(I learned a new word today....here is it, and it described the attitude of world leaders who are seeing Sharia overtake their countries. Neville Chamberlain could have been described as practicing Naziphilia when he capitulated to Hitler demands. We better all learn what this word means. AW)
Islamophilia is a controversial neologism employed by some politicians, sociologists and journalists to describe unwavering and uncritical admiration of the values of Islam, generally associated with an admiration of Islamic civilization. Islamophilia, like its antonym Islamophobia, is not included in renomated dictionaries.
However, many proponents of the term argue that it has existed historically as well, in instances like the wave of orientalism that followed Disraeli's premiership and his support for the Ottoman Caliphate of the time.[1]
Others have also drawn upon purported historical instances of Islamophilia. Karl Binswanger remarked on the "dogmatic Islamophilia" of many orientalists. Jacques Ellul complained in 1983 that "in France it is no longer acceptable to criticise Islam or the Arab countries." As early as 1968, Maxime Rodinson had written, "An historian like Norman Daniel has gone so far as to number among the conceptions permeated with medievalism or imperialism, any criticisms of the Prophet’s moral attitudes and to accuse of like tendencies any exposition of Islam and its characteristics by means of the normal mechanisms of human history.
Understanding has given way to apologetics pure and simple."[2]
Islamophilia - WikiIslam
Saturday, September 15, 2012
The next role for Jose Andres: culinary advisor for “Hannibal,” a future NBC series - Going Out Gurus - The Washington Post
(I don't know how a man could go home and sleep at night after playing such a part, going through the motions, saying the words, showing the emotions....those things get into your soul....dangerous ground. AW)
Lecter is no garden variety flesh eater, says Fuller. The character thinks
of his victims like this: “You are a pig of a human being and you deserve
to become someone’s bacon.”
The next role for Jose Andres: culinary advisor for “Hannibal,” a future NBC series - Going Out Gurus - The Washington Post
Drought nears record levels
The National Climatic Data Center reported this week that 57.2% of the contiguous USA is "moderately to extremely dry," a percentage topped only during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and during another drought in the mid-1950s.
We've got a long way to go to reach the Dust Bowl, though: At one point, in July 1934, a phenomenal 79.9% of the country was moderately or extremely dry.
Drought nears record levels
U.S. Fed QE3: Stimulus program to buy $40-billion in mortgage debt | Economy | News | Financial Post
(This sounds good but it isn't....the Fed is buying up $40 billion a month of US property and the Fed isn't even a government entity, it is a private corporation...so who are all these properties going to wind up in the hands of if they are defaulted on? AW)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Federal Reserve launched another aggressive stimulus program on Thursday, saying it will buy US$40-billion of mortgage-backed debt per month until the outlook for jobs improves substantially as long as inflation remains contained.
U.S. Fed QE3: Stimulus program to buy $40-billion in mortgage debt | Economy | News | Financial Post
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Federal Reserve launched another aggressive stimulus program on Thursday, saying it will buy US$40-billion of mortgage-backed debt per month until the outlook for jobs improves substantially as long as inflation remains contained.
U.S. Fed QE3: Stimulus program to buy $40-billion in mortgage debt | Economy | News | Financial Post
Evidences of incresed demonic possession in this country: Cops: Naked, Bloody Man Gnawed On Woman’s Head During Wild Neighborhood Rampage « CBS Philly
HAWLEY, Pa. (CBS) – A Doylestown man, who was naked and bleeding profusely, gnawed on woman’s head all while “screaming like an animal” during a wild neighborhood rampage, state police said.
Cops: Naked, Bloody Man Gnawed On Woman’s Head During Wild Neighborhood Rampage « CBS Philly
Cops: Naked, Bloody Man Gnawed On Woman’s Head During Wild Neighborhood Rampage « CBS Philly
Media Cover-up: Freedom of the WTC Blind Sheik the goal of Cairo Riots - Atlas Shrugs
It seems that bad actors in both Egypt and Libya decided to agitate for the release of Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, aka the “Blind Sheikh.” This is a longstanding cause for al Qaeda and other militants – even though it is inconceivable that Rahman will be released and terrorism on his behalf is itself, in many ways, a pretext.
