Pope: Putting a Positive Spin on Cultural Suicide

Pope Francis says ‘Arab invasion’ is social fact

... and a good thing

Pope Francis © Tony Gentile / Reuters

Europe is facing an ‘Arab invasion’, Pope Francis mused

 while addressing a French Christian group, 

adding that the trend is actually a positive one

“We can speak today of Arab invasion. It is a social fact,” the pontiff said, according to extracts from his address earlier this week which were published by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano on Thursday.

 He then added: “How many invasions has Europe experienced in the course of its history! But it’s always been able to overcome them and move forward, finding itself complimented and improved by the cultural exchange they brought about.”

The key word here is 'overcome'. Europe cannot overcome what it is willingly surrendering to. Yes, many Muslims will become westernized, but many will never abandon their barbaric ways or their insane religion. It is this segment that will grow fastest and become more and more politically powerful. Europeans will want to attract Muslim voters and so will appease them with such things as limited Shariah, denouncing Israel, promoting halal foods, etc.

Eventually, these hard-liners will bring the soft Muslims back into the fold, either by propaganda or by more violent means. When that happens, Europe will cease to exist.

The Pontiff also reflected on the history of migration into Europe and the positive impact it has had on European culture as we now know it.

There has never been a migration on this scale, one simply cannot logically compare it to previous migrations.

The Pope also declared that Europe is “the only continent that can bring some unity to the world”. He then added, that in order to fulfill its “universal role”, Europe must “rediscover its cultural roots”.

How is Europe to discover its roots when it has been pouring weed-killer on them for the past several years? The Pope is saying that cultural influence from migrants is a good thing, while, at the same time, is asking them to rediscover their roots. That's like serving your guest tilapia smothered in very hot sauce, then asking if they like the delicate, subtle flavour of the fish.

Europe continues struggling with an unseen influx of asylum seekers. The number of Syrians seeking asylum doubled to 362,800 last year and the number of Iraqis jumped to 121,500, as the European Commission said Friday.

This news came after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Austria and other Balkan countries of “killing Europe” by imposing border restrictions in a move that’s led to an approximate 30,000 asylum seekers now being stranded across Greece.

Of course, those Balkan states will tell you that they are trying to save Europe from cultural suicide. How can you argue with that?

I have great sympathy for the migrants escaping the senseless wars in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. But I sincerely believe that the majority of them should be going to other Muslim countries rather than being absorbed into a culture that is foreign, and often, repulsive to them.

“What those countries agreed on and decided goes against all of the rules and against the whole of Europe and we regard it as an unfriendly move,” Tsipras said in an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper. “It cannot be that after something is adopted at an EU summit, some decide to simply close their borders. These countries are killing Europe!”

In the course of the past 2 weeks, an enormous makeshift refugee camp has sprung up on the Greek border with Macedonia, after the latter stopped letting in migrants following the so-called ‘Balkan route’ into Europe.

Over 11 thousand people are now waiting for Macedonia to reopen its border so they could move forward into Europe and seek asylum there, the most craved destination being Germany. The country, which has accepted over one million refugees in 2015, has been an outspoken supporter of mandatory migrant quotas for EU member states.

Migrants waiting at Macedonia's border with Greece

Boko Haram ‘Spiritual Power Base’ Destroyed in Raid, 63 Hostages Rescued

The Nigerian Army says its soldiers have rescued 63 Boko Haram hostages and killed five militants during a raid on a “terrorist camp” established in the north east of the country

© HQ Nigerian Army / Facebook

A special forces unit carried out the operation in which they cleared Boko Haram hideouts at the villages of Lawin Meleri, Matiri Bulaka and Aljeri, according to an army statement.

Weapons and ammunition, including a long-barreled dane gun, a light machine gun bipod stand, and an IED were also recovered.

Soldiers also destroyed Boko Haram camps in the Alagarno forest in Borno State, in a separate operation, according to the military.

“Seven Division Nigerian Army, demystified Boko Haram terrorists’ spiritual power base at the Alagarno forest, Borno State,”  the Nigerian Army statement read.

© HQ Nigerian Army / Facebook

The troops destroyed terrorist camps at Mosa, Ariwuzumari and Kagalmari, as well as Missene, Joba, Yajiwa and Sansan after they received a tip-off.

“During the operations, the troops were able to clear all the camps, killing quite a number of terrorists and recovered Boko Haram terrorist flags hoisted on some premises, destroyed their logistics base and recovered 31 motorcycles, assorted foodstuffs, a donkey and a pick-up van, AK-45 rifle with registration number 17714 and a Dane gun,” the military statement said.

The Boko Haram terrorist group has killed around 20,000 people and displaced 2.5 million since launching an insurgency in 2009 which aims to establish Islamist rule.

