03/17/13

Media labels Arab Spring pro-democracy as Muslim Brotherhood fulfills jihadist vision

By: Ashraf Ramelah
Voice of the Copts

An Egyptian Protester

In late December 2010, the Tunisia uprising was sparked by a tragic public suicide-burning of a twenty-something street vender in an act of civil disobedience. Instantaneously, media commentary like wildfire around the world labeled this event “Arab Spring,” branding it the beginning of a struggle for democracy in the region. Correspondents in the tumultuous Middle East barraged the airwaves with the fast impression that this dreadful incident had value in leading to freedom in that part of the planet, and the image of this terrifying catalyst went viral.

The public gripped on to the horrifying image and romantic notion of the throes of youth in revolt projected daily, accepting it without question as the inclusive narrative.

Desperation in a street of an Arab-Muslim city, by no means novel, was now predicted to be the trigger for a wave of revolutions to come which in reality would have nothing to do with gaining freedom.

Extreme behavior, in this case burning flesh, reflected Tunisia’s saturation of agents working the streets and fomenting rebellion to finally override its movement for change. In shadows surrounding the world’s focus, parallel truths worth telling were never explored. This led the West to wrongly interpret the character of the protests upending dictators. The media unfolded details and shaped them with the bias used to minimize Gaza’s rocket launches into Israel and spotlight Israeli retaliation as insensitive aggression.

Within a few days after the Tunisian set himself ablaze hordes of pro-democracy youths gathered in the streets. The first state to mimic Tunisia was Egypt, thirty-seven days later. Three weeks after that, Mubarak toppled, opening the door to worse conditions for those seeking freedom. The dominos affect was now underway, and in short order revolutionary fervor flared in Yemen, Libya, Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Algeria. Most of these countries at the time of the upheavals reveal the Muslim Brotherhood political apparatus was operating on the ground — recruiting, smuggling arms, increasing personal wealth — and waiting in the wings for such an opportunity to grab as this.

With eleven million people, Tunisia was geographically a perfect testing ground – a type of pilot program for a Muslim Brotherhood lurking behind naïve Arab-Muslim rebels enraged with dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Al, and his regime. The Brotherhood-backed Renaissance Party in Tunisia fueled the dissent. The Muslim Brotherhood political arm directed the outcome toward themselves as beneficiary of power and became the sole choice for Tunisians in open “democratic” elections.

As the first power-play of an encompassing shift (away from democracy) in the region was now underway here, the Muslim Brotherhood, perhaps merely a tool, prepared to take over a youth movement snowballing by cyberspace communiqués. Soon after, more uprisings sprung up to protest other Middle East dictators. The real story is now evident in Egypt where the controlling Muslim Brotherhood is fully exposed as an enemy of the people (the genuine opposition) and their pursuit of democracy, which they rode to power.

Now Tunisia, since December 18, 2010, and Yemen, since January 27, 2011, have Islamic Shariah-leaning governments — franchises of the Muslim Brotherhood and a trademark of Brotherhood takeovers. Rule by the Muslim Brotherhood has been made to appear moderate and pro-democracy in relation to the Salafi and Wahabi factions.

Fighting tribes and Brotherhood jihadist factions pushed Libya’s uprising against dictator Gadhafi which hit the news in February 2011, less than one month of the Yemen rebellion. In Libya, success for the Muslim Brotherhood required an intervention by the international community (Sarkozy suddenly sensitized to the poor oppressed Libyans) conducted by NATO to crush Gadhafi. The result was “democratic” elections bringing about the “imposed” will of the Muslim Brotherhood (with rigged elections like Egypt) and the power grab of Brotherhood member, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional Council.

