Saturday, September 3, 2016

UCG Quoting Breitbart News

In a previous post we saw how PCG has quoted from Breitbart News. Recently as part of the ongoing presidential campaign this media outlet has gained attention as a hub for a subculture of the political right named the alt-right. Furthermore the chief editor of this media outlet, Stephen Bannon, has become the campaign manager for Trump's presidential campaign. Media reports have emerged about Bannon being charged (but not convicted) of domestic violence in 1996 and of making anti-Semitic comments.

Let us take a look at UCG's quotations of Breitbart News. As it turns out UCG's main website cites this media outlet in nine articles since 2007. UCG's affiliate blogs cite this media outlet in nine posts since 2011. (Two quotations listed here are on the same webpage.)

UCG Quoting Breitbart

In this post only quotes from UCG's main website is quoted. Citations from affiliate blogs are omitted.

UCG first quoted this media outlet in a December 2007 article discussing a National Intelligence Estimate that concluded that Iran had abandoned attempts to make nuclear weapons in 2003.
Here, according to AP (via Breitbart News ), is Israel's view of whether Iran's nuclear weapons program is proceeding: (Darris McNeely, Iran is Not Building a Nuclear Bomb?, December 4, 2007.)
After this this media outlet is not cited until 2011 when it is mentioned in an article discussing an advance in electronic technology.
Scientists at Northwestern University in Illinois, along with a team of international researchers, have developed an electronic skin tattoo, called an epidermal electronic system (EES), that temporarily sticks to skin and could potentially be used to monitor health conditions, to interact with computer games or for covert operations. ... (“Electronic Skin Tattoo Has Medical, Gaming, Spy Uses,” Breitbart.com, Aug. 11, 2011). (Amanda Stiver, Tiny Technology, November 3, 2011.)
This media outlet is cited again in a similar vein in April 2012.
Though tablets are very popular, ergonomic testing has not yet caught up with their widespread proliferation so as to provide recognized guidelines for promoting healthy user posture (“Can Tablets Give You a Pain in the Neck?” Breitbart.com, Jan. 25, 2012). (Amanda Stiver, Tablet Posture, April 20, 2012.)
In March 2013 UCG released an article that cited at length an interview from this media outlet of Walid Phares. Disturbingly no mention is made of the fact that Phares used to be an ideologue of the Phalangists, a Maronite Christian based sectarian faction in Lebanon during the terrible civil war of 1975-91. Is it really a good thing to listen to a man who was involved in such things?
This reflects a disturbing realignment in U.S. foreign policy. When Lebanese-born Middle East expert Walid Phares was asked in a recent interview to expand on his statement that “everyone in Washington knows Obama supports the Muslim Brotherhood,” he offered this stunning response: [Cites a quotation from Phares lasting six paragraphs ending with the following footnote:] ....(interview with Jennifer Hanin, “How Does Egypt Regain Its Once-Coveted Status? … Part I,” Breitbart.com, Dec. 17, 2012). (Tom Robinson, Puzzling U.S. Support for Islamists Over Moderates, March 3, 2013.)
 In October 2014 UCG cited this media outlet in condemning an incident at school.
School officials in southern Florida “banned a fifth grader from reading the Bible during 'free reading' time” (Breitbart.com, “FL Teacher Banned Bible From 'Free Reading' Time in Classroom,” May 5, 2014). (Tom Robinson, Banning the Mention of God in Public Life, October 31, 2014.)
In January 2015 UCG's Tom Robinson once again cited this media outlet while discussing lone wolf attacks by Al Qaeda like extremists.
Breitbart News recently listed a number of other attacks by such “lone wolves” since 2006 in which individual Muslim men killed eight people and injured many others in attacks that included beheadings, shootings, knifings and driving a car into a crowd of people (Ben Shapiro, “7 Other Lone Wolf Islamic Attacks Inside the U.S.,” Sept. 28, 2014). (Tom Robinson, Warnings to the West, January 7, 2015.)
In June 2015 UCG cited this media outlet in insisting that transgender people are suffering from a mental disorder. Outside of UCG's information bubble the American Psychiatric Association does not view it as a mental disorder.
Breitbart news noted that as a pushback, on June 3, 2015, “the Wall Street Journal’s online edition promoted a June 2014 op-ed by Dr. Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at John Hopkins Hospital, which argues that transgender identity is a mental illness akin to bulimia and should not be treated with surgery, which can cause more harm than good” (Joel Pollak, “WSJ Promotes Op-Ed Claiming Transgender Identity is a Mental Disorder,” June 3, 2015). ... 
Breitbart notes that when the op-ed was originally published, “the left reacted in fury,” some labeling McHugh’s views “transphobic” and a form of “science denialism.” Yet it is those who support transgenderism who are in denial of science and reality in their drive to completely redefine family relationships. And sadly, the public is more and more willing to comply. (Sources: Breitbart, New York Post , The Wall Street Journal .) (Tom Robinson, Staying off the transgender-promoting bandwagon, June 22, 2015.)
In March 2016 Robinson once again cites this media outlet. This time it is to scare monger that the usurping murderers and terrorists of ISIL may help bring UCG's false prophecies to be fulfilled by insinuating that ISIL may advance into the State of Israel. At present this is an absurd and unlikely fear.
Then a recording from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State, warned: “Jews, soon you shall hear from us in Palestine which will become your grave … [Allah] has gathered you in Palestine so that the Mujahadeen [Islamist fighters] can reach you soon … Palestine will be your graveyard” (quoted by Aaron Klein, “Islamic State Leader Baghdadi Threatens West, Vows to Turn Israel Into ‘Graveyard’ in Rare Message,” Breitbart.com, Dec. 26, 2015). (Tom Robinson, Islamist forces inch closer to Israel and Jordan, March 2, 2016.)
In July 2016 UCG cited this media outlet in an article that discussed events in Britain and promoted the inaccurate dogma of British Israelism.
Yet despite the growing influence of right-wing Islam, the country’s moral underpinnings are tied most strongly to the secular humanist movement. This was displayed prominently recently when London’s new mayor Sadiq Khan, himself raised Muslim, flew the rainbow flag from city hall to honor the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (Donna Edmunds, “Muslim Mayor of London Flies Rainbow Flag From City Hall,” Breitbart, May 17, 2016). (Milan Bizic, What Made Britain Great? And How Did It All Go Wrong?, July 18, 2016.)

