Prominent Arab Convert To Christianity Leaves Catholic Church Over ‘Weakness’ On Islam

Photo Credit: Oltre la Coltre

In a shocking display that does not bode well for the Catholic Church and its stance on defending the multitudes of Christians currently being persecuted in Islamic countries, Magdi Christiano Allam, a prominent covert from Islam to Christianity, has left the Catholicism. He reasoned that he could not abide the church’s “weakness” and policy of appeasement towards Islam.

The Egyptian-born Allam, who publicly converted in St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter 2008 with the oversight of Pope Benedict XVI himself, renounced his Catholicism because, in his view, the church legitimizes a religion that is “inherently violent” to people of all walks, including fellow Muslims.

Ever-outspoken, Allam assures that he will remain a Christian, but roundly criticized the Catholic Church for also fostering an environment in which the Islamization of Europe will, in his mind, most assuredly take place.

Translated from the Italian news outlet, Corriere, Allam clarified that his mind had been made up before the new pope was chosen and that the driving factor to leave the church is its of Islam’s place among the monotheistic religions. “I am convinced,” Allam stated, “that Islam is an ideology inherently violent as it has been historically conflictual inside and warlike outside.”

“I am even more convinced that Europe will eventually be submitted to Islam, as has already happened since the seventh century.” Allam also criticized the church for not having “the vision and the courage to denounce the incompatibility of Islam with our civilization and fundamental rights of the person.”

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Social Security Disability Rolls Headed For Collapse

Photo Credit: Examiner

America’s unemployment rate has come down significantly from its peak of 10 percent in late 2009. That may seem to suggest a steady improvement in the employment picture, but the impression is misleading.

We recently pointed out that workers age 25 to 54 are experiencing a jobs depression that has gotten slightly worse since the end of the Great Recession of 2007-2009, with nearly all job growth since the downturn’s end coming among older Americans. But also statistically concealing the dire reality are labor force dropouts. A smaller percentage of Americans now work or seek work than at any point since the Carter era. Jim Pethokoukis, of the American Enterprise Institute, has calculated that if labor force participation had not declined so much since Obama took office, the unemployment rate for January would have been 10.8 percent.

What happens to the workers who drop out of the labor force? Some retire, some become full-time parents, some go on welfare. But here’s an important answer that is often overlooked: In 2011, on average, one net person has been added to Social Security’s Disability Insurance rolls (and 3.3 to its retirement program) for every five net new jobs created. Since 1970, the number receiving DI has grown sixfold (from 1.4 million to 8.8 million), and the program expenses have grown tenfold, which is unsustainable. The federal government now spends more on disability than food stamps and welfare combined. In 2009, DI began paying out more in benefits than it took in from payroll taxes. By 2016, it is set to run out of money.

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Report: Obama Intentionally Blocking Oil And Gas Production

Photo Credit: AP

Delays in federal permitting for oil and gas exploration on public land is likely reducing national energy production and depriving the federal government of revenue, according to a federal report released Friday.

The report is the latest addition to a mounting body of evidence undercutting the administration’s claims that it has fostered increased oil and gas production, critics say. Production on lands the federal government controls has plummeted during Barack Obama’s presidency.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) inspector general examined 1,881 applications for drilling permits on public land. Fewer than 4 percent of those applications were “recent,” or filed in the last 180 days. The rest had experienced prolonged delays.

“By not processing these nominations as expeditiously as possible,” the Forest Service, a division of the USDA, “may be causing the federal government to forego revenue or prevent or delay the efforts of the private sector to provide energy to the public.”

The report is the second analysis by a federal body this month to support claims by administration critics that its energy policies have restricted domestic oil and gas production.

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North Korea Orders Troops Combat Ready to Target US Bases

North Korea said Tuesday its strategic rocket and long-range artillery units have been ordered to be combat ready, targeting U.S. military bases on Guam, Hawaii, and mainland America after U.S. bombers flew sorties threatening the North.

The order, issued in a statement from the North’s military “supreme command,” marks the latest fiery rhetoric from Pyongyang since the start of joint military drills by U.S. and South Korean forces early this month.

South Korea’s defense ministry said it saw no sign of imminent military action by North Korea. “From this moment, the Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army will be putting into combat duty posture No. 1 all field artillery units, including long-range artillery units and strategic rocket units, that will target all enemy objects in U.S. invasionary bases on its mainland, Hawaii and Guam,” the North’s KCNA news agency said.

