Opinion: Mass Shootings Due To A Mental Health Crisis

For nearly 2 decades or longer, this country has had a plague of mass shootings. Many, if not all of the shooters, have had serious mental health issues. Often times, it is discovered that some of the perpetrators were known, or made known to law enforcement, well before they carried out their heinous acts of violence.

People then become outraged, and more often than not, point the finger of blame at local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, for not stopping the atrocities before they occurred. Yet these agencies don't have the power to do anything until or if some perpetrator makes an attempt to carry out their dark acts.

What is the reason for this? In many cases, law enforcement agencies have been hamstrung by an out of touch justice system, and well intentioned, but myopic "victim's advocacy" groups.

Advocates for the mentally ill, too often have successfully painted all mental health agencies with the broad brush of the insane asylums of the 19th and early 20th centuries. They successfully portrayed them as wretched places of despair and hopelessness as often depicted in some old horror movie.

They effectively championed the picture of all mental health agencies as being like those insane asylums from long ago, and demanded the release of hundreds, if not thousands of mentally ill patients. The courts agreed, and large numbers of the mentally ill were released onto a society that frankly, did not want them, nor was prepared to provide them with the care they need.

We have seen some of them appear among the large numbers of the homeless. Mentally ill homeless people, whose numbers began to grow rapidly in the cities and towns that were, and still are unprepared for them. Numbers that grew rapidly after court decisions ordering their release, with little or no consideration as to how they would continue to receive the treatment they need, or the physical care that all human beings have a right to.

In essence, another stigma was added to these already stigmatized people for being mentally ill, and to those facilities that cared for them. This has resulted in a justice system that was and still is, all too reluctant to give orders for the diagnosis, treatment, and care of those people whose behavior, threats, and actions, have warranted it.

Until there is a demand from the public at large for reforms, the numbers of these heinous, evil atrocities will only occur again and again. The time for us all to demand action is now.

We must all remember as well, that the time for us to pray is now, and always. Especially pray for all the victims, the first responders, and the young shooter Nikolas Cruz as well.

From "Conservative Review": "Regime-friendly NY Times makes big money selling Iran tours"

The following is from an article at “Conservative Review” by Jordan Schachtel:

Regime-friendly NY Times makes big money selling Iran tours

Conflict of interest?

The recent protests in Iran have raised many red flags and questions as to whether the Times is reporting the news objectively. As videos continue to surface on social media, showing masses of people calling for an end to the regime (and even “death  to the Islamic Republic”), the New York Times has downplayed the protests as merely  economic disputes. Moreover, the paper’s Tehran-based reporter was conveniently “on vacation” as the most consequential, anti-regime protests in years spread through Iran like wildfire.

It turns out that The New York Times has a special financial relationship with the Iranian regime, likely unknown to many of its readers. As one of the few U.S.-based Iran tour providers, The Grey Lady delivers unprecedented access to the theocratic nation for a price.

Based on publicly available data  on the New York Times travel website, Conservative Review has analyzed that the organization’s “Iran: Tales from Persia” trip, which is hosted by New York Times journalists and opinion writers, is a cash cow that has reaped millions of dollars in revenue for the publication.

The Times’ travel website lists nine publicly available trips to Iran in 2018, with an average group size of 20 people. The Iran tour costs $7,895 per person (based on double occupancy. Single travelers pay an additional $1,500), plus $425 for internal airfare. The price does not include international airfare.

Read more at “Conservative Review” by clicking here.

Opinion: The 2016 Election

The Beginning of the End

Perhaps no presidential election in our lifetime, has been more contentious and divisive as the one now taking shape for 2016.

Both of the two major parties have never produced such weak and questionable candidates for the highest office in the land as they have with such less than illustrious candidates in the persons of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump.

With a population of over 300,000,000 people, one would hope that a nation of this size could somehow produce a crop of candidates that the nation as a whole could place some trust in.

Instead we have forced upon us a group of people as candidates who would be much better suited to be on a wanted poster than a campaign flyer.

We have a candidate in Hillary Clinton whose main objectives are that she should be elected because she would be the first woman elected president, or because she feels that it is her “turn” to sit behind the desk in the Oval Office. No one’s qualifications for president should be predicated by gender or the misguided notion that it is somehow their “turn” to hold that office. Ones “turn” at something is usually relegated to games and not in the real life world of politics where the determining factors should be ability, experience, and character. Anything less is detrimental to that office and is most definitely detrimental to the nation as a whole.

