Reader supplied links for Sept. 3 – 2015

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In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

85 Replies to “Reader supplied links for Sept. 3 – 2015”

    • Former staffer who assisted Clinton with email will plead the Fifth to Congress

      A former State Department employee who helped then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with her personal server and email account will invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to appear before the House Benghazi Committee.

      Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, issued a subpoena last month requesting that the former staffer, Bryan Pagliano, appear before the committee for a deposition on September 10. Pagliano informed Gowdy of his decision to assert his Fifth Amendment rights in a letter he sent earlier this week

      more :
      http://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-staffer-who-assisted-clinton-with-email-will-plead-the-fifth-to-congress/

    • OT
      Hi Richard-
      Just taking a few hours off for myself – and head directly – home – here. This isn’t an echo chamber, but it’s a safe place with some very good people. Who happen to be right, correct, in the way we observe current reality.

      Quakers are not the kind of Friends they like to think they are. I’d have done better with Pentecostals, but they’re already on our side, the Good Guys.

  1. Hungarian PM: Migrant crisis ‘is a German problem’ (BBC, video, Sept 3, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34136332

    “The European Union has urged Hungary to find a common solution to the problem of migrants trying to reach northern Europe.

    Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban says he will enforce strict control of his borders as hundreds of migrants gather at the country’s main international railway station.

    At a news conference with the president of the European Parliament, Mr Orban said it was not Hungary’s fault that many of the migrants wanted to travel to Germany, describing the migrant crisis as “a German problem”.

    The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, warned of a deep split in the European Union if countries did not co-ordinate their response to the migrant crisis.”

  2. Hungary Blasts EU on Migration; Chaos at Budapest Station (abcnews, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/migrants-flood-budapest-rail-station-trains-west-33498406

    “Hungary’s leader railed Thursday at Germany and EU leaders for lacking urgency in dealing with Europe’s migrant crisis as chaos reigned back home, where migrants by the hundreds dashed into Budapest’s main train station after police stopped blocking its entrance.

    In a swirl of confusion, the migrants piled into trains at the Keleti station in the Hungarian capital despite announcements that there was no service to Western Europe. Hungary’s railway company said it had suspended all direct trains from the Hungarian capital to western destinations “in the interests of railway transport security.”

    Police later peacefully cleared roughly 900 migrants from one train, many of whom sat down on the platforms to wait. Another train then left with migrants, stopping in the town of Bicske, 35 kilometers (22 miles) west of Budapest, where one of Hungary’s refugee camps is located. Scuffles between police and migrants then broke out at the Bicske station, as migrants refused to go to the camp….”

  3. Hungary to Deploy Military to ‘Defend’ Border From Migrants: PM (nbcnews, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/europes-border-crisis/hungary-deploy-military-defend-border-migrants-pm-n420831

    “Hungary’s prime minister plans to deploy the military as part of a crackdown on migrants and human traffickers in coming weeks and blames Germany for the influx through his country.

    Arriving in Brussels for talks about the crisis, Viktor Orban said the Hungarian parliament is pushing through new measures “that will create a new legal situation at the borders, even more strict than it was.”

    Asked by The Associated Press whether the military will be deployed to defend Hungary’s borders, he said: “Yes.”

    Orban said in Brussels that the migrant “problem is not a European problem, the problem is a German problem, nobody would like to stay in Hungary.”…”

  4. Head of UN Investigative Panel on Syria Calls IS ‘Desperate’ (abcnews, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-2000-fleeing-syrians-drowned-mediterranean-33500355

    “The head of a U.N. panel on Syria says the Islamic State group appears “desperate” and is losing ground to Kurdish fighters who are battling the radical group “on behalf of humanity.”

    Paulo Sergio Pinheiro made the comments to The Associated Press after the panel issued a report Thursday saying Islamic State group has taken to tactics such as hit-and-run attacks and suicide car-bombings following battlefield losses to Kurdish fighters backed by U.S.-led coalition air power.

