How media pervert Mideast reality

A case study in what's wrong with 'fair and balanced' reporting *The following is an excerpt from WND founder Joseph Farah's latest book, "Stop The Presses! The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution." WORLDNETDAILY - By Joseph Farah - May 3, 2007 Let me ask you this: Do you think the world's news media give Israel a fair shake? I'll prove to you they do not. The largest, most powerful and influential news-gathering organization in the world is the Associated Press. I've mentioned its importance earlier. It is a cooperative of the newspaper industry and has become even more pervasive in the last twenty years as private, full-service news services like United Press International have shrunk in size and scope, becoming virtually irrelevant - and leaving in their wake one gigantic media monopoly. In November 2003, AP put together a list of "recent terror attacks around the world." Here is that list in its entirety: August 5, 2003: A suicide bomber kills 12 people, injures 150 - Jakarta, Indonesia - Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian group linked to al-Qaida. May 16, 2003: Bomb attacks in Morocco kills 28 people injures 100+ - "international terrorism," and local militant groups linked to al-Qaida. May 12, 2003: Four explosions rock Riyadh, the Saudi capital, eight Americans are among those killed. In all, the attack kills 35 people, including 9 attackers. May 11, 2003: A bomb in southern Philippine city, killing at least 9 people and wounding 41 - Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front. December 30, 2002: A gunman kills 3 American missionaries at a Southern Baptist hospital in Yemen - gunman, belonged to an al-Qaida cell. November 28, 2002: Suicide bombers kill 12 people at an Israeli-owned beach hotel in Kenya and two missiles narrowly miss an airliner carrying Israelis. October 12, 2002: Nearly 200 people, including 7 Americans, are killed in bombings in a nightclub district of the Indonesian island of Bali. Authorities blame Jemaah Islamiyah. October 6, 2002: A small boat crashes into a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen and explodes, killing one crewman. October 2, 2002: Abu Sayyaf guerrillas detonate bomb in a market in Zamboanga, Philippines, killing 4 people - Four more bomb attacks in October blamed on Abu Sayyaf, linked to al-Qaida, kill 16 people. June 14, 2002: Bomber blows up truck at the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14 Pakistanis - Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, linked to al-Qaida. April 11, 2002: A suicide bombing with a gas truck at a historic Tunisian synagogue on the resort island of Djerba kills 21 people, mostly German tourists. September 11, 2001: Hijackers slam jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and a fourth hijacked jet crashes in a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3,000 people. December 30, 2000: Explosions in Manila strike a train, a bus, the airport, a park near the U.S. Embassy, and a gas station, killing 22 people - attack linked to Jemaah Islamiyah. October 12, 2000: Suicide attackers on an explosives-laden boat ram the destroyer USS Cole off Yemen, killing 17 American sailors. August 7, 1998: Nearly simultaneous car bombings hit the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, killing 231 people, including 12 Americans. Do you notice anything strange about this list? It notes Islamic terrorism all over the world since 1998, but completely disregards all such terrorism directed at the citizens of one country and one country only - Israel. Worse yet, AP's worldview generally reflects the thinking - if you want to call it that - of the mainstream, establishment Western media. That's why hundreds of newspapers actually published this list without blinking an eye, registering a protest, or asking any questions. This was not the first time such a list was prepared and circulated by AP. The news organization published a similar list May 19, 2003 - again, no attacks on Israel were included. At the time this list was published, more than a thousand Israeli civilians had been killed by Islamic terrorists since the fall of 2000. Many thousands more had been injured. But none of this counts, according to AP. Let me give you some more evidence of this bias and how it manifests itself in the news coverage you read and watch. In 2002, following the 9/11 attacks, I was stunned to realize the New York Times no longer accepted as historical fact that a Jewish Temple once stood upon the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Beginning at that point, news stories began referring to "the Temple Mount, which Israel claims to have been the site of the First and Second Temples." - - - -

*Emphasis Added Read Full Report http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55495

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Media: Hollywood's "Giants" Make a Mockery of Truth

Propagandistically Speaking Proverbs 16:25 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. Ed. Note: Typically covering anything to do with Hollywood or the entertainment industry is not the fair of Be Alert!, however in this case the violence being waged against truth by these so-called "enlightened" entertainers is too outrageous to not sound an alarm. These people are sadly deceived into blatent stupidity and only the mercy of and gospel of Christ can deliver them. BE/\LERT! Cameron's bag raises a few eyebrows UK PRESS ASSOCIATION - June 23, 2007 Actress Cameron Diaz appears to have committed a major fashion crime in Peru. The voice of Princess Fiona in the animated Shrek films may have inadvertently offended Peruvians. They suffered decades of violence from a Maoist guerrilla insurgency by touring there on Friday with a bag emblazoned with one of Mao Zedong's favourite political slogans. While she explored the Inca city of Machu Picchu high in Peru's Andes, Diaz wore over her shoulder an olive green messenger bag emblazoned with a red star and the words 'Serve the People' printed in Chinese on the flap, perhaps Chinese Communist leader Mao's most famous political slogan. While the bags are marketed as trendy fashion accessories in some world capitals, the phrase has particular resonance in Peru. The Maoist Shining Path insurgency took Peru to the edge of chaos in the 1980s and early 1990s with a campaign of massacres, assassinations and bombings. Nearly 70,000 people were killed during the insurgency. - - - - http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=paDiazsat08diazbag&show_article=1 Angelina Jolie's Freedom of Press, on Her Terms FOX NEWS - By Roger Friedman - June 14, 2007 Angelina Jolie's true colors came out Wednesday as she promoted a film about freedom of the press and then tried to censor all her interviews. Jolie is touting press freedom these days, playing the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in a new movie called "A Mighty Heart." But Jolie turns out to be a mighty hypocrite when it comes to her own freedom of the press. Her lawyer required all journalists to sign a contract before talking to her, and Jolie instructed publicists at first to ban FOX News from the red carpet of her premiere. - - - - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,282173,00.html History's worst mass killer gets Hollywood makeover Man who slew 100 million people to have $60 million glam treatment WORLDNETDAILY - June 4, 2007 A man who is believed to have killed up to 100 million people in his life is to be the subject of a positive $60 million biographical film portrait, if a Hollywood producer gets his way. "Challenging Heaven" by Steven North will tell the story of the founding of Communist China with Mao Zedong in the role of George Washington. North is currently trying to romance Beijing into offering support for the project. "This is a very positive portrayal of Mao, and we are hoping that once the script clears the approval process, China will come forward with services and support," he said. - - - Though Mao, like fellow dictator Fidel Castro, is still romanticized to a degree in the West, most historians would agree he ranks at or very near the top of the worst mass murderers. About 70 million Chinese were killed or died as a result of his brutal reign. That figure does not include millions of Tibetans, Koreans and members of other ethnic groups and nationalities. In fact, the name of the Mao movie is significant. Mao once described himself as "without law and without heaven." Mao wrote: "I do not agree with the view that to be moral, the motive of one's actions has to be benefiting others. Morality does not have to be defined in relation to others. --- People like me want to --- satisfy our hearts to the full, and in doing so we automatically have the most valuable moral codes. Of course there are people and objects in the world, but they are all there only for me. --- People like me only have a duty to ourselves; we have no duty to other people." http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56011 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Media: Distortion, Propaganda, Bias and Attacks on Freedom

