Re: NEWS AROUND THE GLOBE

Admin Thu 3 Sep 2015 - 11:56

How the ISIS’ demolition of a Syrian temple impacts the world
POSTED 1:24 PM, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015, BY CNN WIRE
Syria's antiquities chief told CNN on Monday, August 31, 2015, that officials were working to confirm the reports with sources in the city. Maamoun Abdulakarim decribed the Temple of Bel as "the most important temple in Syria -- and of the most important in the whole Middle East."
Syria's antiquities chief told CNN on Monday, August 31, 2015, that officials were working to confirm the reports with sources in the city. Maamoun Abdulakarim decribed the Temple of Bel as "the most important temple in Syria -- and of the most important in the whole Middle East."
SYRIA — With hundreds of people dying in Syria every week, why should the world care that ISIS strapped barrels of explosives to the Temple of Bel?
Because the terror group did much more than just blow up a 2,000-year-old temple. It annihilated a significant piece of religious and cultural history, not just for Syria but for the entire world.
And ISIS’ destruction affects not just the past; it also has big ramifications for the present and future. Here’s how:
It helps ISIS’ mission
ISIS is on a murderous campaign to wipe out the histories of Iraq and Syria and replace them with an Islamist state and its brand of Sharia law.
Blasting away the temple in Palmyra, Syria, helps ISIS do just that. It’s part of the terror group’s “staged cultural desecration,” wrote Sturt W. Manning, chairman of the Department of Classics at Cornell University.
“The West’s response should be to remember — and to provide educational resources to keep the rich and plural histories of Syria and Iraq alive and available, especially to those presently trapped under ISIS’ enforced umbrella of ignorance.”
One elderly man who tried to protect Syria’s ancient artifacts from ISIS paid for his bravery with his life.
Khaled al-As’ad, the 82-year-old Palmyra antiquities chief who spent his life painstakingly preserving relics there, was beheaded because he refused to reveal where various irreplaceable relics were hidden.
Al-As’ad’s body was later hung out in public for everyone to see.
It destroyed a symbol of religious tolerance
“We’ve lost a great amount. This was one of the best-preserved temples of the ancient world,” said Erin Thompson, professor of art crime at John Jay College.
She said the temple was dedicated in A.D. 32, “when Jesus may have still been walking the earth.”
“It was used as a Christian church … and then as a mosque until the 1920s,” Thompson said. “So it’s really an example of the type of synchronism of religion that ISIS is seeking to destroy.”
Manning said the temple was “a tolerant home to different faiths and ethnic groups where Greco-Roman and local cultures merged.”
“Usually ISIS justifies destruction by claiming representative art to be idolatrous and pre-Islamic religious objects or structures sacrilegious,” he wrote.
“It seeks to destroy diversity and enforce narrow uniformity. Evidence of a tolerant, diverse past is anathema.”
It can be used to recruit more ISIS members
In true ISIS form, the terrorists released a slickly produced video showing off how it has dismembered sacred sites.
“This sends a very important propaganda message for ISIS,” Thompson said. “They are using, essentially, the media to convey to potential recruits this idea that the West is powerless to defend against ISIS’ destruction of things that are so important to us.”
It threatens the future of Syrians’ livelihoods
Syrians are suffering not just from the murderous rampage of ISIS, but from a 4-year-old civil war that has left 300,000 people dead.
For those near Palmyra, the temple has been a vital source of tourism income for the community, “which is now going to be deprived,” Thompson aid.
“It is going to find it is so much harder to recover from the conflict without this source of income.”
It could portend more destruction
If the world has learned one thing about ISIS, it’s that the terrorists tend to trump their acts of horror and destruction with even more brutal acts of violence.
The gruesome beheading of a foreigner was followed by the ghastly beheadings of others. The destruction of the temple of Baal Shamin in Palmyra a week ago was followed by the annihilation of the Temple of Bel.
“They said they would destroy the statues, but not the structures themselves inside Palmyra,” Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said. “They lied.”
“We need (the) international community to help us, because this battle is not just for the Syrian people,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “It is also (an) international battle. It is a cultural battle.”
And now, ISIS has another source of income to fuel its terrorism: valuable antiquities.
Such relics are “soon to be on sale on the black market,” Manning wrote. “Looted antiquities provide key funds to ISIS.”
CNN’s John Vause, Nick Paton Walsh and Lonzo Cook contributed to this report.

Admin Thu 3 Sep 2015 - 10:40

Hungarians Just Destroyed All Monsanto GMO Corn Fields
Hungary has taken a bold stand against biotech giant Monsanto and genetic modification by destroying 1000's of acres of corn found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, according to Hungary deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar.
Unlike many European Union countries, Hungary is a nation where genetically modified (GM) seeds are banned. In a similar stance against GM ingredients, Peru has also passed a 10 year ban on GM foods.
“Almost 1000 acres of maize found to have been planted with genetically modified seeds have been destroyed throughout Hungary, deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar said.
The GMO corn has been ploughed under, said Lajos Bognar, but pollen has not spread, he added.
Unlike several other EU members, GMO seeds are banned in Hungary. The inspections will continue despite the fact that traders are obliged to make sure that their products are GMO free, Bognar said.
During the invesigation, controllers have found Monsanto products among the seeds planted.
The free movement of goods within the EU means that authorities will not investigate how the seeds arrived in Hungary, but they will check where the goods can be found, Bognar said. Regional public radio reported that the two biggest international seed producing companies are affected in the matter and GMO seeds could have been sown on up to the thousands of hectares in the country.
"Most of the local farmers have complained since they just discovered they were using GMO seeds.” said globalresearch.ca
As of May 2015, Hungary had not responded to the new EU legislation making GMOs legal in all countries unless they specifically opt out. Germany looks like they may opt out. Scotland has opted out within the UK.
GMO seeds are not considered worrisome and dangerous simply because they are modified, but it is that they are modified to handle massive doses of glyphosate (Roundup), and not die. They are made to take baths in the chemical herbicide that is so dangerous for human consumption, and it is the fear that the buildup of glyphosate within crops is a potential cause for the recent rapid increase in autism, cancers, and other long-term developing illnesses. The company Monsanto has been so aggressive legally to cover up any public ill, believed to be hushing farmers, buying off segments of the government and paying off scientists in the U.S. that it is hard for anyone to know what logistical data has been soured, and what truths to believe. It has become easier for countries like Hungary to plow under the crop than to try to disseminate between what is fact and what is farse with Monsanto's disastrous reputation and communication failures.

There is also the factor that when Monsanto seeds are found to be present on land, they fight for ownership of those seeds, and consider them as patent infringement, theft, or whatever you want to call it. Rather than fight the giant in court every time their seeds blow into a field, it's easier to wipe them off the map.

Admin Tue 1 Sep 2015 - 12:54

http://drudge.today/v2/r?n=0&s=18&c=1&pn=Anonymous&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Flocal%2Flanow%2Fla-me-ln-240-immigrants-arrested-ice-20150831-story.html
244 immigrants arrested in four-day sweep across Southern California
www.latimes.com

More than 240 people were taken into federal custody last week across Southern California after a four-day sweep for immigrants with criminal records in the country illegally, authorities announced Monday.

The enforcement action ended Thursday with 244 foreign nationals in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the majority of them with at least one felony conviction on their record, authorities said.

It was the most successful four-day sweep of its kind in the region, ICE said. But an ICE spokeswoman cautioned against concluding that crime involving immigrants is up.

“One of the challenges we’re facing is because of state law and local policies, more individuals who are potentially deportable with significant criminal histories are being released onto the street instead of being turned over to ICE,” agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice said. “I think to infer from [the sweep] that potentially foreign nationals are committing more crimes is flawed.”

