Sodomy "For the Sake of Islam" :: Raymond Ibrahim

 I had hesitated posting this item because of the repulsion of the subject matter, but you must know the extremes that Radical Islam is prepared to go to in order to perpetrate acts of terrorism.....



Not only did the original "underwear bomber" Abdullah Hassan al-Asiri hide explosives in his rectum to assassinate Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Nayef—they met in 2009 after the 22-year-old Asiri "feigned repentance for his jihadi views"—but this "holy-warrior" apparently had fellow jihadists repeatedly sodomize him to "widen" his anus to fit the explosives—and all in accordance with the fatwas of Islamic clerics.
Sodomy "For the Sake of Islam" :: Raymond Ibrahim

The Robin Hood Tax Scam Is Back

In a burst of uninformed enthusiasm, William La Jeunesse, writing for Fox News, announced that the bill offered by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) — the “Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act” — was the Robin Hood tax.
If he knew better, La Jeunesse would have called it by its correct name: the Tobin Tax, first offered 40 years ago by a Keynesian economist, following the collapse of the Bretton Woods agreement when President Nixon took the United States off the gold standard. That bit of information would no doubt have helped to curb his enthusiasm.
La Jeunesse wrote:

The measure would impose a tiny three-hundredths-of-a-penny tax on financial trades. Supporters say the bill would cost the average investor just $1 per year, but could raise up to $35 billion annually.

This painless way of extracting funds from its owners would then allow further spending to stimulate the economy, according to DeFazio:

It’s .03 percent. But it will still generate about $35 billion a year in income — income that could be used to rebuild the real economy, infrastructure [and make] other investments.

Any proposal to increase taxes, direct or indirect (the Tobin tax qualifies as an indirect tax), can be examined at least three ways. Who is proposing it and what is his agenda? Who has analyzed its impact impartially and has the intestinal fortitude to tell the truth about the bill? And are taxes in general moral, and indirect taxes specifically?


The Robin Hood Tax Scam Is Back

In Iowa, hope fades as relentless drought decimates crops | Reuters

 

Bob Bowman runs his hand over a slender green corn leaf here on his Iowa farm, and sighs.
"This corn should be as high as my head right now, and it is only waist high," he says, as a cool morning breeze belies the 90-degree Fahrenheit temperatures forecast to descend by afternoon in Welton, Iowa.
"If we get rain real quick here, we might be down 25 percent," said Bowman of prospective losses from the persistent dryness. "If we don't get rain in the next two weeks, it will be a lot more serious."
Bowman farms 2,200 acres in east-central Iowa in one of the state's highest production areas. There may not be much to brag about this year, however.

In Iowa, hope fades as relentless drought decimates crops | Reuters

Angry Atheists Bully Locality to Squelch Public Prayer

The atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is at it again, attacking prayer at public meetings.
This time the target of their attack was my hometown. For more than a quarter century Henrico County, Virginia had opened its Board of Supervisors meetings with an invocation, much like many other county boards and city councils around the country.
After the June 12th meeting, which opened with an invocation by a local Baptist pastor, someone complained.

Angry Atheists Bully Locality to Squelch Public Prayer | Public Prayer, American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ

Genocidal Sudan to Win Seat on U.N.’s top human rights body

 Slaughter millions of non-Muslims, Christians, animists and secular Muslims in a jihad and get yourself a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. Any sane, responsible free nation would have withdrawn from this cesspool -- why are we funding this collective negation of humanity to the tune of close to 25% of its budget?

Genocidal Sudan to Win Seat on U.N.’s top human rights body - Atlas Shrugs

California’s First Muslim Superior Court Judge Led Muslim Brotherhood-founded Student Group « Creeping Sharia

Interestingly, Dhanidina was a member of one of the largest Muslim gangs in the U.S. – the Muslim Brotherhood-founded Muslim Students Association.

Dhanidina earned his law degree at UCLA, where he served as the co-chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Students Association. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Pomona College, where he founded the first Muslim Students’ Association, and currently sits on the Board of Governors of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council said it had advocated for Dhanidina’s appointment for more than a year. “Dhanidina’s appointment is an important step in ensuring that California’s leaders accurately reflect the communities present in our great state,” said Aziza Hasan, MPAC’s Southern California Government Relations director, in a press statement.

Will he repudiate the anti-American, anti-Israel MPAC? They lobbied for him for more than a year is he is likely either a member or supports MPAC.

