11 People Reveal What Life Is Like Under Sharia Law

From Caveman Circus:

1. I lived in Saudi Arabia most of my life. Not Saudi myself, and am a woman and left Islam. I hate that place with a passion.

I had to wear a headscarf at the age of nine, lived a segregated life style and in fear of half of the population. I was deprived of my own childhood, and the moment I started wearing a headscarf was the moment I stopped going outside to play because other kids and local imams and religious police would give me shit when they saw a girl in a headscarf at the playground or in the street rollerblading. That’s also when my depression started.

I had to have my male guardian’s permission to get an education, get a job and even get paid for my job. For my BA I wanted to major in graphic design, which wasn’t available in Saudi Arabia. I told my parents that I wanted to go study abroad where my brother was. My papers were ready for submission, but my father went ahead and got me admitted into a public university while I was prepared to study abroad. Neither my permission nor presence were needed. I was at least luckier than two of my friends whose parents didn’t allow to go to uni and forced them to marry men twice their age.

I really struggled with freedom of movement. We didn’t have a driver, and my brother hated driving me around, so I ended up not leaving the house for months at a time expect for school, uni or work. When I started saving up and later earning money, I would take taxis after I kept going late to work because of my brother. I got sexually harassed by a taxi driver a few times​, and I always made sure I’d write down the car plate number, registration number, and if possible the driver’s name and phone number. One time was pretty bad that I called the police and told them what had happened. I told them I knew the driver’s details, but all I was given was “for your own sake, keep this to yourself.” I later made the mistake of telling my mom what happened, minus the police incident and that I had the driver’s details. I made her promise not to tell any of my brothers, but she went ahead and told them. They treated me like a gullible idiot for not taking down the driver’s details, and ever since then, I wasn’t allowed to take taxis or be with a driver by myself, which resulted in my forced isolation at home again. Thing is, I didn’t give them the driver’s details because I knew they would have just gone and beat him up, and I didn’t want that bullshit, but I dug own grave by trusting my mother.

I was even more and more isolated because I wasn’t religious and couldn’t relate to people around me or even my friends, but I had to pretend to be religious because atheism is treated as terrorism and a threat to national security, and is punishable by death. I couldn’t talk about it even to my closest friends.

There was one time when I was in court, and I see a mother with at least 7 children. She came to me for help because she was illiterate and wanted me to fill out a complaint form for her. Her complaint? Her husband married a second wife and made them live in the same house together, and he beat her in front of her children and second wife. Her problem? In order to file a lawsuit, she needs consent from her male guardian, who also happens to be her abuser. She had no other male guardians alive.

So yeah, Saudi Arabia is a shit place for women, but whenever I protested to the people I knew, I was accused of being too westernized or that I was some oversensitive special snowflake and didn’t know my place.

As sad as it sounds, my father’s death was my ticket out of there. I worked for 4 years, hardly spent anything so I can afford to do my master’s abroad, got my admission letters, then told my family. My mom tried to accompany me and my brothers tried to push for that, but because of her visa status, she couldn’t come, so I got really lucky. I’ve been married to an amazing ex-Muslim for a couple of years now, and was living with him before we got married. My family think he’s Muslim, and they don’t know we were in a relationship before that, and every time I forget my rights and start doubting my self worth as a human being, he’s there to remind me of what I’m worth.

If you’re a woman in Saudi Arabia or any similar place, I hope with all my heart you’ll find your ticket out of there.

2. My father is an offshore oil and gas superintendent so our little family moved around a lot. Around 10ish years ago we did a longish stint in Malaysia which has both Sharia and Civil law. My parents had a pretty rough marriage at the time and they were constantly fighting so they decided that they would get remarried in Malaysia to remedy the whole situation (they got married in Malaysia 20 years earlier too). After all was said and done they threw a huge party to celebrate and unfortunately during this party my mother got a phone call from the Sharia courts that my father had actually gotten married to a Muslim woman behind her back and that my mother had 30 days to convert to Islam before their marriage was considered null and void (Muslims are apparently allowed four wives legally).

You could imagine how livid my mother was and of course it caused a huge fight between them; effectively ending their marriage. I remember my mother going to the lawyers and none of them could help her because Sharia law superseded Civil law and she wasn’t a Muslim. Basically because my mum and I didn’t convert we were wiped off my fathers records and that’s the story of how my dad stranded us in Malaysia with nothing. My mum had to sell all the gold and life insurances before being able to move is all back up to Canada.

3. I lived for six years in Dubai as a western expat. Dubai seems very “modernised” but the law is still sharia, and if they want to come down on you like a tonne of bricks, they can and they will.

It’s always much tougher for South and East Asian migrant workers who are treated like slaves. Westerners do get an easier experience, kind of like expats in Jeddah on compounds where life can be pretty “free” compared to the streets of Riyadh.

In Dubai a lot of westerners took stupid risks, like drugs and so on. Basically if recreational drugs is part of your lifestyle, a posting in the Gulf is not for you. Likewise if you’re an alcoholic, or someone of Muslim heritage who drinks (Muslims will get prosecuted in certain situations for alcohol whereas westerners won’t).

You could get away with living with a partner unmarried, but you needed to keep the bills and rent in one person’s name, and live discreetly. Most landlords will turn a blind eye but if neighbours complain, they’re obliged to act.

The main issue is getting raped, particularly by a local. If you are sexually assaulted by an Emirati, just leave the country. Cut your losses, get the medical help and counselling you need in your home country, but don’t bother pursuing it. Because the perpetrators will almost certainly get off scot free and you (as a woman) may get imprisoned for sex before marriage. As a raped man it may even be worse if you got charged with homosexuality, even if you were straight.

