tagged w/ Extremists
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MSNBC's Joe Scarborough created a controversy on Monday by suggesting Muslims and Arabs protesting the infamous, and infamously bad, anti-Islamic video hate America because of their religion and culture. "You know why they hate us?" he said. "They hate us because of their religion, they hate us because of their culture, and they hate us because of peer pressure. And you talk to any intelligence person, they will tell you that's the same thing, and all those people who think we're going to go over there and change them are just naive." Joe is specifically blaming Islamic religion and Arab culture, which isn't necessarily true, but there are some connections - just not the type he's suggesting. Before throwing his baby out with the bathwater, consider this:MSNBC's Joe Scarborough created a controversy on Monday by suggesting Muslims and... more
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An interesting editorial about strange inconsistencies in right-wing, anti-state ideology.
Also, in case you're wondering, all of those hollow point rounds go to law enforcement officers who carry sidearms, amounting to less than 600 bullets per agent.
Considering the right-wing, in the wake of the Aurora shootings, has been very insistent about how even thousands of rounds of ammunition isn't an unreasonable amount for a single person even just for target practice, it's strange such stories carry traction.
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As Obama weakens civil liberties in unprecedented ways, they're worried about sharia law, a rogue Social Security Administration, and the U.N.
Why are federal agencies like the Social Security Administration ordering thousands of rounds of hollow-point bullets? I don't have an answer for you. But the subject is lighting up right-wing blogs and Web sites. Prompted by items at CNS News, the story has been picked up by Breitbart.com, The Blaze, and various far right blogs, prompting a response from a federal spokesperson.
I don't have any objection to questions being asked about this attention-grabbing purchase. I was surprised to read Ret. Major General Jerry Curry's speculation about the bullets in The Daily Caller:
"What would be the target of these 174, 000 rounds of hollow point bullets? It can't simply be to control demonstrators or rioters. Hollow point bullets are so lethal that the Geneva Convention does not allow their use on the battle field in time of war. Hollow point bullets don't just stop or hurt people, they penetrate the body, spread out, fragment and cause maximum damage to the body's organs. Death often follows," he wrote. "Potentially each hollow nose bullet represents a dead American. If so, why would the U.S. government want the SSA to kill 174,000 of our citizens, even during a time of civil unrest? Or is the purpose to kill 174,000 of the nation's military and replace them with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) special security forces, forces loyal to the Administration, not to the Constitution?"
He's just asking questions!
What strikes me about the spread of this story on right-leaning sites, including Fox News, and the conspiracy theories like the one above, is the strangeness of what worries the right wing and what doesn't. I realize that once you go far enough right there are people opposed to the U.S. government, full stop. But among readers of Breitbart.com, The Daily Caller, and FoxNews.com, the coverage suggests there are a lot of people who aren't particularly concerned about President Obama literally asserting that he has the authority to secretly order the extrajudicial killing of American citizens. On the other hand, a theoretical abridgment of liberty involving the Social Security Administration and hollow-point bullets is worth worrying about. You almost get the idea that if President Obama were to order them killed they'd mind it more if he did it with an agency created by the New Deal than by using a good old-fashioned Predator drone.
This is what always confounds me about National Review's Andrew McCarthy too. As he sees it, President Obama is allied with our Islamist enemy in a grad jihad against America; his national security team may have been infiltrated already by the Muslim Brotherhood, and he is doing their bidding by advancing a sharia agenda. Despite thinking all of those things, however, he is unperturbed by most post-9/11 expansions of executive power and official secrecy.
Or consider this Republican judge in Texas, Tom Head.
"In remarks this week, Head called for a well-equipped force to battle the United Nations troops that he said Obama might bring in. The comments by Head, who oversees emergency planning efforts, were broadcast by CNN affiliate KJTV. He made similar remarks on radio station FOX Talk 950. Saying that as the county's emergency management coordinator he has to "think about the very worst thing that can happen and prepare for that and hope and pray for the best," Head told radio host Jeff Klotzman that he believes "in this political climate and financial climate, what is the very worst thing that could happen right now? Obama gets back in the White House. No. God forbid."
