Jesus Malverde
Jesus Malverde's Journal‘More than 4,000 European jihadists fighting against Assad’
Source: Jerusalem Post
Belgian daily reports of spike in number of radical foreign fighters partaking in efforts to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian civil war continues to serve as a magnet for radical foreign jihadists to oust President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The French-language Belgian daily La Libre Belgique on Friday cited a Belgian security source saying that “four to five thousand” European jihadists were waging war in Syria. This number far exceeds the figure in a late November study by Norwegian counterterrorism specialist Thomas Hegghammer, which said that “at least 1,200 European Muslims have gone to Syria since the start of the war.”
John R. Schindler, a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College and a prominent counterterrorism expert, drew attention to the Belgian figure on his widely respected and popular intelligence blog The XX Committee.
“The figure of 4,000 to 5,000 EU passport holders fighting in Syria is a shocking one and quite a bit higher than anything previously seen in the European media,” Schindler wrote. “However, I’m not ready to discount it out of hand, as I’ve worked with Belgian intelligence on counterterrorism matters in the past, and I’ve found them to be professionals who have a good understanding of the serious threats they’re dealing with. Additionally, the figures I’ve been given on European jihadists fighting in Syria by intelligence officers and counterterrorism experts... is not much out of the range cited today by La Libre Belgique.”
Read more: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/More-than-4000-European-jihadists-fighting-against-Assad-336501
Tom of Finland Foundation
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http://www.TomOfFinlandFoundation.org
Gay Viral Videos Of 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/29/gay-viral-videos-2013_n_4515706.htmlThe international relevance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues was confirmed numerous ways in 2013.
These incredible videos -- all of which swept Twitter, Facebook and a number of other social media sites over the past year -- represent the LGBT community's political concerns as well as its often wicked sense of humor. From the poignancy of "All-American Boy," which introduced Chicago-based singer-songwriter Steve Grand to the world as "the first gay country singer," to the internationally-renowned video of a group of youngsters reacting to gay marriage, each of these clips were certainly topical. And let's not forget the barrage of same-sex marriage proposals (set in Central Park, Home Depot and onstage at a Garbage concert), that stunning Bar Mitzvah equality plea and, of course, Tom Daley's surprise revelation.
Take a look at HuffPost Gay Voices' picks for the 15 best gay viral videos this year:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/29/gay-viral-videos-2013_n_4515706.html
San Francisco’s ‘Rainbow Honor Walk’ Is Finally A Reality
The long awaited Rainbow Honor Walk in San Francisco’s Castro District was officially launched December 20, when the first plaque was revealed in a ceremony attended by more than 70 supporters, politicians and celebrity guests.
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The Rainbow Honor Walk will be similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with three foot square bronze plaques of each notable, containing their likeness and a short biography. The creators envision “an international monument that recognizes the contributions of LGBT individuals and their supporters from all time periods and around the world.“ LGBT legends like Allen Ginsberg, Bayard Rustin, Oscar Wilde, Frida Kahlo, and Gertrude Stein will be among the first group of plaques installed. (A complete list appears on the poster below.) The Rainbow Honor Walk has been almost two decades in the making, but finally, there are plans and financial resources to have the first twenty plaques installed before Pride Week in June 2014.
For more information about the Rainbow Honor Walk and the men and women chosen to be among the first twenty LGBT legends honored, you can visit the group’s website.
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/san-franciscos-rainbow-honor-walk-is-finally-a-reality/news/2013/12/29/80880#.UsBeTXm9XOE
Stop Fawning Over Pope Francis at the Expense of Women and Gay Rights
Just as some atheists and agnostics long to believe in God, many are more than a little keen to see the best side of the pious, as the bizarre discussion over the Pope’s alleged 'Marxism' demonstrates. Even if they themselves don’t believe a word of scripture, many liberals wish to see something of their own politics reflected in the outlook of the Catholic Church—hence the repeated references in recent weeks to the "progressive" Pope and the overrated idea of "liberation theology."
It is predictable that the reactionary politics of the new Pope should be played down by liberal Catholics in favour of his musings on social justice and global capitalism. What’s so depressing has been the extent to which liberal non-believers have fallen so hook, line and sinker for what is in reality nothing more than a clever repackaging exercise.
I say this because, apart from a few centrist musings about inequality, the Catholic Church—which Pope Francis heads and therefore has the power to change—stands on roughly the same political terrain as it did under the leadership of Pope Benedict. Pope Francis’s position on most issues should make the hair of every liberal curl. Instead we get article after article of saccharine from people who really should know better.
"Francis could replace Obama as the pin-up on every liberal and leftist wall," gushed Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian last month, while Timemagazine has just bestowed Pope Francis with the honour of 'person of the year'. Writing about the magazine’s decision, editor Nancy Gibbs said the pontiff had "done something remarkable: he has not changed the words, but he’s changed the music". "This focus on compassion, along with a general aura of merriment not always associated with princes of the church, has made Francis something of a rock star," she added.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116056/progressives-who-love-pope-francis-are-abandoning-women-and-gay-rights
Iran could seize on new sanctions bill to drive wedge between Israel lobby, U.S. public
One big difference between looming clash and previous AIPAC-Administration showdowns: Americans couldn’t care less about AWACs - but are dead set against war with Iran.The Huffington Post headline “Saboteur Sen. Launching War Push” on December 19 and the enraged Jewish reactions to it escaped intense scrutiny because of end-of-the-year vacations and the media’s need to sum up 2013. The incendiary headline, however, should serve as a shot across the bow, intended or not, about the malevolent maelstrom that could engulf the American Jewish establishment in the wake of its unequivocal and nearly unanimous support for new sanctions on Iran.
