ISIS Crucifies, Publicly Displays Bodies of Two Boys Accused of Eating During Holy Month of Ramadan

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The Islamic State group has crucified and killed two children in Syria for eating during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims are required to fast in obedience to Allah.

The boys, who were both younger than 18, were killed by the militants and later displayed with placards hung around their necks revealing their “crime” was committed “with no religious justification.” The horrific incident occured in the town of Mayadin, Deir Ezzor province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed on Monday . . .

Ramadan, which literally means “scorching” in Arabic, is a time when devout Muslims abstain from food, drink, and other physical needs during the daylight hours to focus on their spiritual health and seek forgiveness for past sins . . .

Under the brutal rule of ISIS, which regularly carries out public beheadings, stonings and crucifixions those accused of crimes, the punishments for disobeying religious laws are exceedingly harsh.

In February, militants living in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, severely disfigured the faces of fifteen Iraqi women by pouring acid on them as a form of punishment after the women were caught without their faces being fully covered by a niqab, a hijab which covers the entire face, except for slits for eyes. (Read more from “ISIS Crucifies, Publicly Displays Bodies of Two Boys Accused of Eating During Holy Month of Ramadan” HERE)

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UN Wants to Impose “Urgent Measures” to Control Guns After Charleston Killings

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By Joe Wolverton. Not to be outdone by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in calling for civilian disarmament, the United Nations is taking advantage of the Charleston shootings to join the chorus of confiscators.

In a statement issued on June 19 by the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (yes, that actually exists), committee chairwoman Mireille Fanon Mendes-France demanded that “urgent measures must be taken to prevent gun violence.” Making a point of distinguishing this crime for its effect on “the security of Afro-Americans,” the UN group sent their “heartfelt condolences to the people of the United States of America.”

If the United Nations has its way, there will much more to mourn about in the United States of America. As part of the global effort to grant monopoly control of weapons of all sizes to UN-approved “state actors,” the Arms Trade Treaty mandates the forcible disarmament of all others.

The scheme was endorsed in the “name of the people of the United States” by Secretary of State John Kerry on September 25, 2013.

“I am very pleased to have signed this treaty here today. I signed it because President Obama knows that from decades of efforts that at any time that we work with — cooperatively to address the illicit trade in conventional weapons, we make the world a safer place. And this treaty is a significant step in that effort,” Kerry said at the signing ceremony. (Read more from “UN Wants “Urgent Measures” to Control Guns After Charleston Killings” HERE)


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Colt Gun Maker Declares Bankruptcy

By Bob Adelmann. Colt Defense, the once high-flying iconic manufacturer of the Colt .45 single action Army revolver known as the “Peacemaker” — the “gun that won the West” — and the 1911 semi-automatic pistol designed by John Moses Browning, ran out of airspeed and altitude on Sunday, and declared bankruptcy.

In his press release, Keith Maib, chief restructuring officer of Colt Defense, LLC, put the best face he could on a disaster that has been unfolding for years:

The plan we are announcing and have filed today will allow Colt to restructure its balance sheet while meeting all of its obligations to [its] customers, vendors, suppliers and employees [while] providing for maximum continuity in the Company’s current and future business operations….

[This restructuring] will enable us to continue to gain traction on a challenging but achievable turnaround in our business performance and competitive positioning in the international, U.S. government and consumer marketplaces.

Colt remains open for business.

(Read more from this story HERE)


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Rome: Hundreds of Thousands Protest Against Same-Sex Unions

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A crowd estimated in the hundreds of thousands gathered in Rome’s San Giovanni Square on June 20 to engage in a Family Day protest against a bill backed by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi that would create civil unions for same-sex couples. The square, adjacent to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, can hold an estimated 300,000 people, but the crowd of protesters overflowed beyond its boundaries, an AFP photographer said.