Will he lock up jihadis, honor killers, and those who assault non-believers as quickly as he does gang bangers? More on the this new California judge’s organization the
California’s First Muslim Superior Court Judge Led Muslim Brotherhood-founded Student Group « Creeping Sharia

TODAY: SAME Muslim Mayor of Granite Falls, Washington Arrested

Muslim Mayor of Granite Falls, Washington Arrested at Seatac Airport for threatening to kill his niece - Atlas Shrugs

2009: Granite Falls : elects a Muslim mayor

Granite Falls elects a Muslim mayor | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

U.S. Midwest drought sets global crop prices soaring | Investing | Financial Post

 
Grain prices are approaching the peak levels reached in mid-2008, a period when many other commodities were also hitting record highs just before the economic meltdown. While many commodities are well below those levels today, grains have climbed all the way back.



Corn prices lead the sector’s rally, having jumped about 35% in the last month and the key futures contract has reached US$7.86 a bushel. Soybean prices Wednesday hit an all-time high of US$16.79 a bushel.


U.S. Midwest drought sets global crop prices soaring | Investing | Financial Post

The Rise and Threat of Radical Islam: An Interview with Brigitte Gabriel

 What supposedly started out as a democratic, secular uprising in Egypt, Yemen, Libya and other parts of the Arab world, the so-called Arab Spring has become a stunning victory for Islamist forces, mostly forces closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. As terrorism expert Steve Emerson pointed out in a recent column, it was just in the past few months, before he was elected president, that Mohamed Morsi “promised the Quran would be the new constitution of the nation, and then led the crowd in chants of the Muslim Brotherhood’s motto. ‘The Quran is our constitution,’ ‘jihad is our path,’ and ‘death for the sake of Allah is our most lofty aspiration,’ the jubilant crowd repeated after Morsi.”

In recent days we have learned that, incredibly, Iran was elected to a top post on the UN Arms Trade Treaty conference, and Syria is about to join China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia on the UN Human Rights Council. The implications of all this are far reaching, and of great relevance to Americans.

GABRIEL: And why do you think, for instance, President Obama brings these people in as advisors, as consultants?  What is his motivation in doing this?


GABRIEL: That’s a very interesting question.  I cannot answer what’s going on inside President Obama’s head, but I can tell you one thing: Actions speak louder than words, especially when you are the President of the United States and you are making decisions whether to protect your own citizens and put the interests of your own country before anybody else in the world, or whether you listen and are influenced by foreign forces that you know for sure are in our country to do our country harm.  Obviously our President has regular intelligence briefings.  I cannot imagine our President not being briefed on the Muslim Brotherhood plan, or the Muslim Brotherhood Project in the United States, and about the Holy Land Foundation trial, which took place in Dallas, Texas in 2007 and 2008.  Obviously he knows the information, he knows what these organizations are—and for him to know all this information and still bring these types of shady characters and hire them as his advisors, to work with him on coming up with our foreign policy and our policy in the United States on counterterrorism, is something very concerning, to say the least—very alarming to put it, to put it mildly—because right now, we have a President who is practically endangering the lives of Americans by putting foreign interests first, before America, while ignoring what needs to be done in order to protect and secure the United States of America, the same country he took an oath to protect—he’s not doing the job.


The Rise and Threat of Radical Islam: An Interview with Brigitte Gabriel

Should Americans be Shielded from the Evils of our Enemy? | War on Terror, American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ

 
When I was serving in Iraq during the surge, I distinctly remember watching hand-wringing from back home as commentators wondered if media reluctance to show American casualties (including video of Americans killed and wounded in the field) was “sheltering the public from the reality of war.”
Well, yes, we are sheltered from the reality of war — but not in the way you might think. Of course we’re careful about showing American casualties (as we should be; our casualty notification process shouldn’t begin with CNN), but the public is mainly sheltered from understanding the nature and actions of our enemy. Over the weekend, video of a Taliban adultery execution “sparked outrage” around the world yet many who’ve served downrange are quite familiar with videos far, far worse. In fact, the terrorist film (complete with up-close beheadings and jihadists shrieking “Allahu akbar” like they’re cheering a soccer goal) is a staple of many jihadist safe houses.
In other words, our jihadist enemy is pure evil, and Americans are constantly shielded from that fact.


