A WordPress Blog-THE CHURCH MILITANT Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse. ALL CONTENT FROM HTTPS://RATHEREXPOSETHEM.BLOGSPOT.COM MOVED TO THIS NEW BLOG, MAY 2020
The Ministry of Tourism for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago hosts a website extolling the many exquisite charms of the “true Caribbean” to be found there. The islands offer rich history, culture, biodiversity, and lodging with views “to die for.”Of late, though, a diaspora of Trinidad and Tobago emigres have preferred the views in Syria and Iraq, and the company of Islamic terrorist group ISIS. At least 130 of T&T’s 1.2 million citizens left their white and turquoise shorelines to fight with vicious Islamists half a world away. How did that happen? “Entire families went,” including at least 42 children, according to findings in a recent study by UK professor Simon Cottee of Kent University.While the answer to how this pocket of Islamic terror developed is complex, now that ISIS is territorially defeated and its thousands of surviving foreign terrorist fighters are dispersing to all points, a more pressing question has arisen. What will T&T returnees and their sympathizing community do next without a pressing, defined cause like promulgating an ISIS caliphate?The United Kingdom, which governed the tourist-heavy islands until their independence in 1976, has this to say on its “Foreign travel advice” website:Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Trinidad & Tobago. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in crowded spaces and places visited by foreigners.Closer to American interests and overland smuggling lanes to the U.S. Southern border, the United States and some of its allies in Latin America are worried about T&T, too.Shia groups like Hezbollah, along with its sponsor the government of Iran, have long held criminal and intelligence footholds throughout South America, as I explained in a recent update on the subject. This has included Venezuela and its offshore island of Marguerite, about 150 nautical miles from Trinidad.But Sunni extremists like ISIS? That’s a newer upward trend, as I wrote recently when recounting a suspected plot by local ISIS sympathizers in Suriname, just around the coastal bend, to kill the U.S. ambassador in the former Dutch colony. Sizeable communities of South and Southeast Asian Muslim communities live in Suriname, Guyana, and Panama. A steady stream of migration from the Middle East dates to the early 2000s, attracted by free-trade zones in the region, according to the Jamestown Foundation and other sources. Visa-free travel is allowed throughout the Caribbean.Trinidad & Tobago is a hotspot fitting the profile. Only about five percent of its population is Muslim, according to the CIA’s World Factbook. But this five percent are causing outsized global security concern. A hardline Sunni Islamist mosque and its imams have been accused of ginning up all kinds of trouble for decades. In 1990, a Muslim organization known as Jamaat al Muslimeen attempted a coup against the government. More than 40 Islamist insurgents stormed Parliament, taking the prime minister and most of his cabinet hostage for six days. In 2007, members of Jamaat al Muslimeen were tied to a plot to bomb New York’s JFK airport; one of its members was sentenced to life in prison.The dark cloud has persisted, but U.S. security appears to be on top of the situation.Earlier this year, troops with the U.S. Army’s Southern Command participated in anti-terror raids helping to capture four “high value targets” allegedly plotting to attack the annual “Carnival” celebrations. In 2017, Southern Command’s Admiral Kurt Tidd said: “Some of the individuals who left Trinidad-Tobago” have shown up “on film engaged in terrorist acts” and have committed murders in Syria. Even the New York Times couldn’t ignore the developing threat from T&T’s jihadists, posting a story in 2017 citing American officials who fear “that Trinidadian fighters could return from the Middle East and attack American diplomatic and oil installations in Trinidad, or even take a three-and-a-half hour flight to Miami.”….
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A hardline Pakistani Islamist group has warned of “terrible consequences” if a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy is granted leniency in an appeal heard on Monday, a case that has drawn global headlines and indignation.Asia Bibi, a mother of four, in 2010 became the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws.She appealed to the Supreme Court which concluded proceedings on Monday but reserved its judgment. The court did not specify when it would announce a ruling.Her case has outraged Christians worldwide and been a source of division within Pakistan, where two politicians who sought to help Bibi were assassinated, including Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who was shot by his own bodyguard.The ultra-religious Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party, which makes punishing blasphemy its main campaign rallying cry and lionizes the bodyguard who killed Taseer, warned the court against any “concession or softness” for Bibi.“If there is any attempt to hand her over to a foreign country, there will be terrible consequences,” TLP said in a statement.Insulting Islam’s prophet is punishable by death under Pakistani law, and blasphemy accusations stir such emotions that they are almost impossible to defend against. Dozens have been killed following blasphemy claims, sometimes by mobs of men.TLP won more than two million votes in the July 25 elections, though it has no parliamentarians in the National Assembly and only holds two provincial seats. But it wields outsized influence due to street power of its die-hard supporters.In November, TLP staged a crippling blockade of the capital after a tweak to a religious oath, which it claims was tantamount to blasphemy. Seven people were killed and more than 200 wounded in clashes with the police and TLP’s supporters only dispersed after striking a deal with the military.In May, an extremist linked to TLP shot and wounded Pakistan’s then-Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.Bibi was sentenced to death for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbors objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim.Bibi has always denied blaspheming and her representatives have claimed she was involved in a dispute with her neighbors and that her accusers had contradicted themselves….