Always remember that it’s one rule for locals and one rule for expats, and literally no one – the UAE or your own government – gives a shit about you if you’re Chinese or Indian.

4. I myself live in the UK but my parents are Pakistani. One time my elder brother went to rural Pakistan in the far north to meet some of his friends relatives. On the way they stopped by a village which was previously Taliban territory and spoke to a guy who had his sister killed. When Taliban were in control, Sharia law was implemented (obviously) and things got violent quite quickly. He mentions how his sister was accused of cheating by her husband. Without question, she and a few other men who were accused of blasphemy (I’m not sure on the specifics in what they did) were taken to the centre of the village. On the rooftop of one of the houses which was used as an ‘outpost’ of sorts for the Taliban had multiple wooden plank structures with metal hooks nailed to the top. A rope was then looped through the metal hook and tied like a noose – I’m sure you could guest what would happen next. The whole village came out to watch these three people be hung with their bodies left on display for anyone who passed by to see. Although the brother didn’t have the “courage” (as he himself put it) to see his own sister die the father did. He described how his father saw her covered in a nikkab be walked up to the noose as the Taliban member felt for her chin and tightened the noose under it. He detailed how he saw her feet struggling and her arms straining. When he came hone the brother said that his father did not speak for months. Some tine later (I can’t remember how long) the village was liberated by the Pakistani military and things eventually went back to normal.

5. I very nearly married a Muslim girl, specifically from Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan does not so much have Sharia Law as law guided by Sharia, but it gave me a greater understanding of the differences.

As others have noted, local law takes priority especially where local law is more restrictive. The biggest understanding to have is that while the outside world largely views Sharia as a set of punishments, for the most part Sharia is viewed as personal governance. This means that they largely expect to be punished according to Sharia and local laws, but expect others to be punished by only local laws.

This impacted us several ways.

Sex before marriage was strictly forbidden. Duh.

I (as the man) was absolutely in charge. This was particularly frustrating on occasion because we were discussing her having someplace that is purely hers (traditionally this has been the kitchen but I enjoy cooking so we were going to have a second bedroom that was specifically hers). Getting past her thinking I could simply decide what was in her space took a lot of talking.

There was no requirement that I be a practicing Muslim, for the most part, but I would have to verbally convert to marry as she is not allowed to marry a nonMuslim.

Pork was a discussed issue, as it is a common meat here in the US. I’m not a pork person anyway, so it was simply easier to give it up (I have largely maintained this and only have pork products about once a year).

She actually wanted permission and forgiveness from me to allow her to work, I as the man had the option. Interestingly, while Sharia requires she have my permission that this would happen in the US means I might not have had the right to refuse.

Consent to sex is completely different in concept. The marriage itself gives right to her body, and the concept of pleasure in it for her was largely limited to the arbitrary requirement that I have sex with her at least twice a year. This was completely open to discussion because our laws are more restrictive on me and less restrictive on her, we decided on a default yes approach (could say no if desired, but should avoid it, she could also initiate and while I could say no I should avoid it).

Use of prostitutes was discussed. Under her views I could engage the services of one or multiple if I ever chose but I had to make sure this would never impact our family. In theory I could also have a personal servant that was, for lack of a less graphic term, full access. This is a modernization of the allowance for a husband to maintain slaves and make use of them in any way.

Knowing there was a strong potential for divorce, we discussed what to do about it. Th exact split we decide on is irrelevant, but it was determined that if we chose divorce I would repeat talaq three times to complete the religious divorce as well.

We had to build our own interpretation of the women must dress modestly. We determined that this meant she needed to dress in a way that did not draw unearned attention. Here in the US wearing a veil will draw attention in most places, exactly the opposite of the modesty requirement. Instead we decided this meant that if we go to the beach, she wears a bikini as that will not draw unearned attention. This would require of her to dress largely American. This was acceptable because I (as the man and therefore absolutely in charge) told her to.

6. I lived in Riyadh for a few years while working with their military. My wife was with me for the first year, but I sent her back home because she was so fucking miserable and I didn’t want her to get assaulted. They are generally more respectful of western women who are escorted by Saudis since it indicates that there is some status there.

Anyway, here are a few points about living there…

1. Executions happen on Friday. If you accidentally walk up to the crowd and look foreign, they will clear a way and push you to the front of the group. I don’t know why they do this. I asked one of my Saudi counterparts, and he said that it was to show how efficient their justice system is. I personally felt like it was more of an intimidation thing, but I can see both sides of the coin. I’m just glad I didn’t hurl in front of all those Saudis.
2. My wife could not drive anywhere alone. Luckily, the Saudi’s provided my wife with a male escort. He was a chauffeur and translator. Once my wife left, she sent me a bunch of videos of her ecstatically driving once again. It had been over a year.
3. Alcohol is strictly forbidden. I worked with a Saudi who was caught smuggling a couple bottles of alcohol in from Bahrain. He had to take leave (military vacation time) in order to get whipped. On the bright side, he had perfect posture when he got back because any bending of the back caused the scabs to start bleeding.
4. The Saudis definitely were not welcoming hosts. I mean, I had a chauffeur, a great place to live, and a fat paycheck, but they make it very clear that they are “above” you. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like a servant status if you are a westerner working there.
5. I almost forgot. Homosexuals 100% get killed there. It’s no joke. It reminded me of V for Vendetta. Just being accused of being a homosexual is a death sentence.

In summary, 0/10 would not recommend a visit to Riyadh.

7. Finally a question I can contribute to! Hopefully I’m not too late.

Both of my parents are doctors and have moved to Saudi Arabia from another Arab country. I was born here and lived my whole life in the country so I’ve been under sharia law since I was born(I’m currently 17).

