Cult Members Go Missing in Apparent Mass Suicide Bid
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Police launched a helicopter search for 13 missing cult members on Sunday amid fears they had gone to a California desert to commit mass suicide.
The religious sect included eight children, aged as young as three, and was led by a suburban housewife Reyna Marisol Chicas, 32.
She took her two children Ezequel, 15, and Genisis, 12, with her, police said.
The group, made up of El Salvadorian immigrants, left behind a bag with a relative which contained farewell notes in which members indicated the world was about to end and they were “going to heaven.”
An alert issued by the California Highway Patrol said: “It is believed, through further investigation, that their intentions are to commit mass suicide.” >>> Nick Allen in Los Angeles | Sunday, September 19, 2010
Ron Ramsey: Tennessee Republican Politician Under Fire in 'Islam Is a Cult' Row
THE TELEGRAPH: A US Republican politician, Ron Ramsey, who is supported by the controversial Tea Party, has come under fire for likening Islam to a “cult” and casting doubt about whether it is even a religion.
Tennessee’s current lieutenant governor said he had reservations about whether the American Constitution, which guarantees “freedom of religion”, applied to followers of the world’s second largest faith.
Critics denounced the 54 year-old’s comments, made at a party meeting earlier this month, as a part of “disturbing” trend in American politics.
But political experts said the real estate agent, who hopes to win the Republican nomination for governor in next month’s primary with support from Tea Party activists, was using it to garner support after lagging third in the polls.
During a question-and-answer session at the Hamilton County meeting, Mr Ramsey, from Blountville, was asked about the "threat that's invading our country from the Muslims”, according to local reports.
The question came amid local concern over a proposed local Islamic Centre and mosque to be built outside the town of Murfreesboro, to the south-east of the capital Nashville.
Despite proclaiming his support for the Constitution and the whole "Congress shall make no law" to religion, he said that Islam was more of a “cult” than a faith.
"Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, cult whatever you want to call it," he said in comments that were caught on video and later uploaded to YouTube.
"Now certainly we do protect our religions but at the same time this is something we are going to have to face.
"Now, you know, I'm all about freedom of religion. I value the First Amendment as much as I value the Second Amendment as much as I value the Tenth Amendment and on and on and on.”
He added: “But you cross the line when they try to start bringing Sharia Law here to the state of Tennessee, to the United States. We live under our Constitution and they live under our Constitution." >>> Andrew Hough | Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Ron Ramsey in Chattanooga (July 14, 2010)
Friday, October 23, 2009
L'état, c'est moi: The Cult of Sarko
THE INDEPENDENT: Midway though his term of office, the President's imperious ways are provoking a growing outcry. Last night Sarkozy and son were forced into a humiliating climbdown to regain the public's trust
Never before has a 23-year-old student's announcement that he's withdrawing a job application caused such waves of astonishment and relief. Last night Jean Sarkozy, the son of the French President, abandoned his dream of taking over the political leadership of the huge La Défense skyscraper park just west of Paris.
The announcement by the young man, on the television news, brought to an end a battle of political wills which appeared, in recent days, to have pitted the Sarkozy clan against almost the whole of France, from the press and public to the President's own party and Prime Minister.
The tangled and absurd affair of the fast-track political ambitions of "Prince Jean" has – along with a series of other mis-steps, accidents and embarrassments – shaken the trust of the French people in their hyperactive, can-do President. Last night's U-turn, although elegantly handled by the younger Sarkozy, may have come too late to repair the damage.
Asked if the head of state had played a part in the decision, Jean Sarkozy told the France 2 nightly news: "If you're asking me if I've spoken to the President, the answer is 'No'. If you're asking me if I've spoken to my father, the answer is 'Yes'."
Nicolas Sarkozy reaches the half-way point of his five-year presidency in a couple of weeks' time. There is no serious alternative to him, either on the left or within his own political family, the centre right. His handling of the global recession has been reasonably sure-footed at home and influential abroad. His much-trumpeted programme of reforms has proved to be incremental and cautious, rather than revolutionary, but far from pointless.
Nonetheless, with half of his mandate still to run, President Sarkozy's carefully constructed public image as a "different" kind of French politician – a man who governs in the interest of ordinary people, not elites or special interests; a man who understands the reality of life for "people who rise early" – is in danger of falling apart. >>> John Lichfield | Friday, October 23, 2009
Stoning to Death: Bringing the Horrors of Islam to Life!
First you'll hear a speech, then a man gets flogged. The stoning of two women starts 6 minutes into the video. Watch till the end.
The stoning of women is practiced in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
Warning: even if the film quality is poor, the images are extremely powerful and are not recommanded for all. [This is NOT suitable for children, for those who have a weak stomach, or for those who are of a nervous disposition.]
… the frenzy he [Obama] has engendered contains within it the seeds of bitter disappointment, or even tragedy. There is the question of his own physical safety. Less morbidly, what will be the reaction of his supporters if he should fail to be elected President? Perhaps most troubling of all, what will be their reaction if he is elected, but the celestial choirs fail to appear and the world refuses to be perfect? - Dominic Lawson
THE INDEPENDENT: At this stage, it must be desperation rather than strategy: Hillary Clinton has unleashed the potentially deadly weapon of ridicule against Barack Obama. The almost hoarse Senator from New York told supporters in Rhode Island yesterday: "I could just stand up here and say [that] the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect."
Mrs Clinton did not mention her rival in this peroration but it was a very pertinent caricature of Mr Obama as the new Messiah. In fairness to Obama, the greatest claims for his near-divinity come not from his own lips but from his supporters. One of them is his own wife Michelle, who announced: "Our souls are broken in this nation. Barack Obama is the only person who understands that ... before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls." Even such a political veteran as the eighth-term Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush says Obama's political career has been "divinely ordered". His language is moderate compared to that used by some of Obama's youthful supporters, who talk openly of being members of "a cult" and of their rallies as being "religious experiences".
More surprisingly, seen-it-all reporters seem to have undergone a similar epiphany. MSNBC's Chris Matthews – somewhat to the consternation of his co-hosts – declared that Obama "comes along and he has the answers. This is the New Testament". The experienced Washington correspondent for The Australian, Geoff Elliott, reported: "You know something special is going on. The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands." Obama must beware of turning into a cult: His speeches are studded with religious rhetoric. A chapter in his book is entitled 'Faith'>>> By Dominic Lawson
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Police launched a helicopter search for 13 missing cult members on Sunday amid fears they had gone to a California desert to commit mass suicide.
