News in General

• The Nazi Roots of the House of Windsor

• The Fall of the House of Windsor

• The Sun Never Sets on The New British Empire

In his 1,500-page 'manifesto’, Anders Behring Breivik described attending the founding meeting of the Knights Templar in London in 2002 and wrote that his “assigned mentor” was “referred to as Richard (the Lionhearted).”
He said he had a “relatively close relationship” with the Englishman, who first described the concept of the “perfect knight”.

A blog was discovered by The Daily Telegraph written by an individual called the Lionheart, who has written about “Moslem’s soldiers ... seeking to conquer our lands and take our civilized world back into the 'Dark Ages’”. He writes that “God will revive the ancient order of the Knights Templar and count me worthy to die amongst them in service of my God in protection of the Christian and Jewish world”.
The blogger’s real name is Paul Ray, from Bedfordshire, who described himself as one of the “founding fathers” of the right-wing English Defence League. Mr Ray was arrested three years ago on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred with material on his blog.

The Lionheart closed his blog on Thursday, but reopened it on Sunday to post: “A crackpot killing innocent Norwegian children in the name of anti-government politics. The extreme far-right of the political spectrum that has no place in modern civilised society.”

A British ex-convict promoting anti-Muslim views has admitted online contacts with Norway’s mass killer Anders Behring Breivik and said he could have been Mr. Breivik’s inspiration in becoming an Islamophobe.

“But what he did was pure evil,” said Paul Ray, leader of a revived Knights Templar movement. “What he has done does not equate to anything I am involved in.”

Mr. Ray, 35, was interviewed by the Times of London at his home in Malta.

In a previous telephone interview with the Associated Press, he denied he had ever been in contact with Mr. Breivik.

But he told the Times: “I am being implicated as his mentor. I definitely could have been his inspiration. It looks like that. He has given me a platform and a profile. But what he did was pure evil. I could never use what he has done to further my own beliefs.”

He said Mr. Breivik, through their online contacts, had attempted to enlist him as a Facebook friend but he had rejected the request because he “didn’t like the look of him.”

Stephen Lennon, head of the far right English Defense League, had earlier identified Mr. Ray as Paul Sonato, who he said was kicked out of the EDL several years ago. Paul Ray, he said, was the name he adopted after he was arrested for stirring racial hatred in Britain and moved to Malta in 2008.

In his 1,500-page manifesto, Mr. Breivik referred to an Englishman he named as Richard as having been his inspiration in becoming a Knight Templar. That name derives from a medieval order of Crusaders who fought in the Holy Land.

“Richard” was apparently a reference to Richard the Lionheart of Crusader fame.

Mr. Breivik has claimed his actions a week ago in killing 76 people—eight by a car bomb in central Oslo, 68 by shooting teenagers at an island youth camp—was undertaken with the help of fellow Knights Templar.

Norwegian authorities have said they are convinced he acted alone, but European Union counter-terrorism officials meeting in Brussels have warned of possible copycat attacks.

Finnish police on Thursday arrested an 18-year-old man who allegedly ordered 22 pounds of fertilizer from Poland to make explosives. He was reported to have told police he wanted to make fireworks. Mr. Breivik used fertilizer to make his car bomb.

The Times said Mr. Ray has links with neo-Nazis opposed to what they call the Islamization of Europe. It said he was a close friend of Nick Greger, a tattooed German neo-Nazi, who was jailed for two years in 2002 after telling authorities he intended to blow up cars belonging to leftwingers with a pipe bomb.

Mr. Greger was a supporter of Charles Taylor, the former ruler of Liberia, who is on trial in The Hague for war crimes against his own people. Mr. Breivik has said he once visited Liberia to get guidance from a fugitive Serbian war criminal wanted for atrocities against Muslims in the former Yugoslavia.

Mr. Ray said he met Mr. Greger on Malta. They appear together in a video wearing Knights Templar T-shirts and visiting crusader landmarks on the islands.

In his interview with the Times, Mr. Ray said: “I wish the police would come and talk to me because I’ve got nothing to hide. But I would rather go to Norway. Knights Templar has been tainted and I am stating the case for the defense.”

The Times quoted Mr. Ray as saying that God spoke to him in the late 1990s when he was facing his seventh prison term.

“That’s what changed my life,” he said. “It was a very powerful spiritual experience when God revealed himself to me. He spoke to me.”

The Times said he had served terms for affray, drug dealing and burglary, surrounded by a growing Muslim prison population, and came out to embark on his anti-Muslim campaign.

