Islam - Current Day - ISIS Bride; Afghan Car Bomb; Islamic Rage; Women's Rights Activist Goes Silent

ISIS bride Shamima Begum’s UK return put on hold after British government wins right to appeal decision

Shamima Begum’s return to UK shores has been cast in doubt after the British government dramatically won a court battle allowing it the right to appeal an earlier decision. The appeal will be heard by the UK’s Supreme Court.

Begum, now 20, who was one of three east London schoolgirls who traveled to Syria to join Islamic State in 2015, won a High Court appeal earlier this month, allowing her to return to the UK and challenge the withdrawal of her British citizenship.

However, on Friday, the Court of Appeal ruled that the case raised a point of law of public importance, meaning that Begum’s return must be paused while the UK government appeals the decision.

Begum left the UK five years ago and lived under IS rule for over three years, having married Dutch-born Islamic State fighter Yago Riedijk. She was found in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019, and was discovered to be pregnant.

Then-UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her British citizenship later that year on national security grounds. Last year, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) said that Begum had not been unlawfully rendered stateless while she was living in Syria because she was entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship.

Afghanistan car bomb kills 8, injures 30

By Danielle Haynes

Afghan security officers stands guard outside the emergency hospital in Kabul after a car bomb blast targeted
a crowded market in Logar province of Afghanistan, on Thursday. Photo by Jawad Jalali/EPA-EFE

July 30 (UPI) -- A car bomb exploded in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing at least eight civilians and injuring dozens more, the Interior Ministry said.

Multiple children were among the victims.

"The incident occurred at 7:40 p.m. local time in Sharwal Square of Pul-e-Alam city, capital of Logar [province]. The initial information indicated that eight civilians were martyred and 30 wounded," tweeted ministry spokesman Tariq Arian, according to a translation by Xinhua news agency.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack; the Taliban denied involvement, Tolo News reported.

The explosion comes ahead of a planned three-day cease-fire between the Afghan government and Taliban militants for the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Pol-e-Alam, AFG

Egyptian kills brother in row over Eid meat

Accused had warned his family against accepting meat being distributed to the poor

Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
Gulf News

The accused told prosecutors in the Delta province of Beheira that he flew into rage on learning that his family had accepted the meat given away to the poor during the Eid of Sacrifice, private newspaper Al Masri Al Youm said.

He added that his family had ignored his earlier warnings against accepting such gifts. In a fit of rage, he flew the meat piece out of the house window, triggering a fight with his brother. Wielding a knife, the accused reportedly fatally stabbed his brother and inflicted wounds in the abdomen of his sister.

Local prosecutors ordered him to be kept in custody for four days pending further interrogation.

During Eid Al Adha, Muslims, who can afford it, sacrifice animals such as sheep, goats, camels and cows, honouring the Prophet Ebrahim’s willingness to slay his son Ismael at Allah’s command. As the Prophet Ebrahim and Ismael showed unwavering obedience to the divine order, Allah sent a ram slaughtered in the son’s stead.

Was it that he was too proud to accept meat given to the poor? Did his pride exceed all common sense and love for his brother and sister? 

Of course, the son Abraham nearly sacrificed was Isaac. Ishmael had been sent away by Abraham as an illegitimate son after Isaac, the promised son was born. The Ishmael sacrifice story was invented by Mohammed thousands of years after Isaac's story was written.

'It's psychological torture': Saudi activist's family say she hasn't been heard from in 6 weeks

..

UBC graduate Loujain Alhathloul turned 31 on Friday in a Saudi jail

Michelle Ghoussoub · CBC News 

Alhathloul, a graduate of the University of British Columbia, was arrested in May 2018 along with nine other high-profile women's rights activists. (Loujain Alhathloul/Facebook)

Women's rights activist Loujain Alhathloul, currently jailed in Saudi Arabia, hasn't been heard from in six weeks — the longest time she's been silent since she was arrested over two years ago, according to her brother.

