"WE LOVE GOD": PRESIDENT TRUMP ADDRESSES NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST~VIDEO WITH TRANSCRIPT

"WE LOVE GOD": PRESIDENT TRUMP ADDRESSES NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST~

VIDEO WITH TRANSCRIPT

 ‘Our rights are not given to us by man; 

our rights come from our Creator.’

SEE: https://www.infowars.com/we-love-god-president-trump-addresses-national-prayer-breakfast-video-transcript/; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

President Trump delivered remarks at the 66th annual National Prayer Breakfast Thursday.
Read a transcript below:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Charlie. (Applause.) Thank you very much. And thank you, Randy, for that very kind introduction. I want to thank you and Congressman Charlie Crist for serving as co-chairs this year.
It’s an honor to be with so many faith leaders, members of Congress, and dignitaries from all around the world as we continue this extraordinary tradition. I’m very glad to be joined by many members of my Cabinet. You’re doing a terrific job.
I want to extend our appreciation to the First Lady of Rwanda for leading the opening prayer. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
I also want to thank my two great friends, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. They’re some here. Where are they? They are two terrific people. Stand up, Mark. You deserve it. Even though he comes from Hollywood. (Applause.) Roma, thank you very much. Thank you for being here.
Major Scotty Smiley and Tiffany, we’re moved by your faith and your courage, and inspired by your service and sacrifice. That was really beautiful. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
And to my friend, and everybody’s friend, Steve Scalise, we are so glad to have you with us today. Your presence reminds us of Jesus’s words in the Book of Matthew: “With God all things are possible.” You are fantastic. You really are, Steve. (Applause.) Fantastic man.
America is a nation of believers, and together we are strengthened by the power of prayer. This morning, our hearts are full of gratitude as we come together for the 66th annual National Prayer Breakfast.
But our hearts are also saddened by the absence of the co-founder of this wonderful breakfast who passed away last year, Doug Coe, who everybody loved. (Applause.) For 60 years, Doug devoted his time and passion to this Prayer Breakfast and to many other wonderful causes. Today, we are blessed to be joined by Doug’s wife Jan, and two of their sons, David and Tim. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you very much. Great man.
I want to thank you for carrying on Doug’s legacy also, and bringing our nation together in prayer. You are indeed carrying on his great legacy.
Each year, this event reminds us that faith is central to American life and to liberty. Our founders invoked our Creator four times in the Declaration of Independence. Our currency declares, “In God We Trust.” (Applause.) And we place our hands on our hearts as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance and proclaim we are “One Nation Under God.” (Applause.)
Our rights are not given to us by man; our rights come from our Creator. (Applause.) No matter what, no Earthly force can take those rights away. (Applause.) That is why the words “Praise be to God” are etched atop the Washington Monument, and those same words are etched into the hearts of our people.
So today, we praise God for how truly blessed we are to be American. (Applause.) Across our land, we see the splendor of God’s creation. Throughout our history, we see the story of God’s providence. And in every city and town, we see the Lord’s grace all around us, through a million acts of kindness, courage and generosity. We love God.
We see the Lord’s grace in the servicemembers who risk their lives for our freedom. We see it in the teachers who work tirelessly for their students, and the police who sacrifice for our communities — and sacrifice they do. (Applause.)
And we see the Lord’s grace in the moms and dads who work two and three jobs to give their children the chance for a better and much more prosperous and happier life.
As the Bible tells us, for we are God’s handiwork, created in Jesus Christ to do good works. America’s heroes rise to this calling. In their selfless deeds, they reveal the beauty and goodness of the human soul.
When catastrophic hurricanes struck, first responders and everyday citizens dove into rushing waters to save stranded families from danger. And they saved them by the thousands. Neighbors opened their homes to those in need of food, clothes, shelter. Firefighters braved blinding smoke and flames to rescue children from devastating wildfires.
During the horrific shootings, strangers shielded strangers, and police officers ran into a hail of bullets to save the lives of their fellow Americans, right in Las Vegas. A terrible day, a terrible night. But such bravery.
Families have adopted babies orphaned by the opioid epidemic and given them loving homes. Communities and churches have reached out to those struggling with addiction, and shown them the path to a clean life, a good job, and a renewed sense of purpose.
And soldiers, sailors, Coast Guardsmen, airmen, and Marines have spent long months away from home defending our great American flag. (Applause.)
All we have to do is open our eyes and look around us, and we can see God’s hand. In the courage of our fellow citizens, we see the power of God’s love at work in our souls, and the power of God’s will to answer all of our prayers.
When Americans are able to live by their convictions, to speak openly of their faith, and to teach their children what is right, our families thrive, our communities flourish, and our nation can achieve anything at all. (Applause.)
Together, as Americans, we are a tireless force for justice and for peace. We have witnessed this truth over the past year.
For years, ISIS had brutally tortured and murdered Christians, Jews, religious minorities, and countless Muslims.
Today, the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated almost 100 percent of the territory just recently held by these killers in Iraq and all throughout Syria. (Applause.)
Much work will always remain, but we will never rest until that job is completely done. And we are really doing it like never before. (Applause.)
We know that millions of people in Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, and other countries suffer under repressive and brutal regimes. America stands with all people suffering oppression and religious persecution.
Last week, during the State of the Union, the world was inspired by the story of a North Korean defector, Mr. Ji Seong-ho, who is now back in South Korea.
Before his escape, when Seong-ho was being tortured by North Korean officials, there was one thing that kept him from losing hope: Over and over again, he recited the Lord’s prayer. He prayed for peace, and he prayed for freedom. And now, as you know, Seong-ho is free and a symbol of hope to millions of people all around the world. (Applause.)
Here with us today is another symbol of hope, a very brave 9-year-old girl named Sophia Marie Campa Peters. Sophia suffers from a rare disease that has caused her to have many strokes. At one point, the doctors told Sophia that she would not be able to walk.
Sophia replied, “If you’re only going to talk about what I can’t do, then I don’t want to hear it — (laughter) — just let me try to walk.” (Applause.)
She tried, and she succeeded. And one of her doctors even told her mom — and theyre right here in the front row where they should be — “This little girl has God on her side.” (Applause.) Thank you, Sophia. Thank you, mom. Great mom.
I said, Do you love your mom? She said, I have a great mom. I love my mom. (Laughter.) Right?
Just two weeks ago, Sophia needed to have a very high-risk surgery. She decided to ask the whole world to pray for her, and she hoped to reach 10,000 people.
On January 24th, as Sophia went into surgery, she far surpassed her goal. Millions and millions of people lifted Sophia up in their prayers.
Today, we thank God that Sophia is with us, and she’s recovering, and shes walking very well. (Applause.)
And I have to say this, Sophia: You may only be 9 years old, but you are already a hero to all of us in this room, and all over the world. Thank you, Sophia. (Applause).
Heroes like Sophia come from all across our country and from every different background. But they all share one thing in common: Through their love, their courage, their sacrifice, we glimpse the grace of almighty God.
So today, inspired by our fellow citizens, let us resolve to find the best within ourselves. Let us pray for that extra measure of strength and that extra measure of devotion. And let us seek to build a more just and peaceful world, where every child can grow up without violence, worship without fear, and reach their God-given potential.
As long as we are true to America’s founding and the example that all of these great founders have set, we can all be heroes to everybody, and they can be heroes to us.
As long as we open our eyes to God’s grace and open our hearts to God’s love, then America will forever be the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a light unto all nations. (Applause.)
Thank you for this incredible event and to our wonderful hosts. And thank you to all of our heroes for serving, protecting, and inspiring America each and every day.
God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)