Starting off, everything closes during prayer time and opens up 20 or so minutes after. Shops, malls, you name it. There are no movie theaters in the country. A friend who had let his hair grow for a long time was forced to cut it by the religious police before(probably because he’s “imitating women” or some similar bullshit reason), although I’ve heard they don’t do that anymore. All women wear black trash bags on them so sometimes it’s really hard to find you mom when she’s identical to every moving black ghost in the area.

Pornographic sits are blocked and so are anti-islamic ones. Everything is segregated by gender. Queuing to order from a fast food restaurant in a mall? Seperated by gender. A standalone restaurant? Restaurant is seperated into two parts, for singles(read: males only) and for family(read: family and females). Also, no mixing of genders in the work place which limits the number and type of jobs women can get. Oh and schools are segregated by gender too.

Having partners(outside of marriage) is not allowed and so is displaying public acts of affection. Never had a crush on anyone because I’ve almost never interacted with a girl my age.

Honestly, the whole country is boring. There isn’t much fun to be had and I’m naturally anti-social so all I do is just stay at home play steam games, watch YouTube or do whatever I’m basically on my PC 24/7 since it’s the summer vacation. I’ll also read a book or two every once in a while. There’s an incredible lack of science books in bookstores but I was able to find “Physics of the impossible” by Michio Kaku which I’m currently reading. My parents? They don’t mind any of the stuff imposed by sharia law. Most people here don’t. They never felt what’s it like to have freedoms that people in more socially liberal countries take for granted. Despite being raised as a muslim and living my whole life under sharia law, I’ve become and atheist for almost 2 years now.

8. My father was an Indian Hindu doctor living in Saudi Arabia. A town close to Mecca, though obviously not in the Muslim-only zone.

During Ramzan, you are expected not to eat or drink in public. However, you are not really expected to follow the diet: rooms are often provided for you to eat privately in the daytime.

During prayer times, you are expected to stay silent and not go walking around in public. You are not expected to pray yourself.

Nurses and doctors were often female: they wore a headscarf but had faces uncovered. They took and gave directions from/to men just like in any Indian hospital. Obviously, one man and one woman would never be left in a room alone, including female patients.

Mixing of genders in public isn’t done, but house parties are held often by the Indian community, and behaviors are just like in house parties in India. In fact, house parties with Pakistani/Saudi doctors were also the same: mixing of genders, no veils, no issues.

Alcohol was basically not available, though you could get it if you tried: it wasn’t THAT difficult. Practicing your religion publicly was a no-no; they confiscated idols found in carry-on baggage, but the probability of them actually checking your bag was the same as in the US: exceedingly rare. That was the extent of it: no penalties or jail or arrest.

9. I am a Muslim who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia. I lived most of my life in KSA and moved to Oman 7 years ago.

Now you should know that there are two separate police units that enforce Civil Laws and Shari’a Laws. The ones that enforce the latter are literally called The Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice whose main function is to limit secularization and westernization, i.e. making sure women wear hijab, people shut down there business places for Salah (Muslim prayer), segregation of opposite sexes, etc all of which you become habituated to when you grow up in a Muslim family.

We had separate schools for girls and boys. Once there was a fire in the girls block. The fire fighters rushed to the scene but the rescue attempt was stopped by the Religious Police. Since the fire fighters were men and the ones who needed help were of the opposite sex. Many students and teachers including my sister died from smoke inhalation and lack of an emergency rescue service. After the incident, the then Governor then lowered the authority of the religious police in the city.

My dad transferred to Oman the same year and we’ve been living here since. Though technically we still live under Shari’a Law in Oman, things are much better here. The people and the Government are much kinder and tolerant. Women can drive. The Waqf Board here not only allows the building of mosques but temples, churches and buildings of other religious faiths as well. We don’t publicly and barbarically behead people.

Saudi Arabia was a bad experience for me and my family. The Government is oppressing, there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of expression, a lot of economic and racial discrimination between the Saudis and the expatriates and with the current ongoing Civil War in Yemen and their defense spendings, they are driving the entire country down the drain.

I still hope things get better one day because we are definitely better than this and we are definitely better than people who are currently representing us.

10. I’m a Saudi Arabian citizen and have lived my whole life here, I can tell you about the phases and levels of Sharia law here in Riyadh, the true origin of terrorism. They teach you from a young age in mandatory subjects from the first grade that the infidels are there for the purpose of stripping you away from all of your “righteousness and angelic traits”.

All infidels deserve to be killed, you hate every other religion our there and especially the jews **they took our beloved palastine away so they deserve to be killed in the most creative ugly way possible, you are all soldiers for Allah and the muslim people will basically “jihad” all over the world one day and gain it back.

The Salafi-Sunni-terrorist phase started around the 1970’s, we arab people call it “Al Sahwah” as in the awakening when the religious police actually became a thing lol, thats when the Saud government started using islam in a way to further silence the people, basic politics there! But it all went down hill after the religious people started having too much influence on the people for the Saud government to handle so they decided to join it rather than to fight it since the religious cancer has spread too much for be cured. that’s when the terrorist Islamic state started.

They only stripped mosques their right to talk politics a couple of years ago, before that every fucking lecture they gave was either about killing the jews or killing the jews, sometimes both.

You asked about life? It’s horrible, but livable. Yeah risking your life over something as simple and as human as sex can be troubling at times but I stopped caring about it, guess that’s my way of dealing with it but let’s not make this too personal. The people here are fucking psychotic, they can actually diagnose themselves and be diagnosed by fucking doctors with “envy” and “witchcraft”. Therapy doesn’t exist because every fucking therapist here gives you “verses of Quran” as a way to treat your Biploar disorder, also schizophrenia and autism can be a demon that’s possessing you. Just thought I’d share some of the fuckedupness this country is living.