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SEE ALSO:
KISSES THE AMERICAN FLAG
AT RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, GERMANY
PRAYS WITH TRUMP
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MEETING WITH PASTOR BRUNSON AT OVAL OFFICE AFTER RELEASE FROM TURKISH IMPRISONMENT~”YOU REALLY FOUGHT FOR US”
But that is just the first layer of the skeletons in Ellison’s closet. Ellison’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas fit the same trajectory as those of former President Obama, Huma Abedin and the Clinton Foundation.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
William McChesney Martin, the ninth and longest running Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said “The Federal Reserve … is in the position of the chaperone who has ordered the punch bowl removed just when the party was really warming up.” Rudi Dornbusch, the German economist who worked for most of his career in the United States, was more blunt: “None of the U.S. [economic] expansions of the past 40 years died in bed of old age; every one was murdered by the Federal Reserve.”Is the sharp selloff in stocks following the sharp rise in interest rates last week signaling the death throes of the longest-running bull market in history, to be followed by similar expiration of the 112-month long economic expansion? On Tuesday, October 2, the key financial instrument followed by most observers — the U.S. 10 Year Treasury Note — was yielding 3.06 percent, just slightly above its yield over the previous couple of weeks. Three days later, the yield had jumped to 3.26 percent, triggering the selloff in stocks. The day after the Treasury note bottomed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was closing in on 27,000. By Friday, it had lost 500 points. The decline picked up where it left off on Monday, and by Thursday this week, it was down 1,700 points.Is this the beginning of the end? Is this the death knell for stocks and bonds, administered by the Fed in the name of taming “inflation?” As Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) editorialized, investors in stocks and bonds “knew that the growth-averse Fed will now almost certainly raise rates in December. Before [the sudden avalanche of good news about the economy] it was only considered a possibility.”Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is being less than forthright about raising interest rates. The Fed has been slowly pressuring the bond market in its program of selling off its vast horde of maturing U.S. securities, forcing the bond market to absorb more than $170 billion of them in just the last year. The market, in adjusting to this new supply, raises interest rates to compensate (i.e., when the supply of something increases, demand decreases). While investors have been focusing on Powell’s remarks, many failed to look behind the curtain at how his bank was already setting the stage for the rise in interest rates that only became obvious last week.Whether he intends to kill the economy or just throttle it down remains uncertain. What isn’t uncertain is his timing: Just a month before the midterms, the economy which should redound to Republicans’ benefit is now being questioned. The headlines are delivering the message that Powell wants delivered: “Is the Stock Market Going to Crash?” asked Mark Skousen. “Here’s Why the Stock Market is Dropping — and What You Should Do About It Now” shouts Money Magazine. “Stocks are Sliding: Here’s How to Protect Your Portfolio From a Crash, According to Experts” provided by Money. Forbes screamed: “Why Stock Markets Crash” while Fortune magazine explored the rubble from the bursting bubble: “The Stock Market Cleaned Out Billionaires in the Past Week: Here’s Who Lost the Most.”Commentators rolled out the usual culprits for the selloff: trade “tensions” with China, rising oil and gas prices, slowing global growth, and so on. But in order to stop the economy there have to be fundamental reasons, not just frothy headlines. Is growth slowing? Is unemployment climbing? Are earnings declining? Patrick Kaser, managing director and portfolio manager at Brandywine Global, got it right: “All the leading indicators that would point to a recession in the next year just aren’t there.”So, why are interest rates rising? Give credit to economics professor Dr. Stephen Kirchner at the University of Sydney to explain how the free market works, if it is allowed to: “Rising real [inflation-adjusted] interest rates are not a surprise given the current strength of the US economy. What is surprising [to Keynesians] is the lack of inflationary pressure flowing from that strength.” Translation: Interest rates are the price of money, and when the demand for money — for investment purposes, for bonuses, for salary increases, or for increased contributions to pension plans for employees — increases, so do interest rates. As the demand for money grows, the price of money increases. Said Kirchner: “All the [upward] movement has been in real interest rates, with the US 10-year yield adjusted for inflation rising above 1.00% for the first time since 2011.”To confirm the Fed’s fraudulent claim that it’s working to “tame inflation” came the August PCE (personal consumption expenditure) rate that the Fed claims drives its decisions. The PCE for August was — wait for it — 1.3 percent annualized. And when the volatile food and energy prices were excluded, PCE inflation for August was 0.4 percent!The Fed has the power to murder. It also has the power to deceive. As The New American has reported, there are some clouds forming on the economic horizon, but none of them are sufficient to rain on Trump’s economic parade. Only the Fed can do that.Related articles:____________________________________________________________Trump and the Fed: The Real Issue Is
the Power of the Federal Reserve
