Fulani Murder Women and Children in Jos Village

Mass burial of victims of Fulani attack

About seven kilometres west of Jos town, a village called Rewenku was attacked in the early hours on Tuesday, 26 October 2010 by a band of Fulanis. In the attack, six people were murdered, two women and four children. Four of the victims were the wife, her mother and two children of one man.

Although, it was difficult to apprehend the culprits, yesterday, there were seven arrests made, which is an enormous commendation for local law enforcement agents considering the number and frequency of attacks since January with no arrests of any real consequence.

The Anglican Diocese of Jos was among the very first of few organisations to assist victims with aid relief.

There is still a great need for prayer, because within the same week, there were ammunitions confiscating at the port in Lagos from Iran, disguised as building materials; it is our suspicion that these weapons were intended for Jos.

Therefore, we continue to ask for prayers, because we know it is the clasped hands of those praying that we are walking on daily.

From here.
 
Editor's Note: It is a sign of pure cowardess to attack and kill women and children.

UK: Government and Your Brain

Is neuroscience becoming a political issue? One of Britain's leading magazines, Spiked, has launched a campaign to make the public aware of the dangers of the politics of the brain. Brendan O'Neill warns that both conservatives and liberals believe that "they have both the right and the capacity to invade our brains and reshape how we perceive and interact with the world around us". O'Neill points out that Prime Minister David Cameron's new coalition government has set up a "behavioural insight team" at 10 Downing Street and that an influential liberal think tank has established a "social brain project".

The aim of these policy wonks, he says, is "to find subtle ways to change our behaviour, not through the old, Blair-style bossy approach of telling us what to do, but by offering incentives, by 'priming' us with subliminal messaging, by changing the 'choice architecture' of our daily lives so that we are influenced, sometimes unconsciously, to behave in what the government considers to be the right way."

Popularised by the recent best-seller, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Wealth, Health and Happiness, the policy-makers are encouraged by neuroscience research which claims that much of human motivation is unconscious and that it can be successfully manipulated by what Spiked calls "the brain cops".

"Most shockingly of all, the nudge brigade sees it as its responsibility to exercise willpower on our behalf, because apparently we're too fickle to do it ourselves. The government should become a 'surrogate willpower', says Mindspace; government action can 'augment our freedom' by pushing us to make the right choices. They don't only want to remake our minds; they want to become our minds, Big Brother-style. It speaks volumes about the nudge statists that they cannot see what a whopping contradiction in terms it is to label government pressure as 'freedom' and external interventions into our brains as the exercising of 'willpower'." ~ Spiked, Nov 1
 
From here.

Mid-Term Elections a "Pragmatic Reaction"

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Boehner said: “Ladies and gentlemen, if you help elect a Republican Congress this November, and I’m fortunate enough to be elected Speaker of the House, I pledge to you right here and now: We’re going to run the House differently. And I don’t just mean differently than the way Democrats are running it now. I mean differently than it’s been run in the past under Democrats or Republicans.”

In that speech, included in Boehner’s list of issues a Republican majority in the House won’t “bend on” is the sanctity of life. He continued, “In November, pro-life lawmakers joined together to stop Democrats from using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion procedures. We got some flak for working with the other party on this — but on protecting the unborn, there’s no compromise.”

In the days before the election, the Catholic congressman from Ohio told talk radio host Sean Hannity: “We will not compromise on our principles.” And when asked what he was doing to prep for Election Day and after, he told radio host Mike Gallagher, “I’ve been praying all day, every day,” he said.

Catholics in public life have been known to not be the best examples of discernment and prudence. Catholics in public life have been known to allow themselves and their faith to be used as cover for an evil in particular we really cannot afford to be party to. It’s worth praying that this speaker may help give witness to something different.

The campaign commercial that captured the midterm elections of 2010 was titled “Mourning in America,” a transparent riff on the “Better, Prouder, Stronger” commercial in Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election series.

“There’s mourning in America,” the commercial goes. “Under the leadership of President Obama our country is fading, and weaker, and worse off. His policies were a grand experiment; policies that failed. This November, let’s choose a smaller, more caring government; one that remembers us.”

The election results, which delivered a strong majority to Republicans in the House, but mixed results overall, suggested not a partisan reaction but a pragmatic reaction. A rejection of what Washington has been doing.

Read it all here.

Obama"s Trip to India

President Obama is going across the world and taking several thousand of his closest friends, staffers, and other associates with him. In spite of the need to do some business in India, it’s just so unseemly to do it this way.

There’s a groundswell of anger in the US over the high cost of Barack Obama’s trip to India this weekend. The sentiment stems from reports that the president and his entourage of about 3,000 officials, business people and security personnel will spend an estimated $200 million a day when he visits India for four days, beginning Saturday.

That cost figure has been disputed, but frankly the picture of 3,000 people on dozens of planes descending on Mumbai and taking over whole hotels with the president is just jarring. Or, as veteran Democratic strategist Lanny Davis put it, meekly, when pressed for a response to this junket…”The optics of this are not good right now.”

Maybe that’s it. The inability to spin this extravaganza as even remotely reasonable in scope is keeping the press from touching it. Until they’re forced to, from locations on the ground during that journey.

And speaking of on the ground……Indian officials are reportedly clearing the areas Obama will travel of coconuts.

From here.

Double Mosque Bombings in Pakistan

KOHAT / PESHAWAR, Nov 5: Terrorist attacks on two mosques, one in Darra Adamkhel and the other near Peshawar, left at least 68 people dead on Friday.

At least 65 people, 18 children among them, were killed and 70 injured in a suicide attack on the Friday congregation in the mosque in Darra Adamkhel area of the Kohat Frontier Region.

The mosque is about 1km from the main camp of security forces set up in a degree college.

The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan denied having any hand in the attack and, instead, blamed foreign agents fighting security forces in tribal areas. It warned journalists of stern action and said they had launched a smear campaign against the TTP.

Security officials in Peshawar said they suspected that a militant group led by Tariq Afridi carried out the attack.

Their target, the officials said, was the Momin group which had raised a lashkar and supported security forces’ action against militants loyal to Tariq Afridi.

Witnesses said people were offering Friday prayers when a blast rocked the mosque adjacent to the hujra of Haji Wali Mohammad.

“I was standing in the last row when the huge blast took place,” injured teenager Mehrabullah said in Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).

Security personnel cordoned off the village after the attack.

Political Agent Shahidullah Khan said the suicide bomber was a boy about 16 years old. Parts of his body had been taken to Kohat, along with another body.

Read it all here.
 
Behold the face of Islam!

Obama's India Visit Concerns Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: President Obama will disappoint Pakistan if he fails to push India during his visit to resolve outstanding disputes with Pakistan, particularly the longstanding Kashmir issue.

Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit was asked several questions at his weekly briefing about President Obama`s visit to India starting from November 6, but the common dot in his replies was that Pakistan was expecting the US president to “help promote peace and stability in South Asia” — a euphemism for resolution of Indo-Pak disputes among which Kashmir is central.

At one point, however, he said: “We hope the US president`s visit to India will contribute towards promoting peace and stability in South Asia. In case the US shows total indifference to issue central to peace in the region, then, we will obviously be concerned.”

President Obama`s visit to India is taking place against the backdrop of revived uprising in Occupied Kashmir, which has left about 120 dead during the past four months.

However, the repression in the Valley has escaped the watchful eyes of the West, which appears to be more concerned about ties with India.

There was, however, cautious optimism in Basit`s statement. He said: “We are confident that President Obama is conscious about that (the importance of resolution of Kashmir issue for the stability of the region).”

The best Pakistanis can expect, analysts said, was that Mr Obama in his private discussions with the Indian leadership nudges them to address the problem.

Mr Basit reminded the West of the need to resolve the dispute that threatened the peace of South Asia.

“We urge the international community, especially the major powers, to take strong notice of the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and contribute effectively, and I underline contribute effectively, towards resolution of the dispute. A just settlement of this long-standing dispute is also essential for lasting peace and stability in South Asia.”

In the broader context of growing Indo-US ties, Mr Basit emphasised that Pakistan would not be worried about them as long as they ensured a peaceful and stable region.
Read it all here.

Quote of the Week - Ephrem the Syrian

"Indeed the stars themselves do not regulate the times according to their authority but know their rising and setting moments according to the law that has been fixed for them [by God]." -- St. Ephrem the Syrian