I for myself plan to use the free education and get the fuck out of here, if its not for my little sisters I’d probably be either dead or ran the fuck outta here, almost all the people are dumb fucks believing in a fairy god and a fairy life. Almost everyone is hypocritically good, but in fact no one is. The country is slowly evolving, just a few days ago they reached the 1700’s and one day they’ll reach whatever phase we’re in right now, just not fast enough for me to waste my life waiting for this shithole . Like I said it’s livable just not a life worth living. Sorry for the rant but thought I’d share this I’d happily answer specific questions if you any wanted anything

11. I’m a Saudi, was born and raised there. I can remember me as a child, I was not allowed to listen to music or watch movies because they were deemed morally corrupting and forbidden by the religion. The line of thinking goes this way: anything that may has a potential to lead to sex is haram. So people on TV kissing, any kind of affection could have the potential to mess with me. Apart from that. Not many restrictions in childhood iirc and no stark differences in treatment between males and females. Once I hit puberty, things took a turn for the worst. I was not allowed to socialize with the other sex. Any females I used to play with as a child, I could no longer treat them the way as before. I couldn’t talk to them or be alone with them. Otherwise it would be assumed that I was after something sexual. I was basically treated as a horny animal who is not to be trusted around girls. And girls, pick up on this too and learn to be afraid of the other sex. Needless to say you couldn’t date or get to know the other sex. Schools, government offices, restaurants, mosques were all segregated. Shops and malls were policed and at some point, young males were outright banned from entering malls. If you’re a saudi single male, you’re constantly reminded of how undesirable you are. The country has nothing to offer for fun. No cinemas, of course no bars or clubs. Nothing but dining and shopping and some other few things. And in most of these places you’re greeted with a sign telling you, you’re not welcome. For families only. I spent my teenage years driving with friends on the streets, smoking shisha and spending time in one of my friends’ house. I do realize that despite how shitty this was, women had it worse. At the very least I didn’t need permission to do most of this stuff and if I had messed up, my family wouldn’t have come down on me so hard. Nevertheless, it was still a shit life.

I went on to university away from my family. And suddenly I had full access to the internet, got to meet all kinds of different people and my shitty mindset and the way I used to view the world began to change. I still couldn’t speak freely and discuss these new stimulating ideas that I’ve just come across. The way Saudi society is structured makes it really hard to deviate from the norm. Individualism is highly discouraged. As I’m sure you’ve heard about all this arranged marriage business and how the guy’s family go picking his future wife. Of course he has a say. And can refuse but it’s really hard to find a girl on your own and get to know her when you can barely talk and meet her. Anyways, since the future husband and wife have no clue what the other person is like and how good/bad they are. It falls to society (people around them) to determine that and give their input. The family of both parties would start contacting friends and acquaintances of the opposite side to get a feel of what they are like and if there’s any dirt on them.

So if I decide to voice my concerns about religion, become an atheist or do something in my past which is deemed immoral by society and the people around me, I’m pretty much fucked. Very few would be willing to entrust me with their daughter and risk themselves and her getting into trouble later on when/if the authorities decide to come knocking. This has to do with their image as well and how they are perceived by society. If word gets out, their girls may never find suitable husbands and their boys may never marry. Of course it goes the other way. My sisters and brothers may have to bear my sins. So you keep you crazy thoughts to yourself. You questions nothing in public and stay the line. Otherwise people would fear associating with you and you’d be ostracized.

This is getting too long, so I must end it. Most people who say they have no problem with the system are people who are not affected by it. Mostly males. Mostly conservative. Or not, but deep down they have no problem living such a life and accept it. However if you happen to have different opinions and views, are unhappy and want to change something or simply just wanna be left alone to do what you wish as long as you are not causing anybody any harm. You are shit out of luck.

I have to say though that things are changing. Albeit slowly. For instance it’s more acceptable today to talk and be around the other sex. Although it depends on which part of the country you are in. However much of the restrictive laws are still there. Making matters worse is the fact that this slow progress could be simply overturned whenever those governing deem so.

I no longer live there. And hope that I never ever have to go back there, other than to visit family.

Why has Italy been spared mass terror attacks in recent years?

Why has Italy been spared mass terror attacks in recent years?

Experts say Italy has learned harsh lessons from anti-mafia policing, understands dangers of radicalisation in jail, and also relies on surveillance and deportation. 

Each time Youssef Zaghba landed in Bologna, there was someone waiting for him as he got off the plane. It was no secret in Italy that the 22-year-old Moroccan-born Italian, identified as one of three terrorists behind the London Bridge attack, was under close surveillance. 

“They would talk to him at the airport. Then, during his stay, police officers would come a couple of times a day to check on him,” his mother, Valeria Collina, said in an interview with the Guardian. 

“They were friendly to Youssef. They would say: ‘Hey son, tell me what you have been doing. What are you doing? How are you?’” 

In the weeks since the attack, Zaghba’s role has shone a light on the differences between how terror suspects are handled in Italy and the UK. Upon his arrival in London, Zaghba’s mother said, he was never once stopped at the airport or interrogated, even though Italian officials had warned British counterparts that he was a threat. 

Franco Gabrielli, Italy’s chief of police, has said of Italy’s efforts to alert the UK: “Our conscience is clear.” 

Scotland Yard, in turn, has said Zaghba “was not a police or MI5 subject of interest”.