BY STEVE BYASrepublished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:With the stock market’s huge losses in the past week — the largest decline since February — some economists blamed President Trump’s trade conflict with China. Trump, however, pointed to the Federal Reserve System’s recent decisions to raise interest rates as the more likely culprit.“That wasn’t it,” Trump said this week in response to the China theory for the market drop. “The problem I have is with the Fed. The Fed is going wild. They’re raising interest rates and it’s ridiculous.” Trump added, “The Fed is going loco.”Trump said again in another interview, “I think the Fed is uh ... making a mistake. They're so tight. I think the Fed has gone crazy.”What precipitated Trump’s remarks was that the Federal Reserve — America’s central bank — has increased interest rates three times just this year. Of course, when interest rates go up, the cost of borrowing money goes up for both businesses and consumers, making more expensive purchases less likely, thus slowing down the economy, which has otherwise been booming during Trump’s presidency.It would not be surprising if Trump’s suspicions that the Fed is deliberately trying to hurt him politically by putting the brakes to the economy turn out to be valid. But the larger question than how the Fed actions are affecting Trump politically is should this private monopoly have this kind of power over interest rates in the first place? And where is the Federal Reserve mentioned in the Constitution? (It is’nt).It is indisputable that the Federal Reserve could, if it so chose, bring the American economy to its knees by drastically increasing interest rates. When asked if he is considering firing the chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell, whom Trump appointed, Trump bluntly answered, “I’m not going to fire him.”The truth is that President Trump is not allowed, under the law, to fire Powell — except for cause. In other words, the only time Trump or any other president can realistically remove a Fed chairman is at the end of the chairman’s term of office. Even White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow was quick to weigh in on Thursday: “We know the Fed is independent. The president is not dictating policy to the Fed. He didn’t say anything remotely like that.”In fact, Kudlow seemed to support the Fed’s actions, arguing that it was managing “the transition from ultra, ultra easy money … to something more normal.”Powell was even more blunt, saying the Fed pays no attention to politics, adding, “This is just who we are and I think who we will always be, which is, we’re a group who — we’re quite removed from the political process. And we just try to do the right thing for the medium and longer term for the country.”There are multiple ways that the Federal Reserve can manipulate the economy through interest rates. One way is the “discount rate” that the Fed charges member banks. The discount rate is the rate of interest charged to a lending institution that borrows money from the Fed. The higher the discount rate, the more expensive it is for the bank to borrow, and therefore, the higher the rate will be when the bank loans money to a business or to an individual to make a larger purchase such as a car or a house. The lower the discount rate, the less expensive it is for the bank to borrow, and therefore, the lower the rate will be when the bank loans out money for major purchases.After the financial meltdown of 2008, the policy of the Federal Reserve was to keep interest rates low to spur economic activity and revive the general economy. While such low interest rates do increase the purchase of homes and the like, it also causes the prices for these products to go up. Low interest rates are quite popular with home-buyers, for example, but they discourage saving — creating a hardship on those on fixed incomes who were counting on living on these savings in retirement.The reality is that under the free market, interest rates would provide a natural “cooling off” of the economy. As there is a bigger demand for money at lower interest rates, the rates, under the law of supply and demand, would begin to rise. As the rates rose, there would be a drop-off in demand for loans. This would then cause more saving to take place, which would put more money in the bank. This increased supply of money would then lead to a drop in interest rates. And so on.In other words, if there were no central bank dictating interest rates, the free enterprise system would regulate interest rates and determine the amount of money in the economy.While some argue that a central bank — in America it is called the Federal Reserve System — is needed to avoid the twin evils of inflation and depression, the hard reality is that the greatest economic collapse in U.S. history took place in August of 1929, nearly 16 years after the Fed was created by an act of Congress on December 23, 1913. There is nothing in the Constitution authorizing Congress to create a money monopoly, yet since its inception we have seen severe economic downturns in 1920, 1929, and 2008, along with several other recessions. The value of America’s money has been greatly diminished since the creation of the Fed. Since 1914, when the Fed began operations, the value of the dollar has declined to the point that it is worth less today than what nickel was worth back then.Yet, no one can overturn the policy of the Federal Reserve — not the president and not the Congress. One can argue that interest rates need to be raised, but that could be done through the free market.As mentioned above, the reality is that if the Fed’s leadership so desired, they could bring down the American economy via the manipulation of interest rates. Or they could touch off spiraling prices through inflationary policies.Americans need to ask a serious question: Why should a private monopoly, uncontrolled by our elected representatives at each end of Pennsylvania Avenue, have that kind of power?
In 2007-8, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. That case, in turn, led the FBI to discontinue its work with the organization. In 2009, a federal judge ruled that the government “produced ample evidence to establish” the ties of CAIR with Hamas, the Palestinian terror organization . The United Arab Emirates labeled CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014 (a decision that the Obama administration opposed).
