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[Anwar al-Awlaki]

—Molly Norris drew a cartoon four years ago that depicted the likeness of Mohammed on several items, including a tea cup, a thimble and a domino.

She received her first death threat within days.

One was a fatwa that came from radical and influential cleric Anwar al-Awlaki -- an American-born imam who lived in Yemen -- who said Norris was a "prime target" for execution for creating blasphemous cartoons.

Norris had kicked off controversy in April 2010 with a cartoon published online about an imaginary group called "Citizens Against Citizens Against Humor" that proposed an "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day."

She disappeared, at the advisement of the FBI, in the fall of that year and has been in hiding since.

'Lighten up'

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/13/us/cartoonist-still-in-hiding/index.html

[Bheki Cele misleads the public about farm murders]

Ernst Roets says instead of recognising the need to prioritise this type of crime, a false accusation of racism is made

Bheki Cele misleads the public about farm murders

AfriForum accused the deputy minister of agriculture, Bheki Cele, of misleading the public about the reality on South Africa's farms, and that he does not seriously consider the plea of those who call for the prioritisation of farm murders. This follows after Cele was questioned this morning during a press conference on farm murders, to which he responded that people should stop making a racial issue of farm murders (see report).

Ernst Roets, deputy CEO of AfriForum, said Cele uses this tactic to evade the true extent of the crisis. "Instead of recognising the need to prioritise farm murders, a false accusation of racism is made."

Roets explained that it rather seems as though the government is looking through racial glasses at farm murders and for that reason is not prepared to take any action. "The hard facts are that the majority of farmers who are being murdered, are white. Whether it is simply because most farmers are white, or because there is an underlying racial motive, will at this stage amount to speculation. We know, however, that black farmers and farm workers are also murdered during farm attacks."

Roets added that AfriForum does not distinguished along racial lines when they are asking for farm murders to be prioritised, and that AfriForum even wrote to the president about black farm workers who are being murdered in farm attacks.

"The problem, however, is that the prioritisation of farm murders apparently does not fit within the ruling party's political agenda. If the government uses the necessary resources and displays the necessary political leadership, farm murders will stop. What happens in practice is the opposite of this - farmers are used as political punching bags and cutting remarks are made against those who call for the prioritisation of farm murders."

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71654?oid=900733&sn=Detail&pid=71616

http://www.censorbugbear.org/farmitracker/reports/view/3066

[Jews of France.]

As the world rightly focuses on the recent terror attacks in Paris on Charlie Hedbo and a kosher grocery store, it should be noted that the second attack is part of a larger problem: the ongoing vitriol toward the French Jewish community.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders invited French Jews to move to Israel. That's a nice gesture, but it's not enough. The United States should join Israel and offer to also open up its shores as a refuge to the endangered Jews of France.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/13/the-u-s-should-open-its-doors-to-european-jews/

["if black America were a country, it would be the 15th-wealthiest country in the world."]

Update: An earlier version of this post included a chart that compared black America's incarceration rate with those of other countries. The chart incorrectly listed black Americans' incarceration rate in 2010 as 4,347 per 100,000 Americans. In fact, that is the rate for black American men. The rate for black American women is 260 per 100,000 Americans, and the rate for black Americans as a whole is 2,207 per 100,000 Americans. The graphic has been updated.

In a recent debate with a CNN contributor, the conservative radio talk-show host Larry Elder declared that "if black America were a country, it would be the 15th-wealthiest country in the world." His math proved incorrect, and his invocation of "black America" was followed by a refutation of the concept by a fellow black conservative. Shortly after Elder's remarks, the Republican strategist Ron Christie argued that there is no such thing as "black America" and, further, that the very notion of it is antithetical "to our national motto of E Pluribus Unum."




http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/what-if-black-america-were-a-country/380953/

['wanted']

Interpol places former President Yanukovych on 'wanted' list, former Prime Minister Azarov missing

Interpol finally issued an international red notice for Viktor Yanukovych today, almost a year after the former President fled Ukraine following a failed attempt to violently disperse Euromaidan protesters on Kyiv's Independence Square. More than a hundred people were killed when security forces opened fire on demonstrators.

His name appeared on the international police agency's 'wanted' list on charges of "misappropriation, embezzlement or conversion of property by malversation, if committed in respect of an especially gross amount, or by an organized group."

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/interpol-issues-places-former-president-yanukovych-on-wanted-list-former-prime-minister-azarov-missing-377183.html