CNN Is Reigning It's Rabid "Resistance" Journalists

Leaked CNN Memo: Top Execs to Review All ‘Russia Related Content’ Before Publishing

Executive Editor Rich Barbieri sent an internal memo to CNN staff instructing them that all Russia-related stories must be cleared by him or the VP before being published following a retraction of a very fake news story linking the Trump transition team to Russia.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

DON SURBER:

Barack Obama’s administration made up the Russian-Trump lie to justify spying on Team Trump.
Hillary bitterly clung to the story to stave off angry donors who invested a billion bucks and all they got was a I’m With Her shirt.
The Resistance Media hung on to it in the hopes of bringing down President Trump
But last week’s Toss Off Ossoff election — and Comey’s admission under oath that there was nothing to this — forced Democrats to abandon their big, fat, stupid lie.
Today, CNN ordered its staff to back off on Russia.

It’s dead. So why’s Mueller still investigating with 14 newly hired lawyers?

AND THIS:

Flashback: Robert Mueller Recused Himself in 2006 When Involved in Case with Acquaintance

Trump's Statement on Supreme Court's Travel Ban Decision

THANKS TO WILL, 

Here is the Supreme Court's ruling in full.

Supreme Court Rules State Cannot Discriminate Against Religious Schools

From USA Today:

The justices ruled 7-2 that Missouri stretched the constitutional separation of church and state too far by declaring a Lutheran church ineligible to receive a competitive state grant for playground resurfacing. 

The decision could have implications for more than 30 states that block public funds from going to religious organizations. 

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the decision. Only Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. 

Even though the state's denial of funds likely would lead only to "a few extra scraped knees," Roberts said, "the exclusion of Trinity Lutheran from a public benenfit for which it is otherwise qualified, solely because it is a church, is odious to our Constitution all the same, and cannot stand." ... 

"It does seem as though ... this is a clear burden on a constitutional right," liberal Justice Elena Kagan said then, in reference to the state's refusal to treat Trinity Lutheran Church equally to other non-profits seeking state grants. 

The church had met all the neutral criteria for the program. Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas would have gone further than Roberts, who suggested in a footnote to the court's decision that the case "involves express discrimination based on religious identity with respect to playground resurfacing. 

We do not address religious uses of funding or other forms of discrimination." Gorsuch wrote: "The general principles here do not permit discrimination against religious exercise -- whether on the playground or anywhere else."

Breaking: Supreme Court Reinstates POTUS Trump’s Travel Ban

BREAKING – SCOTUS Reinstates POTUS Trump’s Travel Ban

Via Market Watch:

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed most of the Trump administration’s travel ban to go forward before it hears a case on the matter in October. 

The ruling grants a Trump administration stay of lower court rulings that had piled up against the president. 

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in October, and meanwhile, will allow a temporary ban from six Muslim-majority countries. 

However, the ban will not be able to be enforced for people with a “bona fide” relationship to the U.S., such as those with family members stateside, those who have been admitted to a college or hired by an employer. 

Fox News reports:

In a victory for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court on Monday lifted key components of an injunction against the White House’s proposed ban on travel from six majority-Muslim nations, reinstating much of the policy and promising to hear full arguments in October. 

The court’s decision means the justices will now wade into the biggest legal controversy of the Trump administration — Trump’s order temporarily restricting travel, which even Trump has termed a “travel ban.” 

“An American individual or entity that has a bona fide relationship with a particular person seeking to enter the country as a refugee can legitimately claim concrete hardship if that person is excluded,” the Court wrote. 

“As to these individuals and entities, we do not disturb the injunction. But when it comes to refugees who lack any such connection to the United States, for the reasons we have set out, the balance tips in favor of the Government’s compelling need to provide for the Nation’s security.”

AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

Trump Has Now Signed 40 Pieces Of Legislation As He Moves To Enact His Agenda

SJW'S ARE MAO'S "RED GUARD" YOUTH BRIGADES

From PJM:

I don’t know who coined “Reeeee” for the sound progressives make when in the middle of a scream fest about some – mostly imaginary and unintended – offense. I know that for several months now all my friends have used it, usually when just having dealt with some idiot who keeps yammering on about moon ferrets (or patriarchy. Or white supremacy. 

All of which have the exact same degree of existence in modern America.) 

Their behavior is so insane, their on-command ability to jump on anyone or anything who deviates from the now-current party line so absolute, their arguments so ridiculous, it took me a while to realize what they’re doing is the equivalent of Mao’s brigades of aggressive young people fanning out to rural areas to teach the peasants how to think and what to do. 

But they’re not teaching us anything, you’ll say. Mostly they’re ridiculous idiots, who never spent enough time outside a university. You aren’t wrong. Thing is, if you’ve read about the Cultural Revolution – yeah, I do a lot of depressing things – those too were a bunch of ignorant kids, taught only Maoism and completely ignorant of what the peasants needed to do to survive and grow food. 

Their advice, their demands, and their theories were not only stupid but actually life-threatening. But people had to follow them because otherwise they’d be denounced, held up before revolutionary tribunals, and killed or worse. (Being enslaved to a pack of jackal puppies in human form is arguably worse.) 

The people who destroyed Chinese culture and productivity in the Cultural Revolution and who filled the Yellow River with so many bodies that they washed up en masse on the shores of Macao (where my dad saw them) were nothing more and nothing less than weaponized Reeee brigades.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

Why Germany is Once Again a Threat to the West

Why Germany is Once Again a Threat to the West

In the mainstream media, the policies of the German prime minister, Angela Merkel, are often portrayed as a form of atonement for Germany’s past sins of imperialism and genocide. 

Letting in a million refugees is supposedly the absolute negation of the Holocaust, and pressing for further European cooperation is seen as the opposite of Germany’s old attempts to violently bring the rest of Europe under its control. 

And for these very reasons, progressive politicians and intellectuals around the world are now looking up to Merkel as the defender of pluralistic Western values. 

At first sight, this praise for Merkel doesn’t seem so far-fetched, even for conservatives who fundamentally oppose her policies. After all, she is acting out of genuine goodwill and charity towards the downtrodden of the Middle East, isn’t she? 