Propagandistically Speaking Nahum 1:9 Whatever you devise against the LORD, He will make a complete end of it. Distress will not rise up twice. Reporters Give Money To Dems Over Republicans 9 To 1 The list: Journalists who wrote political checks MSNBC - By Bill Dedman - June 22, 2007 The following 143 journalists made campaign contributions from 2004 through the first quarter of 2007, according to Federal Election Commission records studied by MSNBC.com. Key: (D) contributed to Democrats or liberal causes. (R) to Republicans and conservative causes. Click on "details" next to each name to see the amounts and what the journalists have to say. - - - - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113455 BBC network admits it: We're biased toward left WORLDNETDAILY - June 17, 2007 The BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation, has acknowledged the network is biased toward the left, following a report commissioned by the company. A yearlong probe revealed the corporation especially partial in its treatment of single-issue politics such as climate change, poverty, race and religion, according to the London Times. "It concludes that the bias has extended across drama, comedy and entertainment, with the corporation pandering to politically motivated celebrities and trendy causes," the paper said. The report cites the danger of BBC programs being undermined by the liberal culture of its staff, who need to challenge their own assumptions more. "There is a tendency to 'group think' with too many staff inhabiting a shared space and comfort zone," says the report. It notes staff tend to mimic each other's common left-leaning values. A seminar on staff impartiality held last year is documented, with officials admitting they would broadcast images of the Bible being thrown away, but not the Koran for fear of offending Muslims. The report also warns that celebrities must not be pandered to and allowed to hijack the BBC schedule, according to the London Telegraph. It also offers 12 new principles for the corporation to adopt to safeguard objectivity, including: "Impartiality is no excuse for insipid programming. It allows room for fair-minded, evidence-based judgments by senior journalists and documentary-makers, and for controversial, passionate and polemical arguments by contributors and writers." A BBC spokeswoman said: "This report is about looking forward and how we are going to face the challenges of impartiality in the modern world." As WND reported in October, an internal BBC memo revealed senior figures admitted the national news agency was guilty of promoting left-wing views and anti-Christian sentiment. The admissions of bias were made at the impartiality summit. Most executives admitted the corporation's representation of homosexuals and ethnic minorities was unbalanced and disproportionate. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56228 British law threatening U.S. freedom of speech Experts: Lawsuit by Saudi billionaire puts American journalists under foreign courts WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - June 16, 2007 The author of a U.S.-published book that accused a former Saudi banking executive of funding terrorism is battling a precedent that experts say could give any foreign libel law priority over U.S. free press and speech guarantees. The case involving Rachel Ehrenfeld is one of the "most important First Amendment cases of the past 25 years," and its potential for damaging the U.S. free press is "not yet readily recognized," 30-year American Civil Liberties Union board member Harvey Silverglate told her. Ehrenfeld, who has posted information about her case on the website of the American Center for Democracy, which she directs in its research of Middle East-based terrorism, told WND the situation is very simple, and very scary. In 2003, she documented and wrote, "Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It," that alleged Saudi Arabian billionaire Khalid Salim A. Bin Mahfouz helped in that pipeline of financing. Mahfouz formerly was president of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia and Forbes estimates his personal wealth at more than $3 billion. He says he condemns terrorism and never has assisted Osama Bin Laden or others. Several of those books were purchased via the Internet by British buyers, and a short time later Mahfouz filed a libel action against Ehrenfeld within Great Britain, where antiquated libel laws put the burden of proof on the defendant. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56207 Bush administration attacks 'shield' for bloggers CNET News.com - By Anne Broache - June 15, 2007 WASHINGTON--The Bush administration on Thursday blasted a congressional proposal that would shield a broad swath of news gatherers, including some bloggers, from revealing their confidential sources. The latest draft of the Free Flow of Information Act would pose a grave threat to national security and federal criminal investigations by protecting far too large a segment of the population, a U.S. Department of Justice official told Congress. "The definition is just so broad that it really includes anyone who wants to post something to the Web," Rachel Brand, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, said at a House Judiciary Committee hearing here. She also argued it would protect "a terrorist operative who videotaped a message from a terrorist leader threatening attacks on Americans." Justice Department opposition has bedeviled Congress throughout its numerous attempts in recent years to enact federal shield laws. Supporters say such legislation is needed in light of high-profile cases involving New York Times reporter Judith Miller and what free-press advocacy groups characterize as a sharp rise in subpoenas to reporters in recent years. Laws recognizing some form of "reporter's privilege" already exist in 49 states and the District of Columbia--but, crucially, do not shield journalists from federal prosecutors. - - - - http://networks.org/?src=cnet:2100-1028_3-6191053 New Concerns on Russia Media Freedom ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Alex Nicholson - May 19, 2007 MOSCOW -- More than a half-dozen journalists with the Russian News Service, which produces reports that reach millions of radio listeners, resigned to protest the new pro-Kremlin management's policy that at least 50 percent of coverage must be positive, according to former correspondents. The company that owns the service, Russian Media Group, said Saturday that no one was available to comment on the claims, which come amid growing concern about media freedom in Russia. In another case highlighting the concerns, the Russian Union of Journalists is protesting an order that it vacate its offices that house state media operations, including the RIA-Novosti news agency and the Russia Today satellite television channel. During Vladimir Putin's presidency, major Russian media have increasingly come under state control or influence. The media arm of the state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom took control of NTV television - once noted for its criticism of the Kremlin and independent reporting on the war in Chechnya - and the newspaper Izvestia. Analytical programs on Russia's main TV channels are increasingly infrequent and less likely to express criticism of the Kremlin. - - - - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RUSSIA_MEDIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-05-19-07-33-46 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

World Wide Petrol Woes

Unrest grows amid gas rationing in Iran INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE - By Nazila Fathi and Jad Mouawad - June 28, 2007 TEHRAN: Unrest spread in Tehran on Thursday, the second day of gasoline rationing in oil-rich Iran, with drivers lining up for miles, gas stations being set on fire and state-run banks and business centers coming under attack. Dozens were arrested, and the Tehran police chief, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, complained to reporters that the police had been caught unaware by the decision to ration fuel. The anger posed a keen threat to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was elected two years ago on a platform of bringing income from oil to the nation's households. Instead, even though Iran is one of the world's largest producers of crude oil, it has been forced to import about 40 percent of its gasoline at an annual cost of $5 billion to make up for shortfalls in its archaic refining industry. Some analysts said the decision to ration gasoline was intended to prepare for the possibility of more United Nations economic sanctions as a result of concern over Iran's nuclear program. - - - - http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?id=6403091 Iran fuel rations spark violence BBC NEWS - June 27, 2007 Several petrol stations have been torched in the Iranian capital Tehran, after the government announced fuel rationing for private vehicles. Windows were smashed and stones thrown at the stations, and there was traffic chaos as motorists queued to buy fuel. Iranians were given only two hours' notice of the move that limits private drivers to 100 litres of fuel a month. Despite its huge energy reserves, Iran lacks refining capacity and it imports about 40% of its petrol. Iran has a large budget deficit largely caused by fuel subsidies and the inflation rate is estimated at 20-30%. The BBC Tehran correspondent Frances Harrison says Iran is trying to rein in fuel consumption over fears of possible UN sanctions over its nuclear programme. Iran fears the West could impose sanctions on its petrol imports and cripple its economy. - - - - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6243644.stm Top gas gouger? The [US and State's] government! States, feds taking chunk bigger than oil companies WORLDNETDAILY - By Alyssa Farah - June 19, 2007 - - - State, local and federal taxes make up about 20 percent of the cost paid at the pump, according to Conoco Phillips, an international, integrated energy company. So, while many tend to assume major gas companies are hugely profiting when gas prices peak, this may not be the case. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, when the average price of regular unleaded gas peaked at $3 per gallon in 2006, most major companies were profiting only about 10 cents per gallon on refining and marketing options, while the federal tax alone is as much as 18.4 cents per gallon. As of March, the national average gasoline tax is 45.8 cents. New York has the highest gas tax at 60.8 cents at the pump, with Hawaii just behind costing 60.2 cents per gallon, according to the American Petroleum Institute. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56260 Western Cape hit by gas shortages SOUTH AFRICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION - June 21, 2007 Johannesburg, South Africa - A severe shortage of liquefied petroleum gas has crippled the gas trade in the Western Cape, the Cape Argus reported on Thursday. Its website quoted retailers as saying the gas supply had run out and they were not sure when the situation would be resolved. At the root of the trouble was the Chevron refinery, which supplies bulk buyers BP and Afrox in the Western Cape. "There is now absolutely no product coming in for the next week or so," said one gas supplier. The supplier, who asked not to be named, said local producer Chevron "needs to explain themselves to the industry and their consumers". Restaurants and consumers who converted all their cooking and heating appliances to gas could be hit hard by the shortage. - - - - http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=312007&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business/ Oil demand ‘rising faster than expected’ FINANCIALTIMES of LONDON - By Ed Crooks - June 12, 2007 World oil demand is rising faster than previously expected while non-Opec supply is growing more slowly, the International Energy Agency has said in its latest monthly assessment of the market. The rich countries’ energy watchdog warned on Tuesday of growing tightness in oil supplies in the second half of the year, and urged the Organisation of the Petrolem Exporting Countries to raise its output. David Fyfe, an analyst at the IEA, said: “We would very much hope that Opec production is at its seasonal low at the moment. --- We definitely do need more crude oil.” - - - The report estimated that world oil stocks could drop by 1m-1.5m barrels a day in the third quarter, which it said “would push forward stock cover down towards the low levels seen when prices accelerated higher in 2004. That is, by itself, a concern.” Opec officials have played down the possibility of any increase in production before the next ministerial meeting in Vienna on September 11. - - - - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/76a4c516-18d6-11dc-a961-000b5df10621.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

