Moving on

I am very sorry to all my readers about the lack of posts. Things have been a bit hectic over the past few months and I really haven't had time to do anything. However, I am really impressed by the reaction this blog has generated so I have decided to go ahead with my larger, bigger and much better website. I've been getting writers recently and I hope to have the thing set up within a few months. If you'd like to remain informed, drop me a line at the.strangers.blog@gmail.com and I'll put you on my mailing list. Again, thank you all so much for your support, it's been an intresting month and it's inspired me to reach further. I'll see you all on the new site :-)

Jack

Sign of the times... again

I once again apologize for my continued absence, whenever I get round to writing something I'm either not in the mood any more or something pops up again. However, I'd like to share this with you, I think you'll be as concerned as I am. Read on:

Church in Arizona protested because it looks like a mosque

By David Edwards

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 -- 9:22

2

Islamophobia may have reached a point in this country where people condemn Christians that they suspect are Muslims without ever checking the facts.

In Phoenix, Arizona, a new Christian church has residents fearing that it is an Islamic mosque.

The Light of the World multidenominational church is being built just off of Interstate 10 and features a dome-like structure.

"Since the distinctive dome shape went up, church leaders said they have received phone calls from concerned neighbors who've mistaken the building for an Islamic mosque," KPHO reported.

"I heard many people, they came over and they say, 'Is this a Muslim temple?' No, it's not," church member Juan Calixto told KPNX.

"It is unfortunate that people are so intolerant to differences that they aren’t willing to see that the place of worship is not a mosque," said Tayyibah Amatullah of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Arizona chapter.

Church officials have hung a sign to let people know they aren't Muslim. "If you think we are different you are wrong," the sign reads. "We are building a Christian house of prayer."

"We're trying to let people know that we're Christian and our churches are modern," Uzieo Martinez, a church official told KPHO.

Officials are trying to avoid the type of backlash received by the Park51 Islamic center that is planned near Ground Zero.

The cultural center was largely ignored when The New York Times first reported about it in December 2009.

The project received wider notice in May 2010 when a community board considered the construction plans. Conservative bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer dubbed the proposed center the "Ground Zero Mosque" which started a national controversy.

"But with so many high-profile figures selling unfounded, anti-Muslim fear to the public, is it any wonder that all many Americans can see in Islam is a phantom menace?" asked Tanya Somanader at the liberal blog Think Progress.

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Words fail me, is this what the world is coming to? Where even looking 'different' or in this case 'Muslim' is dangerous and can lead to harassment? This is an all to regular occurance, people looking as if they are Muslim are attacked, even though they are not. Even at the 'Ground Zero Mosque' 'protest' organized by Loony in Chief Pamela Geller this happened, two Arab Christians who turned up to protest were attacked by the crowd and had to be protected by the police. It is a sad world where hate is getting to a level that it is dangerous to stand out or look like a certain group of people, where you have to, as this Church does, hold up a sign effectively saying 'Not Muslim, please don't hurt me!'. I know you are all intelligent people and I don't have to go on for to long about the dangers this sort of thing. However, I would like to make two main points.


First of all, this rise in what can only be called tribalism, where one has to fit in and all others are 'enemies' to be hated, is extremely dangerous. I don't really need to go into to much detail, but we all know what happens when hate is allowed free range to grow. And a close freind of mine said, hate is a seed sown by someone by the devil, if it is allowed to grow then it will soon take over that person. We cannot let this hate grow.

I would also like to share something the Buddah once said:

"Words have the power to create and destroy, when they are both true and kind, they can change our world"

This is very true and it is the case with these so called blogger like Geller who are peddling their hate, and making huge profits out of it. We need to take the Buddah's words to heart, not allow our words to destroy and make the true and kind to change this world for the better. These hate mongers need to be taken to heel and stood up to. Because, as I related in the story of Martin Niemöller in an older post, who knows when these people will turn on you?

I will leave this here, it is a depressing subject and I don't want to go to much into it right now, but I think you can all see the danger we are facing.