And we may disagree about the feasibility and consequences of further European integration, but given Europe’s bloody past it seems perfectly understandable that Germany’s prime minister is calling for more harmony among European nations. 

Nonetheless, it is important to point out that the popular image both of Angela Merkel and of modern Germany is deeply flawed. Because far from representing a negation -- or a misguided attempt at negation -- of past German policies and attitudes, the modern German mentality is in many ways a mutation or an update of the same mentality that has guided Germany since the eighteenth century, and especially since the unification of the country in 1870. 

Let us begin with the more obvious parallel: German support for further European integration. Despite all the German talk about subordinating narrow national interests to the European project, careful observers must have noticed the coincidence that the Germans always see themselves as the leaders of this disinterested project, and that the measures deemed to be necessary for further European cooperation always seem to be German-made.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

The Leftist Snake Eats Itself

Gay Pride Parade Organizers In Chicago Kicks Jewish Participants Out Over “Triggering” Star Of David Flags, “Made People Feel Unsafe”…

Chicago ‘Dyke March’ Bans Jewish Pride Flags: ‘They Made People Feel Unsafe’

Black Lives Matter Shuts Down Pride Parade For 20 Minutes Over Police Presence (VIDEO)

Halal Certification: The Unpalatable Facts

Christian School in Canada Ordered Not to Teach "Offensive" Bible Verses

One of my favorite tunes and one I've posted one way or another many times here.

I heard this version for the first time this evening.

It is fantastic.

It may easily become one of my favorite versions.

Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell

Summertime

Sketchy Firm Behind Trump Dossier Is Stalling Investigators

From The New York Post:

A secretive Washington firm that commissioned the dubious intelligence dossier on Donald Trump is stonewalling congressional investigators trying to learn more about its connections to the Democratic Party. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month threatened to subpoena the firm, Fusion GPS, after it refused to answer questions and provide records to the panel identifying who financed the error-ridden dossier, which was circulated during the election and has sparked much of the Russia scandal now engulfing the White House. 

What is the company hiding? 

Fusion GPS describes itself as a “research and strategic intelligence firm” founded by “three former Wall Street Journal investigative reporters.” But congressional sources say it’s actually an opposition-research group for Democrats, and the founders, who are more political activists than journalists, have a pro-Hillary, anti-Trump agenda. 

“These weren’t mercenaries or hired guns,” a congressional source familiar with the dossier probe said. “These guys had a vested personal and ideological interest in smearing Trump and boosting Hillary’s chances of winning the White House.” 

Fusion GPS was on the payroll of an unidentified Democratic ally of Clinton when it hired a long-retired British spy to dig up dirt on Trump. In 2012, Democrats hired Fusion GPS to uncover dirt on GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. And in 2015, Democrat ally Planned Parenthood retained Fusion GPS to investigate pro-life activists protesting the abortion group. 

More, federal records show a key co-founder and partner in the firm was a Hillary Clinton donor and supporter of her presidential campaign. 

In September 2016, while Fusion GPS was quietly shopping the dirty dossier on Trump around Washington, its co-founder and partner Peter R. Fritsch contributed at least $1,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund and the Hillary For America campaign, Federal Election Commission data show. His wife also donated money to Hillary’s campaign. Property records show that in June 2016, as Clinton allies bankrolled Fusion GPS, Fritsch bought a six-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Bethesda, Md., for $2.3 million. 

Sources say Fusion GPS had its own interest, beyond those of its clients, in promulgating negative gossip about Trump. Fritsch, who served as the Journal’s bureau chief in Mexico City and has lectured at the liberal Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, married into a family with Mexican business interests. His wife, Beatriz Garcia, formerly worked as an executive at Grupo Dina, a manufacturer of trucks and buses in Mexico City that benefits from NAFTA, which Trump opposes. 

Fritsch’s Fusion GPS partner Thomas Catan, who grew up in Britain, once edited a business magazine in Mexico, moreover. 

A third founding partner, Glenn Simpson, is reported to have shared dark views of both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. Before joining Fusion GPS, Simpson did opposition research for a former Clinton White House operative. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee is also investigating whether the FBI has wrongly relied on the anti-Trump dossier and its author, Christopher Steele — the old spy who was hired by Fusion GPS to build a Russia file on Trump — to aid its ongoing espionage investigation into the Trump campaign and its possible ties to Moscow. 

The FBI received a copy of the Democrat-funded dossier in August, during the heat of the campaign, and is said to have contracted in October to pay Steele $50,000 to help corroborate the dirt on Trump — a relationship that “raises substantial questions about the independence” of the bureau in investigating Trump, warned Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. 

Senate investigators are demanding to see records of communications between Fusion GPS and the FBI and the Justice Department, including any contacts with former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, now under congressional investigation for possibly obstructing the Hillary Clinton email probe, and deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, who is under investigation by the Senate and the Justice inspector general for failing to recuse himself despite financial and political connections to the Clinton campaign through his Democrat activist wife. 

Senate investigators have singled out McCabe as the FBI official who negotiated with Steele. Like Fusion GPS, the FBI has failed to cooperate with congressional investigators seeking documents. 

Steele contracted with Fusion GPS to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia starting in June 2016, whereupon he outlandishly claimed that Hillary campaign hackers were “paid by both Trump’s team and the Kremlin” and that the operation was run out of Putin’s office. 

He also fed Fusion GPS and its Hillary-allied clients incredulous gossip about Trump hating the Obamas so much that he hired hookers to urinate on a bed they slept in at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton, and that Russian intelligence recorded the pee party in case they needed to blackmail Trump. 