Among the people captured, 191 were from Mexico and the rest were from 21 other countries including France, Ghana, Peru and Thailand, the agency said. A majority of them had convictions for violent felonies or weapons or sex abuse charges.

The rest had past convictions for “significant or multiple misdemeanors,” ICE said in a news release.

Not everyone captured in the sweep was in the country illegally, Kice said. Some are documented nationals who may be deported because of a recent crime.

In the past, it was easier for ICE agents to locate and deport immigrants who had been convicted of crimes. The agency would contact local jails and ask that such inmates be held until an ICE van could pick them up.

But last year, a federal judge found that practice illegal, prompting hundreds of counties to stop honoring the detainer requests. As a result, ICE officials say they have to rely on costly and dangerous manhunts or multiday sweeps like the one conducted last week.

The sweep was led by the agency’s National Fugitive Operations program, which finds at-large criminals for deportation.

Originally formed to locate immigrants who had failed to comply with a judge's deportation order, the program is increasingly being used to find immigrants with criminal convictions who have recently been let out of jail. Of the more than 27,000 people whom ICE arrested nationwide last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2014, about 78% had criminal convictions, according to ICE data.

Among those captured was Vincente Onofre-Ramirez, 35, who authorities say was convicted in 2002 of sexual abuse with force in New York.

In Sunland, authorities arrested a 50-year-old Salvadorian national convicted of two criminal counts of child sex abuse in Los Angeles County; in Upland, a 46-year-old man from Guatemala who previously served 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two children was arrested.

But not everyone arrested in the sweep was a violent felon. Those who have not been deported before and found to have illegally re-entered the country or aren’t facing new charges will have an administrative hearing with a judge.

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.

ALSO:

San Gabriel reaches immigrants on Chinese network Weibo

Border Patrol chief visits Texas and warns immigrants of deportation

Judge orders prompt release of immigrant children from detention

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times UPDATE
2:26 p.m.: This article has been updated with more information from an ICE spokeswoman.

This article was originally posted at 12:17 p.m.

Admin Tue 25 Aug 2015 - 22:56

Cuba rejects plans for first mosque
NOV 23, 2014by ADMINin DIASPORA
Cuba’s communist government has turned down a plan to open a mosque in the capital Cuba.
Pedro Lazo Torres, the leader of Havana’s Muslim community, revealed that his joint efforts with Turkey’s Religious Affairs Foundation (TDV) to open a mosque in Havana was rejected.
Torres expressed his dismay at the decision, noting that Russia was granted permission to build an Orthodox church in the country but 4,000 Muslims in Cuba still have no official place of worship.
Cuban Muslims have until now had to make do with performing congregational prayers in Torres’s living room.
In April, TDV assistant manager Mustafa Tutkun sought permission to begin work on a mosque, which was to be designed after the famous Ortakoy mosque in Istanbul.
The plan was part of a wider project by the TDV in building mosques for Muslims who live in the Caribbean.
For more click LINK
http://www.worldbulletin.net/muslim-world/145533/cuba-rejects-plans-for-first-mosque

Admin Sat 15 Aug 2015 - 21:39

Sweden Protecting Muslim Asylum Seekers After One Allegedly Beheads Victim Inside IKEA, IKEA responds by stopping knife sales
ByPAMELA GELLER on August 14, 2015
How to stop beheadings by Muslim immigrants? Stop selling knives, of course.

And the Swedish government responded by beefing up security at all of the government-provided asylum housing.

Obama is working fiercely to repeat the monumental Muslim immigration mistakes of Europe. Support Rep. Brian Babin’s legislation, Resettlement Accountability National Security Act, H.R. 3314, which would immediately suspend Obama’s disastrous and dangerous refugee resettlement program, pending a complete review of its federal, state and local costs.

“Sweden Protecting Asylum Seekers After One Allegedly Beheads Victim Inside IKEA, IKEA responds by stopping knife sales,” Truth Revolt, August 14, 2015

It was a horrific scene in IKEA’s largest superstore in Sweden this week as a mother and son were both stabbed and killed in the kitchenwares section of the store by an Eritrean asylum seeker who was soon to be deported.

Authorities aren’t revealing too many details about the crime, but they have responded by beefing up security at all of the government-provided asylum housing. The IKEA store has also responded by ceasing the sale of kitchen knives.

What is known is that a 36-year-old Northeast African man entered the IKEA in Sweden, grabbed a kitchen knife from a store shelf and killed a 55-year-old woman and her 28-year-old son. The man is described as an asylum seeker and had met the day before with immigration officials who issued him a deportation order. After the killings, the suspect stabbed himself in the stomach but survived.

Additional reports are surfacing that allege that one of the victims was beheaded, yet police have not yet confirmed that or stated any political or religious motivations behind the murders. Those reports also suggest that customers heard the killer shout “Allah Akbar” during the attack.

Reuters is reporting that Sweden has actually boosted security at all of its asylum facilities to protect seekers from “backlash” for the killings. The Associated Foreign Press notes that Eritreans make up the largest group of asylum seekers in the country. There are currently 18,000 living in Sweden and thousands more are expected every year.

IKEA told the media that the store will “temporarily” halt the sale of kitchen knives. That should match well with IKEA’s general policy of being a gun-free zone.

Careful consideration of this story shows that America does not stand alone as a sanctuary haven for illegal aliens, nor does it stand alone in the violence that status brings.

Admin Sat 15 Aug 2015 - 9:40

Security increased at French churches amid fears of Assumption attack
Fri 14 Aug 2015
By Antony Bushfield
Police in France are increasing security at churches amid fears of an Islamist attack on the Feast of the Assumption.
Security had already been stepped up at France's 45,000 Catholic churches following the January terrorist shooting at the headquarters of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
A letter from the country's Interior Ministry to Christians, published in France's Catholic daily newspaper La Croix, urged caution at services.
"Every religious gathering, whatever its magnitude, is vulnerable today to acts of malevolence, which may extend to terrorism," it said.
"Observing simple rules may allow you, without excessive distrust, to ensure your security and that of your community, while preserving the calm (and) sharing openness to others, which is needed for maintaining your faith and religious practices."
Churchgoers were encouraged to report 'very nervous' people and those who showed 'an unusual interest in the event or the building'.
Parishioners were told not to leave bags on pews as they went up to receive Communion.
In April three people were arrested by French police investigating an alleged plot to carry out a terrorist attack at a church near Paris.
Officers claim the three men were linked to a plan to kill Christians.

Admin Thu 13 Aug 2015 - 22:52

Senior US military official: Turkey 'needed a hook' and tricked us on ISIS
NATASHA BERTRAND
Aug. 13, 2015, 2:10 PM 712 2
A senior US official has accused Turkey of pulling a bait-and-switch by using a recent anti-Islamic State agreement with the US as a "hook" to attack the Kurdish PKK in northern Iraq, The Wall Street Journal reports.
"It's clear that ISIL was a hook," the senior military official told The Journal, referring to the Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh).
"Turkey wanted to move against the PKK, but it needed a hook."
On Tuesday, an American military source told Fox News that US military leaders were "outraged" when Turkey began its bombing campaign, giving US special forces stationed in northern Iraq virtually no warning before Turkish jets started striking the mountains.
"A Turkish officer entered the allied headquarters in the air war against ISIS and announced that the strike would begin in 10 minutes and he needed all allied jets flying above Iraq to move south of Mosul immediately," the source said. "We were outraged."
The confrontation highlights the tension growing between the US and Turkey, which became a reluctant ally in the fight against ISIS after years of turning a blind eye to the militants' illicit activity on its southern border during the Syrian civil war.
Ankara officially joined the coalition fight against ISIS on July 24, striking ISIS (and the PKK) on the same day. It also recently began allowing the US to use the Incirlik airbase in Turkey to carry out strikes against ISIS.
But Turkey has conducted 300 strikes against the PKK and three against ISIS since July 24, according to data compiled by IRIN news. All three ISIS strikes occurred on the first day of the campaign.
Nearly 400 Kurdish militants have been killed, IRIN reports, compared with nine ISIS militants.
When asked about Turkey's commitment to fighting ISIS, a senior defense official said "there are still question marks out there. Our folks are very eager to put it to the test.”
And if Turkey keeps going after the PKK while trying not to provoke ISIS, "it will leave the US without a Syria strategy," geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer told Business Insider by email.
"Access to Incirlik airbase matters, but the additional bombing it enables will only help contain ISIS, not roll it back," Bremmer added. "And it will leave Washington without the improved relations with Ankara that the Obama administration is hoping for."

Admin Wed 5 Aug 2015 - 22:22

3 Alternative Health Doctors Found Dead In the Last 2 Weeks After Run-Ins With The Feds
By John Vibes on July 2, 2015
In the past several weeks, a number of controversial natural health doctors have died under mysterious circumstances. Some of them have even had recent encounters with federal agents and bureaucracies.
Two weeks ago, the string of mysterious deaths began when Dr. Jeff Bradstreet MD was found in a river with a gunshot wound to his chest. The police claim that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted and that the death was a suicide, however, Bradstreet’s family suspects foul play.
Last week, members of the family set up a donation page “To find the answers to the many questions leading up to the death of Dr Bradstreet, including an exhaustive investigation into the possibility of foul play.”
In just one week, the page has already managed to raise over $25,000, many of those donations coming from former patients who were helped by Dr. Bradstreet’s controversial treatments.
Another death came on Fathers Day, June 21, when Dr. Bruce Hedendal DC Ph.D., of the Miami area, was found dead in his car with no explanation as to how it happened. As of right now, there are even fewer details about the circumstances surrounding Hedenal’s death as there are about the death of Bradstreet.
To make matters even more suspicious, both doctors have had run-ins with the feds due to their unconventional treatments, which had been known to help people. In fact, just weeks before his death Bradstreet’s office was raided by the FDA.
If two dead doctors in the same field, and same region of the country in such a short time span was not suspicious enough, Dr. Teresa Sievers, another natural health doctor from Florida, also died under mysterious circumstances earlier this week. According to Sievers’ website, she also specialized in holistic health treatments. She was allegedly murdered by an unknown attacker in an upscale neighborhood that experiences very little crime.
Each of these doctors were described as very healthy people with no major health problems, and no real reason for anyone to target them for murder, nor did they show any signs of depression.
h/t HealthNutNews
VIDEO
John Vibes is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter-culture and the drug war. In addition to his writing and activist work, he organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference, which features top caliber speakers and whistle-blowers from all over the world. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can find his 65 chapter Book entitled “Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance” at bookpatch.com.
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/3-alternative-health-doctors-dead-run-ins-feds/#frOLkhvQvhGheEsO.99

Do I Love Gay
Brian Houston
4 August 2015
I love and care about people – from all walks of life; people with various beliefs, ethics, perspectives and lifestyles. I care that humanity and some within the Christian church can be so quick to alienate and ostracise others who are different than them; those who live differently, think differently, speak differently.
I also live by my own convictions, and hold to traditional Christian thought on gay lifestyles and gay marriage. I do believe God’s word is clear that marriage is between a man and a woman. The writings of the apostle Paul in scripture on the subject of homosexuality are also clear, as I have mentioned in previous public statements.
Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles. Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid. I recognise this one statement alone is upsetting to people on both sides of this discussion, which points to the complexity of the issue for churches all over the world.
I love and accept people on a personal level and if I lived next to a gay couple I would treat them with the same embrace I would any other neighbour because – surprise, surprise – not all my neighbours think like me. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness. I may totally disagree with you on what will bring people true happiness, and I will always teach and preach according to my personal convictions and the teachings of scripture, but I cannot make other people’s choices for them – and quite frankly, I don’t want to. That’s not my job. Even God created humanity with a free will.
The western world is seemingly moving quickly toward gay marriage being universally legalised, so how does that affect us as a church, and how does it affect the various individual members of Hillsong Church? I believe we can quite comfortably continue to function within that environment, presuming we are not forced through legislation to compromise our own convictions. Gay marriage is already legalised in many places where Hillsong Church exists, and we are functioning well and without impediment.
Everyone is welcome at Hillsong church except for known predators, those who are disruptive, or those who have adversarial agendas.
So if you are gay, are you welcome at Hillsong Church? Of course! You are welcome to attend, worship with us, and participate as a congregation member with the assurance that you are personally included and accepted within our community. But (this is where it gets vexing), can you take an active leadership role? No.
This won’t make everyone happy and to some, this stance may even be seen as hypocritical. We are a gay welcoming church but we are not a church that affirms a gay lifestyle.
I began this conversation with, “I love and care about people – from all walks of life; people with various beliefs, ethics, perspectives and lifestyles. I care that humanity and some within the Christian church can be so quick to alienate and ostracise others who are different than them; those who live differently, think differently, speak differently.” Bobbie and I were in an elevator today with a Saudi Arabian woman dressed in Muslim attire. We had a conversation in those few moments and her face lit up with the biggest, warmest smile. As she left we said to each other, ‘what a lovely lady’. Does that mean I now endorse her religion? No it doesn’t, but if she was my neighbour I would definitely invite her over for a cup of tea, or be there for her if she was in need.
I care about people and yes, I do have gay friends. Jesus had many friends that angered the religious and brought him condemnation from many. He endorsed a humble sinner and condemned a self-righteous Pharisee. He would be the same if His time on earth as a man was in our generation, confronted with the social issues we face and are forced to address today.
If God had wanted to condemn the world He would have sent a condemner. But He didn’t, He wanted to save the world so He sent a Saviour. John 3:17.
Love,
Brian

Admin Wed 29 Jul 2015 - 19:41

BOOM: 10 Million Kenyans Deliver Brutal Message To Obama… Do Not “Push Us”
On Friday, President Barack Obama arrived in Kenya for a global economic summit, but alas, he did not receive the welcome he had hoped for.
Instead, he received a scathing letter written by 700 Kenyan evangelical pastors on behalf of their 10 million Christian followers.
“We do not want him to come and talk on homosexuality in Kenya or push us to accepting that which is against our faith and culture,” the letter read.
Specifically, the letter asked that Obama leave “the gay talk” in America and focus his discussions in Kenya on “development,” “cooperation” and “the long-time relationship Kenya has had with America.”
“But about our beliefs and culture — keep off!” the letter added.
According to Bishop Mark Kariuki, who led the alliance against Obama, the Christians in Kenya did not appreciate the way the president had “used previous trips to Africa to urge governments to respect gay rights.” The letter was therefore meant to serve as a warning to Obama.
“The family is the strength of a nation,” Kariuki explained. “If the family is destroyed, then the nation is destroyed. So we don’t want to open doors for our nation to be destroyed!”
Furthermore, according to an anonymous pro-family activist who spoke with reporters, Obama should have been aware that “Africa has a conservative culture.” (H/T Right Wing News)
Obama has likely been aware of Africa’s conservative culture but just didn’t care. In his mind, the only culture that matters is the hedonistic and anti-family culture of liberalism.
Unfortunately for him, many people in the world vehemently disagree with his sordid perspective.
Please share this post on Facebook to let Americans know that there are 10 million Christians in Kenya who are not too pleased at all about President Barack Hussein Obama’s decision to visit their country.
Saturday, July 25th, 2015

Admin Sun 26 Jul 2015 - 21:13

‘Reclaim Australia’: Anti-Islam rallies provoke fear in Muslim community
Protesters attend a “Reclaim Australia” rally to oppose religious extremism in Sydney on April 4, 2015. (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)
Muslim community leaders expressed fear and bewilderment after protesters gathered in over a dozen Australian cities at the weekend to express their opposition to minority groups, who want to ‘change the cultural identity of the country.’
Randa Kattan, CEO of Arab Council Australia, warned such racist type of events could quickly spiral out of control.
“In terms of numbers they might be insignificant, but in terms of damage, it is significant,” she told the Guardian.
She called the protesters “squeaky wheels grabbing attention,” but was careful not to underestimate such groups for attracting interest to their cause.
“It only takes one incident,” she warned.
The ‘Reclaim Australia’ protests on Saturday were held in 16 cities and towns nationwide, attracting hundreds of demonstrators, who said they are against the imposition of Sharia law, and the wave of multiculturalism that has swept the country.
However, the anti-Islam protesters met stiff opposition from the left-wing umbrella group ‘No Room for Racism.’ Tensions peaked in central Melbourne, where police struggled to keep anti-Islam and anti-racism protesters separated. Medical officials said four people were treated for minor injuries, while police spokeswoman Belinda Betty said two men and a woman were arrested following the violence.
More than 100 police were deployed, with almost a dozen mounted police also helping to keep the situation under control.
One of the organizers of the anti-racist demonstration, Mel Gregson, credited her organization with preventing a number of speakers from the anti-Muslim group from making it to the rallying point. Gregson, who said she believes in the freedom of speech, told RT this represented “a huge victory.”
“People have the right to freedom of speech, but people need to be accountable to what they say and if people are spreading hate speech and lies, particularly about religious or ethnic minorities, then they need to be held accountable for that,” she said.
“The streets of Melbourne are not the place for anti-Muslim ideas.”
Greg Fealy, at the School of International, Political & Strategic Studies at Australian National University, believes the anti-Muslim faction subscribes to an “Anglo-centric” worldview.
“Although they claim it’s to protect an Australian way of life, their vision of that way of life is a very Anglo-centric one, and one that often quite specifically rejects the role of Muslims in Australia,” he told RT.
FOR THE ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK
http://www.rt.com/news/247037-muslims-fear-reclaim-australia/

Admin Mon 20 Jul 2015 - 20:14

‘We Just Feel Very Lucky to be in a City Like This’: Chattanooga Muslims Mourning, Anxious After Shootings
Jul. 18, 2015 4:42pm Dave Urbanski
Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Mohsin Ali, a member of the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga, has Christian friends and sometimes speaks at area churches about his Islamic faith. His experience isn’t that odd in a city that prides itself on strong ties between people of different faiths.
Ali, 42, can now only hope those delicate relationships aren’t torn by the fact that a fellow Muslim, a young man who attended his mosque, shot and killed four Marines and a sailor.
Ali, a child psychiatrist, grieves with others over the deaths of service members he calls heroes. But he’s also hearing from Muslim families who fear the community’s perception of them has changed.
That would be something this city hasn’t faced much before. As other communities in the region have dissolved in turmoil over the building of mosques and other matters, peaceful coexistence has largely prevailed here.
“We, our kids, feel 100 percent American and Chattanoogan.”
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“We, our kids, feel 100 percent American and Chattanoogan,” said the Pakistani-born Ali. “Now they are wondering if that is how people still look at them.”
Valencia Brewer, the wife of a Baptist minister, knows how she’ll try to see Muslims as the days after the horrific shooting turn to weeks.
“I think the way you have to look at it is this was an individual person. You can’t point at all Muslims because of this,” she said.
Ali and Brewer were among more than 1,000 people who attended a memorial service Friday night at a Baptist church for the victims. Ali, one of the speakers, railed against alleged shooter Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez as a “murderer” who committed a “cowardly and cruel” act.
“He shot our Marines and our police officers, shattered the peace of our city, frightened our children,” Ali said. “He destroyed the lives of his whole family. He did his best to spread hatred and division. Disgraceful. And we will not let that endure.”
Ali said immigrants such as himself owe a debt of gratitude to America and the armed forces protect it, because they often know firsthand what it means to live in countries without personal freedoms or the rule of law. Near the end of the service, at Ali’s urging, dozens of Muslims received a standing ovation as they stood in support of their city and in allegiance to their nation.
People attend an Interfaith Prayer Vigil at Olivet Baptist Church to honor the four Marines killed during a shooting on July 17, 2015 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
It was a remarkable show of togetherness in a region where relations have sometimes been tense since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
About 100 miles to the northwest, plans to construct an Islamic center drew stiff community opposition for years in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where the mosque finally opened in 2012. Opponents then filed suit to block plans for an adjoining cemetery, but a judge tossed the case last year.
Similarly, to the south in Alabama, neighbors opposed plans to build or expand mosques in suburban Birmingham and Mobile in recent years.
That sort of thing hasn’t happened in Chattanooga. Instead, many non-Muslim neighbors attended an open house for the $2 million, domed Islamic Center of Greater Chattanooga when it opened on Gunbarrel Road in 2012.
The Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga, where Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez is reported to have worshipped before he was accused of killing four United States Marines and one Navy on July 18, 2015 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga, where Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez is reported to have worshipped before he was accused of killing four United States Marines and one Navy on July 18, 2015 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Raising the money and building the mosque, school and community center took about five years. People in Chattanooga never questioned it, said Bassam Issa, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga.
“We just feel very lucky to be in a city like this,” he said. “I wouldn’t know why a city chooses to be tolerant and peaceful versus a city that may have some trouble with such a project.”
Still, the events of the last few days have left some on edge, particularly the young. The end of Ramadan is usually a time for celebration, but events at the Islamic Center were canceled after the shootings. A sign on the door Friday encouraged visitors to go to the memorial service instead.
Khadija Aslam, 15, didn’t wear her head covering in the car while riding to prayer services after the shootings for fear of attracting attention, and 15-year-old Zoha Ahmad said her family is worried about the possibility of vandalism at their home.
“A lot of people know we live there and that we’re Muslims,” she said.
Ali said he plans to offer group counseling for concerned members of the Islamic community at his home, and that might help ease concerns. But, he isn’t sure.
“We’ll see,” said Ali.
VIDEO