______________________________________________________
SEE ALSO:

 Trump More Comfortable With His Faith 

at Prayer Breakfast 

https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/item/28239-trump-more-comfortable-with-his-faith-at-prayer-breakfast 

EXCERPTS:
 "And then he treaded where the previous president feared to go: Trump unabashedly used the name of Jesus Christ:

As the Bible tells us, we are God’s handiwork, created in Jesus Christ to do good works.… All we have to do is open our eyes and look around us, and we can see God’s hand. In the courage of our fellow citizens, we see the power of God’s love and work in our souls, and the power of God’s will to answer all of our prayers.

It was in his insertion into his speech of part of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus that raised most eyebrows and gave the most comfort to those still questioning the depth of Trump’s faith in Christ. The full quote is:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.

For we [who have been saved through faith] are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us [believers] to do.

 Somewhere along the line it seems that Trump may have discovered enough spiritual truth to embrace Jesus Christ as his savior."
________________________________________________

THE DISCOURAGING PART: COMMON PRAYER WITH PAGANS, APOSTATES:

 Trump, Pence Have Worshiped With Muslim, Buddhist & Sikhs And Pence Tweets Support For Open Sodomite

http://the-trumpet-online.com/trump-pence-attend-prayer-service-featuring-muslim-buddhist-sikh-invocations/ 

 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research 

purposes:

[Editor’s Note: In addition to “worshiping God” with Muhammadans, etc. Pence also recently tweeted his support for an open sodomite Olympic athlete, as shown in the attached image. Please don’t make the mistake of assuming that because leaders such as Trump or Pence oppose certain ungodly elements of society that it means they themselves are righteous or godly.]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attended the traditional National Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral on [January 20th 2017], which featured representatives from various religions, including Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism.
The gathering featured a variety of music and speakers, with prayers in the name of Jesus and songs such as “How Great Thou Art” by Marlana VanHoose and “We’ve Come This Far By Faith” by Liberty University Praise interspersed with prayers and readings from a rabbi, an imam, a Hindu priest and others.
The event was opened by Mariann Edgar Budde, the female bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
“As we mark this moment of political transition, let us all draw strength and courage from the sacred texts and songs … from the many traditions of our land,” Budde declared.
A Navajo blessing was presented by Carlyle Begay, followed later by Todd Christopherson of the Mormon Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who read from the Book of Common Prayer, as was done during a prayer service for George Washington in 1783.
“Fill them with the love and truth of righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people, in thy fear through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with Thee, one God, world without end,” Christopherson recited.
Cantor Mikhail Manevich from Washington Hebrew Congregation recited the Jewish Sh’ma Yisrael (Hear O Israel) and the Viyahafta (You Shall Love).
Also in the first half of the service, Narayanachar Digalakota from the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Maryland presented an invocation on behalf of the Hindu religion, speaking in Sanskrit.
Sajid Tarar, the founder of Muslims for Trump, who delivered an Islamic prayer at the Republican National Convention in July, read from the Koran in Arabic, and Imam Mohamed Magid, executive director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, presented a reading as well.
“O mankind, indeed we have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you,” Magid recited.
Later in the event, Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship and the Harvest Crusades presented a prayer asking that the Armed Forces have divine protection, that diplomats would be “ambassadors of hope,” and that local governments would have the “spirit of wisdom and love, and justice and compassion.”
He was followed by Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, who implored God to protect and give courage to the nation’s first responders and police officers “that they may serve You and their neighbor.”
David Jeremiah of Shadow Mountain Community Church also provided a reading from Romans, and Ronnie Floyd, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, read from Psalm 23.
The men were followed by Jesse Singh, founder of American Sikhs for Trump, who offered a prayer first delivered by Guru Gobind Singh, who is considered the 10th Sikh master.
The event concluded with a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, led by Ramiro Pena of Christ the King Baptist Church in Waco, Texas.
Others who spoke at the service included Ian McIlraith of the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International; Alveda King, the niece of the late Martin Luther King Jr.; Geron Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; Donald Wuerl, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, D.C.; and Cissie Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of Billy Graham.
As previously reported, services at the Washington National Cathedral following inaugural ceremonies have been a long-held American tradition, spanning more than 100 years. Barack Obama and Joe Biden likewise attended ceremonies at the cathedral featuring a number of world religions following the 2009 and 2013 inaugurations.
In 2013, the Episcopalian Cathedral announced that it would begin hosting same-sex ceremonies.

INTEL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN NUNES: "CLEAR LINK" FROM DNC/CLINTON CAMPAIGN "TO RUSSIA"

 

INTEL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN NUNES: 

"CLEAR LINK" FROM DNC/CLINTON CAMPAIGN "TO RUSSIA"

BY C. MITCHELL SHAW

SEE: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/congress/item/28231-intel-committee-chairman-nunes-clear-link-from-dnc-clinton-campaign-to-russia;

 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.; shown) says that there is evidence of collusion with Russia during the 2016 election — but it’s not with the Trump campaign. He told Fox News there is a “clear link” between Democrats and Russia. Both recently revealed facts and history show that he is correct in his assertion.
While Democrats, the mainstream liberal media, and others have focused on unproven (and apparently unprovable) allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the results of the 2016 election and guarantee a Trump presidency, Nunes says the real evidence points at “the Hillary Clinton campaign,” which “hired a law firm, who hire Fusion GPS, who hired a foreign agent, who then got information from the Russians on the other campaign.” Nunes said this is a “clear link to Russia.”
Nunes made his remarks Monday, the same day his committee voted unanimously to allow Democrats to release their memo rebutting the Republican memo showing FISA abuses in the Trump/Russia investigation. He said that Democrats have shown hypocrisy in their criticism of the Republican memo, adding, “It seems like the counterintelligence investigation should have been opened up against the Hillary campaign when they got ahold of the dossier. But that didn't happen, either.”
Nunes’ claim that Christopher Steele “got information from the Russians” for his “dossier” is based on the so-called “second memo,” which is actually a heavily redacted copy of the criminal referral against Steele. That memo was released earlier this week by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and shows that Steele “gathered much of his information from Russian government sources inside Russia.”
Wait. Isn’t this whole investigation (read: circus) about whether the Trump campaign served as a conduit for Russia to influence the election? But how about the DNC and the Clinton campaign? It seems obvious that basing the “dossier” on “information from Russian government sources inside Russia,” and then circulating that “dossier” to investigators and leaking it to the media, is a great way to help Russia attempt to influence the election.
It begins to look as though BuzzFeed, and not WikiLeaks (as the Left has claimed), is the media instrument of the Kremlin in the West — whether the folks over at the liberal screed-site know it or not.