The bill that Renzi has attempted to push though Parliament would, in addition to establishing civil unions for homosexuals, provide for the teaching of “gender theories” in Italian schools. It passed the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of Parliament) on June 10 and must now be approved by the Senate. Renzi seeks a Senate vote on the legislation during the next few weeks, with the aim of it being enacted before the end of July. The prime minister is a member of Italy’s Democratic Party, which is often described as being “center-left,” but has inherited a legacy of socialism from its predecessors.

Italian Democrats were energized in their push for civil unions after voters in Ireland — which like Italy, has a large majority of Catholics — approved a referendum on May 23 legalizing same-sex “marriage by a 62.1-percent affirmative vote. Following that vote, Renzi said: “Civil unions [in Italy] cannot be delayed any longer.”

And Italy’s Democratic Party leader Roberto Speranza called the Irish vote a “joy,” adding that “now it is Italy’s turn.” Another party leader, Laura Boldrini, the president the Chamber of Deputies, tweeted an approving message on the day of the Irish referendum that translates as: “being European means recognizing rights.”

While the Democrats may be the strongest political party in Italy, with a large plurality in both houses of parliament, they still face formidable opposition to passage of their civil unions bill — particularly from the Catholic Church, which seems to have a stronger influence on Italian society that it does in Ireland, where most Catholic voters ignored a statement published by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference in opposition to its passage. (Read more from “Rome: Hundreds of Thousands Protest Against Same-Sex Unions” HERE)

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ISIS Releases Shocking Video of Young Boys Fighting in Locked Steel Cage [+videos]

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The Islamic State group is training its next generation of fighters by locking them in a steel cage and forcing them to fight each other, a chilling new propaganda video has revealed.

The Daily Mail first reported that a seven minute-long video [at the bottom of this article] released by ISIS-linked social media accounts shows young boys, known as “cubs of the caliphate”, wrestling inside a giant ring encircled by black ISIS flags while an armed armed commander yells encouragement.

A later scene in the video, which is believed to have been filmed at an ISIS base in Iraq, shows the same commander beating the children with a stick as they move through an assault course, and then walking across their stomachs as they lay on the floor.

Other disturbing scenes in the propaganda video show the masked boys breaking tiles with their heads, practicing fighting moves and crawling through metal tubes as ISIS fighters fire rounds over their heads . . .

ISIS, which seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate throughout the Middle East, is notorious for using children to further their aims. In March, the militants released a disturbing video in which several of its fighters were shown cutting off the heads of eight men who were led to their execution by teenage boys. (Read more from “ISIS Releases Shocking Video of Young Boys Fighting in Locked Steel Cage” HERE)

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‘It’s Time to Hold Physical Cash,’ Says Senior Fund Manager

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The manager of one of Britain’s biggest bond funds has urged investors to keep cash under the mattress.

Ian Spreadbury, who invests more than £4bn of investors’ money across a handful of bond funds for Fidelity, including the flagship Moneybuilder Income fund, is concerned that a “systemic event” could rock markets, possibly similar in magnitude to the financial crisis of 2008, which began in Britain with a run on Northern Rock . . .

The best strategy to deal with this, he said, was for investors to spread their money widely into different assets, including gold and silver, as well as cash in savings accounts. But he went further, suggesting it was wise to hold some “physical cash”, an unusual suggestion from a mainstream fund manager.

His concern is that global debt – particularly mortgage debt – has been pumped up to record levels, made possible by exceptionally low interest rates that could soon end, and he is unsure how well banks could cope with the shocks that may await.

He pointed out that a saver was covered only up to £85,000 per bank under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme – which is effectively unfunded – and that the Government has said it will not rescue banks in future, hence his suggestion that some money should be held in physical cash. (Read more from “‘It’s Time to Hold Physical Cash,’ Says Senior Fund Manager” HERE)

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The Gathering Storm: Global Terror Explodes along with Surge of Refugees, Slavery, Militants

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By John J. Xenaxis. This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

The Gathering Storm

The sudden accelerating growth in refugees and displaced persons

Human slavery at the highest level in human history

State Dept: Dramatic rise in terrorism from 2013 to 2014

When Winston Churchill wrote his monumental six-volume history of World War II, he titled the first volume The Gathering Storm, and described the signs that a world war was approaching. He particularly focused on the Nazis in Germany and their massive increase in military power, particularly in air power, which Churchill foresaw would put Britain at existential risk.

I have written many articles about China’s massive growth in military power, particularly in ballistic and hypersonic missiles, whose only purpose is to destroy American cities, military bases, and aircraft carriers. China is preparing to launch a war against the United States today, just as Hitler was preparing to attack Britain, and that’s part of the Gathering Storm today.

But there is another aspect to the gathering storm — the sudden accelerating world growth in refugees, slaves and terrorists. This is a major trend that is destabilizing the world, and brings us closer to the beginning of the Clash of Civilizations world war. (Read more from “The Gathering Storm: Global Terror Explodes along with Surge of Refugees, Slavery, Militants” HERE)


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Global Islamic Terror Is Spreading

By Breitbart News. Terrorist attacks worldwide surged by more than a third and fatalities soared by 81 percent in 2014, a year that also saw Islamic State eclipse al Qaeda as the leading jihadist militant group, the U.S. State Department said on Friday.

In its annual report on terrorism, the department also charts an unprecedented flow of foreign fighters to Syria, often lured by Islamic State’s use of social media and drawn from diverse social backgrounds. (Read more from “Global Islamic Terror Is Spreading” HERE)

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Israel Conducts Air Strike Over the Border in Lebanon to Destroy This

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Israel launched an airstrike strike in Lebanon in order to destroy its own drone which had crashed, according to reports . . .

An unnamed security source told the AFP news agency that the strike was launched to destroy one of Israel’s drones “that crashed in the mountains outside Saghbine”.

However, the photos of the reported drone published by Lebanese media show Cyrillic script on a piece of the wreckage, “indicating that the drone may have been manufactured either in Russia or Eastern Europe”.

“I think the whole issue is not about Israel at all”, said Tal Inbar, Head of Space and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles at the Fisher Brothers Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies in Israel.

“Look at the pictures of Israeli-made UAVs”, he said, implying that the photos disseminated in the Lebanese media did not appear to resemble Israeli-made UAVs. (Read more from “Israel Conducts Air Strike Over the Border in Lebanon to Destroy This” HERE)

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Anti-Israel Obama Staffers ‘Cheered’ Private Scolding of Israeli Ambassador

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Obama administration staffers listened in on and “cheered” the private scolding of a former Israeli ambassador by senior a State Department official, according to new disclosures by that ambassador, Michael Oren.

The incident took place in 2010, when the Obama administration stoked tensions with Israel over its decision to continue building homes in Jerusalem neighborhoods, according to Oren, who recounts the episode in his new memoir, Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide.

At the time, the Obama administration was upset Israel had announced the construction of 1,600 new homes for Jewish people in neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. The announcement coincided with a trip to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden. . .

Oren recounted that when he landed back in Washington, D.C., following the trip, he landed “to learn that [then] Secretary of State Clinton has excoriated Netanyahu for 45 minutes over the phone, rebuking him for humiliating the president and undermining America’s ability to deal with pressing Middle East issues.”

[It was Oren’s turn next:] “There, waiting in his not-nice American mode, was Deputy Secretary Jim Steinberg, who proceeded to read me the text of Hillary’s conversation with Netanyahu,” Oren writes. “This contained a list of demands, including a total building freeze in East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank, most of which would be unacceptable to any Israeli prime minister” . . . Steinberg went on to lecture Oren in a “furious” manner. (Read more from “Obama Admin ‘Cheered’ Private Scolding of Israeli Ambassador” HERE)

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Obama Considering Range of Options in Response to China’s Severely Damaging OPM Hack

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By Bill Gertz. President Obama is considering a range of options in addition to economic sanctions in response to the massive theft of data from federal government computer networks, a senior White House security official said Tuesday.

“We’ve got a range of tools and we’ll consider all of them,” said Lisa Monaco, the White House’s homeland security adviser.