Rahman is a widely revered character in jihadist circles, having issued fatwas that repeatedly led to terrorism. Osama bin Laden credited Rahman, a long-time friend and ally of al Qaeda’s deceased master, with issuing the fatwa that condoned the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Rahman is serving a life sentence in an American prison for his role in 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which prefigured 9/11, and a follow-on plot against New York City landmarks. Rahman’s spiritual guidance directed those terrorists.
Media Cover-up: Freedom of the WTC Blind Sheik the goal of Cairo Riots - Atlas Shrugs
Violent Muslim Riots Hit Australia; Police attacked, hospitalized "Behead all those who insult the Prophet" - Atlas Shrugs
NBC News: Some of the chanting protesters carried placards reading "Behead all those who insult the Prophet."Violence erupts in Sydney over anti-Islam film Radio Australia
Several streets, usually thronging with weekend shoppers, were blocked off by police as theprotest grew. Police, many wearing anti-riot equipment and some on horseback, used dogs and chemical sprays as they tried to control the protest.
Updated 15 September 2012, 18:45 AEST
Violence has erupted in central Sydney as hundreds of Muslims protest against a controversial film about the Prophet Mohammed. Follow the latest on our live blog.
It is the latest in a series of demonstrations that have killed at least six people in the Middle East. Protestors have also marched through London. Violent Muslim Riots Hit Australia; Police attacked, hospitalized "Behead all those who insult the Prophet" - Atlas Shrugs
Pakistan Interior Minister pushing Interpol to ban anti-Islam material online | The Daily Caller
If one well-known Pakistani politician gets his way, international law will forbid “anti-Islam” material from the Internet.
Friday afternoon, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik wrote in a series of tweets that he has spoken with and written to the Secretary General of Interpol about enacting an international law to stop all anti-Islam propaganda online.
Pakistan Interior Minister pushing Interpol to ban anti-Islam material online | The Daily Caller
The Student Loan Debt Bubble Is Creating Millions Of Modern Day Serfs
Every single year, millions of young adults head off to colleges and universities all over America full of hopes and dreams. But what most of those fresh-faced youngsters do not realize is that by taking on student loan debt they are signing up for a life of debt slavery. Student loan debt has become a trillion dollar bubble which has shattered the financial lives of tens of millions of young college graduates. When you are just starting out and you are not making a lot of money, having to make payments on tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt can be absolutely crippling. The total amount of student loan debt in the United States has now surpassed the total amount of credit card debt, and student loan debt is much harder to get rid of. Many young people view college as a "five year party", but when the party is over millions of those young people basically end up as modern day serfs as they struggle to pay off all of the debt that they have accumulated during their party years. Bankruptcy laws have been changed to make it incredibly difficult to get rid of student loan debt, so once you have it you are basically faced with two choices: either you are going to pay it or you are going to die with it.
The Student Loan Debt Bubble Is Creating Millions Of Modern Day Serfs
The “Unbanked” and the “Underbanked” | Katherine Albrecht
The powers that be want your money. All of it. In their hands. Through the banks. They refer disparagingly to those of us who dislike banks as the “unbanked” and the “underbanked.”
An interesting story in the Washington Post this week bemoans the fact that lots of Americans are dumping the banking system due to the “recession.”
The “Unbanked” and the “Underbanked” | Katherine Albrecht
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Anti-US Violence Spreads Across Mideast Region - Middle East - News - Israel National News
Anti-American violence is spreading across the Middle East, with mobs rioting at US missions in Tunisia, Sudan and Morocco.
Hundreds of protesters rioted outside the U.S. embassy in Tunisia on Wednesday night. Police in the capital of Tunis were forced to fire teargas canisters at the mob when some 300 rioters stormed the American embassy compound. The rioters, however, were pushed back. Up to that point, the demonstration had been relatively peaceful, with demonstrators brandishing black and white Salafi Muslim banners.
Throughout the Middle East, United States embassies have been warning American citizens to avoid crowded places, and to “remain alert at all times.” Even demonstrations that appear to be peaceful “can turn suddenly violent,” the embassy alert warned citizens living in Arab countries throughout the region.
In Morocco, considered a “moderate” Arab nation with few radical Islamist leanings, hundreds of protesters gathered in Casablanca, the nation's largest city. Demonstrators torched American flags outside the U.S. Consulate, according to an AFP reporter, chanting anti-Obama and anti-American slogans. No violence was reported. The mostly young protesters, who reportedly gathered via a call through Internet social networks, were heavily contained by Moroccan police.
Anti-US Violence Spreads Across Mideast Region - Middle East - News - Israel National News
America’s Emasculation
Everywhere one looks in America these days, one finds cameras trained on him/her recording our every move.
But that is a private business. It doesn’t bother me today as much as it did when they had those signs on the doors telling us they were watching us with their cameras—“FOR YOUR PROTECTION!” No they weren’t! They were looking for thieves! Even before a customer had entered the building—that customer had been lied to! Heck of a way to do business, right?
Now we have police/government cameras spying on us 24-7, 365. I sometimes feel as though I’m a specimen in a Petrie dish!
America’s Emasculation
When the Black Flags Fly | War on Terror, American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the black flags. It was April, 2008, and I was in a three-vehicle convoy driving through the city of Balad Ruz on our main supply route. I’d been on the route many times before and had seen only the hustle and bustle of a small Arab city. But this time was different. The streets were empty — with little traffic and almost no pedestrians — and the black flags were flying. Everywhere.
When the Black Flags Fly | War on Terror, American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ
Telling It Like It Is: Arizona Senator Jon Kyl
Blaming the victim is the modus operandi of Islamists. The fact that many of our own leaders continue to do precisely the same thing does not bode well for the future of freedom …
Telling It Like It Is: Arizona Senator Jon Kyl Says The US Embassy Response Is Like Blaming Rape Victim « MidnightWatcher's Blogspot
Telling It Like It Is: Arizona Senator Jon Kyl Says The US Embassy Response Is Like Blaming Rape Victim « MidnightWatcher's Blogspot
White House spokesman endorses "efforts" to ensure that "all faiths" are "respected": "This work takes on added urgency given the truly abhorrent video that has offended so many people" - Jihad Watch
White House spokesman endorses "efforts" to ensure that "all faiths" are "respected": "This work takes on added urgency given the truly abhorrent video that has offended so many people"
White House spokesman endorses "efforts" to ensure that "all faiths" are "respected": "This work takes on added urgency given the truly abhorrent video that has offended so many people" - Jihad Watch
Salton Sea confirmed as source of L.A. Basin smell
Air quality officials say Monday's rotten egg odor traveled 150 miles, blown by a storm that probably unsettled the fetid water at the bottom of the Salton Sea.
Salton Sea confirmed as source of L.A. Basin smell - latimes.com
Mohammed Film's Maker 'Not Israeli' - Middle East - News
Prize-winning journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic doubts the veracity of the reports that a film mocking Mohammed was made by an Israeli Jew named Sam Bacile. A long trailer for the film has sparked savage rioting in Arab countries.
Goldberg wrote Wednesday that he has spoken to a man named Steve Klein – "a self-described militant Christian activist in Riverside, California," who has been described in press accounts as a consultant to the film.
"Klein told me that Bacile, the producer of the film, is not Israeli, and most likely not Jewish, as has been reported, and that the name is, in fact, a pseudonym," reported Goldberg.
Mohammed Film's Maker 'Not Israeli' - Middle East - News - Israel National News
Lebanon news rape report on murdered U.S. amb. in Libya remains unconfirmed by AFP - Washington Times
According to the Lebanese news organization Tayyar.org, citing AFP news sources, U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, who was killed by gunmen that stormed the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday, was reportedly raped before being murdered. A google translation of the report says :
PICKET: UPDATE - Lebanon news rape report on murdered U.S. amb. in Libya remains unconfirmed by AFP - Washington Times
PICKET: UPDATE - Lebanon news rape report on murdered U.S. amb. in Libya remains unconfirmed by AFP - Washington Times
New Wave of Attacks on U.S. Embassies
Protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Yemen today and set fire to a building. Like the mob in Egypt on Tuesday, they tore down the American flag. Reports are also circulating of a separate protest in Tehran today with about 500 Iranians chanting “Death to America.” Meanwhile, a onetime mentor of Osama bin Laden called on his followers to replicate what happened in Libya and Egypt.