Nunes’ remarks about the Clinton campaign hiring “a law firm, who hire Fusion GPS, who hired a foreign agent, who then got information from the Russians on the other campaign” bring up another interesting point that this writer made in a previous article: It was the DNC and Clinton campaign that worked with a foreign operative (Steele) to influence the election by presenting a spurious “dossier” (which has subsequently been entirely discredited) to investigators as if it contained established fact. What Nunes’ remarks and the Grassley/Graham memo add to that is that the foreign operative (Steele) used information gathered from the very foreign power the “dossier” purports to confront.
Hypocrisy does not seem like a strong enough word.
In what The New American’s William F. Jasper called the “Memo Wars,” that “dossier,” as Jasper pointed out, “is now the subject of a rehabilitation effort” by the very people who used it to launch the investigation that has morphed into the Mueller probe.
It is increasingly obvious that the FBI and DOJ abused the readily abusable FISA process to target the Trump campaign using — as an excuse, a pretense — a “dossier” that was both fueled by the Russian government and filled to the margins with utter fabrications. But considering the lengths that Democrats will go to defend and regurgitate their “Trump/Russia collusion” narrative, this is really no surprise.
So, the DNC and the Clinton campaign paid a foreign operative to gather information from a foreign power that both the DNC and Clinton campaign said is hostile to the United States. This spurious informtion was then used to produce the “dossier” that was then both leaked it to the media and used it to paint a picture of Donald Trump as “Putin’s puppet.” Yet, it is Trump and not Clinton who is being investigated for ties to Russia. No wonder Nunes said that “the counterintelligence investigation should have been opened up against the Hillary campaign.”
And while Nunes’ remarks were limited to just the information related to the memos, that information is merely the tip of the Clinton/Russia iceberg. In fact, the connections between Clinton and Russia go far and wide. As this writer reported in an article that originally appeared in the February 20, 2017 print edition of The New American and was later published online, there are enough damning connections between Clinton and Moscow to make a good case for collusion. A sampling of those connections — as revealed in the leaked Clinton/DNC e-mails published by WikiLeaks — shows that:
• As secretary of state, Clinton “reset” relations with Putin’s Russia, which helped the Clinton Foundation and its donors make millions of dollars off a deal that sold the mining company Uranium One (and 25 percent of our strategic uranium production) to Russia.
• John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign manager, is involved in a huge financial/national security scandal involving his position as an executive board member of Joule Global Stichting, a company owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg and Putin’s state-owned RUSNANO corporation.
• Secretary of State Clinton set up multi-billion dollar deals and transfers of U.S. technology to help Vladimir Putin build Skolkovo, Russia’s high-tech Silicon Valley, concerning which the FBI has issued “an extraordinary warning” noting that Russia may use this cooperation to obtain America’s “sensitive or classified research development facilities and dual-use technologies.”
As this writer asserted at that time:

Considering what the e-mails show of Clinton’s close ties to Russia and Putin, her assertion that Trump is Putin’s “puppet” is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. Furthermore, it boggles the mind that the woman who delivered U.S. technology into the hands of Russia would then accuse Putin of directing a hacking campaign to help her political opponent. Was it the technology she helped supply that was used to do the hacking?

Although the new information coming out as a result of the “Memo Wars” is not shocking to those who have been following the Clinton shell game closely, it certainly adds to what is already known about Clinton/Russian connections/collusion. Taken in parts or in whole, it is obvious that this information backs up Nunes’ claims of a “clear link” between Democrats and Russia.
The only question left, really, is what will be done about it. For his part, Nunes seems prepared to tear down the Democrat house of cards. And President Trump — having spent his first year in the White House being accused of what the evidence increasingly shows his opponent actually did — is likely to lend the full support of his administration. If so, it may soon be all over for the Obama/Clinton/DNC cabal.

TURKISH LEADER ERDOGAN DECLARES JIHAD ON KURDS, DISPATCHES SOLDIERS TO "DECIMATE" THEM

 

 

UPDATE:

Turkish leader declares jihad on Kurds, 

dispatches soldiers to “decimate” them

BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/02/turkish-leader-declares-jihad-on-kurds-dispatches-soldiers-to-decimate-them;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Erdogan launched what Islamists are openly calling a jihad against the Kurdish 

YPG faction. Thousands of Turkish soldiers, along with tanks and artillery, have 

blasted their way across the Turkish border into Syria.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the model of a clever jihadist leader who employs a combination of stealth and violent means to attain his expansionist dreams of a revived Ottoman Empire.
After the fall of the Ottomans, and soon after the declaration of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara’s goal became to destroy all non-Turkish elements within the Republic, with a primary target being the Kurds and the Armenians. Now Erdogan has taken up that effort once again. As he aims to destroy the historic culture and identity of the Kurds, he has deceptively (and cruelly) called his jihad invading death squads “Operation Olive Branch.”
On January 20 and 21, 90,000 mosques prayed Qur’anic “conquest” prayers calling on Muslims to be “ruthless against unbelievers” and for victory against the Kurds, right before Erdogan’s thousands of soldiers were dispatched.
Yet despite Erdogan’s unsavoury record, he still manages to sell to Western leaders the idea that he is “moderate.” Earlier this week, Pope Francis rolled out the red carpet for him; Erdogan took opportunity to ask the Pope to help lead a “concerted and continuous international effort to fight Islamophobia.” He also deceitfully “discussed the plight” of Christians in the Middle East and “promised to mobilize Turkish support to help them in every possible way, just as the Ottomans did in their 600-year history.”

There are a couple problems with his hollow “promise”: Christian persecution has dramatically increased in Turkey under his hardline rule. Erdogan has even brought changes to school curricula: “Islamic law class and basic fundamental religion lectures will include lessons on jihad.” Also, Christians were not supported under Ottoman rule as Erdogan states. As Robert Spencer has noted: “In reality, the Christians in the Ottoman Empire suffered the institutionalized discrimination and harassment of dhimmitude, punctuated with occasional open persecution.”

