Iraqi teenagers stoned to death for "emo" haircuts

Alackbar.com
Emo Hairstyle
March 9, 2012


At least 90 Iraqi teenagers with "emo" appearances have been stoned to death by religious extremists in Baghdad in the past month after an inflammatory interior ministry statement dubbed it "devil worshiping", activists said.
Iraq's Moral Police released a chilling statement on the interior ministry's website condemning the "emo phenomenon" among Iraqi youth, disturbingly declaring its intent to "eliminate" the trend.
"The 'Emo phenomenon' or devil worshiping is being followed by the Moral Police who have the approval to eliminate [the phenomenon] as soon as possible since it's detrimentally affecting the society and becoming a danger," the statement read.
"They wear strange, tight clothes that have pictures on them such as skulls and use stationary that are shaped as skulls. They also wear rings on their noses and tongues, and do other strange activities," it continued.
Religious extremists caught onto the interior ministry statement, and have been harassing and killing teenagers with "strange" or "emo" appearances.
A group of armed men dressed in civilian clothing led dozens of teenagers to secluded areas a few days ago, stoned them to death, and then disposed their bodies in garbage dumpsters across the capital, according to activists.
The armed men are said to belong to “one of the most extremist religious groups” in Iraq.
“First they throw concrete blocks at the boy's arms, then at his legs, then the final blow is to his head, and if he is not dead then, they start all over again,” one person who managed to escape told Al-Akhbar.
Iraq's moral police was granted approval by the Ministry of Education to enter Baghdad schools and pinpoint students with such appearances, according to the interior ministry's statement.
The exact death toll remains unclear, but Hana al-Bayaty of Brussels Tribunal, an NGO dealing with Iraqi issues, said the current figure ranges "between 90 and 100."
"What's most disturbing about this is that they're so young," she said.
Al-Bayaty said the killings appear to have been carried out by extremist Shia militias in mostly poor Shia neighborhoods and said she suspected "there's complicity of the Ministry of Interior in the killings."
Photos of the victims were released on Facebook, causing panic and fear among Iraqi students.
A young man with long hair expressed alarm at the government-ordained harassment of teenagers with Western appearances.
“I have long hair but that doesn't mean I'm an Emo. I'm not less of a man if I have long hair. Let's not say that if I have long hair, I'm a homosexual, but I have long hair because this is my style, this is me," he told Iraq's Al-Sharqiya television network.
Below is the full Al-Sharqiya report in Arabic:
Safiyyah al-Suhail, an MP, said on Thursday that "some students have been recently arrested because they were wearing American jeans or had Western haircuts."
The interior ministry has not disclosed the number of teenage victims, but released a follow-up statement on Thursday warning extremists "not to step on public freedom of Iraqis."
News of the gruesome deaths drew a stern reaction from Iraq's prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who criticized the stoning of the young men as "an act of terrorism."
Below is the full English translation of the Iraqi interior ministry's inflammatory statement (original Arabic here):
The Director of the Moral Police of the Interior Ministry released a statement, saying "The 'Emo phenomenon' or devil worshiping is being followed by the Moral Police who have the approval to eliminate [the phenomenon] as soon as possible since it's detrimentally affecting the society and becoming a danger."
'Emo' comes from the English word 'emotional' and the phenomenon is popular among teenagers not only in Iraq, but in most societies. They use their appearances and movements as a method to express their emotions and embody their will and their view of life in their behavior.
Colonel Mushtaq Taleb al-Mahemdawi said: "The Emo Phenomenon was discovered a while back by members of our force in Baghdad. A report has been made and given to the Ministry of Interior to receive an approval to carry on with the investigation and to know how to eliminate the phenomenon."
He added: "The Ministry of Interior took this situation very seriously and received an approval from the Ministry of Education to set a plan under my full supervision and to allow us to enter schools in the capital."
"There are some cases of the spread of this phenomenon specifically among schools in Baghdad, but we are facing great difficulty in the lack of women on the force who would allow us to carry the investigation more accurately since the phenomenon is more popular among girls between the ages of 14 and 18."
"They wear strange, tight clothes that have pictures on them such as skulls and use stationary that are shaped as skulls. They also wear rings on their noses and tongues, and do other strange activities."
(Al-Akhbar)

Govt. sets record deficit in February

Washington Times
 (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)
March 10, 2012



The federal government recorded its worst monthly deficit in history in February, according to a preliminary report Wednesday from theCongressional Budget Office that said the deficit in fiscal year 2012 is already more than half a trillion dollars.
The CBO’s figures show that despite repeated efforts to trim spending, the government has borrowed 42 cents of every dollar it spent during the first five months of this fiscal year.
The nonpartisan agency projected thegovernment will run a deficit of $229 billion in February, the highest monthly figure ever. The previous high was $223 billion a year ago, in February 2011.
It is the 41st straight month the government has run a deficit — itself a record streak that dates back to the final months of President George W. Bush’s tenure. Before now, the longest streak on record was 11 months.
For all of fiscal year 2012, which began Oct. 1, the budget analysts said the government has raised $869 billion in revenue but spent $1.5 trillion so far.