CAIR also helped the family of the San Bernardino terrorists after the 2015 attack in which they killed 14 people and wounded 22 — an attack CAIR partially blamed on U.S. foreign policy….
Breitbart News had reached out to Campa-Najjar’s campaign Tuesday to ask about his appearance on the “top ten” list of political candidates who had received contributions from “Islamist” sources, as compiled by the Middle East Forum’s “Islamist Money in Politics” (IMIP) project. (Campa-Najjar himself is a Christian, of mixed Palestinian and Mexican-American origin.)…
CAIRO – 10 October 2018: Terrorism results from international unjust policies that lost all compassion toward the weak and the poor, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayyeb said during his speech in the Sixth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstani capital,Astana.Tayyeb added that terrorism cannot be a result of Islam or any other religion. He explained that the strategies, techniques and plans of the well-trained extremist and armed groups indicate that “this kind of transcontinental hatred cannot be just a result of religion.”Tayyeb arrived in Astana on Monday, Oct. 8, as per an invitation from President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Upon his arrival, Tayyeb met with several Kazakhstani officials, including President Nazarbayev.According to Astana Times, the first Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions took place on Sept. 23-24, 2003. The objectives of the congress are to establish universal guidelines and a permanent platform for international interfaith dialogue.Eighty-two delegations from 46 countries representing the world’s religions are participating in the conference which kicked off on Wednesday, Oct. 10 and is expected to continue until Thursday, October 11.Tayyeb led the evening prayer at Hazrat Sultan Mosque, one of the largest mosques in Asia, on Tuesday, Oct. 9. After the prayer, Tayyeb delivered a sermon in which he urged preachers to abide by the moderate teachings of Islam in line with what they learnt at Azhar…..
The government-critical Turkish journalist Can Dündar lives in Germany under police protection since the state visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In Berlin, other critics no longer feel safe. To intimidate them, in the German capital several cars drive around which resemble those of the anti-terror unit “Özel Harekat,” as images in social networks show. The police confirmed, meanwhile, corresponding media reports. At least three of the questionably designed cars have been seen so far.The vehicles, which resemble those of the Turkish special unit, drive openly since the visit of Erdogan to Berlin, as stated in German media reports. In any case, in the case of Turkish opposition members living in Berlin, the cars would cause concern and anxiety. The sightings are now making headlines not only in Germany, but also in Turkey.The left-wing domestic politician, Hakan Tas, filed a complaint with the Berlin police. “The idea that such vehicles of the Erdogan regime are now on the streets and are being seen by pursued critics, leaves me no peace,” said Tas….
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas-based U.S. Pastor Council has filed suit against the City of Austin to challenge the lack of an exemption in its non-discrimination ordinance to accommodate the hiring practices of area churches.Austin City Code states that “[a]n employer may not fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against an individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, based on the individual’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability.”The U.S. Pastor Council says that the ordinance is problematic for churches, which need to hire—in accordance with Scripture—those who are not living in unrepentant sin, particularly as it pertains to the statute’s mention of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”“[T]he ordinance provides no exemptions or accommodations for employers who hold religious objections to homosexuality or transgender behavior,” the lawsuit states. “Every church in Austin that refuses to hire practicing homosexuals as clergy or church employees is violating city law and subject to civil penalties and liability.”It notes that the Bible has specific moral requirements for church leadership.“Because these member churches rely on the Bible rather than modern-day cultural fads for religious and moral guidance, they will not hire practicing homosexuals or transgendered people as clergy,” the legal challenge explains, pointing to Romans 1:26–28, 1 Timothy 1:8–11, 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13.“These member churches … require church employees to live according to the Bible’s teachings on matters of sexuality and gender,” it outlines.The council also explains that many churches believe that the Bible forbids women from serving as pastors, pointing to 1 Timothy 2:12, which states that women are not to “teach or usurp authority over a man” in the church.While the Austin City Code provides two exemptions in its nondiscrimination ordinance, it only states that it is lawful for educational institutions and corporations to “hire and employ individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the [entity’s] activities,” and does not mention churches and their hiring practices as it pertains to homosexuality and transgenderism.Therefore, the council argues, the ordinance allows churches to require its leaders to be Christians, but prohibits the same churches from passing up women for pastoral roles, or those engaged in homosexual behavior and transgenderism.It is requesting that the court declare that Austin churches have a right under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act to hire in accordance with biblical teaching and that it place an injunction against the enforcement of the ordinance until the code is amended to specifically protect churches.Austin officials have vowed to fight the suit, and attorney Holt Lackey told local television station KXAN that if the legal challenge prevails, it would “undermine the ability of Austin or any other similar city to pass an ordinance saying in this city we don’t accept sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination.”“The City is proud of our anti-discrimination ordinance and the protections it provides,” a City spokesperson said in a statement. “The ordinance reflects our values and culture respecting the dignity and rights of every individual. We are prepared to vigorously defend the City against this challenge to the City’s civil rights protections.”Ephesians 5:25-27 says that “Christ … loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.”The late influential preacher Charles Spurgeon also once exhorted, “It will certainly be disastrous for the Church of God if her members should become impure. In these days, we must be doubly strict, lest any looseness of conduct should come in among us. Actual sin must be repressed with a strong hand, but even the appearance of evil must be avoided.”
