https://twitter.com/DefendWallSt/status/547989131050381312
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For more than two years, Pastor Saeed Abedini has been held unjustly in an Iranian jail, simply for meeting with Christians in a private home.
Despite his ordeal, Abedini has maintained his strong Christian faith. Never has that faith been more evident than in an inspiring Christmas letter that he sent his family:
Rajai Shahr Prison 2014
Merry Christmas!
These days are very cold here. My small space beside the window is without glass making most nights unbearable to sleep. The treatment by fellow prisoners is also quite cold and at times hostile. Some of my fellow prisoners don’t like me because I am a convert and a pastor. They look at me with shame as someone who has betrayed his former religion. The guards can’t even stand the paper cross that I have made and hung next to me as a sign of my faith and in anticipation of celebrating my Savior’s birth. They have threatened me and forced me to remove it. This is the first Christmas that I am completely without my family; all of my family is presently outside of the country. These conditions have made this upcoming Christmas season very hard, cold and shattering for me. It appears that I am alone with no one left beside me. (more…)
EGYPT – An Egyptian court sentenced 40 backers of ousted president Mohammed Mursi to up to 15 years in jail Thursday for violence including torching churches, a judicial source said.
Followers of Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement have been the target of a relentless crackdown by the authorities since he was deposed in July 2013 by ex-army chief and current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The criminal court in Assiut in southern Egypt sentenced two defendants to 15 years each, while the others were given jail terms ranging from one year to 10, the source said.
They were accused of taking part in acts of violence in Assiut last year during which five churches, several police stations and a number of shops were set on fire. There were no reported casualties. (more…)
Trying to have a political democratic process where a violent minority sect cannot disrupt nor manipulate a peaceful majority desire is challenging.
EGYPT – On the same day he left to China for political and economic talks, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified an anticipated electoral constituencies law, the final prerequisite for holding parliamentary elections, which would conclude the country’s transitional roadmap.
The law drafted by Egypt’s government last week will divide the country into 237 constituencies for individual candidacy seats and another four for party list seats.
The parliament will be comprised of a total of 567 seats, 120 for party-based candidates, 420 for independents and 27 for presidential appointees, as stipulated by an elections law issued by former interim president Adly Mansour in June, a day before El-Sisi’s inauguration as president. (more…)
Officer Wenjian Liu ~ and ~ Officer Rafael Ramos RIP
Good for the NYPD. Mayor De Blasio has their blood on his hands.
You might hear media reports about this, and you might hear the media say “a few” police turned their back. Not correct.
Here’s the proof – As you can clearly see in this video EVERY COP turned their back on the Mayor creating a pathway showing only their backs on both sides of him as he walked past.
https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/546516894853779456
“OFFICERS DOWN ….”
Developing ….
Local journalists are reporting that the gunman who executed two NYC police officers as they sat in their patrol car has been identified as 28 year old fugitive Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who allegedly resided in Baltimore, and had traveled to New York City with the specific intent to kill police officers as a type of race based hate fueled twisted “payback” to avenge the recent deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
Brinsley is reported to have approached the two officers as they were sitting in their patrol car in the notorious crime ridden Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, New York and began firing rounds into the vehicle before fleeing on foot to the closest subway station where he later committed suicide. The two officers were transported for Woodhull Medical for treatment, but sadly, both had lost their battle for life as of 5 pm tonight.
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WASHINGTON – The Army has finished its investigation into how and why Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl disappeared from his base in Afghanistan and senior Pentagon leaders have been briefed, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, officials said Friday.
Details about the probe’s conclusion have been closely held. But they are likely to lay out whether Bergdahl deserted his post or was “absent without leave” or AWOL. And it could include recommendations on whether Bergdahl should be charged with any criminal violations or forced to leave the Army. Any final disposition will eventually also determine whether Bergdahl gets as much as $300,000 in back pay and other benefits, including continued health care. (more…)
North Carolina – Approximately 1,000 paratroopers from the Army’s famed 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq early next year to help the Iraqi security forces take on the Islamic State, the Pentagon announced Friday.
The soldiers from the 82nd’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., will begin to deploy in late January to train, advise and assist the ISF, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters.
Their mission is part of the coalition effort to build up the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga so that they can recapture territory from Islamic State militants.
The paratroopers are preparing for a nine-month deployment, according to a spokeswoman for the 82nd Airborne. (more…)
Remember, he was the gas station owner, until his father, Mohammed Fadhel realized that various aspects of professional licensing and registrations would get him in hot water with numerous regulatory agencies – for a 19-year-old owner/operator of M&M First Stop gas station selling beer, wine, tobacco, lottery etc.
Subsequently Ali Alsanai, aka Basem Alsanai, aka Ali Fadhel, was quickly turned into “a clerk”.
Watch this video and see how many concerns and contradictions you notice.
♦ He claims 3 hours between seeing Jessica Lane Chambers and her death. Then recants when pushed.
♦ He claims the burned vehicle was brought to him at 9:00 to 10:00pm less than an hour after the crime scene.
♦ He claims pictures of him with guns are photo-shopped. Obvious BS. (more…)
(Overnight CNN) — At least 84 people, most of them children, have been killed after a group of gunmen stormed an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
The Pakistan Taliban — Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — claimed responsibility for the attack Tuesday.
Pervez Khattak, chief minister of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said over 80 of the injured are children ranging from 12 to 16 years of age. He added that two of the attackers are now dead — one blew himself up, while the other was killed by security forces.
Earlier, Shahram Khan, the province’s health minister, told CNN that two teachers and an army official had also been killed, while 104 more were wounded.
The Pakistan military said a rescue operation involving its troops is currently underway at the school, with gunfire still being exchanged. (more…)