Biggest Abortion Case in Decades Leaves Supreme Court Divided

Police keep watch as protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on the morning that the court took up a major abortion case in Washington March 2, 2016 © Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

The US Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over a Texas law placing tough new restrictions on abortion providers that would potentially shut down all but nine or 10 clinics across the entire state.

The justices appeared to be closely divided on the merits of the case, and with the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the possibility is there that the court will not be able to reach a majority decision. If it remains deadlocked in a 4-4 vote, the Texas law would remain on the books, thanks to a lower court ruling in favor of the legislation. However, the case would not establish a national precedent.

Essentially, the law mandates that any doctor performing abortions also have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic they work in, so that they could deliver patients there in the event of an emergency. The law also requires clinics to upgrade their standards to meet those of an ambulatory surgical center.

The number of abortion clinics in Texas has already shrunk from 40 to 18 as a result of the law. If the restrictions are upheld by the high court, it is expected that another eight or nine will shutter their doors, and that other states would try to implement similar legislation.

Outside the Supreme Court, hundreds of pro-life and pro-choice activists gathered to support abortion rights. Pro-choice advocates held up signs and pushed the justices to strike down the regulations.

One speaker argued that anti-choice supporters were using "under handed schemes to take women's rights away."

Elsewhere, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan made a brief appearance to meet with pro-life protesters. Some women who participated held signs reading, "I am a prolife feminist."

During Wednesday’s hearing, the four liberal justices expressed opposition to the law, Reuters reported. Opponents have argued that the regulations impose an “undue burden” on women, making it more difficult for them to seek out an abortion while doing little to make the procedure safer.

The conservative bloc of the court, meanwhile, questioned whether the rules have actually forced as many clinics to close as pro-choice activists claim. Supporters of the law have argued that the regulations are intended to improve safety standards for women and protect their health.

As is often the case, the fate of the law rests largely in the hands of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Although he is a conservative, he has frequently voted with liberals in the past. On Wednesday, he said Texas would experience a “capacity problem” if more clinics close, USA Today reported. Additionally, he cited the fact that more women have been receiving surgical abortions rather than medication-induced ones as a result of the law.

"This may not be medically wise," he said, as trends around the US are leaning increasingly towards medication.

If Kennedy rules with the liberals to strike down the law, then other abortion restrictions across the US may also come into the crosshairs. Various states have tried to impose mandates such as 24-hour waiting periods.

However, Kennedy also expressed interest in the idea of sending the case back down to the lower courts so that they could study the law’s effects more closely. More research would determine whether abortion clinics are actually closing because of the new regulations, as well as whether the clinics that would remain could realistically attend to the needs of the state’s women.

Close to 2 million women would live more than 50 miles away from the nearest abortion clinic should the law take effect, according to the Guardian. Some 750,000 would be more than 200 miles away.

Since the landmark Roe v. Wade case protected the right to abortion in 1973, the Supreme Court has ruled that any regulations on the procedure cannot create an “undue burden” on women. As pro-life supporters have failed to block abortion in general, they have recently begun placing more limits on clinics and doctors, leaving the courts to decide whether they qualify as burdensome.

The Number of Christians Killed Every Year is More Than 150,000 - EU

White House: ISIS extermination of Christians can’t be called genocide yet

© Omar Sanadiki / Reuters

The Obama administration says Islamic State’s persecution of Christian minorities in Iraq and Syria is not genocide. The point where it is accurate to term it as such “has not been reached,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a press briefing.

Asked whether Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) is practicing genocide in its extermination of Christians in Syria and Iraq, Earnest said: “My understanding is the use of that word involves a very specific legal determination that has at this point not been reached. 

“We have long expressed our concerns with the tendency of – well, not a tendency – a tactic employed by ISIL to slaughter religious minorities in Iraq and in Syria,” he added.

“But we have been quite candid and direct exactly about how ISIL’s tactics are worthy of the kind of international, robust response that the international community is leading. And those tactics include a willingness to target religious minorities, including Christians.”

The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, says genocide is “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,” including by means of “killing members of the group.” 

In March 2015, a report from the United Nations Committee on Human Rights stated: “The acts of violence [by IS in Iraq and Syria] perpetrated against civilians because of their affiliation or perceived affiliation to an ethnic or religious group … may constitute genocide.”

According to a European Parliament resolution adopted in April 2015, “Christians are the most persecuted religious group; whereas extremism and persecution of this nature is emerging as a significant factor in the growing phenomenon of mass migration; whereas according to data the number of Christians killed every year is more than 150,000.”

A few days ago we reported that between 9,000 and 11,500 Christians had been killed in Nigeria alone in the past 15 years. It is not just Syria and Iraq where such genocide is occurring; it is happening in many countries - most of them Muslim.

What is really unfortunate is that there are many people in this world who don't necessarily see that as a bad thing - 'there's too much religion in the world, and Christians are the worst'. It's hard to argue that point in America, but it certainly is not true anywhere else in the world. Where the genocide of Christians is successful, that world is not a better place; it has been replaced by a ruthless version of Islam that Mohammed himself would be proud of, if he weren't dead.

Last December, more than 60 British MPs signed a letter written by Rob Flello MP and Lord Alton. They urged Prime Minister David Cameron to work with the UN to ensure the word “genocide” be used to describe the systematic killing of minority groups, including Christians and Yazidis, throughout Iraq and Syria.

The ongoing persecution of Christian minorities in Syria and Iraq has seen their numbers drop dramatically. In Iraq, Christians are down to around 300,000 from about 1.4 million in 2003, according to 2015 estimates from a UK-based Catholic NGO. In Syria, there are now just 500,000 Christians, compared to over 1.25 million in 2011.

Christianity, the report states, is on course to disappear from Iraq potentially within five years, and could face the same fate in most Middle Eastern countries.

E-cigs Contain a Million Times More Cancer-Causing Chemicals Than Polluted Air – Hong Kong Study

Do you have any idea what's in that e-cig?

© Mark Blinch / Reuters

The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health is calling for a full ban on e-cigarettes after a study they commissioned discovered that e-cigarettes contain a million more cancer-causing substances than polluted air.

The research, carried out by the Baptist University, also found a type of flame retardant in the devices that affected the reproductive system and could also lead to cancer.

Thirteen random electronic cigarettes available on the Chinese market were analyzed and returned worrying results: the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a by-product of burning petroleum also found in polluted roadside air, ranged from 2.9 to 504.5 nanograms per milliliter.

That’s “at least one million times more than roadside air in Hong Kong,” according to Dr Chung Shan-shan, assistant professor in the Baptist University’s biology department.

Another substance of concern found in abundance is Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). These are flame retardants that are widely used in the manufacturing of furniture and electronic products.

With an average 5 nanograms per milliliter in a conventional cigarette, the number of PBDEs in e-cigarettes range from 1.7 to 1,490 nanograms per milliliter.

PBDEs are added to e-cigarettes to reduce the risk of burning in the devices' plastic combustible components. According to Dr Chung Shan-shan, inhalation of PBDEs has been associated with thyroid hormone disruption and reduction of fertility; it affects fetal development and can cause cancers.

“Even though we don’t know the exact number of e-cigarettes one should take, not to mention that many of the carcinogenic effects are cumulative, I don’t think there is a safe margin,” Chung said.

At least 16 countries have imposed a total ban on e-cigarettes, including Singapore, Thailand and Brazil, while the World Health Organization (WHO) admits that there is insufficient information so far on health implications caused by e-cigarettes.

“Some research programmes are already under way but given that e-cigarettes have been popular in the last four or five years, research has barely started and it’s early days yet. It would take about five or 10 years before we have evidence that could change the current picture.” Armando Peruga, Programme Manager of WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative, said in a 2014 interview.

Alberta's Oil Not the Only Thing That's Dirty

First Nations chief received $55,000 from Tides Foundation

Ezra Levant, Toronto Sun

A left-wing lobby group in San Francisco wired $55,000 to the bank account of an Indian chief in Northern Alberta, paying him to oppose the oilsands.

Singer Neil Young, right, speaks in front of climate scientist Andrew Weaver, left, Indigenous rights advocate Eriel Derenger, second left, and Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam

And sure enough, that chief – Allan Adam, from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation – earned his money. Last weekend, he flew to Toronto to sit on a stage next to Neil Young, the folk singer who was in town to demonize Canada’s oil industry.

Now, $55,000 might sound like a lot of money to pay, just to rent a politician for a day if all the chief did for his money was to appear on stage in Toronto beside Neil Young. But to the Tides Foundation, it’s well worth it. Think of Adam as an actor, hired to play a part in an elaborate theatrical production.

Neil Young had his role: he’s the American celebrity who can draw crowds of fawning Baby Boomer journalists. But at the end of the day, he’s just another millionaire celebrity. When he talks about the oilsands, he quickly reveals himself as a low-information know-nothing.

Adam brings what Young can’t: authenticity. Young likes to wear an Indian-style leather vest, but Adam really is an Indian, and he really lives near the oilsands.

Adam didn’t do a lot of talking in Toronto. He was more of a prop than an actor. See, the Tides Foundation is from San Francisco. And Neil Young lives on a 1,500-acre estate near San Francisco. Without Adam, this would have just been some California millionaires coming up here to boss Canadians around. That’s why they had to hire Adam, to aboriginalize their attack on Canada. It was political sleight of hand, to distract from the fact that this was a foreign assault on Canadian jobs.

