How the corruption of language demonising Muslims is a recipe for 'radicalisation' | http://t.co/hZYyRkKkNz pic.twitter.com/wMJHwOpX6S
— Stop the War (@STWuk) July 31, 2015Palestinian toddler burned to death in arson attack by suspected Jewish settlers in West Bank - police http://t.co/sRomYWPGhP
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) July 31, 20153-part expose of #ISIS Czar #Allen's intrigue with #Turkey's #Erdogan to create terrorist safe haven-against #Obama
http://t.co/nlNuHMaJK4
— WebsterGTarpley (@WebsterGTarpley) July 31, 2015Viewed as a snapshot, the situation in Syria and Iraq may lead one to hopelessness and despair. But as a professor of history, diplomat and politician, I know that history flows in consequential frames that make sense only once they can be seen as a whole.
In trying to address the many seemingly insurmountable challenges to Turkey’s south, we must bear this truth in mind.
To the south of its borders, Turkey is faced with multiple grave threats to its national security. In Syria, hundreds of thousands are dead and many millions displaced — including almost 2 million in Turkey — while the illegitimate regime in Damascus and the terrorist organization Daesh (also known as ISIL, among other names) compete as to who can display more outright barbarism. While one indiscriminately bombs its own civilian population, employing chemical weapons in blatant disregard for international law, the other pillages, rapes and subjugates an innocent people with nowhere left to turn.
...But we should not lose sight of who created the circumstances that led to the rise of Daesh, and who colludes with it when it suits their purpose. Syria cannot be salvaged until the regime in Damascus abdicates power. It is the Assad regime that is responsible for the carnage and chaos that led to the emergence of Daesh, and this fertile ground for radicalization cannot be eradicated until Bashar al-Assad and his circle of cronies leave.
[source : Turkish prime minister: We will stop at nothing to defeat terrorism, Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/confronting-the-twin-menace-to-turkeys-south/2015/07/30/d7c54bda-3638-11e5-9739-170df8af8eb9_story.html?hpid=z3, 30th July 2015]
Environment and conservation groups representing millions of people have written to David Cameron to register their “major concern” at the cancellation or weakening of 10 green polices since he was re-elected.
The heads of the 10 groups, which include the National Trust, Greenpeace and the RSPB, said they were shocked and worried at the changes, and rated the Conservative government’s track record on nature and climate change as woeful.
[source : Green groups express 'major concern' over Tory policies in letter to Cameron, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/31/green-groups-express-major-concern-over-tory-policies-in-letter-to-cameron, 31st July 2015]
The Prince of Wales has been branded a “serial hypocrite” after it emerged that the heir to the throne– who prides himself on his green credentials – used a helicopter to fly less than 70 miles in order to attend a polo match.
Prince Charles has frequently spoken of the need to address climate change and has urged members of the public to cut their carbon footprint. In 2012 he declared “mankind must go green or die”, and earlier this year he encouraged Britons to mark Earth Hour by switching off lights to save energy and reflecting on “this extraordinary planet that sustains us all”.
[source : Prince Charles branded a 'serial hypocrite' after flying less than 70 miles to attend polo match, The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prince-charles-branded-a-serial-hypocrite-after-flying-less-than-70-miles-to-attend-polo-match-10428617.html, 31st July 2015]
Trump, however, touts his close relationship with Israel and the Jewish community as the reason he believes he can outperform Republican contenders of both the past and present among Jewish voters.
...There are already 14 declared Republican presidential candidates, and many of them are publicly expressing support for Israel, but Trump argues—in his typically brash and blunt fashion—that his history with the Jewish people and the Jewish state can set him apart from the rest of the crowded GOP field.
“The only [candidate] that’s going to give real support to Israel is me,” said the 69-year-old Trump. “The rest of them are all talk, no action. They’re politicians. I’ve been loyal to Israel from the day I was born. My father, Fred Trump, was loyal to Israel before me. The only one that’s going to give Israel the kind of support it needs is Donald Trump.”
