Welcome to Liberland, the tiny patch of woodland claiming to be the world's newest country

Self-proclaimed libertarian micro-state whose founder admires Nigel Farage welcomes its first citizens on Friday, with the first 100 arrivals to be granted honorary citizenship

(TheTelegraph) 04/30/15 - The first citizens will arrive on Friday to populate the world's newest self-declared country – Liberland, a tiny patch of woodland and fields on the sandy banks of the River Danube.

The establishment of the pocket-sized nation was declared earlier this month on land wedged between Croatia and Serbia which, its founders argue, was never properly claimed by either country.

• A selection of the world's micro-nations
• Mini-states Down Under are sure they can secede

Liberland has its own flag, which features an eagle and a sun, a constitution, and a motto – "To live and let live".

Its self-appointed ruler is Vit Jedlicka, a conservative, anti-EU Czech politician and admirer of Britain's Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP.

Known officially as the Free Republic of Liberland, the country's independence was formally declared on April 13.

Some 120 would-be citizens are expected to arrive on Friday for what has been dubbed the state's first Liberty Day.

Prospective Liberlanders are encouraged to bring food, beer and "all necessary equipment for comfortable survival in nature", including tents and sleeping bags.

As yet, there are no houses or other buildings on the no-man's-land sliver of territory.

The first 100 people to turn up to the site, which lies at the end of a dusty road on the west bank of the Danube, will be granted honorary citizenship.

Liberland has not been recognised by any other country, least of all Serbia or Croatia, but that has not stopped 300,000 people around the world from applying for honorary citizenship.

Citizenship is open to anyone unless they have "Communist, Nazi or any other extremist past" or have a criminal record, according to the microstate's constitution.

Liberland's right to exist may be legally questionable but that has not stopped its founders from dreaming of building a thriving, free-market economy – a sort of Balkan Hong Kong, with a large population living in yet-to-be built skyscrapers.

The fact that their new country occupies less than three square miles is no impediment to nationhood, they say – both the Vatican City State and Monaco are smaller.

The founders claim that Liberland is neither a stunt nor an elaborate joke but a serious proposition based on the fact that the patch of land is "terra nullius" – unclaimed by any other country.

"This is about limiting the powers of the state. Governments have grown so big. The system is immoral, but I found that it was impossible to change it from within so we are going to change it from the outside," 'President' Jedlicka told The Telegraph.

"We are part of a great libertarian movement that is growing around the world. "Governments are becoming increasingly unpopular."

Mr Jedlicka says he translated into Czech many of Nigel Farage's speeches and that he hopes to see him one day elected Britain's prime minister.

"I think he's a great chap. I'm a big fan. We are excited at the possibility that Great Britain could leave the European Union. People would be much better off without the EU, with all its crazy subsidies and its thousands of regulations."

Liberland is the latest in a long history of micro-nations that have declared independence, generally on dubious legal and constitutional grounds.

The micro-nation of Sealand was established on a Second World War anti-aircraft gun platform off the coast of Suffolk in 1967 by a former British Army major.

It has a motto: E Mare Libertas, or From the Sea, and issues stamps, coins and passports.

A grain farmer named Leonard Casley set up the Principality of Hutt Riverin Western Australia in 1970 after falling-out with the authorities over wheat quotas. The 29-square mile plot of farmland grew into a tourist attraction.

Last year Jeremiah Heaton, from Virginia, declared himself the ruler of the Kingdom of North Sudan, an unclaimed patch of desert that he identified between Egypt and Sudan.

He wanted to fulfil the dreams of his seven-year-old daughter, who told him she longed to be a princess. Full Story

Related: Liberland, the world’s newest micro-nation, is already a leader in nation branding

Why Pepsi's Decision To Ditch Aspartame Isn't Good For Soda - Or Science

(malaysiandigest.com) 04/29/15 - PepsiCo, the maker of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and many other popular soft drinks, is changing the formula of one of its offerings for the first time in decades.

The company said Friday it will stop sweetening Diet Pepsi, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi and Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi with aspartame, a controversial artificial sweetener. Beginning in August, the drinks will instead come sweetened with Sucralose, better known as Splenda, and acesulfame potassium, which is often called Ace K and is currently used in Coke Zero.

READ: Pepsi dropping sweetener aspartame from diet cola drinks

The move is a momentous one. Amid one of the most difficult stretches the diet soda business has seen, Pepsi is the first behemoth to acknowledge that big changes are needed to salvage sales. Coca Cola hasn't so much as hinted at the potential for a sweetener switch, despite shrinking demand for Diet Coke, the best-selling low-calorie soft drink in the world.

From a business perspective, the change is fairly intuitive — removing aspartame is the number one request from customers, according to Pepsi. Fears of aspartame first sprouted in the mid 1990s, roughly a decade and a half after the ingredient was approved by the FDA, and have only accelerated since.

But appeasing the public isn't the same as making a sound scientific choice.

There is actually no definitive evidence that consuming sugar substitutes such as aspartame causes any harm.

A 2006 study found no connection with aspartame consumption and the incidence of cancer. The National Cancer Association agrees: the group states rather clearly on its Web site that no such association has been proven. So does the NIH. And the European Food Safety Authority, in one of the most comprehensive considerations of aspartame's effects on the body, concluded that eating aspartame is "safe for human consumption."

Even Pepsi, as part of its announcement, acknowledged that there is no scientific basis for its formula rework.

"Decades of studies have shown that aspartame is safe, but the reality is that consumer demand in the U.S. has been evolving," Seth Kaufman, senior vice president of Pepsi, told Bloomberg. "The U.S. diet cola consumer has been asking and asking and asking for an aspartame-free great diet cola."

Pepsi (and other diet soda makers, for that matter) is in no position to ignore its customers. Sales of Diet Pepsi have plummeted by roughly 35 percent over the past 10 years.

Americans on the whole seem to be falling out of love with diet- and low-calorie soda in general — not aspartame in particular. Sales of low-calorie soft drinks have tumbled by almost 20 percent over the past five years in the United States, according to data from market research firm Euromonitor. Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi have been the biggest losers, but even Coca-Cola Zero has seen sales slow to a halt in recent year. Last year, the brand contracted for the first time, according to Eurmonitor.

But the problem with appeasing customers at the expense of science is that it sets a poor precedent. And in this case it's also unlikely to reverse Diet Pepsi's waning appeal.

What Pepsi's move will likely accomplish, more than anything else, is give credence to unfounded fears that aspartame is somehow more harmful or artificial than a lot of other sweeteners being used in products on supermarket shelves. That myth doesn't appear to be anywhere close to dying.

Indonesia executes 8 drug smugglers by firing squad

(CNN) 04/28/15 -Australia has recalled its ambassador to Indonesia for consultations after two Australians were among eight drug smugglers executed by firing squad early Wednesday.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the executions "cruel and unnecessary" because both men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, had been "fully rehabilitated" during a decade in prison.

Abbott didn't say what permanent actions, if any, would be taken against Indonesia. "This is a dark moment in the relationship, but I'm sure the relationship will be restored," he said.

One of the men's Indonesian lawyers, Todung Mulya Lubis tweeted his apologies. "I failed. I lost," he said. "I'm sorry."

Six other men were put to death, including four Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian.

The Indonesian government had announced that nine prisoners would be executed, but Filipina Mary Jane Veloso was spared, at least for now.

Her ecstatic mother Celia Veloso told CNN: "We are so happy, so happy. I thought I had lost my daughter already but God is so good. Thank you to everyone who helped us."

Philippines embassy officials said Veloso would be returned to Yogyakarta prison in Central Java later on Wednesday.

The death penalty

Under Indonesian law, the death penalty is carried out by a 12-man firing squad, although only three guns are loaded with live ammunition.

Prisoners are given the choice of whether to stand or sit, and whether they want to wear a blindfold, hood or nothing. The shots -- aimed at the heart -- are fired from between 5 and 10 meters (16 to 33 feet), according to Amnesty International.

After the executions, the rights group released a statement condemning them as "reprehensible" and issue fresh calls for a moratorium on the death penalty.

Wal-Mart Bets on Store Expansion to Reverse Sales Drop in China

(bloomberg.com) 04/28/15 - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will expand by more than 25 percent in China and renovate existing stores in a bid to reverse sales declines after a series of food scares and accounting missteps.

The world’s largest retailer plans to add 115 stores and spend 370 million yuan ($60 million) renovating about 50 of the more than 400 it currently has in China, Wal-Mart said in a statement. The new stores will create about 30,000 jobs, according to the statement.

Wal-Mart is fighting to win back customers in China after the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer shut unprofitable stores last year and cut jobs amid stiff competition from local companies such as Sun Art Retail and China Resources Enterprise. The government’s campaigns to eliminate extravagant spending and graft have cut sales of gift cards and continue to pose challenges, according to the company.

“China is a key strategic market for Wal-Mart,” Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said at a briefing in Beijing. “Over the next three years we will increase investment across our diverse business operations in China.”

Net sales in China fell 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter last year, while sales at stores open more than a year dropped 2.3 percent, Wal-Mart’s head of international operations said on a Feb. 19 earnings call. Full Story

Diet Pepsi dropping aspartame on customer concerns

(yahoofinance) NEW YORK (AP) -- PepsiCo says it's dropping aspartame from Diet Pepsi in response to customer worries and replacing it with sucralose, another artificial sweetener commonly known as Splenda.

The decision to swap sweeteners comes as Americans keep turning away from popular diet sodas. Rival Coca-Cola said this week that sales volume for Diet Coke, which also uses aspartame, fell 5 percent in North America in the first three months of the year.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said in a statement that it has no plans to change the sweetener in Diet Coke, which is the country's top-selling diet cola.

The Food and Drug Administration says aspartame, known by the brand names Equal and NutraSweet, is "one of the most exhaustively studied substances in the human food supply, with more than 100 studies supporting its safety."

More recently, a government advisory committee for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines said aspartame appears to be safe in the amounts consumed by Americans. But it added that there is still uncertainty about whether the sweetener increases risk for some blood cancers in men.

Executives at Coke and Pepsi blame the declines on perceptions that the sweetener isn't safe.

Related: Why Pepsi's Decision To Ditch Aspartame Isn't Good For Soda - Or Science

Maybelline Introduces Line Of Injectable Makeup To Enhance Appearance Of Internal Organs

(TheOnion) NEW YORK—Saying that women no longer need to settle for plain, drab internal tissue, the cosmetics brand Maybelline introduced a new line of injectable makeup this week to enhance the appearance of wearers’ organs. “With our new injectable makeup options, women can finally have the type of flawless, gorgeous-looking digestive and cardiopulmonary systems they’ve always wanted,” said Maybelline spokesperson Diane Moss, adding that women will soon be able to use a 10cc Maybelline syringe to apply their new set of cosmetics, which currently include a “bold and flirty” line of lung shadow; blood vessel mascara for thicker, longer capillaries; and spleen foundation to cover unsightly blemishes and provide a smooth, even look to the lymphoid organ. “Our selection of over 300 shades of heartstick ensures that women will be able to find the perfect color and level of shimmer to enhance their atria and ventricles for nearly any occasion. And the youthful definition that comes from a quick thoracic injection of pancreas rouge is certain to provide women a boost of confidence before they step out the door each morning.” Moss added that Maybelline would also cater to those women looking for a more natural look by introducing an injectible line of products designed to conceal the fact that they’re even wearing organ makeup at all.

McDonald's to develop new turnaround plan as sales fall again

04/23/15 (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp's (MCD.N) new chief executive officer, who is charged with reinvigorating world's biggest restaurant chain, on Wednesday said he would deliver his turnaround plan next month.

In his first quarterly conference call with investors and analysts, CEO Steve Easterbrook described himself as a "champion of simplicity" who values personal accountability and "progress over perfection." He took the helm on March 1 following one of McDonald's most dismal years on record.

Shares of the fast-food company were up almost 5 percent in early trading. At midday, they remained 3 percent higher at $97.70 as investors shrugged off declines in quarterly earnings and sales.

McDonald's global sales at restaurants open at least 13 months fell a worse-than-expected 2.3 percent in the first quarter, and the company warned of another drop in April.

Net income tumbled 32.6 percent to $811.5 million, and revenue was down 11 percent at $5.96 billion.

Easterbrook plans to unveil his plan for turning McDonald's into a "modern, progressive burger company" on May 4.

"Folks hoping for a near-term rise in the stock may be hanging their hat on hopes that McDonald's can spark some pizzazz in investors that day," Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Mark Kalinowski wrote in a note.

Easterbrook said he planned to change the way consumers think about McDonald's and the quality of its food.

He has already has said McDonald's USA would switch to chicken raised with fewer antibiotics, putting it more in step with rivals. Other plans include the debut of a new "premium" sirloin burger as well as tests of custom sandwich toppings, all-day-breakfast and salad bars.

McDonald's is battling on myriad fronts.

Consumers around the globe are increasingly rejecting processed fast-food in favour of healthier fare made from fresh, simple ingredients.

Smaller, nimbler U.S. competitors such as Wendy's Co (WEN.O), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.N) and Chick-fil-A have been more responsive to those changing tastes at a time when McDonald's relations with U.S. franchisees are strained.

Results from McDonald's U.S. business, which has suffered a string of monthly same-restaurant sales declines, disappointed again in the first quarter after products such as premium chicken tenders failed to meet targets.

Those sales also fell in Asia, which is viewed as a long-term growth market, as China and Japan continue to grapple with the aftermath of food safety and quality problems. Full Story

Oil prices drop as Middle East tension ease

04/21/15 (Reuters) - Oil prices extended declines on Wednesday as Middle East tension eased after Saudi Arabia ended a military campaign in Yemen, while industry data showed that a larger-than-expected build in U.S. oil inventories.

Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday it was ending a month-long campaign of air strikes against the Houthi rebels who seized large areas of Yemen, easing geopolitical tension in the key oil producing region.

Oil prices have risen nearly $10 a barrel so far this month, on tension in the Middle East and concerns over slowing output growth in the United States.

Prices could weaken again but they are unlikely to plumb new depths this year, leading commodity traders said on Tuesday, citing strengthening demand.

"We will probably see one more dip in the second quarter but prices probably won't go below this year's lows," Ian Taylor, head of the world's largest oil trader, Vitol VITOLV.UL, said.

Brent crude for June delivery LCOc1 was down 28 cents at $61.82 a barrel by 9.42 p.m. EDT, after settling $1.27 lower.

U.S. crude for June delivery CLc1 was 38 cents lower at $56.22 a barrel. The May contract, which expired on Tuesday, ended down $1.12.

"Short-term momentum is starting to swing against commodities," analysts at ANZ said in a note, noting that Brent has failed to hold and retreated from key levels around $62-$63 a barrel in recent days.

U.S. crude oil storage has reached the highest levels since 2011, with tanks in the Cushing, Oklahoma hub running nearly 80 percent full, according to energy markets intelligence firm Genscape.

Workers Allege Walmart Closes Stores To Retaliate Against Strikes

thinkprogress.org/ - Venanzi Luna says she was given just four hours notice that she was losing her job at Walmart. That day, she says everyone came to work around 7:00 in the morning. “We actually ended up finding out around 1:00 in the afternoon,” she recounted. She and her fellow workers were told that their store in Pico Rivera, California was going to close for six months to a year to deal with plumbing issues. “They gave us a four-hour warning,” she said. After the meeting, “they sent everybody home.”

Pico Rivera isn’t the only store that’s been closed; four others, in California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas, have also been shut down. In total, 2,200 Walmart workers’ employment, including 500 from Luna’s store, is in limbo.

But the workers at her location have decided to take action. Over the weekend, the AFL-CIO and United Food & Commercial Workers International Union filed an injunction on their behalf with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Walmart. “The Board should seek injunctive relief compelling Walmart to rehire every one of the 2200 Associates who have been terminated in all 5 stores,” it says.

Luna says it’s been very hard on her. “I’m actually the breadwinner of my house. It affects me a lot,” she said. “How am I going to pay for my parents’ medication, how will I pay my bills? I get really stressed out quick, so for me it is a big deal.”

Walmart says the stores have to be shut down to fix serious building issues. “Due to ongoing plumbing issues that will require extensive repairs, we are temporarily closing five stores,” a spokesperson said. “Each of these five locations had more than 100 plumbing problems reported over the last two years, the most out of our more than 5,000 stores in the U.S.” He did not respond to a request for more information about what the plumbing issues entail or whether employees will be transferred to other stores. He added, “We don’t believe there is any basis for an injunction.”

Workers in Pico Rivera, however, contend that the closing is in retaliation for the extensive organizing action at that location. It was the first store to experience a strike in 2012, before workers began staging regular strikes against the company to demand higher pay and the right to form a union. “Walmart has targeted this store because the Associates have been among the most active Associates around the country to improve working conditions,” the injunction reads. “This unprecedented ‘closure’ to fix ‘plumbing’ is part of Walmart’s overall national strategy to punish Associates who stand up and speak out for better working conditions.” Full Story

People Now Whining That Extroverts Have ‘Social Privilege'

Via blazingcatfur.ca: Social Justice Warriors have found a new thing to be upset about: the institutional oppression that introverts endure because “this culture has been built for extroverts” and that gives them “social privilege.”
No. I’m not kidding. It’s a thing, and apparently such a big thing that an Everyday Feminism contributor named James St. James felt the need to write a whopping 1,700-word piece about it, titled “6 Examples of How Extroverts Benefit From Their Social Privilege.”

In plain language, those six “privileges” are:

1. Not having to “forsake your basic needs” like food and going to the bathroom because your roommate has company over and “when [your] daily person quota has been filled, hunger is the lesser of two evils.”

2. Not having to leave a store empty-handed because you can’t find what you need after looking for several hours and are too afraid to ask an employee.

Read more…

Giorgio Armani criticises the way some gay men dress saying 'a man has to be a man'

( Independent.co.uk) Giorgio Armani, the 80-year-old apparel designer and billionaire, has criticised the way some gay men choose to dress.

Armani told The Sunday Times Magazine: "A homosexual man is a man 100 per cent. He does not need to dress homosexual.

"When homosexuality is exhibited to the extreme - to say: 'Ah, you know I'm homosexual,' - that has nothing to do with me. A man has to be a man."

His remarks went down pretty badly with some Twitter users.

In the same interview, Armani said that the current vogue for super-muscular male bodies is not to his taste either. "I don't like muscle boy," he said. "Not too much gym! I like somebody healthy, somebody solid, who looks after his body but doesn't use his muscles too much."

The agenda-setting designer, who has joked himself that he dresses "church ladies", also said that cosmetic surgery was "idiocy", adding: "A small breast does not have to become big."

Armani continued: "I prefer to look at a natural woman. A woman should be courageous to become older, not desperate to look younger than her age."

The designer has become renowned for his outspoken nature. Recently he called Madonna "difficult" and raged against US Vogue editor Anna Wintour calling her "unprofessional" for failing to see his Milan Fashion Week show in February. Full Story

Costa Rica: Scientis discover new glass frog species with translucent skin

(wired.co.uk) - A new species of frog discovered in Costa Rica has such translucent skin on its underside that it's possible to see its internal organs.

The species, named Hyalinobatrachium dianae, is a type of glass frog, which are only found in regions of South and Central America. In this case, six specimens of the species have been found in the tropical wet forests of Costa Rica's Caribbean foothills. The nocturnal creature is distinct from other species thanks to skin texture, colouring and the sound of its call.

The glass frog was discovered by zoologists working at the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Centre and has been detailed in a study published in the online journalZootaxa. While bright green on top, the delicate frog's transparent underside allowed the researchers to study the arrangement of the frog's internal organs in detail. "The bulbous liver and digestive organs are covered in white peritonea. The heart and ventral vein are blood red. Lungs transparent, but with a network of red blood vessels. The gallbladder is transparent Sulphur Yellow," they write.

The frog has been named in honour of the senior author Brian Kubicki's mother Janet Diane Kubicki, and also Diana the Roman goddess of the hunt, wild animals and woodland. "This being in relation to our own 'hunt' among Costa Rica’s mountainous forests to better understand the amphibians dwelling within," the authors explain. Full Story with pics

Apple’s Russian-Language Siri Accused Of Homophobia

Via blazingcatfur.ca =A Russian-language version of Apple’s Siri personal assistant has been accused of offering homophobic responses to gay-related questions. Apple has since claimed the issue was due to a bug that was promptly fixed.

The situation was brought to public attention by a U.K.-based Russian calling himself Alex, who posted a YouTube video in which he asked Siri questions related to homosexual topics.

When asked about the existence of nearby gay clubs, the voice-activated helper replied: “I would have turned red, if I could.” To a question about whether gay marriage is “normal,” Siri responded with either “You are so rude” or “I believe this emotion should be considered negative.”

The question of how to register a gay marriage in England generated the responses, “I will pretend I didn’t hear that,” and “Now you are using obscenities and then you are going to eat bread with the same hands”…

U.S. fast-food workers mark Tax Day demanding higher wages

(Reuters) - Fast-food workers rallied in U.S. cities on Wednesday to demand higher pay, using the April 15 deadline for filing tax returns to publicize their claim that they cannot survive on the hourly wages paid by many U.S. corporations.

The protests demanding pay increases to $15 an hour kicked off at dawn outside a McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) restaurant in New York with several hundred demonstrators.

Marching behind a banner reading "Raise wages, Raise the city," protesters carried placards with "Fight for $15 on 4/15."

In Chicago, hundreds of protesters rallied at the University of Illinois, their ranks swelled by healthcare and college workers.

"I have no benefits, I have no stability from semester to semester in any way being able to calculate out if and where I'll have a job," said Alyson Warren, 34, an adjunct writing professor at both Columbia College Chicago and Loyola University Chicago. She said Loyola pays $4,000 to $4,500 per 15-week course, and her group seeks $15,000 per course.

Roughly two dozen people were arrested for civil disobedience after blocking a street near Seattle University in protest, including some students, according to labor group Working Washington.

Plans called for rallies to be held in 230 cities across the United States.

Retail sales rebound signals thaw in economic activity

(Reuters) - Retail sales rose in March for the first time since November as consumers stepped up purchases of automobiles and other goods, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter was temporary.

The Commerce Department's fairly sturdy report on Tuesday together with other data showing that producer inflation crept up last month should keep the Federal Reserve on track to start raising interest rates later this year.

An unusually snowy winter undercut activity early in 2015. Labor disruptions at normally busy West Coast ports, a stronger dollar and softer global demand also have hurt growth.

"A rebound in retail sales in March provides evidence that the U.S. economy is pulling out of a soft patch seen at the start of the year. The improvement in retail sales ... adds to the likelihood of policymakers voting to hike rates this year," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit in London.

Retail sales increased 0.9 percent in March, broadly in line with expectations. That was the largest gain since the same month last year and snapped three straight months of declines that had been blamed on harsh winter weather.

Florida: Mom Sues: "Circumcision is Unconstitutional Assault"

JEWS!!!!!!!!

*Contains sensitive text that most may find unsuitable

Via WorldNetDaily: A Florida mother who’s in hiding to prevent her son from being forcibly circumcised by the child’s father has now filed a federal lawsuit, claiming the boy’s constitutional rights are being violated.

The action by Heather Hironimus was filed late Monday in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Florida, as she claims there is no medical justification to remove the foreskin from her boy, identified as C.R.N.H.

“(The) application of Florida law to impose unnecessary, elective, cosmetic circumcision upon C.R.N.H. at the age of 4 1/2 years old for no religious reason violates (the boy’s) fundamental right to privacy and bodily integrity secured by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States,” her attorney Thomas Hunker wrote.

The suit also says “forcing circumcision on C.R.N.H. constitutes assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, and/or child abuse under Florida law.”

According to South Florida’s New Times, a long list of alleged reasons for the procedure not to be performed are included in the suit:

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Bioethics Committee has declared that a minor’s input into surgical decisions must be heard and considered.

In contrast to the rare disease of penile cancer that occurs mostly in the elderly, breast cancer is far more common, but the law does not permit forcible removal of a female child’s healthy breasts in order to prevent the possibility that the child may one day develop breast cancer.

Penile cancer occurs in circumcised and uncircumcised males alike.

Circumcision does not significantly reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

Penile cancer and sexually transmitted diseases can be adequately prevented by less invasive methods such as personal hygiene and safe sex.

As WND reported in March, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Dana Gillen issued an arrest warrant for the mother for failing to appear before the court, and she has reportedly been living at a domestic-violence shelter.

Neither of the boy’s parents is Jewish, but the father testified last year he thinks circumcision is “just the normal thing to do.”

Read more at HERE

Update: Mom in circumcision battle found, jailed in Florida

* * * *

Missouri pressured to halt execution of (black) man sentenced by (all-white) jury

RACISTISM!

(theguardian) - Jay Nixon, the Democratic governor of Missouri, is coming under intense pressure to stay the imminent execution of an African American man who was sentenced to death by an all-white jury in St Louis County – the jurisdiction that covers Ferguson, scene of last summer’s dramatic unrest over state-sanctioned racial discrimination.

Barring last-minute intervention by Nixon or the US supreme court, Andre Cole, 42, will be killed by lethal injection at 6pm local time on Tuesday in a case that displays disturbing signs of racial animus. All three potential black jurors were removed from the jury pool at the demand of St Louis County prosecutors, who secured a death sentence from the resulting panel of 12 white men and women.

Such controversial circumstances have provoked a flurry of 11th-hour protests, including appeals to Nixon that he use his governor’s prerogative to stop the execution. The complaints are all the more charged coming from the county of Ferguson which August erupted in prolonged clashes between protesters and police after the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

“This case highlights the disparate treatment of African Americans in the criminal justice system. Ferguson exposed unequal treatment by police, and the pending execution of Andre Cole exposes the same disparity from prosecutors and the courts,” said Elston McCowan of the Missouri branch of the NAACP.

A coalition of civil rights activists, African American organizations and religious leaders have written to Nixon demanding an official inquiry into what they claim is rampant and systemic racial bias within St Louis County that has put a vastly disproportionate number of black men on to death row. The investigation would ensure, the 60 signatories write, “that racial bias has not infected the death sentences imposed in St Louis County”.

The numbers speak for themselves. Eleven death row prisoners were prosecuted in St Louis County. Of those, seven or 64% are black, in stark contrast to the general population of the area which is 24% African American.

Behind those startling figures lie evidence of racial distortions in the way that juries are configured. Evidence has been presented to court in seven separate death penalty cases in Missouri in which potential black jurors were struck off for no apparent reason.

Cole was convicted in 2001 for murdering the boyfriend of his former wife. Of the three potential black jurors struck off by St Louis County prosecutors, one was removed on grounds that he was divorced – even though a white divorcee was put on the final panel. “Prosecutors were asked to explain why they had struck off the black jurors, and the reasons they gave don’t hold up very well when you read the record,” said Cole’s attorney, Joseph Luby of the Death Penalty Litigation Clinic.

Full Story

Integration Failing in America

(thetrumpet.com) 4/10/15 - Increasing numbers of immigrants are clinging to their own culture rather than assimilating into American society.

More than 25 percent of Boston’s residents were born outside the United States.

“You can’t find a place in Boston that doesn’t have a growing immigrant population,” said Alejandra St. Guillen, director of Boston’s Office of New Bostonians.

But it isn’t just Boston. Whole communities that cannot speak English are popping up across America. Washington, D.C., and six Maryland and Virginia school districts spend $2.4 billion on sources and programs related to Limited English Proficiency (LEP). Alexandria, Virginia, devotes 45.8 percent of the school systems’ budget to LEPstudents.

A January 2015 study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), indicates that in some metro area counties in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Colombia, 20 to 30 percent of the population is foreign born. That means approximately a quarter of the population of the nation’s capital was not born in the U.S.

And the refusal or inability of immigrants to integrate is widespread.

In March, St. Cloud Technical High School in Minnesota showed a prime example of the effects of non-integration when more than 100 Somali students walked out of classes. The walk-out was supposedly in response to a picture posted on the Internet implying a Somali student could be a terrorist. Tensions became so high that another school in the district had to be locked down for safety.

”Situations regarding race and culture are in the forefront at this moment. It’s a hot topic,” Willie Jett, superintendent of the St. Cloud school district said. “At times, can there be conflict? Definitely.”

Somali leaders say the school is racist and needs to hire more minority teachers to be able to relate to immigrant students. Former prospective St. Cloud City Council Candidate Abdul Kulane said that the Somali community needed to be involved in deciding how the school is run. He said that reports of the school district’s inability to find minority teachers is just an excuse.

It’s a truism that a house divided against itself will fall.

Clorox apologizes, deletes tweet after racial uproar involving emoticons

(cnnmoney) - Clorox has apologized for a seemingly harmless tweet about emojis that sparked outrage on Twitter.

The tweet, which Clorox (CLX) since deleted, showed a Clorox bottle made up of the new emojisreleased by Apple (AAPL, Tech30) as part of this week's iOS 8.3 update. Clorox tweeted, "New emojis are alright but where's the bleach."

Apple's new iOS 8.3 release consists of 300 new emojis, including kissing lips, googly eyes and a smiling poop (we wish we were making that up). But they also include racially diverse emojis, including cartoon faces with brown and black skin.

In its tweet, Clorox seemed to be commenting on why bleach wasn't included among the hundreds of other household items that Apple had added to its list of emojis. But on social media, offense was taken.

"You need to clean up your PR person. Put some bleach on your distasteful marketing ideas," tweeted @DriNicole. "Black emojis were added today. Saying this implies you'd rather the emojis be only white, by adding bleach."

After taking down the tweet, Clorox followed up with an apology: "Wish we could bleach away our last tweet. Didn't mean to offend - it was meant to be about all the [toilet, bathtub and red wine] emojis that could use a clean up." read the rest

Obama to Call for End to ‘Conversion’ Therapies for Gay and Transgender Youth

(nytimes.com) 4/8/15 WASHINGTON — A 17-year-old transgender youth, Leelah Alcorn, stunned her friends and a vast Internet audience in December when she threw herself in front of a tractor-trailer after writing in an online suicide note that religious therapists had tried to convert her back to being a boy.

In response, President Obama is calling for an end to such therapies aimed at “repairing” gay, lesbian and transgender youth. His decision on the issue is the latest example of his continuing embrace of gay rights.

In a statement that was posted on Wednesday evening alongside aWhiteHouse.gov petition begun in honor of Ms. Alcorn, Mr. Obama condemned the practice, sometimes called “conversion” or “reparative” therapy, which is supported by some socially conservative organizations and religious doctors.

The petition has received more than 120,000 signatures in three months.

“We share your concern about its potentially devastating effects on the lives of transgender as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer youth,” the statement, written by Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama, says. “As part of our dedication to protecting America’s youth, this administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.”

In an interview on Wednesday, Ms. Jarrett said Mr. Obama had been moved by the story of Ms. Alcorn’s suicide. But she said the problem went far beyond Ms. Alcorn. Full Story

Expert: Crude oil could hit $15 by year end

- CNBC “Fast Money” panelist and financial expert Dennis Gartman has bad news for oil: It’s going to go “stunningly” lower. In an interview with CNBC.com’s “Futures Now,” the “Commodities King” said that a combination of a rapidly rising inventories and a strong dollar could lead to $15 oil by the end of the year.

“For months I’ve said that crude oil is heading from the upper left to the lower right of the chart,” said the CNBC contributor and editor and publisher of The Gartman Letter. “I wouldn’t be surprised if oil went down to about $15 a barrel.”

Crude oil prices have been in a steep and steady decline over the past six months, down more than 50 percent trading just above $40 a barrel. Traders had hoped an improving economic picture in both the U.S. and Europe could give crude a lift.

At the start of February, crude staged a sharp and violent rally off its lows. But according to Gartman, there simply is too much supply to contend with. As such, he expects future crude rallies to be met with a similar fate.

“That is not how a bull market is supposed to act,” he said. “That is how a bear market acts.”

See the whole interview here.

Read more at wnd.com/

Kansas Bans Poor People From Spending Welfare On Cruise Ships

(HuffingtonPost.com) 04/04/15 - Kansas welfare recipients will be unable to get more than $25 per day in benefits under a new law sent this week to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's desk by the state legislature.

The bill also prohibits welfare recipients from spending their benefits at certain types of businesses, including liquor stores, fortune tellers, swimming pools and cruise ships.

"We're trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended," state Rep. Michael O'Donnell (R) said, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. "This is about prosperity. This is about having a great life."

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, often known as "welfare," is one of several federal programs administered by states at the ground level. The Kansas TANF program, known locally as the Successful Families Program, offers a family of three as much as $429 per month in cash benefits. Kansas is one of at least 37 states that distributes benefits on government-issued debit cards, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Under the new rule, a three-person family receiving the maximum benefit would have to go to the ATM more than a dozen times to get the full benefit, which would be whittled away by an 85 cent fee for each withdrawal after the first one. And the local cruise liner ATM will no longer be an option.

Anorexia Crackdown: France Bans Fashion Models Who Are Too Thin

(nbcnews.com) PARIS — France will ban excessively thin models and expose modeling agents and the fashion houses that hire them to possible fines and even jail, under a new law passed on Friday.

France joins Italy, Spain and Israel which all adopted laws against too-thin models on catwalks or in advertising campaigns in early 2013.

The measure is part of a wider crackdown on anorexia backed by President Francois Hollande's government. Lawmakers also approved a separate measure making it illegal to condone anorexia, a move targeting Internet sites that encourage dangerous weight loss.

"The activity of model is banned for any person whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is lower than levels proposed by health authorities and decreed by the ministers of health and labor," the bill said.

The lawmaker behind the bill previously said models would have to present a medical certificate showing a BMI of at least 18, about 121 pounds for a height of 5.7 feet, before being hired for a job and for a few weeks afterwards.

The law, voted through the lower house of parliament early on Friday by Hollande's Socialist majority despite opposition by conservative parliamentarians, envisages imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of 75,000 euros ($82,000) for any agency contravening it.

The second measure means that any website inciting a reader to "seek excessive thinness by encouraging eating restrictions for a prolonged period of time, resulting in risk of mortality or damage to health" will face up to a year in prison and fines up to 100,000 euros.

Some 30,000-40,000 people in France suffer from anorexia, most of them teenagers, health experts estimate. Full Story

‘Jesus Christ never existed at all,’ US historian claims

IT'S A ZIONIST CONSPIRACY!!

(Metro.co.uk) April 03/2015 = An atheist writer has tried to spoil the taste of everyone’s Easter eggs by claiming Jesus didn’t exist at all.

San Francisco-based David Fitzgerald claims that there are no mentions of Jesus – at all – in 125 different historical accounts of the period.

He says it makes no sense, as Jesus is supposed to have been a famous figure who wrought incredible miracles – but no contemporary writers had heard of him.

Fitzgerald, an atheist activist, says, ‘’There is a paradox that Jesus did all these amazing things and taught all these amazing things yet no one heard of him outside his immediate cult for nearly 100 years.

‘Or it means he didn’t do all these things at all.

‘Two billion people believe all these miracles happened yet there is no evidence they did.’

Fitzgerald believes that the writers of the gospels worked decades after Jesus’s death, and made up the idea of Jesus by combining information about several Jewish sect leaders from the period.

His upcoming book claims that Jesus Christ as we know him is a literary invention – and that there was no single ‘Jesus’ at all.

Fitzgerald writes, ‘I must conclude that Christ is a mythical character. “Jesus of Nazareth” was nothing more than urban (or desert) legend, likely an agglomeration of several evangelic and deluded rabbis who might have existed.’

* * * *
I feel like the professor is referring to Catholicism & not Christianity which are 2 different things. Catholics make it too easy for anyone to challenge the religion. 

Equality: Madison Wisconsin first in Union to pass ordinance protecting atheists

= As the current common council met for the last time Tuesday, members unanimously voted to make discriminating against atheism, and others who do not believe in g-d, illegal.

"This is important because I believe it is only fair that if we protect religion, in all its varieties, we should also protect non-religion from discrimination. It's only fair," ordinance sponsor District 18 Alderwoman Anita Weier said.

The vote amends the city's equal opportunity ordinance, adding atheism as a protected class in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations.

"There are many categories that are protected," Weier said. "And it did occur to me that if religion was then perhaps the opposite should be"

UW graduate student, and former Atheists Humanists and Agnostics president Chris Calvey was among the five atheists speaking in favor of the proposals.

They told the council stories of housing, employment, volunteer, community, and parental custody discrimination because of their non-belief in God, saying that fact has no bearing on their character, values or what type of job they do.

"It's actually something we're commonly very concerned about, just because atheism is viewed as such a taboo in this country. And there's such a stigma with it. That people in my student group for example are very hesitant to be honest about their lack of belief in God out of fear that they are going to be discriminated against in employment opportunities. If that came up in a job interview that's held against them," Calvey said.

"Having it on the books, where we're legally a protected class, that'll make things much easier for atheists," Calvey said. "And we'll be able to be confident that at least if we're honest about what we actually believe, then we have the law backing us up so we can't legally be discriminated against."

