Ben Carson's 'Immigrants' Comment About Slaves: ‘That’s Just Dumb’ | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Top Talkers: HUD Secretary Ben Carson characterized slaves arriving in the U.S. as 'immigrants' during a speech. While he corrected himself later on social media, the remark raised eyebrows.

Here's What's Changing Under Trump's New Travel Ban

Mar.07 -- President Donald Trump issued a revised version of his travel ban on Monday, removing Iraq from the list of targeted countries. Bloomberg's Tony Aarons examines what has changed in the new directive. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets: European Open."

Is Trump’s Revised Travel Ban Constitutional?

President Trump signed a new executive order that restricts travel from six Muslim majority countries after a first attempt was shot down by the courts. Will the new order pass legal muster? Jeffrey Brown gets debate from Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general under President Obama, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, about whether it will hold up in court.

Canada Sees Surge in Border Crossings as Thousands Seek Asylum from US

The number of refugees crossing into Canada from the US has soared since late last year.

What's Behind Row between Turkey and Germany? – Inside Story

Trump Issues Revised Executive Order On Travel

After a tumultuous first go, Pres. Trump issues a revised executive order on travel which halts travel from six Muslim-majority countries to the US.

The Dilemma Facing Ex-Muslims in Trump's America

THE ATLANTIC: How to challenge Islam while defending its adherents

“Challenging Islam as a doctrine,” Ali Rizvi told me, “is very different from demonizing Muslim people.” Rizvi, a self-identified ex-Muslim, is the author of a new book titled The Atheist Muslim: A Journey from Religion to Reason. One of the book’s stated aims is to uphold this elementary distinction: “Human beings have rights and are entitled to respect. Ideas, books, and beliefs don’t, and aren’t.”

The problem for Rizvi is that the grain of Western political culture is currently against him. Those in the secular West live in an age when ideas are commonly regarded as “deeds” with the potential to wound. So, on the left, self-critique of Islam is often castigated as critique of Muslims. Meanwhile, the newly elected president of the United States and his inner circle have a tendency to conflate the ideas of radical Islam with the beliefs of the entire Muslim population. So, on the right, the very same self-critique of Islam is used to attack Muslims and legitimize draconian policies against them. » | Simon Cottee | Monday, March 6, 2017

President Donald Trump Set To Roll Out New Immigration Order | Morning Joe | MSNBC

The Trump administration is expected to roll out a new immigration order on Monday. NBC News' Hallie Jackson reports on the revised order, which countries are named and which have been removed.

'Russia's Soul Is Monarchic': Tsarist School Wants to Reverse 100 Years of History

THE GUARDIAN: Patriotic financier known as the ‘Orthodox oligarch’ funds school that seeks to prepare students for the ‘inevitable’ return of monarchy

“We are raising a new elite here,” says Zurab Chavchavadze, the dapper 74-year-old headteacher of St Basil the Great School, sitting beneath a large portrait of Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II. “The students will be morally sound, religious, intellectual and patriotic, and will have every chance of getting into power.”

A collection of grand buildings set around a new cathedral in an upmarket suburb of Moscow, the school harks back to Russia’s tsarist traditions to inculcate a sense of patriotism in its 400 students.

As the centenary approaches of Russia’s 1917 revolution, which deposed the Romanov dynasty after centuries of rule, Chavchavadze is part of a small but influential section of Russians who are looking to the tsarist past for inspiration – and even hope to restore a monarchy one day soon. » | Shaun Walker in Moscow | Monday, March 6, 2017

A 96-year-old Grandfather and Holocaust Survivor Tells His Family He Is Gay

THE TELEGRAPH: The great-grandfather has been married to his wife for 67 years, but only told his family that he was gay last year.

Originally from Poland, Ronald Blank and his wife Ruth moved to the United States after the end of World War II.