JNS: What is your assessment of President Obama’s record on Israel?
Donald Trump: “I think President Obama is one of the worst things that’s ever happened to Israel. I think he’s set back [Israeli] relations with the United States terribly, and for people and friends of mine who are Jewish, I don’t know how they can support President Obama. He has been very bad for Israel.”
...What do you think about America funding the Palestinian Authority to the tune of $500 million per year?
“I’m not exactly thrilled by it. It’s obvious. We have to help people that respect us, that want things to be done and properly done. Not just there (the Palestinian Authority), we’re giving money to all sorts of groups and people and countries that take advantage of the United States, so it’s something that I’m not thrilled about.”
[source : Donald Trump says he is no apprentice when it comes to Israel, JNS, http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2015/6/28/when-it-comes-to-israel-donald-trump-says-he-is-no-apprentice#.VbsMEfmypKE=, 1st July 2015]
What have white people ever done for humanity anyway? pic.twitter.com/z3O0TtBjth
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) July 29, 2015Timely reminder that the Russian government's initial response to #MH17 was to lie and present fake evidence https://t.co/D7xT5I1rEn
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) July 29, 2015Days after the U.S. and Turkey announced a breakthrough deal to fight together against the Islamic State, U.S. officials are insisting that -- contrary to reports -- there are definitely no U.S. plans for a “safe zone” inside Syria. In fact, there really is no “zone,” and there is no plan to keep the area “safe.”
...“We’re not out there staking out zones and doing some things that I know have been discussed in years past -- no-fly zones, safe zones. What we’re trying to do is clear ISIL,” a senior administration official said. “I think it’s important not to confuse that with staking out these zones that you can identify with road signs and on big maps, and that’s just not what’s happening.”
On Monday, a White House official told an audience in a closed-door meeting at the Middle East Institute in Washington the same thing about there being no safe zone inside Syria, according to two people who were inside the meeting. The Obama administration is sending a delegation back to Turkey next week to work on exactly what the new cooperation along the northern Syria border will look like, the official said.
[source : U.S. Shoots Down Idea of Syria Safe Zone, Bloomberg, http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-28/u-s-shoots-down-idea-of-syria-safe-zone, 28th July 2015]
Putin may claim that the National Endowment for Democracy and other nongovernmental organizations are “a threat to Russia’s basic constitutional order,” and his labeling them as dangerous enemies, along with the Russian democrats he calls “national traitors,” is his typical way of rallying political support by appealing to nationalist fears and hostilities. But it is the regime itself that has been undermining Russia’s constitutional order through repression, corruption and international aggression; and the pressures are now building toward what many in Russia believe is a major political turning point.
[source : Russia’s crackdown on civil society shows the regime’s weakness, Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/putins-fear-of-civil-society/2015/07/28/3d873d0a-3569-11e5-8e66-07b4603ec92a_story.html?hpid=z3, 28th July 2015]
Mr. Putin fears competition, opposition and any cry of dissent. In pursuit of absolute power, he is suffocating his own society..
[source : Vladimir Putin is suffocating his own nation, Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vladimir-putin-is-suffocating-his-own-nation/2015/07/28/3b27ae8e-3562-11e5-adf6-7227f3b7b338_story.html, 28th July 2015]
What’s still missing is a coherent U.S. strategy for ending the civil war in Syria — something that will be necessary for the ultimate destruction of the Islamic State. President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry have been speaking, vaguely, of new diplomatic prospects in the wake of the nuclear deal with Iran and the recent weakening of the Assad regime. But neither has offered a vision of how Iranian and Russian support for the Assads — and Iran’s deep commitment to the Hezbollah militia — could be reconciled with the imperative for a new, representative government that could unite Syrians against the Islamic State.
In fact, such an accommodation may be impossible. That’s why it’s essential that the administration commit to forging a strong Syrian alternative, both political and military, through its new collaboration with Turkey.
[source : The U.S. continues to half-step on Syria, Washington Post, 27th July 2015]
All 28 Nato members are joining an extraordinary meeting to discuss Turkey's campaign against the Islamic State (IS) group and Kurdish militants.
The meeting was called by Turkey, which has staged a dramatic shift in its approach to the Syrian conflict.
The previously reluctant partner in the US-led coalition against IS has launched raids against IS in Syria.
[source : IS conflict: Nato to discuss Turkey-Syria border crisis, BBC, 28th July 2015]
Why didn't Lincoln share the same feelings about Southern secession? Following the money might help with an answer. Throughout most of our nation's history, the only sources of federal revenue were excise taxes and tariffs. During the 1850s, tariffs amounted to 90 percent of federal revenue. Southern ports paid 75 percent of tariffs in 1859. What "responsible" politician would let that much revenue go?
[source : WALTER E. WILLIAMS: War of 1861 wasn't really a Civil War, Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com/2015/07/21/6331277_walter-e-williams-war-of-1861.html?rh=1, 21st July 2015]
Turkey and the United States have agreed on the outlines of a de facto “safe zone” along the Turkey-Syria border under the terms of a deal that is expected to significantly increase the scope and pace of the U.S.-led air war against the Islamic State in northern Syria, according to U.S. and Turkish officials.
The agreement includes a plan to drive the Islamic State out of a 68-mile-long area west of the Euphrates River and reaching into the province of Aleppo that would then come under the control of the Syrian opposition. If fully implemented, it would also bring American planes in regular, close proximity to bases, aircraft and air defenses operated by the Syrian government, and directly benefit opposition rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
...A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said in a statement late Sunday that “any joint military efforts” with Turkey “will not include the imposition of a no-fly zone.”
“What we are talking about with Turkey is cooperating to support partners on the ground in northern Syria who are countering ISIL,” the statement said. “The goal is to establish an ISIL-free zone and ensure greater security and stability along Turkey’s border with Syria.” ISIL is another term for the Islamic State.
NATO’s secretary general said Sunday that the alliance’s 28 members will hold consultations Tuesday in Brussels in response to a Turkish request that followed a suicide bombing in Turkey last week. The consultations are under NATO’s Article 4, allowing any member to convene a meeting when it believes its territorial integrity or security is threatened.
[source : U.S.-Turkey deal aims to create de facto ‘safe zone’ in northwest Syria, Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/new-us-turkey-plan-amounts-to-a-safe-zone-in-northwest-syria/2015/07/26/0a533345-ff2e-4b40-858a-c1b36541e156_story.html?hpid=z1, 26th July 2015]
Article 4
The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.
Article 5
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security .
The Russian government and its proxies in eastern Ukraine have consistently branded Kyiv's government a fascist junta and accused it of having Nazi sympathizers. Moscow's propaganda is outrageous and wrong. In fact, Ukraine's radical right political parties—Right Sector and Svoboda—have been marginalized.
Ukraine's government has a problem on its hands: A far-right group has tapped into growing frustration among Ukrainians over the declining economy and tepid support from the West. Right Sector (Pravy Sektor) has a dangerous agenda.
In the most direct challenge to Kyiv's government, Right Sector announced that it will begin organising a national referendum on the population's distrust of Ukraine's parliament, cabinet, and the president.
...The $50 billion called for by George Soros is the minimum “lifeline” that Ukraine needs to survive. Without this injection of financial support, groups like the Right Sector will continue to make political noise that distracts from the real work that Ukraine’s leaders must do.
...Volunteers returning from the front lines report fighting with regular Russian army forces, not Ukrainian separatists. While the Ukrainian government has repeatedly said that tens of thousands of Russian troops are fighting in eastern Ukraine, it has refused to call the conflict a war, preferring to use the ambiguous ATO label.
The government has a legitimate reason for this ambiguity: calling the conflict a war would cut off Ukraine from much needed financial assistance from international lending agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund, which do not provide assistance to countries at war.
However, as evidence of Russian troops and military bases in Ukraine mounts, volunteer fighters have grown frustrated with the language from Kyiv’s officials.
[source : Alina Polykova, Kiev's far-right problem, EU Observer, https://euobserver.com/opinion/129752, 24th July 2015]
One possibility is two or three safe zones in more remote parts of the country, backed up by perhaps 1,000 American military personnel and other countries’ special forces in each (with an implied annual cost of perhaps several billion dollars2), rather than a snowballing and successful nationwide campaign.
...This approach builds on current U.S. strategy, but with a much less glaring mismatch between means and ends. Requiring ideological purity of opposition fighters would no longer be quite as high of a bar. Requiring that they were untainted by past associations with extremists would no longer be a central element of the vetting process either.
Training opposition fighters in the safety of Turkey, Jordan, and other friendly countries would still be the first step. But it would not over time be sufficient, either, since many opposition fighters are reluctant to leave their home territories—and thereby leave their families and communities unprotected—in order to go abroad for training. The idea would be to help moderate elements establish reliable safe zones within Syria once they were able. American, as well as Saudi and Turkish and British and Jordanian and other Arab forces would act in support, not only from the air but eventually on the ground via the presence of special forces as well. The approach would benefit from Syria’s open desert terrain which could allow creation of buffer zones that could be monitored for possible signs of enemy attack through a combination of technologies, patrols, and other methods that outside special forces could help Syrian local fighters set up.
Were Assad foolish enough to challenge these zones, even if he somehow forced the withdrawal of the outside special forces, he would be likely to lose his airpower in ensuing retaliatory strikes by outside forces, depriving his military of one of its few advantages over ISIL. Thus, he would be unlikely to do this.
...The ultimate end-game for these zones would not have to be determined in advance. The interim goal might be a confederal Syria, with several highly autonomous zones. One of those zones might be for Alawites. But none could be for ISIL, al-Nusra, or Assad and his inner circle. “Accidental guerrillas,” to use David Kilcullen’s memorable phrase, who had previously been in cahoots with some of these groups could in some cases be forgiven their transgressions, if there were reason to think that they were dependable.
[source : Michael O'Hanlon, Deconstructing Syria, Brookings, June 2015]
...Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition. This, our new Government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.
...That we, in maintaining slavery as it exists with us, were warring against a principle-a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equality of man. The reply I made to him was, that upon his own grounds we should succeed, and that he and his associates in their crusade against our institutions would ultimately fail. The truth announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as well as in physics and mechanics, I admitted, but told him it was he and those acting with him who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal.
...Many Governments have been founded upon the principles of certain classes; but the classes thus enslaved, were of the same race, and in violation of the laws of nature. Our system commits no such violation of nature's laws. The negro by nature, or by the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system. The architect, in the construction of buildings, lays the foundation with the proper material-the granite-then comes the brick or the marble. The substratum of our society is made of the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it is the best, not only for the superior but for the inferior race, that it should be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the Creator. It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His ordinances or to question them. For His own purposes He has made one race to differ from another, as He has made "one star to differ from another in glory."
Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the attacks against Isis were being conducted with the aim of creating an “Isis free zone” in northern Syria but gave no details of how far this buffer would extend into Syria or how it would be maintained.
Mr Cavusoglu said the strikes had been conducted by Turkish forces with the full knowledge of the US but without the involvement of US forces.
“All decisions have been made together with the US within the framework of our agreement, but so far all operations have been conducted by our forces using our own resources,” he said.
[source : Turkey expands air strikes against Isis to include Kurdish separatist bases, FT, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9e3d7194-32af-11e5-bdbb-35e55cbae175.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3gyUlwtV3, 25th July 2015]
I think something is planned for August, to increase international tension, maybe destabilision for war, but until then...
Turkey's military had also shelled Islamic State and PKK positions from across the Turkish border, the statement said.
Turkey was "determined to take every step to ensure the peace and security of our people", it added.
Areas of northern Syria cleared of IS fighters will become a natural "safe zones", Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Saturday.
[source : Turkey's air force hits IS and PKK in Syria and Iraq, BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33663005, 25th July 2015]
An open letter to Jeremy Corbyn on child abuse: http://t.co/qVH70HJ1lx
— John Mann (@JohnMannMP) July 23, 20151. Gerald Kaufman should retire now :)
2. I congratulate North West Friends of Israel for doing its job
3. line into anti Semitism crossed this summer. Most Jews are Zionist & demonizing of Zionists is demonizing Jews & is racist
[source : John Mann in Conversation with Ivan Lewis – Key Tweets as tweeted by @NorthWestFOI, North West Friends of Israel, http://nwfoi.org.uk/john-mann-conversation-ivan-lewis-key-tweets/, 12th December 2014]
Rumours from Tory ranks that Parliament might be recalled tomorrow to agree bombing Syria
— John Mann (@JohnMannMP) July 21, 2015Accounts posted online for the year ending March 2015 reveal record profits for the Duchy which will give the Queen a £2.4 million increase to fund her expenditure.
The Queen is due an inflation-busting 18% pay rise with a bumper payout of £16MILLION from the Duchy of Lancaster.
She will also get a £2.4 million increase to fund her official and private expenditure, accounts posted online for the year ending March 2015 reveal.
This money is on top of the annual Sovereign Grant she gets from the taxpayer, which will go up from £37.9 million to £40.1 million for the year ending March 2016.
The Queen’s raise comes as Chancellor George Osborne has slapped a 1% pay rise freeze on public sector workers, including nurses and teachers.
The Queen has three main strands of income - the Sovereign Grant, Duchy of Lancaster and her private investments which she is not required to make public.
The Duchy of Lancaster is land of around 18,000 hectares in England and Wales which was set up in 1399 to provide an income for the Sovereign.
The Queen has no say in how it is run but she collects all its net profits and uses them to pay for a mixture of private and official expenditure, including the offices of Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Princess Anne and the upkeep of Balmoral Castle.
It is generally considered to be her private income but republicans argue that it is money that would go to the Treasury if we didn’t have a Monarchy.
The latest Duchy of Lancaster financial report says: “The Net surplus delivered to the Keeper of the Privy Purse also increased by 18% to £16.0m (2014: £13.6m).
“The strong performance for the years has been spread across all portfolios.”
The accounts also show that the value of the estate rose 6.8% to £472.1 million from £442 million in 2014.
Nathan Thompson, CEO and Clerk of the Duchy Council, said that the performance for the year has been strong as major redevelopment projects have been completed and the Duchy is starting to benefit from structural changes implemented last year.
He said: “The strong performance for the year has been spread across all the portfolios and asset classes.
“The new team is working well together, the markets are in our favour and we look forward to the year ahead.”
The pay rise is more than double last year’s increase where the Queen received a rise of 8.5% from £12.5 million in the year ending 2013 to £13.6 million in the year ending 2014.
The Queen voluntarily pays income tax on the Duchy profits but the accounts do not say how much.
Republic's Chief Executive Graham Smith said: “This adds to our demands for radical reform in the way the Monarchy is funded.
“We ought to put the Queen on a salary and all that money should go to the Treasury and be spent on services and perhaps put back into the community.”
[source : Queen set for a huge 18% pay rise with a £16MILLION payout and extra £2.4MILLION for expenses, Daily Mirror, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/queen-set-huge-18-pay-6125421, 23rd July 2015]
Why do so many conspiracy theories boil down to: it’s the Jews wot done it?
[source : Short of a conspiracy theory? You can always blame the Jews, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/22/conspiracy-theory-jews-david-cameron-antisemitism-extremism, 22nd July 2015]
A Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union.
The government of the United States, by certain joint resolutions, bearing date the 1st day of March, in the year A.D. 1845, proposed to the Republic of Texas, then *a free, sovereign and independent nation* [emphasis in the original], the annexation of the latter to the former, as one of the co-equal states thereof,
The people of Texas, by deputies in convention assembled, on the fourth day of July of the same year, assented to and accepted said proposals and formed a constitution for the proposed State, upon which on the 29th day of December in the same year, said State was formally admitted into the Confederated Union.
Texas abandoned her separate national existence and consented to become one of the Confederated Union to promote her welfare, insure domestic tranquility and secure more substantially the blessings of peace and liberty to her people. She was received into the confederacy with her own constitution, under the guarantee of the federal constitution and the compact of annexation, that she should enjoy these blessings. She was received as a commonwealth holding, maintaining and protecting the institution known as negro slavery-- the servitude of the African to the white race within her limits-- a relation that had existed from the first settlement of her wilderness by the white race, and which her people intended should exist in all future time. Her institutions and geographical position established the strongest ties between her and other slave-holding States of the confederacy. Those ties have been strengthened by association. But what has been the course of the government of the United States, and of the people and authorities of the non-slave-holding States, since our connection with them?
The controlling majority of the Federal Government, under various pretences and disguises, has so administered the same as to exclude the citizens of the Southern States, unless under odious and unconstitutional restrictions, from all the immense territory owned in common by all the States on the Pacific Ocean, for the avowed purpose of acquiring sufficient power in the common government to use it as a means of destroying the institutions of Texas and her sister slaveholding States.
By the disloyalty of the Northern States and their citizens and the imbecility of the Federal Government, infamous combinations of incendiaries and outlaws have been permitted in those States and the common territory of Kansas to trample upon the federal laws, to war upon the lives and property of Southern citizens in that territory, and finally, by violence and mob law, to usurp the possession of the same as exclusively the property of the Northern States.
The Federal Government, while but partially under the control of these our unnatural and sectional enemies, has for years almost entirely failed to protect the lives and property of the people of Texas against the Indian savages on our border, and more recently against the murderous forays of banditti from the neighboring territory of Mexico; and when our State government has expended large amounts for such purpose, the Federal Government has refuse reimbursement therefor, thus rendering our condition more insecure and harassing than it was during the existence of the Republic of Texas.
These and other wrongs we have patiently borne in the vain hope that a returning sense of justice and humanity would induce a different course of administration.
When we advert to the course of individual non-slave-holding States, and that a majority of their citizens, our grievances assume far greater magnitude.
The States of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa, by solemn legislative enactments, have deliberately, directly or indirectly violated the 3rd clause of the 2nd section of the 4th article [the fugitive slave clause] of the federal constitution, and laws passed in pursuance thereof; thereby annulling a material provision of the compact, designed by its framers to perpetuate the amity between the members of the confederacy and to secure the rights of the slave-holding States in their domestic institutions-- a provision founded in justice and wisdom, and without the enforcement of which the compact fails to accomplish the object of its creation. Some of those States have imposed high fines and degrading penalties upon any of their citizens or officers who may carry out in good faith that provision of the compact, or the federal laws enacted in accordance therewith.
In all the non-slave-holding States, in violation of that good faith and comity which should exist between entirely distinct nations, the people have formed themselves into a great sectional party, now strong enough in numbers to control the affairs of each of those States, based upon an unnatural feeling of hostility to these Southern States and their beneficent and patriarchal system of African slavery, proclaiming the debasing doctrine of equality of all men, irrespective of race or color-- a doctrine at war with nature, in opposition to the experience of mankind, and in violation of the plainest revelations of Divine Law. They demand the abolition of negro slavery throughout the confederacy, the recognition of political equality between the white and negro races, and avow their determination to press on their crusade against us, so long as a negro slave remains in these States.
