Republican Lieutenant Governor Says Trans Rights Are the Antichrist’s Work in Another Vile Rant

PINK NEWS: North Carolina’s lieutenant governor Mark Robinson was caught on camera again ranting against the LGBT+ community, calling the trans rights movement “demonic” and “full of the spirit of Antichrist”.

North Carolina's lieutenant governor Mark Robinson said the trans rights movement is "demonic" in a video at the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in August. (Twitter/@RightWingWatch)
Right Wing Watch published a video of the Republican lawmaker speaking at the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina, in August. In the video, Robinson claimed there “ain’t but two genders”.

In a virulently transphobic rant, he said: “You can go to the doctor and get cut up, you can go down to the dress shop and get made up, you can go down there and get drugged up, but at the end of the day, you are just a drugged-up, dressed-up, made-up, cut-up man or woman.

“You ain’t changed what God put in you, that DNA.” » | Maggie Baska | Wednesday, October 13, 2021

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North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Won’t Resign over Anti-LGBTQ+ Remarks

THE GUARDIAN: White House joins condemnation of Republican Mark Robinson over comments on children, homosexuality and transgenderism

Mark Robinson speaks in Raleigh, North Carolina, in April. Photograph: Rachel Jessen/REX/Shutterstock
The Republican lieutenant governor of North Carolina has said he will not resign or back down over remarks in which he called transgenderism and homosexuality “filth”.

Mark Robinson, the first African American to hold the post, made the remarks in question at Asbury Baptist church in Seagrove, North Carolina, in June.

“There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth,” he said, in video posted to social media.

“And yes, I called it filth, and if you don’t like that I called it filth, come see me and I’ll explain it to you.”

Condemnation extended to the Biden White House. » | Martin Pengelly | Sunday, October 10, 2021

Has America Become Ungovernable? – BBC Newsnight

Mark Urban has been in North Carolina looking at the US presidential race so far, and asking whether the country can be put back together after the divisive election contest.

Donald Trump Turns on Michelle Obama during North Carolina Rally

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, took a rare swipe at First Lady, Michelle Obama, in North Carolina on Friday. Michelle Obama currently leads the popularity polls, ahead of her husband and the two presidential nominees. Trump complained that ‘all she wants to do is campaign’. He then accused her of attacking Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primaries

Read the article here

Saudi Arabia Condemns 'Terrorist' Killing of American Muslims in North Carolina

FOX NEWS: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned the killing in North Carolina of three American Muslim college students as a "heinous terrorist" act, and called for an end to incitement against Muslims.

The statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency also condemned as a "terrorist" act the recent attacks that killed two people in Denmark, one at a panel discussion that included an artist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad and the other outside a synagogue.

In neighboring Qatar, several thousand people held a march Sunday in the capital Doha in solidarity with the families of the North Carolina victims. The marchers appealed for protection against hate crimes for the tens of thousands of young Arabs studying in the United States on scholarships funded by the energy-rich governments of the Gulf. » | Associated Press | Sunday, February 15, 2015

North Carolina May Declare Official State Religion Under New Bill

HUFFINGTON POST: Republican North Carolina state legislators have proposed allowing an official state religion in a measure that would declare the state exempt from the Constitution and court rulings.

The bill, filed Monday by two GOP lawmakers from Rowan County and backed by nine other Republicans, says each state "is sovereign" and courts cannot block a state "from making laws respecting an establishment of religion." The legislation was filed in response to a lawsuit to stop county commissioners in Rowan County from opening meetings with a Christian prayer, wral.com reported. » | John Celock | The Huffingron Post | Wednesday, April 03, 2013

USA: Millions on East Coast Brace for Impact ahead of Rare Storm
Monster storm ready to strike East Coast

Hurricane Sandy Moves Up US Atlantic Coast
Category 1 system menaces large swathe of Eastern Seaboard as forecasters predict catastrophic hybrid "Frankenstorm"

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"Super Storm" Sandy Heads Toward U.S. Northeast Coast
REUTERS.COM: Hurricane Sandy was downgraded on Saturday morning but remained highly menacing as it pulled away from the Bahamas, making a slow path toward the U.S. northeast coast where it threatens to become one of the worst storms in decades.

The late-season storm has been dubbed "Frankenstorm" by some weather watchers because it will combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm and is forecast to reach the U.S. coast close to Halloween.

Forecast models show it will have all the ingredients to morph into a so-called "super storm", stirring memories of the 1993 'Storm of the Century', whose impact in the United States was particularly destructive.

Governors in states along the U.S. East Coast declared emergencies on Friday, with officials urging residents to stock up on food, water and batteries. » | Kevin Gray | MIAMI | Saturday, October 27, 2012

WEATHER.COM VIDEO: Sandy: Major Impacts Expected in Northeast »

North Carolina Voters Ban Same-sex Marriage
Voters in the US State of North Carolina have voted to ban same sex marriage.

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USA: Pilot Refuses to Take Two Imams On Board Flight
MAIL ONLINE: Two Muslim religious leaders were asked to leave a commercial airliner in Memphis - and were told it was because the pilot refused to fly with them aboard.

Masudur Rahman and another imam had already been allowed to board their Delta Connection flight from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charlotte, North Carolina before they were asked to get off the plane.

Ironically, the two men were headed to a North American Imams conference discussing Islamophobia or fears of Islam and discrimination against American Muslims.

'It's racism and bias because of our religion and appearance and because of misinformation about our religion.' Mr Rahman said. 'If they understood Islam, they wouldn't do this.'

Mr Rahman said he and Mohamed Zaghloul, of the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis, were cleared by security agents and boarded the plane for an 8.40am departure.

The aircraft pulled away from the gate, but the pilot then announced the plane must return, Mr Rahman said.

When it did, the imams were asked to go back to the boarding gate where they were told the pilot was refusing to accept them because some other passengers could be uncomfortable. Robed Muslim clerics kicked off U.S. flight after pilot refuses to take off with them (and they were en route to conference on Islamophobia) » | Daily Mail Reporter | Saturday, May 07, 2011

Wirtschaftskrise: 50 Millionen Amerikaner fehlt das Geld für Nahrung
ZEIT ONLINE: Die globale Krise trifft viele Menschen in der stärksten Wirtschaftsnation der Welt hart: Rund 50 Millionen Amerikaner konnten sich 2007 nicht ausreichend Essen leisten.

Suppenküche in Charlotte, North Carolina: 2008 hatten Millionen Amerikaner nicht genügend Geld, um sich ausreichend zu ernähren. Bild: Zeit Online
Im Jahr 2007 waren noch elf Prozent der Haushalte nicht angemessen mit Lebensmitteln versorgt. Ein Jahr später, im Krisenjahr 2008, sind es 14, 6 Prozent gewesen. Das geht aus einer Studie des US-Landwirtschaftsministeriums hervor. Demnach hatten rund 50 Millionen Amerikaner zeitweise nicht genügend Geld, um sich ausreichend Essen zu kaufen. >>> Zeit Online, dpa | Dienstag, 17. November 2009

Islamisten: Sieben Terrorverdächtige in den USA angeklagt
WELT ONLINE: Einen Heiligen Krieg gegen Israel mit Mord, Entführung und Anschlägen hatten sich sieben Männer im US-Bundesstaat North Carolina vorgenommen. Dazu halfen sie, Geld für Terroroperationen zu sammeln und reisten sogar nach Tel Aviv. In der Nacht zum Dienstag wurden die Männer festgenommen.

Ein Bundesgericht im US-Staat North Carolina hat am Montag gegen sieben Männer Anklage wegen der Finanzierung und Beihilfe für Terroroperationen in Israel erhoben. Wie der US-Fernsehsender ABC in der Nacht zum Dienstag weiter berichtete, hatten sich die sechs US-Bürger und ein Immigrant im Alter zwischen 20 und 39 Jahren verschworen, einen gewaltsamen Heiligen Krieg mit Mord und Entführung zu führen.

Nach Angaben der Zeitung „Raleigh News & Observer“ soll die Gruppe, darunter ein Vater und seine zwei Söhne, geholfen haben, Geld zu sammeln und Trainingsmöglichkeiten für Freiwillige für Terroroperationen in Tel Aviv zur Verfügung gestellt haben.

Der Hauptverdächtige Daniel Boyd und einige seiner Komplizen sollen laut ABC im Juni 2007 nach Israel gefahren sein. Dort hätten sie vergeblich versucht, Terroraktivitäten zu unternehmen. Boyd habe im vergangenen Juli erfolgreich einen Rekruten ausgebildet und seine Reise in das Kosovo finanziert. >>> dpa/AP/ks | Dienstag, 28. Juli 2009

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NEWS & OBSERVER (RALEIGH): 7 Arrested in Terror Plot

Neighbors say the men they knew appeared friendly and unthreatening.