Alhathloul, a graduate of the University of British Columbia, has been detained since May 2018, when she was arrested along with nine other women's rights activists. She turned 31 in prison on Friday.

"We don't know anything about her well-being and we don't know anything about where she is exactly," said her brother Walid Alhathloul, speaking on the phone from Toronto.

He said she was previously detained in Ha'er Prison, a maximum-security prison and the country's largest, but the family now isn't sure whether she's been moved to a different location.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, her family was able to visit her weekly. But those visits were replaced by weekly phone calls when Saudi Arabia tightened restrictions on prison visits to prevent the spread of the virus.

Alhathloul says the family now hasn't heard from her since June 9. "I would say it's a way to torture us, the family. Loujain knows that we are doing fine, but we don't know if she's doing fine," he said.

"We're safe — she's not safe. It's psychological torture."

Detained since 2018

Alhathloul was first accused of attempting to destabilize the kingdom. Since then, those charges have been changed to communicating with foreign journalists and attempting to apply for a job at the United Nations.

Her trial was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We're expecting that we're not going to get any updates from the court, or from the judge," said her brother, who said that even two years on, the family maintains hope that she will be released.

"We're holding up. We're used to that and we know that the target is us. This was difficult at the beginning, but right now it's becoming part of our DNA."

Loujain Alhathloul's birthday triggered an outpouring of support on social media, and protests

outside of the Saudi embassy in Washington DC. (Loujain Alhathloul/Facebook)

Alhathloul was a vocal activist known for her vivacity and spirit even prior to her high-profile arrest.

In 2014, following her graduation from UBC, Alhathloul was arrested for live-streaming herself breaking Saudi Arabia's female driving ban by driving across the border from the United Arab Emirates.

The stunt, which captured the world's attention, earned her 70 days of detention. She followed that up by running in Saudi Arabia's first election open to women.

After 14 months of detention, she was offered to sign a deal that would have let her walk free if she posted a video statement denying that she'd been tortured. She tore up the document.

She had previously told her family that she'd been held in solitary confinement and suffered electrocution, flogging, and sexual assault

Alhathloul's birthday triggered an outpouring of support on social media and protests outside of the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C.

Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Walid Alhathloul said he believes his sister, who in February was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by United States Congress members, has become a symbol for women's rights across the world.

"People saw that when she got involved, she didn't have to, because she had all her own privilege," he said. "And despite that, she sacrificed her own privilege for the sake of greater women's rights in Saudi Arabia. She did that unconditionally."

Counterfeit Medicines, from Headache Pills to Cancer Drugs, have Become a $200-Billion Problem

Jonathon Gatehouse · CBC News 

Tonnes of counterfeit and illegal medicine are seen after a 2015 seizure in Dakar. A similar week-long, Interpol-coordinated blitz last fall saw authorities in 116 countries seize 500 tonnes of fake pharmaceuticals worth an estimated $14 million US. (Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images)

The World Health Organization is warning cancer patients in North America and Europe about a batch of fake drugs that contain nothing but a common painkiller.

The product alert, released earlier this month, says that counterfeit medicine packaged to look like the cancer drug Iclusig, known generically as ponatinib — a targeted therapy for chronic myeloid and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia — simply contains acetaminophen.

The fakes, first discovered by a Swiss wholesaler, have also been detected in Turkey and Argentina. They were being sold online at a fraction of the more than $16,000 US that American pharmacies currently charge for a one-month supply of the drug.

Of course, if Big Pharma didn't charge such extraordinary prices, there would be less incentive for counterfeiting. 

Counterfeit or substandard pharmaceuticals are a big business,

worth an estimated $200 billion US a year.

In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, where the bulk of the fakes are sold, the WHO estimates that as many as 116,000 people die due to ineffective malaria medication each year. It adds that the counterfeits are adding hundreds of millions to health care costs, due to the treatment and hospitalization of people who might not have otherwise been infected.

So this counterfeiting is really a form of massacring hundreds of thousands of people and causing unnecessary suffering for many millions more. 