For years past this abolition organization has been actively sowing the seeds of discord through the Union, and has rendered the federal congress the arena for spreading firebrands and hatred between the slave-holding and non-slave-holding States.
By consolidating their strength, they have placed the slave-holding States in a hopeless minority in the federal congress, and rendered representation of no avail in protecting Southern rights against their exactions and encroachments. They have proclaimed, and at the ballot box sustained, the revolutionary doctrine that there is a 'higher law' than the constitution and laws of our Federal Union, and virtually that they will disregard their oaths and trample upon our rights.
They have for years past encouraged and sustained lawless organizations to steal our slaves and prevent their recapture, and have repeatedly murdered Southern citizens while lawfully seeking their rendition.
They have invaded Southern soil and murdered unoffending citizens, and through the press their leading men and a fanatical pulpit have bestowed praise upon the actors and assassins in these crimes, while the governors of several of their States have refused to deliver parties implicated and indicted for participation in such offenses, upon the legal demands of the States aggrieved.
They have, through the mails and hired emissaries, sent seditious pamphlets and papers among us to stir up servile insurrection and bring blood and carnage to our firesides.
They have sent hired emissaries among us to burn our towns and distribute arms and poison to our slaves for the same purpose.
They have impoverished the slave-holding States by unequal and partial legislation, thereby enriching themselves by draining our substance.
They have refused to vote appropriations for protecting Texas against ruthless savages, for the sole reason that she is a slave-holding State.
And, finally, by the combined sectional vote of the seventeen non-slave-holding States, they have elected as president and vice-president of the whole confederacy two men whose chief claims to such high positions are their approval of these long continued wrongs, and their pledges to continue them to the final consummation of these schemes for the ruin of the slave-holding States.
In view of these and many other facts, it is meet that our own views should be distinctly proclaimed.
We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.
That in this free government *all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights* [emphasis in the original]; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states.
By the secession of six of the slave-holding States, and the certainty that others will speedily do likewise, Texas has no alternative but to remain in an isolated connection with the North, or unite her destinies with the South.
For these and other reasons, solemnly asserting that the federal constitution has been violated and virtually abrogated by the several States named, seeing that the federal government is now passing under the control of our enemies to be diverted from the exalted objects of its creation to those of oppression and wrong, and realizing that our own State can no longer look for protection, but to God and her own sons-- We the delegates of the people of Texas, in Convention assembled, have passed an ordinance dissolving all political connection with the government of the United States of America and the people thereof and confidently appeal to the intelligence and patriotism of the freemen of Texas to ratify the same at the ballot box, on the 23rd day of the present month.
Adopted in Convention on the 2nd day of Feby, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one and of the independence of Texas the twenty-fifth.
[source : The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States - Primary Sources, Civil War Trust, http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/declarationofcauses.html, Accessed: 22nd July 2015]
Suggesting Ukraine is keeping the DSB report secret is just straight up propaganda http://t.co/JRZEZhyOnd #MH17
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) July 22, 2015On Tuesday, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration Olena Zerkal told a briefing in Kiev that the results of the international inquiry would remain classified.
The Netherlands will present a report on an investigation into the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) crash in eastern Ukraine at an August 10 closed session of an international task force investigating the crash but will not publish it for the time being, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal said.
[source : Netherlands to present MH17 crash report without publication on Aug. 10, Kiev Post, http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/netherlands-to-present-mh17-crash-report-without-publication-on-aug-10-393996.html, 22nd July 2015]
So look away look away Dixie...
I won't ever stop loving you my Dixie till they put me in the ground
And the last words they probably hear from me are God bless Robert E Lee
Hollande: use Greek problems caused by integration to justify more integration: http://t.co/9HFHTqcOan pic.twitter.com/khrZ2Rgbqz
— David Icke (@davidicke) July 20, 2015