Never mind that none of the rumors were backed by evidence or even credible sourcing (don’t bother trying to confirm his bed-wetting yarn, Steele advised, as “all direct witnesses have been silenced”). 

Steele reinforced his paying customers’ worst fears about Trump, and they rewarded him for it with a whopping $250,000 in payments. But it’s now clear his “intelligence reports,” which together run more than 35-pages long, were for the most part worthless. And the clients who paid Fusion GPS (which claims to go “beyond standard due diligence”) for them got taken to the cleaners. 

Steele’s most sensational allegations remain unconfirmed. For instance, his claim that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen held a “clandestine meeting” on the alleged hacking scheme in Prague with “Kremlin officials” in August 2016 unraveled when Cohen denied ever visiting Prague, his passport showed no stamps showing he left or entered the US at the time, witnesses accounted for his presence here, and Czech authorities found no evidence Cohen went to Prague. 

Steele hadn’t worked in Moscow since the 1990s and didn’t actually travel there to gather intelligence on Trump firsthand. He relied on third-hand “friend of friend” sourcing. 

In fact, most of his claimed Russian sources spoke not directly to him but “in confidence to a trusted compatriot” who, in turn, spoke to Steele — and always anonymously. 

But his main source may have been Google. 

Most of the information branded as “intelligence” was merely rehashed from news headlines or cut and pasted — replete with errors — from Wikipedia. In fact, much of the seemingly cloak-and-dagger information connecting Trump and his campaign advisers to Russia had already been reported in the media at the time Steele wrote his monthly reports. 

In the same August report, for example, Steele connected a Moscow trip taken by then-Trump campaign adviser Michael Flynn to “the Russian operation” to hack the election. But there was nothing secret about the trip, which had taken place months earlier and had been widely reported. And there was nothing untoward about it. It was a dinner celebrating the 10th birthday of Russian TV network RT, and Flynn sat at the same table with Putin as US Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. 

The real question is why anyone would take anything in the sketchy report seriously. But even the CIA gave it credence. The dossier ended up attached to a Top Secret intelligence briefing on Russia for President Obama, even though his intelligence czar last month testified “We couldn’t corroborate the sourcing.” 

The FBI, moreover, has been using it for investigative leads on Trump associates like Carter Page, even though former FBI Director James Comey this month described the dossier as “salacious and unverified.” 

And of course, Democratic leaders in Congress keep referring to it to cook up more charges against Trump, while liberal media continue to use it as a road map to find “scoops” on Trump in the “Russiagate” conspiracy they’re peddling — still hoping against hope that the central thrust of the report — that Trump entered into an unholy alliance with the Russian government during the election — will one day prove true and bring about the downfall of his presidency.

John Hinderaker from Powerline:

It raises more questions than that. Why was the FBI meddling in a U.S. presidential election? Partisan interference in the election by public agencies like the FBI and major news sources like NBC are far more worrisome than anything Russians allegedly might do from afar.

The FBI, too, is trying to stiff Congress’s investigation into the fake dossier:

Senate investigators are demanding to see records of communications between Fusion GPS and the FBI and the Justice Department, including any contacts with former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, now under congressional investigation for possibly obstructing the Hillary Clinton email probe, and deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, who is under investigation by the Senate and the Justice inspector general for failing to recuse himself despite financial and political connections to the Clinton campaign through his Democrat activist wife. Senate investigators have singled out McCabe as the FBI official who negotiated with Steele.

Like Fusion GPS, the FBI has failed to cooperate with congressional investigators seeking documents.

It appears that the Democratic Party has successfully corrupted the FBI as well as the CIA.

Harry James

One Night Stand

Majid Nawaz, Former Islamic Extremist, Suing The SPLC For Defamation For Placing Him On Anti-Muslim Extremist List

From Breitbart:

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” author, columnist, and former Islamic extremist Maajid Nawaz announced a defamation lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Lawsuit Center for listing him as an anti-Muslim extremist. 

Nawaz said he is “sick to death” of “well-meaning white men” liberals “who decide that I am saying the — what they don’t agree with, don’t allow for me to say about my own community, my own religious heritage. 

And as a result, listed me as an anti-Muslim extremist. So, I’m going to take them to court for defamation.” Host Bill Maher told Nawaz he’d like to be part of the crowdfund of Nawaz’s lawsuit. 

Nawaz added, “I’ve memorized half of the Koran. I’m a Muslim. I’m born and raised Muslim to a Muslim. I’ve learned classical Arabic and spent time in prison as a political prisoner for what I then thought was my religion. I’ve changed my views as to the interpretation of my religion, and along come these people…and decide that I don’t have the right to speak about my own heritage and critique it from within.” 

He further criticized the “hypocrisy” of the SPLC for speaking out against Christian fundamentalism in “their own Bible Belt,” but telling him he can’t criticize the “Koran Belt within my own community.” He further accused the group of having “bigotry of low expectations.”

Trump to Call for U.S. Dominance in Global Energy Production...

WINNING!

Trump to Call for U.S. Dominance in Global Energy Production...

Donald Trump will tout surging U.S. exports of oil and natural gas during a week of events aimed at highlighting the country’s growing energy dominance. The president also plans to emphasize that after decades of relying on foreign energy supplies, the U.S. is on the brink of becoming a net exporter of oil, gas, coal and other energy resources. 

With “Energy Week,” Trump is returning to familiar territory -- and to the coal, oil, and gas industries on which he’s already lavished attention. Trump’s first major policy speech on the campaign trail, delivered in the oil drilling hotbed of North Dakota in 2016, focused on his plans for unleashing domestic energy production. 

The issue has also been a major focus during Trump’s first five months in office, as he set in motion the reversal of an array of Obama-era policies that discourage both the production and consumption of fossil fuels. 