RALEIGH -- To those they lived among, seven men accused of an intricate terrorism plot lived simply, quietly and kindly.
To neighbors and friends, Daniel Boyd was a father who stopped his work at noon each day for prayer. Dylan Boyd, Daniel's son, was a college student at N.C. State University who until last year worked as a clinical services technician at WakeMed Raleigh Campus. Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan was a newlywed; his father owns a Raleigh car dealership.

To federal authorities, these men and four others plotted to kill themselves and others in the name of Islam. Their activities, tracked by FBI agents over three years and detailed in federal indictments released Monday, tell of an elaborate scheme hatched in a quiet Johnston County neighborhood and nondescript apartment complexes across Raleigh and Cary.

Those arrested Monday include Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, who was considered the ringleader of the group, and who fought with Afghan Muslims against the Soviets; Hysen Sherifi, 24; Anes Subasic, 33; Zakariya Boyd, 20, and Dylan Boyd, 22; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; and Ziyad Yaghi, a 21-year-old Cary High School graduate.

All but one of the defendants are American citizens. Sherifi, a native of Kosovo, is living in the United States legally.

All seven men are charged with conspiring to provide support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure people abroad. Each is expected to have a detention hearing this week. Until then, they are being held without bond. They have not been appointed lawyers. Efforts to reach their families were unsuccessful Monday night.

Federal authorities stormed the men's homes Monday and arrested them. Hours later, they stood before a federal magistrate and learned they could spend the rest of their lives in prison if found guilty of the charges against them. At nightfall, federal agents continued to search their homes, taking several vans and dozens of agents to their quiet neighborhoods. >>> Mandy Locke, Yonat Shimron and Josh Shaffer - Staff Writers | Tuesday, July 28, 2009

A Fan of Camel Milk Struggles to Start a Drome-dairy
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: In North Carolina, Ms. Hinkle Promotes Hard-to-Get Beverage; Milking Martha

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Millie Hinkle first tasted camel milk in the United Arab Emirates about 10 years ago. She had no idea the salty drink, still warm from the camel and served in an ornate bowl with a side of walnuts, would become an obsession.

"It has taken over my life," said the 57-year-old practitioner of natural medicine as she cruised down a tree-lined road here in her white SUV emblazoned with a camel.

Ms. Hinkle has drained her savings, slashed the number of hours she spends at her day job and started a company called Camel Milk USA. Her goal is to bring the milk, reputed to have healing and aphrodisiac powers, to the U.S. where it's been hard to get mainly because camels weren't listed in rules governing the sale of milk.

In April, Ms. Hinkle won initial approval from the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments, a nonprofit group, to market the milk. Now, she's awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on some final details.

But there are several humps to overcome before camel milk is widely available in the U.S. For starters, there aren't many camels here. Those that are mainly work in circuses or live in zoos.

Another challenge: Camels don't much like to be milked. Camels can be cantankerous and persuading them to give up their milk can be part chore, part art. Camel experts say the animals are often ticklish around their udders and, without proper training, might lie down in the middle of being milked.

Camel milk is a centuries-old staple for nomadic tribes across the Middle East and Africa. It is also drunk by elderly men to enhance virility; by the sick to treat a variety of ailments; and by those who believe it has magical properties. >>> Lauren Etter | Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Smoking Ban Threatens Hookahs
Painting by Jean Léon Gerôme* (1824 – 1904), entitled 'The Teaser of the Narghile' ('The Pipelighter') c.1898. Collection Ghassan Shaker Gallery Keops, Geneve, Switzerland. Courtesy of Google Images.
THE NEWS & OBSERVER: Hookah bar owners anxious about their survival hope for an exemption such as that for cigar bars

CHAPEL HILL -- A mellow vibe permeates Hookah Bliss these days as college students and other trend-seeking young people socialize over water pipes and burning lumps of pungent, fruit-flavored tobacco in the small lounge on the town's main drag.

That could dissipate, though, when indoor smoking in restaurants and bars is snuffed out across the state at the start of the year.

Hookah bars, which surged in popularity in America's college towns and big cities when tobacco use was in general decline, find themselves battling the smoking bans that are sweeping the country.

In North Carolina, hookah bar owners are joining forces to save their businesses. In the coming weeks, they hope to persuade state lawmakers to make legislative exemptions for them similar to those granted cigar bars and country clubs that will allow smoking after the indoor ban takes effect Jan. 1.

They know of the health risks of secondhand smoke but counter that their patrons choose to come despite the hazards.

The disparity between cigar and hookah bars "just boggles the mind," said Hookah Bliss owner Adam Bliss -- yes, that's his real name.

"Look at who goes to those places -- generally older, affluent white males," he said. "Besides the fact that this law is creating an elitist association between who can smoke and who can't, they're allowing government to put me out of business, and this is supposed to be a free market economy here."

Unlike bars and restaurants, which still attract customers for drinks and food despite the disappearance of ashtrays, the hookah bars could lose the reason for their existence.

The hookah is a centuries-old device of Middle Eastern and African origin through which flavored tobacco is smoked. Tobacco infused with honey, molasses and other flavors is placed in a bowl at the top of the pipe and heated with charcoal. As smokers inhale through a long, flexible stem, the smoke is pulled through gurgling, cooling water. >>> By Anne Blythe, Staff Writer | Monday, June 01, 2009

*Jean-Léon Gerôme was the son of a goldsmith who discouraged him to join the painting studio of a Parisian artist. He worked in France for a while, selling religious cards before moving to Italy. Gerôme was given a commission by the French government in the late 1840’s to paint a mural titled Age of Augustus. In order to acquire source material for this project, he traveled across Europe and Asia Minor and then spent two years working on the detailed painting. Upon its completion, Gerôme spent several months sketching in Egypt. Later in his career, he abandoned the mythological and history paintings for which he was known and began sculpting. He was appointed professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. [Source: World Wide Art Resources]

Gripping Night Gives New Advantage to Obama
THE INDEPENDENT: Barack Obama scored a resounding victory in North Carolina last night but very narrowly lost the state of Indiana to Hillary Clinton after a cliff-hanger night of counting votes. She finally squeaked by a bare two percentage points or about 22,000 votes.

The split outcome will mean that the struggle of the Democratic nomination is not over yet. It will give cause for relief and for frustration in each of the camps - as well as grief for the party’s hierarchy which frets that the longer the slug-fest between them continues the better it is for the Republicans.

Clearly, however, the night was better for Mr Obama. He desperately needed to capture a big state – and decisively – after weeks of campaign stumbles. And because North Carolina, which he took by a healthy 56-42 percentage point margin, offered more convention delegates than Indiana, it will reinforce his critical delegate lead and make the mathematics for Mrs Clinton more prohibitive than ever. Gripping Night Gives New Advantage to Obama >>> By David Usborne in Indianapolis | May 7, 2008

TIMESONLINE:
Watch Obama’s ‘Victory Speech’ in North Carolina

NZZ Online:
Obama und Clinton wollen beide weitermachen: Je ein Sieg bei Vorwahlen in North Carolina und Indiana >>> | 7. Mai 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

The Dangerous Network of Jihad 'Relay Stations’ Across North America
NEW YORK TIMES: When Osama bin Laden issued his videotaped message to the American people last month, a young jihad enthusiast went online to help spread the word.

“America needs to listen to Shaykh Usaamah very carefully and take his message with great seriousness,” he wrote on his blog. “America is known to be a people of arrogance.”

Unlike Mr. bin Laden, the blogger was not operating from a remote location. It turns out he is a 21-year-old American named Samir Khan who produces his blog from his parents’ home in North Carolina, where he serves as a kind of Western relay station for the multimedia productions of violent Islamic groups.

In recent days, he has featured “glad tidings” from a North African militant leader whose group killed 31 Algerian troops. He posted a scholarly treatise arguing for violent jihad, translated into English. He listed hundreds of links to secret sites from which his readers could obtain the latest blood-drenched insurgent videos from Iraq.

His neatly organized site also includes a file called “United States of Losers,” which showcased a recent news broadcast about a firefight in Afghanistan with this added commentary from Mr. Khan: “You can even see an American soldier hiding during the ambush like a baby!! AllahuAkbar! AllahuAkbar!”

Mr. Khan, who was born in Saudi Arabia and grew up in Queens, is an unlikely foot soldier in what Al Qaeda calls the “Islamic jihadi media.” He has grown up in middle-class America and wrestles with his worried parents about his religious fervor. Yet he is stubborn. “I will do my best to speak the truth, and even if it annoys the disbelievers, the truth must be preached,” Mr. Khan said in an interview.

While there is nothing to suggest that Mr. Khan is operating in concert with militant leaders, or breaking any laws, he is part of a growing constellation of apparently independent media operators who are broadcasting the message of Al Qaeda and other groups, a message that is increasingly devised, translated and aimed for a Western audience. An Internet Jihad Sells Extremism to Viewers in the U.S. (more)

Mark Alexander