He said he worships at a Pentecostal church on Malta and spoke of his love of preaching.

“We see the threat from Muslims wanting to kill us and people are looking to Templarism as a thing to protect us,” he said. “Here on Malta there are Christians who support me. Pastors know me.”

He has a Knights Templar cross and a Star of David tattooed on his right forearm.

The Times published a photograph of him holding an AK47 rifle on the Palestinian West Bank.

In London, the anti-Fascist organization Searchlight said it had found more postings on anti-Muslim and far-right forums believed to have come from Mr. Breivik.

In one, he recommended groups he hoped could deal with “60 million Muslims in western and eastern Europe” and predicted Britain or Denmark would be the first Western countries to face civil war “due to Muslim immigration.”

"A lot of the world is make-believe"
Brain creates its own version of reality
"We're only aware of a fraction of what's going on"

THE human brain creates its own version of reality, and the world we see around us is mostly make-believe, according to a top British scientist.
Professor Bruce Hood will explore the limits of the human mind in a series of prestigious lectures for the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the oldest independent research body in the world, it was announced yesterday.

The psychologist plans to induce false memories in audience members and use pickpockets to demonstrate how easily people are distracted, in a bid to prove how we have less control over our own decisions and perceptions than we like to imagine.

"A lot of the world is make-believe. We're only aware of a fraction of what's going on," Prof Hood told The (London) Times. "We have this impression of an expansive panorama in front of our eyes, but all we are ever seeing is an area the size of our thumbs at an arm's distance. The rest is filled in, as the brain creates a stable environment."


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/world-we-see-is-make-believe-top-british-scientist-says/story-e6frfro0-1226104861865#ixzz1TddlkTKP

I've been coming across this sort of information a lot over the last year or so. Not sure what to make of it. Throws a whole wrench into the idea of free will. Scary.

highnoon wrote:




whats the connection?

Norwegian Muslims react to attacks

August 1, 2011

Many Norwegian Muslims were harassed in the hours following the Oslo attacks before the arrested suspect was confirmed to be ethnically Norwegian. Nonetheless, many observers, backed by polling data and a surge of interest in integration initiatives, suggest that Norway has reacted with greater faith in multiculturalism, as the burials of the first two victims of the Utøya attacks – both Muslims – were undertaken with Christian and Muslim rituals.

The Nor Mosque in Oslo is one of the most recognizable Islamic places of worship in Norway. Some Norwegian Muslims were harassed in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks, but evidence since suggests that Norwegian support for multiculturalism is growing. PHOTO: Wikipedia Commons

Bano Abobakar Rashid, an 18 year old of Kurdish origin from Nesodden (just outside of Oslo), was buried in a new Muslim burial plot at Nesodden Church, where Christian and Islamic rituals were observed. 19 year old Ismail Haji Ahmed, a former contestant in the Norwegian version of the singing competition X Factor, was also buried under Christian and Muslim rituals in Hedmark. Such arrangements have become seen as symbolic for the way Norway has reacted to the terrorist attacks – despite the fact that many individual Muslims were chased, insulted and intimidated in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.

‘Chased down the street’
Reports that Muslims were harassed in the hours after the attack have been revealed in the Norwegian press. The general secretary of the Norwegian Islamic Council, Mehtab Afsar, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that a number of journalists rang asking if he “could sympathize with the attacks,” something he described as “disgusting.” “Do they believe that to be Muslim is the same as having sympathy for terrorism?,” he added. Afsar also received a number of messages by email and mobile telephone that said “‘now you have to find another place to live,’ ‘you are not welcome here’ and ‘revenge is sweet.’”

Kadra Yusuf, who became known in the country when she went public about imams encouraging women to take part in “female circumcision,” told newspaper VG that “a series of Oslo residents with foreign appearances” were attacked in the hours after the bombing and shootings. “Expressions like “terrorist devil,” “Bin Laden’s sons,” and “Muslim bombers” are some of those that were used,” Yusuf said, recalling an incident where an Indian man who had lived in Oslo for 22 years had been “chased down the street by people that asked him to ‘go to hell back where you can from.’” The man was reportedly able to take sense into those chasing him by saying “I might look like a Muslim terrorist, but I am not. I recognize that you are scared, but so am I.” Yusuf hopes that people “remember that it is us against the extremists – regardless of what disguise that extremists come in.”

Hijab wearers warned not to go out
Another Muslim speaking to newspaper Dagsavisen, Khizra Chaudhry, was at work at a shop in Grønland, central Oslo, as the attacks took place, and was asked by a customer “is it you that has bombed the city?”. “I was hurt and angry, and did not know what I should say,” Chaudhry commented, adding that “I was not happy that it was Norwegian that was behind the attacks, but I am relieved that it was not Muslims.”

Immediately after the attacks, Norway’s second largest mosque advised women wearing the hijab not to go onto the streets for fear harassment. A crisis meeting with around 50 participants was held by Munhaj ul Quaran at a mosque in Galgeberg, east Oslo, just after the bombings, with a representative, Isaz Ahmad, telling VG that they “discussed the worst scenario” that Muslims would become “targets” because they “feared it was a crazy person that had done this in Islam’s name.” Their recommendations to the community included not letting children out unless necessary, especially girls wearing the hijab. Ahmad too suggested that they “felt a relief over the fact that it was not someone that had done this in Islam’s name” when the details of the attacker were revealed, although he would rather not call it a relief “because it is a tragedy.”

Memorials and solidarity
Muslim organizations have organized a number of events to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks. A memorial service was held at Friday prayers in central Oslo last Friday, with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in attendance. Stoltenberg spoke of “the new Norwegian we.” The Prime Minister and Labour Party leader later told VG that he believes “many of us would have done everything in their power to show the same warmth and love” if a Muslim had been responsible for the terrorist attacks, adding that “we are showing that we will be a more inclusive society” after the events of the past weeks as “people are now more convinced and see the value of tolerance and diversity.” An opinion poll conducted by InFact for VG after the attacks shows that 26 percent have come to see “multicultural Norway” as “more positive” after the attacks, with 49 percent stating that their view was unchanged and 9 percent responding that they had become “more negative.” In total, 68 percent are “positive” towards “multicultural Norway,” with 13 percent responding that they saw it as “negative.”

A reflection of the responses given in the polls is also seen in the increasing interest in the Norwegian Center against Racism’s “Tea Time” project, which encourages non-Muslim Norwegians to visit Muslim families at home for tea. The project will continue beyond its planned closure after interest increased, with leader Kari Helene Partapuoli telling NRK that it could continue for a further year.

The Norwegian Islamic Council also arranged a solidarity parade to Oslo Cathedral on Friday afternoon, which was joined by a number of ministers and politicians including Minister of Culture Anniken Huitfeldt of the Labour Party, and Minister of Integration Audun Lysbakken of the Socialist Left Party. The council’s general secretary, Mehtab Afsar, told NRK that “this was an attack against Norway as a nation, and it is therefore important that we stand together… regardless of belief, cultural background or skin colour.”

Norway drops US surveillance case

July 28, 2011

Public outcry last fall over allegedly illegal surveillance of Norwegian citizens by the US Embassy in Oslo has ended with silent acceptance of the embassy’s activities by Norwegian authorities. They’ve decided against filing any charges against the US and its embassy personnel in Oslo, claiming they lacked evidence that any laws had in fact been broken.

The US Embassy got in trouble last fall when it emerged that it had hired Norwegians to carry out questionable surveillance, much of it from the building at the far right of the photo, with the "Scandic" sign on it. Now the embassy has been cleared. PHOTO: Views and News

In a decision revealed while the vast majority of Norwegians are preoccupied by last Friday’s attacks on their capital and a Labour Party summer camp, state prosecutor Jørn Maurud said that a police investigation indicated that embassy personnel conducting the surveillance hadn’t done anything illegal. It was widely referred to as a “scandal” last fall, but Maurud sees no need to pursue the case.

“This group has operated a more passive observation service,” Maurud told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “We don’t view it as punishable under law.”

The surveillance activities first reported by Norwegian TV2 last fall sparked widespread public concern, even outrage, at the time, both from top government officials, members of Parliament, various organizations and ordinary citizens. Surveillance is a particularly touchy subject in Norway, based on cases from the Cold War days, and Norwegians don’t like feeling like they’re being spied upon or having their names land in some unknown foreign registers.

Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) carried live coverage of the special session that was called in Parliament to discuss the surveillance activity by the US Embassy. It was diplomatically uncomfortable for both Norway and the US.

Maurud admitted the Norwegian officials still don’t know what became of the information collected by the embassy staff, many of whom had formerly worked for the Norwegian police, been hired by the embassy to conduct surveillance and bound by confidentiality clauses. An outlying Norwegian police district was called on to investigate the surveillance charges because of potential conflicts of interest or lack of impartiality within the Oslo Police District, where some of the embassy staffers had worked or had personal contacts.

They were hired to keep an eye on the area around the embassy, but they also observed demonstrations, for example, elsewhere in Oslo. Then they allegedly would deliver their findings and descriptions of participants to the embassy.

But the Oslo police couldn’t question embassy officials who could claim diplomatic immunity, nor could they obtain insight into their documentation. Maurud told NRK that investigators concluded nonetheless that the information collected wasn’t sensitive or searchable in a database. “We haven’t found any evidence that the (embassy) group has conducted systematic registration of folks, or attempts to identify persons walking outside the embassy,” he told NRK.

The surveillance case was uncomfortable for both Norwegian and US government officials, who prefer to portray themselves as great allies. Embassy staff in Oslo tried to downplay their activities, other than stressing that surveillance was important to their fight against terrorism. Norwegian officials weren’t keen on getting into a conflict with their American counterparts either.

Yet the case dominated the political agenda for weeks, attracted widespread media coverage and led to a special session of Parliament in which Justice Minister Knut Storberget and other ministers said they’d never been told about the surveillance activities or approved them. It also set off the police investigation that’s now been concluded with a decision not to press charges.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also felt compelled to send out a notice to all embassies in Oslo that Norwegian law restricts their surveillance to the area immediately around their embassy property, and that Norway otherwise has strict laws regarding security arrangements.

Pet-dumping a problem once again

July 20, 2011

Animal rights activists in Norway were upset again this week and chiding their fellow Norwegians for a seasonal problem that comes up every summer: Pet-dumping.

Cats, dogs, and even the occasional rabbit have been found wandering aimlessly in the woods or residential neighborhoods, dumped by their owners who take off for extended summer holidays without arranging for anyone to take care of their pets.

Sometimes the forlorn animals are found in the vicinity of veterinarians or animal shelters, likely cast off by those who at least have enough conscience to hope that their pets will be cared for.

“But you just can’t throw away an animal,” Karen Andersson, chairman of the animal protection group Dyrebeskyttelsen in Oslo and Akershus, told news bureau NTB. “If you can’t take care of your pet any longer, then you must go to a vet and have it put to sleep.”

She said people can also approach her group, “but we can’t help everybody.” She already has five cats, 13 rabbits and many kittens staying at her private home and the group took in around 3,500 pets last year. Another animal protection group in Oslo was caring 80 cats at its facility as of this week.

Norwegian PM to Rival Political Parties: Don’t Speak Out On Immigration

Jens Stoltenberg, the prime minister of Norway, has called on political parties not to discuss the issue of immigration during the nation’s upcoming election campaign.

Norwegian PM to Rival Political Parties: Don’t Speak Out On Immigration

“We all have something to learn from the tragedy,” Stoltenberg told lawmakers at a ceremony honoring the victims of the July 22 attack. “We can all have a need to say ‘I was wrong,’ and be respected for it.” He said that goes for politicians and the media.

The Norwegian PM “didn’t single out anyone but seemed to be referring to sometimes harsh discussions on immigration,” Time reports today.

Norway’s political parties have agreed to postpone election season campaigning until mid-August as mourning for the victims continues. Stoltenberg’s comment appears to be designed to remove the immigration issue from the national debate. Elections in Norway are held in September.

On July 7, The Norway Post published the results of a poll on immigration. 53.7 per cent said they want to put a stop to immigration, while 48.7 per cent are of the opinion that Norwegian integration policy has failed, according to Aftenposten.

The poll reflects similar sentiment across Europe and Britain.

In February, a Populus survey revealed 63% of white Britons, 43% of British Asians and 17% of black Britons believe immigration has been a bad thing for Britain.

“The political class has been warned,” said Jon Cruddas, a Labor MP. “Put simply, unless political parties step up and provide a new language of material well-being, of identity and belonging, then these political forces might refract into more malign forms,” he added.

In other words, as Sky News puts it, a large number of Brits may elect a “far right” party that would limit or eliminate immigration, especially from Muslim countries.

The suspiciously timed attack of confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik allows the establishment in Norway to do what would have been unthinkable a month ago – shut down political debate and dictate what opposition parties and the media that reports on them will be allowed to do.

See what happens when you eviscerate 'Christianity': you open up all kinds of completely
different societal problems.

Bury the head in the sand. Drink coffee, eat cakes...talk about what was on Big Brother show last night.

• Is the "crown" using Queeers to infiltrate the power corridors of media and politics ... i know the uk is strewn with them in these circles

• Mistress of the Revels 'man-in-the-middle' attacks