Monaco said in a brief interview with the Washington Free Beacon after a speech on cyber threats that the U.S. government is currently investigating the clandestine theft of sensitive information on at least 4 million government workers from computers at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) . . .

Monaco’s comments on possible responses to the cyber attack were the first to indicate that the administration is considering more than economic sanctions in retaliation. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, suggested Friday that sanctions were among the options.

Monaco did not respond when asked why neither the president nor his advisers have condemned the cyber attack against the Office of Personnel Management, which has been described by U.S. officials as one of the most damaging compromises of sensitive information in recent years. (Read more from “Obama Considering Range of Options in Response to OPM Hack” HERE)

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Chinese Cyber Attacks That Might Be Even Worse Than the OPM Hack

By Robert Knake. February 2013. DHS says that between December 2011 and June 2012, cyber criminals targeted twenty-three gas pipeline companies and stole information that could be used for sabotage purposes. Forensic data suggests the probes originated in China.
Why it’s worse: Espionage is one thing, sabotage is another. This incident crosses into what might be called “preparation of the battlefield”—laying the groundwork for military operations. In this incident, the hackers targeted an entire sector. They weren’t going after business data or stealing designs. The worst you can do with PII? Gain account access. The worst you can do with this info? Blow up pipelines.

March 2015. Canadian researchers say Chinese hackers attacked U.S. hosting site GitHub. GitHub said the attack involved “a wide combination of attack vectors” and used new techniques to involve unsuspecting web users in the flood of traffic to the site. According to the researchers, the attack targeted pages for two GitHub users—GreatFire and the New York Times’ Chinese mirror site—both of which circumvent China’s firewall.
Why it’s worse: This incident gets closer to the line North Korea crossed—interfering with our right to free speech. We haven’t quite articulated a norm in this area, but theInternational Strategy for Cyberspace comes close. In this case, China targeted GitHub because it was hosting pages for organizations that circumvent its Great Firewall. It may be time we put out a Monroe Doctrine for cyberspace, which would, make clear that trying to stifle freedom of speech in this country crosses a red line. We could go further and make it official policy to bring dissidents from other countries under this veil of protection. Taking a page from the Kennedy doctrine, the United States could declare that it will pay any price, bear any burden, host any website and defeat any denial of service attack in the cause of Internet freedom. . .

February 2012. Media reports say that Chinese hackers stole classified information about the technologies onboard F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
Why it’s worse: Under current norms, military technology is fair game but this one is devastating if true. The hack targeted classified information on one of our most advanced weapons platforms. The info could save the Chinese decades in research and development. Worse, it could be used to find vulnerabilities that could be exploited in combat—think the pilot episode of Battlestar Gallactica. (Read more from this story HERE)

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“Urgent Need”: Pentagon Building Cruise Missile Shield to Defend US Cities From Russia Weapon Advances

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The Pentagon is quietly working to set up an elaborate network of defenses to protect American cities from a barrage of Russian cruise missiles.

The plan calls for buying radars that would enable National Guard F-16 fighter jets to spot and shoot down fast and low-flying missiles. Top generals want to network those radars with sensor-laden aerostat balloons hovering over U.S. cities and with coastal warships equipped with sensors and interceptor missiles of their own.

One of those generals is Adm. William Gortney, who leads U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, and North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. Earlier this year, Gortney submitted an “urgent need” request to put those new radars on the F-16s that patrol the airspace around Washington. Such a request allows a project to circumvent the normal procurement process.

While no one will talk openly about the Pentagon’s overall cruise missile defense plans, much of which remains classified, senior military officials have provided clues in speeches, congressional hearings and other public forums over the past year. The statements reveal the Pentagon’s concern about advanced cruise missiles being developed by Russia.

“We’re devoting a good deal of attention to ensuring we’re properly configured against such an attack in the homeland, and we need to continue to do so,” Adm. Sandy Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a May 19 speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Washington. (Read more from “Pentagon Building Cruise Missile Shield to Defend US Cities From Russia” HERE)

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