The crisis of solvency – peak debt, peak food stamp usage, and massive financial deception by media. The faux economy of solving a solvency issue with more debt. Job postings up but hiring flat.

MyBudget360
March 6, 2012



The economy is largely running on a solidamount of debt, Orwellian news, and selective perception.  Take for example the absolute lack of coverage on our peak debt situation.  The media simply assumes that going over the $15 trillion mark on national debt was somehow a story not worth reporting.  The total amount we have taken on in borrowing is larger than our annual GDP yet countries around the world are being chastised for this exact problem.  Or what about the peak number of Americans now on food stamps?  One out of every seven men, women, and children is now on food assistance at well over 46,000,000.  You get food assistance when you are economically scraping by.  Yet the media is largely absent on this story.  We are living in a crisis of solvency and much of the recent recovery is simply a choice of ignoring glaring issues of solvency.
Are people really hiring in large numbers?
I keep seeing articles about the massive number of job hiring recently.  Yet examining the data shows us a somewhat different perspective:
job posting and job hiring
The above data is really a reason why most average Americans feel very little in the form of economic recovery.  Job postings are solidly up from the lows in 2008 but look at the number of people actually getting hired.  While job postings are up well over 1 million since the trough, job hires are still near bottom levels.  It is very different to post a job than to hire an employee.  From the hiring data we are seeing we are witnessing a large surge in low-wage service sector jobs.  This of course is better than nothing but also explains why expensive items like housing continue to move lower in price.  It would be hard to sustain a big mortgage on a minimum wage.

Jobs Data Are a ‘Blip’ in System I’d Change: Ron Paul

CNBC
March 9, 2012



The continued slow improvement in U.S. unemployment revealed in monthly data Friday "is a temporary reprieve" in an economic system that would be changed if he is elected president, Rep. Ron Paul told CNBC.

"I see these as blips," said the Texas Republican of data showing 227,000 jobs were added in February, while the unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent. "You know, Wall Street got excited, and they're excited right now because the stock market's back up to 13,000. Well, in April 2007 it was 13,000."
So Wall Street is doing just fine in trading, but "what about the person who wants to save and take care of their future? There’s no incentive there," Paul said.
The longtime congressman said he's asked U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, this question constantly: "Why make the elderly suffer? They say that’s the price they have to pay. We have to look at the big picture of seeing how we stimulate the financial markets," Paul said.
"The only thing they know is inflating the economy and it's further distortion," he said of the Fed. "I wish this [jobs report] was economic growth, but I just don’t believe it."

Fifth Amendment Dead in America


Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
March 9, 2012
Earlier in the week, Obama’s attorney general admitted that the Fifth Amendment is a dead letter and the president can kill anybody he wants without due process. “In this hour of danger, we simply cannot afford to wait until deadly plans are carried out, and we will not,”Eric Holder said during a speech at Northwestern University’s law school in Chicago.
FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday came off as a constitutional illiterate when he said he would have to check with the Justice Department to see if Holder’s criteria for summary execution was permitted on U.S. soil.
“I have to go back. Uh, I’m not certain whether that was addressed or not,” Mueller told Rep. Tom Graves.
Constitutional scholar Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois Law School recently put the issue into perspective. “The U.S. government has now established a ‘death list’ for U.S. citizens abroad akin to those established by Latin American dictatorships during their so-called dirty wars,” he told IPS.
Our version of a Latin American fascist dictatorship with Generalissimo Obama presiding has just about finished off the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The NDAA and a long list of constitutional violations predating the Patriot Act are now coming to a head.
After government invests itself with such self-proclaimed power, the next step is usually the disappearance of political enemies and mass graves.

Obama Adm. Will Seek "International Permission" for Going to War

Editor's Note: The U.S. is the Second Beast of Revelation Revelation 13:11-17, and exercises the authority of the First Beast of Revelation Revelation 13:1-10 - The Revived Roman Empire (United Nations, EU, Nato,etc.)


11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed
The U.S. now carries out the orders of the United Nations. The hidden power behind the UN is Vatican City, the "city which rules over the kings of the earth" Revelation 17:18 


The New American
March 9, 2012



Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey testified at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday that the Obama administration would seek "international permission" before intervening military in Syria's civil war. Both men left open, however, the question of whether the approval of Congress would be either sought or required. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) pressed Panetta repeatedly on that question, but failed to get a definitive answer.
"We're worried about international legal basis, but no one's worried about the fundamental constitutional legal basis that this Congress has over war," Sessions protested. Referring to the last year's bombing raids by the United States and  United Nations allies in Libya, Sessions said: "We were not asked, stunningly, in direct violation of the War Powers Act, whether or not you believe it's constitutional, [the Libyan raids]  certainly didn't comply with it. We spent our time worrying about the UN, the Arab League, NATO, and too little time worrying about the elected representatives of the United States," Sessions said. "Do you think you can act without Congress and initiate a No Fly Zone in Syria, without congressional approval?" he asked Panetta.
"Again, our goal would be to seek international permission and we would come to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this," Panetta replied. "Whether or not we would want to get permission from the Congress, I think those are issues I think we would have to discuss as we decide what to do here." Sessions made it clear he was not pleased with what he heard. 
"Well, I'm almost breathless about that," the Alabama lawmaker replied. "Because what I heard you say is, we are going to seek international approval and then we'll come and tell the Congress what we might do, and we might seek Congressional approval. I want to say to you, that's a big deal, wouldn't you agree? You served in the Congress," he reminded Panetta, a U.S. representative from California from 1977-1993. "Wouldn't you agree that would be pretty breathtaking for the average American? So would you like to clarify that?"
" I've also served with Republican Presidents and Democratic Presidents who have always reserved the right to defend this country if necessary," replied the former CIA director, who succeeded Robert Gates as Defense Secretary in 2011. Panetta did not explain how last year's bombing in Libya was, or a potential military intervention in Syria might be, a defense of the United States.   
"But before you do this you would seek permission of the international authorities?" Sessions asked.
"If we are working with an international coalition and we're working with NATO we would want to be able to get appropriate permissions in order to be able to do that. That's something that all of these countries would want to have — some kind of legal basis on which to act."
"What kind of legal basis are you looking for? What entity?" asked Sessions.
"If NATO made the decision to go in, that would be one," said Panetta. "If we developed an international coalition beyond NATO then some kind of U.N. Security Resolution..."

US faces brewing battle for World Bank job


Yahoo News
March 8, 2012

The United States faces a brewing battle over who will lead theWorld Bank as one of its reported candidates ruled the job out and insurgent candidate Jeffrey Sachs won developing country support.
With the March 23 deadline looming for nominations to succeed president Robert Zoellick, Washington -- which has always put an American at the helm -- had narrowed the field to three, according to a source close to the Bank.
The administration of President Barack Obama is considering US Senator John Kerry, United Nations ambassador Susan Rice and economist Lawrence Summers, the source said.
But Kerry, the Democratic senator who was defeated in a run for the White House by then-president George W. Bush in 2004, says he does not want the job

Gallup: Unemployment Jumps 0.5 Percent in February


Gallup calculates that unemployment rose by 0.5 percent during the month of February, the largest month-to-month increase since December 2010.
U.S. unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased to 9.1% in February from 8.6% in January and 8.5% in December.
The 0.5-percentage-point increase in February compared with January is the largest such month-to-month change Gallup has recorded in its not-seasonally adjusted measure since December 2010, when the rate rose 0.8 points to 9.6% from 8.8% in November. A year ago, Gallup recorded a February increase of 0.4 percentage points, to 10.3% from 9.9% in January 2011.

Coup D’etat: Pentagon & Obama Declare Congress Ceremonial


Congressman Jones introduces bill that would subject Panetta & Obama to impeachment
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s testimony asserting that the United Nations and NATO have supreme authority over the actions of the United States military, words which effectively declare Congress a ceremonial relic, have prompted Congressman Walter Jones to introduce a resolution that re-affirms such behavior as an “impeachable high crime and misdemeanor” under the Constitution.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey brazenly admitted that their authority comes not from the U.S. Constitution, but that the United States is subservient to and takes its marching orders from the United Nations and NATO, international bodies over which the American people have no democratic influence.
Panetta was asked by Senator Jeff Sessions, “We spend our time worrying about the U.N., the Arab League, NATO and too little time, in my opinion, worrying about the elected representatives of the United States. As you go forward, will you consult with the United States Congress?”
The Defense Secretary responded “You know, our goal would be to seek international permission. And we would come to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this, whether or not we would want to get permission from the Congress.”
Despite Sessions’ repeated efforts to get Panetta to acknowledge that the United States Congress is supreme to the likes of NATO and the UN, Panetta exalted the power of international bodies over the US legislative branch.
“I’m really baffled by the idea that somehow an international assembly provides a legal basis for the United States military to be deployed in combat,” Sessions said. “I don’t believe it’s close to being correct. They provide no legal authority. The only legal authority that’s required to deploy the United States military is of the Congress and the president and the law and the Constitution.”
In an effort to re-affirm the fact that “the use of offensive military force by a President without prior and clear authorization of an Act of Congress constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Constitution,” Republican Congressman Walter Jones has introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives.

Loudly Catholic Santorum loses Ohio Catholics

Mitt Romney, left, won more Ohio Catholics on Tuesday than Rick Santorum.
Editor's Note: Romney will probably end up running against Obama, and lose. Catholics are backing Romney? This is an agenda to keep Paul and Santorum out, and put Romney in. He will take a fall just like McCain did, and Obama will rule as dictator for another four years if we last that long... I don't want this, but I believe this may very well happen.


CNN
March 7, 2012



By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor
(CNN) - Rick Santorum, a conservative Catholic who is outspoken about faith-based issues, lost Catholic voters by a wide margin in Ohio on Tuesday, potentially a key factor that allowed Mitt Romney to squeak out the narrowest of victories overall in the state.
According to CNN’s exit polls, Romney took 43% of Ohio Catholics on Super Tuesday, compared to 31% for Rick Santorum, and Romney beat Santorum overall by 38% to 37%.
Catholic voters accounted for a third of Ohio’s Republican electorate, the largest share of Catholics in any Super Tuesday state.
“The margin of Romney's win among Ohio Catholics is surprising, given Santorum's traditional Catholicism,” says John Green, a political science professor at the University of Ohio. “Romney's margin among Ohio Catholics - especially in the three largest metropolitan areas - may account for his close win in Ohio.”
Green notes that Romney, a Mormon, has consistently won the Catholic vote in this year’s Republican primaries. That pattern runs counter to speculation that Catholics would focus more on hot-button issues at a time when Catholic bishops are battling the Obama White House over government-mandated contraception coverage.
Romney has denounced the Obama administration’s contraception rule but Santorum has gone further, making social issues a cornerstone of his campaign. Last week, the former Pennsylvania senator said that John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech in which the then-presidential candidate advocated an absolute separation of church and state nearly made him throw up.
The Catholic vote is one of the largest swing blocs in the country, voting for the winning presidential candidates from both parties in recent elections. But the bloc is so diverse, including many Catholics who differ with church leaders on social issues and many who have drifted from the church, that many religious and political experts dismiss any notion of a “Catholic vote.”
In Ohio, the most contested of the 10 states to cast ballots on Tuesday, Catholics represented one of GOP primary’s main constituencies. Another major bloc, white evangelicals, comprised almost half of the Ohio vote, and broke for Santorum over Romney by 47% to 30%.
One progressive Catholic group made political hay out of Santorum’s weak showing among Ohio Catholics, emailing reporters a statement titled “Santorum campaigns on divisive wedge issues, promptly loses Catholic vote.”

Federal Judge: Citizens Need Not Ask Permission to Exercise 2nd Amendment Rights

The New American
March 7, 2012



A federal judge struck down a Maryland law requiring individuals to prove that they have “good and substantial reason” for seeking a handgun carry permit from the state.
“A citizen may not be required to offer a ‘good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights,” wrote U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg. “The right’s existence is all the reason he needs.”

The suit was brought by Navy veteran Raymond Woollard, who lives on a farm in rural Baltimore County. On December 24, 2002, Woollard’s son-in-law, Kris Lee Abbott, on a drug-induced high broke into Woollard’s house during a family gathering in search of his wife’s car keys so he could go buy more drugs. Woollard momentarily stopped Abbott by aiming a shotgun at him, but Abbott wrested the gun away from him, only to be halted again by Woollard’s son, who also had a gun. Woollard and his son then kept Abbott at bay until the police arrived two-and-a-half hours later.

Abbott was convicted of first degree burglary and put on probation. He was later incarcerated for violating his probation.