The China Syndrome

The kings of the east Revelation 6:8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. Companies in U.S. Increase Testing of Chinese Goods NEW YORK TIMES - By Nelson D. Schwartz - July 1, 2007 General Mills, Kellogg, Toys “R” Us and other big American companies are increasing their scrutiny of thousands of everyday products they receive from Chinese suppliers, as widening recalls of items like toys and toothpaste force them to focus on potential hazards that were overlooked in the past. - - - The discovery over the last few months of tainted or defective products from China - including toothpaste, tires, toys and fish - has prompted United States lawmakers to fault companies for compromising quality in their quest for inexpensive imports and higher profits. - - - No fatalities or serious injuries from Chinese food products have been reported in the United States, although counterfeit Chinese glycerine has been linked to at least 100 deaths in Panama. In May, senior members of the Bush administration, including the secretary of agriculture, Mike Johanns, raised the food safety issue with Chinese officials during trade talks in Washington. And last week, in a step designed to reassure Western customers, the Chinese government said it had closed 180 food plants and identified 23,000 safety violations. Although they affect only a fraction of imports from China, the rising tempo of alerts, including an F.D.A. restriction imposed on Thursday on sales of five types of Chinese-farmed seafood, has called attention to China’s sudden emergence as a major agricultural exporter. Between 2002 and 2006, F.D.A.-regulated imports of food from China rose from just over 100,000 shipments to nearly 235,000. Experts predict those shipments will reach 300,000 this year. The spate of recalls and the rising volume of exports have highlighted another worry: the increasing dependence of the United States’s biggest food manufacturers on China for basic additives like apple juice, a common sweetener, and preservatives like ascorbic acid. These little-known additives form the building blocks of many popular staples in American kitchens, keeping fruit from turning brown or providing the sweetness in breakfast bars. Food experts note, for example, that China supplies more than half of all the apple juice imported to the United States, up from a fraction a decade ago. Other critical but common additives have followed an even sharper trajectory, according to Peter Kovacs, the former chief executive of NutraSweet Kelco and now a food industry consultant. More than 80 percent of ascorbic acid, better known as vitamin C and also used as a preservative, comes from China, Mr. Kovacs said. Chinese imports of xanthan gum, used to thicken dairy products and salad dressings, account for at least 40 percent of United States consumption. “This is a problem for the whole food chain, but it was a blank spot,” Mr. Kovacs said. “They’re doing it now, but companies weren’t testing these additives before.” - - - - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/business/01imports.html?ex=1341028800&en=b9afee8889ac5308&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink Chinese honey now reported among import dangers 15 senators urge FDA to get tough on adulterated sweetener WORLDNETDAILY - June 26, 2007 - - - Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is blowing the whistle on the latest China import scandal. He is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to implement bans on tainted honey, most of which comes from China. "Almost 70 percent of the honey consumed in our country is imported - most of it from China," says Conrad. "Unfortunately, China has a long track record of importing adulterated honey and engaging in other fraudulent conduct in the honey trade. These actions not only hurt honey producers in North Dakota and across the country, they also present needless health risks to our consumers." In a bipartisan letter signed by 15 senators, Conrad urged the FDA to act on a petition for a standard of identity for honey. Such a regulation would provide a uniform, legal definition of honey purity levels that would aid regulators. Imported honey is an ingredient found in a wide array of products including cereals, snacks, meats and beverages and is also a common ingredient in many health and beauty products. In 2002 and 2003, the FDA and U.S. Customs seized multiple shipments of Chinese honey at U.S. ports which were contaminated with chloramphenicol, an antibiotic that is banned in food products in the U.S. because of its potentially life threatening effects. More recently, there are reports that imported honey is being blended with sugars or being labeled as a blend to avoid U.S. duties. This honey is subsequently sold to U.S. processors as pure honey. A long-time supporter of North Dakota's honey producers, Conrad recently called on the secretary of agriculture to address the growing problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious condition destroying colonies of honeybees across the country. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56372 Seafood imports from China raised in untreated sewage Fish products consumed by Americans treated with dangerous drugs, chemicals WORLDNETDAILY - By Joseph Farah - June 4, 2007 WASHINGTON - China, the leading exporter of seafood to the U.S., is raising most of its fish products in water contaminated with raw sewage and compensating by using dangerous drugs and chemicals, many of which are banned by the Food and Drug Administration. The stunning news follows WND's report last week that FDA inspectors report tainted food imports from China are being rejected with increasing frequency because they are filthy, are contaminated with pesticides and tainted with carcinogens, bacteria and banned drugs. China has consistently topped the list of countries whose products were refused by the FDA - and that list includes many countries, including Mexico and Canada, who export far more food products to the U.S. than China. - - - According to a new report by Food & Water Watch, the aquaculture industry crams fish and shellfish into facilities to maximize production, generating large amounts of waste, contaminating water and spreading disease if left untreated. The industry tries to control the spread of bacterial infections, disease and parasites by pumping the food supplies with antibiotics and the waters with fungicides and pesticides. Many of the products used are banned in the U.S. Traces of these drugs have been showing up increasingly in imports - especially from China. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56004 China has cornered the global market for vitamins MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS - By Tim Johnson - May 31, 2007 SHIJIAZHUANG, China - If you pop a vitamin C tablet in your mouth, it's a good bet it came from China. Indeed, many of the world's vitamins are now made in China. In less than a decade, China has captured 90 percent of the U.S. market for vitamin C, driving almost everyone else out of business. Chinese pharmaceutical companies also have taken over much of the world market in the production of antibiotics, analgesics, enzymes and primary amino acids. According to an industry group, China makes 70 percent of the world's penicillin, 50 percent of its aspirin and 35 percent of its acetaminophen (often sold under the brand name Tylenol), as well as the bulk of vitamins A, B12, C and E. In the wake of a pet food scandal, in which adulterated wheat gluten from China led to the deaths of thousands of pets in North America, and other instances of food and toothpaste tampering, China's vitamin producers are reaching out to reassure U.S. consumers that their vitamins are safe. Whether that's true isn't clear, however. Foreign food-safety experts say China's larger companies have reputations to protect. The question is how they maintain quality control. In this pharmaceutical hub, a two-hour train ride south of Beijing, managers at what may be the world's largest vitamin C factory said they're constantly improving quality control to keep pace with the tenfold increase in production this decade. "We used to only comply with domestic standards. Now we must comply with international standards," said Liu Lifeng, an aide to the general manager at the Weisheng Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Food and drug safety inspectors drop in at the plant from time to time. "The authorities come unexpectedly without telling us," added Tian Yumiao, the senior director of the quality control department of Weisheng. But the inspectors aren't exactly neutral guardians of public health. They work for the city government, which is a part owner of the parent company of Weisheng Pharmaceutical. That kind of relationship between food and drug inspectors and China's booming agricultural and pharmaceutical industries is coming to the fore as an issue in the food safety debate. The local government in this thriving city of 2 million people would suffer if it did anything to hurt the growth of local vitamin and drug producers, and local officials might be reluctant to admit that a public safety issue had arisen. "That's a conflict of interest right there," said Kathryn Boor, a food safety expert at Cornell University. "You really need a disinterested party involved in inspections." Issues of food and drug safety ripple across China today. The former chief of the state Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, was given the death sentence Tuesday for taking $832,000 in bribes to let unsafe drugs on the market. One Zheng aide was sentenced to a 15-year jail term last autumn, and a second was accused in May in the bribery scandal. A survey earlier this year said more than three-fifths of Chinese worry about whether the food they eat is contaminated or adulterated. - - - - http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/17306227.