HYPOCRISY - WESTERN ELITES, OIL
& CONTROL OF MIDDLE EAST
Britain
British Heir to Throne, Prince Charles
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Whitehall’s King Abdullah half-mast flag tribute criticised by MPs
Most fawning quotes about King Abdullah
http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/the-most-fawning-quotes-about-king-abdullah--ekPWXs_Hoe
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Australia
Tweet containing photo of a lashed female back (as per topmost of the UK trio directly above, reportedly of a lashed rape victim in Saudi Arabia).
Tweet expressed disapproval that the Australian flag had been lowered:
That tweet appears to have been blocked:
Tweet https://twitter.com/Ms_Mosman/status/558837274050183168/photo/1pic.twitter.com/QHuqfW2zxQ
re #SaudiArabia flogging & Aussie flag half mast
appears BLOCKED by @twitter
#TonyAbbott complain? #auspol
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Australian rationale for flag lowering:
Liberals following British protocol
http://www.smh.com.au/national/flags-at-halfmast-to-mark-death-of-saudi-arabias-king-abdullah-20150124-12xg8o.html
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Checked internet to find out more about that flogged woman photo:
From the Moroccan newspaper article, that photo on Twitter isn't what it purports to be, which is very annoying (and which probably explains why the tweet/post may have been blocked or deleted).
However, the flogging and imprisonment of individuals who offer sexual services isn't exactly a humane act and religious (or moral) police isn't really a democratic ideal.
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Here's an example of a Saudi Arabia flogging, from DailyMail:
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Blogger sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes set to be publicly flogged in Saudi Arabia for 'insulting 'Islam'
A Saudi blogger will be publicly flogged tomorrow as part of his 10-year jail term for 'ridiculing Islamic religious figures'.
Raif Badawi, who co-founded the Free Saudi Liberals website, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a decade in prison for insulting Islam on his online forum.
His corporal punishment will be carried out after Friday prayers, outside the Al-Juffali mosque in Jiddah, which has earned the grisly nickname 'Chop Chop Square' as the site of executions.
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There's also a photo of a recent public beheading of a woman in Saudi Arabia currently doing the rounds.
The leaked video was removed from YouTube, which I think is wrong.
Removing that type of content is taking part in whitewashing what is really taking place, and I think that's wrong & what becomes public should remain public and should be available to those that wish to witness it (however appalling the content).
Below is an article on the subject published in Daily Mail:
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Step-mother screams her innocence before being beheaded for murdering and sexually abusing six-year-old daughter in leaked footage that has outraged Saudi Arabia
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2916583/Step-mother-screams-innocence-beheaded-murdering-sexually-abusing-six-year-old-daughter-leaked-footage-outraged-Saudi-Arabia.html
To an outsider who has encountered some of these beheading photos online, it looks as if the authorities just take people out to car parks or beaches or other public places and lop their heads off with swords.
Find this really disturbing, so I haven't looked closely at the beheadings (which are quite a common occurrence).
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More on beheadings in Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia steps up beheadings; some see political message
Saudi Arabia beheaded 26 people in August, more than in the first seven months of the year combined. The total for the year now stands at 59, compared to 69 for all of last year, according to Human Rights Watch.
The figures referred to in the Reuters article (above) are figures for 2014, to publishing date: 20 October 2014. Think the grand total for 2014 is in the high 80s.
Yep. Saudi Arabia "executed 87 people in 2014" (Breitbart News-17 Jan 2015)
OTHER
[via @beyndfunds]
All the garbage about #KingAbddullah being a reformer should read about what he did to his own daughters
[via @lhbroch]
The ‘jailed’ princesses of #SaudiArabia: The late King Abdullah allegedly kept four of his daughters in captivity.
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'They are hanging to life' - Saudi king's ex-wife speaks out
Exclusive: in her first television interview, the former wife of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia claims her four daughters have suffered years trapped in the royal compound in Jeddah.
http://www.channel4.com/news/saudi-arabia-king-abdullah-alanoud-al-fayez-daughters-jeddah
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#FreeThe4 Protest for Imprisoned Saudi Princesses
to be Staged at Saudi Embassy in London
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/freethe4-protest-imprisoned-saudi-princesses-be-staged-saudi-embassy-london-1461520
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King Abdullah, a feminist? Don’t make me laugh
Christine Lagarde has praised the Saudi despot’s contribution to women’s rights. But his record was dismal and the more we shout about it, the better
Christine Lagarde, the first woman to head the IMF, has paid tribute to the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He was a strong advocate of women, she said.