Then we have a candidate in Bernie Sanders who generally always voted with the Democrat Party during his tenure in Washington, ran as an Independent, and is a self avowed Socialist. That is until he decided to run for President as a Democratic candidate. A man, who like most of his followers, does not have an understanding of the most basic economics, yet he, and especially his followers stop their critical thinking when they hear the words “free”, and either ignore or don’t care that the “free” he promises would only lead to economic slavery to taxes and government dependance for us, our children, and our grandchildren.

Last, but not least, we have a candidate in Donald Trump who is willing to say anything and do anything to get elected to the office of President of the United States. A man who can blatantly denigrate minorities, women, and the disabled, and get away with it. A man who talks in a loud, arrogant braggadocio, and gives his supporters his policies in such general, shallow terms, that even he doesn’t know what his policies and plans are. Indeed, when he is questioned about those policies, like the quintessential politician his answers ramble in a broad expanse of nothingness that never reveals just what his ideas are. Thus leaving one to come to the conclusion that all he has are general talking points, and hasn’t given his own vague, vapid statements any real thought. Yet his supporters will laugh, applaud and cheer, and with their mob mentality defend with their dying breaths the glaringly obvious shortcomings of their chosen one, even when those shortcomings and actions should alarm even the most dim witted amongst us.

There was once a time in this country of ours, when those we elected to the office of President, were statesmen...leaders…moral...those in whom we placed our trust and believed that whatever they did they did because they thought it best for us, and our country. People who led by example, and not people who make a mockery of everything that is good, noble, and decent like today’s leaders.

Now all we can see is that statesmanship is dead. Like the Roman Empire before us, we have leaders who place themselves above the good of the United States and all Americans. Leaders who are characters instead of having character. Leaders who throw off all semblance of morality and fairness, because morality and fairness don’t matter to Americans anymore. Americans don’t want morality and fairness. They want lies and half-truths. They want all that they can get and future generations be damned.

Is this what we want? Is this what we want for our children and our grandchildren, and their children after them? Is this what America has become?

God save the United States of America.

Why the Question of Christian vs. Muslim Refugees Has Become So Incredibly Divisive

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Christians make up a tiny percentage of the Syrian refugees the United States has resettled. Is that wrong?

The topic is raging this week, with multiple governors and GOP presidential candidates saying Syrian refugees should be shut out after the Paris attacks by Muslim radicals. President Obama then said it was "shameful" to have a religious test for refugees of war. "That's not American. That's not who we are. We don't have religious tests to our compassion," he said.

In fact, the role of religion in how refugees are considered and how the United States looks at persecution is more complicated. Religion is considered by both the United Nations and the State Department, which defines a refugee as "someone who has fled from his or her home country and cannot return because he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution based on religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group."

A torrent of other issues also come when refugee status is considered. How severely persecuted is the group? Is their religion the primary factor or are there other issues, such as political or ethnic affiliations that are equally or more significant? Does the group have other options, anywhere to else to go?

Whether the United States works too hard or not hard enough for persecuted Christians overseas has become increasingly explosive in the last decade. In that period, conditions for religious minorities in the Middle East have seriously deteriorated. And in the United States, some religious Americans see hostility in President Obama's liberalizing policies about birth control and gay rights. Among many of these people, and others, anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise. Some 30 percent of Americans wrongly believe Obama is Muslim.

Advocates for Middle Eastern Christians note that this group is disappearing from the region of Jesus's birth in the rubble of government chaos in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.

This week such Americans were jarred by a Yahoo News report that the State Department is about to designate the Islamic State's assault on the small population of Yazidis in Iraq genocide -- a very rare move that could have implications for the United States to hold perpetrators accountable. While other religious minorities from the region, including Christians, are described as severely persecuted for their faith, the Yazidis are described as under a particular kind of siege.

The report suggests the government is influenced by a Nov. 12 paper by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. That paper said the Islamic State "is carrying out a widespread, systematic, and deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity" against Yazidis, Christians, Turkmen, Shabak and other minority groups. Of that group, only the Yazidis faced genocide because "the attacks on them were to make sure no future Yazidis would be born. To end them as a people altogether," Naomi Kikoker, deputy director of the center, told The Post. She cited interviews with residents and said Christians "faced slightly different treatment" if "horrific," being forced to leave, pay a tax or convert.

That was the first time the museum had declared anything a genocide since 2004, when it used the term for the Darfur region of Sudan.

But the possibility of a State Department proclamation led prominent advocates for Middle Eastern Christians to say it showed bias.

"If true, it would reflect a familiar pattern within the administration of a politically correct bias that views Christians -- even non-Western congregations such as those in Iraq and Syria -- never as victims but always as Inquisition-style oppressors," wrote Nina Shea in National Review Nov. 13.

Read more by clicking below:

Why the Question of Christian vs. Muslim Refugees Has Become So Incredibly Divisive

A Future for Minorities in the Middle East?

The Arabic letter "n" (inside red circle), signifying "Nasrani" (Christian), on an Assyrian home in Mosul.

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- Consider this imaginary situation. Hundreds of British citizens are kidnapped while travelling in the Middle East by a Muslim jihadi militia. The kidnappers hold the victims in an unknown and lawless location in a failed state and demand a ransom of one million dollars per person for their release. When no ransom is forthcoming, the kidnappers take three males, dress them in orange jumpsuits, make them kneel and, after they say their names, they are shot in the back of the head while being filmed. The kidnappers then threaten to similarly execute the remaining captives if the ransom is not paid.

Consider another imaginary scenario. Some 5000 American women and girls are kidnapped by the same Muslim jihadi militia. They are turned into sex slaves, servicing the jihadi soldiers who consider the whole process to be an act of worship of their God. The women are sold for a few dollars in open markets and are subjected to an ongoing nightmare of exploitation, humiliation and terror.

If both of the above imaginary situations came to pass, it is highly likely that the British and American governments would bring the full force of their military power to bear on the perpetrators of such mediaeval barbarism. And they would be right to act in the interests of their citizens in this way, providing the protection that governments should provide to their own.

The subtext in the above scenarios is that in fact the situations described are going on as we speak. The hundreds of citizens who have been put up for ransom, with some being killed on camera, are not British but rather Assyrians, kidnapped in February from dozens of predominantly Christian towns and villages in the Khabur river valley in northern Syria. The exorbitant ransom demanded is far beyond the financial capacity of the local Assyrian community.

The thousands of women and girls, some pre-pubescent, serving as sex slaves are not Americans but mostly non-Muslim Yazidis, kidnapped in Sinjar in northern Iraq late last year. Some Christian women are also being held in the same manner. The perpetrators are, of course, the soldiers and leaders of the Islamic State, who have established rules of trade that include allowing an individual jihadi to purchase up to three female concubines. The captured woman are reportedly considered by their captors to have become Muslim if they are raped by ten ISIS fighters.

The significant difference between the above imaginary situations and the reality is that neither Assyrians nor Yazidis are citizens of powerful nations. Those currently held in captivity cannot hope for their armed compatriots to come to their rescue. In such a context, their nightmare must be even darker and full of greater despair, enveloped within a sense of absolute hopelessness. It is little wonder that a number of the Yazidi women are committing suicide, according to reports provided by some lucky women who have escaped their captors.

And as these appalling situations continue day after day, leaders of the powerful nations do express concern and meet to confer about ways of gradually "degrading" the capacity of the Islamic State. A group of nine nations led by the USA have been conducting bombing raids from the air on Islamic State targets since August 2014, with mixed results. But while the discussions and the bombing raids take place, days become months and months become years, and the Assyrian and Yazidi hostages remain in their situations of terror, with little hope of rescue.

Two thoughts come to mind. Firstly, the great nations of the world that are mulling over ways of dealing with the Islamic State in a step-by-step fashion would do well to act as if the kidnapped hostages are indeed British and American. Images of British citizens being executed on mass and American women being sold at sex-slave markets may well succeed in breaking the paralysis that has beset Western action over the problem of the Islamic State.

Second, the tragic situation raises the issue of the future viability of religious minorities in the Middle East. The best solution would probably be for Assyrians and Yazidis to migrate to the West. Many will do this, but many will remain in their ancestral homelands.

Read more by clicking below:

A Future for Minorities in the Middle East?

Assyrians Largely Ignored By U.S. and Other Western Officials

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Someone should tell ISIS: The orange jumpsuits no longer draw the world's attention as they did a year ago when American journalist James Foley became one of the terror group's first victims to be executed on camera wearing one.

In early October, three men crouched in sand wearing the orange one-piece outfits--all Assyrian Christians from northeastern Syria. They were shown being shot in the head and killed in a video released by ISIS. Those living in the United States most likely didn't see the one-minute video clip. A few Arabic-language media outlets carried reports of the latest filmed execution and some showed the video, but in the United States no news outlets televised it, and only a few reported it at all.

Yet the footage is the first from ISIS, or Islamic State, of Syrian Christians being executed. It also carried threats of further killings against hundreds of Assyrian Christians who have been held hostage for months, according to the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights.

With the camera rolling and a brisk wind flapping their sleeves, the three men kneeling in the sand said they were "Nasrani," a Muslim pejorative for Christians. They recited their names and hometowns: Ashur Abraha of Tel Tamar, Basam Essa Michael of Tel Shamiram, and Dr. Abdulmasih Enwiya of Jazira. Two gave their dates of birth. Three men wearing desert camouflage and black masks next stepped behind them, each raising a handgun to shoot each of the three Christians in the head. The victims' bodies slumped forward, and seconds later three more men appeared kneeling behind the dead men, the executioners pointing guns at their heads also.

As with the first segment, each hostage recited his name and hometown, but one of them--in what looks like a scripted gesture--pointed to the bodies on the ground and said, "Our fate is the same as these if you do not take proper procedure for our release." With that, the video ended.

The three killed and the three apparently left alive all are confirmed part of a group of 250 Assyrians abducted in February after Islamic State attacked about 35 villages along the Khabur River in Hasakah Province. ISIS killed at least 15 young Assyrian Christians in the attacks as they tried to protect the towns, and militants rounded up hundreds and took them hostage in the overnight raids--leaving 1,400 Assyrian families unable to return to their homes (see "One family's night flight from ISIS," March 5, 2015). ISIS released several dozen captives, mostly elderly, leaving about 180 still held.

At that time, church leaders reported American aircraft flew over the area but took no action.

Read more by clicking below:

Assyrians Largely Ignored By U.S. and Other Western Officials

U.S. to Iraq: If Russia Helps You Fight ISIS, We Can't

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

The U.S. has told Iraq's leaders they must choose between ongoing American support in the battle against militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and asking the Russians to intervene instead.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that the Iraqis had promised they would not request any Russian airstrikes or support for the fight against ISIS.

Shortly after leaving Baghdad, Dunford told reporters traveling with him that he had laid out a choice when he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi earlier Tuesday.

"I said it would make it very difficult for us to be able to provide the kind of support you need if the Russians were here conducting operations as well," Dunford said. "We can't conduct operations if the Russians were operating in Iraq right now."

He said there was "angst" in the U.S. when reports surfaced that al-Abadi had said he would welcome Russian airstrikes in Iraq. The U.S., Dunford said, "can't have a relationship right now with Russia in the context of Iraq."

The ultimatum to Iraq comes as the U.S. grapples with Russia's dramatically increased role in the war in Syria, just to the west of Iraq.

In Syria, President Vladimir Putin has essentially rescued his close ally, President Bashar Assad, from opposition forces that had been inching closer to his seat of power prior to the beginning of Russian airstrikes at the end of September.

Russia's intervention was not telegraphed beforehand to the U.S., and while Moscow first insisted its primary target was ISIS in Syria, it became apparent immediately that the Russian planes were targeting other opposition groups more in a clear effort to shore up Assad's beleaguered forces.

The choice given to Abadi in Iraq by Dunford on Tuesday is a clear indication that the U.S. is not willing to compete with Russia for airspace over two neighboring countries deeply intertwined in the same convoluted war.

The U.S. and Russia put into practice new rules on Tuesday designed to minimize the risk of air collisions between military aircraft over Syria.

Reuters reports that the U.S. ultimatum to Iraq puts Abadi in a difficult position, as his own country's ruling political alliance and some powerful Shiite groups have been pushing him to request Russian air support.

The news agency said a proposal to request Russian strikes had been put to Abadi last week, but that he was yet to respond.

Read more by clicking below:

U.S. to Iraq: If Russia Helps You Fight ISIS, We Can't

Dear Gullible People...

You know who you are. You are the ones who get all caught up in the story, grossly misreported as "news", of a mentally ill man saying he is now a woman.

While you were being so easily manipulated and distracted, here are some things happening in the real world that you missed:

Boston terror suspects plotted to behead police officers, source says

http://fxn.ws/1FuUTKq

U.S. official: 10,000-plus ISIS fighters killed in 9-month campaign

http://cnn.it/1FuWj7H

Democratic finance chair under fire for fundraising for Clinton campaign http://bit.ly/1FuVHyN

Baltimore to feds: Send help

http://cnn.it/1FuWorX

Da Vinci discovered: Art sleuthing reveals Leonardo engraving

http://fxn.ws/1FuUZlj

IRS Employee Steals $326,000 By Using Taxpayer's Identities

http://fxn.ws/1FuV3l4

4 family members accused of beating pregnant teen to kill baby

http://fxn.ws/1FuVf3F

Will a Catholic School Fire a Theology Teacher for "Anti-Gay" Remarks? - Aleteia

The following excerpts are from Aleteia.org:

The future of a high school theology teacher suspended for public comments about gays and traditional marriage is in doubt. An online petition for Patricia Jannuzzi has sought donations for her family’s bills while her bishop released a statement that addressed only her previous and present job status.

An online petition on YouCaring.com said it represented Jannuzzi's family. According to the petition, Januzzi's lawyer told the teacher that her contract will not be renewed for the 2015-16 school year. The update followed a message in which Jannuzzi’s children said the teacher needs health benefits because she had breast cancer.

Read more by clicking below:

Will a Catholic School Fire a Theology Teacher for "Anti-Gay" Remarks? - Aleteia

Iraqi PM: Iraq 'Must Take Charge' on ISIS

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Iraq's prime minister on Sunday said his nation must lead the charge against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"We have to take charge of what we are doing as these are Iraqi lives at stake," Haider al-Abadi told Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week." "We have to stop ISIS for our own safety. The world has to stop them for their own safety."

Iraq has struggled to reclaim territory it has lost to ISIS. It is currently waging a second offensive to regain the city of Tikrit after a failed attempt in June and July 2014. The latest campaign lacks valuable U.S. air support.

Abadi said his government expects a tough battle against ISIS in the months ahead. The foreign dignitary hopes to retake Tikrit before tackling Mosul, another major city.

"This is a very, very dangerous opponent if they're allowed to continue," Abadi said of ISIS.

Read more by clicking below:

Iraqi PM: Iraq 'Must Take Charge' on ISIS

Assyrian Christians Demand Arms, Support to Fight Isis As Hundreds Kidnapped

Assyrian fighters in Syria.

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

People in the Islamic State's (ISIS/ISIL) way in the Middle East are desperate to fight against the terrorist group as the jihadists expand their caliphate. Syria's Assyrian Christian population has increasingly expressed frustration over the lack of international funding and arms for their militias, while ISIS continues to kill and abduct hundreds.

Nino Youkhana left Syria for Lebanon two years ago to escape the civil war. He called his uncle when he heard the Islamic State entered villages around the Khabour River. An Islamic State member answered the phone and did not allow Youkhana to speak with his family. After a few tries, the jihadists allowed the two to speak, but only if "they spoke in Arabic and not in their Assyrian dialect." That was the last time they spoke.

"All of my relatives have been kidnapped, and their houses and the churches in the area burnt," he said. "Apart from the first day's brief phone call, we haven't been able to speak to them, and we know nothing. All we want is some news on them, on what is going on. This is all we're asking for."

The Islamic State kidnapped 220 Assyrian Christians in northeast Syria on February 23, as they attacked twelve villages. The victims include men, women, and children. Osama Edward, founder of the Assyrian Human Rights Network, told CNN the Islamic State kidnapped more than 262 people on February 23. The network is based in Sweden, but team members on the ground in Syria supply Edward with information. On Sunday, the terrorists released 16 men and three women in exchange for money. However, those released were over 50 years old, which makes officials believe "age might be a factor" in future negotiations.