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SEE ALSO:
http://the-trumpet-online.com/hypocrisy-pastors-ask-highest-authority-overturn-lgbt-nondiscrimination-ordinance/
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
ALIAGA, Turkey — Andrew Brunson, the American pastor arrested in 2016 after being accused of espionage and having connections to those involved in a failed coup attempt against the Turkish government, is now free to leave the country after a judge sentenced him to time served.“This is the day our family has been praying for,” Brunson said in a statement released by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which had been working toward the pastor’s release. “I am delighted to be on my way home to the United States. It’s been an extremely difficult time for our family and we want to express our appreciation to the millions of people around the world who have faithfully prayed for this day.”As previously reported, Brunson and his wife, Norine, who are from Black Mountain, North Carolina, were detained in October 2016 after being accused of having “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” specifically, the military coup that attempted to overthrow the Turkish government that year. Brunson has pastored Resurrection Church in Izmir for over 20 years.According to World Watch Monitor, Turkish authorities detained and/or jailed thousands in their efforts to find those behind the operation. While Brunson’s wife was released 12 days after being taken into custody, in December, Brunson was escorted into court, being told that a “secret informant” had accused him of involvement in terrorism.In September 2017, Brunson was informed via a video conference with a Turkish judge that additional charges had been filed, including espionage, acquiring secret political and military information, seeking to overthrow the Turkish parliament and attempting to change the constitutional order.Brunson said that he was innocent and asked that proof be provided. He stated that he has been in Turkey for more than two decades to simply tell the people about Jesus and has nothing to hide.In April, the ACLJ reported that an official indictment handed down against Brunson claimed that the pastor used “Christianization” as a “mask” to engage in “unconventional warfare” against the government.“The indictment goes on to give accounts from ‘secret witnesses,’ one of whom is code named ‘Dua,’ or ‘Prayer,’ who gives his interpretation of Christianity,” outlined attorney Cece Heil. “Within the roughly 25 pages containing his preposterous allegations, he opines that, ‘In the Christian faith, the beginning of the battle known as Armageddon is mentioned.’ He goes on to say that Protestants believe that President Erdoğan is the antichrist and that American Protestants are ‘counting on being forerunners in the war to come…’”Heil said that the “secret witness” cited in the indictment stated that the battle will be started by Israel, and that it is a Protestant belief that “all humans are slaves of the sons of Israel and Protestants.”“Dua’s account makes up almost half of the entire indictment and lacks any substance or evidence to support any of his ridiculous claims,” she explained. “Furthermore, such claims are not only a gross mischaracterization of Christianity, but offensive. Pastor Andrew has spent over 23 years of his life peacefully serving the people of Turkey as a Christian pastor, and should not be imprisoned for simply living out his faith.”In July, Brunson was placed under house arrest until his trial, scheduled for Oct. 12. Prosecutors initially sought a sentence of 35 years in prison.“I am an innocent man. I love Jesus. I love Turkey,” Brunson told the court in Aliaga on Friday, expressing bewilderment at the charges that were being brought against him. He particularly noted that one witness who was questioned was speaking of events that were unrelated to the pastor.According to reports, some witnesses also told the court that their testimony had been misconstrued, and one witness said that she did not even know Brunson.While Bruson was ultimately convicted of aiding terrorism, the judge, whose name has not been released, sentenced Bruson to three years in prison, but reduced the sentence to time served due to good behavior. He is now free to leave the country.“Pastor Brunson just released! Will be home soon!” President Trump tweeted Friday morning.Both Trump and Vice President Pence had called for Bruson’s release, as did U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In February 2017, nearly 80 members of U.S. Congress signed a letter to Turkish President Recep Erdoğan expressing doubt over the charges filed against the pastor. Brunson’s daughter also spoke before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier this year to plead for help for her father.____________________________________________________________________Turkey releases US Pastor Andrew Brunson
after holding him for two years on false charges
