Meet Gisele Marie, The Niqab-Clad Heavy Metal Guitarist From Brazil

Gisele Marie, is a Brazil-based heavy metal guitarist who also happens to be a Muslim niqab-wearing convert. Yes indeedy, she was allegedly born to Catholic German parents in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 42 years ago, found her way to Wicca, and then converted to Islam in 2009 after her dad died.

"Spectrus" is her brothers heavy metal band, and she's been playing with them since 2012, though it appears she has recently parted ways and has started her own ban with a 2016 release of a new album.

Gisele Marie says of her:

“People do not expect to see a Muslim woman who uses a Burqa, practices the religion properly and is a professional guitarist who plays in a Heavy Metal band. " “So many people are shocked by it, but other people are curious and find it interesting, and others think that it is cool.

Surely she should know that those who are so uber devout that they feel the need to wear a niqab or burqa also believe that music is haram (forbidden) in their religion.

It's probably a gimmick, and she's probably a man. Check her out.

Clip about Gisele Marie here, if you can bear to listen to the music.

Photos and more on her story.

Clown Wins Congressional Seat In Brazil- Beats 3 "Osama Bin Ladens" "Jesus" and 5 "barack Obama's In Brazilian Election

It seems Brazilians aren't too happy with their political system when a clown named Tiririca (Grumpy) gets to spend another four years in congress. He apparently received one million votes this time around.  Not too shabby considering he garnered the second-highest amount of votes of any other candidate on the ballot.

Triririca was first elected to represent Sao Paulo in 2010, winning the most votes of any candidate in the country after running on the slogan "It can't get any worse."

Illiterate at the time, he had to learn to write his name to start his new job.

In four years, he never spoke on the floor, but had one of the best attendance records in the lower house.

His success spawned a flood of protest and gag candidacies in Brazil, where those standing for office can register under any name they like.

Political analysts say these candidacies are the symptom of frustration with corruption scandals and political gridlock in Brazil, Latin America's largest democracy.

On the same ballot were three Osama Bin Ladens, one Jesus, one Wonder Woman, one Rambo, a Hamburger Face, and five Barack Obamas.  None of the Obamas won.

As for a clown winning- we could say we have plenty of those in our government, and one in the White House.

Boycott Israel Hits Brazilian Art Scene

Looks like the Boycott Israel movement has hit Brazil. ISIS is spreading like cancer, bringing with it death and destruction, but artists in Sao Paulo, Brazil, are more concerned about dissing Israel which engaged in a war (not genocide) to protect its citizens. And those citizens don't happen to be only Jews.

Apparently, the Israeli consulate in Sao Paolo donated $40,000 to the 31st Art Biennial- as sponsors- and over 50 artists are demanding that the money be returned.

The biennial, which started in 1951 and is the second oldest art biennial in the world after Venice, dating back to 1895, is scheduled to open its doors next Saturday.

[snip]

An artist from Ramallah, Ruanne Abou-Rahme, due to exhibit at the show with fellow Palestinian Basel Abbas, was among some 60 signatories to an open letter to organizers, prompting Globo daily Saturday to dub the event the "Biennial of conflict."

Three Israeli artists are set to feature with around 70 participants in total at this year's event. The exhibition's website shows the Israeli consulate, which could not be reached for comment Saturday, as a sponsor.

The Consul-general Yoel Barnea said:

"We are democratic -- there are different points of view in our country," said Barnea, adding he did not want to see culture and politics mix. He insisted the sponsorship would not be withdrawn and that he planned to attend the show.

There was no word as to whether the artists would actually boycott.

Is it so hard to keep politics out of the arts and sports?

Iranian Diplomat Fired After Groping Young Girls In Brazil

Hekmatollah Ghorbani, a 51-year-old Iranian diplomat stationed in Brazil, has been fired for groping some young nine to 15 year-old girls in a swimming pool in the capital Brasilia last month. Iran's foreign ministry issued the following statement:

“After an investigation into the violations by the Iranian employee of the Iranian embassy in Brazil, it was found his behavior was contrary to administrative regulations and Islamic conduct ... thus he was dismissed.”