Referring to unexplained "executive orders" and other documents that Obama and "his minions have filed," Head said, "regardless of whether the Republicans take over the Senate, which I hope they do, he is going to make the United States Congress and he's going to make the Constitution irrelevant. He's got his czars in place that don't answer to anybody." Obama, Head said, will "try to give the sovereignty of the United States away to the United Nations. What do you think the public's going to do when that happens? We are talking civil unrest, civil disobedience, possibly, possibly civil war. ... I'm not talking just talking riots here and there. I'm talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms, get rid of the dictator. OK, what do you think he is going to do when that happens? He is going to call in the U.N. troops, personnel carriers, tanks and whatever."
Maybe there's just no use in applying reason to the ramblings of a nut, but I find it so fascinating that the object of fear for this guy is the dread United Nations. He's a paranoid conspiracy theorist, and the fact that the executive branch is literally spying on American citizens, putting them on secret kill lists, and invoking the state secrets privilege to hide their actions doesn't even merit a mention. (Obviously I don't think the Obama Administration is not going to order U.N. troops into Texas, or that it's going to use existing legal authority to kill Judge Head. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if his private emails or phone calls have been spied upon).
The far right is ideologically opposed to the United Nations, to various federal agencies, and to executive branch czars. And until you get to the extreme fringe, the right is enthusiastic about the military, the CIA, sweeping executive power in foreign affairs, and leeway for the president any time he invokes terrorism. In today's world, the latter mechanisms are clearly the ones that most empower the president and afford any president the most worrisome opportunity for horrific abuses.
Being ideologues, they worry more about their longtime bogeymen anyway. And so a demographic that should be invested in protecting civil liberties often wastes its time on nonsense.
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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/the-hard-right-is-paranoid-about-the-wrong-things/261521/An interesting editorial about strange inconsistencies in right-wing, anti-state... more
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Pro-NRW, an otherwise insignificant little extreme-right-wing party in Germany, has provoked a storm of indignation by organising a competition for the best “Islam-critical” cartoon – parading the winning entries in front of mosques and other Muslim facilities.
They even named the top prize in “honour” of Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist whose controversial Muhammad caricature in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten caused an international furore in 2005/2006... (Westergaard, by the way, has unequivocally distanced himself from all of this.)
Efforts to halt Pro-NRW’s xenophobic baiting before it even began were thwarted when the court ruled in favour of freedom of expression.
The results were predictable...
In spite of calls from the Muslim community to simply ignore their antics, a handful of radical Salafists (in no way representative of the overall Muslim community in Germany) inevitably showed up... and things turned violent – allowing Pro-NRW to claim not only that they had been right all along to warn about the Islamic “threat”, but also to paint themselves as the victims.
It’s an age-old bullying tactic: find a target, goad them until they lash out... and then cry foul.
Where does “freedom of expression” end and “hate crime” begin?
There’s a (sort of) happy ending to all this, though: despite their high-publicity stunt, Pro-NRW managed to gain only 1.5% of the vote. So they won’t be represented in parliament any time soon (The German electoral system has a “5% hurdle” deliberately designed to keep extremists out of positions of power.)
DerSpiegel reports (text in English):
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/recent-german-debate-on-islam-triggered-by-tiny-anti-muslim-party-a-836527.htmlPro-NRW, an otherwise insignificant little extreme-right-wing party in Germany, has... more
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EIGHTH STORY IN THE SERIES “Examiner Extremists and Facebook Foibles”
After filing many, many, many Copyright and DMCA Infringement Notices with Facebook, they had finally scrubbed the Facebook group known as Operation Burn Notice of all my copyrighted images. And another Infringement Notice got them to pull down the avatars of three Facebook users who, because like little children who think saying “poopie” over and over again is humor, took copyrighted images of mine and used them as their avatars.
http://www.turningovertherocks.com/2011/12/22/open-season-on-copyrights-at-facebook/EIGHTH STORY IN THE SERIES “Examiner Extremists and Facebook Foibles”... more
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SEVENTH STORY IN THE SERIES “Examiner Extremists & Facebook Foibles”
Goodness, but the denizens of Operation Burn Notice were angry about having their little play pen hosed out. But, after the 5th attempt at filing a Copyright and DMCA Infringement report (and pointedly reminding Facebook that they lose whatever protection they receive under the “Safe Harbor” protection of Copyright and DMCA law once they’re notified of a legitimate copyright complaint), they finally pulled it down.
http://www.turningovertherocks.com/2011/12/22/trying-to-arouse-the-sleeping-giant-that-is-facebook/SEVENTH STORY IN THE SERIES “Examiner Extremists & Facebook Foibles”... more
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SIXTH STORY IN THE SERIES “Examiner Extremists and Facebook Foibles”
My exposure of Roy Innis as someone who had not only NOT taken lives in combat but had never finished boot camp made the denizens of Operation Burn Notice VERY angry with me. They started “reporting” every post I made on Facebook. Before long, I found myself banned from the service. I am not the first to suffer from Facebook’s “shoot first, ask questions later” banning policy.
http://www.turningovertherocks.com/2011/12/22/facebooks-shoot-first-ask-questions-later-policy/SIXTH STORY IN THE SERIES “Examiner Extremists and Facebook Foibles”
My... more
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Barbara Stanwyck: "We're both rotten!"
Fred MacMurray: "Yeah - only you're a little more rotten." -"Double Indemnity" (1944)
Those lines of dialogue from a classic film noir sum up the state of the two political parties in contemporary America. Both parties are rotten - how could they not be, given the complete infestation of the political system by corporate money on a scale that now requires a presidential candidate to raise upwards of a billion dollars to be competitive in the general election? Both parties are captives to corporate loot. The main reason the Democrats' health care bill will be a budget buster once it fully phases in is the Democrats' rank capitulation to corporate interests - no single-payer system, in order to mollify the insurers; and no negotiation of drug prices, a craven surrender to Big Pharma.
But both parties are not rotten in quite the same way. The Democrats have their share of machine politicians, careerists, corporate bagmen, egomaniacs and kooks. Nothing, however, quite matches the modern GOP.......
http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779Barbara Stanwyck: "We're both rotten!"
Fred MacMurray: "Yeah -... more
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In a scene from the second episode of "50 Documentaries to See Before You Die," Morgan Spurlock and guest commentators discuss "Jesus Camp" (2006), the doc that made No. 31 on our list. Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, the Oscar-nominated documentary delves into the unusual goings on at a Pentecostal children's summer camp in North Dakota. Their "trippy" journey include uncompromising pastor Becky Fisher, who claims that according to the Bible, Harry Potter should be put to death.
Renowned documentarian Morgan Spurlock hosts "50 Documentaries To See Before You Die," a celebration of the most remarkable and moving documentaries released in the past 25 years. It examines how the documentary feature has evolved into an increasingly popular genre, becoming a major box office draw and impacting contemporary American culture in ways never seen before.
"50 Documentaries To See Before You Die" airs Tuesdays at 9/8c throughout August on Current TV.
For more, go to http://current.com/docs.In a scene from the second episode of "50 Documentaries to See Before You... more
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50docs
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Source http://maxblumenthal.com/2011/05/feeling-the-ignorance-at-aipac-2011/
By Max Blumenthal
On May 22, thousands of supporters of America’s most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, converged on Washington for the group’s annual conference. For two days they watched Democratic and Republican congressional leaders pledge their undivided loyalty to the state of Israel, and by extension, to AIPAC’s legislative agenda. Speeches by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted the conference, with Obama attempting to clarify his statement demanding that 1967 borders be the “starting point” for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
I interviewed several AIPAC delegates in the streets outside the conference. While few, if any, of them were able to demonstrate the slightest degree of sophistication in their understanding of the Israel-Palestine crisis, they had been briefed inside on how to respond to critics. No one I spoke to would concede that Israel occupied any part of Palestinian territory; none would concede that Israel had committed acts of indiscriminate violence or that it had transferred Palestinians by force; one interviewee could not distinguish Palestine from Pakistan. With considerable wealth and negligible knowledge — few had spent much time inside Israel — the delegates were easily melded by the cadre of neoconservative and Israeli “experts” appearing in AIPAC’s briefing sessions.
As the day wore on, many delegates waded into confrontations with members of Code Pink and Palestine solidarity demonstrators who had set up a protest camp across the street. With conflict intensifying on the sidewalk, Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin invited AIPAC delegates to express themselves from the protest stage. There, their most visceral feelings and deeply held views about Israel-Palestine crisis were revealed. See it for yourself.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2011/05/feeling-the-ignorance-at-aipac-2011/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQuREXMICWU&feature=player_embeddedSource http://maxblumenthal.com/2011/05/feeling-the-ignorance-at-aipac-2011/
By Max... more
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Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation, one of the country's most prominent tea party organizations, really seems to despise the Methodist Church, or as he would call it, "the first Church of Karl Marx." (http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/tea_party_nation_founder_lets_get_rid_of_the_socia.php#more)
In a recent blog post (subscription required)(http://www.teapartynation.com/forum/topics/my-dream-no-more-methodist) the founder of Tea Party Nation recounts his recent experience visiting the United Methodist Building in Washington D.C., where he saw a promotional banner for the DREAM Act, a failed piece of legislation that would have provided a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who entered the country as children.
Such a stance could only mean one thing, Phillips concluded.
"The Methodist church is pro-illegal immigration," he said. "They have been in the bag for socialist health care, going as far as sending out emails to their membership 'debunking' the myths of Obamacare. Say, where are the liberal complaints on the separation of church and state?"
Phillips was once a member of the so-called "religious arm of socialism," but abandoned its ranks when he found his views diverged from the party line. Among the positions that he now detests:
> They want amnesty, they want "economic justice", they opposed "global climate
> change" (earth to the Methodists, man isn't doing it), fighting global poverty (here is
> another hint, most poverty is caused by a lack of freedom and lack of a free
> enterprise system). Not shockingly, the Methodists side with the Islamists against
> Israel, and of course oppose America in Iraq.
A blogger at "Unsettled Christianity" has unsurprisingly taken issue with Phillips's attack:
http://thechurchofjesuschrist.us/2010/12/tea-party-nation-calls-for-the-end-of-the-united-methodist-church/
> I've noticed one thing about all of this - he is lacking in his Scriptural foundation.
> Where is his scriptural support for those things which he says that the UMC is wrong
> for? Instead, he uses words which he doesn't understand, like Socialism, Marxism
> and Communism.
It's not the first time Phillips has offended people with his ham-handed religious criticism. In October, Phillips drew fire first for claiming that Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison should be removed from office in part because he was a Muslim, and then for admitting that he had a "real problem with Islam." Phillips also recently galled the sensibilities of even the most amateur fans of social justice or common sense when he suggested that it would make "a lot of sense" to return to a system where only property owners have the right to vote.Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation, one of the country's most prominent... more
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A Tea Party-backed congressional candidate in Texas is doing Sharron Angle's suggestive talk of "Second Amendment remedies" one better: he says violent overthrow of the government is "on the table."
"Our nation was founded on violence," Stephen Broden, a pastor running against Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson in Texas's 30th Congressional District, said in a recent interview with Dallas's WFAA-TV. "The option is on the table. I don't think that we should ever remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms."
Though Broden did concede that this method "is not the first option," these words are perhaps the sharpest from an establishment-backed GOP candidate and occasional Glenn Beck guest with a history of controversial statements.
WFAA's segment on Broden highlights statements that the made at a 9/12 rally last year, but is now walking away from.
"This administration is trying to figure out how to deal with that stress and so they are doing end-of-life counseling in order to depopulate that particular group of people," Broden said last June.
But he recently told WFAA that his views had changed:
"I don't think that they are trying to get senior citizens to die prematurely," Broden said. "I think they are entertaining end-of-life counseling based on economic viability."