Should Americans be Shielded from the Evils of our Enemy? | War on Terror, American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ

New York City micro apartments aim to be cozy, not cramped | Reuters

New York City micro apartments aim to be cozy, not cramped | Reuters

Shaking all over: Map of every major earthquake since 1898 reveals stunning image of planet's danger zones | Mail Online

If you are looking for somewhere safe from an earthquake, this might help.
For this map shows the where every major quake has struck since 1898, and as you can see, the edge of the Pacific Ocean appears particularly dangerous. In total there are a staggering 203,186 of them, dotted all over the world.
The neon-coloured map was created as a side-project by mapping manager John Nelson, in a case of taking his work home with him, as he works for data-visualisation software maker IDV Solutions.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2170140/Shaking-Map-major-earthquake-1898-reveals-stunning-image-planets-danger-zones.html#ixzz20AMKcdmy

Shaking all over: Map of every major earthquake since 1898 reveals stunning image of planet's danger zones | Mail Online

Ways of Thinking About a National ID Card - NYTimes.com

Re “Show Me Your Papers” (column, July 2): Finally, common sense is beginning to shine. Bill Keller advocates a national ID card, and Senators Charles E. Schumer and Lindsey Graham have called for an “enhanced Social Security card.” This card already exists: the United States passport card.

According to the State Department, “the U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book.”

The challenge is to mandate it for all American citizens.

Ways of Thinking About a National ID Card - NYTimes.com

THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Obama to meet Egypt president in US in September

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will meet Egypt's first Islamist leader, the recently elected Mohamed Morsi, at the UN General Assembly in New York in September, a US official told AFP on Sunday.
The United States has reached out carefully to Morsi as US officials predict a more complicated and less predictable relationship with the key Arab nation.
Morsi of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood was last month proclaimed to be Egypt's first democratically elected president, a year and a half after street protests toppled veteran strongman and US ally Hosni Mubarak.
Despite Morsi's Islamist background, the confirmation of his election brought relief to Obama's administration which feared that the military would not accept his victory and provoke new chaos in Egypt.

THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Obama to meet Egypt president in US in September

Russia flash floods kill more than 100 as victims swept to sea, electrocuted | News | National Post

MOSCOW — Torrential rains dropped nearly a foot of water in the Black Sea region of southern Russia overnight, unleashing intense flooding that killed more than 100 people and forced many to scramble out of their beds for refuge in trees and on roofs, officials said Saturday.
Some of the victims were electrocuted while others were swept into the sea. Many of the dead were elderly people who had been sleeping and drowned.
Water rushed into the Krasnodar region around the hard-hit town of Krimsk with such speed and volume that rumours emerged that local officials had opened a nearby water reservoir. Muddy water coursed through streets and homes, in some cases high enough to flow over the hoods of cars and even as high as rooftops, according to witnesses.
People waded through waist-high water or manoeuvred the streets in boats on Saturday. About 5,000 residences were flooded, the Krasnodar governor was quoted as telling the Interfax news agency.
Russia flash floods kill more than 100 as victims swept to sea, electrocuted | News | National Post

IS AMERICA FACING A “JONAH” MOMENT, OR A “NAHUM” MOMENT? « Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

 In the Old Testament book of Jonah, the Hebrew prophet was sent by the Lord to the wicked city of Ninevah — the capital of the Assyrian empire — in order to preach a message of imminent judgment. I asked the leaders to set aside for a moment the fact that Jonah didn’t want to obey the Lord and preach this messsage, and thus fled on a ship headed in the other direction. The point I wanted to make that night was that when Jonah finally did obey the Lord and did start preaching in Ninevah, he didn’t call the people to repentance. Rather, Jonah declared, “Forty days and Ninevah will be overthrown.” (Jonah 3:4) However, even though Jonah never called the people to plead to the One True God of Israel to have mercy on their souls and on their city, even though Jonah never called on the people to beg for forgiveness and turn away from their wickedness, that is, in fact, exactly what the Ninevites did.

IS AMERICA FACING A “JONAH” MOMENT, OR A “NAHUM” MOMENT? « Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

The Real Agenda Behind UN “Sustainability” Unmasked

RIO DE JANEIRO - During the United Nations Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in late June, Christ the Redeemer — the city’s most famous landmark, a massive statue of Jesus Christ on top of Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio — was illuminated using bright green lights. It was a fitting symbol for the controversial summit in more ways than one.
Shortly before the conference began, green legend James Lovelock — the scientist and environmentalist who first came up with the whole “Gaia” concept — warned that the “green religion” was now “taking over from the Christian religion.” While it may sound absurd to most Americans, for many Rio+20 summit participants, the stunt with green lights shining on the statue of Christ no doubt had a special meaning.