BY ROBERT SPENCERrepublished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:Another triumph of Trump administration diplomacy. The Erdogan regime had hoped to trade Brunson for Fetuhullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has scapegoated as the supposed leader of a coup against him (Gulen and Erdogan are both adherents of political Islam; their rift is personal). Instead, Brunson is coming home.“Pastor Andrew Brunson released to U.S. diplomatic personnel after being detained by Turkish authorities for two years,” by Erin Cunningham, Washington Post, October 12, 2018:BREAKING: Brunson will be departing his apartment in Turkey to go to the airport to leave the country. His lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said Brunson will be flown to a U.S. air base in Germany where he will be evaluated and eventually flown back to the United States.This is a developing story and will be updated.ALIAGA, Turkey — A Turkish court on Friday convicted American pastor Andrew Brunson of aiding terrorism but sentenced him to time served and ordered his immediate release.The case of the evangelical preacher caught up in Turkey’s post-coup security sweep had garnered attention at the highest levels of the U.S. government and become a sore point in the two countries’ relations.Within minutes of the verdict, President Trump tweeted, “working very hard on Pastor Brunson.”“PASTOR BRUNSON JUST RELEASED,” he tweeted later. “WILL BE HOME SOON!”Turkish soldiers stand guard outside the entrance to Aliaga Prison Court after American pastor Andrew Brunson arrived ahead of his court hearing on Friday in Izmir, Turkey. (Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images)While Brunson, 50, was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to three years in prison, the judge reduced his sentence to two years time served for good behavior. The pastor has been held under house arrest since July, for health reasons, but that arrangement was also ended so he could leave the country.“The verdict was the best of a bad situation,” Brunson’s defense attorney, Ismail Cem Halavurt, said outside the courthouse in western Turkey.Of Brunson’s plans to travel to the United States, Halavurt said: “He is going to go.”“But I hope he is able to come back,” he added. “He is someone who absolutely loves Turkey.”The cleric, who is from North Carolina, wept and embraced his wife, Norine, as they waited for the judge to issue the ruling Friday.His trial had resumed Friday in Aliaga, a district roughly 40 miles from his longtime home in the city of Izmir, just hours after U.S. officials said a deal had been reached with Turkish authorities to secure his release.He headed a small evangelical congregation in Izmir until his detention two years ago.The pastor has been held since then on what he and the Trump administration said were false terrorism- and espionage-related charges. Prosecutors accused him of being linked both to Kurdish separatists and to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Turkish authorities say orchestrated a failed coup attempt in 2016….Brunson, who sat alone in front of a panel of judges and the state prosecutor, was also allowed to speak following each witness’s testimony.“I never met any PKK fighters,” he said to the judges in Turkish.In his final statement to the court just before the verdict was issued, Brunson said: “I’m an innocent man. I love Jesus. I love this country,” and broke down in tears.
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Holder declares “That is what this new Democratic Party is about”
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Opinion by LtCOL Oliver NorthLtCOL Oliver North
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- Dear AmmoLand readers.We stand at the edge of the precipice of one of the most important elections of our lives. That is the reality we face … just days from now.All the freedoms we hold dear are, quite literally, at stake in this election. The enemies of our freedom are highly organized and abundantly funded … thanks to a group of super-rich political elites hell-bent on “buying” this election to serve their own agenda.This self-serving cabal of billionaires and their pet politicians have conspired to permanently transform America into a socialist state.They tried their best to win the White House in 2016 and, ever since, they’ve done everything possible to undo that election.Their goal is a clear and present danger! They plan to seize power in Washington by capturing the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate … then crush the NRA, take the White House two years from now, and repeal the Second Amendment.It is an all-out attack against us and our freedom, not with bombs and bullets, but with billions of dollars buying ballots. [some say a civil war]
You know their names: George Soros, Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer—and their lap dog, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. He’s the genius who recently claimed, “We’re not going to make America great again; it was never that great.”When he made that shocking assertion, I was at the American Cemetery in Normandy, France with a group of NRA members, Freedom Alliance supporters and combat-wounded heroes from our current war against radical Islamist terror. We were stunned.More stunning still: not one of the anti-freedom, billionaire-socialist-cabal distanced themselves from Governor Cuomo’s pathetic rejection of American values. Apparently, acknowledging America’s greatness doesn’t serve their agenda.That helps explain why George Soros has pumped tens of millions into far left political candidates and causes; why Michael Bloomberg has vowed to spend $80 million in this election and Tom Steyer says he’s spending at least $110 million—all to plant Democrat-Socialists throughout our government and turn America into a Gun-Free socialist utopia.Only the members of the NRA, and our country’s 100 million gun owners stand in their way. We are the only patriots—proven by history—strong enough, tough enough, and dedicated enough to defeat the big spending liars the one and only way possible—with our votes!On November 6th 2018 every one of us must turn out and vote.
And every one of us must get someone else out to vote, too. No one sits this election out. The stakes are too high. Every vote is needed.As law-abiding gun owners and Second Amendment advocates, you know the battlefield in this election. You helped win this fight two years ago, and you know our freedom cannot afford to letup this year.Two years ago, it was the NRA—each one of us doing our part—that helped elect one of the most openly pro-Second Amendment Presidents in history. During the past two years, President Trump has demonstrated his strong commitment to protecting our firearms freedom. He has fought back efforts to restrict our rights and nominated not one … but two … pro-freedom judges to sit on the United States Supreme Court.The President’s support for our freedom has driven our opponents and the so-called “main-stream media” absolutely nuts. They’ve protested, ranted and raved … and they’ve organized like never before to take over the U.S. House and Senate. If they win the House, they will spend the next two years trying to impeach the President, Justice Kavanaugh … and seize the White House in 2020.WE THE PEOPLE are supposed to govern America—not wealthy oligarchs intent on ruling us and stripping away the freedoms we hold dear.The battle lines are clear and the fight is joined. Their last minute smear against Justice Kavanaugh in an attempt to block his confirmation is just one more indication of their tactics.You … and I mean YOU … are the tip of the spear in this fight to preserve our liberties. You are admired, respected and trusted among your peers and colleagues. Use that credibility to encourage your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers – to spread the word and vote for candidates who support the Second Amendment on November 6th. I urge you to visit www.NRAPVF.org to obtain a list of NRA endorsed candidates in your area.Every single vote by you and other Americans like you can make all the difference in preserving our freedom and saving our nation.Please stand with me in making that difference. Do everything you can to help us win this election battle. VOTE!Semper Fidelis,Oliver NorthVote November 2018 About: Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
GOOGLE BRIEFING SAYS TECH COMPANIES SHOULD ABANDON “AMERICAN TRADITION” OF FREE SPEECH
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Google’s burying of material critical of Islam, along with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube censorship of material that violates Sharia blasphemy laws, show that the “official Google source” that said that “the document should be considered internal research, and not an official company position” was lying. This is already being implemented on a massive scale. If it isn’t stopped, and these tech giants broken up, the First Amendment could soon be a dead letter, along with America as a free society.“THE GOOD CENSOR: Leaked Briefing Says Google Must Move Away from ‘American Tradition’ of Free Speech to Expand Globally, Attract Advertiser $$$s,” by Allum Bokhari, Breitbart, October 9, 2018:A leaked Google briefing titled “The Good Censor” advises tech companies to move away from the “American tradition” of free speech if they wish to attract advertising revenue and continue global expansion.The briefing, leaked exclusively to Breitbart News, was the product of extensive research on the part of Google. This included expert interviews with MIT Tech Review editor-in-chief Jason Pontin, Atlantic staff writer and tech critic Franklin Foer, and academic Kalev Leetaru. 35 cultural observers and 7 cultural leaders from seven countries on five continents were consulted to produce it. It can be read in full here.The 85-page briefing admits that Google and other tech platforms have fundamentally altered their policies in response to unwelcome political events around the world, including the 2016 election and the rise of Alternative für Deutschland in Germany.Responding to the leak, an official Google source said the document should be considered internal research, and not an official company position.Page 14 of the document acknowledges that a few Silicon Valley tech giants now “control the majority of our conversations,” but that these platforms – including Google – must now break their initial promise to users of free speech and content neutrality.Pages 19-21 of the briefing describe this initial support for free speech as a “utopian narrative” that has been undermined by political events including the 2016 election and the rise of the populist AfD party in Germany.Later, on pages 66-70, the briefing explains that tech companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter initially leaned towards an “American tradition” of free speech that prioritizes “free speech for democracy, not civility.”But it goes on to say that the same companies now embrace the “European tradition,” that favors “dignity over liberty, and civility over freedom.”Google, argues the briefing, must move towards the European tradition and create “well-ordered spaces for safety and civility” rather than “unmediated marketplaces of ideas.”Doing so, says the briefing, will enable Google to “respond to regulatory demands” and “maintain global expansion,” as well as “monetize content through its organization” and “protect advertisers from controversial content,” both of which will “increase revenues.”…
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism.“Use the rage,” former Attorney General Eric Holder scream-tweeted. “Get people out to vote and be rid of these people.”Had President Trump urged his supporters to channel their rage into politics, the quote would have been good for a week of sanctimonious media lectures about his destruction of democratic norms. Not to mention his dangerous divisiveness, the risk of violence and the high price of tea in Outer Mongolia.But the media has neither the interest nor the inclination to even note Holder’s ‘rage’ tweet. It’s too busy preaching anger, fury and hatred to the same shrieking choir of maddened lefties screaming at the sky, having meltdowns on social media and clawing madly at the doors of the Supreme Court."We need to stay angry about Kavanaugh," E.J. Dionne Jr. fulminates in the Washington Post. But that’s nothing compared to the New York Times where the old gray lady is frenziedly distempered all the time."Get Angry, and Get Involved," an op-ed screeches. "Tears, Fury or Action: How Do You Express Anger?", an op-ed from a few days before shrills. “Fury Is a Political Weapon And Women Need to Wield It,” a third howls. That’s a lot of anger from the megaphone of the privileged wealthy northeastern left.There hasn’t been this much peevishness on Martha’s Vineyard since they raised the yacht docking fees.The New York Times and the Washington Post are echoing Holder’s call for political anger. Rage will solve all of America’s problems. If the Democrats stay angry, they’ll take over the government and be truly ready to unleash their rage on “these people”. Otherwise known as the rest of the country.Even as the media preaches the virtues of leftist rage, it warns about the threat of Republican anger."Brett Kavanaugh's Anger May be Backfiring," the Washington Post had hopefully speculated earlier. "Judge Kavanaugh is One Angry Man," the New York Times spat. "Kavanaugh Borrows From Trump's Playbook on White Male Anger," it threw in.But there’s a fundamental difference between Kavanaugh’s anger and that of the media left.Brett Kavanaugh was angry because he had been falsely accused of rape by the media, with no actual evidence. His life was torn apart. His family, as he testified, had been “destroyed”. Democrats demanded that a 53-year-old man account for every detail of his high school and college years.His accuser was held to zero standards while he was told to disprove an accusation lacking basic essentials like a specific time, place and witnesses. Had a black teen in the ghetto been hit with equally flimsy charges, the left would have gone into a rage tantrum in support of the accused rapist.But, unlike Brett, the left wasn’t angry because it had been personally abused. Despite the efforts to pass off paid leftist activists as “sexual assault survivors”, the progressive bilious bile was purely political.Kavanaugh was angry because his life had been destroyed. The left is angry because it wants power.Leftist political anger inflicted sadistic torments on Brett Kavanaugh for political reasons. And the media pretends that this political anger is somehow more worthy than that the outrage of its victim.Obama activists, Senate Dems, Soros social justice flunkies, sleazy lawyers and fake news reporters put a decent man through hell so that they could, as Holder tweeted, “use the rage” in the midterm elections.The media left demanded to know what right Brett Kavanaugh had to be angry. They mocked his pain, ridiculed his suffering with the venal contempt and snarky hatred that now passes for leftist comedy.But a better question would be what right does the left have to its endless anger?Eight years of running the country didn’t leave it any more generous toward its opponents, any less hungry for power, or any less tribal, partisan and furious than it had been in 2007. The left isn’t angry because it cares about rape victims. Not when it’s lining up to buy tickets to Bill and Hillary’s latest tour.It’s angry because, as Holder tweeted, it wants power.And it’s willing to destroy every political, civic, cultural, social and moral norm to get it. The left doesn’t believe in norms because it doesn’t believe in any compromise or standard. All it has is its will to power.Some people have the right to win elections (Hillary Clinton) and others (Donald Trump) don’t. Some justices have the right to be confirmed without campaigns of personal destruction (Democrat nominees like Kagan and Sotomayor) and others (Republican nominees like Bork, Thomas and Kavanaugh) don’t.And some people have the right to be angry (New York Times and Washington Post readers) and others (Trump supporters and Front Page Magazine readers) don’t. The entitlement of double standards is essential to the leftist quest for power which is about manufacturing perceived inequality in order to administrate mandates of total inequality. Disparate impact justifies affirmative action. If black workers or students underperform, then poor white workers and students must go to the back of the line.But if replacing the norms of political discourse with livid tantrums is bad, then it’s bad for everyone.There’s no way to mandate anger as affirmative action. If you insult, deprive and oppress people, they will become angry. And the only thing you can do is get angry right back or outlaw their anger.The choleric left is working on the latter. But in its conniption fits, it’s settling for the former.It deprives people of their rights and it responds to their anger with more anger. In its rage, it wipes out every political and social norm it can manage until its opponents are being hounded out of restaurants, fired from their jobs, assaulted on the street, shot at charity baseball games, smeared as rapists, doxed by reporters and staffers, censored on the internet and eavesdropped on by corrupt federal agencies.There isn’t a legal or political norm that Obama didn’t violate during his time in office. Reporters were spied on. So were Republicans. The IRS and the FBI were used to target political opponents. A man was sent to jail for making a YouTube video. The DOJ was used to go after folks who mocked Obama.After eight years of political terror, the Democrats have settled into accusing their political opponents of treason and demanding their imprisonment, everything from intimidation to death threats to attempted murder, and trying to destroy a Supreme Court nominee based on the most baseless allegations.This is what leftists have done to our political norms. And what enrages them about Kavanaugh is not any feigned concern for our political norms, but that our norms survived their tantrums and dirty tricks.The media claimed that Brett Kavanaugh should not sit on the Supreme Court by reason of his temperament. That’s rich coming from a deranged political movement getting high on its own fury."If you're not angry yet, you should be," a riled New York Times editorial yelps. A forum for readers discusses their struggles “expressing rage” and urges them to turn “anger into action”.The media used to believe that basing national politics around anger was destructively bad. Now it’s been radicalized enough that it celebrates hate, rancor and rage. As long as it’s leftist rage.Love can be one-sided. But anger rarely is.When the media riles up leftist fury, it’s also rousing Republican anger. The Kavanaugh hearings are a clear example of how rage-driven abuses by the left lead to a wrathful reaction on the right.The Democrats and their media allies furiously preach anger, and their rage is tearing apart America.