Peace

Jack

For your urgent attention UPDATED V

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY

Wednesday 10th November, 2010

23.15 GMT - LONDON...UK AID WORKERS (INCLUDING 2 MAVI MARMARA SURVIVORS) HELD HOSTAGE ON GREEK-OWNED SHIP, AFTER SHIP OWNER ARGUES WITH EGYPTIAN BROKER

DERNA PORT, LIBYA

"Strofades IV" has broken its moorings, without port permission, and is heading out of Derna Harbour.

The rear door of the ship is half closed, with convoy vehicle B7 stuck on it precariously. It is extremely dangerous.

In the lower deck of the Ro-Ro (rollon rolloff) ship are held hostage:

3 Libyans - (2 port authority policemen, with Colonel Salahuddin Rashin, Manager of Derna Port)

1 Moroccan

1 Algerian

2 Irish

6 UK nationals

The violent Greek owner who is also its captain of "Strofades IV" has just disembarked (as at 22.50 GMT) through a side door of the ship, onto a speed boat. His speed boat has made for another cargo vessel in Derna the harbour - "Odin Finder".

None of our guys now know who is in charge of Strofades IV, or where it is destined to go.

The ship is empty, apart from the hostages and single convoy vehicle jammed in the doorway. It is making rapid headway to get out to sea.

The matter is a serious breach of every maritime law possible.

We have asked all relevant Embassies to supply urgent, immediate, consular assistance.

We are EXTREMELY concerned for the safety of all the nationals on board.

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Please can you spread the word, I will keep you all updated as and when I receive new information. Thank you.

Peace

Jack

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 UPDATE

According to one of the hostages, they have been told the ship is heading towards Greece. Currently the 3 Libyan policemen are believed to be negotiating with the captain but they are refusing to alter course. The rear door of the vessel remains unsecured. Also, pressure is being put on Libya to stop the vessel. As of 3.05 GMT we remain very concerned for the safety of the vessel and hostages.

As of yet no major media outlet has run this story, please keep spreading the word.

Will keep you posted.

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 UPDATE II

Sketchy reports coming from the vessel at the moment, but it is being said that 4 Libyan vessel supported by fighter jets are attempting to have the 13 hostages removed from the vessel and taken back to Libya. $75000 worth of donations that were on the vessel at the time have been secured but the captain appears to be trying to extort money in exchange for the hostages despite already have been paid $75000 for use of his ship. We have no contact with any of the hostages at this time since they are too far out to sea.

One again, the mainstreem media is refusing to cover this story, please continue to spread the word

As always, I'll keep you informed.

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UPDATE III

Still no direct contact but it is believed that the vessel is heading towards Crete. Libyan, British, Irish, Maltese and Greek authorities are working together to try and detain the captain who is believed to be unhappy about how he was being paid. 

The media are finally picking up on the story, thank you to all of you who contacted your local media.

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We now have sporadic contact with the hostages via SMS. One reports that around 6 hours ago they commandeered a VHF radio and sent a distress message on channel 6 which was picked up by a NATO warship. They still believe they are heading towards Crete.

You can follow the vessel's progress here:

http://marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=215593000

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 A few more details for you. To begin with it appears that there are more Libyans on the ship than previously stated three, 7  include customs inspectors, border police and the harbor manager for Derna Port.  The Libyans are being treated better than the aid workers, seem to have separate cabins, have more freedom of movement and are in contact with Libyan authorities by radio and mobile phone. A full list of the other hostages is as follows:

Mustapha El-Guerbouzi (46) - UK National, resident in West London

Kieran L Turner (38) - UK National, resident in Liverpool

Raheal Parveez (25) - UK National, resident in North East London

Aziz Mekkati (43) - Algerian National, resident in Algeria

Yunus Malik (23) - UK National, resident in London

Nagib Elgarib Elbarrami (32) - UK National

David T Callander (35) - Irish National

Tauqir A Sharif (23)- UK National, resident in North East London

Kenneth O'Keefe (41)- Irish National

Khalid Mohamed Omar Ali (21) - UK National

It has been confrimed that the hostages did at one point manage to contact NATO warships, P492 and F452, via the tanker OCL Oakland. These warships promised assistance but none came for reasons unknown.

