Sri Lanka bombs
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The world is a fucked up place
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12224167
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Just horrible.
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@booboo yep...what a time to be alive
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@booboo and more accurately, Islam is a really fucked up religion/set of ideas. Far far too much senseless violence committed in its name every single week around the world. This is just absolutely sickening.
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A friend is traveling over there at the moment. We know she's safe but there's always that worry aye. Terrible news. Humans have a horrible capacity to do shit things to each other.
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@No-Quarter said in Sri Lanka bombs:
@booboo and more accurately, Islam is a really fucked up religion/set of ideas. Far far too much senseless violence committed in its name every single week around the world. This is just absolutely sickening.
Has a Muslim group admitted responsibility yet ? My first thought was Tamil arseholes kicking off things again .
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@jegga said in Sri Lanka bombs:
@No-Quarter said in Sri Lanka bombs:
@booboo and more accurately, Islam is a really fucked up religion/set of ideas. Far far too much senseless violence committed in its name every single week around the world. This is just absolutely sickening.
Has a Muslim group admitted responsibility yet ? My first thought was Tamil arseholes kicking off things again .
Fair enough, just saw churches were targeted by suicide bombers so assumed it was religiously motivated. I don't know a great deal about the Tamil terrorist groups TBH.
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@No-Quarter said in Sri Lanka bombs:
@jegga said in Sri Lanka bombs:
@No-Quarter said in Sri Lanka bombs:
@booboo and more accurately, Islam is a really fucked up religion/set of ideas. Far far too much senseless violence committed in its name every single week around the world. This is just absolutely sickening.
Has a Muslim group admitted responsibility yet ? My first thought was Tamil arseholes kicking off things again .
Fair enough, just saw churches were targeted by suicide bombers so assumed it was religiously motivated. I don't know a great deal about the Tamils TBH.
They shared jihadis enthusiasm for suicide bombing . Like Isis they were dumb enough to actually take some territory and hold it which was their undoing and they were beaten pretty badly .
Hope it’s not kicking off again . -
@jegga thanks. Obviously my comment about Islam stands but may be better suited to another thread. Would hate to see that conflict starting up again.
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@No-Quarter said in Sri Lanka bombs:
@jegga thanks. Obviously my comment about Islam stands but may be better suited to another thread. Would hate to see that conflict starting up again.
Yeah that was a nasty one , the Black caps got caught up in a suicide bombing in a hotel in the early 2000s .
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Two more explosions with nearly 200 confirmed dead. Jesus H Christ. Think you might be right @jegga, seems way too organised for one of the main Islamic groups.
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My thoughts were around the Sri Lankan civil war which was as nasty as fuck.
Tamils v Sinhalese.
I know the Sinhalese were Buddhist, not sure about Tamils.
So seems odd they should target Christians and mostly western tourists. Unless there's something I've missed.
Potential I suppose for Islamist terrorist to target a weak Christian target (kind of a reverse Christchurch).
But all speculation at this stage.
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Google tells me Tamils are Hindus.
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@booboo yeah reading about the Tamil group 'Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam' they didn't follow a religious ideology, it was a political protest group that turned violent in response to anti-Tamil government policies (I'm sure that's over simplifying it).
Odd that churches would be targeted like that if they are behind it. I've seen some names of the people carrying out the attacks but it is unverified at this stage so won't say more on that until we get more details.
I really feel for the people of Sri Lanka, I have some great mates and colleagues that are Sri Lankan and the shit that decent people over there have been through just beggars belief, whether it's violence like this or natural disasters.
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138 dead in latest headline on Stuff.
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This post is deleted! -
@booboo said in Sri Lanka bombs:
Google tells me Tamils are Hindus.
My understanding (after briefly dating a Sri lankan Tamil girl) is that they have a sizeable Christian contingent also
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Cape Town based News 24 (which I keep an eye on to hear what they are saying about youse blokes, and to dob to them about what youse blokes are saying about them, if I see an advantage in so doing) reported at 14:46 on April 21:
"Sri Lanka's police chief made a nationwide alert 10 days before Sunday's bomb attacks in the country that suicide bombers planned to hit "prominent churches", according to the warning seen by AFP.
Police chief Pujuth Jayasundara sent an intelligence warning to top officers on April 11 setting out the threat.
"A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo," said the alert.
The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that came to notice last year when it was linked to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues.
At least 129 people were killed in six bomb attacks on Sunday that included three churches."
Straits Times reported 9 hours ago (just updated):
"Eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday (April 21), killing at least 207 people and injuring 450, including dozens of foreigners.
Police officials said that at least 35 foreigners were among the dead. A hospital source said American, British and Dutch citizens were among those killed in the six blasts.
Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry ordered a night-time curfew with immediate effect ...
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Seven people were arrested and three police officers were killed during a security forces raid on a house in the Sri Lankan capital several hours after the rash of attacks, some of which officials said were suicide bombs.Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said the culprits behind the terrorist attacks had been identified and would soon be taken into custody.
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Out of Sri Lanka’s total population of around 22 million, 70 per cent are Buddhist, 12.6 per cent Hindu, 9.7 per cent Muslim, and 7.6 per cent Christian, according to the country’s 2012 census. Only around 6 per cent of the population are Catholic, but the religion is seen as a unifying force because it includes people from both the minority Tamil and majority Sinhalese ethnic groups. ..." -
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I see a remarkable difference in the reaction from local authorities to that of the French, English and other slave nations under the European Union dictatorship when they have been similarly attacked.
Similarly, Australian authorities will have police on alert in Sydney, ready to throw a protective ring around medieval death cult enclaves, with pencils sharpened for issuing tickets by the score to racist white hatey haters on sight.
From their Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a televised address on the day:
"... called on all Sri Lankans to remain united and act patiently.
“We have to ensure that terrorism does not lift its head in Sri Lanka, and we will take all measures to ensure terrorism is wiped out in this country. We also hail the three brave policemen who sacrificed their lives, and express condolences for all those who lost loved ones. We should hold our unity as Sri Lankans.”
From Defense Minister RuwanWijewardene:
"... several people have been arrested in connections to the attack. Subsequently, a van believed to have been used in the attacks was also taken into Police custody, along with a suspect, bringing the total arrested by Colombo Crimes Division to 13 at the time of going to press. ...
... confirmed that the attacks in Colombo Church and hotels were suicide attacks.
“Many of them are suicide attacks, we have not confirmed all details yet, ...
... appealed to the media not to reveal names of those who are believed to be connected to the attack, or to refer to the organisations connected.
“Do not publicise the name of the attackers, they will become heroes and be considered martyrs"Catholic leader Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm, Cardinal Ranjith:
"also strongly condemned the attacks and asked people of different religions to join to pray for all those who were killed and injured.
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... I like to request the Government to hold a very impartial and strong investigation as to who was responsible behind this act, and also to punish them, because only animals can behave like this. I wish to condemn this act in the strongest possible terms"Clearly he does not feel the same love for the religion of bits and pieces as Pope Fonzi.
From Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa:
“We vehemently condemn the unfortunate series of attacks that occurred on Easter, a sacred holiday for Catholics. ...
The Government must take action to safeguard the country from the unsafe situation the country is currently in. I also make this an opportunity to extend my deepest condolences towards the grieved Catholic families and communities, and shocked Sri Lankans. We share our grief with them.”It appears these people rather like what they have and will act decisively to keep it that way.
Our political and church leaders are not a bit like them. -
Herald is sinking to new lows. The lead story at the moment isn't about the tragic loss of life, or the motivations of the attackers. It's Katie Hopkins saying something about Jacinda Adern. Because that's what's important right now. Katie fucking Hopkins. Fuck media is just the pits these days.
Death toll up to 290 now. Just unbelievable.
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@No-Quarter said in Sri Lanka bombs:
Herald is sinking to new lows. The lead story at the moment isn't about the tragic loss of life, or the motivations of the attackers. It's Katie Hopkins saying something about Jacinda Adern. Because that's what's important right now. Katie fucking Hopkins. Fuck media is just the pits these days.
Death toll up to 290 now. Just unbelievable.
Just be thankful it’s not more news about fucken Notre Dame.
That has done quite a bit this week to convince me rich fluffybunnies are the pits too
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@Paekakboyz said in Sri Lanka bombs:
A friend is traveling over there at the moment. We know she's safe but there's always that worry aye. Terrible news. Humans have a horrible capacity to do shit things to each other.
My sister got there on Saturday and was set to join a tour on Sunday night. Luckily we got hold of her about 2 hours after the bombings, although it's proving a bit tricky to get hold of her since the social media ban went on (Whatsapp & Twitter) seem to still be working.