Read more by clicking below:

Assyrian Christians Demand Arms, Support to Fight Isis As Hundreds Kidnapped

As many of you already know, I was fired from my previous job back in January, as I told you in a previous post here. At the time, I did not want to go into the details of the reason I was given for being fired, so I will now. My former employer had told me, and the young lady that I worked with, that he was going to have to cut hours... Read more by clicking here.

Up to 373 Assyrians Captured By ISIS, Executions Have Begun

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Hasaka, Syria (AINA) -- According to Assyrian leaders in Hasaka, the number of Assyrians captured by ISIS is as high as 373. There are 150 confirmed captives whose names are known. Various news agencies reporting today raised the number of captured Assyrians to 250.

Aid to the Church in Need is reporting that some of the captured Assyrians have been executed. The Aleteia news agency is reporting that up to 350 Assyrians may have been captured, and that executions have begun. Aleteia reports that 12 fighters from the Assyrian village of Tel Hurmiz, two of them women, have been executed by ISIS.

According to Assyrian fighters in Tel Tamar, ISIS has withdrawn from the Assyrian villages of Tel Goran, Tel Shamiran and Tel Jazira. But residents and fighters have not reentered the villages for fear of booby traps left by ISIS.

Assyrian sources in Hasaka say ISIS claims to have sent pictures of the captured Assyrians to the U.S. government with an ultimatum to stop airstrikes against them else all Assyrians will be killed.

Read more by clicking below:

Up to 373 Assyrians Captured By ISIS, Executions Have Begun

Assyrian American Bishops Send Letter to Kerry Regarding ISIS Attacks on Assyrians

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- The Synod of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East has sent a letter to John Kerry, the United States Secretary of State, regarding the ISIS attacks on Assyrian villages and the capture of 150 Assyrians (AINA 2015-02-23).

Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Secretary Kerry:

The atrocities very recently committed against the Assyrian Christians of the Khabur region in northeast Syria prompt us to write to your good offices in order to bring to your attention the urgency of the present situation. As the diocesan bishops of the Assyrian Church of the East in the United States, we would like to bring to the attention of the Obama Administration the sufferings and plight of our Assyrian Christians, which we have all witnessed taking place in broad daylight, early Monday morning. In our very own day, another holocaust is taking place in history, but this time against the Christian population of Syria by ISIL....

Read more by clicking below:

Assyrian American Bishops Send Letter to Kerry Regarding ISIS Attacks on Assyrians

Why is Egypt Doing More to Protect Middle Eastern Christians Than Obama? | FrontPage Magazine

The following excerpts are from Frontoage Mag:

Obama’s illegal Libyan regime change war allowed Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood and its assorted terrorist allies, including ISIS, to take over major parts of the country.

The brutal murders of Christians stemmed from Obama’s war.

Now Egypt has responded to the ISIS beheading of Coptic Christians by bombing ISIS targets in Libya. Meanwhile Obama, who caused this whole mess, put out the usual statement claiming that the Islamist murder of Christians had nothing to do with Islam.

Egyptian warplanes struck hard at ISIS militants in neighboring Libya a day after a sickening video surfaced showing the terror army’s black-clad militants beheading 21 Coptic Christians, footage that prompted Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to vow revenge in an address to the world’s most populous Arab nation.

“Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield that protects them,” it said.

Egypt’s record on the treatment of Christians has been rather poor even under Mubarak and they are nowhere near to equal citizens, but nonetheless Egypt is doing more to protect Middle Eastern Christians than the United States.

Read more by clicking below:

Why is Egypt Doing More to Protect Middle Eastern Christians Than Obama? | FrontPage Magazine

If They Had Any Guts, All US Papers Would Publish Muhammad Cartoons

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

The terrorists won today.

That was the message Wednesday from retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters when he appeared on Fox News' "America's News Room."

"It's a terrible morning. It's a bad morning for press freedom, for freedom of information," he said. "It's bad because the terrorists won. The terrorists won this morning."

Peters fears publications will limit their own freedom because of this attack.

...Peters chastised other publications for not having the courage to publish the cartoons of the prophet Muhammed like the French magazine did.

"It was the bravest publication I know. There is not a single magazine in the English-speaking world that had the guts, the courage, to take on Islamist fanaticism and mock these fanatics the way Charlie Hebdo is," he said.

