High winds and heavy rain hit Virginia Beach as Hurricane Irene makes its way up the eastern seaboard. So far only the death of an 11 year-old boy has been reported in Virginia. (Aug 27).
Continue reading …CFAP Report: $42 Million From Seven Foundations Helped Fuel The Rise Of Islamophobia In America
August 27, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Keith Olbermann talked to ThinkProgress ‘ Faiz Shakir who helped author a new report from the Center for American Progress — REPORT: $42 Million From Seven Foundations Helped Fuel The Rise Of Islamophobia In America : Following a six-month long investigative research project, the Center for American Progress released a 130-page report today which reveals that more than $42 million from seven foundations over the past decade have helped fan the flames of anti-Muslim hate in America. The authors — Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matt Duss, Lee Fang, Scott Keyes, and myself — worked to expose the Islamophobia network in depth, name the major players, connect the dots, and trace the genesis of anti-Muslim propaganda. The report, titled “ Fear Inc.: The Roots Of the Islamophobia Network In America ,” lifts the veil behind the hate, follows the money, and identifies the names of foundations who have given money, how much they have given, and who they have given to The money has flowed into the hands of five key “experts” and “scholars” who comprise the central nervous system of anti-Muslim propaganda: FRANK GAFFNEY , Center for Security Policy – “A mosque that is used to promote a seditious program, which is what Sharia is… that is not a protected religious practice, that is in fact sedition. ” [ Source ] DAVID YERUSHALMI , Society of Americans for National Existence: “Muslim civilization is at war with Judeo-Christian civilization…the Muslim peoples, those committed to Islam as we know it today, are our enemies. ” [ Source ] DANIEL PIPES , Middle East Forum: “All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most. ” [ Source ] ROBERT SPENCER , Jihad Watch: “Of course, as I have pointed out many times, traditional Islam itself is not moderate or peaceful. It is the only major world religion with a developed doctrine and tradition of warfare against unbelievers.” [ Source ] STEVEN EMERSON , Investigative Project on Terrorism: “One of the world’s great religions — which has more than 1.4 billion adherents — somehow sanctions genocide, planned genocide, as part of its religious doctrine. ” [ Source ] These five “scholars” are assisted in their outreach efforts by Brigitte Gabriel (founder, ACT! for America), Pamela Geller (co-founder, Stop Islamization of America), and David Horowitz (supporter of Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch). As the report details, information is then disseminated through conservative organizations like the Eagle Forum, the religious right, Fox News, and politicians such as Allen West and Newt Gingrich. Much more there including a summary of these foundations, their donation amounts and who the recipients are, so go read the rest. As Shakir relayed to Keith, this report by no means is a complete list of every corporation or group that is contributing to the fearmongering Islamophobia we’ve seen in recent years, but exposing some of these groups they’ve uncovered so far might help put an end to some of this if they are forced to associate their names with this type of hatred. And as Shakir also noted in the interview, one of them already contacted the CFAP off the record and said they were unaware of where their donations were going. As he told Keith, they said to them, now might be a good time to cut off their funding if that is the case.
Continue reading …On Tuesday, NPR ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos reached back to a July 26 story on the horrific shootings in Norway. Correspondent Sylvia Poggioli suggested the shooter, Anders Breivik “once belonged to the ultra-right Progress Party.” Schumacher-Matos lamented the “ultra-right” label, and asked Poggioli to explain herself. He called it “ultra-wrong.” It quickly became clear that Poggioli saw “ultra” extremism in the party's opposition to Islam and immigration. The ombudsman posting including just a few paragraphs of what Poggioli wrote in her own defense. But at the bottom of the page, he posted the whole reply , and her affinity for left-wing rags like the Nation and “far right” labels became really obvious: Until recently, radical right-wing parties were marginalized and considered disreputable. For example, Norway's Progress Party—of which Breivik used to be a member—was isolated. Its anti-immigrant rhetoric made it a pariah party. The arrival over the last two decades of millions of immigrants—mostly Muslims—on a continent where the nation-state had been based on mono-ethnic societies, has given new impetus to the ultra-right parties . The turning points were the Islamist terrorist acts of 9/11, the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh (2004) and the Madrid and London bombings (2004, 2005). As Ian Buruma writes in The Nation, “this finally gave right-wing populists a cause withwhich to crash into the center of European politics.” This is what writer Kenan Malik said in a NYT forum on this topic: “ Far right parties throughout Europe draw upon two distinct constituencies. The first is a core of hardline racist bigots — many of these parties, like the British National Party andthe Sweden Democrats emerged out of the neo-fascist swamp and some still live there.The bigots, however, have been joined by a swathe of new supporters whose hostility toward immigrants, minorities and Muslims is shaped less by old-fashioned racism than by a newfangled sense of fear and insecurity.