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp Contaminated Counterfeit Toothpaste Now Found in 6 States, Canada ASSOCIATED PRESS - July 1, 2007 WASHINGTON - Counterfeit Colgate toothpaste has now turned up in Canada, where testing has found dangerous bacteria but not the poisonous chemical previously detected in four U.S. states, a health official said Saturday. In addition, store owners and police say they have discovered that the bogus Colgate was sold in Michigan and Virginia. The FDA warned earlier in June that fake Colgate distributed in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania may contain a poisonous chemical called diethylene glycol, or DEG, that typically is used in antifreeze. That toothpaste was the subject of a June 13 recall by a New Jersey distributor. It was not immediately clear if the counterfeit products in Pinconning, Mich., and Arlington, Va., had been tested for DEG. In Canada, testing did not find the chemical but did show high levels of harmful bacteria, said Paul Duchesne, a spokesman for Health Canada. - - - - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C287544%2C00.html Wider Sale Is Seen for Toothpaste Tainted in China NEW YORK TIMES - By Walt Bogdanich - June 28, 2007 After federal health officials discovered last month that tainted Chinese toothpaste had entered the United States, they warned that it would most likely be found in discount stores. In fact, the toothpaste has been distributed much more widely. Roughly 900,000 tubes containing a poison used in some antifreeze products have turned up in hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, juvenile detention centers and even some hospitals serving the general population. The toothpaste was handed out in dozens of state institutions, mostly in Georgia but also in North Carolina, according to state officials. Hospitals in South Carolina and Florida also reported receiving Chinese-made toothpaste, and a major national pharmaceutical distributor said it was recalling tainted Chinese toothpaste. - - - - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/us/28tooth.html?ei=5090&en=a00a39144f0b11b4&ex=1340683200&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print Toxic Toothpaste Made in China Is Found in U.S. NEW YORK TIMES - By Walt Bogdanich - June 2, 2007 Consumers were advised yesterday to discard all toothpaste made in China after federal health officials said they found Chinese-made toothpaste containing a poison used in some antifreeze in three locations: Miami, the Port of Los Angeles and Puerto Rico. Although there are no reports of anyone being harmed by the toothpaste, the Food and Drug Administration warned that the Chinese products had a “low but meaningful risk of toxicity and injury” to children and people with kidney or liver disease. The United States is the seventh country to find tainted Chinese toothpaste within its borders in recent weeks. Agency officials said they found toothpaste containing a small amount of diethylene glycol, a sweet, syrupy poison, - - - - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/us/02toothpaste.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China NEW YORK TIMES - By Eric S. Lipton And David Barboza - June 19, 2007 WASHINGTON, June 18 - China manufactured every one of the 24 kinds of toys recalled for safety reasons in the United States so far this year, including the enormously popular Thomas & Friends wooden train sets, a record that is causing alarm among consumer advocates, parents and regulators. - - - The toys were coated at a factory in China with lead paint, which can damage brain cells, especially in children. Just in the last month, a ghoulish fake eyeball toy made in China was recalled after it was found to be filled with kerosene. Sets of toy drums and a toy bear were also recalled because of lead paint, and an infant wrist rattle was recalled because of a choking hazard. Over all, the number of products made in China that are being recalled in the United States by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has doubled in the last five years, driving the total number of recalls in the country to 467 last year, an annual record. It also means that China today is responsible for about 60 percent of all product recalls, compared with 36 percent in 2000. - - - - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19toys.html?ex=1340078400&en=a221040c50d4ab5d&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink China exports lead poisoning From eye shadow to glazed pottery, products pose danger to U.S. kids WORLDNETDAILY - June 7, 2007 WASHINGTON - In the wake of scandals involving tainted food and toothpaste from China comes word of a new concern from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as well as the Food and Drug Administration - toys, makeup, glazed pottery and other products that contain significant amounts of lead. While lead poisoning among children was once mainly caused by old paint, U.S. manufacturers long ago banned the ingredient. Today, a new rash of high lead levels in the bloodstreams of American kids is being caused by foreign products - mainly from China. So serious is the resurgence of lead poisoning among U.S. children that the Iowa Department of Public Health is working on writing a new law to require mandatory testing of those entering school for the first time. Lead poisoning, once a concern mainly in dilapidated urban areas, can cause learning disabilities, kidney failure, anemia and irreversible brain damage in children. Rita Gergely, chief of Iowa's bureau of lead poisoning prevention, specifically cited concerns about children's jewelry imported from China. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56056 Cheap Chinese tires blamed for fatalities New Jersey lawsuit warns massive recall may be necessary WORLDNETDAILY - June 26, 2007 Cheap Chinese tires missing a safety feature are blamed for a fatal traffic accident, according to a lawsuit in New Jersey that warns as many as 450,000 light truck tires may need to be recalled. A gum strip that helps prevent separation of steel belts might have been omitted in tires manufactured by China's Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. and imported by Foreign Tire Sales Inc., of Union, N.J., reported ConsumerAffairs.com The tires were sold under the names Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS. "This is a prime example of a private lawsuit with a substantial public benefit," said Jeffrey B. Killino, an attorney with Woloshin & Killino, which represents the families of the deceased and injured. "The Hangzhou Rubber Company deliberately and secretly removed a safety feature from these tires and two young men died as a direct result. This was a tragedy that didn't have to happen, but hopefully we can prevent future fatal crashes." The lawsuit, filed by Foreign Tire Sales Inc., or FTS, charges tread separation caused a cargo van carrying four passengers to crash in Pennsylvania Aug.12, 2006, killing two passengers and injuring the other two, ConsumerAffairs.com reported. FTS, noting other American distributors might also have been selling the tires, warns a recall may be necessary, estimating a million or more tires involved. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56369 In latest scare, China finds fake veterinary drugs REUTERS - By Ben Blanchard - June 21, 2007 BEIJING - Almost one-fifth of veterinary drugs tested in China in the first quarter were not up to standard, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday, unveiling a long list of fake products. Still, that one-fifth figure is a slight improvement over the same period of last year, the ministry said, putting a positive spin on the announcement. "Although more of the veterinary drugs tested were up to scratch, there remains a problem with the illegal production and sale of fakes," it said in a statement posted on its Web site (www.agri.gov.cn). "There is especially a glaring problem with underground dens selling fakes," the ministry added, vowing tougher action. - - - - http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSPEK28277720070621?feedType=RSS&rpc=22&sp=true Is China trying to poison Americans and their pets? U.S. market flooded with foods unfit for humans, tainted with carcinogens, pesticides, bacteria, drugs WORLDNETDAILY - May 27, 2007 WASHINGTON - While Americans are still recovering from a scandal over poison pet foods imported from China, FDA inspectors report tainted food imports intended for American humans are being rejected with increasing frequency because they are filthy, are contaminated with pesticides and tainted with carcinogens, bacteria and banned drugs. Last month, like most months, China topped the list of countries whose products were refused by the FDA - and that list includes many countries, including Mexico and Canada, who export far more food products to the U.S. than China. Some 257 refusals of Chinese products were recorded in April. By comparison, only 140 were from Mexico and only 23 from Canada. - - - In the past year, the FDA rejected more than twice as many food shipments from China as from all other countries combined. Most of the time, the reason listed is simply "filthy," the official term used when inspectors smell decomposition or gross contamination of food. Officials say FDA inspectors examine only a tiny percentage of the food imported from foreign countries - about 1 percent -- meaning most of the contaminated products make it inside the country and to the shelves of retailers. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55892

NBC news: Chemtrails over California

Revelation 11:18 "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came...to destroy those who destroy the earth." This report confirms what I have been sharing over the past few years in the alert and has been one of my gravest concerns regarding climate change: That the US Government as well as other governments in the world are already employing the use of climate modification programs that are based purely on speculation and what is most likely faulty science fuled by a combination of satanic Gaia worship and despotism in highest echelons of world power. BE/\LERT!

