Islam in America > Muslims want alcohol, pork, and lottery tickets out of Houston stores

 

Houston, Texas: Muslim warns merchants to stop selling alcohol, pork, and lottery tickets within 30 days

Sep 8, 2025 5:00 pm By Robert Spencer50 Comments

We are now moving decisively away from the “Islam is a religion of peace” Meccan phase of Islam’s presence into the U.S., and to a phase in which Muslims are much more aggressive and demanding. Now we have open demands for Sharia compliance in Houston. If only someone had warned people that this kind of thing would happen.

Next comes boycotts of stores that don't comply with Muslim demands. And after that...

It's not clear, but this seems to be a particular neighborhood in Houston and a very ambitious Imam. As the Muslim population grows, this process will be seen wherever Muslims reach a certain percentage of the population - nowhere near a majority.

Bits and Bites from around the World > Alcohol taskforce cop gets drunk shoots another cop; 5 Lions slip away from Zoo Containment

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'Alcohol taskforce' cop gets drunk in Swiss police station

and shoots colleague in the foot

By TOM SCOTSON FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 14:11 EDT, 31 October 2022 |

An alcohol taskforce cop got drunk in a Swiss police station and shot a colleague in the foot, authorities said on Monday. 

The intoxicated officer fired his gun seven times inside the taskforce office's last Friday, a spokesman for the Geneva judiciary confirmed. 

Five of the man's colleagues were there including 'one who was hit in the foot and had to undergo surgery,' he said.

The intoxicated officer fired his gun seven times inside the taskforce office's last Friday, a spokesman for the Geneva judiciary confirmed (file image of Swiss policemen on a Geneva Street)

The officer was questioned by Geneva's top prosecutor and stands accused of endangerment and causing bodily harm through negligence.

He has also been accused of resisting efforts to establish his 'capacity to drive'.

The authorities, who did not provide details on what the man's blood-alcohol level had been at the time, said the investigation was ongoing.

Methinks the fool will be reassigned to a different unit!

Five lions escape enclosure at Australian zoo, sparking emergency

By Darryl Coote

   

Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Officials at an Australian zoo have launched an investigation after five lions momentarily escaped their enclosure Wednesday, sparking an emergency situation.

The incident occurred Wednesday morning at the Taronga Zoo, located along the shores of Sydney harbor.

Park officials said that one adult lion and four cubs were found outside their main exhibit at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The lions were spotted in an area adjacent to their main exhibit and separated from the rest of the zoo by a six-foot containment fence, whose purpose is to keep the public back from the lion exhibit.

The zoo enacted an emergency response within 10 minutes of the lions exiting its enclosure, officials said.

Simon Duffy, executive director of the Taronga Zoo, told reporters during a press conference that all people on site when the incident occurred were moved to so-called designated safe zones.

"This is a significant incident. A full review is now underway to confirm exactly how the lions were able to exit their main exhibit," he said.

Four of the lions returned to their enclosure on their own, requiring zoo staff to only tranquilize one of the cubs, he said.

"All animals are now safe in their back-of-house exhibit and are being closely monitored," he added, stating the emergency lasted less than 10 minutes.

In a 5 p.m. update, the zoo said an initial review confirmed that the lions exited their enclosure due to an "integrity issue" with a containment fence.

"A full report will now be prepared for the [New South Wales] Department of Primary Industries," it said.

'We are New Russians': How a Hard-Drinking Nation Curbed its Alcohol Use

While Canada legalizes marijuana and getting stoned increases sharply, Russia is moving in the opposite direction, and God bless them.

Russia now ranks 14th in terms of alcohol consumption globally,

and is comparable to France and Germany

Chris Brown · CBC News · Moscow Correspondent

Sober Russia volunteer Eduard Grigoriev shows off a pre-mixed, homemade bottle of energy drink and vodka

during a vigilante raid on an after-hours liquor store in Moscow. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

Once the holder of the dubious title of one of the world's hardest-drinking nations, Russia has fallen steadily down the list — and Eduard Grigoriev likes to think his group can claim some of the credit.