Mr Blank spoke to YouTube video creator Davey Wavey about his unique coming out story ahead of a documentary, On My Way Out, that grandson Brandon Gross is directing about him. » | Anna Schaverien | Sunday, March 5, 2017

Evolution & Religion

This is a message for every religious person who thinks that evolution is fake based on his beliefs, how I thought about evolution when I was religious and what did I do to learn about it.

Inside Story - Will France's François Fillon Be Forced to Step Aside?

The Muslim View: Muhammed in the Bible - Sheikh Ahmed Deedat

A lecture by Sheikh Ahmed Deedat. In response to the allegations by Jimmy Swaggart that the Bible mentions nothing about Muhummed. Sheikh Deedat refutes these claims by quoting excerpts from the Bible which nullifies Mr Swaggart's charges.

Full Interview: Marco Rubio with Jake Tapper

Sen. Marco Rubio talks with CNN's Jake Tapper about President Trump's wiretap claims, the controversy around Attorney General Jeff Sessions and more during is appearance on CNN's State of the Union.

Pelosi Pressed on Russian Ambassador Meeting

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-D) talks about a 2010 meeting she had with then-Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev in which Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was present.

Congressman's Controversial Joke about Conway

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi responds to Cedric Richmond's (LA-D) joke about Kellyanne Conway. The Louisiana congressman later said that his joke was not intended as innuendo.

Islam Fastest Growing Religion in US

Video Shows Heated Oval Office Meeting

President Donald Trump is extremely frustrated with his senior staff and communications team for allowing the firestorm surrounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions to steal his thunder in the wake of his address to Congress, sources tell CNN.

Gay USA: Resisting President Trump

Life Of Jesus Christ | New Full Movie | 2013

Killing Jesus: Who Was the Real Pontius Pilate?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The life of Jesus of Nazareth, as recorded in the Gospels, is bracketed by memorable actions on the part of two powerful men: a king and a Roman governor. Upon hearing of the birth of Jesus, an angry and jealous Herod ordered the massacre of young Hebrew children, an event remembered in Christian history as the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents. At the end of Jesus’ life, Pontius Pilate presided over the proceedings that culminated in Jesus’ crucifixion. Although the Roman governor has been the subject of countless sermons over the centuries, typically portrayed as dithering and reviled for posing the temporizing question “What is truth?,” he remains something of a cipher. Working both from the Gospels and from ancient texts, Aldo Schiavone, a professor of Roman law based at the University of Rome La Sapienza, provides a fresh perspective in “Pontius Pilate: Deciphering a Memory” and, in the process, offers new insights into the final days of Jesus. » | Randall Balmer | Friday, March 3, 2017

Interfaith Healer: The Surprising Role of Jesus in Islam

THE NEW YORK TIMES: How did a Jewish preacher who became the Christian Messiah also become one of the most admired figures in the Quran? Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish journalist and contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times, sets out to explore this apparent conundrum.

The result will come as something of a revelation to many non-Muslim readers, since Jesus is revered in Islam’s sacred text as a great teacher and prophet, while his mother, Mary, gets more ink — and praise — than in all four New Testament Gospels put together. » | Lesley Hazleton | Friday, March 3, 2017

The Teachings of Jesus Christ

Watters: "Illegal Immigrant" Is Not "Hate Rhetoric"

Mar. 04, 2017 - 6:40 - Jesse Watters takes on "Border Angels" founder Enrique Morones over illegal immigration. Morones accuse Watters of "hate rhetoric" and even takes a shot at Fox News.

Beauty and the Beast | US Official Trailers

Watch the brand new trailer for Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," starring Emma Watson & Dan Stevens.

Lindsey Graham Booed at Townhall after Saying "I Support Donald Trump"

Lindsey Graham harshly booed at townhall after saying ‘I agree mostly’ with Trump

UK Warned It Must 'Honour All Financial Obligations' To EU

THE GUARDIAN: European political leaders and diplomats react to Lords report arguing that Britain could leave EU without paying £52bn

European political leaders and diplomats have reacted furiously to the suggestion that Britain could leave the EU without paying a multibillion pound “divorce settlement”.

The European commission, along with 27 EU member states, have settled on a sum of about €60bn (£52bn) that the UK would have to pay to fulfil the commitments it had signed up to as an EU member.

In a report published on Saturday, the House of Lords EU financial affairs subcommittee argued that the British government would be on strong legal ground if it chose to leave the EU without paying anything, and suggesting that Brussels would have no realistic chance of getting any money. » | Daniel Boffey in Brussels | Saturday, March 4, 2017

France's Fatal Attraction to Islam

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: Instead of fighting to save what is savable, French opinion-makers are already writing the terms of surrender. / By hybridizing cultures and rejecting Christianity, France will soon end up not even teaching also Arabic, but only Arabic, and marking Ramadan instead of Easter. / Instead of wasting their time trying to organize an "Islam of France", French political leaders, opinion makers and think tanks should look for ways to counter the creeping Islamization of their country. Otherwise, we may soon be seeing not only a "Grand Imam de France", but also lashes and stonings on the Champs Élysées.

Two years ago, the rector of the Great Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, suggested converting empty churches into mosques, to accommodate the growing Muslim community in abandoned Christian sites. Now, many people in France seem to have taken the idea so seriously that a report released by the foundation Terra Nova, France's main think tank that provides ideas to the governing Socialist Party, suggests that in order to integrate Muslims better, French authorities should replace the two Catholic holidays -- Easter Monday and Pentecost -- with Islamic holidays. To be ecumenical, they also included a Jewish holiday. » | Giulio Meotti | Saturday, March 4, 2017

"I Will Not Yield" - Fillon Defiant Despite Deepening 'Fake Jobs' Probe (Part 2)

Part 1

Trump Accuses Obama Administration of Wiretapping Trump Tower Phones

FOX NEWS: President Trump made a startling claim Saturday that former President Barack Obama had Trump Tower phones tapped in the weeks before the November 2016 election.

In early Saturday morning tweets that began at 6:35 a.m., the president said the alleged wiretapping was “McCarthyism” and “Nixon/Watergate.”

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism,” Trump wrote. » | Saturday, March 4, 2017

Caught! More “Filthy Jew” Talk in Montréal Mosque

David Menzies reports on yet another Imam, this one from Montréal, preaching genocidal anti-semitic messages. Do we need a hate speech bill for these "rogue" Imams?

Inside Story - Is Donald Trump about to Lose His Attorney General?

Democrats and others are demanding US Attorney General Jeff Sessions resignation, alleging that he lied under oath about two meetings with Russia's Ambassador.

Why Trump Is Refusing to Confront Reality | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann | GQ

The president lives in a dangerous, delusional cocoon

"There Is No Jewish Future in Sweden"

Visiting Stockholm in 2016, Ezra Levant talks to Stefan Ritter, a Jewish counter-jihadist who tells him what life is like now for the city's Jewish population.

Gay, Trans and Illegal in Lebanon - BBC Pop Up

Homosexual sex is still technically illegal in Lebanon due to an article that prohibits sex against the “laws of nature”. This article has been used in the past to prosecute LGBT people, but has a rare ruling in a recent case sparked a new future for the country’s LGBT community? Benjamin Zand finds out for BBC Pop Up.

My Confession | I'm An Ex-Muslim

I am telling the world that I've abandoned Islam through this video

‘Euro Is Dead Man Walking’: Marine Le Pen Lashes Out at EU, Says Frexit Is Question of Time

After the EU Parliament revoked her parliamentary immunity, French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen accused the European Union of breaking up society, and promised to re-negotiate France's agreements with the bloc. The parliament's decision follows a second round of voting held by EU lawmakers. Le Pen may now face prosecution for tweeting pictures of Islamic State violence. In her latest interview on a French channel, the presidential candidate dubbed the allegations, politically motivated.

Richard Painter: Jeff Sessions Should Resign - BBC Newsnight

Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied any Russian contact in his confirmation hearings, but in fact met the ambassador twice, should he resign? Newsnight spoke to Richard Painter the former Chief Ethics Lawyer to the President, 2005-07.

Egypt: Ex-President Mubarak Acquitted over Protester Deaths in 2011 Uprising

Understanding Islam: Pontifical institute Fosters Study, Dialogue

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE: VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Between their morning cappuccino and their evening plate of pasta, a group of Catholic students from around the world are studying Arabic and Islam in the heart of Rome's Trastevere neighborhood.

Since 1926, the Missionaries of Africa have sponsored the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, preparing students to live and minister in the Muslim world, promoting dialogue and mutual respect.

"Catholic engagement with Islam, in the spirit and light of Vatican II, must be based on goodwill and an objective knowledge of the other tradition, and not on misconceptions and false ideas inherited from centuries of conflict and hostility," said Father Diego Sarrio Cucarella, a Missionary of Africa and director of studies at the institute, which is known by its Italian acronym, PISAI. » | Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service | Thursday, March 2, 2017

Saudi Arabia Is Redefining Islam for the World's Largest Muslim Nation

THE ATLANTIC: King Salman's historic visit to Indonesia is the culmination of a long campaign for influence.

When Saudi Arabia’s King Salman landed in Indonesia on Wednesday, he became the first Saudi monarch to visit the world’s largest Muslim-majority country since 1970. Officials in Jakarta had hoped the visit would help them strengthen business ties and secure $25 billion in resource investments. That’s largely been a bust—as of Thursday, the kingdom has agreed to just one new deal, for a relatively paltry $1 billion.

But Saudi Arabia has, for decades, been making investments of a different sort—those aimed at influencing Indonesian culture and religion. The king’s current visit is the apex of that methodical campaign, and “has the potential to accelerate the expansion of Saudi Arabia’s cultural resources in Indonesia,” according to Chris Chaplin, a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asia. “In fact, given the size of his entourage, I wouldn’t be surprised if there will be a flurry of networking activity amongst Indonesian alumni of Saudi universities.”

Since 1980, Saudi Arabia has devoted millions of dollars to exporting its strict brand of Islam, Salafism, to historically tolerant and diverse Indonesia. It has built more than 150 mosques (albeit in a country that has about 800,000), a huge free university in Jakarta, and several Arabic language institutes; supplied more than 100 boarding schools with books and teachers (albeit in a country estimated to have between 13,000 and 30,000 boarding schools); brought in preachers and teachers; and disbursed thousands of scholarships for graduate study in Saudi Arabia. All this adds up to a deep network of Saudi influence. » | Krithika Varagur | Thursday, March 2, 2017

The Islam Catastrophe Continues

THE DAILY CALLER: Former FBI special agent John Guandolo has written a strong and sobering essay at his website, UnderstandingTheThreat, called “Unfit for Duty.” It argues that two senior Trump administration officials, H. R. McMaster and Sebastian Gorka, are “catastrophically wrong” in their assessment of Islam as publicly stated and that this is “leading America down a disastrous road towards defeat.”

I agree. However, the problem is much, much larger than that. » | Diana West, Author, American Betrayal | Thursday, March 3, 2017

France Presidential Race: François Fillon Holds Press Conference, Says He Will Not Step Down

Dozens Abandon Fillon's Campaign

French President: Modern-day Monarch?

Brexit: What Happens If You Are an EU Citizen in the UK? It's Complicated... - BBC Newsnight

What assurances will EU residents in Britain get following the Brexit vote? Newsnight's John Sweeney went to meet those who are still struggling to gain residency.

Report: Obamas Sign Record-setting Book Deal

Mar. 01, 2017 - 2:14 - Deal could top $65 million