Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in Malaysia Where Superyachts Go for Half Price

Former Malaysia PM pleads 'not guilty' in 1MDB corruption trial

By Clyde Hughes

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak (L) leaves the Kuala Lumpur High Court, Malaysia Wednesday.
Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA-EFE

(UPI) -- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of corruption at his trial in Kuala Lumpur.

Prosecutors have charged Razak with criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering in connection with $14 million from SRC International, a former unit of the state-run 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.

Razak answered the charges in an appearance Wednesday.

Authorities in Malaysia and the United States believe $731 million of the money was funneled to Razak's private bank accounts. The amount is a small part of what prosecutors actually think Razak, 65, actually received. The former leader has denied wrongdoing throughout his prosecution, saying the charges are politically motivated.

"Evidence will establish that the personal checks were issued for, among others, payment for renovation works carried out at [Razak's] residence at Jalan Langgak Duta and residence in Pekan, Pahang and ... component political parties," Malaysian Attorney General Tommy Thomas said in court Wednesday.

Thomas argued that Razak wielded "near-absolute power" during his time as prime minister, between 2009 and 2018, and the former leader believed he was above the law.

Malaysian financier Jho Low, who's believed to be the mastermind behind the 1MDB case, faces charges in Malaysia and the United States. He is believed to be living in China, beyond the reach of U.S. and Malaysian authorities.

Malaysians voted Razak out of office last year in favor of rival Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Authorities in Malaysia have also filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs in the case, arguing it helped 1MDB raise more than $6 billion from investors through what they say were false and misleading statements. The U.S. investment firm has worked to distance itself from the case and has apologized for the role of a former partner who pleaded guilty to charges related to the scandal.

Superyacht linked to Malaysia’s state fund looting scandal

sold for $126 million

A superyacht purchased with money pilfered from the Malaysian state fund 1MDB has been sold to casino operator Genting Malaysia Berhad.

The 91.5-meter luxury yacht Equanimity was bought on Wednesday, according to Malaysia’s Attorney General Tommy Thomas as cited by the Star newspaper.

The price offered by Genting was the best it had received since the yacht was put up for sale last year, he said. Genting will pay for it by end of the month.

Equanimity © AFP / Sonny Tumbelaka

“This judicial sale at USD$126 million (RM514.14 million), is historic, by any measure,” said Thomas. The deal “records a high-water mark for our judicial system in ensuring that market value is secured for a vessel sold through the processes of Court, without any discount.”

He added that “It is even more commendable that this is achieved in a very sophisticated high-end superyacht sale, where the pool of buyers is extremely small.”

Equanimity was among assets allegedly bought by Malaysia’s fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and his associates with money stolen from the fund. It was allegedly purchased for $250 million and was outfitted with a helipad, swimming pool, movie theatre, spa and sauna.

The US has filed forfeiture lawsuits against $1.7 billion of assets that were allegedly acquired with money embezzled from 1MDB, including a $1.29 million heart-shaped diamond and a $3.8 million diamond pendant that Low gave to Australian model Miranda Kerr. A $3.2 million Picasso painting was gifted by Low to actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Both celebrities have since handed the gifts over to US authorities.

Low, who has repeatedly maintained his innocence, faces charges including money laundering in Malaysia. He has been charged in absentia amid suspicions that he is hiding out in China.

The scandal with the Malaysian state fund has been making headlines for years and is being investigated in at least six countries. It involves high-ranking Malaysian officials including former Prime Minister Najib Razak who have been accused of helping to loot billions from the fund.

Malaysia also wants $7.5 billion in reparations from Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs, which it accuses of covering up the looting of the nation’s state fund. Malaysia filed criminal charges against the US bank and two of its key bankers, accusing them of misappropriating money, bribing officials and giving false statements when helping to arrange bond sales for 1MDB. The bank has denied the allegations, claiming it fell victim of the previous corrupt Malaysian government.

Turkey Wipes Out the Christian Culture of Occupied Cyprus

War on Christianity Lost in Turkish Cyprus

by Uzay Bulut

"Turkey has been committing two major international crimes against Cyprus. It has invaded and divided a small, weak but modern and independent European state... Turkey has also changed the demographic character of the island and has devoted itself to the systematic destruction and obliteration of the cultural heritage of the areas under its military control." — from "The Loss of a Civilization: Destruction of cultural heritage in occupied Cyprus."

"More than 550 Greek Orthodox churches, chapels and monasteries located in towns and villages of the occupied areas, have been pillaged, deliberately vandalized and, in some cases, demolished. Many Christian places of worship have been converted into mosques, depots of the Turkish army, stockyards and hay barns." — Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"UNESCO considers the intentional destruction of cultural heritage a war crime." — Artnet News, 2017.

After Turkey invaded and occupied northern Cyprus (1974), ancient mosaics were stolen from the

Church of Panagia Kanakaria (pictured), which is located in the Turkish-occupied zone.

The mosaics were later discovered in the United States and returned to Cyprus in 1989.

(Image source: Julian Nitzsche/Wikimedia Commons)

A sixth-century mosaic of Saint Mark, stolen from a church after Turkey's military invaded Cyprus in 1974, was recently recovered in a Monaco apartment and returned to Cypriot officials. The ancient masterpiece was described by Arthur Brand, the Dutch investigator who located it, as "one of the last and most beautiful examples of art from the early Byzantine era."

Many other cultural Cypriot relics, from churches and other sites, were stolen from Cyprus by Turkish invaders and smuggled abroad. Some were recovered and returned in the past. In 1989, mosaics stolen from the Church of Panagia Kanakaria, discovered in the United States, were returned to Cyprus.

In the summer of 1974, Turkey mounted two major military campaigns against Cyprus and occupied the northern part of the island (which Turkey now calls the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," recognized only by Turkey). Since the Turkish invasion, much information has emerged not only about the atrocities committed against the Cypriots, but also of the destruction of historic, cultural and religious monuments.

According to a 2012 report, "The Loss of a Civilization: Destruction of cultural heritage in occupied Cyprus":

"Turkey has been committing two major international crimes against Cyprus. It has invaded and divided a small, weak but modern and independent European state (since May 1, 2004 the Republic of Cyprus has been a member of the EU); Turkey has also changed the demographic character of the island and has devoted itself to the systematic destruction and obliteration of the cultural heritage of the areas under its military control...

"This is one of the most tragic aspects of the Cyprus problem and is also clear proof of the determination of Ankara to 'Turkify' the occupied area and to maintain a permanent presence in Cyprus.

"The occupying power and its puppet regime, from 1974 until today, have been working methodically to erase everything that is Greek and/or Christian from occupied Cyprus..."

A 2015 United States Library of Congress report confirmed the report:

"Foreign archaeological teams that were engaged in excavations in Cyprus were forced to discontinue their work after the 1974 events. Their valuable findings have been looted and the teams have not been able to return and resume their excavations.

"According to some estimates, through illegal excavations in the northern part of Cyprus, more than 60,000 Cypriot artifacts have been stolen and exported abroad to be sold in auction houses or by art dealers. The example of an ancient site dating from Neolithic times at the Cape of St. Andreas illustrates this point. The site, which had already been excavated under the aegis of the Department of Archaeology prior to 1974, was later damaged by the Turkish armed forces during the installation and hoisting of the flags of Turkey and the 'TRNC [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus].'"

In 2016, a report by the Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that:

"More than 550 Greek Orthodox churches, chapels and monasteries located in towns and villages of the occupied areas, have been pillaged, deliberately vandalized and, in some cases, demolished. Many Christian places of worship have been converted into mosques, depots of the Turkish army, stockyards and hay barns. This fact clearly proves that the religious heritage in the occupied areas has been the target of the occupation regime as part of its policy to eradicate the cultural character of the area. Moreover, important cultural monuments and places of worship continue to be completely inaccessible because they are located within the 'military zones' of the Turkish occupation army...

"The destruction is not limited to the monuments belonging to the Church of Cyprus, but also extends to religious monuments belonging to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to the Armenian, Maronite and Catholic Churches of Cyprus, as for example the Armenian Monastery Sourp Magar in Halefka and the Maronite Monastery of Prophet Elias in Skylloura."

A 2017 article for Artnet, detailing atrocities committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) against relics in museums, mosques, churches and archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq, says that "UNESCO considers the intentional destruction of cultural heritage a war crime."

Meanwhile, Turkey -- which has been committing the intentional destruction of occupied Cyprus's cultural heritage for more than four decades -- remains a member of NATO and a candidate for membership in the European Union. This is a situation that the West must force Turkey to address -- and not only when an individual piece of looted art, such as the mosaic of Saint Mark, happens to be rescued.

Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.

Turkish occupied Cyprus is north and east of the dashed lines

Widespread Economic Slowdown Across Europe with Italy Heading to ‘Zero Growth’

vittorio emanuele monument rome © pexels.com

Eurozone’s third-largest economy, Italy, can’t afford fiscal expansion at a time when its economic growth is heading to zero, Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said. He ruled out any possible changes to the government’s budget.

Italy’s central bank and the International Monetary Fund both estimated the country’s economy would expand by 0.6 percent this year. The European Commission’s forecast was more pessimistic, at just 0.2 percent. It said Italy was facing excessive economic imbalances and the policies of its government were making matters worse, posing a threat to Eurozone partners.

“We face a widespread slowdown in growth across Europe, and in Italy we are headed for zero” growth, Tria said at a conference in Florence. “Certainly we don’t have the room for expansionary measures,” he added.

Rome targets a fiscal deficit of 2.04 percent of gross domestic product this year, while analysts say the figure may be higher. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Italy plunged into technical recession as the economy contracted. At the moment, public debt sits at €2.3 trillion (US$2.6 trillion), or 131 percent of Italy’s GDP, which is way above the 60 percent EU ceiling.

According to Tria, Italian manufacturing exports suffered as a consequence of the slowing German economy. Europe’s leading economy, Germany, is struggling due to significantly weaker demand for its exports.

Italy’s Eurosceptic coalition government of the 5-Star Movement and the League parties lowered the deficit target after a protracted tussle with the European Commission. Rome has been clashing with Brussels over its big-spending budget in the past few months.

Last Thursday, Claudio Borghi, a leading member of the League party, said the Italian government could steeply raise the deficit next year to avoid hiking value-added tax.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker on Monday mocked the country’s government coalition. Junker said Brussels had “foreseen” that Italy’s economic growth would not be as outstanding as announced, and that he “isn’t sure” the country will crawl out of the financial crisis it plunged into more than 10 years ago.

One wonders how much American sanctions are affecting Germany's exports? Perhaps it is time for the rest of the world to stop supporting the myriad sanctions with which America is bullying the rest of the world, most of which are for American economic gain, not political reasons.

Canada is suffering from the loss of billions of dollars in the canola market to China because we arrested Huawei's CFO for violating an American sanction. IMHO that was a huge mistake that should never have happened. 

The rest of the world needs to tell President Trump that American sanctions are America's problem, not a global problem. 

Anger Over Corruption Puts Ukrainian Comic Ahead in Presidency Race

The greater the corruption - the more desperate the response

Chris Brown · CBC News

Effigies of some of Ukraine's best-known politicians hang under a bridge near Kyiv's Maidan Square recently.

(Corinne Seminoff/CBC)

The effigies of some of Ukraine's most prominent politicians that were hung by the neck recently under Kyiv's Millennium bridge are a stark indication of the ferociousness of the politics here and that public admiration for the victors can be fleeting.

As someone who plays a fictitious president on a TV show — as well as an aspiring presidential candidate in real life —  that reality doesn't appear lost on Volodymyr Zelensky.

In the latest episode of his wildly popular program Servant of the People, Zelensky's character — a teacher who took power on a vow to fight corruption and stand up for the little guy — ends up getting thrown in jail by the powerful forces he opposes.

Fans of his show can take comfort both in knowing that his stay in the fictitious TV jail was a relatively short one and also that in the real world, the 41-year-old comic's political success is no joke.

Ukraine has an interesting cast of contenders running for its upcoming presidential election. None more so than the front-runner, 41-year-old actor/comedian Volodymyr Zelensky. He may have started out as a long shot, but quickly rose to the top on the back of popular discontent with the political class. 2:39

Practically every poll in the final days of the campaign suggests the political novice with zero electoral experience could finish with the most votes in Sunday's national presidential vote.

"I do believe that Zelensky has high chances," said Kostyantyn  Fedorenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst with the Centre for Euro-American Co-operation.

"If his voters come out on election day, he is very likely to become president."

Polls suggest comedian Volodymyr Zelensky, who plays Ukraine's president on TV, is leading the country's

real-life presidential race. (CBC)

Indeed, the first exit polls released after the vote showed Zelensky winning the first round with 30.4 per cent of the vote. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who's running for a second term, was in second place with 17.8 per cent of the vote.

While Zelensky has surrounded himself with a team of political veterans, his campaign has been anything but orthodox.

He has largely let his TV persona communicate to voters about his platform and ideals. He has also shunned large political rallies and granted few interviews. Instead, he has waged his campaign on Instagram, YouTube and through appearances at his own comedy shows, where he mocks and ridicules his competition.

"Why Zelensky?" pondered 41-year-old IT worker Kostiantyn Didkovskyi, when approached by CBC in Kyiv. 

"I can say I don't see any alternative. Our country has reached the limit. It feels like there's no other way," he said in reference to the deeply embedded culture of corruption in Ukraine.   

"I'm sure [his team] will make this victory not for themselves but for the country. He's the only one who thinks about the country, not himself."

Earlier this week, Berlin-based Transparency International, a watchdog group that monitors global corruption, called the situation in Ukraine "grim."  It noted that last year, the head of one of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies was caught up in a scandal over trying to tip off some of the very people his agency was investigating.

Poroshenko has been hobbled by near-continuous revelations about dodgy procurement and government contracts involving him and his family members.

His longtime rival and two-time former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, who served time in jail on corruption charges, is also running for president.

There's a powerful belief here that Ukraine's economic progress has been hobbled by the country's elite, who enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.

Political analyst Kostyantyn Fedorenko believes Zelenskiy has high chances of receiving the most votes on Sunday. (CBC)

"It's in the Ukrainian mentality that you enter the political elite and you steal," said Fedorenko, the political analyst.   

He said there have been significant reforms under Poroshenko but many Ukrainians remain unconvinced the changes are meaningful.

"Unfortunately, the anti-corruption institutions that were established with the will of the West are not functioning as well as they should," said Fedorenko. "On the one hand, there have been many high-profile [court] cases about corruption, but on the other it has been impossible to get anyone in prison."

Global significance

Ukraine is geographically and politically at the nexus between Europe and Russia, and its political choices carry a disproportionate significance for its neighbours — and its many Western supporters, including Canada.

"Its critically important," Fedorenko said of NATO's ongoing support for Ukraine militarily and for the other democracy- building activities that NATO members are contributing to.

"Supplies [and support] from Canada and the United States are of critical importance."

More than 100 election monitors from Canada arrived in Ukraine last week, headed by former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy.

Canada's military also recently extended its training mission in the country's west. As part of NATO, Canadian trainers have helped thousands of Ukrainian soldiers upgrade their skills and combat readiness.

A poster of two-time former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko greets passers-by in Maidan Square.

(Pascal Dumont/CBC)

In many ways, this election is a referendum on how far Poroshenko has been able to take Ukraine since the dramatic events of 2014.

The Maidan uprisings saw the overthrow of pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovych and a dramatic swing away from Russian influence. Russia responded with its annexation of the Crimean peninsula and began fuelling a separatist insurgency in Ukraine's eastern provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk.

Canada is among the many countries that responded with political and economic sanctions against Russia, measures that have gradually been increased over time.

To be clear, Western leaders promised Mikhail Gorbachev when the Iron Curtain came down that NATO would not recruit Russia's neighbours. They lied! NATO has been actively recruiting Ukraine to the point of supporting, if not provoking, the Maidan uprising and the coup against the elected government. That Russia responded by securing Crimea and its naval base at Sevastopol should hardly have been a surprise.

'Do not expect us to give up'

In spite of Poroshenko's troubled tenure, he's been able to point to leadership against Russian aggression as one of his positives. "Mr Putin, do not expect us to give up," he told a fired-up election rally at the campaign's mid-point.

While fighting in eastern Ukraine continues — with 11,000 dead and counting — Poroshenko said he has succeeded in solidifying Ukraine's military position and has made full NATO membership one of his medium-term goals.

Zelensky, on the other hand, has downplayed his lack of experience, and demurred on any suggestion that he's not qualified to take on Russia's president.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko holds a rally in Kyiv. He said he is the only Ukrainian leader who can

stand up to Russia's Vladimir Putin. (CBC)

"I don't need that kind of experience," he said in a brief conversation with Radio-Canada. "I think all I need is to be a decent person and have the professional experience of a [business] manager."

Yikes! Sounds just a tad naive.

Fedorenko, the political analyst, said Zelensky's mostly under-40-year-old supporters don't appear overly worried about his sparse resume.

"Many of Zelensky's voters are protest voters — and kind of similar to Trump voters in that [the U.S. president] represents an anti-establishment alternative for the people."

Big money

For all of Zelensky's pretense about being an ordinary man of the people, critics accuse him of being backed by money from oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who owns the TV station that broadcasts his show.  

Ukrainian social media posts are full of speculation from people who believe Kolomoisky will be exercising the real power behind the scenes if Zelensky wins.

Tymoshenko draws much of her support from older Ukrainians and is dangling a bump in pensions as part of her campaign. Her rivalry with Poroshenko dates back decades and she's accused him of waging a campaign of dirty tricks against her.

Those accusations include that Poroshenko has tried to sabotage her campaign by running a candidate with a similar name as hers so as to create confusion on the official voting paper.

Although a total of 39 candidates will be on the ballot Sunday — a record-breaking number — the final hours of the contest will likely focus on the fight between Poroshenko and Tymoshenko for second place.

If no candidate gets 50 per cent of the vote in Sunday's Ukrainian election, a run-off vote will be held April 21.

(Pascal Dumont/CBC)

If no candidate gets 50 per cent of the vote on Sunday, then the top two finishers will go on to a run-off ballot on April 21. 

For all the smears and accusations, the fact that a post-Soviet state such as Ukraine is even having a competitive election is significant.

Last year, next door in Russia, Putin ran virtually unopposed.

Court Kicks CAIR Out of San Diego School District

The Islamization of America takes a giant step backward

CAIR founder and executive director Nihad Awad (Photo: Allison Shelley/Getty Images)

In a landmark case, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been forced out of the San Diego Unified School District.

A lawsuit was brought against the district for partnering with CAIR and allowing the Islamist organization to run a discriminatory, unconstitutional propaganda program in its schools.

The court agreed with this assessment.

The program in question gave Muslim students special privileges and gave CAIR the power to change the district curriculum to make sure Islam was looked upon more favorably.

Students and parents were made to watch biased videos, CAIR officials were allowed to teach students and teachers about Islam and students were trained “how to become allies with Muslims students.”

The program, which began in April 2017, was based on false evidence that, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s electoral victory, Muslim students were subjected to “Islamophobic” bullying. However, state records indicated there was no evidence of such bullying in the district’s schools.

The court ruled that the program was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause by favoring one religious group over another and mixing government with religion.

Under the terms of the ruling, the school district is required to permanently drop the program and prevented from allowing CAIR to be involved in school activities in the future.

Further, school officials must correct the pro-Muslim student bias and disproportionate emphasis on Islamic history in its curriculum, which were both instituted through the program.

The court further gave the following guidelines to the schools:

“Educators should treat each religion with equal respect, with the time and attention spent discussing each religion being proportionate to its impact on history.”

“Educational material on religious subjects must be neutral and may not be presented in a manner that promotes one religion over another.”

“Educators or other staff sponsoring guest speakers at District events must ask them not to use their position or influence on students to forward their own religious, political, economic or social views and shall take active steps to neutralize whatever bias has been presented.”

“Guest speakers from religious organizations are not permitted to present to students on religious topics.”

National strategy

“This is a tremendous victory, because CAIR intended this plan to be a pilot program for a nationwide rollout,” said Daniel J. Piedra, executive director of the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund (FCDF), the organization which brought the suit against the school district.

The FCDF said that other school districts similarly affected by CAIR are Seattle Public Schools, Minneapolis Public Schools, Cajon Valley Unified School District and Gilroy Unified School District.

“This settlement agreement will serve as a warning to politically correct school boards nationwide to think twice about partnering with CAIR,” said Charles LiMandri, chief counsel for FCDF.

LiMandri called the court’s decision a “victory against radical Islamic indoctrination in America’s schools.”

OK, it's certainly Islamic indoctrination, but to call it 'radical' at this level is a little excessive.

The FBI and the Justice Department have both banned CAIR as an outreach partner because of its Islamist agenda and ties to Hamas and terror funding.

In 2007, the U.S. government labeled CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation for financing the Hamas terrorist group.

In November 2014 CAIR was designated as a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates.