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@Smudge Popular location this time of the year. My sister and her friends opted for Philippines this year, my two pieces of advice as she left - stay the hell out of drug dens and churches!
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It's fair to say the world has a severe problem with radical Islam that isn't going away any time soon. This attack is on a massive scale but there's been a lot of serious attacks on churches recently. Fuck being a Christian if you don't live in the west. I don't know what the answer is, but I do know the reluctance of so many people to even critique Islam is not helping. I don't know how we can effect any meaningful reformation without an open dialogue about the problems with the religion in its current state.
I see so much obfuscation from world leaders when it comes to the attackers motivations, and I don't really understand why. The facts actually help reduce anti-Muslim bigotry as we can narrow in on the branches of Islam (E.G. Wahabbi/Salafi) that produce terrorists like this. It's incredibly frustrating.
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This vid is 5 minutes of questions. Title too dramatic, he just offers questions, not opinions
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I would be interested to know the exact details of this initiative.
This quote from Adern seems somewhat disingenuous: "The March 15 terrorist attacks saw social media used in an unprecedented way as a tool to promote an act of terrorism and hate"
Islamic terrorists have been using social media like this for years and years, spreading their message across all platforms and sharing countless videos of beheadings etc. Granted this was live streamed, but there have been many live streams like it before even if they didn't specifically utilise Facebooks live streaming service.
One of the Sri Lanka attackers had a YouTube channel where he espoused his medieval views unchecked, while other people like Tommy Robinson have been banned from everything. Does this initiative seek to address that? Will Islamic hate preachers be banned as well? Given the reference to March 15 while ignoring the weekly Islamic terrorist attacks I have my doubts.
This makes me uncomfortable - governments cannot be trusted with too much power, especially when it comes to speech. This could easily be used as a tool to shut down political opponents rather than actually doing anything about terrorism.
As always the devil will be in the details.
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A recent example of Islamic terrorists sharing pictures and videos all over social media. This is par for the course.
A graphic video purportedly showing Ms Jespersen's throat being slit, which was viewed this morning by news.com.au, is still being widely shared on numerous social media platforms despite pleas for the footage to be removed.https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12181174
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Also if you're looking for actual reasons for the attack, not the "it's a retaliation to Christchurch" crap (as if this was just a couple of weeks worth of planning) then you don't need to go any further than Saudi Arabian organisations funding Mosques around the world promoting their medieval 6th century Wahabbi interpretation of the Koran & Haddith. Exactly the kind of organisation the Christchurch Mosque rejected a few years back.
Wahabbi Islam has been growing in Sri Lanka for a while, hence groups like National Thowheed Jamath forming.
We can't allow organisations like that to fund and promote a death cult in our countries and then scratch our heads when an attack happens.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute cancer on the world. The sooner Elon moves us away from oil the better.
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@No-Quarter Interesting on the topic of Saudi and stopping terrorism, they aren't exactly blind to the cause in their country.
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/saudi-install-cameras-in-mosques-monitor-imams-573847.html
Of course its very easy to mix up terrorism and anti-government protest, nothing like a crucifixion at easter
Saudi prisoner 'executed and crucified'
The man was one of 37 people executed on charges of terrorism, an official statement says.
I have less than zero faith in the dream-team of Ardern and Macron in reducing terrorism. Can almost guarantee that they will come up with something that sounds nice and at best has zero effect but at worse strips the liberty of law abiding citizens and increases the risk of terrorism.
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@Rembrandt haha, the Saudi government spying on its own citizens, what a surprise.
The Salafi version of Sunni Islam is the official version of Islam in Saudi Arabia. That's the death cult that leads to by far the most terrorism among a host of other human rights abuses.
So you'll forgive me if I don't believe their government for a second when they talk about stopping the spread of "radical ideas".
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@No-Quarter said in Sri Lanka bombs:
@Rembrandt haha, the Saudi government spying on its own citizens, what a surprise.
The Salafi version of Sunni Islam is the official version of Islam in Saudi Arabia. That's the death cult that leads to by far the most terrorism among a host of other human rights abuses.
So you'll forgive me if I don't believe their government for a second when they talk about stopping the spread of "radical ideas".
You can't trust the Saudis or the Qataris. Odd behaviour for a supposed US ally
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@canefan said in Sri Lanka bombs:
You can't trust the Saudis or the Qataris. Odd behaviour for a supposed US ally
Oil reserves with flags.
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Take note dream-team. Sri Lanka already has this issue sorted. No more terrorism for them!
Is the ban a sign of things to come for social media firms unable to halt the spread of misinformation?
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This is a good article, he hits the nail on the head when he talks about people weighing in hard on issues they know the social justice left won't attack them on (another recent example is the Folau stuff), yet are mostly silent when it comes to talking about the serious problem of Islamic terrorism.
Persecuted Christians and Their Quiescent Leaders
After the Easter slaughter in Sri Lanka, why did bishops fail to stand up for their flock?
Last week, I wrote about the West’s unerring capacity for self-immolation. Forgive me for returning to the subject, but last weekend’s massacre in Sri Lanka has underscored how self-destructive our elites can be.
When 250 people were killed by suicide bombers, many of them as they attended Easter Sunday services, it was a harrowing reminder of the intensifying persecution of Christians around the world. The slaughter followed similar assaults in Nigeria, Egypt, Syria, Indonesia and a dozen other countries in the past year alone. According to a recent Pew Research study, Christians are the most widely harassed faithful on Earth. They were attacked for their religion in 144 countries in 2016, more than Muslims, Jews or any other group.
So you would think that the latest horror might induce the official Christian leadership to speak out in defense of their people. John Sentamu, the archbishop of York—the second-highest-ranking cleric in the Anglican communion—had an opportunity. Interviewed on the BBC on Monday, he was asked if this was now a moment to plant a flag for Christians who find themselves under siege.
The archbishop whiffed. “Violence of any sort, to any community, any group, is totally unacceptable. The flag I want to fly is a flag of peace,” he said. Along with the Catholic cardinal of Colombo, he wanted to “ask Christians to refrain from taking any retributory steps against their Muslim brothers.”
One of the most prominent pastors in the world, faced with the scattering of his flock by a pack of murderous wolves, manages to avoid blaming the perpetrators for the carnage and actually worries aloud that the problem might actually be the Christians. Quite a feat after 300 or so of your coreligionists have been blown to bits by supporters of a fanatical religious ideology. Jesus wept, as the Bible tells us.
Why does this keep happening? To be fair, part of the explanation is that this is the very essence of the Christian message: Turn the other cheek. Find the beam in our own eye before pointing to the mote in others. As a creed for individual living, it is imperfectible. But for an entire community under attack, it’s a recipe for self-extinction.
Christian leaders in the West are afraid to upset the politically correct crowd who control the media.
According to another Anglican bishop, Philip Mountstephen of Truro, who is leading a church inquiry into the rising persecution of Christians, the reason for the widespread reluctance among leaders—religious and secular—to take the continuing war against Christians seriously is a lingering sense of historical responsibility. “There is a lot of postcolonial guilt around a residual sense that the Christian faith is an expression of white Western privilege,” he told the Times of London.
This would be absurd even if the people who were being murdered in their hundreds each year were indeed wealthy white Christians in stately homes and colonial mansions. Yet, as the bishop went on to point out, the vast majority of Christians suffering today aren’t white wealthy Westerners. Most are from the relatively poor global South: Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America. To their already unsupportable lot of grinding poverty, they must add the risk of being assaulted by governments, religious vigilantes, gangs and others.
To compound their plight, it seems many Christian leaders in the West are so afraid to upset the politically correct crowd who control the media and cultural establishment that they won’t even speak out. These clerics often find it more congenial to weigh in forcefully on other issues of pressing concern, where they know they’re in no danger of losing invitations for TV interviews and fancy premieres.
I would respectfully suggest to the bishops of the Anglican persuasion—and quite a few of their Catholic brethren too—that however serious and acute you might think the threat of climate change or workplace discrimination, the larger and more immediate threat to Christians in many parts of the world is that they might not get through their next church service without someone dispatching them to eternity to shouts of “Allahu akbar.”
Addressing the rising threat of persecution will require concerted and complex action, policies enacted by governments to isolate and pursue the murderers and those who abet them, and direct support of threatened communities. None of that will be easy. But surely it must start with a willingness by church leaders to call the threat what it is.
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@Rembrandt I'm all for freedom of expression, but the fact is it is mainly the Salafis that mandate the burqa or niqab so it is a good indicator of fundamental Islam. The ban is really just attacking a symptom rather than the cause though.
