In China prisoners with communicable diseases get 'get-out-of-jail-free card'

From Global Times

"According to the Chinese law, criminals who are in serious need of medical treatment are allowed to serve their term on medical parole and cannot be imprisoned."

Crime Disease and Punishment
By Liang Chen - Global Times

If it weren't for the security wall, you might think you were passing by a hospice or hospital in the countryside and you'd only be half wrong. The Jinzhong Prison located in Chadian township of Tianjin, 65 kilometers from Beijing is home to 500 inmates with infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and tuberculosis.

More than a third of the prisoners, including those sentenced in Beijing, have been infected with HIV/AIDS. It's the only prison near Beijing with medical facilities able to cope with the special needs of prisoners who have been stricken with communicable diseases.

In the middle of the prison is a special medical cell block where inmates with infectious diseases live, eat and receive medical treatment.

Nurses dispense drugs daily to inmates according to drug regimes prescribed by doctors. Prisoners who are well enough exercise in the courtyard twice a day. They are also excused from work duties that other prisoners are required to perform to help their institution cut costs.

Meanwhile, when police in Dongguan, Guangdong Province discovered that the two drug dealers they had arrested were HIV carriers they simply let them go last November.

Treatment varies

The issue of how to deal with convicted criminals with communicable diseases has long been debated in China and research by the Global Times shows correction institutes have not yet found a unified way of dealing with inmates with infectious diseases.

Local police in Dongguan later explained they set the suspects free because some prisons in Guangdong won't accept convicts who have communicable diseases, as the cost of treating them is so high.

Similar cases have been reported around the country, especially in underdeveloped provinces. The police and criminals who are living with infectious diseases repeatedly play a "catch-and-release" game.

Li Yong, the spokesperson for the Gansu Provincial Public Security Department said local governments provide limited budgets to detention centers, which don't take into account extra cost of housing and treating inmates who are sick or contagious.

Li said most convicted criminals infected with HIV/AIDS will serve their terms, but suspects with other communicable diseases are not held for lack of money.

"The risk of infection faced by police when catching criminals and the difficulties the prisons and detention centers have in holding them have caused the catch-and-release games," Mian Liping, a campaign coordinator with World AIDS Campaign, told the Global Times.

Mian says society has a duty to treat people with serious illnesses humanely. "The local and central governments should at least provide special facilities in jails for those who are infected with communicable diseases," she said, adding that treating and curing prisoners of their diseases will also help stop them from spreadings.

Segregation not the answer

Mian she doesn't think segregating sick prisoners in separate prisons is the right answer. She says it amounts to discrimination and causes greater stigma that ex-cons have to deal with after they are released. "People will know they are from the prison for those with infectious diseases." 
Continued here: http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/697242/Crime-disease-and-punishment.aspx

Obama Hammers Retirees

Cross-post from: The Daily Dialectic

Obama's tax rate on dividends to soar to 44.8%; Retirees to get hammered

Wall Street Journal February 22, 2012

President Obama's 2013 budget is the gift that keeps on giving—to government. One buried surprise is his proposal to triple the tax rate on corporate dividends, which believe it or not is higher than in his previous budgets.

Mr. Obama is proposing to raise the dividend tax rate to the higher personal income tax rate of 39.6% that will kick in next year. Add in the planned phase-out of deductions and exemptions, and the rate hits 41%. Then add the 3.8% investment tax surcharge in ObamaCare, and the new dividend tax rate in 2013 would be 44.8%—nearly three times today's 15% rate.

Keep in mind that dividends are paid to shareholders only after the corporation pays taxes on its profits. So assuming a maximum 35% corporate tax rate and a 44.8% dividend tax, the total tax on corporate earnings passed through as dividends would be 64.1%.

[FULL ARTICLE...]

Discovery...it could be really, really bad

Discovery is a wonderful thing…sort of.   I’m not sure of the exact date but I knew where I was at when I made the startling discovery that the Democratic Party of the United States of America was not working in the best interests of its citizens.  That was in San Antonio, Texas so the dateline would put it somewhere between 1971 and 1975.  It was also around the time Henry Cisneros, the mayor of San Antonio, and Henry Kissinger were discussing that new elitists club called the Tri-lateral Commission (Kissinger, by the way, was a founding member).  Now without getting into the nit and gritty of the Tri-lateral Commission let’s just say, “It’s bad, really, really, bad!”  Everyone selected for membership has some sort of beef with our Constitutional Republic and they all want to be able to control all citizens in a super socialistic state. 

Over time I got more and more involved with this thing called politics and the more I learned the more startled I became…probably a better word would be, “disappointed”.   I was disenchanted that the party my father was so found of was not what he would agree with if he were alive today.  Even that poster boy of the time, Ted Kennedy was on the flip side of his brother former President John F. Kennedy.  Something really bad had happened and yet the general public was none the wiser.  I took political science and history classes in college to try and get a better handle on what was going on.  But then I took a course called, “Texas Politics” only to learn this has been going on for some time.  Lyndon Baines Johnson was no saint that’s for sure…let’s just say, “He was really, really bad!” long before he became president of the United States.

I mentioned that the general public was none the wiser.  In fact it was worse than that!  They were now ignorant (as opposed to dumb)!  Most everyone I would talk with was lacking in knowledge of what was going on around them.  The country was literally beginning to fall apart from the inside out but you would never know if all you did was listen to the politicians and get your news from the main stream media (MSM).  Everything was becoming controlled…especially with the news media!  We were brainwashed with the nightly news to the extent we all believed that the most trusted man in America was CBS news anchor, Walter Cronkite*…turns out he was a traitor to the Republic and belonged to groups supporting a one world government…even stating that America must give up its sovereignty!  How’s that for a discovery?

My point here is that all of us must discover for ourselves the damage being done by our elected officials.  If you voted for anyone once and things got worse why do you vote for the same person again?  To use the old saying, “The definition of insanity is when you do the same thing over and over again expecting different results.”  Obviously I’m not the only one to discover the deterioration of the Democratic Party but when it’s a foreigner from far away New Zealand it makes me wonder how much my friends and family who are still hanging on to the Democratic Party are still absorbing their news from the MSM.  Mr. Trevor Loudon gives an interesting speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. last October but pay particular attention to that which he says between 9:00 and 10:10 minutes…his discovery is not so wonderful. ~ Norman E. Hooben

Ps: By the way, I’m not a Republican…strictly independent! And that’s really, really good!

*See video at the bottom of this page.

_________________________________________

Egypt has gone dark..."The Egyptian government's actions have essentially wiped their country from the global map."

Somehow I missed this story...and somehow maybe you did, but its not at all surprising for this is exactly the kind of control the Obama administration is yearning for...irregardless of what the spokesman states in the last paragraph.  Here in this country it may take a bit longer to take over control of the Internet but it can be done and Obama will find a way to do it.  Further, and for those of you who voted for Hillary Clinton, same story!  Hillary was the recipient of thousands of dollars when she was a U.S. Senator which was suppose to go for Internet control legislation.  The legislation never got off the ground but she kept the money anyway.  My point here is, all you people who think you are free and expect to remain free, just watch it all come to a screeching halt when the same administration remains in office and tightens their reins.  Yeah, you might still have Internet but it will be called Intranet... and guess how much off the map that is! ~ Norman E. Hooben

The following story from: Nextgov
Egypt: Off the Map

By Brian Kalish 

Egypt has gone dark. According to Renesys, a Manchester, N.H.-based company that monitors Internet routing data, the Egyptian government appears to have taken the unprecedented step of ordering service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet.
"Every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, Internet cafe, website, school, embassy and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their Internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world," Renesys said in a blog post. "The Egyptian government's actions . . . have essentially wiped their country from the global map."
At 12:34 a.m. Friday in Egypt, Renesys said they observed the virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the Internet's global routing table. The company said this is different from what happened previously in Tunisia, where specific routes were blocked, or in Iran, where the Internet connections were rendered painfully slow.
The blackout also appeared to extend to mobile phones. British Telecom provider Vodafone confirmed on their website that all mobile operators in Egypt were instructend to suspend services in selected areas of the country. "Under Egyptian legislation the authorities have the right to issue such an order and we are obliged to comply with it," the company said.