Tides could have hired an actual actor, like maybe Lorne Cardinal, who played the Aboriginal policeman in the comedy series Corner Gas. But they didn’t hire an actor. They hired an elected public official. That’s the problem.

Bribing an elected official?
Adam’s official title is “chief.” But it’s not a religious or cultural title. Under the Indian Act, that’s just the legal title given to the elected mayor of an Indian Band.

The Tides Foundation put $55,000 into the bank account of a mayor to get him to take a particular political position. Depending on what Tides was getting the Chief to do, the payment might well have been a bribe. But we won't know, because no one is talking about the $55,000 payment.

How is it acceptable that a foreign lobby group can simply deposit cash into a bank account of a Canadian politician? Who else is being paid cash to oppose the oilsands?

This fact almost escaped detection. It was buried in the Tides Foundation’s 138-page filing with the IRS, who only disclosed it to get a tax break. Even then, it was shrouded in secrecy.

The money was paid to a numbered company, 850450 Alberta Ltd. Only a search of Alberta’s corporate registry revealed that 850450 Alberta Ltd. was owned by another company, called Acden Group Ltd., that had changed its name twice in the past four years. Adam and other band politicians were directors and shareholders, in trust for the band.

Doesn't sound the least bit like they were trying to hide something!

The payment was well-hidden – and Adam certainly didn’t disclose it when he was on stage with Young.

The same IRS disclosure shows Tides made 25 different payments to Canadian anti-oilsands activists in a single year, totaling well over a million dollars. And that’s just one U.S. lobby group. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund out of New York, spends $7 million a year in Canada, with an explicit campaign strategy of fomenting Aboriginal unrest, through protests and lawsuits.

If a foreign oil company – say, ExxonMobil – was depositing secret payments in the bank accounts of MPs, it would be a scandal. Those MPs would face an RCMP investigation, Exxon would likely be charged with bribery, and the media on both sides of the border would have a field day.

Yet none of those things will likely happen with Adam.

Because the Tides Foundation knows that the Canadian media and even the police are cowards when it comes to Aboriginal politicians. They don’t dare hold them to account, for fear of being called racist. If you doubt this, look at the continued success of Theresa Spence, Attawapiskat’s chief.

Tides got its money’s worth.

Really Bad PR - ISIS Executes 8 Dutch Jihadists

ISIS executes 8 Dutch jihadists for ‘incitement’

This has got to hurt ISIS propaganda efforts

Fighters of the Islamic State © Stringer / Reuters

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighters in Iraq have reportedly killed 8 Dutch jihadists following a month-long altercation with a group of foreign fighters which involved shootouts and deaths on both sides, activists report.

"Daesh (Arabic acronym for IS) executed eight Dutch fighters on Friday in Maadan, Raqa province, after accusing them of attempting desertion and mutiny," wrote Abu Mohammad, a citizen journalist from Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) on his Twitter page on Monday.

Tensions between Iraqi IS leaders and a group of about 75 fighters of Dutch origin have been rising since the Dutch established a zone in the Al Furusiya area of the terror group’s stronghold of Raqqa as their headquarters. Iraqi IS commanders sought to thwart their attempts at relative autonomy by capturing an ‘instigator,’ who allegedly called on others to flee. After another such capture led to the death of a Dutch fighter during an interrogation, the internal conflict intensified, ending up in a gunfight.

The foreign fighters reportedly complained that “the Iraqi leadership started to behave arrogantly with the Europeans and robbed their rights in favor of the Iraqi fighters,” according to Mohammed.

In a bid to appease the European jihadists, Iraqi leaders sent their representative to settle the issue. However, the intermediary was not welcomed and was apparently slaughtered in reprisal for the killing of the Dutch fighter.

In the aftermath of the attack senior IS leadership in Iraq ordered the arrest of all members of the Dutch cell. As the Iraqis tried to enter the zone, they faced armed resistance from the Dutchmen which saw several gang members killed and wounded on both sides. On Friday, eight out of 72 jailed Dutchmen were executed “after being accused of incitement against ISIS,” according to RBSS.

Last year the Dutch secret services reported that around 200 Dutch fighters have joined Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, has previously stressed he would prefer radicalized Dutch nationals to die in Syria rather than return home.

“The only aim is to kill as many people as possible. Those people will soon be back to carry out attacks here as well. As prime minister, I am here to protect our people,” he said in March last year.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 jihadists trained in IS terror camps are freely wandering around Europe, according to Europol estimates. Rob Wainwright, Europol’s director, has said the terror threat to Europe is at its highest in more than a decade.

Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, it is estimated that between 25,000 and 30,000 ‘foreign fighters’ have left for Iraq and Syria, with Europe accounting for 21 percent of the total number.