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WND

'Exterminate Christians, close pyramids, Sphinx'

Rising leader in Egypt has astonishing plans

By Bob Unruh

August 29, 2011

A rising leader in the radical Islamic movement in Egypt that has become a major political player since the demise of Hosni Mubarak's regime says Christian churches may need to be blown up and Christians exterminated to allow the advance of Islamic law, or Shariah.

The comments come from Sheik 'Adel Shehato, a senior leader with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist group. The sheik was jailed in 1991 because of his positions but was released earlier this year in the revolution that removed Mubarak from power.

His interview with the Egyptian daily Roz Al-Yousef was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

What's up with Islam? Read "Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad" and find out

The sheik, a senior jihadist leader, responded to a question about using violence against Christians, who make up a substantial minority in Egypt.

"Are you against blowing up churches?" the newspaper interviewer asked Shehato.

"Yes and no," he replied. "The Christian is free to worship his God in his church, but if the Christians make problems for the Muslims, I will exterminate them. I am guided by the Shariah, and it stipulates that they must pay the jizya tax while in a state of humiliation."

"These positions of yours frighten us, as Egyptians," the interviewer said.

"I will not act [in ways] that contradict my faith just in order to please the people. ... We say to the Christians, convert to Islam or pay the jizya, otherwise we will fight you. The Shariah is not based on logic but on divine law. That is why we oppose universal, manmade constitutions."

MEMRI, which was founded in 1998 to monitor Middle East media, is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit group that has offices in Washington, London, Rome, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Advisers include winners of Nobels, the President Medal of Freedom and the U.S. Congress Gold Medal, such as Elie Wiesel, James Woolsey, John Bolton, John Ashcroft, William Bennett, Paul Bremer, Alan Dershowitz and Edgar Bronfman.

Among the many assertions made by the senior Islamic leader was that the Egyptian pyramids need to be closed down to tourists.

"There will be tourism for purposes of [medical] treatment, but the tourism sites of the pyramids, the Sphinx, and Sharm Al-Sheikh will be shut down, because my task is to get people to serve Allah rather than people. No proud Muslim will ever be willing to live off tourism profits, because the tourists come to drink alcohol and fornicate. [If they] want to come, they must comply with the conditions and laws of Islam. We will explain to them that, according to the Shariah, the pyramids are [from] a pagan and polytheistic age."

He continued with a description of the new state of arts and culture in Egypt, should he be in power.

"In Islam, there is no such thing as art. Painting, singing, and dancing are forbidden. Therefore, in the state there will be nothing but Islamic culture, for I cannot teach the infidel culture. ... We will return to the decent culture of the Muslims and the Muslim forefathers, and to Islamic history," he said.

The far-reaching interview included his plans for worldwide government.

"As Muslims, we must believe that the Quran is our constitution, and that it is impossible for us to institute a Western democratic regime," he said. "I oppose democracy because it is not the faith of the Muslims. ... According to Islam, it is forbidden for people to rule and to legislate laws, as Allah alone is ruler. Allah did not hand down the term [democracy] as a form of rule, and it is completely absent from the Arab and Islamic lexicon."

He said, "Once Allah's law is instated (sic), the role of the people will end and Allah will reign supreme."

A leader like himself would have no need to know what people want, he said.

"There is no consultation [by government leaders] with commoners, such as workers and fellahin, nor is there consultation over issues that contravene the Shariah," he said.

Muslims such as Mubarak who led Islamic nations but without strict adherence to Shariah were apostate, he warned.

"They are apostate infidels, as opposed to infidels like the Jews and Christians, and anyone who doubts that they are infidels is an infidel," he said.

Especially, he warned, Muslims must be wary of Christians and cannot be friends.

"I must support the Muslim and oppose the Christian," he said. "If there is a Christian who does me no harm, I will maintain limited contact with him. Islam [discusses] certain degrees of contact with the Christian, namely: keeping promises, dealing honestly with him, treating him kindly, and befriending him. The first three are allowed, but the fourth is deemed dangerous, for it contravenes the verse that says, 'O you who believe! Do not take my enemy and your enemy for friends..."