This is almost certainly not what she thinks. She even hedged her remarks about with qualifiers like “discreet” and “appropriate”. [ . . . ] Abdullah led a country that abuses women’s rights, and indeed all human rights, in a way that places it beyond normal diplomacy.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/23/king-abdullah-feminist-christine-lagarde-saudi-arabia-women
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State Department reveals Hillary Clinton received $500K worth of jewelry from Saudi king
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was given a half-million bucks worth of diamond and ruby jewelry by Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and received $58,000 worth of bling from Brunei.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/state-department-reveals-political-swag-article-1.1441301
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Hillary Clinton
Photo: Associated Press, Source: DailyMail
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Foreign leaders gave lavish gifts to a number of U.S. officials last year, including the Saudi Arabian king, who gave Hillary Clinton diamond-and-ruby-encrusted jewels worth half a million dollars.
Clinton's gifts from King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz - which included a necklace, bracelet, earrings and a ring - were by far the most expensive items among the hundreds of gifts given to U.S. officials in 2012.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2406099/The-lavish-gifts-given-President-Obama-Hillary-Clinton-foreign-dignitaries.html
COMMENT
The West has some disturbing social issues of its own:
Death Penalty - USA
According to a Sputnik article on the cruelty of lethal injections and US Supreme Court case on whether execution by lethal injection violates the US Constitution:
The death penalty is authorized in a total of 38 US States.
The death penalty is barbaric, whether carried out in America or in Saudi Arabia.
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Ireland's lack of action on blasphemy law disappoints atheists and secularists
Irish atheists and secularists have accused their government of breaking a promise to call a referendum over the Republic’s controversial blasphemy laws in the lifetime of the current coalition.
For a civilised and presumably secular Western nation to retain a medieval blasphemy law is ridiculous beyond belief.
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Last ditch bid to ban creationism in Scottish classrooms
Last year, the Scottish Secularist Society (SSS) petitioned MSPs to urge the Scottish Government to bar the "presentation" of young earth doctrines as viable alternatives to the established science of evolution in the classroom.
The SSS believes schools are being subjected to what they describe as an "attack" on established scientific theories from imported US doctrines known as creation science and intelligent design.
However, School Leaders' Scotland (SLS), which represents secondary headteachers, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country's largest teaching union, and the Scottish Government all wrote to the committee outlining their objections.
These organisations backed the long-standing principle that protection from extremist views in Scottish education relies on the professionalism of teaching staff and the regulatory role of bodies such as local authorities, the General Teaching Council for Scotland and the schools inspectorate.
However, in a new submission to the public petitions committee the SSS said sufficient safeguards were not in place and creationism was "institutionalised".
EXTRACT ONLY - FULL @ SOURCE
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School chaplaincy program funding revised following High Court decision
The Federal Government has announced changes to its school chaplaincy program to get around a recent adverse High Court decision.
In June, the court upheld a challenge to the National School Chaplaincy Program, saying providing funding directly to chaplaincy organisations was constitutionally invalid.
The main question examined in the case was whether the executive government had the power to fund such programs directly through local organisations.
As a result, the Government has now decided to ask state and territory governments to administer the program using Commonwealth funds.
If they agree, the $250 million program - to run over four years - will remain open to chaplains of any faith as long as they do not attempt to convert students.
EXTRACT ONLY - FULL @ SOURCE
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-27/chaplaincy-program-revised-after-high-court-ruling/5701390
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And religion is to be promoted in secular Australian schools, why?
Being of the view that religion and the State (including services of the State, such as education etc) should be completely separated (and, in an ideal world, religiosity of any kind would be actively discouraged by government), the swing towards forcing religion in Western schools is disturbing.
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Stop the Government paying for religion with your taxes! End the National Schools Chaplaincy Program now!
That the Liberal government in Australia has bypassed the High Court and the Australian Constitution to sneak in religious mumbo jumbo while cutting funding for secular services should be a real cause for concern.
This program should be opposed as direct government funding of religion bad public policy. Taxpayers' money spent in education should employ the best people available to help students, not just the religious.The preferencing of the religious, over the non-religious, for no reason other than their religiousness, is unacceptable in Government policy, particularly at a Commonwealth level. At the very least all schools should to given the choice employ non-religious counsellors or welfare workers under this program, not just those that cannot find a chaplain.
The NSCP breaches the spirit of the Australian Constitution. It undermines the separation of church and state.
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Going through the above articles, one comes to the conclusion that Western ruling elites exhibit hypocrisy and a disregard for national symbols, which they cynically exploit without regard for public opinion or sentiment, to further corporate-imperialist and strategic aims in the Middle East, and it's a win-win for corporations and politicians in a corporate-political alliance that sees both players profiting handsomely.
Meanwhile, if left to the devices of politicians, what freedoms we have in the West will be eroded by unscrupulous politicians, passing legislation to further the agendas of whoever has propped them up in politics.
That the Liberal party in Australia has sidestepped a High Court ruling, and that it is willing to disregard the Australian Constitution by finding a by-pass that enables them to pursue the Liberal (and backer) agenda, should be of grave concern to the Australian public.
There's probably a whole lot more that could be said, but I'm not much of a thinker or a blogger. This is just my overall opinion on current events, given my particular focus.
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PS Canada's Blasphemy Law - post.
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