UCG Affiliate Blogs

UCG's website also hosts affiliate blogs connected to a specific congregation of UCG which may be seen below. With the exception of Tom Fahey's July 3, 2015 quote the following quotes are from L. Jim Tuck's newsletter as quoted on these UCG affiliated blogs.
March 10, 2011 Breitbart.com reported: “The UN on Thursday expressed alarm at a huge decline in bee colonies under a multiple onslaught of pests and pollution, urging an international effort to save the pollinators that are vital for food crops. (UCG Sacramento, UN Alarmed at Huge Decline in Bee Numbers, March 12, 2011.) 
March 10, 2011 Breitbart.com reported: “Nouriel Roubini, the economist who correctly predicted the global financial crisis, warned on Thursday that some advanced economies could experience a double dip recession if the price of oil climbs to $140 a barrel. (UCG Sacramento, Economist Warns of Double Dip Recession if Oil Hits $140, March 12, 2011.) 
April 26, 2011 Breitbart.com reported: “The euro struck a 16-month high against the dollar and the Swiss franc notched a record high versus the US unit Tuesday amid heightened investor nerves over this week's busy economic calendar. (UCG Sacramento, Euro Strikes 16-Month High Against Dollar, April 30, 2011.) 
June 14, 2011 Breitbart.com reported: “French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Tuesday for tighter controls on the speculators he blames for soaring food and energy prices threatening global growth. Saying the world had "worked extremely hard" to revive growth in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Sarkozy said "one of the main threats to growth is the rising cost of commodities." (UCG Sacramento, Sarkozy Warns of Soaring Commodity Prices, June 18, 2011.) 
April 7, 2014 Breitbart.com reported: A new study on the economic power of the world's nations has named China as the 'most powerful nation' on its 'world market power' index. The report was issued by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) as part of its Emerging and Growth-Leading Economies (EAGLEs) research project tracking the world's leading nations. BBVA feels that China has the most influence on the world's economies. (UCG Oakland, Study: China World's Most Powerful Nation, April 12, 2014.) 
April 22, 2014 Breitbart.com reported: “In Nigeria, 234 Christian schoolgirls abducted; a Jesuit priest shot in the head outside his house in Homs, Syria; a young Christian woman dragged from her car in Egypt and beaten to death… These are some of the latest stories of Christians being hunted, tortured, or executed at the hands of Islamists.
Stories such as these are increasingly finding their way into the American media, and Americans are showing a growing concern for the persecuted church, but policymakers seem slow to respond. Not only is the United States government virtually silent on the issue of the worsening plight of Christians globally, but in three countries where Christians are currently most under siege – Syria, Egypt, and Nigeria – U.S. policy is actually exacerbating the situation”...” (UCG Honolulu, War on Christians: The Politics of Persecution, April 26, 2014.) 
March 11, 2015 Breitbart.com reported: “Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC), the chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, released a manual to help Americans prepare for terrorist attacks and cybercrimes. (UCG San Jose, Task Force Chair: Terror Cells Are In the US, Americans Should Prepare, March 14, 2015.) 
Breitbart contributor Thomas D. Williams reported on Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent to the decision: “In his nine-page dissent, Scalia ripped into the majority opinion, calling it a ‘judicial Putsch’ [a secret plot to suddenly overthrow a government] that poses a ‘threat to American democracy.’ He added that a ‘system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy.’ The Court’s ‘naked judicial claim to legislative—indeed, super-legislative—power’ bulldozed the right of the People to self-government, said Scalia, who then turned to the peculiarly unrepresentative composition of the Supreme Court itself.” (Tom Fahey, UCG Chicago, Pastor's Update, July 3, 2015.) 
June 4, 2015 Breitbart.com reported: “The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), in the latest edition of its propaganda magazine, indicated that it could purchase a nuclear weapon in Pakistan, take it to Nigeria, and then smuggle it into the U.S. through Mexico by using existing trafficking networks in Latin America. (UCG Oakland, Dabiq: ISIS Could Transport Nuke from Nigeria Into U.S. Through Mexico, June 6, 2015.) 
August 13, 2015 Breitbart.com reported: “Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met Wednesday in Lebanon with Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah, in which the two discussed how the nuke deal recently agreed upon between Iran and the United States and world powers creates an opportunity for Tehran’s regional allies to ‘face threats posed by the Zionist entity,’ Hezbollah’s Al Manar media outlet reported. (UCG San Jose, Nuke Deal Provides ‘Historic Opportunity’ To Confront Isreal, Iran FM Tells Hezbollah Terror Chief, August 15, 2015.)
And so it is quite evident that UCG's leaders are quite trusting of this media outlet.

2 comments:

  1. "In June 2015 UCG cited this media outlet in insisting that transgender people are suffering from a mental disorder."

    Don't know about that, but believing in British Israelism might lead to a tragedy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for bringing attention to that tragic incident. It is much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete