Day: December 17, 2015

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Public mood plunges to 20-year low in latest poll

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=164370&sid=45780025&con_type=1&d_str=20151218&fc=8

 

 

Friday, December 18, 2015

Public sentiment locally is at its lowest in 20 years, the latest survey by the University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Programme found.

The poll of 1,011 people between November 30 and December 13 showed that on a scale of zero to 200 with 100 as normal the latest public sentiment index, or PSI, was 61.4, a drastic plunge of 11.6 points from late November.

Program research manager Winnie Lee Wing-yi said: “It can be considered among the worst 1 percent of surveys taken over the past two decades.”

The PSI aims at quantifying Hong Kong people’s sentiments to explain and predict the likelihood of collective behavior.

 

 

The program’s Opinion Daily, which provides readers with significant events during the polling period, shows that issues such as the copyright amendment bill and the increasing cost of the Express Rail Link might be reasons for the negative sentiment.

Chinese University government and public administration head Ma Ngok said apart from the copyright bill, the controversy over the appointment of a University of Hong Kong pro vice chancellor and the anger of parents over Territory-wide System Assessment are other causes.

“These events have shown that the government is unable to respond to the public,” he said, adding that the administration’s performance is unlikely to improve.

City University political analyst James Sung Lap-kung said the level of trust between young people and the government is low.

“From the district council election to the copyright amendment bill, we can see lots of young people are dissatisfied with the current policies,” he said.

Sung said the sentiment will not improve unless the incoming policy address provides solutions to the housing and land problem.

“The government appraisal score that reflects the people’s appraisal of governance dropped 6.3 points to 73.2, while the society appraisal score that reflects people’s appraisal of the social environment has plunged 10.9 points to 71.1,” Lee said.

YUPINA NG

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Gov’t draws up Y3.5 tril extra budget to boost economy

http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/govt-draws-up-y3-5-tril-extra-budget-to-boost-economy

TOKYO —

The government has drawn up a 3.50 trillion yen ($28.6 billion) extra budget for the current fiscal year through March to fund policy measures to enhance welfare services and support farmers, government sources said Thursday.

The cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to approve the draft budget for fiscal 2015 on Friday before submitting it to the Diet next month.

The government will not issue any debt to form the supplementary budget, instead using tax revenues for the fiscal year, which are expected to top its projection partly due to robust corporate earnings, as well as unspent funds from the previous year’s budget.

To maintain fiscal discipline, the planned budget will be also used to reduce new debt issuance planned when the initial budget for the current fiscal year was compiled, the sources said.

Given the recent trend of lower interest rates that decreases debt-servicing costs for the government, the actual size of spending under the extra budget will be 3.32 trillion yen, the sources said.

The government earmarked 1.16 trillion yen for enhancing social security measures, including support for those raising children or caring for the elderly.

To help support the elderly with low pension payments, the government plans to provide 30,000 yen each, a measure that will cost 362.4 billion yen.

The government will also allocate 340.3 billion yen to fund projects aimed at improving the international competitiveness of Japanese farmers, in the wake of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement recently reached by Japan and 11 other countries.

To accelerate reconstruction in areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the government set aside 821.5 billion yen, including additional spending for decontamination following the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

© KYODO

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Is Obese “Model” Tess Holliday Stealing Money From Domestic Violence Charities?

 

Some months ago, Return of Kings brought you the story of delusional and morbidly obese “model” Tess Munster, now married as Tess Holliday. She claims to teach women “body positivity,” despite distorting her real face with countless layers of make-up, using Photoshop, and suffering from a host of debilitating, weight-related conditions, including gallstones. Now literally hundreds of people are accusing her of criminal fraud.

Some time ago, Holliday, whose real name is Ryann Maegen Hoven (so many names, so many red flags), began selling T-shirts. These were priced at a rather ludicrous $40 (or something similar, depending on the item) and she promised to donate a portion of the proceeds to domestic violence charities. Unfortunately, many are claiming they were charged an exorbitant fee for shipping as well.

Tess and those working with her have previously used bizarre excuses like not receiving email correspondence from those who allege they are owed products already paid for, such as in this exchange:

 

more at

http://www.returnofkings.com/75476/is-obese-model-tess-holliday-stealing-money-from-domestic-violence-charities

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Canada’s Growing Jihadi Cancer

 

The border that terrorists are most likely to cross into the United States is not the one with Mexico, but Canada.
Ignore growing Muslim fundamentalism and extremism in Canada at your peril. That’s the message an increasingly vocal number of moderate and secular Canadian Muslims and counterterrorism experts want to send to the United States and the rest of the world.

The attention focused last week on the Ontario branch of al-Huda, the same religious school the San Bernardino killer Tashfeen Malik attended in Pakistan, is just one example of increasing Saudi-funded Islamic fundamentalism all over Canada.

Radical mosques with reported ties to terrorist organizations have flourished in and around Toronto as well as in Montreal, while some politicians, including Canada’s new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, have been reluctant to constrain or even criticize these groups, defending them in the name of diversity and multiculturalism.

For instance, the Mississauga, Ontario, branch of the al-Huda school closed for at least one day last week after CBC reported that four girls who studied there left Canada to join the so-called Islamic State.

“Farhat Hashmi runs al-Huda and denies that jihad is being taught there,” Dr. Farzana Hassan of the moderate Canadian Muslim Congress told The Daily Beast. “She’s not telling the truth. I’ve listened to her podcasts in the Urdu language. She praises jihad and says women should participate. There is a possibility of impressionable young women hearing that and being radicalized.”

Canada’s new telegenic Prime Minister Trudeau, 43, the ultimate anti- Donald Trump, was pictured last week warmly greeting the first of an estimated 25,000 Syrian refugees arriving between now and March 2016. (Canada’s population is about one-tenth of the United States, so that’s as if 250,000 Syrian refugees were arriving in the U.S. in the space of just four months.)

But the feel-good photo op for Trudeau and his Liberal Party could portend trouble for Canada, according to Brian Levin, a former NYPD officer turned counter-terrorism and extremism specialist at San Bernardino State.

“People talk about Mexico,” said Levin. “They totally overlook Canada. Nobody has any idea what’s going on up there. In my opinion it’s a bigger threat than Mexico.”

Given Prime Minister Trudeau’s good looks, his political pedigree, a one-time TV-anchor wife who the New York Post called “the hottest First Lady in the world,” and his headline-making cabinet featuring many women and minorities, he recently scored a spread in Vogue.

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/14/canada-s-growing-jihadist-cancer.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

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Toronto: Another free Islamic book spreads hatred to non-Muslims

http://en.cijnews.com/?p=16774

The “Info on Islam” booth at Dundas Square in down Toronto is operated by the Walk in Islamic Info Center (WIIC), a Toronto-based organization dedicated to Dawah (propagating to Islam).

On its official website WIIC states that its mission “is to create awareness & understanding about the religion of Islam and correct misinformation about Islam amongst Muslims & non-Muslims” by giving “street Dawah,” distributing free Quran and books on introduction to Islam, supplying Quran and Islamic “books to detention centers (jails),” operating dawah office and musallah [Prayer House]” in downtown Toronto (at Yonge & Dundas Street across from Eaton Center) and offering “Free Dawah Franchise worldwide.”

Last year, Dawah activists at Dundas Square handed out for free the booklet “24 Hours With The Prophet,” which introduces the daily prayers for Muslims.

The book’s publisher is the Pakistani Islamic Communication Trust and it was distributed by the Walk-In Islamic InfoCenter located at 21 Dundas Square #910 (www.collectfreequran.org).

In some of the supplications dealing with the “Kafiroun,” the disbelievers or infidels, Muslims are ordained to ask to Allah to help them overcome and defeat their enemies who are identified as the disbelieving people.

The book also explains that “Islam is not only a religion, but a complete way of life” and that it is obligatory upon Muslim to spread Islam by inviting the disbelievers to embrace in Islam.

 

The following are excerpts from the book:

P. 2

“What is Islam?

“Islam is an Arabic word which means ‘surrender’. This means to accept the oneness of Allah (S.W.T.) (The Exalted and the Great) and to follow His Commands. Islam is not only a religion, but a complete way of life. This means that it shows us how to live all aspects of our lives in the best possible way.

“A Muslim should always think good of another Muslim. He should not be jealous and should not hate others. Muslims should treat other Muslims like brothers and sisters.”

P. 11

“The Only Unforgivable Sin polytheism

“Polytheism, which is the opposite of Monotheism, is the belief in, or worship of, many gods, Islam rejects this concept totally and the Prophet PBUH spent his entire life opposing it.

“Polytheism is the only sin that will prevent one from entering Paradise. All other sins, no matter how big they are, can either be forgiven by Allah, if He wishes to do so, or He may punish the person accountable for the sins and then admit him/ her in Paradise…”

P. 12-13

“Say (O Muhammad PBUH)… ‘Come not near to Fawahish (lews sins) whether committed openly or secretly; and kill not anyone whom Allah has forbidden, except for a cause (according to Islamic law).This He has commanded you that you may understand.” [6:151]

P. 57

“Surah Al-Kafiroon

“Say: O disbelievers! I worship not that which you worship. Nor will you worship that which I worship. And I shall mot worship that which you are worshipping. Nor will you worship that which I worship. To you be your religion, and to me my religion.” [109:1-6]

P. 71-73

The Witr (Night Prayer)

“… O Allah, we seek your help and request Your forgiveness and believe and trust in You and we praise You in the best manner and we thank You and we are not ungrateful to You, we also abandon and reject anyone who disobeys You.

“O Allah, we worship nothing but You, and we perform prayers for You, we Prostrate to You, and we hope for Your mercy and we fear Your punishment. Your punishment. Your punishment surely overtakes thedisbelievers.”

P. 114-115

“Inviting others to the way of your Lord

“Allah says:

“Invite (mankind) to the way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom and fair preaching, and reason with them in a way that is better. Truly, Your Lord knows best who gone astray from His path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.” [16:125]

“The word invite ادع is an order given by Allah. This means that it is compulsory on all muslims to give Dawah (propagate Islam) to Non-muslims, and to remind Muslims to practice Islam according to the Sunnah of the Prophet PBUH.

“This obligation becomes even more important for those Muslims who live in Non-Muslim countries, where the Non-Muslim outnumber the Muslim population. Not only must the handful of Muslims give Dawah to the Non-Muslims, but they must also protect their Deen (belief in Islam) by enjoining each other towards Islam.

“It is a good idea to set aside a few hours every week (especially on weekends and holidays) for this cause.Start with your friends, co-workers, and neighbours. A friendly chat or distributing Dawah literature (which is easily available free of cost at Mosques and Islamic Centres) is a good way to begin.

“Tell Non-Muslims about Islam, the Oneness of Allah, Prophethood, and the belief in life after death, as follows:

“Islam:

“Islam is the total submission, surrender and obedience to Allah. It also means “peace” – of mind, body, heart and society.

P. 120-121

“For Patience and endurance

“Our Lord! Bestow on us patience, make our foothold, and give us help against the disbelieving folk.” [2:250]

“The most comprehensive Supplication

“…Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget, or fall into error. Our Lord! Lay no us a burden like that which You laid on those before us. Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Protector, and give us victory over the disbelieving people.” [2:286]

“The Prophet PBUH said: “Whoever recites the two verses [2:285:286] at night, it will sufficient to protect him from misfortune.” (Bukhari)

P. 122

“To overcome enemies

“Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and our transgressions, establish our feet firmly, and give us victory over the disbelieving people.” [3:147]

P. 124

Protection from oppressors

“…Our Lord! Make us not a trial for the people who are Zalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers) (i.e. do not make them overpower us). And save us by Your Mercy from the disbelievers.” [10:85:86]

P. 133

“Some Major Sins

“… Homosexuality… Lying about Allah… offending and abusing Muslims… Wife’s bad conduct”

P. 156

“Protection from the enemies

“O Allah, we beg You to restrain them by their necks and we seek refuge in You from their evil.” (Abu Dawood)