And the fact that those in Egypt might not see reaction from the US government, which condemned the moves, was not lost on State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowely: "We are concerned that communication services, including the Internet, social media and even this #tweet, are being blocked in #Egypt," he wrote on the micro-blogging site late Thursday.

The Notorious Sand Pit...you can see it at the Bataan Death March...c'mon down!

Please note the original posting date (26 days from Feb 17)The article is from Nextgov while the pictures are from a Holloman Air Force Base participant

26 Days Left to Sign Up for the Bataan March

By Bob Brewin 02/17/12

Registration for the 23rd annual Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., closes Wednesday, March 14, with the event scheduled for Sunday, March 25.
I recommend showing up early on Saturday to sign-in and then hang out with the crowd of 8,000-plus marchers and the few remaining survivors of the original and truly deadly march in the Philippines during World War II.
Depending on your physical condition, stamina, and Hooah ethos, the Memorial March offers a number of options -- a 26 mile course for teams or individuals who just love toting a 35-pound pack in the aptly named "heavy" division, and a "light" division sans pack for folks with enough zest to run the course, which includes the notorious sandpit.




Then there's the "honorary" division, a 14.2 mile course that I plan to do, which, alas, does not spare one the sandpit. Plus, I am convinced that every year Army engineers devote considerable energy to stretching the hills common to both the long and short courses.
I consider the Memorial March weekend one of the highlights of the year -- an exercise in camaraderie that resonates with history.
Join me and my good friend Paul McCloskey, editor of Government Computer News, for this adventure in the desert. Send me a note if you plan to make it.

See more pictures at With honor

A 2008 reminder... Will it go unheeded again?

Newt Talks Nukes...the threat is real !!!

Disclaimer: This website does not endorse any candidate that is currently running for the presidency of the United States of America! Period! 

I do however support what Mr. Gingrich says between 0:40 and 0:44 seconds into this speech...one of the better speeches made to date. 
Identifying some of our national security problems, Mr. Gingrich presents one of the major arguments for getting rid of the cancer that currently resides in the White House. 
Meanwhile, back to the speech...(By the way, Is that Alan Dershowitz ...zoomed in on about 0:43 seconds?) some of the speech is what I call mis-information (Yes, even Mr. Gingrich can be hoodwinked by the Obama Administration.) but if I were to identify such it would take away the intent of this posting. 
Further, when Gingrich states, "We have to understand whats happening in Pakistan." you need to rephrase it to, "We have to understand whats happening in America."  ...and if you don't know by now, you're too late! ~ Norman E. Hooben

ps: Newt is right about Leon Panetta...Panetta is anti-American, pro Hamas, etc.

Speaking of Alan Dershowitz you might want to see this: (link) Alan Dershowitz slams Media Matters as fascists, anti-Semitic bigots

I had a dream...

"Undercover Boss" breaks character, closes restaurant in the middle of the episode!

From Daily Mail  See Video Below
'Actually, I DO know something about this business': Fast food 'Undercover Boss' shut down burger restaurant on the spot

• Revealed his secret identity in the middle of an episode after manager threatened to beat an employee for not working hard enough
• Manager defended himself saying 'If I don't scream at them, they don't listen to me'

By Daily Mail Reporter

The point of the CBS show 'Undercover Boss' is that the CEOs are supposed to stay 'undercover' as they work in the trenches of their own companies, their identities hidden from their employees.
But Rick Silva, the head of Checkers & Rally's drive-in hamburger restaurants, was so horrified at the abusive tone of one of his managers in Homestead, Florida, that he broke character and revealed himself in the middle of the episode.
And then he shut down the restaurant for the night, stunning the employees and shocking the manager, known only in show as 'Stevens.'
While working alongside an employee named Todd at the fry station of the restaurant, Todd is in the middle of telling Silva about his ambitions to be a chef, when Stevens yells at Todd to stop talking and cook the meat.
At one point, Stevens threatened Todd outside and beat him for not working hard enough.
When Silva questioned the employee about why he allowed himself to be treated so badly, Todd replied that he had to keep his job so he could support his mother and he worried that if he stood up for himself, he would be fired.
In response to Steven's abusive behaviour and barking orders at his employees, Silva responds by asking Stevens to speak with him outside.
When he asked why Stevens yelled at his employees, the manager explains: 'If I don't scream at them, they don't listen to me.'

Gaining confidence, the manager added: 'I'm not going to let you continue telling me I'm disrespecting my crew. Have you been in the fast food business before?'

Read more (plus pictures) here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2104085/Rallys-Checkers-CEO-Rick-Silva-shuts-restaurant-Undercover-Boss-episode.html#ixzz1n1upbhYW

Your Local Sheriff...the most powerful law enforcement officer in the land*

*The county sheriff is the only elected law enforcement officer...all others are appointed.

The 10^th Amendment to the United States Constitution simply reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” ~ Sheriff Richard Mack 

Apparently, Sheriff Mack isn’t the only one in America’s history with strong views about state sovereignty. Fourth President of the United States, James Madison said, “We can safely rely on the disposition of state legislatures to erect barriers against the encroachment of the national authority.” ~ The Northeast Texan

This article cross-posted from: Liberty News online                (also see video at bottom of this page)
USA :: State Sovereignty in USA
SHERIFF'S STANDING WITH THE PEOPLE AGAINST THE FEDS ~ Larry Pratt - NewsWithViews.com

As I have reported earlier that sheriffs in New Mexico are threatening to arrest federal agents if they attempt to enforce unconstitutional federal acts in contravention of state law.

The even better news is that sheriffs in other states are doing the same. Sheriff Brad Rogers of Elkhart County, Indiana has told Food and Drug Administration agents they will be arrested if they go on Amish farmer David Hochstetler’s land. Having falsely alleged that raw, unpasteurized milk sold by Hochstetler had caused several cases of food poisoning, the FDA filed a complaint in federal court to support their attack on the farmer.

I have consumed raw milk for years and can affirm that it is not only safe, but much healthier than pasteurized milk.

The threat of incarceration led the feds to withdraw their complaint against Hochstetler. This was even after US Department of Justice attorney Ross Goldstein emailed the Sheriff that he would be arrested if he protected Hochstetler. When Sheriff Rogers refused to back down, the FDA cried uncle.

Rogers’s communication to the feds seemed to have been quite convincing: “Any further attempts to inspect this farm without a warrant signed by a local judge, based on probable cause, will result in Federal inspectors’ removal or arrest for trespassing by my officers or I.” The feds have gotten used to acting without due process -- in this case, that means not bothering to get a search warrant.

Rogers’ campaign website listed his number one objective as “Upholding the Constitution.” He is also concerned about the heart condition of his inmates and is determined to help “Provide Hope to Change a Heart.” Under that header he says, “The Elkhart County jail has 74 church services a month and allows unprecedented access to ministry volunteers. Not only can we impact inmates for the here and now, but for eternity.”

Sheriff Rogers requires his deputies to take three, two-day classes on the Constitution (at a tuition rate of $125 per person).

Rogers is not alone in his love for the Constitution. Ellis County, Texas Sheriff Johnny Brown has stated that he would resist any effort by the federal government to confiscate firearms in his county.

Sheriff Joe Baca in Sierra County, California told his county commission that he will not enforce road closures on Bureau of Land Management and Gila National Forest Lands.

Sheriff Gil Gilbertson of Josephine County, Oregon has told the Forest Service that he will protect those using the forest in his county. He has written a short treatise entitled, “Unraveling Federal Jurisdiction within a State.” It is actually a scholarly piece based on citations from the Constitution, court cases and statutes and concludes that the Forest Service has no authority in any county.

Siskiyou County, California Sheriff Jon Lopey has said: “I have told federal and state officials over and over that, yes, we want to preserve the environment, but you care more about the fish, frogs, trees and birds than you do about the human race. When will you start to balance your decisions to the needs of the people?...We are right now in a fight for our survival.” Lopey spearheaded a coalition of eight sheriffs calling themselves: “Defend Rural America.”

In the days after Hurricane Katrina, power was out for days. Food and medicine were about to be lost. So Sheriff Billy McGee of Forrest County, Mississippi -- a Democrat -- took action when he realized that a federal shipment of six trucks of ice bound for Hattiesburg turned out to be only four. McGee went in search of the other two and found them being guarded by some Army reservists who possessed bureaucratic mindsets.