A worldwide Islamic kingdom, he explained, is a given.

"Of course we will launch a campaign of Islamic conquest throughout the world. As soon as the Muslim and Islam control Egypt and implement the Sharia, we will turn to the neighboring regions, Libya and Sudan to the south. All the Muslims in the world who wish to see the Shariah implemented worldwide will join the Egyptian army in order to form Islamic battalions, whose task will be to bring about the victory ...

He said international relations will be simple.

"There are Muslims and there are infidels. We will have ambassadors in every country. We want to call all other countries to join Islam, and that will be the task of the ambassadors. If [they] refuse, there will be war," he said.

WND previously reported jihadists are boasting of the "paradise" the region is becoming since Mubarak was removed from power.

Additionally, there have been reports of a on a growing possibly jihadi threat not only inside the United States, but inside the U.S. government.

THE TOWER OF BABEL

The EU's "Parliament" Building in Strasbourg has been deliberately designed to represent the Tower of Babel, as per the famous painting by Peter Brueghel, painted in 1563. The logic behind this symbolism is the the EU is seeking to "build the house of Europe" - a task yet to be completed. The building is complete and in use, but is designed to look unfinished, and even has ringed platforms around it to represent scaffolding. When asked by a secular journalist 'Why the Tower of Babel?' an EU official replied, 'What they failed to complete 3000 years ago - we in Europe will finish now.'

Tower of Babel - Peter Brueghel - 1563

The two images blend almost seamlessly

EU "Parliament" Building - Strasbourg

The Tower of Babel was mans first atempt to form a system to exault itself, a complete foreshadow of a one world system on the horizon with a leader in the likes of Nimrod.

telegraph.co.uk

Euro bail-out in doubt as 'hysteria' sweeps Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer has enough coalition votes in the Bundestag to secure backing for Europe's revamped rescue machinery, threatening a consitutional crisis in Germany and a fresh eruption of the euro debt saga.

Seething discontent in Germany over Europe's debt crisis has spread to all the key institutions. Photo: AP

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

28 Aug 2011

Mrs Merkel has cancelled a high-profile trip to Russia on September 7, the crucial day when the package goes to the Bundestag and the country's constitutional court rules on the legality of the EU's bail-out machinery.

If the court rules that the €440bn rescue fund (EFSF) breaches Treaty law or undermines German fiscal sovereignty, it risks setting off an instant brushfire across monetary union.

The seething discontent in Germany over Europe's debt crisis has spread to all the key institutions of the state. "Hysteria is sweeping Germany " said Klaus Regling, the EFSF's director.

German media reported that the latest tally of votes in the Bundestag shows that 23 members from Mrs Merkel's own coalition plan to vote against the package, including twelve of the 44 members of Bavaria's Social Christians (CSU). This may force the Chancellor to rely on opposition votes, risking a government collapse.

Christian Wulff, Germany's president, stunned the country last week by accusing the European Central Bank of going "far beyond its mandate" with mass purchases of Spanish and Italian debt, and warning that the Europe's headlong rush towards fiscal union stikes at the "very core" of democracy. "Decisions have to be made in parliament in a liberal democracy. That is where legitimacy lies," he said.

A day earlier the Bundesbank had fired its own volley, condemning the ECB's bond purchases and warning the EU is drifting towards debt union without "democratic legitimacy" or treaty backing.

Joahannes Singhammer, leader of the CSU's Bundestag group, accused the ECB of acting "dangerously" by jumping the gun before parliaments had voted. The ECB is implicitly acting on behalf of the rescue fund until it is ratified.

A CSU document to be released on Monday flatly rebuts the latest accord between Chancellor Merkel and French president Nicholas Sarkozy, saying plans for an "economic government for eurozone states" are unacceptable. It demands treaty changes to let EMU states go bankrupt, and to eject them from the euro altogether for serial abuses.

"An unlimited transfer union and pooling of debts for any length of time would imply a shared financial government and decisively change the character of a European confederation of states," said the draft, obtained by Der Spiegel.

Mrs Merkel faces mutiny even within her own Christian Democrat (CDU) family. Wolfgang Bossbach, the spokesman for internal affairs, said he would oppose the package. "I can't vote against my own conviction," he said.