He was initially arrested after he made the little girls cry, but as per regulations for diplomatic immunity (once his status was verified) he was immediately released.
At first, the Iranian Embassy tried to justify the obvious pedophilia as a "cultural misunderstanding" which, in reality, is partially the truth. Well, cultural AND religious misunderstanding; after all, their Prophet's most beloved wife, Aisha, was a mere nine year's old, and underage marriage is quite common in many Muslim-majority countries. Of course, that doesn't explain the fact that he fondled young girls he wasn't 'married' to.
This kind of incident always mortifies the holier-than-thou Muslims who aren't supposed to even mix with other genders in pools. Al Arabiya mentions that gender-mixing in swimming pools in Iran is expressly forbidden, and that Iranian diplomats (and others representing Iran) need to follow those same Islamic rules while living in the West.

Ramin Mehmanparast, of the Iranian foreign ministry, said that Ghorbani would be "dealt with" upon his return to Iran, but I'm sure he'll probably just get a slap on the wrist for causing them grief, but that's about it. Iranian prisons are reserved for political dissidents, adulterers, and homosexuals who all wind up dead, eventually. Pedophiles? Nah. Had they been little boys, however, he'd be in big trouble.

Mehmanparast, of course, also had to mention that the whole affair was, in essence, being "twisted by Western and Arab media."

Iran Refuses Brazil's Offer Of Asylum For Woman Sentenced To Death By Stoning

 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian widow and mother of two, was scheduled to be stoned to death for allegedly committing adultery, an unproven allegation that she vehemently denies. After a global campaign to stop her execution, Iranian officials begrudgingly did, but who knows for how long. There are those who think she might eventually be hanged, given the Iranian government's penchant for blood. But whether she's stoned or hanged is irrelevant. Yes, adultery is considered morally wrong by most religions, but  does it warrant a death sentence? Only in the barbaric realm of Shariah law, where even a widow or a single person is considered to have committed adultery if they have sexual relations outside of marriage.  Even if she was guilty of committing adultery, that is an issue between Sakineh and her God, not for any 'man' to judge.  Apparently, she was coerced into confessing after being brutally flogged, but she swears she is not guilty.

The whole world has rallied to save this woman, but I'm sure it's only made the rogue leaders of Iran  dig  their heels in even harder. Brazil very kindly stepped up to the plate and has offered asylum to Sakineh, a great opportunity for the Iranians to show their mercy, but they refused the offer, just proving how cruel and inhumane they are.

Despite international pressure, Iran said Tuesday that it rejects Brazil's offer of asylum for an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva proposed Saturday to give sanctuary to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose case has garnered global attention.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Lula lacked sufficient information about the case, the state news agency Agencia Brasil said.

Iranian human rights activists, along with other human rights organizations across the globe, have been tirelessly campaigning for her release, but nothing seems to have helped other than postponing the inevitable death of an innocent woman.

Meanwhile, a human rights activist who has taken up Ashtiani's case penned a letter to Lula, saying that his offer was an "important step" in saving Ashtiani from undue punishment.

Mina Ahadi of the International Committee against Stoning said the campaign to save Ashtiani's life will continue. She said she hopes Brazil and other governments will keep up pressure on the Islamic regime in Tehran, which she said rules through fear and punishment and should not be recognized by the international community.

"Allow me, as a representative of the oppressed people in Iran, to say that I not only want to save Sakineh and abolish stoning, but that I also ask all heads of state not to recognise the Islamic regime as the representative of the Iranian people but to see it as the murderer of people in Iran," Ahadi wrote in her letter to Lula.

And even though Brazil and Iran have one of the few existing semi-cordial relationships in the global sphere, refusing Lula's offer is a slap in the face of those improved relations.

What harm could there have been in shipping Sakineh and her children off to Brazil? It might have made the Iranian government look a tad better, but they don't really care what others think. So they'll continue to persecute and execute innocent people, because they can.