US State Dept: Scant support for non-Muslim religions in M'sia

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Non-Muslims and those with interpretations of Islam that differ with the state face difficulties practising their faiths in Malaysia, the United States State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2015 says.

Non-Sunni Islamic schools of thought are considered deviant, with followers open to state action, the US department reports.

It also states that while there is heavy state financial support for Sunni Islam, the same cannot be said for other religions.

"Some government bodies, including the federal government’s Department of National Unity and Integration, were tasked with encouraging religious harmony and protecting the rights of minority religious groups, but many faith-based organisations stated they believe that none enjoyed the power and the influence of those that regulated Islamic affairs," the report reads.

For example, it said, the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) received RM819 million in 2015 for various "Islamic education and mosque-related projects".

However, no specific allocations were made in the government budget for non-Muslim religious groups, beyond the irregular funding that temples and churches say they receive, it reported.

It added that non-Muslim groups report regular difficulties in obtaining permission from local authorities to build places of worship, prompting them to worship in commercial spaces.

While largely tolerated, it said, it has left the groups vulnerable, with at least one church's use of a commercial shoplot in Selangor declared illegal by the local council.

The Selangor government declared that no action would be taken, but the church is still technically operating illegally and is vulnerable to state action, it said.

Muslim, non-Muslim custody battles

Non-Muslims also lose out in custody battles between a non-Muslim parent and his or her former partner who has converted to Islam, the US Department reported.

"When facing competing orders by civil and syariah courts regarding custody, (civil liberty groups and non-Muslim religious leaders) stated the police generally sided with the syariah (courts)," the report reads.

Intolerance of religious freedom

The report states that there have been continuous reports of societal intolerance of religious freedom, including conversion out of Islam and different interpretations or ways of practising Islam.

"Muslim women and girls faced social pressure to wear the tudung. On social media, Muslim women who did not wear the headscarf or dress modestly were often subject to shaming," it said.

It added that "insult to Islam" has also been accepted as an offence under the Sedition Act, with the conflation of religion and ethnicity complicating matters.

"The government prosecuted some deemed to have ‘insulted Islam’ under sedition laws, often following criticism of the government’s policies on religion.

"Because Islam, Malay ethnic identity and the ruling Umno party are closely linked, it is difficult to categorise many incidents as being solely based on religious identity," the report reads.

It also noted that regulations to bar proselytisation to Muslims and restrictions against evangelical groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of the Latter Day Saints, as an infringement of freedom of religion.

Correct, correct, correct, religious extremism is on the way in M'sia 

Non-Organic Crops Becomig More Toxic

Non-Organic Crops Are About to Become Much More Toxic

 

When Monsanto first released their Roundup Ready crops, which are seeds that have been engineered to withstand the company’s trademark pesticide, most farmers rejoiced. After all, this meant that they could eliminate weeds without having to worry about damaging their crops. And as an added bonus, it was thought at the time that these GMOs would reduce pesticide use; a notion that is laughable in retrospect.

The application of glyphosate around the worldhas increased 15 fold since these Roundup Ready crops were first introduced in the 1990s. These days US farmers are applying 300 million pounds of glyphosate to their crops every year, which is staggering when you consider that they were only using 11 million pounds per year in the 1980’s. However, this usage rate as less to do with popularity and more to do with necessity.

Roundup Ready crops have created a problem in agriculture that is similar to the problems caused by antibiotics, whose overuse has bred highly resistant strains of superbugs. The overuse of glyphosate has bred superweeds, which are resistant to the pesticide. And the more resistant they become, the more pesticides that farmers have to apply. It’s an endless cycle that farmers have no idea how to break out of. The problem just keeps getting worse and worse as the years go by. There are now 100 million acres of crops in the United States that contain superweeds.

So if Monsanto caused this problem, do they have a solution? Yep, and it’s the kind ofhorrifying solution that only Monsanto could come up with.

Monsanto’s own solution to this escalating problem would seem as laughably predictable as a bad Hollywood sequel if it weren’t all too real: Let’s roll out more GMO crops designed to withstand being doused with even more weed killer. Monsanto calls its next-generation line of GMO soybeans “Xtend,” and these are capable of not only surviving heavy applications of glyphosate but an older, more potent herbicide known as dicamba.

Federal regulators have yet to approve the new dicamba-based weed killer Monsanto formulated to pair with its dicamba-resistant GMO soybeans. But that apparently hasn’t stopped some desperate farmers from spraying dicamba anyway. And because the chemical has a nasty tendency to drift to neighboring fields, Monsanto’s new GMO crops aren’t only upending the natural order, they appear to being upending the social order in tight-knit farming communities too: Neighbors are accusing neighbors of illegally spraying dicamba and killing off crops that haven’t been engineered to tolerate the chemical. Dozens and dozens of complaints have been filed in Missouri and in Arkansas, but that may only be the beginning in the next chapter of the Monsanto saga. If the company’s new herbicide wins federal approval and certain farmers start spraying it, surrounding farmers might have no choice but to plant Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant GMO crops too—or risk their own crops dying from herbicide drift.

As one crop scientist at the University of Arkansas tells NPR: “[These farmers are] afraid they’re not going to be able to grow what they want to grow. They’re afraid that they’re going to be forced to go with that technology.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where this is going. There’s going to be more pesticides on more crops, more superweeds, and a hell of a lot more money for Monsanto. As for the company’s new dicambe based pesticide, it hasn’t shown any potential to cause health problems in humans, but there also hasn’t been nearly as many studies on the chemical. When Roundup first came out for instance, everyone thought it was safe. Now it’s becoming more acceptable in the scientific community to admit that this stuff is super toxic. Until dicambe is used on a wider scale, we won’t really know what it’s capable of.

If you haven’t switched to organic food, consider this a wake-up call. America’s food supply is probably about to become more toxic than any of us could have imagined.

Joshua Krause was born and raised in the Bay Area. He is a writer and researcher focused on principles of self-sufficiency and liberty at Ready Nutrition. You can follow Joshua’s work at ourFacebook page or on his personal Twitter.
Joshua’s website is Strange Danger

The Truth About Judaism

 A fascinating book by a Jew, Douglas Rushkoff entitled Nothing Sacred--The Truth About Judaism (2003) states that God is not part of Judaism. "Most Jewish thinkers have understood God more by what he is not than by whatever he is." ...

"For all practical purposes, he (God) does not exist...God is just not something Jews are supposed to worry about... Jews focus on an external master whose edicts they need to obey is replaced by an emphasis on peoples' duty to one another." ...

What we see in Rushkoff's elemental explanation ... is that, bluntly spoken, Judaism is an expression of atheism. Yes, Jews are atheists. Their god is unknowable, unnamed; He has "recessed" from human affairs. He doesn't need worship; in fact, He "shuns" it. He has "no emotions."

As Rushkoff states, "For all practical purposes, God does not exist...God is just not something Jews are supposed to worry about."

What a monumental display of hubris by Jews! Rejecting a loving, personal God, the Jews say that "God" is an abstraction, something they do rather than serve and worship. Their fealty and loyalty is to each other as human beings--they believe the right word for Jews is human "gods"--and refer to their own "internally felt divinity."

This is the New Age Lie: evolved humans are as gods, exercising right and wrong as only they see fit. It is the Crowleyian motto once again, "Do What Thou Wilt Shall be the Whole of the Law."

The only requirement for the individual Jew is that he or she must serve "Social Justice." He must perform and "do" a mitzvah, a good work. But good works are reserved primarily for other Jews. The Gentile deserves no good works. The Gentile, the Goyim, are like cattle, and their existence, says Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the late Chief Rabbi of Israel, is meant only to serve the Jews, their masters.

This, then, is a recipe for great evil. A narcissistic religion without a god, self-based, without faith and with works only for the limited members of one's blood kind.

It is, moreover, a religion in which its adherents do not look to the hereafter. There are no heavenly rewards. Thus the greedy attitude of take everything you can in this life is fostered. The focus of Judaism, Rushkoff reveals, is "on human beings and life itself as the supremely sacred."

NO GOD TO HEAR PRAYERS

Nor is there a God in heaven who hears ones prayers and petitions. "There's no one around to pray to," says Rushkoff. This creates a feeling of hopelessness, as the Jew realizes he is all alone in the here and now. Since there is no real God in heaven to pray to and turn to in time of need, the Jew has invented the many lesser deities of Kabbalah, even the Holy Serpent. Worse, Lucifer is often the object of prayer and Jews pray alternately both to a kabbalistic god (or goddess) or to Lucifer, considered a "helping angel" in Judaism.

To put it in stark terms, since there is no God to turn to, Jews pray to whatever entity that will provide solace and real help in time of need. This is a prime example of dialectical thinking, of Maimonides' idea of "negative theology."

In the Soviet Union, we saw what happened when a predominately Jewish cult, the communist party, proclaiming themselves "atheists," purged and slaughtered some 66 million innocent, mostly Christian citizens. Jews came from all over the globe to help build this supposed, new "Jewish Utopia." 

(Camp Commandants making the hidden hand sign of Jewish Masonry)

Synagogues and rabbis were everywhere favored--some 70% of the thousands of Soviet gulag prison camps were run by commandants who were also rabbis! Seventeen of the first nineteen members of the Soviet Politburo were Jews. Communist leader Vladimir Lenin and his deputy, Leon Trotsky, were both Jews. Yagoda, the first leader of the secret police, was a Jew.

These monsters said they were doing good works. They sought to "heal the earth," to spread communism through Tikkun Olam, and equality--brotherhood of man--throughout the planet, beginning with the Soviet Union and its republics. All aims of Judaic spirits.

As Douglas Rushkoff informs us ... the Jews collectively have a "responsibility" to heal the earth. Is that what motivated Karl Marx, whose ideas spawned communism, and Vladimir Lenin, the Father of communism in Soviet Russia? Each shared a "responsibility" to heal the earth, to bring about Tikkun Olam, the mending or repair of the earth through "creative destruction." Here's how Rushkoff, in his book, describes this concept of a future Jewish Utopia based on "Social Justice:"

"The concept of Tikkun Olam or healing the earth...is a poetic way of expressing the responsibility Jews have to 'heal the earth.' (It is) a mandate for social justice on behalf of the whole planet."

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Millions or Billions got to Malaysia’s leader

US rejects account of how millions got to Malaysia’s leader

By Richard C. Paddock NEW YORK TIMES  JULY 22, 2016

BANGKOK — A US Justice Department complaint filed in federal court this week directly contradicts repeated assertions by the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, about the origins and purpose of hundreds of millions of dollars that ended up in his personal bank accounts.

While Najib and other Malaysian officials have insisted that the money was a gift from an unidentified Saudi donor, the Justice Department said that it was stolen from a Malaysian government investment fund that Najib oversaw. Najib has said he never received any money from the fund.

The court filing, one of several complaints filed Wednesday in a federal money-laundering investigation, provides the first official public documentation of transactions that challenge Najib’s version of events in a scandal that has battered his government for the past year.

The revelations could undermine his credibility and give new ammunition to a movement to force him from office.

However, he maintains firm control over his governing party and has stifled opposition with the firing of critics from party posts, the closing of online news outlets, and the criminal prosecution of social media detractors and political opponents.

Najib has acknowledged receiving the money but said he broke no laws and took nothing for personal gain. He told reporters Thursday that his government would “fully cooperate” with the Justice Department action.

“Allow the process to take its course,” he said, “but I want to say categorically that we are serious about good governance.”

A spokesman for Najib, reached late Thursday, said the prime minister had not changed his position that the money he received was a gift from a Saudi donor and that he gave most of it back because he did not need it.

While the Justice Department complaint is an allegation, not evidence, it outlines in detail how huge sums were diverted from the government fund, routed through bank accounts in various countries, and then spent on high-end real estate, artwork, gambling, and various luxury goods by Najib’s stepson, friends, and associates.

The court filing seeks to recover more than $1 billion in assets bought with money that prosecutors say was stolen from the fund, known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.

Those assets, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said Wednesday, “are just a portion of the more than $3 billion that was stolen from 1MDB and laundered through American financial institutions in violation of United States law.”

The case, she said, should be seen as a sign of the country’s “firm commitment to fighting international corruption” and the department’s determination “to protect the American financial system from being used as a conduit for corruption.”

The United States is among several governments, including Malaysia, Singapore, and Switzerland, that have investigated 1MDB.

The inquiries began last year after an investigative report in The New York Times traced the purchases of about $150 million in residential properties and artwork in the United States to relatives or associates of Najib.

While the federal complaint does not identify Najib by name, it cites $731 million in funds that came from 1MDB that were deposited into accounts belonging to a government official identified as “Malaysian Official 1.”

However, Najib is clearly recognizable in the descriptions and actions attributed to that official.

Large transactions by “Malaysian Official 1” described in the complaint are identical to those previously acknowledged by Najib. The complaint describes the official’s role in managing the fund, which matches Najib’s role. And it says “Malaysian Official 1” is a relative of Riza Aziz, Najib’s stepson.

A person with knowledge of the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed that “Malaysian Official 1” was Najib. The complaint does name Aziz, and a family friend, Jho Low, who helped establish the fund.

Najib’s advisers have said Najib received about $1 billion in 2013, most of it donations from a member of the Saudi royal family to help him fight a tough election campaign that year.

That explanation of a Saudi gift was repeated by Najib’s attorney general, Mohamed Apandi Ali, who closed a government investigation into the money in January saying that he had found no evidence of wrongdoing.

On Thursday, Apandi issued a statement asserting that no investigation had found evidence that 1MDB funds had been misappropriated.

The Saudi gift was also confirmed by Saudi Arabia. Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in April that Najib had received a “genuine donation” from a Saudi donor. He did not specify the amount or provide any details.

A Saudi Foreign Ministry spokesman did not respond Friday to requests for comment.

The complaint says that $681 million transferred to Najib in 2013 came from a Singapore bank account held in the name of Tanore Finance Corp. It says the money originated from $3 billion in bonds underwritten for 1MDB by Goldman Sachs.

Justice about to be served on those who stole BILLIONS  from M'sian funds??? The plot thickens!

Umno leaders enrich themselves

Thanks, Razlan, for admitting Umno leaders enrich themselves

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YOURSAY | ‘In his obsession to slander the ex-Umno No 2, Razlan confirms what others know to be true. '

Your comforts came from Umno, Youth leader rebuts Muhyiddin

Mushiro: Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Razlan Rafii is right to say that the comforts of ex-deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin today is due to his position in Umno, but Razlan should also extend this to every other Umno member.

Razlan and all Umno members have lived off their positions in Umno and at the expense of the rakyat.

Prime Minister Najib Razak's mega lifestyle is also due to the same reason and this has shamelessly extended to his wife, children, stepson and also his cronies.

And worse, Umno believes that such kleptocracy is their birth right.

Headhunter: "Seven generations may not be able to spend the riches they made when holding positions in Umno," Razlan said in a statement.

His statement tells us how corrupt Umno really is. While the rest of us have to struggle to make a living and pay taxes, they, on the other hand, allegedly plunder the nation like there is no tomorrow.

Docsarna: This clown just admitted that if you join Umno, your wealth is enough to cover your next seven generations... I rest my case.

NNFC: It is amusing that the Umno Youth leader is alluding to the fact that if one was in Umno, then he would enjoy unimaginable benefits.

It raises questions of whether Umno is fighting for the good of the people, or are they trying to take all for themselves.

HaveAGreatDay: Razlan, how many generations of wealth did you make and was it 'halal'?

You hypocrites are so concerned over the external shows of being spiritual, I really wonder whether in your moments of silence/prayers, you realise those riches have been made at the

expense of the rakyat by inflating project costs and pocketing commissions?

Oxymoronictendencies: An interesting comment indeed from Razlan. Is he saying that Umno enriches its members? Would he care to elaborate with some detail how that is done?

Perhaps he could opine on his own and his family's enrichment as an Umno leader? Whilst it is no secret that Umno allegedly nurtures and fosters cronyism and corruption, finally the leadership begins to admit it publicly?

Progress at last. Let's hope we can hear more insights from Razlan on this topic.

Perhaps the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be asked to investigate this. I'm sure they will speedily complete their investigation and attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali will rush to prosecute.

It does seem that Umno Youth is taking up the charge from their older colleagues. First, a police report against former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, former MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamed and former AG Abdul Gani Patail, that the police don't seem to want to investigate, and now Razlan reveals that Umno enriches its leaders.

At least, these younger Umno troopers don't treat the rakyat like low IQ morons by espousing complete nonsense while seemingly defending the indefensible.

Falcon: In his obsession to slander the former Umno No 2, Razlan confirms what others know to be true.

Your comments about "rags to riches story" only belittles and demeans Umno and reiterates the allegations of runaway corruption of enormous scale.