The Real Agenda Behind UN “Sustainability” Unmasked

Jewish History in Holy Land: The Jewish Valero Family Owned the Land outside of Damascus Gate

 
There's a great site called "Israel's History, a picture of day." The Library of Congress has digitalized thousands of photographs of its Holy Land collection and made them available online. Many of them are 100 years old. The pictures show a history of the Holy Land in the last century, and this website puts them in historically Biblical and contemporary context.
I love it, because every picture is a smackdown of the mythical "Palestinian" narrative concocted to deny the Jews their homeland. Archeological artifacts (and the Bible) have long proved that Israel belongs to the Jewish people, but the enemedia clubs the misinformed into submission with the giant lies of Islamic supremacists, whose "religion" commands the annihilation of the Jewish people. The state of Israel is offensive to every devout Muslim.


The Jewish Valero Family Owned the Land outside of Damascus Gate - Atlas Shrugs

Rabbis to meet in Berlin to protest circumcision ban

A court in the western city of Cologne caused an uproar in June by ruling in the case of a Muslim boy who suffered bleeding after such an operation that circumcision causes bodily harm and should only be performed on males old enough to give consent.
The head of the Conference of European Rabbis told Reuters on Monday that it was part of a trend to limit religious freedom in Europe that was targeting Jewish and Muslim traditions such as circumcision and the religious slaughter of animals for meat.
"We see this decision by a German court in the context of a new European intolerance towards other religions," said Pinchas Goldschmidt, the Swiss-born chief rabbi of Moscow and organizer of the meeting to be held in Berlin on Tuesday.



Rabbis to meet in Berlin to protest circumcision ban | Reuters

World Update Turkey: Center of the New Caliphate - Dr. Steve Elwart - Koinonia House

The Arab Spring and the rise of Islam in the region may prove to be the key to Turkey’s emergence as a true regional and world power. The stated goal of both Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood is a restoration of the Muslim Caliphate with Turkey as its head, as it had been for over 600 years.

While Syria’s Assad Regime enjoys the backing of both Russia and China as it goes through a program of systematic atrocities against its own people, the nation Assad truly fears is neighboring Turkey.
Turkey, a NATO member and the most powerful military force in the region, helped foster the creation of the Syrian National Council, Assad’s main rebel opposition group.
Turkey operates nine refugee camps along the Turkey-Syria border and has been an increasingly vocal advocate of the establishment of a “buffer zone” inside Syria to protect Syrian refugees.
Turkey is also publicly discussing invoking two international agreements, both of which would provide political cover for an armed intervention in Syria.
One instrument is the 1998 Adana Agreement. The other is Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which says an armed attack against any single NATO member constitutes an attack on all NATO members.
Turkey and Syria both signed the Adana Agreement after Turkey threatened to invade Syria because the Assad Government was harboring the senior commander of the Kurdistan Workers Party—the PKK, a Kurdish organization which has been fighting the Turkish state for greater political rights for the Kurds in Turkey.
The language of the agreement, however, is not limited to just the PKK. It also states that Syria “will not permit any activity that emanates from its territory aimed at jeopardizing the security and stability of Turkey.”
Turkey already harbors 25,000 to 30,000 Syrian refugees inside its borders and expects even more. Turkey is sending diplomatic signals that this surge of refugees across its border violates that treaty.
NATO Article 5 offers another legal avenue. On April 9, Syrian security forces fired across the Turkey-Syria border and wounded four people in a refugee camp in one of Turkey’s western provinces. That constituted an armed violation of Turkey’s border. Turkish Prime Minister Endogen angrily claimed that “NATO has responsibilities to do with Turkey’s borders, according to Article 5.”
All this is occurring at a time when Turkey is reemerging as a significant regional power. This country, spanning two continents, is in the process of returning to its former glory when it was the center of Islam, embodied in the Ottoman Empire.


World Update Turkey: Center of the New Caliphate - Dr. Steve Elwart - Koinonia House

Culture wars: Black mobs terrorize 1 of ‘whitest big cities’

 
While Seattle may not have the day-in, day-out racial violence of a Chicago, or the peculiar racial lawlessness of small-town Peoria, more and more, people are paying attention to the increasingly visible and brutish mayhem black mobs are visiting on their victims.


In 2010, 17-year-old Jessica Redmon-Beckstead – who was pregnant at the time – was riding the bus with her boyfriend when five black women taunted, attacked, kicked, punched and robbed her.
The assailants were laughing the whole time. One even complained about a broken fingernail.
“My girlfriend’s pregnant!” shouted the boyfriend as they punched her and kicked him in the face.
One woman yelled, “We didn’t hit her in the stomach!”
Her retort got a few laughs – and then the violence resumed.


The attack was caught on video and posted by the Seattle Times.

Black mobs terrorize 1 of ‘whitest big cities’

Romney favors Obamacare...the facts by Ann Barnhardt

Romney Didn't Even Last a WEEK. Posted by Ann Barnhardt - July 3, AD 2012 2:00 PM MST As promised, Romney has folded on ObamaCare too, although had I wagered money on the timing, I would have thought that he would have lasted at least a week. But apparently the revenue curve from stupid, imbecilic suckers giving Romney money in the wake of the SCOTUS decision fell off hard enough that the Romney people felt that it served no more purpose to perpetuate the repeal charade. Here's the link. I hope every single one of you who gave that forked-tongued jackass money feel the full shame and embarrassment of your own gullibility and obtuseness. This slackjawed sentimentalism WILL BE THE DEATH OF ALL OF US. Your rah-rah loyalty to con-artists who wrap themselves in platitudes so that you can have a "team" that makes you feel good about yourself isn't noble or admirable. It is nauseating and disgusting. It is truly sickening to see people elevate false sentiment over truth - all for the sake of a truly shallow SOCIAL EXPERIENCE. Ignorance is one thing. Abject stupidity in the face of mountains of pounding evidence is another. -Romney wrote and implemented ObamaCare's template in Massachusetts. -RomneyCare destroyed the Massachusetts economy. Romney refuses to this day to acknowledge that there is anything wrong with RomneyCare, or the economic damage it had done and continues to do to Massachusetts. -Romney's top aides and inner circle were frequent visitors to the White House and were instrumental in the drafting of ObamaCare in 2009. -Romney has VOCIFERICOUSLY defended the concept of the mandate that people must, as a condition of their very existence, purchase a specific commodity. -RomneyCare funds abortion with a mere $50 co-pay and forces all people under its control to pay for contraception and sterilization, including the Church in Massachusetts. The reason you never heard anything about this is because Archbishop Sean O'Malley is a slack-jawed idiot who is a Marxist and, like most bishops today, doesn't actually believe in Catholicism. He's just a narcissistic, politicking little shell of a man who is desperate for worldly approval - particularly from other men. Sad but true. Someone needs to say this. So, not only has O'Malley not complained about the horrors of RomneyCare, but he embraces it and supports ObamaCare. And, as a result, he still gets invited to all of the fancy parties with all of the rich, powerful men whose approval his entire existence revolves around and self-esteem depends upon. And I'm sure that he also lives in complete terror of having some rich, powerful man like Mitt Romney come up to him at a party, smile, lean in, and ask, "You don't really believe that a piece of bread turns into God, do you?" The vast majority of bishops today are embarrassed and humiliated by the Eucharist. Hence the entire problem. It all really does come down to that, whether you understand that or not. Someone has to say it. -Mitt Romney will never, ever repeal ObamaCare. The Congress will never, ever repeal ObamaCare. The only way to get rid of ObamaCare is a junta or civil war and the establishment of the Second American Republic. The First American Republic is dead, and it is never, ever coming back. I will not be celebrating Independence Day tomorrow, because to do so would be utterly hypocritical and a lie. The First Republic is dead, and to pretend that it isn't only feeds and enables the usurpers and tyrants who are desecrating its corpse in order to give themselves the appearance of legitimacy. If I live to see the establishment of the Second American Republic, THAT date will I observe. The Black American Flag, flown in distress, is my flag now.

Will it take a Junta? If so, who’ll lead it? « The Radio Patriot

 This is a repost by Andrea Shea King of blog postings by Ann Barnhardt.  Ann is a Catholic, very devoted to her faith and is a follower of Bible prophecy as well.  She has tremendous insight on events taking place in this country...her language is a little strong in some places, I will warn you, but you will be receiving 'cutting edge' information from her.



Will it take a Junta? If so, who’ll lead it? « The Radio Patriot

Iran leader: We must prep for ‘end of times’

Until now, the Iranian media would mostly quote clerics from seminaries on the issue of the last Islamic messiah to avoid the regime being labeled messianic. However, the wide publication of Khamenei’s statements on a need to prepare for the end of times as it confronts the West over its illicit nuclear program is alarming to Western leaders.


“The issue of Imam Mahdi is of utmost importance, and his reappearance has been clearly stated in our holy religion of Islam,” Khamenei said. We must study and remind ourselves of the end of times and Imam Mahdi’s era. … We must prepare the environment for the coming so that the great leader will come.”


Shiite theology holds that great wars must engulf the Earth, during which one-third of the world’s population will die in the fighting and another third from hunger, lawlessness and havoc. Israel is to be destroyed, and only then will the 12th imam, Mahdi, reappear and kill all the infidels, raising the flag of Islam in all corners of the world.



Iran leader: We must prep for ‘end of times’

U.S. military developing spychips for soldiers

 
The U.S. military wants to plant nanosensors in soldiers to monitor health on future battlefields and immediately respond to needs, but a privacy expert warns the step is just one more down the road to computer chips for all.

“It’s never going to happen that the government at gunpoint says, ‘You’re going to have a tracking chip,’” said Katherine Albrecht, who with Liz McIntyre authored “Spychips,” a book that warns of the threat to privacy posed by Radio Frequency Identification.

U.S. military developing spychips for soldiers

UN Arms Trade Treaty....loosing our right to bear arms?

Oppose U.S. Signing and Ratification of the UN Arms Trade Treaty

After several years of preparatory meetings the UN is holding a conference in New York City July 2-27, 2012, to draft a final version of a UN Arms Trade Treaty. The official UN website for the conference states: "From 2-27 July, all countries of the world will come together in New York to negotiate what is seen as the most important initiative ever regarding conventional arms regulation within the United Nations." According to an article posted by the NRA on June 29, 2012: "Last year, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) and 57 other senators signed a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reminding them that the Senate has final say on treaties, and stating their unequivocal opposition to any treaty that would affect civilian ownership of firearms, challenge the authority of Congress to regulate firearms within the United States, or call for an international gun registry." Furthermore, 130 congressmen sent a letter dated June 29, 2012, to President Obama stating: "We write to express our concerns regarding the negotiation of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the text of which is expected to be finalized at a conference to be held in New York during the month of July.... The U.S. must not accept an ATT that infringes on our constitutional rights, particularly the fundamental, individual right to keep and to bear arms that is protected by the Second Amendment, as well as the the right of personal self-defense on which the the Second Amendment is based.... Should the final ATT text run counter to these principles or otherwise undermine our rights and our interests, we urge this Administration to break consensus and reject the treaty in New York...." The NRA is warning that "The 'United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty' is one of the most serious threats to American gun owners in decades.... The U.N. has denied that the ATT will affect domestic gun ownership, but its latest pre-conference position paper ('The Impact of Poorly Regulated Arms Transfers on the Work of the U.N.') calls for exactly that." Unfortunately, that pre-conference position paper is not available online. However, some quotes from the paper have been included in "The U.N. Speaks: The Arms Trade Treaty Will Affect 'Legally Owned Weapons'" by Ted R. Bromund, a Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Bromund states: After proclaiming that the ATT [UN Arms Trade Treaty] “does not aim to impede or interfere with the lawful ownership and use of weapons,” the CASA [the UN's Coordinating Action on Small Arms] paper ['The Impact of Poorly Regulated Arms Transfers on the Work of the U.N.'] goes on to say that “United Nations agencies have come across many situations in which various types of conventional weapons have been … misused by lawful owners” and that the “arms trade must therefore be regulated in ways that would … minimize the risk of misuse of legally owned weapons.” How, exactly, would the ATT do that if it doesn’t “impede” or “interfere” with lawful ownership? The U.N. would have a lot more credibility on the ATT if it didn’t imply so regularly that the problem is as much lawful ownership as it is the international arms trade. Of course, CASA isn’t just concerned with lawful ownership; it’s also campaigning against “community attitudes” that “contribute to the powerful cultural conditioning that equates masculinity with owning and using a gun, and regards gun misuse by men as acceptable.” All this just goes to show that the U.N. regards gun ownership — even under national constitutional protection and for lawful activities — as a cultural failure that it needs to redress and that it has no patience at all with the idea that self-defense is an inherent right.