CAIR was listed by the U.S. government as being among “individuals/entities who are/were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and/or its organizations.” The Palestine Committee was a secret body set up by the Brotherhood to advance the Brotherhood/Hamas agenda in America.

A secret meeting of the committee held in Philadelphia in 1993 was wiretapped by the FBI. Nihad Awad, co-founder and executive director of CAIR participated in that meeting where members agreed that a new “neutral” entity for influencing U.S. policy and opinion was agreed upon.

Awad founded CAIR the following year.

CAIR must be eradicated from the school districts mentioned above, but also, and especially, from American universities where they foment antisemitism.

Brunei’s Law Mandates STONING TO DEATH of Gays & Adulterers

Not a sound so far from Mainstream Media as Islam displays Sharia

Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam ©  Global Look Press / Zheng Huansong

A harsher version of penal code, which includes sharia-based punishments for things like adultery and same-sex relations, is to come into force next week in Brunei. The ‘human rights defenders’ in Washington, however, are silent.

Brunei, a tiny Muslim-majority absolute monarchy located in Southeastern Asia is about to put into force the last amendment to its criminal code as part of a reform initiated back in 2014. The renewed code, which is aimed at reflecting Islam’s tenets of morality and punishment for those who break them, will include caning and even stoning to death of Muslims, who are found guilty of adultery, sodomy and rape.

The government wanted to roll in the new laws in stages, but put the process on pause after international public outcry over the milder phase one, which included fines and jail terms for offenders, but not corporal punishment. Last week a rights group reported that Brunei quietly announced earlier this year the date, when the harsher version of the code would come into force: April 3.

“We are trying to get pressure placed on the government of Brunei but realise there is a very short time frame until the laws take effect,” Matthew Woolfe an Australia-based founder of the group, the Brunei Project, told Reuters. “It took us by surprise that the government has now given a date and is rushing through implementation.”

Homosexuality was outlawed in Brunei even before the 2014 reform and in fact since colonial times, with jail sentences of up to 10 years possible. If its government goes ahead with the plan, the nation will become the first in Asia to allow punishing gay people by death. At the moment only a handful of nations like Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have such provisions in their law.

The news has horrified some international rights groups. Amnesty International, in particular, decried the introduction of “cruel and inhuman penalties” and called on the world to “urgently condemn Brunei’s move to put these cruel penalties into practice.”

However, the US has so far stayed conspicuously silent on the issue. Washington, which actively develops economic ties with the oil-rich nation while regularly holding annual naval drills with a particular focus on maritime security in the South China Sea, has not yet issued a single statement on the latest developments in Brunei.

And neither did London, which also enjoys “close ties” with its former protectorate. Although, one could hardly expect any damning statements from the US aimed at the Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. The man, who recently described the amendment of the penal code as “a great achievement,” has traditionally enjoyed warm relations with the White House, which were sometimes marked by some extraordinary gifts like jewelry worth $71,468 presented to the former first lady, Michelle Obama, by the Queen of Brunei back in 2013.

However, such a situation would probably surprise no one. The fact that another of Washington’s major allies – Saudi Arabia – also punishes same-sex relations by death – alongside adultery, apostasy and blasphemy – never stopped the US from striking billions-worth of deals with Riyadh.

The recent scandal over the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which resulted in global fallout for the Saudis, failed to change the attitude of the White House and the Pentagon to Riyadh.

In theory, Iran-style crippling sanctions of its exports would swiftly change the mind of the Brunei government on whether stoning gays is a good idea. But considering how selective Western powers are in using this tool against nations accused of human right violations, one shouldn’t expect such a development anytime soon.

Sharia is a natural evolution of countries where Islam is in the majority. Where Islam is a significant minority, it is just a matter of time before it becomes the majority. Much higher birth rates and the use of democratic countries own laws and social programs against them make Muslim domination inevitable. And yet, most European countries are completely blind to the obvious.

New Evidence Indicates Cross-Sex Hormones Trigger Major Heart Problems

For some time I have been complaining that gender transitioning of prepubescent children is a form of child sex abuse. But this study seems to show that it is also child abuse as it significantly threatens the life and well-being of young adults who have transitioned from their biological sex.

The transgender activist lobby is ever vigilant to suppress research findings that conflict with their claims, or at least to intimidate dissident researchers into silence. This occurred recently when Dr. Lisa Littman of Brown University published a study suggesting a psychological rather than physical basis for Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD)—when a teenager suddenly decides he or she is actually of the opposite sex.

Appropriately cowed, Brown quickly withdrew publicity for the study. But more research on related issues is seeping out, and activists may find themselves in a game of whack-a-mole that greatly compromises their credibility.

One medical intervention provided by physician allies of the transgender lobby is off-label administration of puberty blockers to children so their bodies won’t experience the normal maturation process. But this treatment has already been exposed for its dangerous side effects and irreversibility. Now the other primary non-surgical intervention—administration of cross-sex hormones (estrogen to gender-dysphoric boys, testosterone to gender-dysphoric girls)—is coming under scientific fire.

In January, researchers from the Netherlands published a study finding that therapy with cross-sex hormones can substantially increase the risks of acute cardiovascular events like heart attacks, strokes, and deep vein thrombosis. The study followed 2,517 men who were transitioning to a female appearance, with a median age of 30 and an average of nine years on hormone therapy, and 1,358 women who were transitioning to a male appearance, with a median age of 23 and an average of eight years on therapy. Their incidences of cardiovascular events were then compared to those of the general population. The numbers were startling.

The transgendering men suffered:

more than twice as many strokes as women (29 versus 12) and 

nearly twice as many as non-transitioning men (29 versus 16). 

They suffered more than five times as many deep vein clots as women (73 versus 13) and 

4.5 times as many as non-transitioning men (73 versus 16). 

They suffered more than twice as many heart attacks as women (30 versus 13).

As for transgendering women, the researchers found no statistical differences with respect to strokes and deep vein clots. But these women suffered almost four times as many heart attacks (11 versus 3) as did non-transitioning women.

This isn’t the first study to find a connection between CVEs and gender-dysphoric people who have undergone hormone therapy. For example, a 2018 study from George Washington University found that “trans people appear to have an increased risk for myocardial infarction and death due to cardiovascular disease.”

Time To ‘Explore Their Identity,’ But At What Cost?

Jane Robbins

One of the puberty blockers frequently administered to girls who identify as boys (female-to-male, or FtM) is called Lupron. Lupron belongs to a class of drugs called gonadotrophin hormone-releasing (GnRH) agonists and is used to suppress estrogen production, thereby delaying the physical changes of puberty in a pre-pubescent female patient.

The argument is that this will give the girl more time to “explore her identity,” an easier path to physical transitioning before her body matures, and a chance to decide if she wants to pursue more serious measures such as cross-sex hormones and surgery. (More on that later.) The first claim is that Lupron is safe. But thousands of patients who have been treated with Lupron for non-sex-related conditions would disagree.

Lupron was originally Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved to treat prostate cancer, but it’s now routinely prescribed for other conditions such as endometriosis and “precocious puberty” — i.e., puberty that begins too early (generally considered under age eight for girls, under age nine for boys). Many of these patients have experienced extreme side effects that shattered their health and their lives, including severe joint pain, osteoporosis, compromised immune systems, and mental health issues such as severe depression and even suicidal ideation. The FDA has received 24,000 reports of adverse reactions, about half of which the agency has deemed serious.

Lupron manufacturer AbbVie has been fighting lawsuits over the drug for years. In one case pending in federal court in Illinois, 60-year-old Terry Paulsen claims she has endured severe medical problems related to receiving two injections of Lupron for endometriosis 14 years ago. “My body is on fire,” she said. “My joints have arthritis everywhere.” Since her Lupron treatment, Paulsen has suffered not only constant pain but strange rashes, severe osteoporosis, and multiple surgeries.

In another lawsuit, gynecologist David Redwine testified as an expert witness about the adverse effects of Lupron he has observed over 31 years of medical practice. Noting that Lupron’s suppression of the pituitary-gonadal system may affect a body’s immune response, Redwine concluded that the plaintiff in that case suffered extreme bone density loss and other symptoms as a result of being administered Lupron beginning at the age of 17.

Many Patients Suffer From Lupron-Related Side Effects

Tragically, many other young patients have endured similar adverse effects. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on a younger patient’s trauma after receiving Lupron treatment for precocious puberty. Now 22, Brooklyn Harbin was injected with Lupron at the age of 10, and soon found herself in such severe pain that she ended up a wheelchair while still in fifth grade.