Chris Brown's use of the word 'fallen' here is very interesting. More on that at the bottom of this page.

A volunteer with the group Sober Russia, the 21-year-old is a self-proclaimed liquor vigilante. Since his teens, Grigoriev has been helping police crack down on businesses that break Russia's ever-stricter liquor laws.

"Four years ago, when we started, eight out of 10 stores in Moscow were selling illegal alcohol. Right now, it's three out of 10," said Grigoriev of the role that his band of helpers have played in ensuring liquor violators are brought to the attention of police.

Illegal alcohol sales usually take the form of homemade distilled spirits or legally made products sold after hours. Russian law prohibits any off-licence sales in corner stores or grocery stores past 11 p.m. at night.

The restrictions on availability have been part of a sweeping series of measures enacted by the Russian government since 2005, aimed at curbing widespread alcohol abuse in the country.

In its latest report, the World Health Organization acknowledges the efforts have paid off with significantly lower rates of consumption.

Sweeping restrictions

Grigoriev's group has affiliations with the governing United Russia party and Vladimir Putin's administration, but Grigoriev said Sober Russia isn't political, and everyone who joins is a volunteer.

The group's tactics involve sending volunteers into corner stores after Russia's 11 p.m. curfew and entrapping staff who sell booze.

Grigoriev, left, and another Sober Russia member report back on the outcome of their sting operation with

a Moscow police officer. (Pascal Dumont/CBC)

A crew from CBC's Moscow bureau was with Grigoriev's team recently when they visited the city's southern suburbs and documented several of their ensnarement stings.

"We're doing this because we think we can make Russia a better place to live in," Grigoriev explained. "This is our future."

Grigoriev said that if fewer stores sell illegal alcohol, "the better the alcohol will be in legal stores, and the less people will have health problems."

Sales of illegally distilled spirits in Russia have been a deadly health problem. In one of the worst cases in recent times, 78 people died in the Siberian city of Irkutsk in 2016 after drinking tainted moonshine.

Last week, police released a video of a police raid in a factory that was manufacturing illegal vodka just outside Moscow. It resulted in the seizure of more than 77,000 bottles. Not long before that, a bust at a factory in the central Russian city of Nefteyugansk netted about 30,000 bottles. Police claim the booze would have made people badly sick.

A nurse walks through the emergency ward at a Russian alcohol rehabilitation clinic. While Russians continue to be heavy drinkers, the World Health Organization considers their fight against alcoholism to be a success story. (Pascal Dumont/CBC)

In one of the Sober Russia stings the CBC crew witnessed, a shopkeeper sold several bottles of beer to a volunteer after the 11 p.m. curfew. Then, with our cameras rolling, other members entered the store and confronted the employee, who quickly denied doing anything improper.

Grigoriev's team then found several large plastic bottles behind the cash register that contained a mixture of alcohol and an energy drink.

"It's like Red Bull, but with alcohol," he said. "This is forbidden."

Less boozy

Twelve years ago, Russians consumed roughly 15 litres of alcohol per person a year, which put them in fourth in the world rankings of the hardest-drinking countries. Now, in Russia, the per capita average is closer to 10 litres. (By comparison, Canada drinks eight litres per capita per year.)

Russia now ranks 14th in terms of alcohol consumption globally, and is comparable to France and Germany.

Notably, the proportion of strong liquor, such as vodka, in the overall mix of Russian alcohol consumption is down substantially, by 31 per cent.    

"Alcohol consumption has decreased a lot," said professor Yevgeny Yakovlev of Moscow's New Economic School, where he tracks Russia's consumption habits.  

"We see that everywhere. Mortality from alcohol poisoning has decreased by 30 per cent," he said. Yakovlev noted that suicides where alcohol is believed to have played a role have fallen by roughly the same amount in the past 12 years.

"In all of these measures, we see progress," said Yakovlev.

Yakovlev credits aggressive government measures to restrict alcohol sales and to discourage use, such as increased taxation. 