McGee took steps to secure the ice, but was told he was not authorized to take the vehicles. When a reservist would not get off one of the trucks, McGee had him handcuffed. The ice was delivered where it was needed in Hattiesburg, explaining why McGee is also known as The Ice Man.

Not surprisingly, the feds have brought suit against the Sheriff in federal court. Perhaps McGee will arrest any marshals seeking to interfere with the duties of a peace officer.

It is encouraging that men of integrity, who understand that the sheriff is the top law enforcement officer in his county, have been elected in counties around the country. We should be looking for more who fit this description.
Please let me know if you are aware of any constitutional sheriffs, and email me their names and stories at ldpratt@gunowners.org.

© 2012 Larry Pratt - All Rights Reserved
--------------------------
Larry Pratt has been Executive Director of Gun Owners of America for 27 years. GOA is a national membership organization of 300,000 Americans dedicated to promoting their second amendment freedom to keep and bear arms.
E-Mail: ldpratt@gunowners.org http://www.newswithviews.com/Pratt/larry124.htm

______________________________________

POWER OVER LAND (See Unraveling Federal Jurisdiction)

In a dispute over federal jurisdiction of title to real property, the court held; “We think a proper examination of this subject will show that the United States never held any municipal sovereignty, jurisdiction, or right of soil in and to the territory, of which Alabama or any of the new States were formed,” . 

“Because, the United States has no constitutional capacity to exercise municipal jurisdiction, sovereignty, or eminent domain, within the limits of a State or elsewhere, except in the cases in which it is expressly granted,”  “Alabama is therefore entitled to the sovereignty and jurisdiction over all the territory within her limits, subject to the common law,”

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? ...if not, that's OK...enjoy!

Bill Clinton's inability to accept straightforward facts

Clinton Blames Jihad on Poverty
by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch
Bill Clinton recently demonstrated the tenacity of those liberal/leftist/materialist paradigms that have all but blinded the West to reality. According to the Associated Press:

Clinton: Poverty is "what's fueling all this stuff (jihad)."

Former U.S. President [and current spouse of the U.S. Secretary of State] Bill Clinton warned Monday that the rampant poverty that plagues oil-rich Nigeria—felt most acutely in its Muslim north—is fueling the religious violence now tearing at the nation. A radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram claimed Monday it killed 12 soldiers and beheaded three government informants in its bloody wave of sectarian violence against Nigeria's weak central government [the report later adds that Boko Haram has so far killed 286 people this year alone, that is, in just the last six weeks]. While Clinton never named the sect in a speech Monday night in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, he admitted he remained "really worried" about the security challenges in Africa's most populous nation."You can't just have this level of inequality persist. That's what's fueling all this stuff," said Clinton... New government statistics released Monday showed that in Nigeria's northwest and northeast, regions besieged by Islamic insurgents, about 75 percent of the people live in poverty [emphasis added].
The remainder of the article tells of how "analysts" agree with the poverty-fuels-jihad thesis, and how "Clinton called for Nigerians to embrace their similarities," arguing that "It is almost impossible to cure a problem based on violence with violence."
Thus, Clinton, analysts—even the New York Times—all offer a perfectly palatable reason for the violence plaguing Nigeria, one that accords well with the materialist worldview, and one that, as usual, defies reality. Consider some simple facts:
First, Islamists of the north, led by Boko Haram, began their violent jihad in earnest, not because they realized they were financially impoverished, but because a Christian won what was described as Nigeria's freest and fairest elections. After all, as Islamic law clearly teaches, a non-Muslim is not permitted to govern Muslims—not because he is bad for the economy, but because he is an infidel.
The full name of Boko Haram is "Sunnis for [Islamic] Propagation and Jihad"; "Boko Haram," their nickname, means "Western Education is a Sin" (not "We Kill Because We're Poor"). Their stated goal is the establishment of a pure Sharia state in Nigeria. In other words, they are like all the other Islamists around the world, many of whom are financially well of, beginning with the leader of the pack, Saudi Arabia, one of the world's wealthiest nations, and also the nation most responsible for fueling the jihad of groups like Boko Haram (just as the rich Saudi Osama bin Laden had supported the Islamist regime of Sudan, any number of wealthy donors, Saudi and otherwise, support jihadi groups like Boko Haram as part of their zakat).
Then there is the fact that, whenever and wherever a society begins to enforce Sharia, impoverishment soon follows—unless, of course, that society has natural resources to glut on. Indeed, consider the poverty-inducing consequences of Boko Haram's jihad: most recently, after reading about how "Allahu Akbar" screaming Muslims killed and wrought havoc in the Nigerian city of Kano, we discover that Kano is "the economic heart of Nigeria's mainly Muslim north."
Who, then, is really creating poverty in northern Nigeria? As we saw, the Associated Press report states that "in Nigeria's northwest and northeast, regions besieged by Islamic insurgents, about 75 percent of the people live in poverty." The implication is that poverty creates frustrated jihadis; the reality is that jihadis frustrate the economy.
The inability to accept these straightforward facts; the inability to factor ideological or existential motives, seeing only material motives (money, land, etc); the almost instinctive conclusion that Muslim violence is proof positive of legitimate grievance—all of these are so ingrained in the predominant paradigm, from the mainstream media, to mainstream politicians, and all of these are poisoning Western civilization from within, eroding its influence and capacity to act from without.

Muslim Persecution of Christians...these are the same countries Obama pays homage to!

Source: Raymond Ibrahim
Muslim Persecution of Christians: January 2012
'Good Muslims Cannot Convert to Christianity'
by Raymond Ibrahim
Stonegate Institute

- She was flogged -- given 40 lashes as hundreds of Muslim spectators jeered -- for embracing a "foreign religion."
- The happy cheers of Christian children singing carols "became terrified whimpers" when four Muslims, one of them with an axe, barged into the church, slapped the children, wrecked the furniture, and kicked the altar -- for "disturbing their prayers."

The beginning of the New Year saw only an increase in the oppression of Christians under Islam, from Nigeria, where an all-out jihad has been declared in an effort to eradicate the Muslim north of all Christians, to Europe, where Muslim converts to Christianity are still hounded and attacked as apostates. According to the Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, "The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it's increasing year by year"; in our life time alone, he predicts "Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt."

The Intersection

An international report found that Muslim nations make up nine out of the top ten countries where Christians face the "most severe" persecution. In response to these findings, a Vatican spokesman said that "Among the most serious concerns, the increase in Islamic extremism merits special attention. Persons and organizations dedicated to extremist Islamic ideology perpetrate terrible acts of violence in many places throughout the world: the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria is but one example. Then there is the climate of insecurity that unfortunately in some countries accompanies the so-called "Arab spring"—a climate that drives many Christians to flee and even to emigrate."
Categorized by theme, January's batch of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed in alphabetical order by country, not severity of anecdote.

APOSTASY

Iran: A Christian convert who was arrested in her home has been sentenced to two years in prison. Previously she endured five months of uncertainty detained in the notorious Evin prison, where the government hoped she would come to her senses and renounce Christianity. She was convicted of "broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by formation of what is called a house church, insulting sacred figures and action against national security." Likewise, Iranian Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani continues to suffer in prison. Most recently, he rejected an offer to be released if he publicly acknowledged Islam's prophet Muhammad as "a messenger sent by God," which would amount to rejecting Christianity, as Muhammad/Koran reject it.
Kenya: Muslim apostates seeking refuge in Kenya are being tracked and attacked by Muslims from their countries of origin: An Ethiopian who, upon converting to Christianity, was shot by his father, kidnapped and almost killed, is now receiving threatening text messages. Likewise, a Ugandan convert to Christianity is in hiding, his movements severely restricted since "the Muslims are looking to kill me. I need protection and help."
Kuwait: A royal prince who openly declared that he has converted to Christianity, confirmed the reality that he now might be targeted for killing as an apostate.
Norway: While out for a walk, two Iranian converts to Christianity were stabbed with knives by masked men shouting "infidels!" One of the men stabbed had converted in Iran, was threatened there, and immigrated to Norway, thinking he could escape persecution there.
Somalia: A female convert to Christianity was paraded before a cheering crowd and publicly flogged as punishment for embracing a "foreign religion." Imprisoned since November, "the public whipping was meant to mark her release." She received 40 lashes as hundreds of Muslim spectators jeered. An eyewitness said: "I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away." Likewise, "Somali Islamists arrested a Muslim father after two of his children converted to Christianity" and fled. He is accused of "failing to raise his sons as good Muslims, because "good Muslims cannot convert to Christianity."
Zanzibar: After being robbed, a Muslim convert to Christianity called police to his house; they discovered a Bible during their inspection. The course of inquiry immediately changed from searching for the thieves to asking why he "was practicing a forbidden faith." He was imprisoned for eight months without trial, and, since being released, has been rejected by his family and is now homeless and diseased.

CHURCH ATTACKS

Azerbaijan: A pastor has been threatened with criminal proceedings following a raid on his church during Sunday service. Earlier, he was told that "a criminal case had been launched over religious literature arousing incitement over other faiths," and was pressured by authorities to leave the area, which he did, traveling great distances each week to lead church services.
Egypt: Before a bishop was going to inaugurate the incomplete Abu Makka church and celebrate the Epiphany mass, a large number of Salafis and Muslim Brotherhood members entered the building, asserting that the church had no license and so no one should pray in it. One Muslim remarked that the building would be suitable for a mosque and a hospital.
Indonesia: A sticker on the back of the car of a member of the beleaguered Yasmin church saying "We need a friendly Islam, not an angry Islam," distributed by the family of the late Muslim president, prompted another Islamic attack on the church: scores of Muslims "terrorized the congregation and attacked several church members." Since 2008, the congregation has been forced to hold Sunday services on the sidewalk outside the church and then later in the home of parishioners. Not satisfied, hundreds of Muslims later searched and found the private home where members were congregating and holding service and prevented them from worshiping there as well: "It crosses the line now. The protesters now come to the residential area, which is not a public place." A new report notes that anti-Christian attacks have nearly doubled in the last year.
Nigeria: Soon after jihadis issued an ultimatum giving Christians three days to evacuate the region or die, armed Muslims stormed a church and "opened fire on worshippers as their eyes were closed in prayer," killing six, including the pastor's wife. Then, as friends and relatives gathered to mourn the deaths of those slain, "Allahu Akbar" screaming Muslims appeared and opened fire again, killing another 20 Christians. Several other churches were bombed, and seven more killed.
Pakistan: Enraged by the voices of children singing carols at a nearby church, Muslims praying in a mosque decided to silence them—including with an axe: "The children were preparing for mass to be celebrated the next day which was a Sunday. The loud cheers became terrified whimpers when suddenly four men, one of them with an axe, barged into the church. The men slapped the children, wrecked the furniture, smashed the microphone on to the floor and kicked the altar. "You are disturbing our prayers. We can't pray properly. How dare you use the mike and speakers?" (Islam forbids Christians from celebrating loudly in church, banning bells, microphones, etc.) Also, a center owned by the Catholic church for 125 years, and used for "charitable purposes"—it housed a home for the elderly, a girls' school, a convent and chapel for prayer—was demolished, after it was discovered that its land is worth much money; in the process, demolition workers destroyed Bibles, crosses, and a statue of Our Lady.
Zanzibar: Muslims destroyed two churches: one was torched, while the other demolished—all to yells of "Allahu Akbar."

DHIMMITUDE

[General Abuse, Debasement, and Suppression of non-Muslim "Second-Class Citizens"]