Bottles of counterfeit Viagra, confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protections. Counterfeit or substandard pharmaceuticals are a big business, worth an estimated $200 billion US a year worldwide. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

A week-long, Interpol-coordinated blitz last fall saw authorities in 116 countries seize 500 tonnes of fake pharmaceuticals worth an estimated $14 million US. The haul included anti-inflammatory medication, birth control pills, and counterfeit treatments for HIV, Parkinson's and diabetes. (Investigators also found more than 110,000 fake medical devices like hearing aids, contact lens and syringes.) The seizures resulted in 859 arrests and the closure of 3,671 weblinks.

In recent years, Health Canada has been waging a battle against counterfeit Viagra, Cialis and Levitra — sometimes containing too little of the active ingredient, and sometimes too much. All of it widely available online at a steep discount from the $15 per prescription pill.

I was in Algodonez, Mexico several years ago when I entered a pharmacy type store to pick up some ointment my daughter had asked for. As I was about to pay, the guy behind the counter, without explanation, threw a bag of pills on the counter. It was an unmarked, clear, plastic bag with several dozen pills. He wanted about $30 US, if I remember correctly. My two friends broke out laughing as I slowly realized what I was being offered. I simply said, "I'm not there yet!" and left. God only knows what was really in those pills.

Authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland are currently dealing with a spate of overdose deaths linked to fake Valium and Xanax. The pills, which are being pressed in the U.K. from materials made in Far East drug labs, differ dramatically in strength with every batch, and sometimes contain entirely differently sedatives than the brand names.

No one is quite sure how to best tackle the global fake drug crisis.

Workers pile 50 tonnes of fake medicine for incineration after it was confiscated in Abidjan in 2017. Several nations

around the world are turning to tracking systems to help buyers and sellers determine whether medicine is genuine.

(Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty Images)

West African nations are talking about creating their own pharmaceutical firms to try ensure that quality products make it to local markets. Kenyan authorities plan to roll out a system of country-specific codes that pharmacists and consumers can track via a smartphone app, ensuring that they are selling and buying real, government-approved medicine.  

Some believe that blockchain systems might provide the answer, documenting every step of a drug's journey from manufacturer to consumer.

Although it's unclear if any technology will ever be able to trump politics.

This past weekend, the European Union finally debuted its own continent-wide system to fight and track fake drugs, which has been more than four years in the making.

But the U.K. will no longer have access come March 30, if it fails to reach a Brexit divorce agreement. Almost three-quarters of the prescription drugs used by the National Health Service (Britain) are made in Europe.

The Interpol blitz happened just last October so it is too early to know the consequences to be suffered by those arrested. They must be treated as nothing short of mass murderers as should all criminals who cut their street drugs with fentanyl. 

Mass ‘Religious’ Suicide, or Murder? 11 Bodies Found in India’s Capital

A policeman writes notes in the house where the bodies of eleven members of a family were found dead © Stringer / Reuters

An Indian family of 11 has been found dead in New Delhi, with 10 members blindfolded and hanging from a ceiling. Initial reports indicate a twisted spiritual mass suicide attempt, but police aren’t discounting other possibilities.

The bodies of seven women and four men were discovered in the Burari suburb of the Indian capital on Sunday by their neighbor, who called the police in shock over what he has witnessed.

When authorities arrived at the scene, they discovered 10 blindfolded bodies, with cotton stuffed in their ears, hanging from an iron grille in the home’s courtyard, suspended by cables and 'chunnis' (scarves with religious motifs), local media report. The body of an 11th person, reportedly in her seventies, was found strangled and lying on the floor of the house.

The victims, which police say belonged to a single family, are believed to have committed a mass religious suicide, as authorities failed to discover any forced entry, gunshot wounds, or anything that would clearly indicate a homicide.

Instead, according to reports, law enforcement discovered handwritten notes, which indicated that the family had meticulously prepared for the “mass salvation” and had carefully examined ways of hanging themselves. No suicide notes were found at the scene. Only a dog inside the house survived the mass murder.

Based on the evidence, the victims were in “observance of some definite spiritual or mystical practices,” police said in a statement, according to AP. “Coincidentally, these notes have strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes, etc. of the deceased were tied and taped,” the statement added.

While police await the autopsy reports on the victims, including two 15-year-old boys, authorities have not discounted homicide as a possible cause of death. Treating the incident as a murder case, law enforcement teams are now analyzing call records from the victims' mobiles for possible clues and are interviewing witnesses. “It is still too early (to know what happened). It is an ongoing investigation and we haven't ruled out anything,” a police source told AFP.

According to one version of the events, shared with India Today by an anonymous police source, the mass suicide unfolded after family members were served sedatives with their dinner. Then at least one of the family allegedly proceeded to blindfold the rest of the unconscious victims before hanging them.

Ukraine Celebrates National Heroes and Mass Murderers of Jews

Ukraine opens monument to nationalist icon Petliura

blamed for anti-Jewish pogroms

Ataman Simon Petlyura (С) and his staff © Sputnik

A monument to Symon Petliura, who fought for Ukrainian independence after the 1917 Russian Revolution, and under whose leadership thousands of Jews were killed in pogroms, has been opened in the city of Vinnitsa in western Ukraine.

The sculpture was erected in the courtyard of the building that formerly hosted the Ministry of Post and Telegraph of the self-proclaimed Ukrainian People’s Republic, which was headed by Petliura in 1917-1921. The Ukrainian nationalist icon is portrayed sitting on a bench with a map of the country in his hands.

The Vinnitsa authorities unveiled the monument on Saturday, when the country marked the Defender of Ukraine Day – a new holiday ordered by President Petro Poroshenko in 2014.

“He was a man who sincerely loved his country, his native language, who tried to be honest with his own people,” Valery Korovy, the chairman of the Vinnitsa Region administration, said of Petliura, claiming that the Soviets did everything to “malign this honest man,” as cited by Ukraina.ru.

It is the first monument to Petliura in Ukraine, which previously only had a bust erected in the capital, Kiev, and a memorial sign in Poltava.

35,000 - 50,000 Jews killed

Petliura fought for Ukraine’s independence from Soviet Russia, following the October Revolution of 1917. During his time as the head of the Ukrainian People's Republic, between 35,000 and 50,000 Jews were killed in a string of pogroms.

This, apparently, occurred in just 4 years and had nothing to do with the Holocaust.

After his cause failed Petliura fled to Paris, where he was killed in 1926 by a Ukrainian-born Jewish watchmaker, Sholom Schwartzbard. Despite Schwartzbard being caught red-handed, he was later acquitted by a French court, which ruled that he was acting in the heat of the moment after 15 of his relatives were killed in the pogroms.

Petliura’s apologists claimed he was personally against the pogroms, but lost control of his armed forces who engaged in killing Jews. Schwartzbard’s defense and some historians, however, hold Petliura directly responsible as the head of the government who did nothing to prevent them as he wanted to avoid a spat with his forces.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian authorities have been facing criticism over their attempts to glorify controversial nationalist figures, including those who openly sided with the Nazis.

In 2000, they awarded ‘Hero of Ukraine’ titles to Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II and were involved in mass killings of Jews and Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. 

The decision was later annulled under condemnation from the European Parliament, but Bandera and Shukhevych still have monuments and streets named after them across Ukraine.

Report Slams Obstacles, Torture in Mexico Student Murders

Laurent Thomet
AFP

Independent investigators have issued a scathing report on the disappearance of 43 Mexican students, accusing the government of obstructing their probe (AFP Photo/Yuri Cortez)

Mexico City (AFP) - Independent investigators have issued a scathing report on the disappearance of 43 Mexican students, accusing the government of obstructing their probe and alleging that some suspects were tortured.

After a yearlong investigation ending this month, the foreign experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights were unable to resolve a case that has shocked the international community and sparked protests against President Enrique Pena Nieto.

While the mystery remains, the report calls for investigations into the conduct of federal police and the military on the night of September 26-27, 2014, when the 43 young men vanished in the city of Iguala, southern Guerrero state.

The experts also cited medical reports showing "significant indications of mistreatment and torture" against 17 of the more than 100 suspects detained in the case, with some claiming they received electric shocks in their testicles and bags were placed over their heads.

The attorney general's office later said it was investigating torture claims by 31 suspects.

A good part of the 605-page report -- the mission's second -- is dedicated to the "obstructions" that the experts faced from the authorities, which worsened starting in January.

Officials showed "little interest" in moving forward with new lines of investigation and it was "impossible" for the experts to reinterview 17 of the suspects, the report said.

"The group has also suffered a (media) campaign that seeks to discredit people as a way to question their work," said the report by the five-member panel -- two lawyers from Colombia, another from Chile, a former attorney general of Guatemala and a Spanish psychologist.

"These actions show that some sectors are not interested in the truth," Colombian lawyer Alejandro Valencia told a news conference.



- Torture claims -

Pena Nieto thanked the experts via Twitter and said the attorney general's office would analyze the report to "enrich its investigation."

Eber Omar Betanzos, a deputy attorney general for human rights, defended the investigation, saying prosecutors gave the experts "full access" and replied to 85 percent of over 900 requests for information.

The experts arrived in Mexico in March 2015 with the government's blessing. Their mandate was renewed once, but the government decided against giving them another extension, saying they were given ample time.

Prosecutors say the teachers-in-training were attacked by municipal police after the young men stole five buses that they planned to use for a future protest. Three students and three bystanders were killed on the spot.

The officers then handed over 43 students to the Guerreros Unidos drug gang, which killed them and incinerated their bodies at a garbage dump in the nearby town of Cocula, according to prosecutors.

The experts say there is no proof the 43 students were incinerated at the dump, but Betanzos cited a new study claiming at least 17 people were burned there.

The remains of only one student were fully identified after they were found in a nearby river.

Claims of torture are among the most damning elements presented by the experts, with medical reports and statements from suspects claiming they were beaten after their arrests.

The suspects were usually detained "peacefully," but bruises appeared in medical reports after their arrests and some claimed to have received electric shocks on their tongues and genitals.

One said police put a rag up his nose and poured water on his face.

Betanzos said three officials from the attorney general's office are facing investigations.

- 'Satanic One' -

The report also raises new questions about the presence of soldiers and federal police in Iguala the night of the attacks, but it does not directly link them to the mass disappearance.

The experts were never allowed to interview 27 members of the 500-strong 27th army battalion based in Iguala, which monitored the students' movements and dispatched an intelligence officer who witnessed a clash.

They urged the authorities to investigate allegations that a soldier, nicknamed "The Satanic One," trafficked weapons for the Guerreros Unidos.

Another "key element" that needs further investigation is the "participation or knowledge" of federal police in the mass disappearance, according to the report.

Students in one of the five buses said federal police pointed their guns at them, prompting them to run away.

Federal police were also present when students were detained near a judicial building, while others manned a checkpoint at another location in the city and failed to help wounded victims.

But Betanzos said there was no evidence that federal forces committed crimes.

The motive for the attack remains unclear but the experts said authorities should investigate whether the students were assaulted because they inadvertently took a bus used to smuggle heroin.

5 Most Islamophobic Rants by Geert Wilders as His 'Inciting Hatred' Trial Begins

Islamophobic rants, or truth, or both?

Wilders appeared in court with his trademark peroxide blonde hair. © Michael Kooren / Reuters

The trial of right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders started Friday for inciting hatred and discrimination against the Dutch Moroccan minority.

Wilders denies any wrongdoing, saying comments he made, which included referring to Morrocans as “scum”, are protected by his right to free speech.

Prosecutors said the case pits that right versus the right to be free from discrimination, according to Reuters.

“Freedom of expression is not absolute, it is paired with obligations and responsibilities, the responsibility not to set groups of people against each other,” said lead prosecutor Wouter Bos.

Consequently, there is no room for the truth when speaking about Islam. If you can't express the truth because someone might be offended, or for fears of starting a riot, then your society is based on a sham, and when the truth finally comes out, then you will see rioting.

The controversial leader of the Party for Freedom (PPV) appeared relaxed in court with his famous ‘bottle blonde’ hair on display, posing for photographs before proceedings began.

He says the trial is a politically-motivated attempt to uproot the PPV, which has become the most popular party in opinion polls with an election expected in the Netherlands next year.

Long before Donald Trump started scoring political points on the backs of Muslims, Wilders made a name for himself as an outrageous and offensive orator.

Here are five of his most anti-Muslim rants, in no particular (new world) order.

“We’ll take care of that”
Wilders made repeated calls for “fewer Moroccans” while campaigning during the 2014 election, including at a televised rally where he told supporters who cheered him on that “we’ll take care of that.” Moroccans account for two percent of the country’s population.

Of course, they can't take care of anything unless they get elected in which case they will have popular support for taking care of that. What the, will you haul half the electorate into court for inciting hatred?


“Islam is not a religion, it's an ideology, the ideology of a retarded culture”
Wilders came out with this line, just in case you weren’t already sure where he stood on the issue, while promoting his controversial film "Fitna" in the Guardian in 2008. The next year, he was briefly blocked from entering the UK until he won an appeal.

Retarded would not be my choice of words; I would probably choose something stronger. But the idea of Islam as an ideology is quite popular. Wilders certainly didn't invent it.


“Our Judeo-Christian culture is far superior to the Islamic one. I can give you a million reasons. But here is an important one. We have got humor and they don't.”
Wilders made this not-so-hilarious comments when speaking at last year's event in Texas featured cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. Two gunmen with links to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) were killed by police after they tried to ambush the event, while their accomplice was convicted on terror charges this week.

Some of the things that pass for humour in our Judeo-Christian culture certainly doesn't support the argument that it is superior to Islam. That Muslim humour is not easily found is a fact. They certainly seem to have problems laughing at themselves. And when it comes the Mohammed or the Quran, well, look out.


“The Koran is a fascist book which incites violence. That is why this book, just like "Mein Kampf", must be banned.”
Wilders went on trial in 2011 for inciting hatred against Muslims using quotes like the above and for calling for Muslim criminals to be stripped of Dutch nationality and deported. He was acquitted after a judge decided that the target was a religion and not a race.

If you disagree with that statement it is because you know little or nothing of the Quran. In Islam, Mohammed is the model just as Jesus is the model for Christians. But Jesus didn't commit genocide, mass murder, pedophilia, polygamy, or enslavement. Nor did He order His son to divorce his wife so that He could marry her. Mohammed did all these things under the pretext that it was Allah's will. Jesus gave us a sample of God's will and it's nothing like what Mohammed did.


“In my fight for freedom and against the 'Islamization' of the Netherlands, I will never let anyone silence me. No matter the cost, no matter by whom, whatever the consequences may be.”
Wilders' PPV party is gaining momentum with those who oppose him, but support absolute free speech. Wilders backers including members of the neo-Nazi movement Pegida, who demonstrated outside the courtroom with some wearing pigs ears in an attempt to taunt Muslims for not eating pork.

If you are not with Geert Wilders, you are for the Islamization of the Netherlands, even if unwittingly. When Muslim enter a country in great numbers they take it over eventually. Then your little Dutch girls will be married while still children, they will wear hijabs, they will not be allowed out in public alone or they will be justifiably raped. And if they get pregnant because of the rape, they will have the choice of marrying the rapist, or one of them, or going to jail.

Geert Wilders can see that train coming; bleeding heart liberals cannot.

Republicans - For God's Sake Stop It!

’I’d check the podium for onions’: 

Fox pundit questions Obama’s ‘raw’ emotions

President Barack Obama teared up as he announced his plan to use executive action to expand background checks for gun ownership. However, Fox News host Andrea Tantaros was more interested in theatrics than the substance of his speech.

During the announcement on Tuesday, Obama brusquely brushed away tears as he mentioned Chicago’s gun violence problems as an example of the need for tighter background checks.

However, the Fox panel was not buying it.

“The tears that he wiped away, again and again, you want that – I mean, we feel frightened about what’s going on with ISIS,” said Fox News co-host Melissa Francis.

And you are not frightened that 30 Americans are being killed every day? What is wrong with your heads? Were there 30 Americans killed by terrorists last year, 30 out of 10,000? That's 0.3%! Melissa is frightened of ISIS and completely ambivalent to the 99.7% who are killed in American activities like robbery, murder, and mass murder. Does that make any sense to you?

“He’s almost at the end of his term and you haven’t heard him go to Chicago and really speak out about this issue,” said co-host Andrea Tantaros.

At the end of October, Obama traveled to Chicago to discuss gun control and the importance of extending background checks. Between January 1, 2015 and May 30, 2015, there were 161 murders in 151 days in Chicago and 2,783 illegal guns recovered during that six-month period, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Tantaros said that she would “check that podium for like a raw onion or some No More Tears.”

Andrea, just because you are apparently incapable of feeling any emotions over the murder of children, doesn't mean the everyone else is faking it. If you were half as emotional over the death of innocent children as you are over the non-existent threat of losing your guns, you couldn't have made that crass remark. You ought to be ashamed.

Obama did not appear to be slicing onions on the podium, however. No More Tears is a Johnson & Johnson line of bath products designed to prevent babies from crying if they get soap in their eyes.

Tantaros and Fox News were not the only ones who weren’t impressed with Obama’s plan. A lot of the internet didn't seem to get the message, with presidential candidates, the National Rifle Association and gun owners alike taking to Twitter and getting all “up in arms.”

Ted Cruz ✔ @tedcruz
Fight back against @BarackObama's unconstitutional #2A executive actions! #ComeAndTakeIt https://www.tedcruz.org/l/second-amendment-rights/ … 

Gunning for 'drama-queen' Mr Cruz?

In the wake of Obama’s announcement, gun rights supporters began using the #comeandtakeit hashtag, which has its origins in the Battle of Gonzales in 1835, when Texas was part of Mexico.

Gun sales hit record highs in the lead-up to Obama's announcement, the Washington Post reported. While the gun lobby protests against stricter regulations, people’s fears that their continued ability to purchase such weapons is under threat leads to an upsurge in gun sales.

Tim Dickinson @7im
this is legit terrifying from Ted Cruz, holy hell 

Terrifying? It's terrifying that mentally ill people should be prevented from purchasing assault weapons? What's really terrifying, Mr Dickinson, is that you want them to have access to assault weapons!

Your 'terror' almost certainly comes from the fear that the government is going to take your guns away from you. That is stupid beyond belief! It's a lie that the NRA and gun manufacturers and merchants hype so that you will be opposed to a simple, innocuous executive order that will certainly save the lives of many people, including children. 

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and other Republican presidential candidates promised that, if elected, they would reverse any executive orders.

Carly Fiorina called for Obama to enforce existing gun laws. The former HP CEO has said those on the Terror Watch List should be able to buy guns. “If somebody is a suspected terrorist on a watch list, they can be indicted at any time, and once you’re indicted, you cannot own a firearm,” she told MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ following the San Bernardino attack.

NRA ✔ @NRA
No other organization in the world has done more to promote firearm safety than the  #NRA #2A  #Obamapresser
9:10 AM - 5 Jan 2016

If that's not the most ridiculous statement ever made on the planet, I don't know what is. Tell me you were not behind the Dickey Amendment that prevents the federal government from funding research into gun violence in America! How is that promoting safety? How is opposing an order to qualify all gun purchasers promoting safety. The blood of hundreds of thousands of Americans is on your hands - you could at least try to wash them once in a while.

The National Rifle Association boasted about its good work. The NRA's Chris W. Cox released a statement on Tuesday accusing Obama of attempting "to distract attention away from his lack of a coherent strategy to keep the American people safe from terrorist attack."

Paul Ryan ✔ @SpeakerRyan
My statement on President Obama's Executive Order to Undermine Second Amendment → http://spkrryan.us/1Sxzn1k  #2A 

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) issued a statement saying that Obama's word does not trump the Second Amendment.

I take it back; this could be the stupidest statement ever made on this planet. Background checks are mandatory in most gun purchases now; how is extending that to all gun purchases any different? If the existing policy of background checks does not undermine the 2nd Amendment, how can extending it do that? That's completely irrational!

There have been 147 gun-related deaths in the US in the first five days of 2016. None of them were committed by terrorists! Americans need to stop worrying about militant Islam and start worrying about the terrorist who lives on your street, the one who will walk into a school this month or next month and murder your children. That is a far, far more likely event than any serious Muslim attack.

America will never be defeated by Islam through any military assault. Islam is patient. Islam is watching America destroy itself from within. Islam will wait until America explodes in insane violence and then just walk in and take it.

The arguments made by 'outraged' Republicans are hyperbolic, inflammatory, and often have nothing to do with the executive order. Too many Republicans cannot bring themselves to speak the truth - they are political cowards; dishonest, disingenuous cowards. And most of these people will call themselves Christians. There is nothing remotely Christian in any of the quotes above; so please stop selling yourselves as such. You are not Christians, and you make me sick!

Muslim Migrants Arrested for Allegedly Throwing 12 Christians into Sea

Italian police said Thursday that 15 African Muslim migrants have been arrested after witnesses said the refugees threw 12 Christians into the Mediterranean following a brawl. 

Being murdered for your faith is called martyrdom. Those 12 souls will join millions more in Heaven. God rest their souls.

Palermo police told the Associated Press that they had learned of the assault while interviewing tearful survivors from Nigeria and Ghana who had arrived in the city Wednesday morning after being rescued at sea by the ship Ellensborg.

The 15 were accused of multiple homicide aggravated by religious hatred, police said in a statement.

The survivors said they had boarded a rubber boat April 14 on the Libyan coast with 105 passengers aboard, part of the wave of migrants taking advantage of calm seas and warm weather to make the risky crossing from Libya, where most smuggling operations originate.

During the crossing, the migrants from Nigeria and Ghana — believed to be Christians — were threatened with being abandoned at sea by some 15 other passengers from the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali and Guinea Bissau.

Eventually the threat was carried out and 12 were pushed overboard. The statement said the motive was that the victims "professed the Christian faith while the aggressors were Muslim."

The surviving Christians, the statement said, only managed to stay on board by forming a "human chain" to resist the assault.

Lucky Europe gets to take in 'moderate' Muslims like these. Were these extremists? They came from 4 different countries and probably did not know each other until they got on the boat. Yet they were of one mind about murdering all the Christians on the boat. It was an opportunity they could not resist.

How many more of these Muslim murderers will make it to Italy's shores? How many have already made it to Europe? How many opportunities to murder Christians or rape young white girls will present themselves to men whose religion gives them permission to do both? Norway's shocking drop in violent crimes since they began deporting Muslim criminals and those associating with jihadists tell you that there are many opportunities and rarely to they appear to be missed.

The shocking accusation comes amid an unprecedented surge of migrants from Africa to Europe in recent days. Sky News reports that the Italian Coast Guard has said that 10,000 people have been pulled from rickety boats in the Mediterranean. Another 400 are believed to have drowned off the coast of Libya.

Earlier Thursday, the International Organization of Migration (IOM) said four migrants who were picked up in recent days by the Italian Navy reported a shipwreck to aid workers after arriving in the Italian port of Trapani Thursday. Their boat had originally been carrying 45 people; the others are presumed dead.

The IOM said the migrants — two Nigerians, a Ghanaian and one Nigerien — were found floating in the sea by a helicopter and were rescued by the Italian Naval ship Foscari. They had left Tripoli in Libya on Saturday and stayed adrift for four days. The location of the rescue was not immediately known.