Timing was important for the Arab Spring jihadist surge orchestrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, assisted, in this case, by NATO aiding the rebellion. Libyan citizens suffered persecution under Gadhafi’s regime for more than forty years before this blueprint of the “Arab Spring” was executed. Bear in mind that wacky Gadhafi — friend to world leaders such as Berlusconi, Sarkozy and Trump — had been welcomed by taxpayers in the West with security details for his absurd overnight stays in Italy, France and the US not long before NATO attacked him in March 2011. Gadhafi pitched his personal portable guest quarters (a tent) in the public gardens of Rome, Paris and New York, less than seven months of the West’s unexpected reversal of Gadhafi’s good fortune.

Meanwhile, in mid-March 2011, it was now Syria’s turn with one significant difference. Freedom-loving words and videos of struggles elsewhere did not spur their activity. Instead, the Muslim Brotherhood struck directly against Assad’s military and seeks today to grab control of the state from Bashar Al Assad with no pretense of democracy or freedom movement to ride. Although Assad is backed by Russia, secularists, afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood gaining power, passively support Assad getting caught in the cross fires of this battle. The bloodbaths of Syria illustrate this end with Brotherhood-backed forces ravaging villages as Christians flee Syria over the borders into Lebanon.

Now the Muslim Brotherhood, jihadists with intentions frighteningly clear, has solid control of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya. Despite negative outcomes for human rights and democratic freedom in Arab Spring countries resulting from the upheavals, the West (US) undercuts the lesser evil with promised help to the anti-Assad fighters, and the Brotherhood may soon gain Syria as well.

This perfect scenario spells regional success for the Muslim Brotherhood which openly scorns the existence of the Jewish state. Now they are at the helm of countries militarily surrounding Israel and strategically critical to “liberate the land of Palestine.” Assuming Assad falls, Lebanon, now dealing with Iran’s Hezbollah, and Jordan could be next.

The Muslim Brotherhood receives economic and military support from states outside the Arab Spring-state conflicts in order to hasten the common goal of Muslim Brotherhood control. Saudi Arabia, center of Sunni ideology and exporter of jihadist terror, often a safe haven for Brotherhood members, functions here as a silent partner. Qatar, along with the Saudis, is the main source of financing for the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Magreb is the exception that illustrates the true motives of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region. Outside strategic interests of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Magreb suffered none of their interference and remains relatively stable today gaining from the unhindered freedom protests. Morocco and Algeria, two states aroused into protests at the onset of the “Arab Spring,” experienced no hijacking of its uprisings and had few Muslim Brotherhood representatives within the Moroccan and Algerian governments.

Moroccan freedom fighters rising up on February 20, 2011 ended with a level of success by June 17 that year, forcing King Mohammed VI to announce a proposal for constitutional reform. The King relinquished a portion of his authority to the office of the Prime Minister and the Parliament. In another major victory, Berber was made the official language along with Arabic.

Near the time of Tunisia’s incident, Algerians demonstrated in the streets over food prices and unemployment which resulted in the death of two protesters and ended by forcing the government to reduce prices of basic foodstuffs. The upheaval continued into May 2012 followed by a Parliamentary election devoid of Brotherhood tampering with an outcome relatively promising for the people. The National Liberation Front (FLN), a mix of secular and moderate Muslim candidates, won the majority of seats (220 out of 463). Their party ally, the National Democratic Rally, won 68 seats, and finally, the Islamist alliance of parties (with Muslim Brotherhood elements) won the fewest number of seats at 48.

Now there are two options. NATO and the US can intervene in Egypt, as in Libya, but this time for the cause of the legitimate freedom-fighting opposition seeking to establish democracy against the Morsi Brotherhood-backed regime. This would give the people of Egypt real hope for universal human rights and true democracy. On the other hand, the US can intervene in Syria (already promised by Secretary of State John Kerry) to aid the cause of the Muslim Brotherhood overthrow of the President and facilitate Muslim Brotherhood control of the region vital for surrounding Israel.

03/17/13

Weekly Featured Profile – Jean Quan

KeyWiki

Jean Quan is the mayor of Oakland, California.

As an Oakland School Board member, Quan was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Title 1 Committee, representing large urban schools. She is Chair-Emeritus of the National School Boards Association’s Council of Urban Boards of Education and served on the Executive Committee of the Council of Great City Schools Executive Committee. As a National Kellogg Foundation Fellow, Jean Quan traveled to cities throughout the United States and learned how cities partnered with their school districts to improve education.

She is the past chair of the Asian American Municipal Officials and currently a member of the US Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities, Central City Caucus, Big 10 California Cities, Emerald Cities (green jobs/technology) and Chair of the Local Government Commission focused on smart growth planning policy.

Quan is a former member of the Communist Workers Party, a violent pro-China group, which disbanded in the mid-1980s to better infiltrate the Democratic Party and support increased China/US ties.

She is a close associate of two prominent US politicians with CWP backgrounds – California Congresswoman Judy Chu and New York City Councillor Margaret Chin – both Democrats.

In January 2011, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Washington DC for a high-profile summit. Highlights of the visit included a private dinner with President Barack Obama one night and a big state dinner the next.

Among those of Chinese descent that were present at the dinner were Jean Quan and Judy Chu.

In 2011, Jean Quan visited Beijing.

(more…)

03/17/13

IMF Marxists Tax and Seize Personal Funds in Cyprus – Crickets Ensue

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Very few things give me nightmares… Yesterday’s event in Cyprus was one of them and the media is conspicuously silent. What do you get when you combine worldwide Marxist elitists, bankers and the media? A worldwide depression and a new dark age. The IMF (in case you are wondering who they are) is using Greece as a proving ground for the rest of us. It is a fascist Petri dish. They just implemented an across the board tax on all bank accounts over a holiday with no warning and no recourse. 9.9% if you have over 100,000 Euros in the bank, 6.75% is you have less than that. This is money being seized by the IMF, the European Union and the government of Greece to attempt to cover some of their debt. It is theft and it could have been a lot worse. The IMF had proposed a 40% haircut on all accounts. This is how it went down:

Banks first cooperated with the EU by sealing off the amount of the proposed levy—a 6.75 percent tax on deposits under €100,000 and 9.9 percent on those above —making it impossible for depositors to access their full amount. The only means bank customers have left is the ability to draw from the rest of their funds via ATM machines this weekend. Many depositors made their way to the machines on Saturday to drain their accounts. But the few banks that opened on Saturdays did so only briefly, and no international transfers will be able to go through until Tuesday, with Monday being the holiday. Cyprus’ Parliament is expected to meet Sunday to pass the required legislation., or after the deed was done. The deal also needs the approval of several eurozone parliaments; at the time of writing it was unclear how fast they can act and what will happen to bank deposits in the meantime.

What’s happening in Cyprus should send a chill over the entire world.

Politicians working with complicit big banks need no rule of law; no parliament debates to close in on the bank accounts of average people.

The Daily Mail:

Cash machines EMPTIED across Cyprus and 60,000 British savers face losing MILLIONS after £8.7bn EU bailout imposes tax of up to 10% on all bank accounts

  • Lines formed at ATMs as people scrambled to pull their money out
  • Word spread that rescue package included a one-off levy on deposits
  • Restrictions stopping people emptying accounts or moving money abroad
  • Up to 3,000 British service personnel are based on the bankrupt island
  • President Nicos Anastasiades agreed to raid with European finance chiefs
  • Said country in ‘state of emergency’ and not acting would be ‘catastrophic’
  • But expats accused the island of ‘plain theft’ as violent protests sparked
  • Britons have about £1.7b of deposits on island and could lose up to £170m
  • Parliamentary official: Vote scheduled for today pushed back to tomorrow
  • G. Osborne: This is what happens if you don’t show you can pay your way

Never let an emergency go to waste, eh? Cyprus’ President claims he had no choice. I don’t believe him. He made a deal with the devil, saved himself and gave up his own people. Very reminiscent of Nazi Germany. It’s fascist deja vu all over again. By the way, they did this before it was approved of by the legislature. Think it can’t happen in America? One day you could wake up and be staring down the same seizures and soon. And Martial law and jackbooted thugs will not be far behind, trust me.