Ken O'Keefe added: "They said they would help, but no one has come to rescue us.  That was some hours ago."

Kieran adds: "At first we were made to stay in the loading bay area at the rear of the ship, which was really dangerous once the ship got out to sea - the ship's loading door is still open at a 45degree angle!  They didn't give us any life jackets. And that was when the weather was still calm.  The weather is rough now - you can just imagine..."

Kieran further adds: "Initially we were stopped from moving around the ship and had to stay in the bottom of the lower deck. Eventually we just walked through to the crew quarters, and they've let us occupy their small smoking room.  At least we are safe and in the dry, and it has a couch so we can try to sleep. We've been given one meal, of sorts, since the ship left Derna.  We've got access to water, but it's not drinking water."

Ken O'Keefe has tried to talk to the Captain on a number of occasions.  At first he succeeded in talking to him, but since then the captain has blanked him. Ken has also stated that it is everyone's intention not to let their mission fail and to return to Libya as soon as they can.

Currently we are awaiting footage from the vessel which will be uploaded to this site as soon as it is received from the hostages. Stay tuned.

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Upcoming 'serries', Islam ABC

Firstly, I would like to apologize for my absence. Again. I have no excuse other than, well, nothing really...

Anyway, I have an upcoming series of articles in the pipeline, my 'Islam ABC'. I'm going to try and cover a wide range of topics about Islam and Islam related things, most of it my own writing but with some borrowed pieces kindly contributed by other writers. The purpose of this will be to answer some of the most asked questions as well as give a bit of clarification on what Muslims think and believe, mixed with a few of my own 'idealistic' ramblings for you to laugh at.  Below is a mostly complete list of the topics I will cover, there are a few gaps which I will, God willing, have filled by the next time we meet (someone help me find articles for X, Y and Z!!). See you there!

A = Apostasy, rejection of faith

B = Bombing, the suicide kind

C = Christians, our friends in faith

D = Dogs, and other creatures

E = Earth, for which we must care

F = Fundamentalism, taking it too far

G = God, to whom everything is due

H = Halal, all that is lawful

I = Islam, and what it means

J = Jesus, messenger supreme

K = Ka'bah, that black cube thing

L = Life, and it's purpose

M = Money, distraction from God

N =

O =

P =

Q = Qu'ran, the revelation

R = Religion, corruption of faith

S = Sharia, much misunderstood

T = Taquiya, a false concept

U = Us, inhabitants of the creation

V =

W = Worship, connecting with God

X =

Y =

Z =

Peace

Jack

In plain view

I apologize for the low quality of the next post, however the lunacy of what I have been reading about really is not easy to  put across, so please stay with me and normal slightly better service will resume shortly :-)

One of the great things about a Court of Law is it puts everything, no matter how small, in plain view for all to see. When something goes to court then all that matters is the facts. Out of court you can say pretty much what you like on the flimsiest of evidence but when you try and to make a lawsuit out of that then prepare to fail. This is very apparent in the current loony 'Murfreesboro mosque trial' which has been bubbling away in recent months to my great amusement. I've included a couple of articles from the local paper, I'm sorry for the length but please read and see the benefits of the Justice System for yourself:

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Witnesses fund lawsuit against local mosque