"The correct response to this attack, by all of us in journalism, we pretend to be so brave, if we had guts," Peters said. "Those cartoons would be reprinted on the front page of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times tomorrow. They won't be."

Peters also criticized the Western world as too weak to deal with radical Islam and said our political correctness may lead to our destruction.

Read more by clicking below:

If They Had Any Guts, All US Papers Would Publish Muhammad Cartoons

OPINION: Greed and the Holidays

"Marley's Ghost"
 -- by John Leech

So once again I keep seeing the lists of stores that will be "open" on Thanksgiving Day. They will be open with their "specials" beginning for the Christmas shopping season..

What they don't bother saying is, they really won't be waiting until 6...7....or 8 Thanksgiving evening to "open". Nope, far from it. They will have been open the whole live long day, especially the 24-hour "super stores" where they doze, but never close...except maybe on Christmas Day... but the number of businesses closed even then continues to shrink.

What they really mean is, that they must fulfill their greed for the almighty dollar in order to satisfy their shoppers greed for things. For stuff. For the latest in electronics...games...videos...the newest toy fad.

Yes, they will be there to collect their millions...maybe even billions...from people who just have to make sure that junior has the latest trend...so that they can "keep up" with their neighbors.

Forget about being thankful for health...for life...for what we already have and for who we are. Don't worry about being thankful for family, loved ones, and friends. Don't worry about being thankful for any of that. You have all kinds of time to be thankful for all of those things.

You can always spend time with family and friends later. Unless you are an employee of those businesses...both large and small... where the company bottom line is much more important than you or your family and friends. The company must be sure to get their nickel so someone else doesn't get it instead.

Yes, you can be thankful after the shopping season is over and done with. Then you can contribute to the company bottom line once again by having your hours cut...or even being laid off until spring. Don't you feel thankful?

It makes me feel as though none of these businesses that insist on feeding their lust for wealth...have never read "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.

If they have read it, then surely the lesson was lost on them. For when greed is the primary...the most motivating factor....then sooner or later, that greed will lead to your own isolation, and your own loss.

Rest assured though. You won't have a ghost from Christmas past, present, or future showing up to lead you away from ruin.

Then again, all that matters to them and their stockholders is the bottom line, right? People are just another commodity that can be taken and discarded at a whim.

So, rest assured, even though I have to work on Thanksgiving Day for part of the day, I will not be contributing to anyone else having to work by shopping at any store, large or small.

And you can take that to the bank!

UN Proposal Would Punish Iraq and Syria Militants

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Britain has proposed a draft U.N. resolution aimed at punishing recruitment and financing of foreign fighters for the Islamic State militant group now controlling a swath of Syria and Iraq, and all other terrorist groups associated with al-Qaida.

The early draft, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, calls on all countries to take measures to suppress the flow of foreign fighters to these groups and demands the immediate withdrawal of those already in Iraq and Syria.

It also demands that all militants from the Islamic State group, Jabhat al-Nusra, and other al-Qaida linked groups "cease all atrocities and terrorist acts."

The proposed resolution expresses the Security Council's readiness to impose sanctions on those recruiting, supporting and fighting for terrorist groups, and says a list of individuals will be added to the resolution before its adoption.

Council experts met again Monday to go over the text and several diplomats said they hope the resolution can be adopted as soon as the end of this week.

The draft deplores "in the strongest terms" the terrorist acts and "violent extremist ideology" of the Islamic State group and stresses that "widespread or systematic attacks directed against any civilian populations because of their ethnic background, religion or belief may constitute a crime against humanity."

It cites atrocities by the group including mass executions and the killing of Iraqi soldiers, the deliberate targeting of individuals based on their religion or belief, the kidnapping of civilians, forced displacement of minorities, unlawful use of child soldiers, rape, arbitrary detention and destruction of places of worship.

A council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations are closed, said the United States wants to add a sentence from a press statement adopted by the council last Thursday that singles out the Islamic State group's attacks that forced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, many from the vulnerable Yazidi and Christian communities, to flee.

The draft resolution urges all countries to meet their obligation under a 2001 resolution adopted immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States to cooperate in bringing the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of terrorist acts to justice.

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UN Proposal Would Punish Iraq and Syria Militants