"It's really making a big statement that we're not going to put up with discrimination in the name of God. That being a believer doesn't mean you can discriminate," Freedom From Religion Foundation co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor said.

No one spoke out against the proposal.

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Not sure what "god" they are using here. I assume it's the J*w/Christian god. But I am only guessing based on the article. They would only single out Xians & Xians only because they make it so easy.

Kenya: At least 147 Dead in University Shooting

(BostonHearld) April 2, 2015 - Kenya's national disaster operations center and the interior minister say the attack by al-Shabab gunmen on a college campus has claimed 147 lives, besides four attackers who also died. The interior minister said most of those killed Thursday were students but included two police officers, one soldier and two watchmen.

The disaster center said plans are underway to evacuate students and other affected persons.

It was by far the highest death toll in an attack by al-Shabab, an Islamic extremist group from neighboring Somalia, on Kenyan soil.

Kenyan security officials at the scene of an attack by Islamic extremists on a college in northeast Kenya say the security operation to free hostages is over and that the death toll may be as high as around 150. Dozens of hostages were freed, they said, with four of the gunmen killed. The gunfire has ended, according to Associated Press reporters near the scene.

Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said gave the death at 70 but conceded that it could go higher. Police officials who could insisted on anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the press said the toll could be as high as about 150

One Kenyan police source said there were 147 dead and another police source said 160. A third source put the death toll at around 80 but said there were so many bodies that he could not do a proper count as night fell with no electrical power to light the scene.

Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery says that more than 70 people have been killed in an attack by Somali-based Islamic extremists on a college in northeast Kenya.

Nkaissery said that 79 people were wounded in the attack Thursday and four suspected attackers have been killed. He told reporters the total number of the attackers is still unknown and that security agents are fighting them at Garissa University College.

The minister ordered a dusk to dawn curfew in Garissa and in the nearby counties of Wajir, Tana River and Mandera.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.

The death toll now surpasses the 67 who were killed in al-Shabab's attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in September 2013. Read the rest

World's oldest person dies at 117 in Japan

(FoxNews) 4/01/15 TOKYO – The world's oldest person, a Japanese woman, died Wednesday, a few weeks after celebrating her 117th birthday.

Misao Okawa died of heart failure and stopped breathing as her grandson and nursing home workers stood by her side, praising her for achieving a long, healthy life, said Tomohiro Okada, an official at her Osaka nursing home.

"She went so peacefully, as if she had just fallen asleep," Okada said. "We miss her a lot."

Okawa, born in Osaka on March 5, 1898, was recognized as the world's oldest person by Guinness World Records in 2013.

It was not immediately clear who would replace her as the world's oldest person. Guinness World Records said it had begun the process of updating the ranking.

A 115-year-old woman succeeded Okawa as Japan's oldest person, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The name of the woman, who was born March 15, 1900, was not released at the request of her family, the ministry said.

Okawa lost her appetite about 10 days ago. Until then, she had been eating well, enjoying her daily cup of coffee and her favorite dishes, including ramen, Okada said.

Okawa, the daughter of a kimono maker, said at her recent birthday celebration that her life seemed rather short.

She married her husband, Yukio, in 1919, and they had two daughters and a son. She was survived by four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Her husband died in 1931. Full Story

Boycott Indiana? What Next?

(TheTrumpet) Indiana is in the news—and not just for hosting the Final Four in the NCAA national basketball tournament. The state passed a law on March 26 reaffirming First Amendment religious freedoms, saying that the government cannot coerce or force business owners from acting contrary to their conscience or religious convictions.

The law does not specifically reference sexuality or green-light discrimination on the basis of sexuality. But it does grant protection for private companies to do business in accordance with their religious beliefs, giving them access to a court in order to prove that their religious liberty is “substantially burdened” in a dispute.

This has set the maddened mobs on fire.

The crusaders for “tolerance” are incensed. They contend that the law could mean people denying service to homosexual would-be customers. They say anyone unwilling to contribute to a homosexual wedding should be fined or jailed into submission. And this movement is organized. Immediately, #BoycottIndiana became a trending topic on Twitter and other social media. Homosexual supporters are attempting to freeze the whole state out of the national economy. And they are having some success.

Seattle and San Francisco both imposed bans on all state-funded travel to Indiana. Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy signed an executive order imposing the same ban for his entire state, and the state of Washington quickly followed suit. Some of Indiana’s biggest employers, such as SalesForce and Angie’s List, made public stands against engaging in further business in Indiana. Media and politicians have bombarded Indiana with vitriol.

Rewind to 1993. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) passed 97-3 in the Senate and President Bill Clinton signed it into law. The ACLU supported it.

This Indiana law is a version of that same law. It doesn’t force anyone to do anything. It doesn’t segregate. It protects against force, against government coercion.

How times have changed. Twenty-two years later, the liberals who supported RFRAnow denounce it. They treat even the remote possibility of someone having legal means to defend a Bible-based business decision as hateful. They insist that the government should be able and is in fact obligated to force an individual to act contrary to his religious convictions. This coercion is necessary in order to protect the rights of homosexuals to live in a world where every last person they interact with behaves as though their actions are wonderful. Any business that won’t cater to them should be shut down.

Outspoken devotees of homosexuality want to penalize anyone who isn’t openly supportive. They would love a society where everyone wholeheartedly embraced homosexuality—but barring that, they want a Disneyland where everyone at least is forced to pretend to embrace it.

In the world they are creating, if you don’t love homosexuality, you had better pretend you do, or the government will come after you.