Under the headline, in the middle of the homepage of the most-widely read news site in the world, was a picture of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one of the main sponsors of the proposed Nuclear Iran Prevention Bill 2013. He was speaking from a podium, behind a lectern on which the name and emblem of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC was boldly displayed.
The message couldn’t be clearer: Menendez was a warmonger. And the people backing him, inspiring him and/or pushing him belonged to AIPAC and the pro-Israel community.
Jewish reactions were fast and furious: David Harris of the American Jewish Committee was “appalled” by the “shameful attack” on Menendez. The Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Foxman wrote in a letter to the editor published on the Huffington Post website that the photo of Menendez speaking at an AIPAC event “implies that he was trying to ‘sabotage’ the administration's efforts on Iran for reasons related to Israel under pressure from American Jews. We are shocked that a version of the anti-Semitic theme that ‘Jews manipulate the U.S. Government’ was boldly featured on your site.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.565980
Rockets from Lebanon smash down in Israel; IDF returns fire
Source: CNN
Rockets coming from Lebanon smashed into northern Israel on Sunday near the town of Kiryat Shmona, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Israeli forces fired toward the source of the launch, the IDF said. At least 20 Israeli rockets landed in southern Lebanon, according to the IDF and the Lebanese official National News Agency.
There were no initial reports of injuries on either side.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet, said he blames the Lebanese government for allowing Hezbollah to position rockets in neighborhoods while attacking civilians.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/29/world/meast/israel-rockets/
Alan Turing's pardon is wrong
To single out Turing is to say all the other persecuted gay men are not so deserving of justice because they were less exceptionalThe Queen's announcement of a posthumous pardon, under a Royal Prerogative of Mercy, to Alan Turing follows a long campaign and a petition signed by more than 37,000 people. The pardon will be welcomed by many, and it is undoubtedly a gesture of humanity, compassion and progressive values. It is also entirely, profoundly wrong.
Turing was an intellectual legend of the 20th century. His breakthroughs in applied mathematics have led him to be described as the father of modern computing. His work on the Enigma codebreaking machine made him more responsible than almost any other British individual for the ultimate defeat of Nazi Germany. Biographers recall him as a gentle, modest, reserved man. He was also gay, and in 1952 he was convicted of gross indecency - the catch-all legal term used to prosecute any consenting sexual acts between two men. The judge at his trial, acknowledging the importance of Turing's work, laid down what seemed at the time to be a lenient sentence. The mathematician was spared jail and ordered to undergo an experimental hormone therapy for homosexual urges, often dubbed "chemical castration". We know now the treatment will not have affected his orientation or desires, but it did cause physical changes including breast enlargement and erectile dysfunction.
Turing described the experience as horrible and humiliating and less than two years later, he died of cyanide poisoning. An inquest recorded a verdict of suicide. It is a tragic, shameful episode in our recent history, but while the tragedy was Turing's, the shame was entirely the nation's.
In announcing the pardon today, the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, said: "A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man." Turing was certainly an exceptional man but the tribute could not be less fitting. It says that the British state is prepared to forgive historical homosexual acts providing they were performed by a national hero, academic giant or world-changing innovator. This is the polar opposite of the correct message. Turing should be forgiven not because he was a modern legend, but because he did absolutely nothing wrong. The only wrong was the venality of the law. It was wrong when it was used against Oscar Wilde, it was wrong when it was used against Turing and it was wrong when it was used against an estimated 75,000 other men, whether they were famous playwrights and scientists or squaddies, plumbers or office clerks. Each of those men was just as unfairly persecuted, and many suffered similarly awful fates. To single out Turing is to say these men are less deserving of justice because they were somehow less exceptional. That cannot be right.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/24/alan-turing-pardon-wrong-gay-men
How Hollywood cloaked South Sudan in celebrity and fell for the 'big lie'
When violence erupted two weeks ago in the world's youngest country, one of the first voices to speak out, before the US president or the head of the United Nations, was that of the Hollywood actor George Clooney. There was nothing particularly objectionable about his counsel, which in any case was more likely authored by the American activist John Prendergast, with whom he shared a byline. It spoke of the need for a robust UN response and, even as tens of thousands of civilians fled ethnically motivated death squads, of the "opportunities" present in South Sudan.
This is a country, not yet two and a half years old, whose birth has been soaked in celebrity like no other. As well as Clooney, Matt Dillon and Don Cheadle have been occasional visitors who have tried to use their star power to place the international public firmly in the corner of this plucky upstart nation.
Unsurprisingly, the actors were highly effective at communicating a narrative about the new country that borrowed from a simple script. The south had fought a bloody two-decade battle for its independence against an Islamic and chauvinist north led by an indicted war criminal. The cost of that war, regularly touted as two million lives, meant that the south would need huge development support to lift it from the impoverished floor of every quality of life index published.
The great threat in this narrative was the vile regime in Khartoum, the capital of rump Sudan, which would seek to undermine its southern breakaway, or march back to war to reclaim some of its lost oilfields.
It was a seductive story that could be well told by handsome movie stars against the lavish backdrop supplied by South Sudan's superheated swamps and deserts and often beautiful people. But the narrative – part truth, part wilful misunderstanding – was deeply flawed. This would have mattered less if it had only informed public opinion, but instead it found its way into the building of a state.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/28/reality-of-south-sudan-and-hollywood-stars
Profile Information
Name: Jesus MalverdeGender: Male
Hometown: SF
Current location: Japan
Member since: Fri May 17, 2013, 11:44 PM
Number of posts: 10,274