Creation Groans: The Wild Beasts of the Earth

Creation Groans Revelation 6:8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Three Articles)

41 Seal Pups Die of Distemper in Denmark ASSOCIATED PRESS - June 23, 2007 COPENHAGEN, Denmark - An outbreak of distemper has been killing seal pups off the coast of Denmark, authorities said Saturday, warning that thousands of seals could die if the disease spreads to other northern European countries. Since Tuesday, at least 41 harbor seal pups have been found dead on the small island of Anholt, midway between Denmark and Sweden, and tests indicate distemper, according to The Danish Forest and Nature Agency. The government agency normally finds around 30 dead seals a year. "There is therefore reason to fear that we will see a large number of dead seals on Danish beaches in coming months," said Henrik Lykke Soerensen, an agency spokesman. The agency said it would kill dying seals found on the shores of the island to try to prevent the spread of the disease, which does not affect humans. The disease causes respiratory problems, fever and sometimes disorientation, while leaving the animal's immune system weakened and susceptible to other diseases, such as pneumonia. Lykke Soerensen said it was still unclear which strain of virus authorities were dealing with, but that the agency was expecting to identify it in the next few days. The seal population in Denmark has been hit by the disease twice before. In 2002, it killed nearly half the harbor seal population along the coasts of Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain and Ireland. Another outbreak, in 1988, wiped out nearly 60 percent of northern Europe's harbor seal population. The cause of both outbreaks remains unknown. - - - - http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8PUTHFG0&show_article=1

Apes under threat from green fuels LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH - By Charles Clover - May 31, 2007 The threat to great apes, such as the orang-utan, is "growing visibly" as a result of the demand for greener fuels, Richard Leakey, the paleo-anthropologist and conservationist warned yesterday. - - - The Great Apes Survival Project, a United Nations initiative of which Dr Leakey is patron, says 80 per cent of orang-utan habitat has been cleared in the past 20 years and the global population of 50,000 is struggling to survive in what is left. Dr Leakey said that the growing of palm oil was now a threat in Africa too, where vast areas of the Congo basin contain gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. He said it might be "politically correct" not to criticise developing nations for destroying their forests but they did not deserve to be exempt from blame because the destruction of tropical forests was the largest single contributor to climate change. - - - - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/31/nape31.xml Swarm of bees forces passenger plane to land REUTERS - May 25, 2007 LONDON - A passenger plane was forced to land after flying into a swarm of British bees Thursday. The Palmair Boeing 737, with 90 passengers on board, had to return to Bournemouth Airport in southern England shortly after take-off following an engine surge. The pilot decided to abort the flight to Faro in Portugal and returned for safety checks. The plane's engine was thought to have become clogged with bees, the company said Friday. Huge clouds of bees have been seen around Bournemouth over the past few days, a spokeswoman said. http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSL258266320070525

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Pestilence: The resurgence of TB

Sharp rise in XDR-TB cases in Western Cape SOUTH AFRICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION - June 21, 2007 Johannesburg, South Africa - Cases of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) have more than quadrupled in the Western Cape in the past three months, the Cape Times reported on Thursday. The newspaper cited provincial health department figures. Also, the Brooklyn Chest TB Hospital has no room for more patients. It has 22 beds in the isolation wards to treat XDR-TB cases. This comes as the City of Cape Town has drawn up contingency plans in the event of an XDR-TB outbreak. Since World TB Day in March, 45 XDR-TB cases have been notified in the province. Eight people have died, according to department figures. In March, there were 10 known XDR-TB cases in the province. XDR-TB, which withstands first- and second-line antibiotic treatment, is almost impossible to treat. It has killed 290 patients nationwide. - - - - http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=312037&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/ Foreigners Make Up 20 Per Cent Of TB Cases BERNAMA [Malaysian National News Agency] - June 21, 2007 BALIK PULAU -- Foreign workers made up 20 per cent of the 16,665 tuberculosis (TB) cases recorded in the country last year, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. He said the number of TB cases was on the rise and attributed this to the increase in foreign worker arrivals in the country. "Many TB cases are reported in Sarawak, Sabah, Selangor and Johor because there are many foreign workers in these states," he told reporters after opening a Durian Festival here Thursday. "As such, the ministry is stepping up measures to detect active TB carriers by making it compulsory for foreign workers to have a medical check-up within a month of their arrival in Malaysia." He said the increase in TB cases was also due to more people infected with HIV, adding that HIV patients could easily contract TB. "A total of 1,488 HIV carriers have TB," he added. Dr Chua said some TB patients could not be cured of the disease with the existing medicines, adding that 43 of such cases were reported last year, from 17 cases in 2005. http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=268909 Poultry workers test positive for TB 131 at Greenville plant show signs of exposure after active case found THE GREENVILLE NEWS (Greenville, SC - USA) - By Liv Osby - June 20, 2007 State health officials tested 286 employees at a Greenville poultry-processing plant for tuberculosis after a case of TB was reported there, and nearly half had a positive skin test. The investigation at Columbia Farms began a week ago after tests on the first individual confirmed active TB, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. The positive skin tests on 131 of the workers means they were exposed to TB sometime in their lives, not that they have active disease, he said. - - - - http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070620/NEWS01/706200388/1004/NEWS01 UPDATE! TB death: Woman could have had disease more than four months COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE - June 11, 2007 A college student who died of tuberculosis Friday at Memorial Hospital could have had the contagious form of the disease for up to four months, but health authorities say the public health risk is low. - - - [Kalpana Dangol, 19] took spring courses at Colorado State University at Pueblo but lived in Colorado Springs, health authorities said at a news conference Monday. - - - Calonge said Dangol, of Nepal, likely contracted the disease from her native country, where TB is endemic, but did not travel during the time period where she could have been contagious. He said she probably did not have the rare multidrug-resistant or extensively drug resistant strains of TB. Those forms of TB have a higher mortality rate, said Jim Hunger, assistant to the director for San Francisco Department of Health’s TB Control Center. - - - Memorial’s CEO, Dick Eitel, told the City Council on Monday afternoon that a dozen hospital staff members were exposed before diagnosis. They will be monitored and tested for TB, but Eitel said he believed their chances of contracting the disease is “very, very low.” He did not explain the basis for his belief. - - - - http://www.gazette.com/articles/patient_23506___article.html/colorado_department.html Three more at Bowie High test positive for inactive TB FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM - By Jan Jarvis - June 1, 2007 ARLINGTON - Three more people at Bowie High School have tested positive for inactive tuberculosis, health officials said Friday. The results mean that the individuals have been infected, “but they do not have an active disease,” said Gerry Drewyer, Tarrant County’s division manager for tuberculosis elimination. So far, the health department has screened 175 people for the lung disease. Seven have tested positive for inactive TB. The only active case involves a Bowie High student who was diagnosed in late May. Only those with positive test results are urged to take preventative therapy, she said. The Bowie High testing began early this week after the school district learned the student had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. The strain has not been identified, but it is not believed to be drug-resistant, officials said. - - - - http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/122651.html Travelers possibly exposed to drug-proof TB Infected man flew from Prague to U.S.; authorities seeking those on flight ASSOCIATED PRESS - May 29, 2007 ATLANTA - A man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been placed in quarantine by the U.S. government after possibly exposing passengers and crew on two trans-Atlantic flights this month, health officials said Tuesday. It is the first time since 1963 that the government issued a quarantine order. The last such order was to quarantine a patient with smallpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC urged people on the same flights to get checked for tuberculosis. - - - - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18923867/ Border Agent Allowed TB Patient in U.S. ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Greg Bluestein and Devlin Barrett - May 31, 2007 ATLANTA - A globe-trotting Atlanta lawyer with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was allowed back into the U.S. by a border inspector who disregarded a computer warning to stop him and don protective gear, officials said Thursday. The inspector has been removed from border duty. The unidentified inspector explained that he was no doctor but that the infected man seemed perfectly healthy and that he thought the warning was merely "discretionary," officials briefed on the case told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still under investigation. The patient was identified as Andrew Speaker, a 31-year-old personal injury lawyer who returned last week from his wedding and honeymoon trip through Italy, the Greek isles and other spots in Europe. His new father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a CDC microbiologist whose specialty is TB and other bacteria. - - - - http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070531/D8PFL1P00.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