The Bundestag is expected to decide late next month on the package, which empowers the EFSF to buy bonds pre-emptively and recapitalize banks. While the bill is likely to pass, the furious debate leaves no doubt that Germany will resist moves to boost the EFSF's firepower yet further. Most City banks say the fund needs €2 trillion to stop the crisis engulfing Spain and Italy.

Mrs Merkel's aides say she is facing "war on every front". The next month will decide her future, Germany's destiny, and the fate of monetary union.

***

The Market Oracle (Edited from longer article.)

Fear Sets In, Panic Begins, Ruin Perceived, Prepare for Gold $2100

Stock-Markets / Financial Markets

By: Jim Willie

Aug 24, 2011

Something big is going on in the United States in a sentiment change, an altered state of psychology, a growing sense of panic. My opinion is that the nation has entered the early stage of comprehension among the population of systemic failure. The most immediate measures are the rash of heavy selling down days in the US Stock market, the strong purchases in Gold, as well as the reactions to constant news of sovereign debt in trouble, and the big banks teetering. Several other softer measures have been noted, made overwhelming by their sheer numbers. A perception wave has taken hold of a toxic USEconomy, a toxic US financial sector, a toxic US housing sector, a toxic economic brain trust in the US towers. A sense of doom is creeping into the nation's living rooms and board rooms, that the nation is in deterioration. Worse, they are realizing how US Federal Reserve is toothless, unable to address or treat the problems.

The citizenry is not adept or gifted enough to conclude that the problem is national insolvency, whose errant prescription has been a flood of liquidity. But they sense something is horribly wrong, and worse, that no current treatment will fix anything. They detect the backfire of the blunt banker solution and the misfired futility of the federal government solution. Witness the rooted perception and horrifying awareness that the United States is moving gradually and unavoidably into a systemic failure. The perception is that neither governments nor bankers have any solutions to help the people, who must impose their own gold standard. The Gold price registered a new high over $1900 per ounce, this after mental midget clowns and propaganda wags in May pronounced the bull market as finished. Their opinions are worthless. Watch them vanish behind the tall shrubbery when Gold surpasses $2000 this autumn.

Independent.ie (Edited from longer article.)

Families in modern Ireland skip food to pay the mortgage

70pc support debt forgiveness as Morgan Kelly shows how it can work

By RONALD QUINLAN and JODY CORCORAN - Sunday August 28 2011

Families in modern Ireland are going without food to meet the demand of mortgage debt.

The arrival of the second wave of the economic crisis, giving rise for the first time in many decades to the spectre of hunger, has caused shock across the country.

The decision of homeowners to choose hunger over a fear of eviction helps expose as irrelevant the issue of "moral hazard", the defence of policymakers who resist calls for debt forgiveness.

A nationwide Sunday Independent/Quantum Research poll has found massive support for the concept of debt forgiveness to help those who are genuinely unable to meet their full mortgage payments.

The poll found that 70 per cent supported the idea of debt forgiveness and, more tellingly, 73 per cent would not resent such relief for homeowners while they themselves continued to meet their commitments.

Yesterday the economist Morgan Kelly, who was among the first to warn of such a mortgage crisis, said that the purpose of debt forgiveness was not to eliminate negative equity but to deal with the

risk of people defaulting on smaller mortgages and "losing their family homes".

Professor Kelly told the Sunday Independent: "The State can save itself huge losses in firesales of foreclosed properties and end the anguish of many ordinary families."

The fear of losing their home is causing many anguished families to go without enough to eat in order to ensure that they have sufficient money to pay their mortgage.

The case highlighted last week of a family in Co Kerry which feels obliged to "cope with a new torment -- hunger" to service a mortgage of €80,000 has caused widespread shock.

In a letter to the Irish Times on Friday, MP Mac Domhnaill -- possibly a pseudonym -- an unemployed man from Tralee, wrote of the "anxiety and pain" the economic crisis had wreaked on his family.

The letter writer, who has chosen to use his dole payment to meet a €780 monthly repayment, told of how he had nothing to feed his children except bread and cereal.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that circumstances such as his are now prevalent, even though help is available through negotiation with a mortgage provider as well as through other State services.