He also likened the current state of affairs in America to those in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust:
"Let me tell you that is something that happened in Germany when the Jews were walking into the furnaces and they didn't even try to stop or fight their way," Broden said at the rally. "They walked in because they did not believe that this was happening. They didn't believe that humanity could be so evil. I am submitting to you tonight that is where America is right now. They are our enemies and we must resist them."
But when asked by WFAA if he thought Obama was like Hitler, Broden decided differently.
Whether or not Broden thinks there is a connection between the President of the United States and the fascist dictator of Germany, however, he does appear to believe that there is a conspiracy of "Darwinian Eugenics" against the black community currently manifesting itself in American society.A Tea Party-backed congressional candidate in Texas is doing Sharron Angle's... more
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THIS VIDEO IS A PARODY (JOKE) *** IT IS NOT REAL***
IT IS NOT IN SUPPORT OF BURNING ANYTHING
A "tragical" commercial for "Dr." Terry Jones and his asinine Dove World Outreach Center (as well as a nipple tweak of Fred Phelps and his WBC family cult.)THIS VIDEO IS A PARODY (JOKE) *** IT IS NOT REAL***
IT IS NOT IN SUPPORT OF BURNING... more
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Pakistan seems happy in getting a massive civilian and military aid package and the assurance from Washington that this country will be given the central role in the Afghan endgame.
Pakistan has presented two lists to the Obama Administration officials ahead of the two-day summit. One was a 56-pages long wish list and the second was a list of heavily bearded Taliban leaders arrested recently in Pakistan. According to the reports (msn, news) a new $7.5 billion, five year US assistance package for Pakistan’s energy, water, agriculture and education sector was pledged. The one billion unpaid US reimbursements for fighting the Pakistani Taliban would also begin flowing.
In addition, Pakistan will receive defence supplies in the coming years, P-30 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, five 250 TOW anti-armour missile systems, six AN/TPS-77 surveillance radar, six C-130E transport aircraft, and 20 AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters and new F-16 with higher speed fighter jets and naval frigates. The wish-list also included Pakistan’s plea for a civilian nuclear deal like the US concluded with India. This last wish remains unfulfilled.
This is indeed a great victory for Pakistan to be a central player in Afghanistan, a role it played with horrible consequences in the 1990s: the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the al-Qaida terrorist network that successfully staged 9/11 and other terrorist attacks in the West and the ongoing endless war in Afghanistan, are among the problems caused by Pakistan’s three decades misadventures in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has a history of undertaking some tactical combat operations including mock operations against selective groupings within the Taliban insurgency in order to attract US policy makers to increase the cash flow. It has now become clear that the recent arrest of Taliban leaders were also designed in order to punish those Taliban who enter into negotiation in Kabul bypassing Pakistan. According to Financial Times (March 19), Kai Edie, ex-UN special representative to Afghanistan, accused Pakistan of sabotaging the UN clandestine discussions with senior Taliban leaders.
Pakistan never chooses to harm those Taliban who are Pakistani military strategic partners and always relies on their support. At the very moment that Pakistani civilian leaders pledge to cut off the Taliban bases in Pakistan, the shadowy ISI agents are secretly giving assurance to the Taliban that Pakistan is supporting the Taliban in the ‘anti-American Jihad’.
One such irreconcilable group with close links to al-Qaida and ISI is Haqqani’e network which is headquartered in North Waziristan and is carrying out deadly terrorist attacks against the Western forces in Afghanistan with impunity. This is a Pakistani no-go zone from where most suicide bombers are sent into Afghanistan. Under increasing US pressure, it is possible that the ISI may turn against Haqqani if the upcoming US and NATO major June offensive in southern Kandahar province proves to be successful. Given Pakistani obsession with the Taliban, this change would also be conditional and limited.
The ISI is a Pakistani complex visible and invisible intelligence conglomerates. There is an ISI within an ISI. That ghostly ISI remains invisible and most of its members are retired generals who deviously play the real Afghan game from behind the scene. Their activities remain a top Pakistani secret. When I want to update my knowledge of Pakistan’s policy vis-à-vis the Taliban, I am going to look for the latest statements by retired ISI generals instead of official statements by Pakistan’s prime minister or foreign minister.
