January 20, 2015

Jindal Insists Muslim ‘No Go Zones’ Exist in Europe

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) continued to claim Muslim “no-go zones” exist in Europe, even as British political leaders and American media outlets issued statements reputing such statements, the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.

In a London speech during his 10 day trade mission, Jindal “claimed there were Muslim communities in Europe that are not subjected to normal legal controls and allowed to enforce a version of Islamic religious law instead. Jindal labeled these Muslim communities — where Islamic law is supposedly enforced instead of the parent countries’ regulations — as ‘no-go zones.’

###

http://politicalwire.com/2015/01/20/jindal-insists-muslim-no-go-zones-exist-europe/

January 20, 2015

Bush Had Deep Ties to Troubled Firm

The Washington Post article:

January 20, 2015

Democrats Stole the GOP Honeymoon

First Read: “Strikingly, however, Congress and Republicans haven’t seen their numbers go up. Just 16% approve of Congress’ job (unchanged since December), and only 23% approve of the job congressional Republicans are doing. Maybe more significantly, only 35% believe divided government — with Democrats controlling the White House and Republicans in charge of both chambers of Congress — works well for the country. That’s a reverse from previous NBC/WSJ polls (in 1996, 1997 and 1999), which found majorities in praise of divided government.”

“And then there are the parties’ fav/unfav numbers. The public gives the GOP a 25%-46% rating, down from 30%-45% a month ago. By comparison, Democrats are at 35%-38%, when they were at 37%-39% in December. Bottom line: You can hardly tell from our NBC/WSJ poll that the Republican Party was the big winner from the midterm elections just two months ago. Somehow, Obama and the Democrats stole the Republicans’ post-election honeymoon. Or the Republicans somehow lost it.”

###

http://politicalwire.com/2015/01/20/democrats-stole-gop-honeymoon/

January 20, 2015

Cancer-causing agent detected in water after pipeline spill

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

GLENDIVE, Mont. (AP) — A cancer-causing component of oil has been detected in the drinking water supply of an eastern Montana city just downstream from a crude oil spill that entered the Yellowstone River.

Officials say elevated levels of benzene were found in samples taken from a water treatment plant that serves about 6,000 people in the agricultural community of Glendive. Truckloads of bottled water were expected to be brought in Tuesday, and residents were warned not to drink or cook with water from their taps.

Up to 50,000 gallons of oil spilled Saturday from a break in a pipeline owned by Wyoming-based Bridger Pipeline Co.

Scientists from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the elevated amounts of benzene are above the levels recommended for long-term consumption but don’t pose a short-term health hazard.

###

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2015/01/20/cancer_causing_agent_detected_in_water_after_pipeline_spill/

January 19, 2015

Chris Christie Sinks to Sarah Palin Territory

A new CBS poll shows 29% of Republicans would like to see Christie run for the Republican nomination for president. But 44% say no. Only former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s numbers are more underwater: 30% of Republicans say they’d like to see her run, but 59% disagree.

In contrast, 59% of Republicans would like to see Mitt Romney jump into the 2016 race, while 26% believe he should stay out.

###

http://politicalwire.com/2015/01/18/chris-christie-sinks-sarah-palin-territory/

January 19, 2015

42% of French Opposed to Charlie Hebdo’s Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, Poll Finds

57% believed that similar cartoons should continue to be printed

More than 4 in 10 French people believe Charlie Hebdo shouldn’t publish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad, given that many Muslims find the images offensive, according to a recent poll by a French publication, published Sunday.

A survey conducted by Le Journal du Dimanche, a French weekly newspaper, presented participants with this information: “Some Muslims feel attacked or injured by the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.”

In the final tally of responses, 42% checked a box to indicate that the country should “consider these reactions and avoid publishing these cartoons,” while 57% of respondents checked “we should ignore these reactions and continue to publish such cartoons.” The remaining 1% checked “no opinion.”

The survey, which used a sample of over 1,000 French adults, also found that women and people under 35 were most sensitive to Muslim concerns.

more
http://time.com/3672921/charlie-hebdo-prophet-muhammad-muslim-cartoon-poll/

January 19, 2015

‘Cowboy’ conservative claims MLK for the Tea Party until liberals stop bringing up race

SCOTT KAUFMAN
19 JAN 2015 AT 10:40 ET

During his speech at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition convention yesterday, conservative entertainer and YouTube celebrity “Wild Bill” Finley claimed ownership of slain Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

“How appropriate that we are here right at the Martin Luther King holiday,” he began. “Martin Luther King had a dream, and it was a good one — a day when skin color wouldn’t matter anymore. A time when character would be more important than skin color.”

“But when we look at what’s going on in America today, it’s pretty easy to see that Dr. King’s dream got hijacked,” Finley continued. “I believe racism in this country would’ve died out a long time ago, except that some people figured out that racism can be very profitable — both financially and politically.”

“And now, those who are most vocal about Martin Luther King being their hero seem to be the most race-driven people in America. The left have mastered the art of turning every issue into a skin-color issue, character be damned,” he said.

“Manufacturing racism for political purposes is a big business in the USA, and manufactured racism has been used to hurt the Tea Party from Day 1. There’s no doubt in my mind that if Martin Luther King Jr. was alive today the liberal left would spit in his face because he would be such a threat to their political agendas.”

more
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/cowboy-conservative-claims-mlk-for-the-tea-party-until-liberals-stop-bringing-up-race/

January 19, 2015

Egypt’s Sisi urges new Muslim religious discourse to fight ‘terrorism’

Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
19 JAN 2015 AT 08:17 ET

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday said the fight against “terrorism” needs a new Muslim religious discourse in addition to security and military measures.

“The rise in terrorism… requires a thoughtful response from the international community,” said Sisi told the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

“The fight must not only be restricted to security and military aspects… but should include a reformed religious discourse from which false ideologies that could lure some into adopting violence to impose their ideas have been removed,” he said.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates enjoy a close relationship and cooperate in various fields besides military activities.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/egypts-sisi-urges-new-muslim-religious-discourse-to-fight-terrorism/

January 19, 2015

British prime minister rebuts Pope Francis: In a free society, we have a right to insult religion

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
19 JAN 2015 AT 08:20 ET

British Prime Minister David Cameron defended the right to speech that gives offense to others’ religious beliefs, in a rebuttal to Pope Francis who said there should be limits.

In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation, Cameron said the West must show that its values, like free speech, are stronger than those of Islamist extremists pursuing a “poisonous death cult narrative.”

“I think in a free society, there is a right to cause offense about someone’s religion. I’m a Christian. If someone says something offensive about Jesus, I might find that offensive but in a free society I don’t have a right to wreak my vengeance upon them,” Cameron said.

“We have to accept that newspapers, magazines can publish things that are offensive to some as long as it’s within the law,” he said.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/british-prime-minister-rebuts-pope-francis-in-a-free-society-we-have-a-right-to-insult-religion/

January 19, 2015

N.S.A. Tapped Into North Korean Networks Before Sony Attack, Officials Say

Source: New York Times

The trail that led American officials to blame North Korea for the destructive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in November winds back to 2010, when the National Security Agency scrambled to break into the well-guarded computer systems of a country considered one of the most impenetrable targets on earth.

Spurred by growing concern about North Korea’s maturing capabilities, the American spy agency drilled into the Chinese networks that connect North Korea to the outside world, picked through connections in Malaysia favored by North Korean hackers and penetrated directly into the North with the help of South Korea and other American allies, according to former United States and foreign officials, computer experts later briefed on the operations and a newly disclosed N.S.A. document.

A classified security agency program expanded into an ambitious effort, officials said, to place malware that could track the internal workings of computers and networks used by the North’s hackers.

The evidence gathered by the “early warning radar” of software painstakingly hidden to monitor North Korea’s activities proved critical in persuading President Obama to accuse the government of Kim Jong-un of ordering the Sony attack, according to the officials and experts. But fearing the exposure of its methods in a country that remains a black hole for intelligence gathering, American officials have declined to talk publicly about the role the technology played in Washington’s assessment that the North Korean government had ordered the attack on Sony.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/world/asia/nsa-tapped-into-north-korean-networks-before-sony-attack-officials-say.html?emc=edit_na_20150118