Woollard, who now knew that he could not count on the police to come to his aid in an emergency, applied for a handgun carry permit in 2003. The permit was granted, as was Woollard’s request to renew it three years later, just after Abbott was released from prison. However, when Woollard attempted to renew his permit again in 2009, his request was denied by the Maryland state police on the basis that he had not demonstrated to their satisfaction that he was in danger. His appeals were denied on the same basis.

At that point he sued the State Police Secretary and the Handgun Permit Review Board. He was represented by attorney Alan Gura of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), who has argued — and won — two significant gun rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court: District of Columbia v. Heller(2008), in which the court found that the Constitution guarantees an individual’s right to bear arms; andMcDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), in which the court found that the Second Amendment applies to the states
.

Daylight: The Story of Obama and Israel


SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
March 7, 2012

 “Behold, I will make Yerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Yehudah and Yerusalem.  And it shall happen in that day that I will make Yerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.  

In that day,” says YAHWEH, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Yehudah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the governors of Yehudah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Yerusalem are my strength in YAHWEH of hosts, their God.’ 

 In that day I will make the governors of Yehudah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Yerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Yerusalem.

 “Yahweh will save the tents of Yehudah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Yerusalem shall not become greater than that of Yehudah.  In that day YAHWEH will defend the inhabitants of Yerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of YAHWEH before them.  It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Yerusalem.
-Zechariah 12: 2-9

Ron Paul Idaho Team Welcomes Romney Family Members as Surrogate Caucus Speakers


Five members of Romney family declare support for Dr. Paul, three to speak at Idaho caucus sites


Marketwatch
March 6, 2012

BOISE, Idaho, Mar 05, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul was endorsed today by several members of the Romney family, indeed those related to fellow Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Ty Romney is an attorney handling property and liability claims for State Farm Mutual in Great Falls, Montana and received his Bachelors of Arts Degree from the University of Utah and his Juris Doctorate Degree from Seattle University School of Law. He is an active member of the Idaho State Bar Association.
Ty said, "Ron Paul is honest. It's time to take a stand for honesty. It doesn't matter whether the truth is popular or not, I know that Ron Paul will always maintain a true principle and I endorse that degree of integrity."
Travis Romney is a chiropractor based in Spokane, Washington, and will be speaking at the Greyhound Park caucus location in Kootenai County. With his dad a second cousin to Mitt Romney, Travis is a second cousin once removed.
"I support Ron Paul because he defends the Constitution, loves America and understands what it means to be an American, including the right to live your life any way you want as long as you respect others," said Travis. He continued, "I love his foreign policy of maintaining peace and trade while making a strong national defense a top priority, and that you only go to war legally through a declaration by the people through their elected representatives."

Some say fear of Obama's re-election is driving gun sales in Fort Worth, elsewhere

Star-Telegram
March 5, 2012



FORT WORTH -- Gun sales are booming.
Enthusiasts are stocking up on guns and ammunition, and some in the industry are wondering whether sales are spiking as they did after Democrat Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008.
That rush created a nationwide shortage.
"We're at the top of the roller coaster and we're about to plummet down the side," said DeWayne Irwin, owner of the Cheaper Than Dirt gun store in north Fort Worth, which set a sales record for the month of February. "It's fixing to happen again. I don't know if it will be to the same extent it was before, but I see it coming.
"Look who the Republicans are trying to put against Obama," he said. "It's the Keystone Kops and people are getting scared. People are terrified he's going to get re-elected and then he won't care about getting votes next time. He'll just pass whatever legislation he wants."
Some say the uptick in sales at gun stores could also be linked to anything from the arrival of tax refunds to a spending spree by fans of the National Geographic Channel's Doomsday Preppers show, which chronicles people preparing for the end of the world.
Nationwide, more people than ever are buying firearms.
Last year, the FBI received more than 16.3 million inquiries from people running criminal background checks on potential gun buyers. That's up from 12.7 million in 2008 and 11.4 million in 2007, FBI records show.
Texas had around 1 million such requests in each of the past four years, the second most, behind Kentucky, which had nearly double that. Officials say Kentucky's numbers are high because fresh background checks are run every month there on gun owners with concealed-weapons permits.
"I'm constantly getting questions from people in the gun community about this [issue]," said Alan Korwin, author of nine gun law books, including Gun Laws of America, and operator of gunlaws.com. "People are concerned that if Obama wins, as a lame duck, he will go after firearms in a way we have never seen before.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/03/03/3781758/some-say-re-election-fear-is-driving.html#storylink=omni_popular#storylink=cpy