There are currently up to 60,000 mortgage holders in the country who are in arrears on their mortgages.

Having sparked a debate on the issue of debt forgiveness, the UCD economist Morgan Kelly, in an email to the Sunday Independent yesterday, outlined the targeted measures he believed the State must now introduce to "end the anguish of many ordinary Irish families".

Responding directly to the claim made last week by the Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, amongst others, that he had called for a "blanket write-off of mortgage debt", Prof Kelly stated that the "purpose of debt forgiveness is not to eliminate negative equity, but to deal with the risk of people defaulting on smaller mortgages and losing their family homes".

Newsnetscotland.com

A story missing from our media: Iceland's on-going revolution

Deena Stryker - -

August 28, 2011

An Italian radio program's story about Iceland's on-going revolution is a stunning example of how little our media tells us about the rest of the world. We may remember that at the start of the 2008 financial crisis, Iceland literally went bankrupt. The reasons were mentioned only in passing, and since then, this little-known member of the European Union fell back into oblivion.

As one European country after another fails or risks failing, imperiling the Euro, with repercussions for the entire world, the last thing the powers that be want is for Iceland to become an example. Here's why:

Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made Iceland, (population 320 thousand, no army), one of the richest countries in the world. In 2003 all the country's banks were privatised, and in an effort to attract foreign investors, they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed them to offer relatively high rates of return. The accounts, called IceSave, attracted many UK and Dutch small investors. But as investments grew, so did the banks' foreign debt. In 2003 Iceland's debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalised, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.

Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But only after much pain.

Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister of a Social Democratic coalition government, negotiated a two million one hundred thousand dollar loan, to which the Nordic countries added another two and a half million. But the foreign financial community pressured Iceland to impose drastic measures. The FMI and the European Union wanted to take over its debt, claiming this was the only way for the country to pay back Holland and Great Britain, who had promised to reimburse their citizens.

Protests and riots continued, eventually forcing the government to resign. Elections were brought forward to April 2009, resulting in a left-wing coalition which condemned the neoliberal economic system, but immediately gave in to its demands that Iceland pay off a total of three and a half million Euros. This required each Icelandic citizen to pay 100 Euros a month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at 5.5% interest, to pay off a debt incurred by private parties vis a vis other private parties. It was the straw that broke the reindeer's back.

What happened next was extraordinary. The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland's leaders to the side of their constituents. The Head of State, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland's citizens responsible for its bankers' debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.

Of course the international community only increased the pressure on Iceland. Great Britain and Holland threatened dire reprisals that would isolate the country. As Icelanders went to vote, foreign bankers threatened to block any aid from the IMF. The British government threatened to freeze Icelander savings and checking accounts. As Grimsson said: "We were told that if we refused the international community's conditions, we would become the Cuba of the North. But if we had accepted, we would have become the Haiti of the North." (How many times have I written that when Cubans see the dire state of their neighbor, Haiti, they count themselves lucky.)

In the March 2010 referendum, 93% voted against repayment of the debt. The IMF immediately froze its loan. But the revolution (though not televised in the United States), would not be intimidated. With the support of a furious citizenry, the government launched civil and penal investigations into those responsible for the financial crisis. Interpol put out an international arrest warrant for the ex-president of Kaupthing, Sigurdur Einarsson, as the other bankers implicated in the crash fled the country.

But Icelanders didn't stop there: they decided to draft a new constitution that would free the country from the exaggerated power of international finance and virtual money. (The one in use had been written when Iceland gained its independence from Denmark, in 1918, the only difference with the Danish constitution being that the word 'president' replaced the word 'king'.)

To write the new constitution, the people of Iceland elected twenty-five citizens from among 522 adults not belonging to any political party but recommended by at least thirty citizens. This document was not the work of a handful of politicians, but was written on the internet. The constituent's meetings are streamed on-line, and citizens can send their comments and suggestions, witnessing the document as it takes shape. The constitution that eventually emerges from this participatory democratic process will be submitted to parliament for approval after the next elections.

