Michelle Obama urges high schoolers to monitor their families' politically incorrect thoughts

RT News
June 14, 2015

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama (Reuters / Yuri Gripas)

In a speech seniors designed to commemorate the US Supreme Court decision that desegregated schools, First Lady Michelle Obama made a statement against racism to high school students that reminded critics of George Orwell’s “1984.”

Obama spoke to graduating high school students from five area high schools at the Topeka, Kan. Senior Recognition Day on May 16, the day before their graduation ceremony and on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation in public schools. The court case began in Topeka in 1951.

Obama spoke of the decision by Topeka parents to fight against the notion of “separate but equal” education for their children.

“Now, these were ordinary folks. Most of them were not civil rights activists, and some of them were probably nervous about speaking up, worried they might cause trouble for themselves and their families. And the truth is, while the black schools were far away, the facilities were pretty decent, and the teachers were excellent,” she said. “But eventually, these parents went to court to desegregate their children’s schools because, as one of the children later explained as an adult, she said, ‘We were talking about the principle of the thing’.”

But after touching on the historic ruling and the important anniversary, the president’s wife quickly moved on to reports that segregation is back in the United States’ public schools. “See, many districts in this country have actually pulled back on efforts to integrate their schools, and many communities have become less diverse as folks have moved from cities to suburbs,” Obama admonished. “And even in schools that seem integrated according to the numbers, when you look a little closer, you see students from different backgrounds sitting at separate lunch tables, or tracked into different classes, or separated into different clubs or activities.”

Obama drew parallels between the fight for integration that was supposed to have ended in 1954 and what students face today.

“So, graduates, the truth is that Brown vs. Board of Ed. isn’t just about our history, it’s about our future,”she said. “Because while that case was handed down 60 years ago, Brown is still being decided every single day –- not just in our courts and schools, but in how we live our lives.”

It was then that critics say the first lady veered off into “thoughtcrime,” a term from Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984,” defined as “an instance of unorthodox or controversial thinking, considered as a criminal offense or as socially unacceptable,” according to the Oxford Dictionaries.

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SHOW & TELL? Islamic State (ISIS) Beheads Libyan Soldier In Front Of School Kids For ‘Educational’ Purposes

Shoebat.com
June 12, 2015

By BI: The Islamic State (ISIS) reportedly has beheaded a Libyan soldier in front of a group of six-year-olds for “educational purposes.” Supporters of ISIS posted the horrific pictures on social media.

Breitbart  The images show a prisoner dressed in bright orange led out to the center of a floor at a mosque in Derna. Masked men with guns line up against the wall behind the captive. Men dressed in black from head to toe force the helpless man, identified as Abdulnabi al-Shargawi, to his knees before one of the barbarians takes a knife to his neck. ISIS charged the man with apostasy, which is the abandonment of Islam.

After the terrorists chop off his head, another man holds up al-Shargawi’s head as the young children gather around the body. Their faces are stone cold. Sky 105 reported that the images “surprised many” since the children “were never shocked.” But it is possible this is not the first time they witnessed a gruesome execution. ISIS is known to hold public executions and force the public to witness it. Children are often shoved to the front while fathers hold their sons on their shoulders.

ISIS captured Derna, located on the Mediterranean Sea and 801 miles west of Tripoli, in October 2014. The terrorists retained full control of the port city by January 2015. Videos emerged of large crowds pledging “allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.” The terrorists control the government and education while police cars are plastered with the ISIS insignia.

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Islamic State isn’t just destroying ancient artifacts — it’s selling them

Washington Post
June 9, 2015

BAGHDAD — Islamic State militants have provoked a global outcry by attacking ancient monuments with jackhammers and bulldozers. But they also have been quietly selling off smaller antiquities from Iraq and Syria, earning millions of dollars in an increasingly organized pillaging of national treasures, according to officials and experts.

The Islamic State has defended its destruction of cultural artifacts by saying they are idolatrous and represent pre-Islamic cultures. Behind the scenes, though, the group’s looting has become so systematic that Islamic State has incorporated the practice into the structure of its self-declared caliphate, granting licenses for digging in historic sites through a department of “precious resources.”

The growing trade reflects how the Islamic State fighters have entrenched themselves since seizing the Iraqi city of Mosul a year ago Wednesday, in a dramatic expansion of the territory they control in this country and neighboring Syria.

The extremist group’s recent capture of Syria’s majestic 2,000-year-old ruins at Palmyra. threw a spotlight on the risk that Islamic State poses to the region’s rich cultural heritage. It is however, just one of 4,500 sites under the group’s control, according to the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force.

“They steal everything that they can sell, and what they can’t sell, they destroy,” said Qais Hussein Rasheed, Iraq’s deputy minister for antiquities and heritage.

A calcareous stone statue is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad. (Hadi Mizban/AP)

“We have noticed that the smuggling of antiquities has greatly increased since last June,” he added, referring to the month in which Islamic State militants took control of Mosul and large parts of northern Iraq.