The North previously threatened nuclear attack on the United States and South Korea, although it is not believed to have the capability to hit the continental United States with an atomic weapon.

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Oregon Teacher Escorted From High School By Police For Opposing Planned Parenthood In Classroom

Photo Credit: Christian News

An Oregon high school teacher was escorted from the building by police this week over what is believed to be related to his continued opposition to Planned Parenthood’s presence in the classroom.

Bill Diss is a math and computer science teacher at Benson High School in Portland, and has taught at the school for 11 years. Diss has also become known in the school for his opposition to Planned Parenthood since 2007, when he first began organizing efforts during after-school hours to stop the furtherance of the abortion provider in the community.

“I certainly fight Planned Parenthood, which I certainly have a right to do,” he told reporters this week following the incident. “And that was all on the outside, until [last] year when they brought Planned Parenthood [into the school].”

According to reports, last year, Planned Parenthood of Columbia Williamette began promoting its Teen Outreach Program (TOP) at Benson High School where Diss is employed as a teacher. In September, two representatives from the organization showed up at Diss’ classroom as they were hoping to speak to students. However, he would not let the representatives enter and asked them to leave.

Planned Parenthood of Columbia Williamette is behind a youth sex campaign called “Take Care Down There,” which includes a website that features a warning that the content is for “mature” viewers before guests are allowed to enter. The site includes such controversial skits as “Hot and Heavy,” “Bring Your Sister,” “Threesome” and “The Down There Song,” as well as other titles that are too graphic for Christian News Network to repeat.

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Natalie Holloway Forensic Profiler: Obama “Harbors Evil Intentions,” Claims Situation Precarious for America

Photo Credit: WND

A forensic profiler who worked on the disappearance of Natalie Holloway and the double-murder case against O.J. Simpson says he is becoming alarmed by some of the references President Obama is using…

Hodges noted that even activists on the left have expressed concern. Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the left-wing Code Pink, in a recent WABC radio interview with host Aaron Klein, called the potential abuse by the Obama administration’s huge domestic police power “extremely troubling.”

“Recall Obama’s earlier words which, importantly, he made spontaneously, strongly pointing toward an unconscious confession. ‘We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded [as the military].’

“What exactly was he thinking and why? Undeniably this was extreme: a civilian force just as well funded and strong as our military – implying majorly armed. The question is what exactly was Obama secretly confessing about his future plans? His unconscious super intelligence suggests a warning from a very dangerous Obama,” Hodges contends.

The violent imagery Obama used in his first inaugural stunned Hodges. He cited “sacrifices borne by our ancestors,” “perils we can scarcely imagine,” “stained with blood,” “earlier generations faced down fascism …with missiles and tanks … and enduring convictions.”

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Toddler Shot In The Face, Mother’s Second Child Lost To Violence (+video)

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The fatal shooting of a 13-month-old boy in his stroller marked the second time mother Sherry West lost a son to violence, she said Saturday.

Her 18-year-old son was stabbed to death in 2008 in New Jersey, she told CNN. “This is the second child that people have taken from me in a tragic way,” West said. “I’m so afraid to have any more babies now. I tried to raise really good kids in a wicked world.”

The day after two teenage boys were arrested and charged in the fatal shooting of her baby, West said she was planning to leave Brunswick and return to New Jersey. The boy’s father has also been emotionally distraught, West said. Asked about the person who shot her son, Antonio, West stated: “I hate you and I don’t forgive you.

“You killed an innocent human life,” she said. “I hope you die for it.” A private memorial service was held Friday morning for young Antonio Santiago, who was cremated, according to West. She said the family is working with the Catholic relief organization Society of St. Vincent de Paul to help with unforeseen expenses.

West put Antonio in a stroller Thursday because it was good exercise for her heart, said West, who added she was disabled from a past car accident.

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Retired Military Officer Demands that Federal Agencies End Preparation for War Against US Citizens, Turn Weapons Over to DoD

This past weekend, a retired military officer shared his letter to Senator John Cornyn, demanding answers about the hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition and thousands of armored vehicles being prepared for domestic law enforcement.

Since its posting, the letter has gone viral. Here it is in its entirety:

The Honorable Senator John Cornyn, State of Texas
United States Senate
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Re: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and that agencies preparation for war against citizens of the United States of America.

Dear Senator Cornyn,

It is with gravest concern that I write to you today concerning the recent appropriation of weapons by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that can only be understood as a bold threat of war by that agency, and the Obama administration, against the citizens of the United States of America. To date, DHS has been unwilling to provide to you, the elected representatives of the People, justification for recent purchases of almost 3,000 mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) armored personnel carriers, 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition (with associated weapons), and other weapons systems, when, in fact, the DHS has no war mission or war making authority within the limits of the United States of America.

Significant is the fact that at the same time the Obama administration is arming his DHS for war within the limits of the United States against the People of the United States in accordance with his 2008 campaign speech claiming,

“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve gotta (sic) have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded [as the United States military]”–Candidate Barack Obama, 2008.

The Obama administration is deliberately defunding, overextending, and hollowing the Department of Defense; the only legitimate agency of the U.S. government with a war mission.

This act of the Obama administration stands as a glaring threat of war against our nation’s citizens! This act of the Obama administration can only be understood as a tyrannical threat against the Constitution of the United States of America! If left unresolved, the peace loving citizens who have sworn to defend the United States Constitution “against all enemies, both foreign and domestic” are left no option except to prepare to defend themselves, and the U.S. Constitution, against this Administration’s “coup” against the People and the foundations of liberty fought for and defended for the past 238 years. We have no choice if we honor our oaths.

The only proper response to this threat against the American people is for the representatives of the People, the members of the U.S. House and Senate, to demand in clear terms that the Administration cannot ignore, that the Department of Homeland Security immediately surrender their newly appropriated weapons of war to the Department of Defense (DoD). Further, since the DHS has assumed a position in the Administration to enforce the tyrannical acts of this president against the People of the United States against the limits of the United States Constitution, it remains for the United States Congress to exercise its limiting power in the balancing of powers established by our founding fathers, to disestablish and dissolve the DHS as soon as possible. One needs only to look to the rise of Adolf Hitler, and his associated DHS organizations, the SA and the SS, of 1932-1934, to see the outcome of allowing an agency of government this kind of control over the free citizens of a nation. The people of Germany could not have imagined, until it was too late, the danger of allowing a tyrant this kind of power. We must not be so naïve as to think it will not happen to us as well if we remain passive toward this power grab by the Marxist Obama administration!

Finally, for more than two centuries the nation has lived in peace at home because of the protections of our legitimate military and the many appropriate state and federal law enforcement agencies, supported by Constitutional courts. We stand today at a cross-road. Will we allow this present Administration to overthrow our United States Constitution and its legal processes to amend injustices, or, will we honor our obligations to defend the Constitution against a “domestic” enemy? Our Constitution lays out the proper methods of resolving our differences; and it does not include its overthrow by a rogue agency of a Marxist leadership at home. You, sir, are our constitutionally elected agent to defend our Constitution at home. We are counting upon you. We remain aware, however, of this present threat and will not expose ourselves as an easy prey to the authors of the destruction of our nation.

I know that this letter demands much of you. We elected you because we, the citizens of the State of Texas, believe that you are up to the task at hand and will, against all threats, honor your oath and office. We are also writing to your fellow members of the House and Senate to stand in integrity with the Constitution and against this present threat by the Obama administration and his DHS.

We refuse to surrender our Constitution or our nation!

Resolved,

Captain Terry M. Hestilow
United States Army, Retired
Fort Worth, Texas
March 23, 2013

Confirmed: Bank Deposits To Be Seized In Cyprus, Many Cypriots Have No Cash (+video)

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Cyprus has agreed to shrink its bloated financial industry and tap big depositors at its two leading banks for billions of euros, clearing the way for a €10 billion European Union bailout the island nation needs to avoid collapse.

The deal with the EU was struck early Monday after days of frantic negotiations that followed the rejection by Cypriot lawmakers of Plan A. That proposal, unveiled little over a week ago, would have imposed a tax on all account holders to raise funds to recapitalize the failing banks.

Now the new bailout plan will protect all deposits of less than €100,000 euros but is likely to mean much bigger losses for account holders with more than €100,000 at the two biggest banks — the Bank of Cyprus and Popular Bank of Cyprus.

Popular Bank will be broken up immediately. Its viable assets will be integrated into the Bank of Cyprus, and its non-performing loans will be moved into a “bad bank” to be wound down.

The “haircut” for Popular Bank depositors will raise about €4.2 billion, while shareholders and bondholders are likely to be wiped out. The scale of depositors’ contribution to the restructuring of Bank of Cyprus has yet to be fixed.

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