New Wave of Attacks on U.S. Embassies
New Wave of Attacks on U.S. Embassies
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Repost: Rendering Unto Caesar (1 of 3)
This was originally penned and posted on November 6, AD 2011. This is interesting because this was the Sunday after MF Global happened. It was still thought at this time that Corzine had stolen *only* a few hundred million dollars - not $1.6 billion, nor had it yet occurred to anyone that NO ONE would be held accountable for any of this. PFG Best hadn't yet happened. The Sentinel Ruling hadn't happened. The ObamaCare abortion and contraception mandates had not yet happened. And this was 10 days before I shut down Barnhardt Capital Management.
My decision has been confirmed as correct so many times over that there is no longer any question associated with it.
Click to read original posting:
Barnhardt.biz - Commodity Brokerage
Gingrich: Attacks on U.S. Embassies in Libya, Egypt "exactly like 1979 in Iran" - Hit & Run : Reason.com
Maybe it's because I'm a conservative, maybe it's because I come out of a different background, but when the American flag is torn down and destroyed, when an American Ambassador and three other Americans are killed, my reaction is not to find some way to be pleasant and understanding and caring about the people who are killing Americans, tearing down our flag and assaulting our country. My reaction, frankly, is pretty militant: we ought to stand up for America.Gingrich was referring to a controversial statement by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, disowned by the Obama administration, that the Embassy "condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims."
The CNN anchor noted the statement came before the storming of the embassy and that it was disowned by the Obama administration. CNN's State Department correspondent Elise Labott called Gingrich's assertion "stretching just a bit."
Gingrich: Attacks on U.S. Embassies in Libya, Egypt "exactly like 1979 in Iran" - Hit & Run : Reason.com
State Department officer killed in attack on US Consulate in Libya, following Egyptian protest at US embassy | Fox News
(All over the supposed depiction of Muhammed in a movie....good thing Christians don't have this tenet in their beliefs....with Jesus being portrayed crucified so many times, there would have been much for us to riot over, again, the difference of beliefs is clearly demonstrated - AW)
URGENT: A Untied States envoy and three others were reportedly killed in an attack on the American embassy in Libya, unconfirmed reports say.
Protesters angered over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad fired gunshots and burned down the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing one American diplomat, witnesses and the State Department said. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and replaced an American flag with an Islamic banner.
It was the first such assaults on U.S. diplomatic facilities in either country, at a time when both Libya and Egypt are struggling to overcome the turmoil following the ouster of their longtime leaders, Muammar Qaddafi and Hosni Mubarak in uprisings last year.
The protests in both countries were sparked by outrage over a film ridiculing Muhammad produced by an American in California and being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian campaigner in the United States. Excerpts from the film dubbed into Arabic were posted on YouTube.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed that one State Department officer had been killed in the protest at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. She strongly condemned the attack and said she had called Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif "to coordinate additional support to protect Americans in Libya."
Clinton expressed concern that the protests might spread to other countries. She said the U.S. is working with "partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide."
State Department officer killed in attack on US Consulate in Libya, following Egyptian protest at US embassy | Fox News
URGENT: A Untied States envoy and three others were reportedly killed in an attack on the American embassy in Libya, unconfirmed reports say.
Protesters angered over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad fired gunshots and burned down the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing one American diplomat, witnesses and the State Department said. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and replaced an American flag with an Islamic banner.
It was the first such assaults on U.S. diplomatic facilities in either country, at a time when both Libya and Egypt are struggling to overcome the turmoil following the ouster of their longtime leaders, Muammar Qaddafi and Hosni Mubarak in uprisings last year.
The protests in both countries were sparked by outrage over a film ridiculing Muhammad produced by an American in California and being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian campaigner in the United States. Excerpts from the film dubbed into Arabic were posted on YouTube.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed that one State Department officer had been killed in the protest at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. She strongly condemned the attack and said she had called Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif "to coordinate additional support to protect Americans in Libya."
Clinton expressed concern that the protests might spread to other countries. She said the U.S. is working with "partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide."
State Department officer killed in attack on US Consulate in Libya, following Egyptian protest at US embassy | Fox News
Egypt Protesters Attack U.S. Embassy In Cairo
(I remember the day when invasion of any sovereign US territory would not have turned out like this, just another proof of the spirit that motivates Islam - AW)
CAIRO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Egyptian protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo on Tuesday and pulled down the American flag during a protest over what they said was a film being produced in the United States that insulted Prophet Mohammad, witnesses said.
In place of the U.S. flag, the protesters tried to raise a black flag with the words "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger", a Reuters reporter said.
Once the U.S. flag was hauled down, protesters tore it up, with some showing off small pieces to television cameras. Then others burned remains.
"This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made ... This is a disgrace," said 19-year-old, Ismail Mahmoud, a member of the so-called "ultras" soccer supporters who played a big role in the uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak last year.
Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet to be offensive.
Mahmoud called on President Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first civilian president and an Islamist, to take action. Many others were supporters of Islamist groups.
About 20 people stood on top of the embassy wall in central Cairo, where about 2,000 protesters had gathered.
"There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is Allah's messenger. We will sacrifice ourselves for you, Allah's messenger," they chanted, with many waving religious flags.
A U.S. embassy official had no immediate comment on the protesters' actions but the embassy had put out a statement earlier on Tuesday condemning those who hurt the religious feelings of Muslims or followers of any other religions.
"We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others," the U.S. embassy said in its statement.
One slogan scrawled on the walls of the embassy, a fortress-like structure that is near Tahrir Square where Egyptians revolted against Mubarak, said: "If your freedom of speech has no limits, may you accept our freedom of action."
An Egyptian state website carried a statement by Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church condemning what it said were moves by some Copts living abroad "to finance the production of a film insulting Prophet Mohammad".
About a 10th of Egypt's 83 million people are Christians.
It was not immediately clear which film angered protesters
However, according to the website www.standupamerianow.org, the Christian Pastor Terry Jones, who angered Muslims by burning a copy of the Koran, was due to take part in an event on Tuesday called "International Judge Mohammad Day" in Florida in which it would symbolically put the Prophet on trial and play it out live over the Internet.
"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the U.S. embassy statement said, adding that it condemned the efforts by "misguided individuals" to hurt the feelings of Muslims.
In another incident prompted by similar sentiments last month, a lone man attacked the German embassy with homemade nail bombs and a hammer with which he cracked glass at the entrance, following a report about a protest in Germany where demonstrators bore caricatures of the Prophet outside a mosque.
No one was injured and there was no serious damage in that incident.
Egypt Protesters Attack U.S. Embassy In Cairo
CAIRO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Egyptian protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo on Tuesday and pulled down the American flag during a protest over what they said was a film being produced in the United States that insulted Prophet Mohammad, witnesses said.
In place of the U.S. flag, the protesters tried to raise a black flag with the words "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger", a Reuters reporter said.
Once the U.S. flag was hauled down, protesters tore it up, with some showing off small pieces to television cameras. Then others burned remains.
"This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made ... This is a disgrace," said 19-year-old, Ismail Mahmoud, a member of the so-called "ultras" soccer supporters who played a big role in the uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak last year.
Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet to be offensive.
Mahmoud called on President Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first civilian president and an Islamist, to take action. Many others were supporters of Islamist groups.
About 20 people stood on top of the embassy wall in central Cairo, where about 2,000 protesters had gathered.
"There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is Allah's messenger. We will sacrifice ourselves for you, Allah's messenger," they chanted, with many waving religious flags.
A U.S. embassy official had no immediate comment on the protesters' actions but the embassy had put out a statement earlier on Tuesday condemning those who hurt the religious feelings of Muslims or followers of any other religions.
"We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others," the U.S. embassy said in its statement.
One slogan scrawled on the walls of the embassy, a fortress-like structure that is near Tahrir Square where Egyptians revolted against Mubarak, said: "If your freedom of speech has no limits, may you accept our freedom of action."
An Egyptian state website carried a statement by Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church condemning what it said were moves by some Copts living abroad "to finance the production of a film insulting Prophet Mohammad".
About a 10th of Egypt's 83 million people are Christians.
It was not immediately clear which film angered protesters
However, according to the website www.standupamerianow.org, the Christian Pastor Terry Jones, who angered Muslims by burning a copy of the Koran, was due to take part in an event on Tuesday called "International Judge Mohammad Day" in Florida in which it would symbolically put the Prophet on trial and play it out live over the Internet.
"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the U.S. embassy statement said, adding that it condemned the efforts by "misguided individuals" to hurt the feelings of Muslims.
In another incident prompted by similar sentiments last month, a lone man attacked the German embassy with homemade nail bombs and a hammer with which he cracked glass at the entrance, following a report about a protest in Germany where demonstrators bore caricatures of the Prophet outside a mosque.
No one was injured and there was no serious damage in that incident.
Egypt Protesters Attack U.S. Embassy In Cairo
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Huma Abedin and the Republican Betrayal of Michele Bachmann
On June 13th of this year, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and four other Republican House members issued a letter to the State Department’s Deputy Inspector General requesting that various Government agencies investigate charges that the Muslim Brotherhood, (MB), has penetrated into the American government in their well known attempt “to destroy Western civilization from within.” The letter also named other Islamist organizations attempting to do the same, and alleged that Huma Abedin—Secretary of State Clinton’s deputy chief of staff—as well as her family has deep ties to the MB and other Islamist groups.
Leftists and Islamists must be laughing hysterically as they see Republicans commit verbal cannibalism against one of their own.
Huma Abedin and the Republican Betrayal of Michele Bachmann
Monday, September 10, 2012
Ocean Salinity Change Spurs Expedition | LiveScience
Over the past 50 years, the salty parts of the oceans have become saltier and the fresh regions have become fresher, and the degree of change is greater than scientists can explain.
Researchers are heading out into one particularly salty ocean region, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, in the hopes of better understanding what drives variation in salinity in the upper ocean.
Ocean Salinity Change Spurs Expedition | LiveScience
Researchers are heading out into one particularly salty ocean region, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, in the hopes of better understanding what drives variation in salinity in the upper ocean.
Ocean Salinity Change Spurs Expedition | LiveScience
Compulsory Chinese patriotism classes for Hong Kong school pupils ditched after wave of protest - Telegraph
Hong Kong teacher Wong Ting Hin is proud of his Chinese heritage but for the past 16 years that hasn't stopped him telling his students about cases of corruption, human rights abuses and food scandals on the mainland.
"The most important thing is to tell the truth to students of what has happened in China," said the teacher at SKH Li Fook Hing Secondary School.
"I will not hide anything and I will not just tell the good things. I want my students to see the whole situation."
Due to Hong Kong's legacy of British colonial rule, which ended 15 years ago, the city is the only Chinese territory where teachers like Mr Wong, 38, can discuss views that clash so jarringly with the uniform vision of prosperity and harmony fomented by the Chinese Communist Party on the mainland.
An attempt, though, by Hong Kong's education bureau to phase in a new subject with a "national education" component has stoked fears that the Communist Party was trying to indoctrinate its patriotic values into students in Hong Kong - technically known as the Chinese Special Administrative Region.
Compulsory Chinese patriotism classes for Hong Kong school pupils ditched after wave of protest - Telegraph
China Now Using a Cruise Ship to Haul Troops and Tanks
The media freaked out about China’s crappy aircraft carrier and hyperventilated over the J-20 stealth fighter. But China’s newest addition to its military is more subtle, and stylish. It’s a 36,000-ton pleasure boat capable of disgorging thousands of troops and hundreds of vehicles held inside its belly.
That would be the Bahai Sea Green Pearl, a 36,000-ton ferry and cruise ship commissioned in August at Yantai Port in China’s northeastern Shandong Province. At heart a vessel for pleasure and civilian transport, the ship is intended to normally ferry cars and passengers across the Yellow Sea. But when needed by the People’s Liberation Army, the Green Pearl can double as a troop carrier. During its launching ceremony and demonstration on Aug. 8, PLA troops could be seen loading dozens of tanks, artillery pieces and armored vehicles on board.
China Now Using a Cruise Ship to Haul Troops and Tanks | Danger Room | Wired.com
FBI launches $1 billion face recognition project - tech - 07 September 2012 - New Scientist
The Next Generation Identification programme will include a nationwide database of criminal faces and other biometrics
"FACE recognition is 'now'," declared Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in a testimony before the US Senate in July.