Before the battle in Swat Valley which started in early 2009, a peace agreement between the Taliban and Pakistani military was waiting for Zardari’s approval. The Pakistani Taliban in Swat insisted that they don’t need Zardai’s signature as long as the ISI is officially endorsing the agreement.
In mid March 2010, the provincial Premier in Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, made a plea to that Taliban at a mosque struck by a Taliban’s bomb not to attack the province for they and the province are all against Western intervention in Pakistan, “General Pervez Musharraf planned a bloodbath of innocent Muslims at the behest of others only to prolong his term in office, but we the Pakistan’s Muslim League-Nawaz opposed the former president’s policies and rejected the dictation being received from abroad.
If the Taliban are also fighting the same cause, then they should not carry out acts of terror in the province of Punjab.” (News International March 18) On March 29, the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Mr Shah Mahmood Qureshi boasted in an interview to Newsweek that Pakistan has, “eliminated 17,000 terrorists.” “The myth was that,” he added about Pakistan’s military success in South Waziristan, “it had never been occupied by any force and that it was impossible to do it. We have done it.” In Pakistani thinking Pashtun Northwest Frontier Province — formally renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last week— is still a colony
Pakistan’s double game in war on terrorism, fighting those who are dangerous to its state security and those who disobey, while offering clandestine support to the most virulent Anti-Western extremists among the Afghan Taliban, is designed to trap the US into a vicious circle of a bunch of Taliban in exchange for bags of cash and weapons. This so-called strategic dialogue has a strong sense of déjà vu about it. Is this the last bargain? Experience shows that there would be more of the unwanted Taliban arrested in exchange for ongoing support in time to come.Pakistan seems happy in getting a massive civilian and military aid package and the... more
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Left-Wing Icon: America Is Still Headed Towards Fascism Under Obama
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
April 1, 2010
When left-wing icon Naomi Wolf warned that America was heading towards fascism under George W. Bush, characterized by illegal surveillance, arbitrary detention of suspects, and paramilitary martial law, she was lauded, but when she continued to issue the same warning as a result of Obama’s failure to reverse any of those policies, many on the left abandoned support for her.
For Full Story...Left-Wing Liberal Icon Naomi Wolf: America Is Still Headed Towards Fascism Under Obama…VIDEO...http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/left-wing-liberal-icon-naomi-wolf-america-is-still-headed-towards-fascism-under-obama/
However, as Wolf’s recent interview with leftist website Alternet makes plain, liberals may finally be starting to understand that both political parties in Washington are part of the problem, not the solution.Left-Wing Icon: America Is Still Headed Towards Fascism Under Obama
Paul Joseph... more
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A rise in the number of British muslims entering UK prisons has led to an emerging presence of Islamic gangs. According to many inmates and former prison officers the gangs have become increasingly violent against non-muslims and have even been reported to be forcing non-religious prisoners to join the muslim gangs and convert.
As in the case of most prison gangs they have ways of getting material onto the inside, one former inmate claims Al-Queda propaganda videos have found there way into prisons, aswell as large amounts of other literature and media relating and/or in support of Islamic extremism.
This to me all seems quite expected, If muslims are discriminated against in terms of more observation, they will obviously be more prone to getting caught when they commit non-terror crimes, than a non-muslim commiting the same crime. This could and has led to increased numbers of muslim gangs, as occurs in any prison, if you gather together people of the same idealogy they will group and in most cases commit crimes within prison itself.
Perhaps balance will be restored when society realises muslims are not all terrorists and non-muslims are equally as capable of carrying explosives or planning mass violence against indiscriminate crowds of civilians.
Discrimination leads to disorder, disorder to more discrimination.