The Islamisation of Malaysia

World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) Special to ASSIST News Service - By Elizabeth Kendal - June 7, 2007 AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- This is an extended posting in two parts. First there is an examination of the 30 May 2007 ruling in Malaysia's Federal Court that finally and officially severs Malaysia's Muslims from their fundamental and constitutional right to religious freedom (Article 11 of Malaysia's Constitution) and shackles them to Sharia (Islamic Law, which prohibits apostasy: "The Prophet [Mohammed] said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.' " Bukhari:V4B52N260). Secondly there is an examination of the Islamisation of Malaysia. "Sharia" is spelled variously through this posting as I have elected to retain the spelling in the various articles rather than standardise it. We must now ask: Is Malaysia essentially an Islamic state that is in the process of bringing its citizens and institutions and even eventually its minorities into submission to the Sharia (which is the constitution of political Islam)? Fundamentalist Muslims have successfully appealed to Sharia to protect Muslim Malaysia from apostasy. So will they now also be able to appeal to Sharia to protect Muslim Malaysia from "blasphemy" and "indecency"? And if as it appears, Islam, openness, liberty and progressive modernity cannot travel together, then where is Malaysia headed now? APEX COURT UPHOLDS SUPREMACY OF SHARIA FOR MUSLIMS On Wednesday 30 May 2007, a three-judge Federal Court panel ruled by a 2-1 majority in the case of Lina Joy v Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan and 2 Ors that only an Islamic Shariah Court has the authority to confirm a Muslim's apostasy and authorise the removal the word 'Islam' from the religion category on their government identity card. The ruling was based on the 1988 amendment to Malaysia's Constitution which dictates that once a person is legally recognised as a Muslim all their religious legal issues are to be dealt with by the Sharia courts, not the civil courts. The 1988 constitutional amendment, Article 121 (1A), states that civil courts have no jurisdiction on any matter which falls within the jurisdiction of the Syariah (Sharia, Islamic Law) courts. This amendment was introduced to resolve the conflicts between decisions of civil and syariah courts. The intention of the parliament was to oust the jurisdiction of the civil courts from hearing any matter which is within the purview of the Syariah courts. Before the enactment of clause 1A, decisions of the Syariah courts could be reviewed by the High Courts. According to the then Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir, Muslims were not happy with civil courts overriding the decisions of syariah courts. The question then arose: does apostasy (conversion out of Islam) fall within the jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts? This question was put to the courts in 1999 in the case of Soon Singh a/l Bikar Singh v Pertubuhan Kebajikan Islam Malaysia (PERKIM) Kedah (1999) 1 MLJ 489. The Singapore Law Review reports: "The Federal Court considered whether the Syariah Courts' jurisdiction could be implied from other provisions in statutes relating to Syariah Courts. The appellant in this case was a Sikh and he converted to Islam when he was a minor. Upon reaching 21 years old, he renounced Islam and executed deed poll declaring that he was a Sikh. Before the High Court, he sought for a declaration that he was no longer a Muslim. Respondent contended that the High Court had no jurisdiction since the matter came under the Syariah Court's jurisdiction. The High Court agreed with Respondent and dismissed the application. On appeal, the Federal Court pointed out that all State Enactments and Federal Territories Act contain express provisions vesting the Syariah Courts with jurisdiction to deal with conversion to Islam. Relying on Craies on Statute Law 7th edition page 112, Albon v Pyke (1842) 4 M & G 421,424, Bennion's Statutory Interpretation 2nd Edition page 362, the Federal Court held that: 'when jurisdiction is expressly conferred on the Syariah Courts to adjudicate on matters relating to conversion to Islam … it is logical that matters concerning conversion out of Islam (apostasy) could be read as necessarily implied in and falling within the jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts.'" (Link 1) In other words the court ruled that if the matter of conversion into Islam falls under the jurisdiction of the Sharia courts, then it is "logical" and may be "implied" that conversion out of Islam also falls under the jurisdiction of the Sharia courts. This ruling was widely viewed as flawed. Not only is it inconsistent with the law that states that if you are leaving a non-Muslim religion for Islam, then the Syariah Court (not the religion you are leaving) has jurisdiction, it is also a violation of the fundamental right of religious liberty which maintains that no third party should have jurisdiction over a person's faith. Another outcome of this case was the government's decision to make it mandatory that all Muslims have "Islam" on their identity card. The case of Lina Joy (a Malay convert to Christianity) v Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan and 2 Ors hinged on a decision by the National Registration Department (NRD) to refuse Lina Joy's request to remove the word "Islam" from her identity card. In October 1999 the NRD had consented to changing Lina's name on her card from Azlina Jailani to Lina Joy. However when her new card was issued under the new regulations which came into force on 1 October 1999, it had her birth religion "Islam" on it, even though Lina had stated on her application form that she is a Christian. (Source: Justice Richard Malanjum's Judgment.) The NRD contested that Lina needed a Syariah court order certifying her renunciation of Islam before it could make the change. In 2001 Lina filed a suit against the NRD Director-General, the government and the Federal Territory Religious Council. After losing at both the High Court and Court of Appeal, the matter finally came to the Federal Court with these three questions: 1) Was the NRD entitled to require a person to produce a certificate or a declaration or an order from the Syariah court before deleting "Islam" from his or her identity card; 2) Did the NRD correctly construe its powers under the National Registration Regulations 1990 when it imposed the above requirement, which is not expressly provided for in the regulations; 3) Was the landmark case Soon Singh vs Perkim Kedah – which held that Syariah courts have the authority over the civil courts to hear cases of Muslims renouncing Islam – correctly decided? The Star reported on 31 May 2007: "Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim has ruled that the National Registration Department had reasonably required Lina Joy to get a certificate of apostasy from the Syariah Court. This would allow the court to proceed to make a deletion (of the word 'Islam') from her identity card. "The top judge also ruled that since the Syariah Court had the jurisdiction over cases involving conversion to Islam, it should, by implication, have the power to decide on apostasy matters. "'I do not see any defect in the 1999 Federal Court judgment in the case of Soon Singh (which decided on the same grounds and which led to the provision for Muslims to state their religion in their identity card). "'To say that she is not under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court – because she no longer professes Islam – is not appropriate,' said Ahmad Fairuz in his 41-page judgment. He added that the way one leaves a religion is set by the religion itself. "'No one is stopping her from marrying. She is merely required to fulfil certain obligations, for the Islamic authorities to confirm her apostasy, before she embraces Christianity. "'In other words, one cannot embrace or leave a religion according to one's whims and fancies.'" (Link 2) According to Associated Press writer Eileen Ng, "Judge Richard Malanjum, the only non-Muslim on the panel, sided with Joy, saying it was 'unreasonable' to ask her to turn to the Shariah Court because she could face criminal prosecution there. Apostasy is a crime punishable by fines and jail sentences. Offenders are often sent to prison-like rehabilitation centres." (Link 3) The judgments can be found at the website of the Malaysian Bar: http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/component/option,com_docman/task,cat_view/gid,380/Itemid,120/ WELCOME TO POST-PROGRESSIVE, POST-SECULAR MALAYSIA - the Islamisation of Malaysia. In October 2006, Asian Analysis published a piece by Clive S. Kessler (Emeritus Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, The University of New South Wales, Australia) entitled "The Long March Towards Desecularisation" (Link 4). Kesser regards recent developments in Malaysia as "the latest phase. . .in the long march towards desecularisation, towards arresting and then reversing the implicit secularisation of Malaysian life and the state that the 1957 constitution set in train and intended implicitly to promote." He writes: "Those who created the independence constitution assumed that, though not yet a fully secular society, Malaya would evolve in that direction: partly because of its own irrepressible cultural and religious pluralism and partly because that seemed the trajectory of modern nationalism and modernity itself. The 1957 constitution was a compromise that acknowledged the public, emblematic significance of Islam as the state's official religion yet tried to provide potential space, even support, for freedom of, from and in religion. "Not everybody was happy with this expedient, and within two years of independence that discontent found expression in the spectacular political success of Malaysia's Islamist party PAS (then known as PMIP) in Kelantan and Terengganu. With that began the protracted, intensely competitive and ever escalating 'Islamist policy auction' between the dominant UMNO, anchor of the ruling Alliance and later Barisan Nasional coalitions, and PAS." Concerning the systematic nature of the Islamisation Professor Kessler writes: "The cascading events over the last year (2006) are all part of this strategy: to place the secularists and religious pluralists on the back foot; by tactical positioning and rhetorical identification, to isolate progressive and modernist Muslims from the Malay Muslim mainstream and to stigmatise their concerns as heretical and disloyal, and them as friends and dupes of the enemies of Islam, in the eyes of conventional Muslim majority opinion; to block and counter the momentum that any secularist tendencies or non-'Islam-centric' religious pluralism might generate; and thereby not just to advance desecularising processes but, driven by the pious new Malay Muslim middle-class activists, to move Malaysia into a post-liberal or 'post-progressivist' political phase and era. With them a new Islamist politics has not merely come of age but moves towards and is now capturing the centre of Malaysian political life." On 3 May 2007, YaleGlobal online published a piece by Sadanand Dhume (Asia Society, Washington, DC) entitled, "Malaysia Backpedals on Modernity". (Link 5) YaleGlobal prefaces Dhume's article with this introduction: "A fundamentalist streak of Islam within Malaysia is coming into conflict with the flourishing civil society that has made the nation a model of peaceful and democratic development in Southeast Asia. "Muslims in Malaysia, unlike their Hindu or Christian compatriots, are ultimately subject to strict Islamic law, known as sharia. In fact, the national judiciary cannot override a ruling by a sharia court. These Islamic religious authorities intrude more into the everyday life and private matters of Malay