Continue reading …It’s counterintuitive, but it’s true, says a Duke University geology professor. Hurricane Irene “is just what” the Outer Banks need. In a conversation with the Los Angeles Times , Orrin Pilkey acknowledges the many, many downsides of the storm: “We are going to see an awful lot of buildings destroyed and…
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Leona Lewis is just full of reveals these past couple days. Last night she informed a UK radio show that her forthcoming third album will be called Glass Heart, and then today along comes her video for the now-legal Avicii collab “Collide.” The clip is a California beach affair that, truth be told, is not … More » Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Idolator Discovery Date : 26/08/2011 21:29 Number of articles : 3
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Hurricane Irene opened its assault on the Eastern Seaboard on Saturday by lashing the North Carolina coast with wind as strong as 115 mph and pounding shoreline homes with waves. (Aug. 27)
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You can never be too prepared. Whether you’re being chased by brain sucking zombies , hunted down by ruthless killer robots , or — more likely — the victim of an earthquake or other natural disaster. There’s only one phone you really need, and that’s the MOTOFONE F3. Forget your smartphone and its fancy pants features, forget the internet — when the apocalypse strikes your survival might depend on a durable handset with great battery life and just the basics, which is exactly what the MOTOFONE F3 delivers. Introduced in 2006 for developing markets, it makes and takes calls, sends and receives text messages, beeps and vibrates, stores and recalls your most important contacts, and includes an alarm clock — that’s it. Of course, these specs describe almost every simple phone launched since SMS was added to the GSM standard . What makes the MOTOFONE F3 unique is that it uses a segmented e-paper display which sips power and remains legible in both direct sunlight and dark back alleys, along with dual antennae for superior radio performance. Battery life is absolutely incredible, with over 2 weeks in standby and several months powered off. Motorola also designed the handset to be light (68g), thin (9mm) and strong — it’s resistant to shock, dust and moisture, with a sealed keypad and speaker (which is extremely loud). The best part? You can pick one up online, unlocked, for as little as $25. Check out our gallery below, and whatever you do, don’t be like our protagonist in the zombie apocalypse video after the break — don’t leave your SIM at home. Psst… yeah, we know this phone’s ancient, but every now and then we like to reach back and have a little fun . And, you know, escape a looming zombie horde. Gallery: MOTOFONE F3 Continue reading MOTOFONE F3, the zombie apocalypse survival phone (video) MOTOFONE F3, the zombie apocalypse survival phone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …![More Android-Running HP TouchPad Units Popping Up at Retail [Video]](https://newsbreakingonline.com/wp-content/themes/transcript/timthumb.php?src=%3Cimg+src%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fnewsbreakingonline.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F08%2F51eb216e9fvideo.jpeg-150x112.jpg%22+%2F%3E&q=90&w=190&h=100&zc=1 "More Android-Running HP TouchPad Units Popping Up at Retail [Video]")
Well, this is just peachy. Another lucky soul was able to buy an HP TouchPad (for $100) that had Android preinstalled instead of WebOS. Apparently, there’s a bit of a back story as to why this anomaly is happening. It appears Qualcomm, the chipset vendor for the tablet, tested Android on several units. Probably the Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Android Phone Fans Discovery Date : 25/08/2011 21:37 Number of articles : 3
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Russian aerospace engineers join race to provide wealthy thrill-seekers with the ultimate holiday destination Russian engineers have announced the ultimate get-away-from-it-all holiday, revealing plans to put a hotel into orbit 200 miles above Earth by 2016. The four-room Hotel in the Heavens would house up to seven guests who would be able to cavort in zero-gravity while watching as our planet turns. The out-of-this-world experience will not come cheaply, however. Space tourists will have to pay £500,000 to travel on a Soyuz rocket to get to the hotel before stumping up a further £100,000 for a five-day stay. “The hotel will be aimed at wealthy individuals and people working for private companies who want to do research in space,” said Sergei Kostenko, chief executive of