Exports Equal Influence 

Trump is set to deliver a speech at the Energy Department on Thursday focused almost entirely on energy exports -- describing how the foreign sale of U.S. natural gas, oil and coal helps strengthen the country’s influence globally, bolster international alliances, and help stabilize global markets. 

Energy Secretary Rick Perry may touch on similar themes when he speaks Tuesday with analysts and executives at the U.S. Energy Information Administration conference in Washington.   

“The fact that we’re no longer in the age of energy scarcity -- that we’re in the age of energy abundance -- positions the United States in a totally different place,” said Dave Banks, a special assistant to the president for international energy. 

“This gives access to affordable, reliable energy in the United States, and gives the U.S. a major competitive advantage.” T 

he focus on exports dovetails with Trump’s policy priorities, including improving the balance of trade, rebuilding heavy manufacturing and modernizing infrastructure, said Benjamin Salisbury, a senior energy and natural resources analyst with FBR and Co. 

The Trump administration seems to appreciate the synergy between extractive industries and manufacturing, Salisbury said, with cheap energy powering factories that are in turn churning out the equipment used to produce and export those resources.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

OPEC Looks Totally Bewildered By Oil Market...

Mattis Irks Leftist Media With Deadly Competency: ‘We’re Going To Kill Them All’

From The Washington Times:

U.S. retired general and Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, has said the policy of the American military now in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq is moving from one of attrition to one of annihilation. 

The Leftist media doesn’t like this so much. The Washington Post in particular yesterday was upset that Mattis is annihilating the terrorists so effectively. 

“A military policy run solely by the Pentagon creates confusion,” writes the Post. 

One reason the Left is upset is that having a warrior in charge of fighting a war shows how incompetent and purposefully feckless the Obama administration was. 

Another reason may be the Left just simply has an affection for jihadis, hence the blind support for an open border policy for terrorists. 

Our corrupt media is also now using supposed ‘higher civilian casualties’ as a criticism of the Trump adminstration taking the fight hard to those that want to kill us. 

“Can’t we just give them jobs instead?” is the Left’s mantra. 

“We’re not the perfect guys, but we are the good guys. And so we’re doing what we can,” said Mattis recently on the Sunday talk shows.

“We’re not the perfect guys, but we are the good guys. And so we’re doing what we can,” said Mattis recently on the Sunday talk shows. 

“Manchester’s tragic loss underscores the purpose of your years of study and training at this elite school … We must never permit murderers to define our time or warp our sense of normal. This is not normal,” Mattis declared while speaking to the graduation cadets of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point last month. 

“We have already shifted from attrition tactics, where we shove them from one position to another in Iraq and Syria, to annihilation tactics where we surround them. Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa. We’re not going to allow them to do so. We’re going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate,” said the General. 

It is so refreshing to see a warrior in charge of fighting a war. It is refreshing to not see targeting or ordinance decisions made by people like Susan Rice or other social justice warriors from thousands of miles away. 

Mattis doesn’t believe in providing jobs or worry about offending the people who want to kill us. Trump let’s him do his job. To paraphrase the General, We’re just going to kill them all.

UPDATE - PROBABLY A HOAX - Feminist Magazine Calls on White Women to Fight Supremacy by Aborting All of Their White Babies

UPDATE: THIS IS PROBABLY A HOAX ARTICLE AT A HOAX SITE.

This site did not exist one week ago.

Medusa Magazine:

In a progressive society, it is often white families that stand in the way of equality and justice. Systemic white supremacy depends, first and foremost, on the white family unit. When white conquerors forcefully penetrated the indigenous, egalitarian homeland of the Native peoples of America, they were quick to replicate their white societies, initiating their parasitism by establishing white plantations, headed by white fathers, submissive white mothers, and, most critically, white children, with full dominion over the enslaved and oppressed people of color that were forced to uphold these micro-fiefdoms. 

It is no surprise, then, that America’s fascination with the white family unit has gone hand-in-hand with the historical proliferation of white supremacy. After Bacon’s Rebellion, white micro-fieftans thought it necessary to expand the definition of white family to encompass the entirety of white society, so as to coerce the working class to fight amongst itself based on racial lines. 

Whites are embedded from birth with the sense of common white identity, and this identity conditions them to replicate the white family unit, thus furthering the cycle of white supremacy in America. 

That is why the white family unit must be destroyed… … 

White women: it is time to do your part! Your white children reinforce the white supremacist society that benefits you. If you claim to be progressive, and yet willingly birth white children by your own choice, you are a hypocrite. White women should be encouraged to abort their white children, and to use their freed-up time and resources to assist women of color who have no other choice but to raise their children.

Kushner's meeting with Mahmoud Abbas went so badly that Trump is reportedly considering pulling out of talks

How funny is it that Trump sent a Jewish guy -  who looks like an even more gay version of Ralph Reed - to negotiate "Peace" in the Middle East.

So fuckin' funny.

So, what happens?

Of course:

London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat reported Saturday that the meeting between Kushner and Abbas had been “tense.” Abbas was allegedly furious when Kushner relayed a set of demands from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a translation of the report by the Jerusalem Post. 

Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Palestinian officials were “greatly disappointed” following their Wednesday meeting with Kushner and Jonathan Greenblatt , Trump’s Middle East envoy. 

"They sounded like Netanyahu's advisers and not like fair arbiters," a senior Palestinian official told the publication. "They started presenting Netanyahu's issues and then we asked to hear from them clear stances regarding the core issues of the conflict."

Here's the thing: Being reasonable and telling the truth counts as "sounding like Netanyahu's advisers", just as doing your homework, and getting good grades counts as "trying to act White" in many bad neighborhoods.

The Middle East is a really bad fucking neighborhood.