Thankyou,
Nathan RJ Roche
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8558590.stmA rise in the number of British muslims entering UK prisons has led to an emerging... more
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NASHVILLE, TN--Yesterday, Nashville's local CBS affiliate station ran the following story: "Video Claims Terrorists Train In Tennessee Community." The station claims that a nearby Muslim community, which the affliate has dubbed "Islamville", is training Muslim extremists in terrorist tactics. This highly touted masterpiece of investigative journalsim, was advertised heavily through the broadcast of Super Bowl XLIV. The second installment airs tonight. Follow the link for the whole story: http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=11927398NASHVILLE, TN--Yesterday, Nashville's local CBS affiliate station ran the... more
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Hey Religious Extremists, Why is Your god Such a Wimp? (or, A Male's Guide to the Impending Lesbian Apocalypse)
I've never understood the common usage of the word macho.
To be clear, I'm referring to the dictionary definition (ultimate masculinity) and not the informal one popularized by The Village People (ultimate gayness.) The word macho is intended to define the pinnacle of tough, but it ends up representing supreme insecurity.
Understanding that contradiction, it's clear that extreme religion is precisely macho. Because I live west of the Prime Meridian, extremist Muslim behavior is more easily noticed, since Islamic tradition isn't intertwined with our culture and considered a part of just how things are. Examples of Islamic macho/insecurity may be more obvious to us Westerners, but anyone who opens their mind even slightly will notice there is little if any difference among Christianity, Islam and Judaism in the extreme.
At their distant ends, all three focus their restrictions on women. When it comes to the religious fringe, it's all dudes all the time. Yet these are the same people who are also violently homophobic.
Another paradox, yes, and it gets worse. Even the gods of extremism reflect the bi-polar nature of macho. A classic example is when the Taliban claimed they had to destroy Buddhist statues in Afghanistan because the statues were just too much for the mighty Allah to gaze upon. (Link.)
Now I'm just a mortal, but I'm proud of the fact that I'm secure enough not to demand my friends blow up anyone who doesn't worship me. Hey, that's their loss!
So here's my question for religious extremists: If your god is such a badass, why does he need mortals like you to fight his battles? Why is your god scared of statues? Or cartoons? Or same-sex love and marriage? Or women thinking, saying and doing what they want?
Silly extremists! Either your faith in your god's power is lacking or your god is a total wimp.
Actually, we all know the real reason for macho's split-personality, why men (and male-like gods) talk tough but act fragile. I'll break the rules and say it out loud: Because females have all the power. They can do anything a male can except make sperm.
That's not to say I would complain if the world was taken over by women and we men were used simply for sperm harvesting. To the more sultry and flexible of our female conquerors, I say harvest away! Sadly, with advances in reproductive technology, even sperm isn't necessary.
A lot of reports and studies appear to support the idea that extremism is on the rise. How much is being fueled by insecure men, aware of their accelerating (or already present) obsolescence? I swear it's only a matter of time before lesbians take over. Name me a single lesbian that isn't damn good at what she does. You can't do it! That's right, men. We are biologically useless! Accept it! Or make a fool of yourself by acting macho.
One who works against the efforts of power-hungry people of their same "race" are often referred to as race traitors. So, being a male who admits to male pointlessness, does that make me a sex traitor?
I hope so, because frankly, I'm down with that. Oh wait, I thought you said trader. Dang it.Hey Religious Extremists, Why is Your god Such a Wimp? (or, A Male's Guide to the... more
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Some disturbing news has just surfaced in the UK--it appears that its Ministry of Justice has taken to listing environmental protesters and activists alongside al Qaeda terrorists in its system for classifying 'extremists'. The British newspaper the Guardian made the unsettling discovery when it gained access to some internal documents from the government.
Guidance Document Lists Eco Activists as Extremists
According to the paper,
The guidance [document] on extremism, produced by the Ministry of Justice, says: "The United Kingdom like many other countries faces a continuing threat from extremists who believe they can advance their aims by committing acts of terrorism." It was sent to probation staff who were writing court reports or supervising a range of activists, including environmental protesters.
This 'guidance' evidently highlights "environmental extremists" as belonging to the same group as dissident Irish republicans, loyalist paramilitaries, and al-Qaeda-inspired extremists.Some disturbing news has just surfaced in the UK--it appears that its Ministry of... more
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