Orbital Technologies, which will construct the orbiting guest house. “A hotel should be comfortable, and this one will be.” The news that Russia plans to launch a hotel into outer space is the latest example in a series of extreme holidaymaking projects. As the world accumulates more and more billionaires, entrepreneurs are seeking newer and more demanding ways to provide them with the ultimate in hi-tech thrills. Apart from space hotels, which have also been touted recently by US and European aerospace companies, proposals to fly thrill-seekers on rocket flights to the edge of space are now being finalised by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic as well as by US companies such as Space Adventures, Armadillo Aerospace and XCOR Aerospace. In addition, billionaires may soon be able to buy their own artificial countries – built in international waters on oil rig-type platforms – where they can indulge in their dictatorial fantasies. Or they could buy high-performance submarines that will allow them to dive and explore the deepest parts of oceans. Being rich has never offered so many opportunities for adventure – and excess. In the case of the space hotels, hedonism will be limited, however. Orbital Technologies have made it clear that guests will be restricted to consuming iced tea and fruit juices for their liquid intake. Alcohol will be banned. In addition, waste water will be recycled while air will be filtered to remove odour and bacteria and then returned to cabins. Tourists, accompanied by experienced crew, will also have to dine on food prepared on Earth and reheated in microwave ovens, while showers will be carefully sealed affairs to prevent water escaping as globules that otherwise would float around the hotel’s interior. It is scarcely five-star luxury. On the other hand, there will be many compensations. Views of the Earth from the space hotel’s special observation windows should be breathtaking as the craft whizzes round our planet every 90 minutes – providing guests with 16 sunsets and 16 sunrises a day. Visitors will also be able to choose to have their beds vertically or horizontally inclined to their line of flight. Indeed, the prospect of weightlessness offers all sorts of zero-gravity activities that can only be dreamt of on Earth. By contrast, the pleasures offered for those who go on suborbital flights offered by Virgin Galactic will be over far more quickly. Launched on craft pioneered by aviation designer Burt Rutan, these craft will allow passengers to slip the surly bonds of the gravitational field for only a few minutes before their rocket-powered craft descends back to Earth. On the other hand, the company’s plans are far more advanced than those put forward by most other space tourism entrepreneurs. Branson says Virgin Galactic’s first flights should begin next year. Tickets will cost a mere $200,000, with celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Tom Hanks and Stephen Hawking signing up for early flights. If that doesn’t appeal, Peter Thiel – who co-founded PayPal and who was one of Facebook’s earliest backers – has revealed that he wants to create communities that would be run according to extreme laissez-faire ideals. According to Details magazine, he wants to build artificial islands – based on oil-rig designs – that would be a “kind of floating Petri dish for implementing policies that libertarians, stymied by indifference at the voting booths, have been unable to advance: no welfare, looser building codes, no minimum wage and few restrictions on weapons.” A billionaire’s dream venture, in other words. And then there is the prospect of taking to the ocean depths in a range of new submersibles that will use ultra-strong materials to withstand the incredible pressures found at the deepest parts of the oceans. Again these are aimed for sale to the planet’s richest inhabitants. “Ninety per cent of the sea bed has still to be explored,” said Patrick Lahey, president of Triton Submarines of Vero Beach, Florida, one of the leading companies involved in building such submersibles. “There is a host of wonders down there. You could cruise down to the wrecks of the Titanic or the Bismarck. You will be able to access any place in the ocean and watch all those wonderful sea creatures.” Space Russia Richard Branson Virgin Group Europe Robin McKie guardian.co.uk
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President Barack Obama visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s command center on Saturday as Hurricane Irene began making its way up the East Coast, and 6500 American troops were told to be ready in case they’re needed. (Aug. 27)
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