Dr. Ken Sinervo, an Atlanta-area gynecologist who specializes in endometriosis surgery, reports having seen many women suffering memory loss and joint pain after Lupron treatment. He was quoted as warning that “Lupron or any of the similar types of medications should never be used in someone under the age of 21.”

But of course, all gender dysphoric patients who might be placed on Lupron to delay puberty are years younger than 21. Plus, there’s a serious added danger to using Lupron merely to stop normal puberty in a gender dysphoric child. Such treatment is “off label,” meaning the FDA hasn’t approved the drug for this purpose, nor is there reliable research showing the safety of such use.

Are Lupron’s Effects Really Reversible?

Despite all these warning flags about administering these drugs to healthy children, ideologues such as Dr. Stephen Rosenthal (who receives federal tax dollars to produce research supporting transgender-affirming treatment) see no problem with this experimentation. Rosenthal declares himself a “firm believer” in using GnRH agonists to stop normal body development in gender-confused children.

Rosenthal also insists that the effects of Lupron and other such drugs are “100 percent reversible,” a claim the true believers at WPATH support. Is this true? Mounting evidence suggests the answer is no.

The thousands of complaints about Lupron, mentioned above, show that many adverse side effects can be long-lasting, if not permanent. But even in a patient who doesn’t suffer those effects––that is, when the drug simply delays puberty without causing additional harm––the effect may not be fully reversible.

Reversibility must be considered from both a physical and a psychological perspective. Physically, a particularly problematic result is the direct effect on the pituitary gland. Redwine, the expert witness on the dangers of Lupron mentioned above, cited a study of impaired pituitary function: “The most important finding of this review comes from study M84-042. The study provides the evidence that 62.5% of patients [treated with Lupron for endometriosis] had not regained baseline estrogen levels by one year after stopping Lupron.”

In other words, the effect on the pituitary was not reversible for the majority of those patients. 

Endocrinologist Michael Laidlaw also warns that bone density may never recover from use of puberty blockers

Outgrowing Dysphoria Naturally

If this weren’t enough reason for parents to refuse such treatment for their minor children, Laidlaw says that “what parents should find truly terrifying is the psychological effect of this medication.” 

Under the traditional treatment for gender dysphoria, which involves “watchful waiting or pursuit of family and individual psychotherapy,” between 80 and 95 percent of adolescent patients outgrow their dysphoria naturally.

In other words, only 5 to 10 (20?) percent of those children remain dysphoric and go on to request further treatments. But a major study of dysphoric children who were administered puberty blockers found that 100 percent went on to request cross-sex hormones.

Why would a child whose normal puberty is short-circuited be more likely to move on to radical treatment with cross-sex hormones and perhaps surgery? Laidlaw attributes this phenomenon to “a very strong psychologically addictive component to this medication, so that once children begin taking these blockers, they never leave the road of high-dose synthetic hormones and irreversible surgeries.”

ACPeds agrees, offering a theory grounded in neuroscience and social science:

There is an obvious self-fulfilling nature to encouraging a young child with GD to socially impersonate the opposite sex and then institute pubertal suppression. Purely from a social learning point of view, the repeated behavior of impersonating and being treated as the opposite sex will make identity alignment with the child’s biologic sex less likely. This, together with the suppression of puberty that prevents further endogenous masculinization or feminization of the entire body and brain, causes the child to remain either a gender non-conforming pre-pubertal boy disguised as a pre-pubertal girl, or the reverse. Since their peers develop normally into young men or young women, these children are left psychosocially isolated. They will be less able to identify as being the biological male or female they actually are.

ACPeds concludes: “A protocol of impersonation and pubertal suppression that sets into motion a single inevitable outcome (transgender identification) that requires lifelong use of toxic synthetic hormones, resulting in infertility, is neither fully reversible nor harmless.”

Rosenthal, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, and the other medical ideologues who plow ahead with these therapies haven’t refuted these concerns. They seem to simply ignore them. That such behavior is allowed by the medical establishment, and even funded by federal tax dollars, is a travesty. 

Can we sink any lower than to sacrifice children to political ideology?

Jane Robbins is an attorney and a retired senior fellow with the American Principles Project in Washington DC. She is a graduate of Clemson University and the Harvard Law School.

Our children are, as always, voiceless, as adults find myriad ways to abuse them. Prepubescent gender transitioning will be judged as utterly insane by future generations and by God.