By: CHRISTIAN GRANTHAM, Post Contributor

Posted: Thursday, October 21, 2010 8:03 pm

A witness in the Murfreesboro mosque trial said she believed America would be better off without Muslims and pledged support to fight a proposed mosque in her community. Murfreesboro resident Jeanetta Alford was called to the stand Thursday in an effort by plaintiffs to stop the construction of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County. "If anyone is teaching out of the Qur'an, then yes, you are breaking the law," Alford told the court. "I believe we have to follow the Bible and respect our government." Alford went on to describe the dangers of Sharia law and her new found fear of Islam after studying publications and hearing from local mosque opponents. "If the religion of Islam allows men to beat their wives and have sex with children, then it's against our law," Alford said. "If any so-called religion violates our United States Constitution then it should not stand. People should stand up against that." Alford admitted in cross examination that she has given money to a group she believes educates the community about the dangers of Islam. "I've not given much because my husband lost his job," Alford told the court. "But we did give $100 to an education group, and I bought a DVD called 'Lest We Forget.'" The admission comes a day after another plaintiff witness, Millie Evans, admitted giving $600 to the same group, denying any knowledge her money was funding the lawsuit. "I felt like what they told me it was for was to educate the community on what Islam is about," Evans told the court yesterday. The group Alford and other plaintiff's witnesses fund is called Proclaiming Justice To The Nations (PJTN). The group, described to the Post by President Laurie Cardoza-Moore as a "community activist group," funds the lawsuit against the county's May 24 site plan approval for a proposed Islamic community center on Veals Road. Plaintiff Attorney J. Thomas Smith of Franklin told the Post today he was retained by PJTN and works with the group's president and plaintiff attorney Joe Brandon Jr. The group has also used contributions from local residents to pay witnesses who appeared on the stand Thursday. Timothy Jones Cummings Sr. is one witness who admitted being paid thousands of dollars by plaintiff attorneys to read to the court from anti-Muslim websites he found. "I'm not clear on the purpose of his testimony here," Chancellor Robert E. Corlew III told plaintiff's attorneys before allowing the testimony. Corlew noted a defense objection and warned admission was contingent on plaintiffs showing relevance at a later date. Under tough cross examination, County Attorney Josh McCreary highlighted the problem with allowing what defense called blatant hearsay. "They paid you $3,000 to print stuff off the internet and present it on the screen here," McCreary asked the witness. "You read pages and pages of this stuff and don't know the truthfulness of any of this, correct?" Cummings showed anti-American cartoons and other web postings he says shows the nefarious nature of local Muslims plaintiffs claim are behind the proposed mosque. "I cannot testify to the veracity of any content I've presented or what's presented on anyone's web page," Cummings admitted to the court. Cummings went on to say he was asked as a computer expert to find content online for the plaintiffs about the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. What he presented were web postings by noted anti-Muslim websites (Iconoclast and New English Review) and videos of people he could not identify talking about what they saw on other websites. "At this point he's dependent on the veracity of some third party," Chancellor Corlew said. "Mr. Cummings has no way he can independently verify this content existed." The court also watched the May 24 County Commission meeting in which the site plan for the proposed mosque was approved under religious 'use of right' land ordinances. Plaintiffs contend Islam is not a religion and local Muslims should not have been granted such consideration for approval of their mosque's site plan. Plaintiffs have yet another full day before the court starting tomorrow morning at 8:30.

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I was not quite sure how to take this at first... clearly these people are off their heads with hate, bigotry and desperately need someone to hate. Their knowledge of the American Constitution is also severely lacking... these from people who no doubt believe themselves to be 'defenders of the Constitution'. Words fail me, but I'll let you make your mind up, again the great thing about a Court of Law is you get it all clear cut. But there is more:

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Plaintiffs ask if Islam is a religion in mosque trial