Drinking in public is still in common in Russia. (Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press)

While taxes on alcohol are politically unpopular, the World Health Organization notes that automatic yearly tax increases on booze have contributed to better health outcomes.

Earlier this month, Russia's health ministry announced it was drafting legislation that could raise the country's drinking age from 18 to 21. The Moscow Times newspaper cited a poll suggesting strong public support for the higher drinking age.

Healthier choices

Many Russians are making healthier lifestyle choices more generally, which are contributing to the significant decline in alcohol use.

At a gym in eastern Moscow, Yuri Sysoev and Alexei Forsenco have gone further than most Russians in promoting an alcohol-free lifestyle, both in their own choices and with their outreach.

"If I look back, well, basically, I had child alcoholism," said Sysoev during a break from sparring with a partner in the boxing ring.

Now an actor and filmmaker in Moscow, the 31-year-old Sysoev said the 1990s were a difficult time in Russia. In the post-Soviet economic and political chaos, he said drinking was a means of escape for many.

"I was a little kid in the theatre playing [roles] of gnomes and hobbits, and I got pulled into [binge-drinking culture]," Sysoev said. About nine years ago, an epiphany about the destructive effect alcohol was having on his life prompted him to give it up entirely, he said.

Moscow film producers Yuri Sysoev, left, and Alexei Forsenco gave up drinking and took up fitness.

Then they made a movie about why young people should follow their example. (Pascal Dumont/CBC)

Forsenco, his 37-year-old friend and business partner, said his story is quite similar, except it took him longer to come to the same realization.

"It wasn't until I had kids of my own, about five years ago, that I understood alcohol could not be part of my family."

Forsenco said the decision to abstain from booze often catches the foreigners they meet off guard. But he said no one should be surprised.

"We are new Russians. We don't drink alcohol."

The pair have made a short film that they are showing at Russian high schools. They are sharing their experiences with students in the hope of dissuading teenagers from repeating their mistakes.

Entitled The Outcast, the film features a teen walking through an apartment complex who is being taunted by his friends for not drinking after school. Instead of yielding to peer pressure, he stays the course and chooses the healthy option of a good workout.

"I don't want to brag, but we are the first in Russia to be making a film like this," said Sysoev.

At a recent showing, students peppered Sysoev and Forsenco with questions about their experience with alcohol and its destructive impact.

"We have to fight this," Sysoev told the students. "Not with banners and meetings, but [you must] change yourself first, and then the world around you will change."

While the film has been well received by students, the pair said they have also run into resistance from nervous school administrators, who are afraid The Outcast might portray Russia in a bad light.

Truth is often a 'bad light'!

While more Russians are opting for healthy lifestyles, Sysoev said there are still too many instances of people walking in their neighbourhoods and seeing what he calls an "alcohol apocalypse" — like drunks sleeping on benches or just staggering around.

"That's why we wanted to make this film and send a message that a healthy lifestyle and healthy sport is right."

The comparison between Russia and Canada has some ironic colourtones. Russia is a very conservative country, Canada, under Justin Trudeau is a very progressive country. He thinks that's a good thing and so does most Canadian media, like the CBC. That's why I found it interesting that the reporter would use the term 'fallen' to describe the increasing sobriety in Russia. That wasn't exactly his intention, of course, but that's how it struck me.

The word 'fallen' is often used to describe someone who has died in combat, or someone who has 'fallen' into sin. 'Fallen from grace' is a Biblical phrase. If you are a reader of my other blog you will have found the sentence 'Sin is Progressive' mentioned several times. The irony that appeals to me is that someone from a country that is frantically 'progressing' into extreme liberalism should call a country that is 'progressing' toward a healthier, more sane lifestyle - fallen!

Religion Can Help Improve Children’s Mental Health, New Study Finds

Surprised to find this story on a national news network in Canada

By Laura Hensley Global News

People who grew up in a religious household reported fewer symptoms of depression. Getty

Children who are raised with religious or spiritual beliefs tend to have better mental health into their adulthood, a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found.