Denmark: In Muslim majority Odense, an Iranian Christian family had two cars consecutively vandalized—windows smashed, seats cut up, and set ablaze—because the cars had crucifixes hanging in them; the family has since relocated to an undisclosed location. Likewise, "Church Ministry" will change its name to "Ministry of Philosophy of Life" to accommodate Muslims.
Egypt: In the latest round of collective punishment, a mob of over 3000 Muslims attacked Christians in a village because of a rumor that a Coptic man had intimate photos of a Muslim woman on his phone (denied by the man). Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Three were injured, while "terrorized" women and children who lost their homes stood in the streets with no place to go. As usual, it took the army an hour to drive 2 kilometers to the village and none of the perpetrators were arrested.
Nigeria: Boko Haram Muslims set ablaze a Christian missionary home. Occupants of the home, mostly orphans and the less-privileged, were rendered homeless as a result. Meanwhile, a top officer allowed the mastermind behind the Christmas Day church bombings to escape, evincing how well entrenched Islamists are in government.
Pakistan: A judge has denied bail to the latest Christian charged with desecrating the Koran, under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, despite the lack of evidence against him: according to Sharia, the word of a Christian is half that of his Muslim accuser (his landlord).
Saudi Arabia: Officials strip-searched 29 Christian women and assaulted six Christian men after arresting them for holding a prayer meeting at a private home. Imprisoned last month without trial, they have not been told when or if they will be released. Authorities conducted the strip searches of the women, who insisted they had committed no crime, in unsanitary conditions. As a result, some of the women have been injured and are suffering illnesses, but authorities have provided no medical treatment.
Sudan: Authorities threatened to arrest church leaders if they engage in "evangelistic activities" and fail to comply with an order for churches to provide names and identifications: "The order was aimed at oppressing Christians amid growing hostilities toward Christianity… Sudanese law prohibits missionaries from evangelizing, and converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by imprisonment or death in Sudan, though previously such laws were not strictly enforced." Accordingly, days and weeks later, two evangelists were arrested on spurious charges and beat by police.
Turkey: A Christian asylum seeker who fled from Iran because of his faith "was brutally assaulted by his Turkish employer with hot water and his body was severely burned," due to "the extreme religious views" of his Muslim employer, who "told him he had no rights and that he would not pay him any money," after the Christian asked for his agreed wages. He "is just one example of hundreds of Iranian Christian asylum seekers who are living in such situations in Turkey."

ABDUCTION, RANSOM, MURDER

Egypt: The abduction of a 16-year old Christian girl, who disappeared over a month ago, has become a "tug of war between the Christian family and Muslim lawyers." The court sided with the Islamists, ordering the girl to be held in a state-owned care home till she reaches 18—the legal age of conversion—instead of returning her to her family. Coptic activists argue that the decision "encourages Islamists to continue unabated the abduction of Christian minors for conversion to Islam."
Pakistan: A Christian girl who was abducted in 2001 when she was 15 and forced to marry a Muslim, returned to her Catholic family after 10 years. Her case is not an isolated case: "there are at least 700 cases a year of Christian girls kidnapped and forced to marry Muslims. Likewise, "within the past three months, nine women have been abducted and forcibly converted to Islam."
Sudan: After a large truck smashed through the gates of a Catholic Church compound, Muslims affiliated with Sudan's Islamic government kidnapped two Catholic priests and "severely beat" them and looted their living quarters, stealing two vehicles, two laptops and a safe. Later, the kidnappers forced the priests to call their bishop with a ransom demand of 500,000 Sudanese pounds (US$185,530).
Switzerland: A Muslim man hacked his daughter to death for dating a Christian: were they dating in a Muslim-dominated country, the Christian, as so often happens, would have likely received similar treatment.
Syria: The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians were killed since the anti-government unrest began; "children were being especially targeted by the kidnappers, who, if they do not receive the ransom demanded, kill the victim, including some who are "cut into pieces and thrown in a river." These latest reports are reminiscent of the anti-Christian attacks that have become commonplace in Iraq for a decade.
Tajikistan: A young man dressed as Father Frost—the Russian equivalent of Father Christmas—was stabbed to death while visiting relatives and bringing gifts. The Muslim mob beating and stabbing him screamed "you infidel!" leading police to cite "religious hatred" as motivation.

About this Series

Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching epidemic proportions, "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of Muslim persecution of Christians that surface each month. It serves two purposes:

1. Intrinsically, to document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
2. Instrumentally, to show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (tribute); overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed "dhimmis" (second-class citizens); and simple violence and murder. Oftentimes it is a combination thereof.
Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the west, to India in the east, and throughout the West, wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.
Previous Reports
December, 2011
November, 2011
October, 2011
September, 2011
August, 2011
July, 2011