Well done, Razlan. You must be pretty stupid, but thanks all the same for the expose as even the MACC could not have done better.

Spinnot: Razlan specifically said "positions in Umno" and not "positions in government". Since their salary could not have made them so rich in such a short time, their wealth must have been obtained from somewhere else.

Anonymous Hotplate: So Razlan fully agrees with and uses it as proof, that all Umno leaders and members enjoy money from some source, and all of them are leading lavish and luxurious lives.

Most of the non-Umno people know that all the rich and well-to-do people are Umno leaders and members, and yet they are jealous and angry when they see a non-Umno person buying a modest bungalow with their own money.

6th Generation Immigrant: Interesting argument in using the seven generations analogy.

We know first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman died a pauper. We know his successor, Abdul Razak Hussein, did not have time (to amass a fortune). We knew the third prime minister Hussein Onn cracked down on illegal riches, even in his own party.

So it must have started in 1981. Therefore, in 35 years, this money-making party has made seven generations of riches up till today.

That is an achievement and records of sorts, even the Chinese who are renowned for only the three generations of riches theory will be thoroughly impressed.

On another note, do the ‘seven generations’ include rural and kampong folks, too? If so, we need to inform them quickly, they appear not aware of the riches they have in their hands today.

Time for Mugabe to end his EVIL rule over Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: War veterans arrested for 'insulting Mugabe'

Police in Zimbabwe have arrested several senior war veterans who called for President Robert Mugabe to step down.

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Police in Zimbabwe arrested the leader of the country's once powerful war veterans' association, in a growing crackdown on critics of President Robert Mugabe after a series of rare protests.

Victor Matemadanda, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, was taken away by police at a court hearing of another colleague facing charges of insulting the head of state.

READ MORE: Zimbabwe war veterans denounce 'dictatorial' Mugabe

Detectives took Matemadanda from a group of independence war veterans, who had gathered outside the Harare court for the bail hearing of association spokesman Douglas Mahiya, the AFP news agency reported.

WATCH: Zimbabwe President Mugabe to punish critical veterans

His lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said Matemadanda has been accused of "undermining Mugabe".

In a previous incident last week, he was arrested at his home in Gokwe, in northwestern Zimbabwe, but was released two days later.

Separately, the Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights association said the war veterans' political commissar, Francis Nhando, was also arrested outside the court on Monday.

Nhando last month declared that the relationship between Mugabe and the highly influential war veterans had "broken down".

"People are saying enough is enough," said Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Harare.

"They say they are no longer afraid. They have been told to come out on the 3rd of August and march in the city centre in defiance."

Mugabe, 92, who has ruled since 1980, has faced a groundswell of opposition in recent months as the country's moribund economy collapses and the government struggles to pay its workforce.

READ MORE: Zimbabwe's season of rising discontent

Previously loyal supporters of the president, the war veterans released a highly critical statement two weeks ago attacking Mugabe as "dictatorial" and accusing him of being unable to address Zimbabwe's problems.

WATCH: Zimbabweans strike in protest over 'economic collapse'

"When we find out who the people were ... the punishment will be severe," Mugabe said, referring to unsigned authors of the war veterans' statement.

A new non-partisan opposition movement known as #ThisFlag has also galvanised anti-government sentiment in Zimbabwe, where security forces have crushed signs of dissent for decades. 

Scores of sympathisers and rights activists attended Mahiya's court hearing on Monday, including former vice president Joice Mujuru, now the leader of a new opposition party.

Police in anti-riot gear stood guard at the court entrance while war veterans sang songs protesting against Mahiya and Matemadanda's arrest.

Zimbabwe: Evan Mawarire calls for continued protests

Mahiya was granted $300 (268 euros) bail and released.

The state did not want the spokesman for the war veterans released, saying he could "incite public violence".
But the court ruled against this.

Last month, a one-day strike shut down offices, shops, schools and some government departments as people protested over an economic crisis that has delayed salaries for civil servants and the military.

More than 90 percent of the population is not in formal employment after years of economic decline under Mugabe's rule.

Time for Mugabe to end his EVIL rule over Zimbabwe. How long will this evil, wicked man rule this Nation, having lost the elections several years ago, he used his wicked cohorts to murder, kill and then resumed power! Time for the Time for Mugabe to end his EVIL rule over Zimbabweans to come out en masse (1 million strong) to protest in a peaceful way.