muslims than muslims themselves.
Traitor Class are elected by traitor followers the result: import more muslims, muslims take over.
How could some people be so blind as to see their invaders as friends.?
Who is responsible for their perverted tenor of mind?
http://rt.com/news/246937-australian-politician-isis-arrest/
“Gardiner left his family in January, allegedly to join the Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) fighting the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS/ISIL) in Syria.
Back in the 1990s, he served with the Australian army in Somalia and gained more than a decade of military experience before becoming a politician.
Australian Federal Police were tipped off about the arrival of the volunteer fighter by Keysar Trad, a representative of Australia’s Muslim community and spokesman for the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia. “