citizens, preventing conversions to other faiths and separating children deemed Muslim from non-Muslim parents. The national government not only acquiesces to the assertiveness of the Islamic authorities but has itself become increasingly outspoken on behalf of Islam worldwide. "The paradox of a country that dreams of becoming a global technology and innovation hub, yet actively sponsors a repressive self-governed community in its midst, may soon become untenable. After all, an advanced economy runs on its people. By denying the full protection of its laws to half its citizens, Malaysia endangers the future prosperity of all." Sadanand Dhume contends that three and a half decades of progressive Islamisation has produced a Malaysia that is increasingly authoritarian, repressive, intolerant and heading backwards. "In a globalised and increasingly competitive world, Malaysia cannot expect to modernise its economy without modernising its society. In practical terms, this means choosing the universal values of freedom of conscience and freedom of inquiry over the narrow dictates of Islamic orthodoxy." Dhume details several examples (as does Kessler) that demonstrate the "ongoing clash between the modern and the medieval". He notes the recent case of Revathi Masoosai who was born to Indian Muslim parents and raised by her Hindu grandmother. After she married a Muslim man and had a child, the authorities intervened, forcibly separated the couple and removed their 16-month-old daughter to the custody of Revathi's Muslim mother. According to Pakistan's Daily Times, Revathi was then put in an Islamic rehabilitation camp. Her 100 days detention was subsequently extended for another 80 days an account of her non-cooperation. Her husband was not permitted to visit. He wept as he told Daily Times, "We are treated like animals." (Link 6) Dhume also notes the scandalous Muslim burial given to Malaysian Hindu rock-climber M. Moorthy; and Lina Joy's struggle to have her conversion from Islam to Christianity legally recognised. He notes the government's assault upon the Sky Kingdom cult and the razing of dozens of Hindu temples over recent years. Dhume then contends: "The nub of the problem lies in Malaysia's inconsistent approach to modernisation. Unlike neighbouring Singapore, which stands for equality before the law and a strict meritocracy, Malaysia has sought prosperity against a backdrop of deepening Islamisation and handouts for ethnic Malays, deemed by law to be Muslim. Until recently the Malaysia of vice squads and apostasy laws did not intrude upon the Malaysia of glittering skyscrapers and high-speed airport trains. "But the rise of China, India and Vietnam, and the demands of a shift from low-cost manufacturing to more knowledge-intensive work, raise serious doubts about the viability of the Malaysian model. The country needs freedom of inquiry to unleash the creativity of its people. It needs to foster an atmosphere of tolerance to staunch the outflow of the country's brightest non-Malays and to attract overseas talent and investment. Neither is likely without rethinking the twinned and contentious issues of ethnic preferences and religious supremacism." Dhume notes that Malaysia's rise in the field of information technology has been particularly challenged by the fact that Malaysia "finds it hard to attract and retain Indian and Chinese engineers. Meanwhile, many of the country's brightest students – especially non-Malays – migrate to Australia, the US and Singapore, where everyone enjoys freedom of conscience and equality before the law." TRACKING ISLAMISATION The Islamisation of Malaysia has been built around the same core framework as Islamisation in virtually all other Muslim states the world over: the globalisation of Saudi Arabian Sunni fundamentalist (Wahhabi) doctrine which is founded on Muslim supremacy and is pro-Sharia, pro-jihad, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, intolerant, agressive and imperialistic. (The Saudis starting exporting ideology globally in the early 1970s.); inspiration from the Iranian Islamic Shiite Revolution of 1979 (which was a product of Shia Islam plus Maxist Revolutionary ideology); the shifting into high-gear of Saudi Arabian Sunni fundamentalist global dissemination of doctrine through the 1980s. (This was done to counter Persian Iran's Shia revolution. Wahhabi ideology is also virulently anti-Shia); the globalisation of Islamic jihad (a product primarly of the 1979-88 Afghan war). As noted by Dhume, "The OPEC oil boom of 1973 allowed Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States to bankroll efforts to Arabise the Muslims of South and Southeast Asia. The ripples of the 1979 Iranian Revolution were felt directly on Malaysian college campuses. During the 1980s the headscarf became ubiquitous among Malay women. Meanwhile, in a bid to outdo the Islamist opposition in terms of piety, the ruling party UMNO [United Malays National Organisation] went on a mosque-building spree. Religious students made a beeline for the Middle East and Pakistan, and in a show of pan-Islamic solidarity, visa rules were eased for visitors from many Muslim countries." Malaysian academic Farish Noor, in an October 2006 interview with Australia's ABC Radio National Religious Report, also regards the Islamisation of Malaysia as having began in earnest the 1970s. "I think what we are witnessing in Malaysia today is the natural development of something that began in the '70s when both UMNO and PAS were trying their best to, in a sense, engage in what I call the Islamisation race in order to put to the fore the Islamic credentials, rather than their national credentials, to basically out-Islamise each other; both parties trying to demonstrate how committed they were to Islamic and Muslim concerns. This is obviously intended to bolster their support among their majority Malay-Muslim constituency. But I think at the expense of marginalising non-Malays and non-Muslims in the country." (Link 7) The 1980s was also marked by the rise of Anwar Ibrahim, who at the time of his co-opting to UMNO in 1982 was the charismatic leader of the Islamic Youth Movement. Anwar Ibrahim became the Islamic conscience of UMNO. In 1988 the Constitution was amended to raise the status of the Sharia Courts, making them the supreme authority for Malaysian Muslims. Further to this, as Sadanand Dhume notes, during the 1997 economic crisis, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed became a "global cheerleader for anti-Semitism – publicly peddling conspiracy theories about attacks on the Malaysian ringgit and accusing Jews of 'rule[ing] the world by proxy'." (Link 5) The 1998 sacking, trial and imprisonment of Anwar Ibrahim (on questionable and humiliating sodomy charges) bolstered the causes of Islamic and opposition groups. Observers report that subsequent to this there was a dramatic increase in visible expressions of Islam, such as headscarves and skullcaps, especially on University campuses. There was a revival of Islamic pop music while discrimination against non-Malays and non-Muslims grew. Farish Noor has said that it was as if the Malay populace decided that in Anwar's absence they had to take responsibility for the Islamisation program. This in turn only encouraged UNMO to work all the harder at establishing its Islamic credentials in competition with the increasingly popular PAS (Islamic party). Farish Noor, in his ABC Religion Report interview (Oct 2006) also comments on "the emergence of a pan-Malaysian-Indonesian conservative religious front". Noor says that Malaysian and Indonesian Islamic NGOs and political parties have been networking intensively for the past decade and that this networking often extends to Pakistan and Bangladesh. "This is not necessarily a bad thing, but when the agenda is hijacked by more conservative forces, that wish to use these conspiracy theories in order to set up a kind of hate machine directed towards other religious communities, then I think it does become problematic, particularly for countries like Malaysia, with a multiracial, multi-religious background." (Link 7) Noor contends that some two dozen new Islamic NGOs and lobby groups have sprung up in Malaysia and Indonesia in recent years that are basically carrying on the political struggle through non-political means. Noor and Kessler both describe these Islamic NGOs as sectarian and communitarian. According to Noor, the Islamic NGOs are marginalising and weakening secular civil society in both countries. Noor observes that the political Islamisation program is being driven by public demand. He notes that Abu Bakr Bashir's fundamentalist Islamic ideas have been around for decades but have only now become popular. "We need to understand how and why there has been this shift, to a register that is more sectarian, more communitarian and even more radically violent." Noor then focuses exclusively on the need to improve the economic situation, standards of living and governance. While this is undoubtedly critical, the need to address ideology is far more critical, for Islamic intolerance starts with Islamic ideological indoctrination. LIFE IN POST-PROGRESSIVE, POST-SECULAR MALAYSIA On 1 June, Jamaliah (26), an ethnic Indian woman born Muslim pleaded for the government to help her renounce Islam so she could be recognised as a Hindu. On 30 May, after hearing the court verdict in Lina Joy's case, Jamaliah's Hindu boyfriend ended their six-year-long relationship because he could see that there was no hope that they could ever marry. Jamaliah was so distraught she attempted suicide. According to Associated Press Jamaliah's father had converted from Hinduism to Islam so that he could take a second wife, a Muslim. "Jamaliah was born to his first wife, a Hindu, in 1981 after her father's conversion to Islam. She was abandoned by her mother shortly after birth and was brought up by her father and Muslim stepmother. For that reason, she was registered as a Muslim, although she began practising Hinduism when she was old enough to pray." [Note: In line with Sharia, Jamaliah would have been deemed Muslim as soon as her father converted to Islam.] "'I don't want to be a Muslim. All this while I've been living life as a Hindu and I only want to marry a Hindu man,' Jamaliah said. 'I want to change my religion but the court's ruling in Lina Joy's case has shattered my hopes for a future.'" (Link 8) Elizabeth Kendal rl-research@crossnet.org.au. Links 1) http://www.singaporelawreview.org/events/lecture/2006_speech.htm 2) CJ: NRD's requirement is reasonable. 31 May 2007 http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/5/31/nation/17889316&sec=nation 3) Malaysian Christian Convert Denied Recognition By Eileen Ng. Associated Press Writer, 30 May 2007 http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070530/27690_Malaysia_Court_Refuses_to_Recognize_Convert_as_Christian.htm 4) The Long March Towards Desecularisation Asian Analysis. October 2006 http://www.aseanfocus.com/asiananalysis/article.cfm?articleID=989 5) Malaysia Backpedals on Modernity By Sadanand Dhume, YaleGlobal, 3 May 2007 Growing assertiveness of Islamic courts intrudes on the rights of non-Muslims threatening social harmony in the prosperous nation. http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9133 6) Malaysia parts Muslim wives and kids from Hindu men http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C04%5C20%5Cstory_20-4-2007_pg7_41 7) Farish Noor and 'creeping sharia' ABC Radio National Religion Report, 11 October 2006 http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2006/1760385.htm#transcript 8) Malaysian Muslim woman pleads for government help to convert to Hinduism http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/01/asia/AS-GEN-Malaysia-Renouncing-Islam.php http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07060039.htm FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