By: CHRISTIAN GRANTHAM, Post Contributor

Posted: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 8:57 pm

Plaintiffs in a case to stop the construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro spent most of Wednesday questioning whether Islam is a religion. The case resumed two days after the federal government filed a motion in the case. Attorney Joe Brandon Jr. fought through more than 20 sustained defense objections including badgering the witness, being argumentative and asking irrelevant questions. "Isn't it true that in the Qur'an Mohammad had a six-year-old wife that he had sex with," Brandon asked a county commissioner on the stand. "Is that your idea of what a religion is?" The U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus curiae with the court Monday stating unequivocally that Islam is a religion and defended the Constitutional right of Americans to freely worship. "Presidents as far back as Lincoln and Jefferson, and as recent as President George W. Bush, have publicly recognized Islam as one of the world's largest religions," U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin stated in a press conference on Monday. Brandon took issue with the federal government's position in his questioning of county commissioners he called as witnesses. "The federal government cited Thomas Jefferson in their press conference, and he owned slaves," Brandon asserted to Commissioner Gary Farley. "Is that who they want to cite as an authority?" Both County Mayor Ernest Burgess and Commissioner Will Jordan cited the federal government as one source of many claiming Islam is a religion. "Did you say that you want the federal government that supported slavery to tell this court that Islam is a religion," Brandon asked Jordan. Plaintiffs sought with each witness to challenge the county's May 24 approval of a site plan for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro (ICM) under religious use of right zoning ordinances on the grounds that Islam is not a religion. "Sharia law includes instruction on how to beat your wife," Brandon told Burgess on the witness stand. "How is Sharia law going to affect our society, our jobs and our freedoms?" Brandon asked each commissioner called as a witness if they believed cults led by David Koresh and Jim Jones qualified as religions. "Do you remember Jim Jones who killed all those people who drank the Kool-Aid," Brandon asked Burgess. "Is that what's going on with the ICM?" Brandon also asked each commissioner if they believed in tenets of Sharia law that plaintiffs claim ICM members will institute in Murfreesboro. "Do you believe in having sex with children," Brandon asked Farley to the gasps of the audience and a quickly sustained objection that the court was degrading into a circus. Millie Evans, a 45-year resident of Rutherford County, revealed under cross examination the name of a group aiding plaintiffs in this case. Evans was asked how she got in touch with the plaintiffs pointing to a nonprofit helping Brandon. "We've been in touch for weeks and weeks on this," Evan told the court. "I donated myself. I don't know where the money went to. P.T. something." Evans told the court she wrote a $500 check and gave $100 in cash to a nonprofit she says told her it is here to educate the community on the dangers of Islam. The group is called "Proclaiming Justice To The Nations." The group's president, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, has been an outspoken critic of the proposed mosque at prior public meetings of the Rutherford County Commission. "We work with the attorneys in this case," Cardoza-Moore told the Post. "We're like a community activist group." Before recessing for the day, Chancellor Robert E. Corlew, III made the court aware of an early morning motion filing an amicus curiae on behalf of Louis E. Johnston Jr. along with a copy of his book on Sharia law. The case resumes Thursday morning at 8:30.

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...

No, me neither... I really do not know what to say... is there any hope in the world for people like this?! Do they not see what they have become?! Do they not see what they are saying?! ARGH!!

Enough? I think so, views please! 

Go Egypt!

Good news from Egypt, let's hope they stick to this and more follow:

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Egypt high court bars police from universities

By Magdi Abdelhadi BBC Middle East analyst

The high court in Egypt has ordered the government to abolish police units at university campuses.

The court rejected a government appeal against an earlier ruling which declared the permanent deployment of police on campuses unconstitutional.

Rights groups have long criticised the presence of police on campuses, saying its sole purpose was to prevent students from engaging in politics.

The case was brought against the government by a group of professors.

They have long campaigned for the independence of academic institutions and are part of a broad coalition of activists in opposition to the authoritarian rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for more than 30 years.

The presence of police at universities is often used to suppress political protests organised by students affiliated to the opposition Muslim Brotherhood and other leftist groups.

The police control access to the campus and can deny entry to visitors and the media.

The court ruling is final, but the government may still use emergency powers, as it has done in the past, to circumvent the law.

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Now, why is this so important, apart from free speech issues? Well, simple, if we look throughout history then we can see that the centre of Islam has always been it's houses of learning, universities of course being vital to this. So, if Egypt sticks to it's word then, God willing, we will see some real progress in Egypt regarding any 'Islamic Revival', that is the discarding of all the junk we Muslims have accumulated over the years, all the oppressive and 'cultural' stuff that has nothing to do with Islam but rather with corruption of our texts. Previously, police interference in universities had put a large block in the way of that, but now that has been removed let's pray there is progress.

I still think that the 'new sun' of Islam will rise in Asia, not the Middle East, but if Egypt and others keep this up, then maybe the sun can rise in both areas of the world and shine it's light of truth. Onward people!

Peace

Jack

Let's pray this isn't the begining

I read a rather sad article on the BBC today, read on:

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Swedish police link 'racist' shootings to lone gunman

Swedish police fear a lone gunman may be behind a spate of racially-motivated shootings in the southern city of Malmo.

Detectives say they are linking up to 15 gun attacks in the city over the past year that have targeted people of immigrant background.

The investigation comes amid growing tension in Sweden over immigration.

In elections in September, 20 members of a far-right anti-immigration party won seats in parliament.

Police have not revealed exactly which cases the special unit is looking into.

However, Swedish media report that they include one fatal shooting - a 20-year-old woman last October who was sitting in a car.

In recent weeks, two men of ethnic minority background have also been shot and wounded while waiting at bus stops in the city.

And on Thursday evening two women described by police as "immigrants from a European country" were wounded after being shot through their apartment window.

"We have established a special unit here in Malmo to investigate between 10 and 15 similar crimes," police spokesman Lars-Haakan Lindholm told AFP news agency.

"It does appear there are racist motives. We are receiving help from profilers from the national police force. This is our number one top priority right now."

The investigation has revived memories of a spate of racially-motivated attacks in and around the Swedish capital Stockholm from August 1991 to January 1992.

John Ausonius, now 57, killed one person and wounded 10 others. He was jailed for life in 1994.

Malmo, which has a significant immigrant population, was the scene of riots in December 2009 following the closure of an Islamic centre.

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Is this a sign of things to come? I pray not but I fear it may be. As more and more hate is generated, as more and more idiots keep poking the pot, the more things like this are likely to happen. I've already read of a nutter in the USA admitting that he was influenced by Fox News and David Horowitz’s web sites, I am sure he is not alone, in fact after reading some of the comments on Horowitz's sites I *know* he is not. Sure, some guys don't take much to push them over the edge but there are plenty of 'normal' people being fed this stuff day in day out and what's more they are believing it. 

This really is not any different to 'Islamic' extremism, people being fed junk day in day out, as Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, once said, "A lie repeated enough times becomes the truth". There are people out there on both sides prepared to take a gun and go and kill others and so long as the lies keep being repeated that number will grow and grow. Of course, other factors are involved but the fact that there are people on both sides spewing out this is a major one. People are angry and there are those that are giving these angry people their targets, their scapegoats, and in the end blood get's spilled. It is easy to blame others, but hard to solve problems.

 If hate propaganda like the stuff I see circulating today carries on being read, believed and in some cases acted on then the danger of repeats continues, it grows day by day. I hate to say it, but the rise of Hitler started in a similar way, slowly to begin with, but after a few years of lies, hate and propaganda being pumped out it didn't take long for the whole terrible series of events to unfold and it could happen again. Dehumanizing one set of people and blaming them for our problems is how genocide begins. One side get's all the blame for the worlds ills and are dehumanized so much that they are seen as lesser, deserving of death, the world would be better without them. This could happen here, we only have to look at history to see where this has happened before, I will call up the Holocaust as the best known example. The outlines are there, rise of the far right and rise in hate crime is just the beginning, we must stop it dead in it's tracks.

The only way to fight this is truth, rational thought and peace as well as to stop blaming others for things we really should be handling ourselves. If we, all of us, don't stand up to the people spewing this hate then this could be the beginning of something terrible.  I'll admit it, I really do fear for the future, I really do, but while there are still good people on this earth I have hope, so should you. So let us stand together against this sort of hate and end it once and for all, the future is in our hands.

Peace

Jack