It certainly seems that way. As part of an update to the national fingerprint database, the FBI has begun rolling out facial recognition to identify criminals.
It will form part of the bureau's long-awaited, $1 billion Next Generation Identification (NGI) programme, which will also add biometrics such as iris scans, DNA analysis and voice identification to the toolkit. A handful of states began uploading their photos as part of a pilot programme this February and it is expected to be rolled out nationwide by 2014. In addition to scanning mugshots for a match, FBI officials have indicated that they are keen to track a suspect by picking out their face in a crowd.
FBI launches $1 billion face recognition project - tech - 07 September 2012 - New Scientist
How the feds are tracking us | PCWorld
Evidence continues to mount that the U.S. government is keen on tracking its citizens.
The FBI has started rolling out its $1 billion biometric Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, a nationwide database of mug shots, iris scans, DNA samples, voice recordings, palm prints, and other biometrics collected from more than 100 million Americans and intended to help identify and catch criminals.
The FBI has been piloting the program with several states and by the time it’s fully deployed in 2014 will have at its fingertips a facial recognition database that includes at least 12 million photos of people’s faces.
How the feds are tracking us | PCWorld
Tracking School Children With RFID Tags? It's All About the Benjamins
ust as the U.S. Department of Agriculture mandates Radio Frequency Identification Device chips to monitor livestock, a Texas school district just begun implanting the devices on student identification cards to monitor pupils’ movements on campus, and to track them as they come and go from school.
Tagging school children with RFID chips is uncommon, but not new. A federally funded preschool in Richmond, California, began embedding RFID chips in students’ clothing in 2010. And an elementary school outside of Sacramento, California, scrubbed a plan in 2005 amid a parental uproar. And a Houston, Texas, school district began using the chips to monitor students on 13 campuses in 2004.
It was only a matter of time. Radio frequency identification devices are a daily part of the electronic age, and are fast becoming a part of passports, libraries and payment cards, and are widely expected to replace bar-code labels on consumer goods.
And it appears that the educational move to Big Brother-style monitoring is motivated mainly by money, despite privacy and health concerns.
Two schools at the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio began issuing the RFID-chip-laden student-body cards when classes began last Monday. Like most state-financed schools, their budgets are tied to average daily attendance. If a student is not in his seat during morning roll call, the district doesn’t receive daily funding for that pupil, because the school has no way of knowing for sure if the student is there.
Tracking School Children With RFID Tags? It's All About the Benjamins | Threat Level | Wired.com
Does The FBI’s Looming Biometric Database Bring Big Brother Closer?
The FBI is readying its $1 billion Next Generation Identification program, a surveillance system that uses photographs and biometric data to help law enforcement entities nationwide identify possible "persons of interest." But the bureau has openly mulled cataloging photographs of innocent people taken from surveillance cameras and social networking sites, as well as biometric information gathered for non-criminal reasons, sending privacy advocates into a fury.
Does The FBI’s Looming Biometric Database Bring Big Brother Closer? - International Business Times
Does The FBI’s Looming Biometric Database Bring Big Brother Closer? - International Business Times
Non-Unionized Delphi Retirees Rally over ‘Theft of Our Pensions’ Caused by Auto Bailout
DAYTON, Ohio - From the bed of a Ford pickup truck outside a now-dilapidated former Delphi auto parts plant here, Mary Miller called for transparency from President Barack Obama over the "theft of our pensions."
Miller, a self-described "divorced mother of four young adults," and about 200 Delphi salaried retirees gathered at the shuttered auto plant in Dayton last Thursday morning to ask President Obama to right the wrongs they believe his administration inflicted upon them during the 2009 auto industry bailout.
The Obama administration terminated the pensions, health care and life insurance of more than 20,000 Delphi retirees during that bailout. Internal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) emails The Daily Caller published on Aug. 7 show the Obama White House and Treasury Department have consistently misrepresented the decision-making process behind the backroom deal.
The emails demonstrate that White House and Treasury officials were behind the pension terminations and that Secretary Tim Geithner and his Treasury Department were the driving force pushing them. The emails also contradict sworn testimony in which several Obama administration figures have said the decision to terminate the pensions came from the PBGC.
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