According to the study’s findings, people who attended weekly religious services or prayed or meditated daily in their childhood reported greater life satisfaction in their 20s. People who grew up in a religious household also reported fewer symptoms of depression and lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder.

On top of the mental health benefits, researchers found that religious subjects weren’t as likely to smoke, use drugs, or contract a sexually transmitted infection compared to people who had a less spiritual upbringing.

The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, followed more than 5,000 youths between the ages of eight to 14 years.

Why does religion benefit mental health?

According to Dr. Tyler J. VanderWeele, the study’s senior author and a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, attending religious services, like church, for example, may benefit youth because it’s a shared experience with people who hold similar beliefs and values. Community is thought to be beneficial to well-being.

VanderWeele also said that being involved in a religious community may offer adolescents role models and mentors other than their parents.

When it comes to the positive effects of prayer and meditation, VanderWeele said it’s likely that the practices “give rise to an experience of God or of transcendence so that an adolescent need not turn to drugs or risky sexual behaviours in their search for something more.”

“That experience of God may fundamentally make a person more other-oriented, leading to greater volunteering, forgiveness, and a sense of mission, and these things ultimately make one happier and protect against depression,” he told Global News.

“Adolescence is a particularly critical time of development and self-understanding, and the establishing of these practices may shape health and well-being throughout life.”

Religion also helps people think about their health in a holistic way, where the mind, body and spirit are all connected, said Jane Kuepfer, a specialist in spirituality and aging at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo.

“[With religion], when one aspect of ‘who we are’ suffers, the whole suffers. And when one aspect is healthy and vital, ‘all that we are’ benefits,” she said to Global News. “Religion teaches us to value life, and to respect and care for our physical bodies.”

Kuepfer also stressed the importance of belonging and feeling connected to others as a factor contributing to well-being. Social isolation and loneliness are harmful to anyone’s mental health, but particularly to vulnerable populations.

“A sense of belonging is really important, and something we don’t always get in our society in other places,” she said. “[Religion] also gives you a larger perspective and connection across generations.”

Even for those who don’t attend religious services, spirituality benefits health

While attending regular religious services was key to well-being, the study also found that daily meditation and prayer greatly benefited mental health — even in adolescents who didn’t attend service as often.

VanderWeele, the study’s co-author, said that previous studies of adults showed that religious service had the strongest effects on health. But with kids, both service attendance and prayer and/or meditation were strongly associated with well-being.

“For some outcomes, the associations with prayer and mediation were even stronger than for service attendance,” he said. “This is different from adult populations.”

Kuepfer said prayer and meditation are known to be calming and can help people cope with stress. They also offer people a chance to connect with something larger than themselves and work through problems they’re dealing with.

“Religion or belonging to a faith community and participating in spiritual practice helps to slow us down and get perspective,” she said. “We realize that life isn’t all about us, and we don’t have to carry the world on our shoulders. It takes the pressure off.”

There is another aspect that has been completely ignored in this article, and that is that children, or adults, who pray and practice their faith, are living, generally speaking, in obedience to God, that is, 'in His Will'. As such, God may offer extra levels of protection from temptations and from evil. God may also very well bless those people in many various ways and direct their steps if they are listening to Him.

Christian prayer and church attendance are not just healthy exercises; they are ways of connecting to the living God, and preparing for Eternity, which is the real purpose for our existence on this earth.

Court Orders Halal Supermarket in Paris to Close Because it Sells No Pork or Wine

Islamization - in France

 © Loic Venance / AFP

A French court has ordered a halal grocery store in Paris to shut down because it did not sell pork and alcohol, and failed to cater for the needs of the customers.

The Court of Nanterre ruled on Monday that the “Good Price” mini-market in Colombes failed to comply with the conditions of its lease, according to which the grocery must act as a "general food store,” La Liberation reported.

The court ordered the termination of the store's lease and the eviction of the tenants. In addition, the owner must pay €4,000 to the local authority in respect of legal costs.

The court ruled that the owner of the store had failed to meet “the needs of all inhabitants of the residential area.” The products that the shop stocked were "restrictive and did not fit the broad concept of general goods,” it added.

Local residents complained that after the halal mini-market replaced a regular supermarket they were not being served properly, with halal products constituting 96 percent of what the grocery shop sold.

The landlord said it was impossible to find bottles of wine or pork on the shelves, even though the lease had been granted for a "general food store." When the owner of the store was questioned at the time, he said, as cited by 20minutes.fr: "It's business. I look around me and I target what I see."

The grocery store’s owner and his lawyer argued that, while being “accused of not selling wine, wine is not part of the general diet." The store has “no obligations to sell it, as it was only a complement to food,” the lawyer said. 

That's almost blasphemy in France! This story fits into Dr. Peter Hammond's scale of effects of an increasingly Muslim society: 

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply.

State in Malaysia Approves Public Canings for Breaking Sharia Law

Another in a series of posts documenting the 'progressiveness' of Islam. Sin is progressive, we see that in those addicted to pornography - it often progresses to child porn, and, in time, tends toward younger and younger children and more and more violent assaults. 

Islam progresses as its numbers rise. The greater the percentage of Muslims in a particular area or country, the more Islam moves toward Sharia and its legalism and barbarism. 

© Beawiharta / Reuters

A state in Malaysia governed by a conservative Islamist party has amended its laws to allow public canings for crimes against sharia law. Critics have called the move unconstitutional, with one politician saying it indicates a “bleak future” for the country.

The amendment was passed by the assembly of Kelantan to more closely align the state’s policies with Islamic criminal law, Kelantan deputy chief minister Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said, as quoted by Bernama state news agency.

“Caning can now be carried out inside or outside of prison, depending on the court’s decision,” Mohd Amar said.

“This is in line with the religion, which requires that sentencing must be done in public,” he said.

He declined to say exactly what offenses would be punishable by caning, although Reuters reported that the amendment applies to sharia crimes.

Ti Lian Ker, a member of the Malaysian Chinese Association, which is part of the ruling coalition, says public canings are unconstitutional under federal criminal law.

“This is a rewriting of our legal system and spells a bleak future for the nation,” he said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.

While Islamic law is observed in all of the other Malaysian states, its application is restricted to family issues such as divorce and inheritance, as well as sharia crimes involving Muslims, including the consumption of alcohol and adultery. Criminal cases are handled by federal law.

The decision of the Kelantan state assembly comes as no surprise, as the state has also been pushing to adopt a strict Islamic penal code called ‘hudud,’ which would allow adultery to be punished by stoning and thievery by amputation.

The state, which is governed by PAS, a conservative Islamist party, has also banned nightclubs and cinemas.

Last year, PAS introduced a bill that would expand the powers of sharia courts and incorporate hudud into the country’s existing legal system. The proposed legislation is expected to be debated in parliament later this month.

Ethnic Malay Muslims make up more than 60 percent of the country’s 32 million people. Similar calls to implement stricter sharia law have made waves in recent years, prompting concern from members of the country’s Chinese and Indian populations, as well as other ethnic minorities.

The Wednesday amendment comes just one month after Malaysia's Health Ministry made headlines for holding a contest soliciting videos which explained the consequences of homosexuality and "gender confusion," promising a cash award of up to US$1,000. 

Homosexuality is forbidden in Malaysia. Those violating the law face flogging and up to 20 years in jail.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian state of Kelantan isn't the only government in the region to advocate for caning, or against homosexuality.

In May, two gay men were publicly caned in Indonesia’s most conservative province, Aceh, which has the authority to enforce sharia law alongside the national criminal code. 

Berlin Metro Attacker Jailed for Booting Woman Down Stairs in Horror Assault

The 28-year-old man who sparked internet outrage after leaked footage showed him kicking a woman down the stairs of a Berlin metro station has been jailed for nearly three years.

Identified only as ‘Svetoslav S.’, the man was sentenced to two years and 11 months in prison after he was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm by a German court.

Police appealed for witnesses to the October 2016 attack by releasing footage of a young woman being kicked down the stairs of Hermannstrasse U-Bahn station. She suffered a broken arm and head injuries.

Svetoslav admitted to kicking the woman in court, but maintained that he had no memory of the incident as he was under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and crystal meth at the time.

The Bulgarian apologized to his victim in court and insisted he only became aware of the incident after watching the footage online like everyone else. “I found it horrible myself when I saw it,” he said, reports Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The sentence was less than the three years and nine months sought by the prosecution after Svetoslav has found to not have full control over his emotions or decisions.

The court heard from his wife, who claimed the pair had fought that night, and Svetoslav had struggled to control his aggression and drug dependency since a car crash in 2008 left him badly injured.

A psychiatric expert testified that Svetoslav suffered a serious head injury in the crash and had reduced culpability as a result of the alcohol and drug abuse. The expert also claimed Svetoslav had an IQ of 63, classifying him as intellectually impaired and unable to control his emotions.

Then you add drugs and alcohol and his IQ was probably closer to half that. Mind you, use of drugs and alcohol should not diminish responsibility or reduce culpability. When we choose to use alcohol or drugs, we are choosing to reduce our mental and emotional capabilities.

Contract Security Firm Sallyport - No Scruples, No Oversight

US firm at Iraqi base hushed up probe into human trafficking & alcohol smuggling – report

Joint Base Balad, Iraq. © Sgt. Quentin Johnson / Wikipedia

A US firm, paid $686 million to secure an Iraqi base for F-16 fighter jets, ignored security violations, human trafficking allegations and alcohol smuggling by its staff, according to an AP investigation. Those who uncovered the wrongdoing were fired.

The investigation centers on Sallyport Global, which was contracted by the US government to help secure Iraq's Balad Airbase by keeping F-16s and their Iraqi pilots safe.

The $686 million contract also required investigations into potential crimes and contract violations, and for any breaches to be reported to the US government.

However, Robert Cole and Kristie King, the investigators tasked with that job, would soon realize their findings were extremely unwelcome by Sallyport.

The news agency interviewed two former internal investigators who were fired by Sallyport, as well as a half-dozen former or current staff members. It also obtained documents as part of the probe.

Alcohol smuggling

Although alcohol was restricted at the base, Cole and King discovered that staff frequently flew in smuggled alcohol in such large volumes that a plane once “see-sawed” on the tarmac due to the weight.

According to documents and witnesses, alcohol was everywhere on the base. Empty suitcases were reportedly loaded on to Baghdad-bound round-trip flights, returning with booze-filled plastic water bottles which evaded security – a serious risk in a war zone.

Steve Anderson, who worked on flight logistics for Sallyport, said he was told by managers to sign off on manifests he knew had been falsified to hide alcohol and guns.

When he raised concerns, it was suggested that he find a new job. His position was soon eliminated.

In one allegation, informants told the investigators that “flight line” staff responsible for directing airplanes on the runways and handling cargo, were showing up to work drunk. At one point, they reportedly passed around a bowl of gummy bears soaked in vodka.

Prostitution

When Cole and King were aiming to get to the bottom of the alcohol smuggling, they came across a prostitution ring in Baghdad, the customers of which included Sallyport employees, according to informants.

They also learned that four Ethiopians who had previously worked as prostitutes at a hotel had moved to Balad and were plying the same trade while also working as housekeepers for Sallyport.

That investigation, along with the alcohol smuggling probe, was shut down by a Sallyport executive in Virginia before it could continue.

However, Sallyport Chief Operating Officer Matt Stuckart said the prostitution allegations were not substantiated.

“It is absurd to suggest that the company would shut down an inquiry into a matter of such gravity,” he said.

There were also allegations that Sallyport staff members were involved in human trafficking for prostitution.

Theft & security breaches

The AP investigation details an incident which occurred on July 13, 2015, in which a truck driver lost control of his vehicle, taking it onto the tarmac and stopping about 45 yards from a jet in the “no-go area."

Three months later, Cole reported the theft of an armored Toyota SUV assigned to VIPs. His chief suspect was a Sallyport bodyguard. However, the Toyota was recovered within days and Cole was called off the case.

A former senior manager for Sallyport defended taking Cole off the case, telling AP that negotiations with militias were sensitive and needed Iraqi cooperation. Although he said the chief suspect – the bodyguard – was ‘banned’ from the base, Cole later saw him walking around freely.

On November 15, 2016, rogue militia stole three enormous generators using flatbed trucks and a 60-foot (18-meter) crane, driving directly past Sallyport security guards unchallenged.

Despite requirements to report major security breaches, none of the incidents were reported to the US government until earlier this year, after an auditor began asking questions.

‘We knew too much’ 

After uncovering the information, Cole and King reported it to the correct channels. However, those channels never reported it to the US government and the two investigators were abruptly fired on March 12 and immediately flown out of Iraq.

At the time of their sacking, King and Cole had been looking into allegations that Sallyport manager were falsifying timesheets and people were getting paid without working. They were set to interview those whom they considered to be suspects.

The investigators said company lawyers had ordered them to keep two sets of books at the time, which they believed to be an attempt to deceive auditors.

“One for the government to see and one for the government not to see,” King told AP.

“I feel like they got us out so quickly because they feel like we knew too much,” he said.

King said he and Cole eventually realized that Sallyport was hiding all of the information from the US government, calling the revelation “mind-blowing.”

Meanwhile, Sallyport's COO Stuckart says the company stands by its security procedures and received “high marks” from the US Air Force.

He said the company has a “strong record of providing security and life support services in challenging war zones like Iraq and plays a major but unheralded role in the war against ISIS [Islamic State/IS].”

“The company takes any suggestion of wrongdoing at Balad very seriously,” he added.

Balad Airbase is controlled by the Iraqi government, and has hosted US forces off and on since 2003. The base was evacuated in June 2014, when IS began overrunning Iraqi territory. Sallyport was tasked with keeping the base safe after the Americans returned.

Five Guilty of Sheffield Child Sex Abuse Offences

(Clockwise from top left) Christopher, Shane and Matthew Whiteley, Taleb Bapir and 

Amanda Spencer were convicted at Sheffield Crown Court

Five people have been found guilty in relation to the rape and prostitution of five young girls.

Amanda Spencer, Taleb Bapir and brothers Christopher, Shane and Matthew Whiteley were convicted after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Spencer plied one girl with alcohol and threatened violence in order to force her to have sex, while the Whiteley brothers prostituted a 15-year-old girl on the streets of Sheffield.

They will be sentenced on 28 April.

Castle Market, SheffieldImage copyright PA

A number of the offences took place at Castle Market in Sheffield - the market was closed in 2013

The offences took place between 2006 and 2012.

During a trial, lasting more than six weeks, jurors heard the girls were raped, abused and prostituted after meeting the Whiteley brothers and Spencer at Sheffield's former Castle Market.

Prosecutor Peter Hampton, said Christopher Whitely, 23, who was convicted of eight offences, would appear "charming" at first.

In relation to one victim, he said: "She believed that he was her friend, but over the weeks his attitude to her changed. He became aggressive and forceful. She was frightened of him."

Amanda Spencer outside Sheffield Crown Court

Amanda Spencer was jailed in 2014 after being found guilty of 16 charges relating to child prostitution

He said a second girl, who was taken to up to 50 properties and forced to have sex with men for money, painted a similar picture of Spencer.

"She was friendly at first but that soon changed. She plied [the girl] with alcohol and began to prostitute her," he said.

"On each occasion she was fearful that Amanda Spencer would be violent towards her."

Bapir, who was convicted of rape, was among the men Spencer forced the girl to have sex with.

Spencer was previously convicted of 16 charges relating to child prostitution and jailed for 12 years.

After the trial Jayne Ludlam, from Sheffield City Council, praised the "bravery" of the victims.

She said: "It sends a clear message to anyone involved in the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young people - you will be identified, pursued and prosecuted."

The convictions:

Christopher Whiteley, 23, of Weakland Crescent in Hackenthorpe, Sheffield: Found guilty of four counts of rape, one child prostitution offence, two counts of sexual assault on a child under 13 and one count of theft. Acquitted of seven counts of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape, one child prostitution offence. The jury were unable to reach verdicts on two counts of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape. He will face a retrial on one charge of rape.

Shane Whiteley, 30, also of Weakland Crescent: Found guilty of one child prostitution offence. 

Cleared of one child prostitution offence and one count of conspiracy to rape. The jury were unable to reach verdicts on one child prostitution offence and one count of conspiracy to rape. He will face a retrial on one child prostitution offence.

Matthew Whiteley, 25, also of Weakland Crescent: Convicted of one child prostitution offence. Acquitted of one child prostitution offence, one count of conspiracy to rape and one count of sexual activity with a child. The jury were unable on one count of conspiracy to rape and one count of sexual activity with a child. He will face a retrial on one count of sexual activity with a child.

Amanda Spencer, 26, of Canklow Road, Rotherham: Guilty of four child prostitution offences. Cleared of seven counts of aiding and abetting rape and eight child prostitution offences. The jury were unable to reach a verdict on one count of aiding and abetting rape.

Taleb Bapir, 39, of Verdon Street, Sheffield: Found guilty of one count of rape.

Cocaine, Alcohol, Marijuana Found in Paris Shooting Suspect's Blood

Ziyed Ben Balgacem was shot and killed by police at Orly Airport after saying he wanted to "die by Allah."

By Ed Adamczyk  

The Paris prosecutor's office said Ziyed Ben Belgacem, the suspected gunman who held a female police officer hostage before he was shot and killed in Paris' Orly Airport on Saturday, had an excessive blood alcohol count and traces of marijuana and cocaine in his system. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA

March 20 (UPI) -- A suspected Islamist gunman shot to death by police at Paris' Orly Airport consumed cocaine, marijuana and alcohol before taking a soldier hostage, toxicology reports show.

Ziyed Ben Balgacem, 39, announced Saturday he wanted to "die by Allah" and that "people are going to die" before grabbing a soldier's assault rifle, then putting an air pistol to her head and using her as a shield. He was shot by a military patrol within the airport, as the busy South Terminal was evacuated.

Belgacem, who had an extensive criminal record with armed robbery and drug offenses, spent early Saturday drinking at a bar. He later fired a pellet gun at police manning a northern Paris traffic checkpoint, and abandoned a vehicle he carjacked. The car was found at the airport. A toxicology report conducted during an autopsy indicated he had twice the legal limit of alcohol for driving in France; trace amounts of cocaine and marijuana were also found, the Paris prosecutor's office said.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said a Koran was found on Belgacem's body, adding cocaine was discovered during a search of the suspect's residence. His house was among dozens searched after the 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, Molins said.

A man identified as the suspect's father said in a radio interview after the incident that his son was not a practicing Muslim, adding, "My son was never a terrorist. He never attended prayer. He drank, but under the effects of alcohol and cannabis [marijuana] this is where one ends up."

I believe him! But whether he was made insane by redicalization or by drugs and alcohol is insignificant. In the end he resorted to the Quran's call for martyrdom in the murder of infidels as a way to paradise. Insanity is insanity and Islam is very closely aligned with insanity.

Islamic Insanity:

“I came to the absolute conviction that it is impossible…impossible…

for any human being to read the biography of Mohammed and believe in it, 

and then emerge a psychologically and mentally healthy person.”

- Syrian Psychiatrist Dr. Wafa Sultan

Moulins said the suspect phoned his father and brother after he fired at the traffic checkpoint, saying he made a mistake. One officer sustained facial injuries in the shooting.

The airport attack came at a moment when France is on edge; the country remains under a state of emergency, and presidential elections begin in April.