Over a number of years, the Marxist elitists in Europe and the United States (make no mistake, Obama and the head of the IMF are BFFs) have put in place draconian financial policies, regulations and bailouts that have cost Trillions – in fact, more money than actually exists on the planet by no small measure. This is not money out of thin air, these are taxes. Taxes taken while promising growth and recovery that has never materialized, never will materialize and was never meant to materialize. This is a step in a global reset of all markets and a planetary redistribution of wealth that would have made Marx blush and stammer. Remember, the US is a huge contributor to the IMF. You don’t actually think that Obama didn’t know about this and had input, right?

What happened yesterday in Cyprus was a test for the rest of us. What’s more, what was implemented will not solve the problem. What it will do is perhaps start worldwide bank runs and create chaos and riots, a la Cloward and Piven. The global Socialists are making their move and beginning to bring an iron fist down on individuals, their freedoms and their money. This has the potential to make the crash of 2008 look like Spring break. The Marxists are not limiting themselves to bank accounts; they are now going after retirement accounts, gold and whatever else they can grab as the whole scam starts to implode. The run on the Cypriotic banks and ATMs yesterday was just a taste of what is heading our way. The Deutsche Bank global head of FX strategy, Bilal Hafeez, was correct – only Jesus can save the EU now. However, I think He is more likely to speed their demise with all the money changing in His temple occurring and all.

From SHTFplan.com:

Restrictions have been imposed to stop people emptying their accounts or moving their money out the country after the Cypriot government announced that up to ten per cent of deposits will be seized and used to bailout the island’s crisis-hit banking system.

The deal with other eurozone finance ministers is the first time that ordinary citizens’ deposits have been directly raided in this way.

One furious expat said: ‘This is plain theft. I’d love to hear someone explain to me why it isn’t.’

Under the deal, all bank deposits over €100,000 will be hit with a levy of 9.9 per cent. Those with smaller savings will pay 6.75 per cent.

The move sparked panic and violent protests yesterday as crowds desperately tried to withdraw their money at cash machines.

‘Why would you risk putting your money in Greek, Spanish or Portuguese banks after this?’

British expats were stunned by the news, with many left high and dry by the restrictions on accounts.

Cash machines had been working, but many ran out of notes because of the panic withdrawals.

But financial experts said the raid – designed to stop Cyprus crashing out of the euro, potentially destroying the currency – would send shock waves through the eurozone.

If savers in other troubled nations fear their accounts might be next, they could withdraw their money and spark a catastrophic run on the banks.

Source: Daily Mail

In case you weren’t aware, Cyprus is a hub of offshore accounts. One of the biggest hurt by this move were Russian mobsters. But before you justify that, remember, people all over the world had their funds there. It all depends on how you define taxation:

As Market Ticker’s Karl Denninger notes, “Like hell that’s a tax. That’s direct confiscation of the funds of people who did nothing wrong!”

People need to wake up and fast because this train is coming to each of us and soon. There is no safe haven on the planet for money or investments now. The New World Order has arrived and it is hungry. A planetary government of elites who have colluded to strip the wealth from nations has descended to rip the fabric of civility apart and we are all on the menu.

I can’t put it any better than Mac Salvo:

It should now be obvious. There is no recovery. There never was.

No matter where you live, your government is likely preparing measures to deal with the coming financial and economic collapse. This means they are going to be coming for anything of value that they can get their hands on.

If you have the majority of your net worth allocated in bank accounts, money market funds, retirement plans, stock markets or the host of other ‘safe’ assets recommended by your financial adviser, then you are playing Russian roulette.

And in this version there’s a bullet in every chamber.

When they come, they will take everything they can.

You didn’t think all that ammo, arms, food and medicine was for a rainy day, did you? Well, if so, it is pouring. Our Marxist leaders have made preps for themselves, the rest of us be damned and we have just let them do it. Shame on us.

I’ll close with the prescience of Nigel Farage. Pity no one listened to him on this: