Month: July 2017

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LDP eyes adding clause to Constitution to ensure equal education

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is mulling pushing to add a statement to the Constitution to ensure that financial factors do not deprive Japanese citizens of the opportunity to get an education, party sources said Sunday.

In May, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled a plan to amend the postwar Constitution for the first time ever. More specifically, he proposed discussing making universities and other institutions offering higher education free, and amending the war-renouncing article of the supreme law.

The ruling party’s constitutional reform panel is now seeking to add a statement to Article 26 of the Constitution to ensure an equal opportunity to education, the sources said. An idea has also been floated to add a clause to oblige the state to improve education.

The Article 26 says “all people shall have the right to receive an equal education corresponding to their ability.” It also states that compulsory education at elementary to junior high schools be provided free.

Despite Abe’s call for debate to make higher education free, the LDP panel does not plan to recommend doing so because of budgetary constraints, the sources said.

According to the education ministry, more than 3 trillion yen ($27 billion) is required to make public and private universities tuition free.

Abe, the LDP leader, made the proposal in a video message to a gathering marking the 70th anniversary of the charter’s coming into force.

The Komeito party, the LDP’s junior coalition partner, is also reluctant to expand the scope of free education.

“There are various opinions over the matter given budgetary constraints,” a senior official of the LDP committee said.

The group will instead consider enacting a law aimed at eventually making advanced education free, the official added.

The committee will accelerate its efforts to compile a draft clause as the prime minister wants to present it to the constitutional commissions of the upper and lower houses during an extraordinary Diet session this fall.

The current Constitution has never been revised since it went into effect in 1947, nor has a bid been made to initiate a formal amendment process, partly because of the high hurdle in proposing an amendment in parliament before it can be put to a referendum.

 

https://japantoday.com/category/politics/ldp-eyes-adding-clause-to-constitution-to-ensure-equal-education

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Lam Cheuk-ting urges govt access for online media

Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting has urged Chief Executive Carrie Lam to follow through on her campaign pledge to grant online media access to government functions.

Currently, these outlets are barred from official press conferences and cannot access the government’s news system.

“So many Hong Kong people get their information or read the news from online media, so I think the government should have let all the online media have the right to interview government officials,” he said.

He told RTHK’s Jennifer Leung that the government could also consult the Hong Kong Journalists Association to define which online media should be allowed to attend government press conferences.

 

http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1344760-20170727.htm

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Canada: Former mayoral candidate charged with “hate-motivated crime” for criticizing Islam

Rabia Khedr claims that Johnston was “inciting violence” against Muslims, but that doesn’t seem to be true, unless by “inciting violence” Khedr means simply criticizing Islam. Unless he was directly calling for violence, this is evidence that Canada’s “anti-Islamophobia” motion M-103, contrary to promises, is indeed being applied as a binding law, and is not simply a condemnation of Islamophobia without legal force.

If Johnston were a vociferous critic of Christianity, would he have been arrested and charged?

You know the answer.

The freedom of speech is rapidly disappearing in the West, and most people have no idea that it is happening, or why it matters.

“Kevin J. Johnston, Mississauga website operator, charged with hate crimes,” by Stewart Bell, Global News, July 24, 2017:

A former Mississauga mayoral candidate whose online posts targeting Muslims have prompted complaints was arrested Monday for “hate-motivated crime,” Peel Regional Police said.

Kevin J. Johnston, 45, was charged with a single count of wilful promotion of hatred following what a statement called “a lengthy investigation into numerous incidents reported to police.”

The Freedom Report website where Johnston posts his radio-host style videos, many of them aimed at the Islamic faith and individual Muslims, remained online following the arrest.

Johnston was charged under a section that outlaws promoting “hatred against any identifiable group,” other than in private conversation. He faces up to two years imprisonment if convicted.

The charge was approved by the Ontario Attorney General’s office, which has the final say on hate crimes prosecutions. He was scheduled to appear in Brampton court on Monday.

“This charge is long overdue,” said Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “We welcome this development as an important step towards safeguarding our communities from unchecked hatred that both harms social cohesion and threatens the safety of community members.”

Johnston could not be reached for comment. A recorded message on his phone did not mention the arrest but said his YouTube and Twitter accounts had been suspended….

But in recent months he has become known for his remarks about Muslims, particularly in his opposition to an anti-Islamophobia motion in Parliament and weekly prayers in Peel district schools.

He had stirred complaints by offering a $1,000 reward for a recording of “hate speech” during the Friday prayers at Peel district schools. He later increased it to $2,500.

WATCH: (March 31, 2017) Reward offered for footage of Muslim students spewing ‘hate speech’ during Friday prayers

He also demonstrated outside the office of Mississauga MP Iqra Khalid to protest M-103, an anti-Islamophobia motion she had introduced in the House of Commons.

“Iqra Khalid needs to be deported as an enemy,” his website said.

Muslim leaders in the Toronto area had grown increasingly concerned about his videos singling out of their faith, which the website had called “as evil as evil gets” and a “military doctrine” that needed to be banned.

“Today the Muslim community of Peel can sleep safer knowing that there are consequences for promoting hatred and inciting violence against us,” said Rabia Khedr, Executive Director of the Muslim Council of Peel. “We hope that these charges will serve to deter future assaults on our community.”

 

Canada: Former mayoral candidate charged with “hate-motivated crime” for criticizing Islam

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Taipei show remembers top ‘dangwai’ magazines

An exhibition of once banned dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) movement magazines published between the 1970s and 1980s has opened in Taipei as part of the nation’s commemorations of the 30th anniversary of the lifting of martial law.

Featuring more than 20 different covers from Formosa (美麗島), 1980s (八十年代), Freedom Era Weekly (自由時代周刊) and other magazines, the exhibition covers several walls of To-uat Books x Cafe Philo (左轉有書x慕哲咖啡), a prominent bookstore and coffee shop operated by several labor and human-rights advocacy groups.

“Our own group was established in 1984 during the Martial Law era, so we also had to deal with the effects of government repression,” Taiwan Labor Front secretary-general Son Yu-liam (孫友聯) said. “The resistance of dangwai magazines played a crucial role in Taiwan’s democratization, so we hope to use this exhibition to help more people understand the sheer number of people involved in pushing for the end of martial law and Taiwan’s eventual democratization.”

The most notable exhibits are two editions of Freedom Era Weekly from the week before and week after the lifting of martial law on July 15, 1987, he said.

Published in numerous incarnations by democracy activist Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) from 1984 to 1989, the magazine repeatedly evaded attempted government bans, only ending publication after Deng immolated himself in the magazine’s offices to resist arrest for publishing a draft constitution of a proposed “Republic of Taiwan,” that challenged a ban on advocating Taiwanese independence.

Beginning this year, the April 7 anniversary of his death is to be celebrated nationally as “Freedom of Speech Day.”

National Chengchi University history professor Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元) said that Deng was also notable for his ability to take advantage of loopholes in magazine publication regulations to keep Freedom Era Weekly alive in the face of repeated government bans on the publication of sensitive articles.

“There were different requirements you had to meet, including having a ‘proper’ stated purpose — but you could re-register the same magazine if you changed the name and found someone who was willing to attach their name to it and Deng was able to find a lot of willing people,” he said.

According to the Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation (whose name incorporates Deng’s English nickname) figures, the magazine was published under 23 different titles, with commemorative issues for the lifting of martial law published during a brief period in which it resumed its original title.

While alternative title issues of Freedom Era Weekly are not on display, viewers can still see the “title switch” tactic up close by examining covers of the magazines 1980s and Asian Monthly (亞洲人), a later incarnation.

It also features covers from the short-lived 1979 magazine Formosa, which had a huge impact on the nation’s after numerous staff members were arrested for organizing a pro-democracy rally in Kaohsiung.

Many staff members — including now Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) — went on to become prominent figures in the Democratic Progressive Party, as did their defense lawyers.

“At the time, you had to use magazines, because only magazines could be registered,” said Hsueh, referring to a ban on new newspaper registrations during the Martial Law era.

The exhibition runs through Sunday at 3 Hao Shaoxing N Rd in Taipei’s Zhongzheng (中正) district near Shandao Temple MRT station.

 

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/07/25/2003675256

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The Naked Truth

 

Published on May 9, 2017

The history of the gay lobby is one full of deception and fraud. Dr. Alfred Kinsey – the “Father of the sexual revolution” used paedophiles to promote sexual perversions of all kinds. Parading as a married family man, he was living a secret homosexual life. His “research” has been discredited but remains the foundation of many of today’s laws and the basis for sex education.
http://www.lgbthistorymonth.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiF5o…
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/article…
https://www.creatingchange.org/
https://spectator.com.au/2017/04/sexu…
http://americansfortruth.com/2011/08/…
attracted-persons-aims-at-normalizing-pedophilia/
http://themillenniumreport.com/2016/0…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJZWN…
http://www.cbc.ca/firsthand/blog/tack…

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Abe’s support slides again before Diet appearance

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s support slid 10 points to 26% in a poll published on Sunday, a day before he will be grilled in the Diet over a suspected scandal that is cutting his ratings to the lowest since taking office in 2012.

The July 22-23 Mainichi newspaper poll also showed that 56% of respondents did not back Abe’s government, a 12-point rise from a previous survey in June.

The precipitous drop in support does not immediately threaten Abe’s job, but clouds the outlook for the premier. Abe was until recently seen as on track to become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister by winning a third three-year term when his current tenure ends in September 2018.

Abe and his aides have repeatedly denied intervening to help Kake Gakuen (Kake Educational Institution) win approval for a veterinary school in a special economic zone. Its director, Kotaro Kake, is a friend of Abe.

Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, an Abe protege, meanwhile faces calls to resign over media reports, which she has denied, of direct involvement in a ministry cover-up of documents about a sensitive peacekeeping operation.

The scandals and a perception among many voters that Abe’s administration is taking them for granted, are encouraging rivals and casting doubt on Abe’s hopes for a third term as ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader.

Abe is expected to reshuffle his cabinet early next month in an effort to repair his damaged ratings, a step often taken by beleaguered leaders but one that can backfire if novice ministers become embroiled in scandals or commit gaffes.

Abe will appear at an ad hoc committee meeting in the Diet on Monday. Also appearing at the session will be his aide Hiroto Izumi, and Kihei Maekawa, who resigned as the education ministry’s top bureaucrat in January and has accused the government of distorting the approval process.

Opposition lawmakers are also expected to grill Abe about media reports that Inada allowed defense officials to conceal logs about the activities of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in a U.N.-led peacekeeping operation in South Sudan.

Media reports have said officials had tried to hide the logs because they showed a worsening security situation in the African country. Japan ended its participation in the peacekeeping operation in May but said the withdrawal was not related to security concerns.

https://japantoday.com/category/politics/japanese-pm-abe’s-support-slides-again-before-parliament-appearance

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Pediatrician: ‘Transgender’ ideology has created widespread child abuse

July 10, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Transgender politics have taken Americans by surprise, and caught some lawmakers off guard.

Just a few short years ago, not many could have imagined a high-profile showdown over transgender men and women’s access to single-sex bathrooms in North Carolina.

But transgender ideology is not just infecting our laws. It is intruding into the lives of the most innocent among us — children — and with the apparent growing support of the professional medical community.

As explained in my 2016 peer reviewed article, “Gender Dysphoria in Children and Suppression of Debate,” professionals who dare to question the unscientific party line of supporting gender transition therapy will find themselves maligned and out of a job.

Americans need an alternative to the mainstream media. But this can’t be done alone.

I speak as someone intimately familiar with the pediatric and behavioral health communities and their practices. I am a mother of four who served 17 years as a board certified general pediatrician with a focus in child behavioral health prior to leaving clinical practice in 2012.

For the last 12 years, I have been a board member and researcher for the American College of Pediatricians, and for the last three years I have served as its president.

I also sat on the board of directors for the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity from 2010 to 2015. This organization of physicians and mental health professionals defends the right of patients to receive psychotherapy for sexual identity conflicts that is in line with their deeply held values based upon science and medical ethics.

I have witnessed an upending of the medical consensus on the nature of gender identity. What doctors once treated as a mental illness, the medical community now largely affirms and even promotes as normal.

Here’s a look at some of the changes.

 

https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/pediatrician-transgender-ideology-has-created-widespread-child-abuse

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Woman who raped student sues him for “defamation”

Toy Soldiers

It is rare that any case of women sexually abusing boys leaves me at a loss for words. I have read about the most ridiculous situations, from women claiming the boys raped them to women suing their victims for child support. However, the most recent case left me stunned.

A woman convicted of sexually abusing one of her 16-year-old students filed a lawsuit against the boy for “defamation”:

The former Arroyo Grande High School teacher convicted earlier this year of having sex with a 16-year-old student has responded to a lawsuit from that student’s family by filing a counterclaim, alleging the victim has defamed her “to various classmates, family and other members of the community.”

I will quote it again just in case the multiple face palms prevented you from reading it in full:

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