Erdogan has also declared that the European headscarf ban started a battle between the Cross and the Crescent. He continues to deny the atrocious Armenian genocide; has supported the Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood; and has long been on a global campaign to compel Western nations to criminalize “Islamophobia.”
All world leaders, especially the Pope, should be condemning Erdogan and his unrighteous persecution of the Kurds, particularly now that Erdogan has “dispatched his army into Syria to decimate them.”

“Turkey’s Erdogan Declares Jihad on Religious Minorities in Syria”, by Lela Gilbert, Newsmax, February 6, 2018:

Turkey’s irascible President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is once again infuriated with a Kurdish group and has dispatched his army into Syria to decimate them.
On January 20, Erdogan launched what Islamists are openly calling a jihad against the Kurdish YPG faction. Thousands of Turkish soldiers, along with tanks and artillery, have blasted their way across the Turkish border into Syria.
With a cynical choice of words, the Turks have code-named their invasion, “Operation Olive Branch.”
Under Erdogan’s leadership, Turkey’s military is believed by some to be a threat to Middle East peace. Perhaps more alarming is that Erdogan’s troops also comprise NATO’s second largest army.
Since Operation Olive Branch was launched, Turkish soldiers have been making their way toward Afrin City. But their progress has been slower than expected.
Egypt’s Al-Ahram reported on Feb. 4, “Ankara is heightening the pitch of its chauvinistic rhetoric on Kurdish militias and U.S. policies in northern Syria, but is making painfully meagre progress in its ground offensive….”
Afrin is a canton in Syria’s northwest, populated largely by Kurds. Many in Afrin’s population belong to the YPK, a Kurdish militia that has heroically fought alongside United States forces against the Islamic State/ISIS.
In the complicated Middle East, however, one man’s hero is another man’s terrorist. In Erdogan’s narrow-eyed view, the YPK (and several other Kurdish groups) are terrorists.
So the Kurdish communities in the Afrin region — many of them civilians alongside displaced minority families who fled the Syrian war — are once again literally under the gun.
Since the fighting began on Jan. 20, Turkish fighters have slaughtered over 900 soldiers and civilians, including Christians, Yazidis, and other unarmed civilians.
Many of the displaced people in the region were originally from Aleppo, a city that has historically had a Christian community of about 250,000. Aleppo used to be the largest city in Syria. But with the rise of sectarian violence beginning in 2010, many displaced Christian families were forced to flee to Afrin, Idlib, and other northern safe havens. There they were joined by Yazidis and other minorities.
Tragically, those safe havens are now warzones.
According to UN figures, today 323,000 people are living in Afrin and nearby areas under Kurdish control. Of them, 192,000 are in need of humanitarian aid and 125,000 are what the UN terms “internally displaced persons,” or IDPs, from other parts of Syria.
As this latest fighting began to heat up, Twitter was alight with warnings from church groups in Afrin and nearby communities, pleading for help.
Some refugee parents posted online photos of their children living in tents, entirely unprotected as shells and shrapnel rained down on them. Others were photographed hiding in caves, cringing at the sound of incoming bombs and bullets.
Scores of appeals for help from trapped Christians have been tweeted and retweeted. One message from a local Pastor Hanan pleaded for international intervention and protection.
“As the Good Shepherd Church in Afrin city,” he wrote, “we demand urgent international protection for the believers in Afrin and the cease of this Turkish shelling….”
Pastor Hanan also pointed out the very real danger that the present upheaval may help ISIS or al-Qaida to make a regional comeback.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that foreign fighters are joining the battle against Turkey in support of the YPG.
One volunteer posted online, “We have fought Daesh [ISIS] before in Raqqa, in Deir ez-Zor, and now with the fascist Turkish state that we are fighting here in Afrin.”
Unrepentantly, Erdogan has threated to extend Operation Olive Branch further into Syria, and to remove all “terrorists,” so he can transport some three million refugees, presently sheltering in Turkey, back in to Syria for repatriation.
One Feb. 3 report quotes Erdogan saying that the fighting is about to end. At the same time, Hurriyet, a Turkish news source, reports that the Turkish army is getting close to the Afrin City Center. It also reports that Erdogan’s AKP party is seeking approval from Parliament, “for Turkey’s ongoing military operation into the Syrian district of Afrin.…”
Will Erdogan’s ever-expanding ambitions succeed? Will anyone — NATO, Russia, Iranian, Syrian, or any other force — stand in Erdogan’s way?
The Economist sums up the very volatile situation, and warns the conflict could spiral out of control…..

WARNING: "CENTER FOR HUMAN TECHNOLOGY": EARLY FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE EMPLOYEES FORM NON CHRISTIAN COALITION TO FIGHT WHAT THEY BUILT~"THE TRUTH ABOUT TECH"

  NON CHRISTIAN MIND CONTROL BACKLASH CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM

TURNING STUDENTS INTO NON-JUDGEMENTAL BUDDHIST ZOMBIES IS NOT THE ANSWER

(WARNING: WE DIDN'T EVOLVE FROM APES, 

SO APES AREN'T OUR MODELS)

 "CENTER FOR HUMAN TECHNOLOGY"

 "THE TRUTH ABOUT TECH" 

We have built a world-class team of deeply concerned former tech insiders and CEOs who intimately understand the culture, business incentives, design techniques, and organizational structures driving how technology hijacks our minds.

SEE: http://humanetech.com/

Technology is hijacking our minds and society.
Our world-class team of deeply concerned former tech insiders and CEOs intimately understands the culture, business incentives, design techniques, and organizational structures driving how technology hijacks our minds.
Since 2013, we’ve raised awareness of the problem within tech companies and for millions of people through broad media attention, convened top industry executives, and advised political leaders. Building on this start, we are advancing thoughtful solutions to change the system.
 What we feel as addiction is part of something much bigger.

There's an invisible problem that's affecting all of society.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google have produced amazing products that have benefited the world enormously. But these companies are also caught in a zero-sum race for our finite attention, which they need to make money. Constantly forced to outperform their competitors, they must use increasingly persuasive techniques to keep us glued. They point AI-driven news feeds, content, and notifications at our minds, continually learning how to hook us more deeply—from our own behavior.
Unfortunately, what's best for capturing our attention isn't best for our well-being:

• Snapchat turns conversations into streaks, redefining how our children measure friendship.
• Instagram glorifies the picture-perfect life, eroding our self worth.
• Facebook segregates us into echo chambers, fragmenting our communities.
• YouTube autoplays the next video within seconds, even if it eats into our sleep.

These are not neutral products.
They are part of a system designed to addict us.

____________________________________________________

EARLY FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE EMPLOYEES FORM COALITION TO FIGHT WHAT THEY BUILT 

 (Friday Church News Notes, February 9, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - 
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
The following is excerpted from “Early Facebook and Google,” New York Times, Feb. 4, 2018: “A group of Silicon Valley technologists who were early employees at Facebook and Google, alarmed over the ill effects of social networks and smartphones, are banding together to challenge the companies they helped build. The cohort is creating a union of concerned experts called the Center for Humane Technology. Along with the nonprofit media watchdog group Common Sense Media, it also plans an anti-tech addiction lobbying effort and an ad campaign at 55,000 public schools in the United States. The campaign, titled The Truth About Tech, will be funded with $7 million from Common Sense and capital raised by the Center for Humane Technology. Common Sense also has $50 million in donated media and airtime from partners including Comcast and DirecTV. It will be aimed at educating students, parents and teachers about the dangers of technology, including the depression that can come from heavy use of social media. ‘We were on the inside,’ said Tristan Harris, a former in-house ethicist at Google who is heading the new group. ‘We know what the companies measure. We know how they talk, and we know how the engineering works.’ The effect of technology, especially on younger minds, has become hotly debated in recent months. ... Pediatric and mental health experts called on Facebook last week to abandon a messaging service the company had introduced for children as young as 6. Parenting groups have also sounded the alarm about YouTube Kids, a product aimed at children that sometimes features disturbing content. ... The new Center for Humane Technology includes an unprecedented alliance of former employees of some of today’s biggest tech companies. Apart from Mr. Harris, the center includes Sandy Parakilas, a former Facebook operations manager; Lynn Fox, a former Apple and Google communications executive; Dave Morin, a former Facebook executive; Justin Rosenstein, who created Facebook’s Like button ... Apple’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, told The Guardian last month that he would not let his nephew on social media.” (For practical instruction on protecting young people from evil influences, see The Mobile Phone and the Christian Home and Church, available as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org.)
______________________________________________________

Watch the TED Talk by Tristan Harris 

"How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day"

 SPREADING THE PAGAN PROPAGANDA 

VIA TECHY BRAINWASHING, PROSELYTIZING

 Truth About Tech: How Tech Has Kids Hooked

 __________________________________

THE PROBLEM REMAINS WITH AT LEAST ONE "ADVISOR" 

AT THE CENTER:

 Jon Kabat-Zinn's Karmic Saga: 

The Mainstreaming of Mindfulness

SEE OUR PREVIOUS POSTS:

http://ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2016/06/mindfulness-meditation-yoga.html 

http://ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2016/01/mindfulness-single-most-impactful.html 

http://freebeacon.com/issues/feds-spend-2-5-million-on-mindfulness-intervention-for-kindergarteners/

 

 

 

FRANCE: HIJABBED MUSLIM SINGER RETOOLS LEONARD COHEN'S "HALLELUJAH" WITH ISLAMIC PROSELYTIZING LYRICS

 FRENCH SYRIAN SINGER CHANGES LYRICS 

TO PROSELYTIZE ISLAM

 EXCERPTS FROM: https://www.mysalaam.com/en/story/the-voice-sensation-mennel-ibtissem-already-under-fire-for-pro-palestinian-stance/SALAAM07022018081322:

"During the blind audition on February 4, Mennel started her song in English, switched to a French take of the first verse, and then transitioned into Arabic, with the Hallelujah refrain replaced with “Ya Ilahi” (‘My god’ in Arabic). All four judges, including Lebanese-born singer Mika, gave their approval shortly after the first verse.

Born to a Syrian-Turkish father and a Moroccan-Algerian mother, the hijabi singer had already released four videos on her YouTube channel before she shot to fame on TV. However, her new online popularity has led to less-than-generous scrutiny as well.
After The Voice aired on Saturday, her posts on Palestine and the terror attacks in France were soon singled out. Websites criticised her pro-Palestinian stance as well as her posts in support of Tariq Ramadan, the Oxford professor who accused of sexual misconduct. Mennel responded to her critics on Twitter, saying that saying her posts were taken out of context and do not reflect her point of view."

 

 

FRANCE: HIJABBED MUSLIM SINGER RETOOLS LEONARD COHEN'S "HALLELUJAH" 

WITH ISLAMIC PROSELYTIZING LYRICS

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/02/france-hijabbed-muslim-singer-retools-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-with-islamic-proselytizing-lyrics;  

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

She seemed to be the embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of French multiculturalist Leftists: a hijab-wearing Muslima singing a song written by a famous Jewish poet. But, as seems always to be the case, there was a catch: she sang altered lyrics in Arabic that turned the song into one that proselytized for Islam:
“She said her message is one of ‘love, of peace and tolerance and the proof of this is to sing Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen – a song that illustrates perfectly the message that I wish to express as an artist.’ But her Arabic-language rendition of Cohen’s song shows she took some artistic licenses with that message, according to the Tribune Juive weekly. Whereas the French-language translation of the song’s first verse was faithful to the English origin, Ibtissem proceeded to sing in Arabic a verse that stripped away its sensual language and unmistakably sexual allusions. The verse was written years ago by a singer from Kuwait, Muhamad Al Hussayn, who is known for setting Islamic proselytizing lyrics to Western pop melodies. It exchanges Cohen’s iconoclastic musings about King David’s lust for Bathsheba and female sexuality with the story of a man who was ‘surrounded by darkness’ until he found God.”
What’s more, she has a history of statements downplaying jihad terror and playing up the fiction of Muslim victimhood in France as well as in Israel. Once again we see that sentiments that are supposed to be held only by a “tiny minority of extremists” are much more common among Muslims than multiculturalist Leftists would like to admit.
Here is Mennel singing “Hallelujah”:

 And here is the real thing:

“Everyone loved this French-Muslim singer’s Leonard Cohen cover. Then they read her Facebook posts.,” by Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA, February 7, 2018:

(JTA) — In a deeply divided nation that is still reeling from a toxic presidential election last spring, as well as jihadist and racist attacks, Mennel Ibtissem’s performances offered a rare vision of hope.
The blue-eyed Muslim woman sang Arabic and French-language renditions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” on national television in France while wearing a head cover. She was a favorite on the French edition of “The Voice” talent and reality show, seeming to embody the values of coexistence and tolerance in a country with a notorious integration problem.
But in a repeat of recent scandals involving ambassadors for diversity in Europe, Ibtissem’s social media activity showed a different side of her — one that spread pro-Palestinian propaganda, conspiracy theories and accusations that the French state, not jihadists, is responsible for terrorism.
It was that last remark, posted by the 23-year-old singer on social media in 2016, that prompted the TF1 television network to consider disqualifying Ibtissem from the show.
“We cannot keep on the show a person who made illegal statements,“ a network spokesman told television host and journalist Jean-Marc Morandini on Tuesday.
In her 2016 remarks, Ibtissem, the show’s first contender to perform while wearing a Muslim head covering, wrote following the murder of a priest in Saint-Etienne-du Rouvray by an Islamist that “the real terrorist[s] are our government.”
The same year, one day after a jihadist terrorist attack in Nice in which 86 people died, she seemed to peddle a popular conspiracy theory that Muslims are being framed for false-flag attacks.
“It’s becoming a routine: An attack each week!! And sure enough, the ‘terrorist’ takes with him his identity CARD. Of course, when planning a dirty you always take papers! #DontTakeUsForFools,” she wrote on Facebook.
In a separate post in 2016, Ibtissem said her country has “a shitty society,” that she is “sick of the French system” and that she’s “eager to get the hell out of here.”
Henda Ayari, a French feminist and author who grew up in a Muslim family, said L’Affaire Mennel indicates an eagerness in the French media and beyond to seek the semblance of tolerance rather than the real thing.
“Wearing a veil does not make one a saint, modesty needs no veil, beauty needs no pretty face to shine, external beauty does not mean internal one. Never rely on appearances, they’re deceiving,” Ayari wrote Tuesday on Twitter about Ibtissem….
BNVCA also noted a 2015 video of a song she wrote and performed titled “Smile Palestine,” in which she sings of “a life of despair” for the Palestinians amid “slaughter of mothers, fathers, little sisters and little brothers.”
Reacting to the controversy Ibtissem, an English teacher in training who was born in France to a Syrian father and an Algerian mother, wrote on Facebook that her statements about terrorism had been “taken out of context” and “do not reflect any of my views.”
She did not attempt to re-contextualize her remarks, but added that she was born in France.
“I love my country, and of course I wholeheartedly condemn terrorism, which was the reason for my fury: How can you imagine that I would defend the indefensible!” Ibtissem wrote.
She said her message is one of “love, of peace and tolerance and the proof of this is to sing Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen – a song that illustrates perfectly the message that I wish to express as an artist.”
But her Arabic-language rendition of Cohen’s song shows she took some artistic licenses with that message, according to the Tribune Juive weekly. Whereas the French-language translation of the song’s first verse was faithful to the English origin, Ibtissem proceeded to sing in Arabic a verse that stripped away its sensual language and unmistakably sexual allusions.
The verse was written years ago by a singer from Kuwait, Muhamad Al Hussayn, who is known for setting Islamic proselytizing lyrics to Western pop melodies. It exchanges Cohen’s iconoclastic musings about King David’s lust for Bathsheba and female sexuality with the story of a man who was “surrounded by darkness” until he found God.
A Tribune Juive author, in an unsigned op-ed, wrote that the altered version went to the heart of the controversy surrounding Ibtissem.
“To the uninitiated French public, Mennel began to sing a poetic story drawing on Psalms and King David, who ruled a Jewish kingdom in Jerusalem,” the op-ed read. “But to her many followers who speak Arabic, this artist had a very different religious message.”

_________________________________________________________
SEE ALSO:

 Mennel Ibtissem, Syria's Magic in the Voice France (with Video)

https://www.albawaba.com/entertainment/mennel-ibtissem%2C-syria%27s-magic-in-the-voice-france-with-video-1085770 

EXCERPT:

 The 22 years old, who is born to a Syrian-Turkish father and Moroccan-Algerian mother, was able to charm all four judges while performing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and as she was wrapping up, she surprised all of us by switching into an Arabic version of the song replacing Hallelujah with “Ya Ilahi.” Ibtissem chose the Lebanese-born Singer Mika to be her coach.

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN: WOMAN ARRESTED FOR REMOVING HIJAB REFUSES TO REPENT DESPITE FACING 10 YEARS IN PRISON

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN: WOMAN ARRESTED 

 

FOR REMOVING HIJAB REFUSES TO REPENT DESPITE FACING 10 YEARS IN PRISON 

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/02/islamic-republic-of-iran-woman-arrested-for-removing-hijab-refuses-to-repent-despite-facing-10-years-in-prison; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Narges Hosseini is an actual feminist. Where are the feminists of the West speaking up for her right not to wear the hijab? Linda Sarsour? Anyone?
Women such as Narges Hosseini and Vida Movahed deserve the wholehearted support of all free people. That they do not receive it from the supposedly feminist Left reveals the self-serving hypocrisy of Western feminists.

“Woman Arrested For Removing Hijab in Tehran Refuses to Repent Despite Facing 10 Years in Prison,” Center for Human Rights in Iran, February 6, 2018:

Narges Hosseini, who was arrested for protesting Iran’s compulsory hijab, refused to appear in court to face charges punishable by up to 10 years, including “encouraging immorality or prostitution.”
“Ms. Hosseini did not even appear in court to express remorse for her action. She said she objects to the forced hijab and considers it her legal right to express her protest,” Hosseini’s lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on February 5, 2018.
Hosseini, 32, has been in detention since January 29, 2018. She was unable to pay the $135,000 USD bail set by the judge presiding over her case.
She was arrested on January 29, 2018, for posting a photo on social media of herself standing on a bench holding her white headscarf like a flag on Tehran’s Revolution’s Street.
All women in Iran are required to cover their hair and bodies in public.
Vida Movahed was the first woman to be arrested after she did the same thing in late December 2017 in Tehran. The act of removing your headscarf in public and waving it like a flag has become a symbol for the “Girls of Revolution Street” movement, which advocates choice over compulsion for women’s clothing.
“Ms. Hosseini is being held in difficult circumstances in Gharchak Prison [south of Tehran] but she is not prepared to say she is sorry,” Sotoudeh, a prominent human rights lawyer, told CHRI. “She believes she’s innocent.”
Hosseini is facing the charges of, “openly committing a harām [sinful] act” and “violating public prudency” under Article 638 and “encouraging immorality or prostitution” under Article 639.
According to Article 639 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, “The following individuals shall be sentenced to one year to 10 years’ imprisonment… A – Anyone who establishes or directs a place of immorality or prostitution. B – Anyone who facilitates or encourages people to commit immorality or prostitution.”
Article 638 states, “Anyone in public places and roads who openly commits a harām [sinful] act, in addition to the punishment provided for the act, shall be sentenced to two months’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes; and if they commit an act that is not punishable but violates public prudency, they shall only be sentenced to 10 days to two months’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes.”
Hosseini’s lawyer also rejected a senior judicial official’s claim that her client is a drug addict….

JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO REFUSED TO BAKE CAKE FOR SAME SEX WEDDING

 

 

 VIDEO:

 

JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO REFUSED TO BAKE CAKE 

FOR SAME SEX WEDDING 

BY RAVEN CLABOUGH

SEE: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/28224-judge-rules-in-favor-of-christian-baker-who-refused-to-bake-cake-for-same-sex-wedding; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

A California judge has affirmed the constitutional rights of a Christian baker who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. According to Superior Court Judge David Lampe, the public marketplace cannot compel an individual to endorse a message with which he or she disagrees.  
Judge Lampe contends that wedding cakes are "artistic expressions" and are therefore at the core of the First Amendment.
"For this court to force such compliance would do violence to the essentials of Free Speech guaranteed under the First Amendment," the judge said in the ruling.
Lampe's ruling contrasts with a ruling out of Colorado that stated a baker could not refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. Colorado baker Jack Phillips refused to bake a cake for the wedding of David Mullins and Charlie Craig because he said it violated his Christian faith. The couple then filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Commission. To avoid violating his faith as well as the court's order, Phillips has stopped making wedding cakes, which has eaten into a significant portion of his profits, according to the Washington Times. That case is now before the Supreme Court.

California has a similar public accommodation law to that of Colorado, so when Cathy Miller, owner of "Tastries" bakeshop in Bakersfield and devout Christian, refused to make a cake for Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-De Rio's wedding, the state pursued legal action. Charles LiMandri of the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund acted as Miller's lawyer.
The judge offered to hold off on making a decision in the case until the Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Phillips case, but California argued that it was entitled to a decision.
According to Judge Lampe, the case would have had a different decision had the debate been over a premade cake. “No baker may place their wares in a public display case, open their shop, and then refuse to sell because of race, religion, gender, or gender identification,” Judge Lampe wrote in his order.
“The difference here is that the cake in question is not yet baked,” he added.
The Blaze reports that the judge also noted that Miller's recommendation that the couple go to a competitor was a factor in the ruling. “Furthermore, here the State minimizes the fact that Miller has provided for an alternative means for potential customers to receive the product they desire through the services of another talent. The fact that Rodriguez-Del Rios (the couple) feel they will suffer indignity from Miller’s choice is not sufficient to deny constitutional protection,” the judge wrote.
And though the ruling is a win for constitutional rights, it is predicated on the notion that the government is the purveyor of individual liberties and rights.
Ron Paul, a former U.S. congressman from Texas, remarked on this very concept in 2017, following another case in which Christian bakers in Oregon were punished for refusing to bake a cake for a lesbian couple and were ordered to pay $135,000 in fines. Paul wrote that there is a danger in asking judges whether a bakery owner's refusal to bake a cake is rooted in religious objections:

Looking just at this argument means that a victory for the bakery would implicitly accept the legitimacy of laws dictating to whom private businesses must provide services, as long as an exemption is made for those with religious objections. This reduces property and contract rights to special privileges held by business owners with “sincere religious convictions.” It also allows judges, bureaucrats, and politicians to determine who is really acting on sincere religious convictions.

Paul contends that individuals should have the right to determine with whom they would like to transact:

Just as business owners have the right to decide who to do business with, individuals have the right to form any arrangement they wish as long as they do not engage in force or fraud. This includes entering into what many consider unconventional or even immoral marriage contracts. What no individual has the right to do is use government to force others to accept his definition of marriage.

Still, Miller is pleased that Judge Lampe acknowledged and upheld her rights. "Our bakery and our family feel very blessed that the judge ruled in our favor,” Miller said. “Not to say that we want to be discriminatory, but we do need to stand up for our religious freedom and our freedom of speech."
______________________________________________________

 Judge Rules California Can’t Force Baker to Create Cakes for Same-Sex ‘Weddings’ in Violation of Her Christian Faith

BY HEATHER CLARK

SEE: http://christiannews.net/2018/02/07/judge-rules-california-cant-force-baker-to-create-cakes-for-same-sex-weddings-in-violation-of-her-christian-faith/; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A Superior Court judge has ruled that the State of California cannot force a baker who identifies as a Christian to create cakes for same-sex “weddings” in violation of her faith. He differentiated between selling a generic product on the shelf with having to specially create a cake that celebrates an event that her religion prohibits.
“The State is not petitioning the court to order defendants to sell a cake,” Judge David Lampe noted in his ruling on Tuesday to deny the State’s request for a preliminary injunction. “The State asks this court to compel Miller to use her talents to design and create a cake she has not yet conceived with the knowledge that her work will be displayed in celebration of a marital union her religion forbids.”
“For this court to force such compliance would do violence to the essentials of free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment,” he declared.
As previously reported, two lesbian women, Eileen Del Rio and Mireya Rodriguez, who already “married” in December 2016, approached Cathy Miller of Tastries Bakery in August 2017 to request a same-sex “wedding” cake. Miller, who had the women try some of her cupcakes while present, offered to call another baker who could accommodate them as she herself could not be a part of the event.

“We’re Christians. We love everyone. God made everyone. It doesn’t matter the color [or] whatever. Everyone is God’s creation and I love everyone,” Miller told ABC23 News. “But, there’s certain things that violate my conscience and my conscience will not allow me to participate in things that I feel are wrong, and most of what that’s based on is Scripture.”
The women, upset that she had offered a referral instead of creating the cake herself, took to social media about the matter and later filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), which handles enforcement of the state’s civil rights law. Miller’s attorneys say that she received hateful messages and death threats as a result of the situation.
The DFEH soon Miller placed under investigation, sending her more than forty questions about her professional and personal life. The entity decided to take Miller to court over the matter, asking that it issue an injunction against Miller’s practice of declining to make cakes for same-sex celebrations.

“California respects and celebrates diverse religious beliefs and freedom of speech, but does not create exceptions to its civil rights laws to allow businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation,” Director Kevin Kish said in a statement.
“After a careful review of the preliminary facts, DFEH concluded that legal intervention was warranted to ensure equal access to services and prevent harm resulting from discrimination until our investigation is complete,” he outlined.
Judge Lampe denied the State’s request for an emergency injunction in December, advising that he wanted to allow time for Miller to respond. A hearing for a preliminary injunction was held last Friday, and according to Miller’s attorneys with the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, hundreds of Bakersfield residents gathered outside of the courthouse to pray for Miller prior to the hearing.
On Tuesday, Judge Lampe ruled in favor of Miller, and differentiated between not allowing a person to buy anything from one’s store because of their homosexuality, and being forced to create something that presents a message that is against one’s religion.
“The State’s purpose to ensure an accessible public marketplace free from discrimination is laudable and necessary public goal. No vendor may refuse to sell their public goods, or services (not fundamentally founded upon speech) based upon their perception of the gender identification of their customer, even upon religious grounds,” he wrote. “A retail tire shop may not refuse to sell tire because the owner does not want to sell tires to same sex couples. There is nothing sacred or expressive about a tire.”
“No artist, having placed their work for public sale, may refuse to sell for an unlawful discriminatory purpose. No baker may place their wares in public display case, open their shop, and then refuse to sell because of race, religion, gender, or gender identification,” Lampe continued.
However, “[t]he difference here is that the cake in question is not yet baked,” he noted.
“Would this court force a baker who strongly favored LGBT rights to create and design wedding cake she had refused to a Catholic couple, in her protest of the Catholic Church’s prescription against same-sex marriage?” Lampe asked. “The answer is ‘No.’ This court has an obligation to protect free speech, regardless of whose foot the shoe is on.”
“A wedding cake is not just cake in free speech analysis. It is an artistic expression by the person making it that is to be used traditionally as centerpiece in the celebration of marriage. There could not be greater form of expressive conduct,” he also noted. “The State asks this court to compel Miller against her will and religion to allow her artistic expression in celebration of marriage to be co-opted to promote the message desired by same-sex marital partners, and with which Miller disagrees.”
Lampe ruled that the State could not outweigh its interests with Miller’s free speech rights and noted that there were ample alternatives for the lesbian women as “Miller is not the only wedding cake creator in Bakersfield.”
“For the reasons stated above, the application for preliminary injunction is denied. The State cannot succeed upon the merits, and the balance of hardships does not favor the State,” he concluded.
Read the ruling in full here.
Miller’s attorneys cheered the ruling upon its release.
“Cathy would never discriminate against anyone who walks through her bakery’s doors. She will gladly serve anyone, including same-sex couples,” said President Charles LiMandri. “But Cathy will not use her artistic talents to express messages that conflict with her sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage. We are pleased that the judge recognized that the First Amendment protects Cathy’s freedom of speech.”

TRUMP APPEARS TO BE NEGATIVE TOWARD MCCAIN-COONS IMMIGRATION PLAN

 

TRUMP APPEARS TO BE NEGATIVE TOWARD MCCAIN-COONS IMMIGRATION PLAN

BY WARREN MASS

SEE: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/28220-trump-appears-to-be-negative-toward-mccain-coons-immigration-plan;

 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Senator Christopher Coons (D-Del.) introduced an immigration bill (S.2367), of which Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) was an original cosponsor, on February 5 that would grant relief from deportation and a path to citizenship for the nearly 800,000 young illegal aliens known as “Dreamers,” whose work permits are set to expire March 5. These youthful illegal aliens had been granted protection from deportation and the right to work legally in the United States under former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The official description of S.2367 states that in addition to providing “relief from removal and adjustment of status” of the young illegal aliens, it also seeks to improve border security and foster United States engagement in Central America.
As of February 6, the text for S.2367 had not been listed as received at the congress.gov website, but the Washington Post reported that the measure does not authorize spending the $25 billion that President Trump is seeking to fortify the U.S.-Mexican border with a new wall and fence construction.
The Post also reported that the McCain-Coons legislation additionally would grant legal status to so-called Dreamers who have been in the country since 2013, which amounts to a greater number of illegal aliens than the 1.8 million President Trump now supported legalizing.
Apparently, the bill says nothing about ending chain migration or the visa lottery program — two of the four pillars of the immigration plan Trump said he would offer to Congress during his State of the Union speech.
Coons told reporters on February 5 that he has not heard from top congressional leaders about the bill he and McCain introduced, and that he considers it one of several proposals that could earn a vote.

Coons said that “a broader solution” introduced by Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is one possible compromise for senators to support. However, CNN reported back on January 17, the day that bill was introduced, that Trump and his top advisers told reporters that the bill was not what the White House was looking for, virtually assuring the measure had no chance of moving forward as it was drafted.
With the Graham-Durbin bill apparently dead in the water, Coons said his proposal with McCain could be a “fresh start” and a “strong starting place” for the Senate to consider during the upcoming efforts to pass an immigration bill.
In a statement quoted by the Post, McCain said the bill “would address the most urgent priorities” of legalizing the status of Dreamers and make changes to border security — and allow Congress to move on.
“It’s time we end the gridlock so we can quickly move on to completing a long-term budget agreement that provides our men and women in uniform the support they deserve,” the Arizona senator added.
A report in The Hill observed that although McCain and Coons believe their bill could be a starting point for negotiations among a wider group of senators, Trump voiced criticism of the measure before it was even formally introduced.
The president said it was a non-starter to offer a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program without providing funding for the border wall.
“Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “March 5th is rapidly approaching and the Dems seem not to care about DACA. Make a deal!”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on September 5 that the DACA program will end in six months, giving Congress time to find a legislative solution for people enrolled in the program. That period ends on March 5, when roughly 800,000 DACA recipients will begin to face deportation without action by Congress.
The Hill cited a statement from Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, who said on February 5 that the Coons-McCain proposal fell short of what the president requires. Asked if it should be the base for the Senate's legislation, he shook his head no, saying “a lot” needed to be added to it. “Look at our [the White House’s] framework,” he told reporters, “I think we’d advocate our framework to be the base bill.”
While Trump may appear to be uncompromising and inflexible in being reluctant to embrace the McCain-Coons bill, he has in fact already compromised much more than congressional conservatives like. As was observed in a recent article in The New American, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on January 25, “I do not believe we should be granting a path to citizenship to anybody here illegally. Doing so is inconsistent with the promises we made to the men and women who elected us.”
Cruz’s statement, though it did not mention Trump by name, was an apparent response to remarks made by the president that he was open to the “Dreamers” obtaining citizenship eventually.
When former President Obama issued DACA, he said it was a temporary stop-gap until Congress took action to develop a permanent solution. In his executive order, he only granted permission for DACA “Dreamers” to remain in the country. He did not propose to make them citizens.
Cruz seized upon this distinction and stated:

For some reason that to me is utterly inexplicable, we see Republicans falling all over themselves to gallop to the left of Obama in a way that is contrary to the promises made to the voters who elected us. We need to honor the promises we made. And that is what I am energetically urging my colleagues to do.

While campaigning for the presidency, candidate Trump promised that he would “immediately terminate” DACA after being elected. However, in recent months, he has increasingly demonstrated a willingness to compromise with Democrats by supporting legislation that would offer the same protection from deportation and extended work authorization that the Obama administration granted.
Furthermore, as Cruz noted, Trump is now going beyond what Obama offered with DACA by offering a path to citizenship to the Dreamers. Trump appears to have rejected the immigration proposal by McCain and Coons, tweeting: “It’s a total waste of time.” If he truly feels that way, the president would do well to consider Cruz’s statements, which should be well worth his time.

 

Related articles:
Senator Cruz Opposes Amnesty for Anyone Entering America Illegally
Trump On Citizenship for Dreamers: “We’re Going to Morph Into It”
“Bill of Love”: Trump’s Ongoing Effort to Strike Deal With Democrats for DACA Recipients
Trump and Democrats Working on Deal Over Future of DACA Recipients Before Program Expires
Trump Letter to Congress Outlines Immigration Plan, but Is Open to “Reform” of DACA Recipients’ Status
DHS Assistant Secretary Says Administration Supports Allowing “Dreamers” to Stay
Trump’s Apparent Willingness to Preserve DACA Disturbs His Conservative Base