Admin Mon 13 Jul 2015 - 20:01

Egypt monitoring 3,187 mosques
The Egyptian government can acknowledge that violent and seditious activity can be and is plotted in mosques. The U.S. government refuses even to acknowledge that as a possibility. Mosques that are bases of hate and treason must be monitored and shuttered if jihad-related activity or preaching is found to be taking place in these fortresses. That is what any responsible government would do. Egypt is doing it. The U.S. isn’t.
“Egypt sets curbs on mosque seclusion,” Zawya, July 10, 2015 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
Cairo: Egyptian authorities have set strict rules for going into spiritual seclusion in mosques in the mostly Muslim country, the latest move in an inexorable government crackdown on militant Islamists.
Devout Muslims traditionally spend the 10 last days of the holy month of Ramadan in mosques for intense worshipping and meditation following the example of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The lunar month is expected to end on July 17.
The Ministry of Waqf (religious affairs) has confined Ramadan seclusion, known as I’tikaf, to major mosques, banning the observance of this Sunna (the prophet’s tradition) in small prayer places usually run out of the state’s control.
According to the rules announced by the ministry, the seclusion should be limited to worshippers residing in areas where these mosques are located, a condition verified by their identity cards.
Applications for seclusion should also be approved by imams of those mosques.
The ministry said that the measures are aimed at preventing extremists from “sneaking” into mosques.
The ministry has set up an operations room to monitor the situation in the 3,187 mosques designated for seclusion across Egypt, according to media.
Violations of the rules would be deemed acts of illegal gatherings that could be punished by jailing.
The restrictions are part of a clampdown that has targeted the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood since 2013 when the army toppled president Mohammad Mursi, a senior leader in the Islamist group, following enormous street protests against his rule.
The government has since sought to tighten grip on mosques, denying the Brotherhood and allied groups a major forum to influence devout Muslims.
“The Ministry of Waqfs has refused to allow seclusion in a number of mosques because the Brotherhood and some [ultra-conservative] Salafists planned to manipulate those mosques for political gains,” said Abdul Nasser Nessim, a senior official at the ministry.
Reversing its earlier criticism of the government’s policy on mosques, the Salafist Call movement, the religious wing of the Islamist Al Nour Party, has welcomed the latest curbs.
“We are trying hard to comply with the law and stick to the conditions set by the Ministry of Waqfs in mosques specified for observing seclusion,” Ahmad Shukry, a senior member of the Salafist Call, said.
“We have no problem in having an imam appointed by the ministry to be responsible for overseeing seclusion.”
Salafists used to dominate mosques mainly in rural areas.
Worshippers have reacted differently to the latest I’itakf regulations.
“This arrangement is purely political. Why should I be prevented from going into seclusion in a mosque outside my district?’” said a man, who gave his first name only as Farhat. “And why should my personal data made public? Throughout Islam’s history, the mosque has always been a place for Muslims to meet and discuss the matters related to their life and religion.”
To Mahmoud Al Hussainini, this is not the case.
“These measures may be strict, but they are necessary to guarantee worshippers’ safety,” said the 65-year-old Muslim man. “They ensure that no strange extremists will take refuge in mosques as was the case in the past,” he added. “We have suffered enough from militants and we all should cooperate with the government in protecting our country.”
Egypt has experienced a series of deadly attacks by radical Islamists since Mursi’s overthrow.
- See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2015/07/egypt-monitoring-3187-mosques.html/#sthash.3iey51zr.dpuf

http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2015/02/22/italians-fight-islam-and-reject-plan-to-have-islamic-center-in-italy/
Italians Fight Islam, And Reject Plan To Have Islamic Center In Italy
Many Italians are furious at the Italian prime minister, Enrico Letta, for his plan to allow an Islamic center to be built in Venice.
forconi_manif2-400x300
Massimo Bitonci, a senator in the anti-immigration Northern League party, said

Let me send the premier a clear message. We don’t want an Islamic centre in Venice. Letta would do better to concentrate on the economic crisis a instead of thinking about how to favour and spread Islam. …Frankly Venice needs our help in other ways.
…If there really is will and funding to promote new museums let us think of a project to promote Venetian culture and traditions.

Governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, stated that he was “surprised that Letta has money to throw away”.

Admin Wed 1 Jul 2015 - 16:07

GREEK BANK CLOSING TRIGGERS CHINA PANIC STOCK SELLING
by CHRISS W. STREET30 Jun 2015
Greece announced a six day bank and stock market holiday on Sunday after long lines of their citizens queued up over the weekend to drain all their savings at ATMs.
The euro exchange rate and neighboring stock markets fell only modestly, but the Greek crisis set off panic of a debt crisis contagion hitting China. Despite this weekend’s announcement of the biggest emergency monetary stimulus by China’s central bank since the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008, stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong plummeted in afternoon trading by almost -8 percent.
Speaking in a televised address, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged calm and insisted bank deposits were safe. But under capital controls, local cash machines will reopen on Tuesday with withdrawals limited to $67 a day. The people were hitting multiple ATMs to try to get cash, filling up gas cans and emptying food markets.
Tsipras blamed fellow European Union members and the European Central Bank for refusing to extend Greece’s bailout beyond Tuesday when Athens is expected to default on its $1.7 billion payment to the International Monetary Fund. Greece also faces a $3.9 billion bond payment to the European Central Bank on July 20.
President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on Sunday about the latest phase of the crisis and how important it is for Greece to stay in the euro. Merkel said that the European Central Bank would maintain its Emergency Liquidity Assistance emergency cash lifeline to the Bank of Greece through Tuesday when France and Germany will hold a crisis meeting regarding the fate of Greece.
Interest rates on Greece’s benchmark 10-year notes have almost doubled to 10.8 percent in the past year, while those on its two-year debt topped 20 percent. Greek stocks have tumbled by 35 percent with banks plummeting by over 50 percent.
The Greek crisis seemed to spread fear across Asian financial markets last week over concerns that China might also be on the cusp of a major debt crisis. The nation’s benchmark Shanghai Composite index plunged by -7.4 percent on Friday, and the tech heavy Shenzhen Composite closed down -7.9 percent. Losses could have been much larger, but hundreds of individual stocks lost were suspended after falling the index’s -10 percent daily downward limit. Both exchanges are down about -27 percent this year.
To avoid what some feared would be a double digit market crash on Monday, China’s central bank on Saturday made its most aggressive monetary stimulus to boost the economy since December 22, 2008 after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and the peak of the global financial crisis. The People’s Bank of China cut both its one-year lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points to 4.85 percent and 2.0 percent respectively. The move was the fourth interest rate cut since November.
The PBOC also lowered the amount of cash that large banks must reserve against loans by one half percent to spur new lending. The Wall Street Journal estimated that what Chinese authorities labeled as a “targeted cut” and traders called a fire-hose could pump up to $79 billion of liquidity into the financial system.
The PBOC stimulus caused Chinese stock markets to rally up over +2 percent on the Monday opening bell, but prices were then hammered by a tsunami of sell orders that sent the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index plummeting down by -7.5 percent. Once again, stepper losses were prevented as trading in hundreds of individual stocks was suspended after falling by the -10 percent daily downward limit.

Admin Thu 25 Jun 2015 - 19:30

Confirmed-2.5 Mile Wide Comet expected September 15-28, 2015
Both NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been preparing for a global catastrophe…
NASA has launched its ’Hypothetical Asteroid Impact Scenario’, while FEMA’s begun stockpiling on emergency supplies. Is an asteroid armageddon just around the corner?
Read also: 2.5 Mile Wide Comet Headed Toward Earth With Chilling Hellish Mystery Sounds
Lyn Leahz shares about a phone call with her friend who was given inside information about a comet expected to hit the earth between September 15-28, 2015. Almost a year ago, the foreign minister of France three times publicly announced at a White House press conference a 500-day countdown to “climate chaos”, which will end on September 24, 2015. They know what is coming and have already told you – chaos will erupt on this planet in September 2015. Are you listening? Are you prepared? Watch video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=71&v=A4c0NS4jLNA

Admin Tue 23 Jun 2015 - 20:22

China: Muslim leader says beer festival “open provocation to the Islamic faith”
JUNE 22, 2015 11:46 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER 64 COMMENTS
Xinjiang beer festivalThe Chinese government has reportedly implemented some extremely harsh measures to try to stop jihad terror activity. A beer festival in a Muslim area, however, is not one of them unless attendance was mandatory. Nonetheless, Dilxat Raxit calls the festival an “open provocation to the Islamic faith,” with the clear implication that non-Muslims should not and must not do things that Muslims consider to be a “provocation.” Thus drawing cartoons of Muhammad is out — many non-Muslims would agree to that. And now beer festivals are out — at least for those non-Muslims anxious to avoid “provocation.” What is next? And where will non-Muslims draw the line? Or will the non-Muslim world ultimately adopt Sharia to avoid “provocation”?
“Exiles angered as China holds beer festival in Muslim county,” Reuters, June 22, 2015:
BEIJING (Reuters) – A county in the heavily Muslim southern part of China’s unruly region of Xinjiang has held a beer festival in the run-up to the holy month of Ramadan, the government said, in what an exiled group called an open provocation.
Ramadan is a sensitive time in Xinjiang in China’s far west after an uptick in attacks over the past three years, in which hundreds have died, blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants.
State media and Xinjiang government websites have published stories and official notices again this year demanding that Communist Party members, civil servants, students and teachers in particular do not observe Ramadan and do not fast.
The beer festival happened in a village in Niya County in the deep south of Xinjiang, which is overwhelmingly populated by the Muslim Uighur people who call Xinjiang home. Muslims are not meant to consume alcohol, according to the Koran.
The Niya government website said the “beer competition”, which happened last Monday just before the start of Ramadan, was attended by more than 60 young farmers and herders.
It showed pictures of women dancing in front of a stage and a line of men downing as much beer as they could in one minute. At least [one] was wearing a traditional Uighur skull cap.
“This beer competition was varied and entertaining,” the government said, noting that there were cash awards of up to 1,000 yuan ($161) for competition winners.
The article was picked up on the regional government’s news website early on Sunday.
“Its aim was to use modern culture to brighten up the village’s cultural life, squeeze the space for illegal religious promotion … and guarantee the village’s harmony and stability,” the website said.
It quoted one villager as saying: “This activity that’s been organized is great, livening up the busy farming seasons and banishing our tiredness. I’m going to drink up, and I’ll definitely get a top prize to take home and make my wife happy.”
Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exiled group the World Uyghur Congress, condemned the event.
“This is an open provocation to the Islamic faith,” he said in an emailed statement…

Admin Tue 23 Jun 2015 - 19:52

Jerry Brown pushing depopulation in California: Too many people, not enough water, something has to go!
Monday, June 22, 2015 by: J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) Californians might want to pay a bit more attention to the governor of their state, as he is openly musing about a draconian idea to deal with the ongoing drought: depopulation.
As reported by The Daily Caller, Brown recently stated before the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California board that, at some point, if more water does not flow into the Golden State, it could eventually mean that there will be too many people for the available water to support. He also hinted that so-called "global warming" was only making California's drought worse.
John Myers and James Nash, who were in attendance, respectively tweeted:
"At some point, how many people can we accommodate? " asks @JerryBrownGov abt CA's future at MWD #cawater meeting.
#Climatechange distinguishes #California's current drought from past dry spells, @JerryBrownGov tells Metropolitan Water District board.
No question that California's enduring drought has created great strains on the state's water supplies, but the thought of forcing American citizens from any state to relocate is chilling – even if some think it might someday be necessary.
At worst thus far, the drought is causing a great amount of public discussion on the remaining water infrastructure – how best to conserve, how best to use, where to cut and limit, and by how much are just some of the questions being posed, and in some cases, answered. Brown has already proposed rather restrictive water curbs in a bid to cut water use in metropolitan areas.
There have also been water restrictions imposed on the state's massive agricultural industry, which is set to lose about 18,000 farm jobs this season – the equivalent to about $1.2 billion in lost wages.
"One more year and nobody will have anything"
But public policies are also working against Californians. For example, even as thousands of farm workers lose their jobs and farming operations lose production, state officials are still essentially flushing millions of acre-feet of water annually to ensure the endangered delta smelt has a habitat.
At present, state officials have little wiggle room. Environmental groups – many of which are headquartered safely outside of California and whose officials are thus not directly affected by the drought – have sued both state and federal officials for having the temerity to put human needs above those of the smelt by redirecting more fresh water toward cities.
"It is catastrophic in the San Joaquin Valley, but it will also become catastrophic for large population centers, but right now they are down to where they can water their grass twice a week and they had to cut their use to 25 percent," California Rep. Devin Nunes told The Daily Caller's Kerry Picket in an interview.
"That still allows your grass to be green and all of that. One more year [like the previous two] and nobody will have anything," Nunes warned.
Brown not the first to mention depopulating California
To be fair to Brown, he wasn't the first person to broach the notion of depopulating the state as a necessity to bring water availability and usage more in line. As Natural News editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, reported last August, Lynn Wilson, who is the academic chair at Kaplan University and serves on the climate change delegation in the United Nations, has mentioned depopulation as a way to enhance sustainability.
"Civilizations in the past have had to migrate out of areas of drought," she said in an interview with CNBC in July. "We may have to migrate people out of California."
She added that, before that would happen, every option such as importing water to the state would likely occur— but "migration can't be taken off the table."
Sources:
http://dailycaller.com

Admin Mon 22 Jun 2015 - 22:20

Aussie doctor recruited by ISIL says he is ‘not concerned’ if his passport is cancelled
The Australian doctor travelled to Syria where he is now helping ISIL and does not care if his Australian citizenship is stripped. (Facebook)
9NEWS
An Australian doctor now working with ISIL in Syria has announced on social media that he does not care if his citizenship is stripped.
Tareq Kamleh, a 29-year-old doctor from Perth, left Australia to join the terrorist organisation earlier this year, according to police.
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant, which means Mr Kamleh can be arrested upon his return to Australia.
Earlier today Mr Kamleh addressed the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) in a Facebook post declaring he was “not concerned” about the warrant for his arrest or his Australian citizenship.
“I no longer consider myself an Australian,” he wrote.
“I anticipated an arrest warrant, hence why I left in secret.”
Mr Kamleh took to Facebook to respond to his arrest warrant issued by Australian police. (Facebook)
The AHPRA said the Medical Board of Australia has begun to take action over Mr Kamleh’s medical registration as he is still a legally registered doctor in Australia.
Since leaving Australia for Syria Mr Kamleh, now Abu Yusuf, has appeared in an ISIL propaganda video urging other doctors, nurses and dentists to travel to Syria to help the terrorist organisation.
In the video he says he has no regrets about his decision to leave Australia.
“When I got here I was very happy that I made the decision,” he said.
“I was little bit saddened by how long I delayed it.”
The president of the WA branch of the Australian Medical Association told the West Australian he cannot understand how such an educated man was recruited by ISIL.
“He’s involved in an evil, evil cult and I think he should face much greater sanction than just being told you can’t be a doctor in Australia anymore.”
© ninemsn 2015
Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/06/21/14/48/aussie-doctor-recruited-by-isil-says-he-is-not-concerned-if-his-passport-is-cancelled#hJmUgLwXmMzPrCZr.99

Admin Mon 22 Jun 2015 - 0:19

Face it America, Turkey's Just Not That into You
by Burak Bekdil
The Gatestone Institute
June 21, 2015
Originally published under the title, "Obama's Model Partner Thinks Israel, U.S., Biggest Threats."
President Barack Obama with his Turkish counterpart in 2009.
This is how the Turkish foreign ministry's official website describes Turkey's relations with the United States:
From a historical point of view, relations between Turkey and the United States are multidimensional and based on mutual respect and interest. As NATO allies, Turkey and the U.S., carry out their bilateral relations on the basis of universal values, including democracy, freedoms, respect for human rights, rule of law and free-market economy.
It then further beautifies the "model partnership" that U.S. President Barack Obama once portrayed:
During the visit [in 2009], President Obama defined Turkish – U.S. relations as a 'model partnership' and the leadership of both governments reached a high level consensus to bring the bilateral economic, commercial, investment and technologic dimension of the relationship to a level proportionate with political, military, and security cooperation. The concept of 'Model Partnership' reflects the advanced level that Turkey and the U.S. have reached in the relationship.
Really? Does Obama still think he found a "model partner" in a country that once was a staunch ally of both his country and of NATO?
Over one-third of Turks view the U.S. as the greatest security threat to their country.
A recent study on the Turks' foreign policy perceptions reveals that Obama's model partner nation has a totally confused mind -- not just over Turkish-American ties, but also over its own identity and security concerns. The research, unveiled on May 27 by a team of academics from Istanbul's Kadir Has University, shows that the Turks view the US as the second biggest security threat to their country (35.3%, just after Israel with 42.6%). Reflecting a similarly negative mindset, 32.3% of Turks think that the U.S. has colonial ambitions.
According to the same study, however, 74.3% of Turks think that Turkey is cooperating with the U.S., and 44.3% think the cooperation is of a military nature. Further, 53.3% of Turks think Turkey "has no problems with the US."
Interesting mindset: More than half of Turks think their country has no problems with the U.S., and nearly half think their country has a working military cooperation with the U.S., yet they view the U.S. is the second most dangerous country to the security of their country.
Even more strangely, the U.S. ranks second in the list of countries with which Turks believe their country should most cooperate in overseeing foreign policy. 14.2% of Turks cite the U.S. as necessary for foreign policy cooperation, compared to 12.4% who say Turkey should cooperate most with Islamic countries.
42.6% of Turks think the biggest security threat to Turkey is Israel (only 0.4% view Israel as a friendly country). By contrast, they view the European Union (12.8%), Armenia (7.2%), and Cyprus (3.9%) as the biggest security threats after the U.S.
According to a popular saying in Turkey, "A Turk has no friend other than a Turk."
It might sound paradoxical that 12.8% of Turks view the EU rich club as the biggest security threat while 47.5% of them approve of Turkish accession into the EU. If not paradoxical, it might at least sound paranoid, given that the combined population of the three countries they cite as top their security threats after the U.S. -- Israel, Cyprus and Armenia -- have a combined population of barely 12 million, compared to Turkey's population of 78 million.
But this paranoia should be normal in a country where the popular saying "A Turk has no friend other than a Turk" is a national dictum. The study also found that 38.7% of Turks think that their country has "absolutely no friends."
That is the "Turkish delight" -- a bit bitter, but very Turkish. Nearly two-thirds of Turks think that their national identity is either "Islam" or "Middle Eastern" while nearly half of them wish to join Europe's "Christian" club (only a quarter of Turks view themselves as "European").
Ironically, Turkey is located in one of the world's most violent, unstable and turbulent regions. While the Turks' most tangible threats are their Muslim neighbors -- and the Islamists they have overtly or covertly supported in their country's "neighborhood" -- they tend to look for enemies in unlikely territories.
This is not the first time that research has found that the Turks seem confused. Once again, the Turks seem to feel lost. They seem not to know which countries pose a real security threat, where their country or they themselves belong, or where they should belong.
Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a columnist for the Turkish daily Hürriyet and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Admin Tue 16 Jun 2015 - 18:27

Syrians Crash Through a Fence Between War and Refuge
ALAN TAYLOR
Thousands of Syrians cut through a border fence and crossed over into Turkey on Sunday, fleeing intense fighting in northern Syria between Kurdish fighters and ISIS militants around the town of Tal Abyad. As Syrian Kurdish fighters closed in on the outskirts of the town, residents fled to the Turkish border by the thousands, but were stopped by barbed wire fences, trenches, and Turkish security forces firing warning shots and using water cannons to keep them back. At one point over the weekend, ISIS militants appeared to come between the refugees and the border fence on the Syrian side, urging them to return to the city center—under the watch of Turkish soldiers on the other side of the fence. The following day, a rush of desperate refugees returned, breaking through the border fences and pouring across into Turkey, where authorities were accommodating them. Despite recent attempts by the Turkish government to limit the flow of Syrian refugees, they agreed to re-open the border on Sunday, anticipating another 10,000 refugees.

Admin Mon 15 Jun 2015 - 19:03

Norway Just Deported 824 Muslims, Every American Needs To See What Happened Next
By Ronak Kallianpur
Norway recently made the controversial decision to deport a large amount of Muslims with ties to radical groups.
Despite all the liberals in Norway deeming this “racist”, the logical party went ahead with it and the result almost shut down every opposing voice in the government instantly. This is one of the best stories we have eve seen come from such a liberal area of the world.
Violent Crime Dropped By 30%
That’s right, whopping 30%, and it’s all because a couple of politicians decided to enforce the laws that they already had. What a world we live in where that is a shocking thing to do in a government.
Norwegian authority claims that 824 people were deported in October, for such a small country, that’s a record breaking number. The authorities attributed the change to “portfolio priorities” which have essentially made it easier to deport people back to Nigeria & Afghanistan.
While most Americans and Europeans would call this unfair to target a certain race or religion, we tend to lean on the side that does anything possible to stop evil from creeping in our backyards.
Do you agree with Norway’s strict policy on this?
Should America follow in these footsteps?

Admin Mon 15 Jun 2015 - 9:02

New Catholic church opens in Abu Dhabi
Mon 15 Jun 2015
By Hannah Tooley
Cardinal Pietro Parolin has opened a new Catholic Church in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Secretary of State opened St. Paul's Catholic Church in Abu Dhabi, the second church of its kind in the city.

It can accommodate 1,200 worshippers and will hold daily services in English as well as weekly services in Arabic, Malayan and Tagalog, as well as offering Tamil and Konkani language services.

Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, said: 2We thank the rulers for providing an attractive environment where Christians feel accepted and are able to live their own identity and to practice their religious beliefs.

"The mission of the Church is to do everything possible to foster the human capital of the Christian faithful and to make them strong in the pursuit of truth and moral behaviour and thus able to better serve the country," he said, speaking to Vatican Radio.

It is estimated that there are almost one million Catholics in the UAE, who mostly have South and South East Asian backgrounds.

About the Author
Hannah Tooley
Hannah works as a multimedia journalist at Premier. http://www.premier.org.uk/

Admin Wed 10 Jun 2015 - 16:29

REUTERS
US | Tue Jun 9, 2015 7:59pm EDT Related: U.S., POLITICS
Parts of White House, Capitol complex evacuated hours apart after bomb threats
WASHINGTON
The White House briefing room and parts of two U.S. Senate office buildings were briefly evacuated within hours of each other on Tuesday after separate bomb threats, but it was not clear if the incidents were linked.
In a rare interruption of the White House daily press briefing, reporters were hustled out of the room for about 30 minutes after a bomb threat was phoned in to local police.
The Secret Service and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the premises and eventually gave the all-clear to resume the briefing by White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
President Barack Obama was in the Oval Office, just steps from the briefing room, and was not evacuated, Earnest said. First lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters were nearby in the White House residence and also were not moved.

JUNE 9, 2015
BY DEAN JAMES
BREAKING: Texans On HIGH ALERT As Nation Of Islam & New Black Panthers Arrive To Start RIOTS
Dean James AMERICA’S FREEDOM FIGHTERS –
Well, it looks like Texas has some angry black people coming to start a riot! I am speaking of that wonderful group of animals otherwise known as the New Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam! LMAO little girls, TEXAS is one place you DON’T want to mess with!
Go back to Ferguson. To Baltimore. Or better yet, GO TO HELL!
These idiots are in McKinney, Texas to start up ‘protests’ over the ruckus at a pool party where blacks crashed the party and ruined it by turning it into a drug and alcohol fest as well as getting out of control with the neighbors.
Look, anyone that thinks those kids were behaving themselves in a respectful manner needs their heads examined. Witnesses have said the blacks were extremely aggressive. I believe it.

Admin Tue 9 Jun 2015 - 19:31

Syria Asks UN to Dismantle its Nuclear Program
War-torn Syria has asked the UN atomic watchdog for help in converting a nuclear facility and shipping abroad potentially dangerous nuclear material, the head of the watchdog said Monday.
"We have received a request from Syria early this year...we are studying the request," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano told reporters according to AFP.
The assistance would entail converting a small reactor near Damascus so that it can be fueled with low-enriched uranium (LEU) instead of the more dangerous highly-enriched uranium (HEU).
Syria's stock of around one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of HEU would then be sent back to China, which built the so-called Miniature Neutron Source (MNSR) reactor that is used for training and research.
HEU can be used inside a nuclear weapon, but this is extremely difficult to do.
A more likely risk in the case of Syria - where Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists control swathes of the country - is that HEU could be used in a so-called "dirty bomb."
This involves dispersing the material over a wide area using conventional explosives, likely causing mass panic.
Governments around the world have made considerable efforts in recent years to convert reactors to use LEU and to reduce HEU stockpiles because of the risks.
Courtesy of israelnationalnews.com

Admin Mon 8 Jun 2015 - 22:50

Injustice as Usual: Malala Assassins Secretly Acquitted in Pakistan
by Phyllis Chesler
Breitbart
June 5, 2015
The Pakistani courtroom proceedings were secret. Despite what reporters were previously told this past April (that ten men had been convicted), Pakistani authorities secretly acquitted eight of the men charged with conspiracy and attempted murder in the case of teenager Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted because she wanted girls to receive an education.
In 2012, the world was up in arms when a Pakistani Taliban gunman shot fifteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai in the head for having promoted education for girls. She survived dangerous and delicate surgery, moved to Britain with her family for reasons of security— and, along the way, received the Nobel Peace Prize, Europe's Sakharov prize for Freedom of Thought, and was named one of TIME magazines most influential people.
But Pakistan—the country that sheltered Bin Laden for years—allowed the world to believe that justice was possible in this lawless country, that all the men who conspired to murder Malala and who wounded two other school girls had been convicted and sent to jail for 25 years each.
Contradictory explanations for the secret military court's decision have been leaked to the media.
Today, the judgment of the secret military court was revealed together with contradictory explanations. Some sources said that there had not been enough evidence to convict all ten; others claimed "misreporting" for the confusion.
According to an unnamed security official, cited by The Independent and pegged to the Daily Mirror, "This was a tactic to get the media pressure away from the Malala case because the whole world wanted convictions for the crime." However, this view is upheld by the BBC's Ilyas Khan, who wrote that "even if Pakistani officials did not purposefully spread misinformation, they allowed it to stand."
The Guardian quotes yet another unnamed army officer who believed that there "had been enough evidence to convict all of the men" but due to "longstanding weaknesses of Pakistan's judicial system," eight men were acquitted. This officer reported that witnesses were "intimidated into not giving evidence and the court dropped many of the charges against them." This same officer "denied claims made by the Daily Mirror that any of the men had been released. He said they were still being held and would be brought back to court."
The Guardian also claims that the ten men were part of a "group tasked by Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah with killing a series of high-profile people, including Yousafzai."
NPR's reporter, Philip Reeves, believes that it is "common for police to respond to public pressure by arresting large numbers of people who turn out to be unrelated to the crime in question, including relatives of suspects."
Pakistan is a tribal, highly corrupt, increasingly violent and Islamist country, in which Christians and women are severely persecuted. Unlike neighboring India, Pakistani honor killings are usually unpunished and rarely reported. Pakistan is strategically located between India, Iran, and Afghanistan. It also happens to have nuclear power.
Thus, it is America's ally.
But, if you think that reporters are not on the same page about what happens in Pakistan, just imagine the thin ice upon which diplomats skate.
In 2013 and again in 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed our alliance with this Wild East state. On a visit to Pakistan, Kerry announced "the reinvigoration of a Strategic Dialogue with Pakistan to foster a deeper, broader, and more comprehensive partnership and [to] facilitate concrete cooperation on core shared interests ranging from energy to counterterrorism."
Good luck to us.
Phyllis Chesler, an emerita professor of psychology and women's studies and the author of sixteen books, is a Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Admin Mon 8 Jun 2015 - 22:29

As ISIS Brutalizes Women, a Pathetic Feminist Silence
by Phyllis Chesler
The New York Post
June 7, 2015
Oh, how the feminist movement has lost its way. And the deafening silence over ISIS's latest brutal crimes makes that all too clear.
Fifty years ago, American women launched a liberation campaign for freedom and equality. We achieved a revolution in the Western world and created a vision for girls and women everywhere.
Second-wave feminism was an ideologically diverse movement that pioneered society's understanding of how women were disadvantaged economically, reproductively, politically, physically, psychologically and sexually.
Feminists had one standard of universal human rights — we were not cultural relativists — and we called misogyny by its rightful name no matter where we found it.
As late as 1997, the feminist majority at least took a stand against the Afghan Taliban and the burqa. In 2001, 18,000 people, led by feminist celebrities, cheered ecstatically when Oprah Winfrey removed a woman's burqa at a feminist event — but she did so safely in Madison Square Garden, not in Kabul or Kandahar.
Six weeks ago, Human Rights Watch documented a "system of organized rape and sexual assault, sexual slavery, and forced marriage by ISIS forces." Their victims were mainly Yazidi women and girls as young as 12, whom they bought, sold, gang-raped, beat, tortured and murdered when they tried to escape.
In May, Kurdish media reported, Yazidi girls who escaped or were released said they were kept half-naked together with other girls as young as 9, one of whom was pregnant when she was released. The girls were "smelled," chosen and examined to make sure they were virgins. ISIS fighters whipped or burned the girls' thighs if they refused to perform "extreme" pornography-influenced sex acts. In one instance, they cut off the legs of a girl who tried to escape.
These atrocities are war crimes and crimes against humanity — and yet American feminists did not demand President Obama rescue the remaining female hostages nor did they demand military intervention or support on behalf of the millions of terrified Iraqi and Syrian civilian refugees.
An astounding public silence has prevailed.
The upcoming annual conference of the National Organization for Women (NOW) does not list ISIS or Boko Haram on its agenda. While the most recent Women's Studies annual conference did focus on foreign policy, they were only interested in Palestine, a country which has never existed, and support for which is often synonymous with an anti-Israel position. Privately, feminists favor non-intervention, non-violence and the need for multilateral action, and they blame America for practically everything wrong in the world.
What is going on?
Feminists are, typically, leftists who view "Amerika" and white Christian men as their most dangerous enemies, while remaining silent about Islamist barbarians such as ISIS.
Feminists strongly criticize Christianity and Judaism, but they're strangely reluctant to oppose Islam — as if doing so would be "racist." They fail to understand that a religion is a belief or an ideology, not a skin color.
The new pseudo-feminists are more concerned with racism than with sexism, and disproportionately focused on Western imperialism, colonialism and capitalism than on Islam's long and ongoing history of imperialism, colonialism, anti-black racism, slavery, forced conversion and gender and religious apartheid.
And why? They are terrified of being seen as "politically incorrect" and then demonized and shunned for it.
The Middle East and Western Africa are burning; Iran is raping female civilians and torturing political prisoners; the Pakistani Taliban are shooting young girls in the head for trying to get an education and disfiguring them with acid if their veils are askew — and yet, NOW passed no resolution opposing this.
Twenty-first century feminists need to oppose misogynistic, totalitarian movements. They need to reassess the global threats to liberty, and rekindle our original passion for universal justice and freedom.
Phyllis Chesler, an emerita professor of psychology and women's studies and the author of sixteen books, is a Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum.

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