Some readers will remember that Iceland's ninth century agrarian collapse was featured in Jared Diamond's book by the same name. Today, that country is recovering from its financial collapse in ways just the opposite of those generally considered unavoidable, as confirmed yesterday by the new head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde to Fareed Zakaria. The people of Greece have been told that the privatization of their public sector is the only solution. And those of Italy, Spain and Portugal are facing the same threat.

They should look to Iceland. Refusing to bow to foreign interests, that small country stated loud and clear that the people are sovereign.

That's why it is not in the news anymore.

***

The Yomiuri Shimbun

34 spots top Chernobyl evacuation standard

Soil at 34 spots in six Fukushima Prefecture municipalities has been contaminated with levels of radioactive cesium higher than the standard used for forcible evacuations after the Chernobyl disaster, it has been learned.

According to a soil contamination map submitted at a study meeting of the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, six municipalities recorded more than 1.48 million becquerels of cesium 137 per square meter--the standard used for forced resettlement after the 1986 Chernobyl accident.

The 34 spots are in no-entry and expanded evacuation zones around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The data reinforces comments outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan made Saturday. "There's a possibility that residents of some areas will be unable to [return and] live there for a long period of time," he said.

According to the survey, the six municipalities were Okumamachi, Futabamachi, Namiemachi, Tomiokamachi, Iitatemura and Minami-Soma.

The ministry checked soil contamination levels in about 2,200 locations around the nuclear plant.

The spot with the highest concentration of cesium 137 as of June 14--about 15.45 million becquerels per square meter--was in Okumamachi, a town in the heart of the no-entry zone. When levels of cesium 134 were added to the measurement, the level of the two radioactive isotopes reached about 29.46 million becquerels at that location.

More than 3 million becquerels of cesium 137 were detected in 16 locations in Okumamachi, Futabamachi, Namiemachi and Tomiokamachi.

The highly contaminated spots extend northwest from the nuclear plant.

The survey was conducted to pinpoint levels of radiation exposure by residents in municipalities around the plant.

Wikipedia

Caesium 137

Health and safety hazards

The portion of the total radiation dose (in air) contributed by each isotope versus time after the Chernobyl disaster depicting caesium-137 becoming the largest source of radiation about 200 days after the accident.

Caesium compounds are rarely encountered by most people, but most caesium compounds are mildly toxic because of chemical similarity of caesium to potassium. Exposure to large amounts of caesium compounds can cause hyperirritability and spasms, but as such amounts would not ordinarily be encountered in natural sources, caesium is not a major chemical environmental pollutant. The median lethal dose (LD50) value for caesium chloride in mice is 2.3 g per kilogram, which is comparable to the LD50 values of potassium chloride and sodium chloride.

Caesium metal is one of the most reactive elements and is highly explosive when it comes in contact with water. The hydrogen gas produced by the reaction is heated by the thermal energy released at the same time, causing ignition and a violent explosion. This can occur with other alkali metals, but caesium is so potent that this explosive reaction can even be triggered by cold water. The metal is highly pyrophoric, and ignites spontaneously in air to form caesium hydroxide and various oxides. Caesium hydroxide is a very strong base, and can rapidly corrode glass.

The isotopes 134 and 137 (present in the biosphere in small amounts from radiation leaks) represent a radioactivity burden which varies depending on location. Radiocaesium does not accumulate in the body as effectively as many other fission products (such as radioiodine and radiostrontium). As with other alkali metals, radiocaesium washes out of the body relatively quickly in sweat and urine. However, radiocaesium follows potassium and tends to accumulate in plant tissues, including fruits and vegetables. It is also well-documented that mushrooms from contaminated forests accumulate radiocaesium (caesium-137) in their fungal sporocarps. Accumulation of caesium-137 in lakes has been a high concern after the Chernobyl disaster. Experiments with dogs showed that a single dose of 3800 Î¼Ci (4.1 μg of caesium-137) per kilogram is lethal within three weeks; smaller amounts may cause infertility and cancer. The International Atomic Energy Agency and other sources have warned that radioactive materials, such as caesium-137, could be used in radiological dispersion devices, or "dirty bombs".

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      Until next week...

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"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
(Matthew 7:20)