What Are Islamic Schools Teaching?

A Cup of Trembling Genesis 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." NEW YORK SUN - By Daniel Pipes - March 29, 2007 [NY Sun title: "Anti-Semitism in Muslim Schools"] Ed Note. The original article contains many links for further research. Please see the link below to go to Daniel Pipes web page for all the additional links. "Shocked" is how Aisha Sherazi, principal of the Abraar Islamic school in Ottawa, described the reaction of the school's administration and board on learning last week that two of its teachers had incited hatred of Jews. And "shocked" was how Mumtaz Akhtar, president of the Muslim-Community Council of Ottawa-Gatineau, described his own reaction to the front-page news about the Abraar school. But they may have been the only two persons on the planet to be "shocked" to learn that teachers at an Islamic school are promoting anti-Semitism or other aspects of the Islamist agenda. The fact is, inquiries into Islamic schools repeatedly discover just such a radical Islamic outlook. Some examples: New York City: An investigation by the New York Daily News in 2003 found that books used in the city's Muslim schools "are rife with inaccuracies, sweeping condemnations of Jews and Christians, and triumphalist declarations of Islam's supremacy." Los Angeles: The Omar Ibn Khattab Foundation donated 300 Korans (titled The Meaning of the Holy Quran) to the city school district in 2001 that within months had to be pulled from school libraries because of its anti-Semitic commentaries. One footnote reads: "The Jews in their arrogance claimed that all wisdom and all knowledge of Allah was enclosed in their hearts. … Their claim was not only arrogance but blasphemy." Ajax, Ontario, 50 kilometers east of Toronto: The Institute of Islamic Learning is a Canadian emulation of the extremist Deobandi madrassahs of Pakistan. It focuses exclusively on religious topics, has students memorize the Koran, demands total segregation from the Canadian milieu, and requires complete gender separation. Former students complained about the school's cult-like devotion to its head, Abdul Majid Khan, and complained that it is a "twisted religion." Then there are four leading Islamic schools in the Washington, D.C. area: The Muslim Community School in Potomac, Md., imbues in its students a sense of alienation from their own country. Seventh-grader Miriam told a Washington Post reporter in 2001, "Being American is just being born in this country." Eighth-grader Ibrahim announced that "Being an American means nothing to me." A textbook used at the Islamic Saudi Academy of Alexandria, Va., in 2004, authored and published by the Saudi Ministry of Education, teaches first graders that "all religions, other than Islam, are false, including that of the Jews [and] Christians." An ISA class valedictorian, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was recently indicted for plotting to assassinate President Bush. The U.S. government revoked the visas in 2004 of sixteen people affiliated with the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, of Fairfax, Va. In the words of the Washington Post, "That decision followed accusations that the institute, a satellite campus of al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, was promoting a brand of Islam that critics say is intolerant of other strains of the religion as well as Christianity and Judaism." In addition, the IIASA is under investigation for ties to terrorism. The Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences of Ashburn, Va., referred to as a "purported" educational institution in an affidavit justifying a raid on the school, had its financial records seized in 2002 on suspicions of links to terrorism. Nor are schools the exception among Islamic institutions in North America. A recent study by Freedom House found a parallel problem of venomous anti-Jewish and anti-Christian materials in U.S. mosques. The most prominent American Muslim organizations, especially the Council on American-Islamic Relations, spew antisemitism and host a neo-Nazi. The same applies in Canada, where the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, Mohamed Elmasry, publicly endorsed the murder of all Israelis over the age of eighteen. So long as Muslim leaders simply declare themselves, in the spirit of Capt. Renault in the movie Casablanca "shocked, shocked" whenever news of Islamist supremacism leaks out, this cancer will continue unabated. The Islamic schools, the mosques, and other Muslim organizations like CAIR and CIC will continue their cat-and-mouse game so long as it works. It won't work only when outside pressure is brought to bear on them by politicians, journalists, researchers, moderate Muslims, and others. They must state clearly and frequently the unacceptability of Islamist venom. Only then will today's fraudulent "shocked" reaction finally become sincere. March 29, 2005 update: For further examples of this pattern, see "Troubles at Islamic Schools in North America." http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2489 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.