At that time, militants also seized the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh. In a video released earlier this year, Islamic State showed its fighters drilling off the faces of the mighty stone-winged bulls on the gates of the city. The militants also filmed themselves destroying statues at Mosul’s museum. But many of those items were actually replicas of antiquities kept in Baghdad, Iraqi officials said. Anything genuine and small enough to move was likely sold off or stockpiled by the militants, they said.

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Pope backs sainthood candidacy of 'anti-Semitic' priest

Yahoo News
June 8, 2015

Pope Francis leads a mass at Saint John's Lateran Basilica in Rome on June 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/Andreas Solaro)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis raised eyebrows on Friday by supporting the candidacy for sainthood of a French priest whose dossier was put on hold in 2005 because of his alleged anti-Semitic views.

Leon Dehon (1843-1925), founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart order, had been declared venerable in 1997 by pope John Paul II but his beatification -- the next step on the path to sainthood -- ran into difficulties.

It had been initially scheduled for April 2005 but was delayed by John Paul II's death. Attempts to revive his case stalled under Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI, who set up a commission to investigate the allegations of anti-Semitism.

But Francis told a Priests of the Sacred Heart delegation on Friday that he wanted the beatification process to "end well" and insisted Dehon's attitude be placed in a historic context, according to religious news agency I.Media.

"It's a hermeneutic problem... We must study a historic situation with the hermeneutic of the time rather than of today," he said.

In his 1898 "Social Catechism", Dehon wrote that Jews "have maintained their hatred of Christ and... willingly favor all the enemies of the Church."

According to French newspaper reports from 2005, he described the Talmud as the "manual of the bandit, corruptor, social destroyer" and anti-Semitism as a "sign of hope".

Israeli leader says world silent on Gaza rocket attacks

my way

June 8, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister on Sunday slammed the international community's silence over recent rocket attacks from Gaza and warned that a strong reprisal could be forthcoming.

Benjamin Netanyahu said he hasn't heard a word of condemnation from the world about three rocket attacks from Gaza over the past two weeks. The rockets did not cause any injury or harm but disrupted the quiet in southern Israel that has mostly prevailed since last summer's war between Hamas and Israel.

"It will be interesting to see if this silence continues when we use all our strength in exercising our right to defend ourselves," Netanyahu said at his weekly Cabinet meeting. "It should be clear: the hypocrisy that is sweeping the world will not chain our hands from defending the citizens of Israel."

The Israeli military carried out an airstrike in the Gaza Strip early Sunday in response to the latest rocket attack from the Hamas-ruled territory. The projectile landed in an open area and there were no injuries or damage reported from the rocket attack or the airstrike.

A local jihadi organization that supports the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. The group is mired in a struggle with Hamas and has said its recent attacks are in retaliation for a Hamas crackdown.

Israel considers Hamas responsible for any attacks that originate from Gaza, and announced Sunday that its crossings into Gaza will be shut down in response to the latest incident.

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This story has been corrected to show that there were no casualties reported.

CBP helicopter comes under fire on Mexican Border

LMT Online
June 8, 2015

Christopher Sherman/AP

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter was shot at Friday evening near La Bota Ranch, Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said.

Cuellar said that out of the five shots, two were confirmed to have hit the helicopter.

Border Patrol spokesperson Sara Melendez said the helicopter landed safely and no injuries were reported.

It has not been confirmed if the shots were fired on the U.S. or Mexico side.

Hezbollah Militia Using American-Supplied Tanks In Iraq Battles

Vocativ
June 8, 2015

Last week they paraded men they’d captured in Anbar province as ISIS fighters who were now their prisoners. This week Iraqi Hezbollah, a Shiite militia group that has joined other units to fight alongside Iraqi security forces to retake the city of Ramadi from ISIS, broadcast footage of its fighters at the helm of Abrams tanks, supplied to Iraq by the U.S. military.

The Abrams tanks with the militia’s logo were caught on a video showing the battle between ISIS and the Shiite militias in Anbar province, at the outskirts of Ramadi. It’s not clear if those tanks were given to the group by Iraqi security forces or whether they were some of those that ISIS militants seized as they themselves captured territory, hauling with them whatever military equipment that was left behind.

The Pentagon said it could not verify the images. In a statement to Vocativ, the Pentagon said it had been assured by the Iraqi government and its military that U.S. equipment would be used according to the bilateral agreements that supplied them to Baghdad. “If we receive reports that U.S.-origin equipment is being misused or provided to unauthorized users, we engage the Iraqi government in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy to address any confirmed issues — up to the highest levels, if necessary,” the Pentagon said.

When ISIS drove into Mosul last year, the Iraqi army quickly capitulated, many soldiers leaving their uniforms behind, along with stockpiles of weapons and hundreds of U.S.-supplied humvees and tanks. 

Hezbollah’s presence in Anbar is the latest development in what is becoming an increasingly sectarian battle against ISIS. The Shiite militias, fighting under a single umbrella, have declared the new campaign to take ISIS as “Labayk ya Hussein,” which translates into “in your service, Hussein,” after one of the Shiites’ most revered imams, or saints. The openly sectarian label was deemed“unhelpful” by the Pentagon, as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is struggling to implement unification laws and stress national unity in the face of deepening sectarian division.

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