    The 25-page report — and the 10th of its kind by the panel — offered few major new insights into a grinding 4½-year war, which it said has “no end in sight.”

    This edition focuses more on highlighting the immense suffering of Syrian civilians. Some 250,000 people have been killed, according to U.N. officials.”

  5. Middle East wars deprive 13m children of education – UN (BBC, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34136074

    “The UN has said that conflicts in the Middle East are depriving more than 13 million children of an education.

    The UN children’s fund, Unicef, says in a new report that the hopes of a generation across the Middle East and North Africa are being shattered.

    It says that in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, almost 9,000 schools are not able to be used for education.

    Unicef also documented scores of attacks on schools and teachers across the region.

    Peter Salama, regional director for Unicef in the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The destructive impact of conflict is being felt by children right across the region.

    “It’s not just the physical damage being done to schools, but the despair felt by a generation of schoolchildren who see their hopes and futures shattered.”…”

    • Schools operating under UN auspices promote hate, teach incitement. Always.

      Sometimes they’re also useful as weapons depots. They’re perfect launch sites for offensive missles. Kids as human shields, courtesy of the UN. The more dead kids, the better.

  6. Iran’s Top Leader: No Nuclear Deal Unless Sanctions Lifted (abcnews, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/irans-top-leader-nuclear-deal-sanctions-lifted-33501408

    “Iran’s supreme leader said Thursday “there will be no deal” if world powers insist on suspending rather than lifting sanctions as part of a landmark nuclear agreement, and said it is up to Iran’s parliament, and not him, to approve or reject it.

    His remarks, read aloud by a state TV anchorman, mark the first official comment on the deal since U.S. President Barack Obama secured enough support to prevent the Republican-led Congress from blocking it.

    Khamenei has yet to express a clear opinion on the deal clinched in July, which would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from crippling sanctions.

    Khamenei said some U.S. officials have spoken of the “suspension” of sanctions, which he said is unacceptable….”

  7. ‘Militants’ killed in Kashmir battle (BBC, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34136216

    “At least five suspected militants have been killed in two separate gun battles with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, authorities say. Two Indian soldiers were also killed in the incidents in Kupwara and Sopore areas early on Thursday. Police say at least 60 militants have been killed by security forces in the disputed region in recent months….”

  8. Migrant crisis: Why Syrians do not flee to Gulf states (BBC, Sep 2, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34132308

    “As the crisis brews over Syrian refugees trying to enter European countries, questions have been raised over why they are not heading to wealthy Gulf states closer to home.

    Although those fleeing the Syrian crisis have for several years been crossing into Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey in huge numbers, entering other Arab states – especially in the Gulf – is far less straightforward.

    Officially, Syrians can apply for a tourist visa or work permit in order to enter a Gulf state.
    But the process is costly, and there is a widespread perception that many Gulf states have unwritten restrictions in place that it make it hard for Syrians to be granted a visa in practice.

    Most successful cases are Syrians already in Gulf states extending their stays, or those entering because they have family there.

    For those with limited means, there is the added matter of the sheer physical distance between Syria and the Gulf.

    Not welcome?

    This comes as part of wider obstacles facing Syrians, who are required to obtain rarely granted visas to enter almost all Arab countries.

    Without a visa, Syrians are not currently allowed to enter Arab countries except for Algeria, Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen.

    The relative wealth and proximity to Syria of the states has led many – in both social and as well as traditional media – to question whether these states have more of a duty than Europe towards Syrians suffering from over four years of conflict and the emergence of jihadist groups in the country.

    The Arabic hashtag #Welcoming_Syria’s_refugees_is_a_Gulf_duty has been used more than 33,000 times on Twitter in the past week.

    Users have posted powerful images to illustrate the plight of Syrian refugees, with photos of people drowned at sea, children being carried over barbed wire, or families sleeping rough.

    A Facebook page called The Syrian Community in Denmark has shared a video showing migrants being allowed to enter Austria from Hungary, prompting one user to ask: “How did we flee from the region of our Muslim brethren, which should take more responsibility for us than a country they describe as infidels?”

    Another user replied: “I swear to the Almighty God, it’s the Arabs who are the infidels.”
    ‘Let them in!’

    The story has also attracted the attention of regional press and political actors.

    The Saudi daily Makkah Newspaper published a cartoon – widely shared on social media – that showed a man in traditional Gulf clothing looking out of a door with barbed wire around it and pointing at door with the EU flag on it.

    “Why don’t you let them in, you discourteous people?!” he says.

    The commander of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA), Riyad al-Asaad, retweeted an image of refugees posted by a former Kuwaiti MP, Faisal al-Muslim, who had added the comment: “Oh countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, these are innocent people and I swear they are most deserving of billions in aid and donations.”

    But despite the appeals from social media, Gulf states’ position seems unlikely to shift in favour of Syrian refugees.

    In terms of employment, the trend in most Gulf states, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE is towards relying on migrant workers from South-East Asia and the Indian subcontinent, particularly for unskilled labour.

    While non-Gulf Arabs do occupy positions in skilled mid-ranking jobs, for example in education and health, they are up against a “nationalisation” drive whereby the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments in particular are seeking to prioritise the employment of locals.

    Non-native residents may also struggle to create stable lives in these countries as it is near impossible to gain nationality.

    In 2012, Kuwait even announced an official strategy to reduce the number of foreign workers in the emirate by a million over 10 years…”

    • Why flee to an Arabic country where you would have to find work when you can go to Europe where you will get generous welfare and help weaken Europe for the Jihadists?

      • And Arabs know better. They just say no.

        Shouldn’t that inform some of these clueless Eurodupes? Why should Merkel – or any of the others – take these Mohounds of Hell?

  9. Member of Dutch Air Force May Have Joined Islamic State (abcnews, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/member-dutch-air-force-joined-islamic-state-33502144

    “The Netherlands’ Defense Ministry announced Thursday that a serving member of the Dutch air force may have traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State group.

    The ministry released little information about the case, saying only that it was a 26-year-old air force sergeant who has now been suspended from service. It said the suspect’s access to “information, systems and military sites” had been revoked.

    “The case is currently being investigated by the Public Prosecutor,” the ministry said. “The defense ministry will of course investigate any risks or damage associated with the sergeant’s position and takes any necessary and appropriate measures.”

    Dutch military authorities are investigating radicalization within the ranks. They stressed that traveling overseas to join IS is a crime in the Netherlands. The case would mark the first time a serving member of the Dutch armed forces has gone to Syria to join IS.

    Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis Plasschaert said in a statement it is “unpleasant if it turns out that somebody has joined up with evil while colleagues risk their lives for other people’s freedom.””

  10. French Farmers Stage 1,000-Strong Tractor Protest in Paris (abcnews, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/french-farmers-stage-1000-strong-tractor-protest-paris-33497026

    “More than 1,000 tractors — and a few cows — descended on Paris on Thursday in a boisterous protest by farmers who blocked highways to express their anger over falling prices for their goods and high taxes.

    They’re facing increasingly slim margins they blame on cheap imports and high payroll charges, which they say make them unable to compete against producers in Germany and Eastern Europe. The farmers are seeking tax breaks from the French government and EU action.

    Andie Le Mellionnec, 59, has run a dairy farm in western France for 40 years. Sporting a red hat, traditional to his home region of Brittany, and a Breton flag as a cape, he said his problem “is not whether France is a competitor or not. My problem is simply to live — meaning to feed my family, my kids.”

    Tractors spray-painted with “Anger” or “Enough Bureaucracy” trundled Thursday morning along major arteries to the French capital and headed toward the Place de la Nation in eastern Paris. Some farmers headed to Parliament later in the day…..”

  11. BBC News – Radicals: The man with no passport –

    Abdul Muhid does not have a passport – nor does his wife. He was arrested in September on suspicion of membership of a proscribed organisation, he’s now on bail and had the passports as well as numerous other items confiscated from his home. Abdul has friends who have gone to live under the so-called Islamic State and believes they have every right to. He is unable to leave the country and says his bail conditions are controlling him. His bail conditions initially barred him from propagating Islam and associating with certain people. The interviews were part of a series of reports by Catrin Nye about radicals.

  12. REUTERS Hungary and Bulgaria have made enquiries to Israel about the design of its border barriers with Egypt –

    Faced with a surge in migration from the Middle East and North Africa, two European countries are exploring the possibility of erecting towering steel security fences along parts of their borders, similar to Israel’s barrier with Egypt.

    Hungary and Bulgaria have made preliminary inquiries about buying the Israeli-designed fences, according to an Israeli business source who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the discussions.

    Both EU countries are beefing up their borders to deter migrants, many of them refugees from wars, who are seeking to use them as gateways to richer countries further north and west, particularly Germany.

    But moves to throw up such barriers – which could be around 5-6 meters (15-20 feet) high, topped with razor wire and equipped with cameras and motion sensors – would evoke memories of Cold War-era divisions in Europe and exasperate EU officials who say they would not help to solve the crisis.

    Bulgarian and Hungarian officials indicated that such discussions about security fences were taking place.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/03/us-europe-migrants-israel-fences-idUSKCN0R31GE20150903

  13. Erdogan slams EU over Mediterranean ‘migrant cemetery’

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday lashed out at EU states for turning the Mediterranean into a “cemetery” for migrants, accusing Europe of being responsible for every migrant’s death.

    “European countries, which turned the Mediterranean Sea — the cradle of ancient civilisations — into a migrant cemetery are party to the crime that takes place when each refugee loses their life,” Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara.

    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/139598/World/Region/Erdogan-slams-EU-over-Mediterranean-migrant-cemete.aspx

    • Family of Syrian toddler on Turkish beach tried to reach Canada: Report

      The family of a Syrian toddler whose body washed up on a Turkish beach had been trying to emigrate to Canada after fleeing the war-torn town of Kobani, one of their relatives told a Canadian newspaper on Thursday.

      A photograph of the tiny body of three-year old Aylan Kurdi washed up in the Aegean resort of Bodrum swept social media on Wednesday, spawning sympathy and outrage at the perceived inaction of developed nations in helping refugees.

      His 5-year-old brother Galip and mother Rehan, 35, also died after their boat capsized while trying to reach the Greek island of Kos. His father, Abdullah, was found semi-conscious and taken to hospital near Bodrum, according to Turkey’s Sabah newspaper.

      “I heard the news at five o’clock this morning,” Teema Kurdi, Abdullah’s sister and a resident of Vancouver, was quoted as saying by Canada’s National Post newspaper. Teema had been contacted by the wife of one of Abdullah’s brothers.

      “She had got a call from Abdullah, and all he said was, my wife and two boys are dead,” Teema said.

      Abdullah, his wife and two children had made a privately-sponsored refugee application to the Canadian authorities that was rejected in June because of complications with applications from Turkey, the newspaper quoted Teema as saying.

      “I was trying to sponsor them, and I have my friends and my neighbours who helped me with the bank deposits, but we couldn’t get them out, and that is why they went in the boat,” she said.

      “I was even paying rent for them in Turkey, but it is horrible the way they treat Syrians there.”

      Turkey has won international praise for taking in 2 million refugees since the Syrian civil war began in March 2011, spending $6 billion caring for them and receiving just $400 million in outside aid.

      But it has warned it is reaching capacity, and thousands are now making the perilous journey by boat from Turkey to Greece in a bid to enter Europe.

      Kobani, a town in northern Syria near the Turkish border, was the scene of heavy fighting between Islamic State insurgents and Kurdish regional forces several months ago.

      Tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war in their homeland have descended on Turkey’s Aegean coast this summer to board boats to Greece.

      The Turkish army said its search and rescue teams had saved hundreds of migrants in the seas between Turkey and Greek islands over the last few days.

      Abdullah’s family were among at least 12 presumed Syrian refugees who died trying to reach Kos after two boats, carrying a total of 23 people, set off separately from the Akyarlar area of the Bodrum peninsula, a naval official said.

      The UN refugee agency estimates that almost 160,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Greece by sea since the start of last year. In July more than 50,000 people, mostly Syrians, arrived in Greece compared with 43,500 in the whole of 2014.

      The agency has repeated calls for Greece and the European Union to take steps to address the situation.

      http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/139576/World/Region/Family-of-Syrian-toddler-on-Turkish-beach-tried-to.aspx

      CNN Image shows 3-year-old who washed ashore

    • The Latest: Canada: Syria family didn’t file refugee request
      September 3, 2015

      Canada has denied it received a refugee application for the Syrian family that drowned off Europe.

      Citizenship and Immigration Canada said Thursday that it received no refugee application from the father of two drowned Syrian boys who have put a devastating human face to the Syrian refugee crisis.

      It did, however, receive an application for Abdullah Kurdi’s brother, Mohammed, but said it was incomplete and didn’t meet regulatory requirements for proof of refugee status recognition.

      http://lewistownsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/922557/The-Latest–Canada–Syria-family-didn-t-file-refugee-request.html?isap=1&nav=5057

    • BBC News – Nicola Sturgeon says she was ‘reduced to tears’ over pictures of a dead Syrian boy who was washed up on a beach in Turkey.

  14. VATICAN – “Negotiations with Palestinians must resume”, Bergoglio tells Israel’s President

    Reuven Rivlin was received in an audience in the Vatican today, during which, Francis said “the challenge is to unite”. The two also discussed the role of religious leaders and the problem faced by Christian schools

    A communiqué published by the Holy See Press Office stated that “the need and urgency of promoting a climate of trust between Israelis and Palestinians was highlighted ” during the audience “alongside the resumption of direct negotiations with the aim of reaching an agreement”. Pope Francis received Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in an audience in the Apostolic Palace this morning.

    The meeting lasted half an hour, after which, the Israeli head of state met Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Vatican’s “foreign minister”, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

    “During the cordial discussions the Parties focused on the political and social situation in the Middle East, affected by several conflicts, with special attention to the condition of Christians and other minority groups. In this respect the importance of interreligious dialogue was recognised, along with the responsibility of religious leaders in promoting reconciliation and peace.”

    These words express a clear concern regarding the growing phenomenon of Jewish extremism. Jewish extremists have been responsible for attacks also against Christian targets. As Israel’s President, Rivlin, – who belongs to Likud, the same party Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu belongs to – issued a very clear statement with regard to this, after the killing of a Palestinian boy: “The climate created guaranteed lenience” to extremists. “What is it in the public atmosphere,” Rivlin asked, “which allows extremism and extremists to walk in confidence, in broad daylight?” In recent days, the President visited the Sanctuary of Tagba, which was damaged in an arson attack in June.

    The issue of negotiations with the Palestinians was touched on during Rivlin’s meeting with Francis and his collaborators. “The need and urgency of promoting a climate of trust between Israelis and Palestinians was highlighted, alongside the resumption of direct negotiations with the aim of reaching an agreement respecting the legitimate aspirations of the two Populations, as a fundamental contribution to peace and stability in the Region.”

    Finally, open questions were discussed. “Various issues were considered regarding the relations between the State of Israel and the Holy See, and between the state authorities and local Catholic communities. The Parties expressed their hope that the bilateral Agreement currently being drafted be concluded promptly, and that an adequate solution be found for various matters of common interest, including the situation of Christian schools in the country.”

    As is known, Christian schools in Israel – which have a ‘recognised but unofficial’ status – have seen cuts in state funding halve in recent years. Last week, Rivlin held a meeting with representatives of Christians schools in order to try to resolve the crisis. On that occasion, the President recalled the important role they play in the country.

    At the end of the audience, greetings were exchanged with the delegation and gifts were presented. “Divisions exist, but the challenge is to unite”, Pope Francis said, presenting the President a bronze medallion depicting a rock that is broken in two, with an olive branch in the middle, keeping the two bits together. Bergoglio read out the Italian inscription on the medallion: “Go in search of what unites, overcome that which divides”.

    Rivlin, who was joined by his wife, gave Pope Francis a replica basalt stone with an inscription in Aramaic dating back to the 9th-8th century BC. The original is kept in the Israel Museum, with a quote from verse 6 of Psalm 122, which contains the oldest reference to David’s dynasty outside the Bible. The President bid farewell to the Pope saying: “See you in Israel”.

    http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/israele-israel-israel-43132/

  15. Egyptian belly dancers jailed for ‘inciting debauchery’ (BBC, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34140406

    “A court in Egypt has sentenced two belly dancers to six months each in jail for inciting debauchery.

    Suha Mohammed Ali and Dalia Kamal Youssef – known as the Egyptian Shakira and Bardis – were arrested over their scantily-clad performances in videos.

    Lawyers filed complaints, saying they were outrages to public morality and harmed the image of Egyptian women.

    In March, a well-known dancer – Safinaz – was sentenced to six months in jail for insulting the national flag.

    She appeared in a video wearing a dress in its colours.

    Another dancer, Salma el-Fouly, received a six-month sentence in July for a video in which she wore skimpy clothes while making fun of male gropers.

    The male cameraman was also jailed for six months, while a second man who produced and appeared in the video was sentenced in absentia to a year in prison.”

  16. Boko Haram crisis: Cameroon blasts kill 19 (BBC, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34143736

    “At least 19 people have been killed and 140 wounded in two bomb attacks in northern Cameroon, officials say. The blasts happened in the Kerawa region, where Cameroon’s army is fighting Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants. There have been a spate of recent attacks in northern Cameroon blamed on jihadists from Boko Haram…”

  17. What Russia’s And China’s Militaries Are Doing Together Raises Major Warning Flags

    http://www.westernjournalism.com/what-russias-and-chinas-militaries-are-doing-together-raises-major-warning-flags/?utm_source=MailChimp&utm_medium=email&utm_content=featured-stories&utm_campaign=DailyEmail09.03.15

    Obama and the other leftist that refuse to learn the lessons of history are condemning us to fight a world war where several of the participants will be armed with nuclear weapons. We are going to need all the help we can get to insure that freedom and civilization survive the war.

  18. Australian PM says Islamic State worse than Nazis

    Riling Jewish leaders, Tony Abbott says jihadists ‘boast about their evil’ while Nazis ‘had a sufficient sense of shame to try to hide’ their crimes

    ANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s prime minister angered some Jewish leaders on Thursday by suggesting that the Islamic State movement was worse than Nazis during World War II.

    It is the third time this year that gaffe-prone Prime Minister Tony Abbott has riled Jewish Australians with Nazi analogies.

    Abbott used an interview with Sydney Radio 2GB on Thursday to credit Nazis with a sense of shame for atrocities they committed.

    “The Nazis did terrible evil, but they had a sufficient sense of shame to try to hide it,” Abbott said. “These people boast about their evil, this is the extraordinary thing,” Abbot said of Islamic State fighters.

    “They act in the way that medieval barbarians acted, only they broadcast it to the world with an effrontery which is hard to credit,” he added.

    However, Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Robert Goot said there was a “fundamental difference between organized acts of terrorism and a genocide systematically implemented by a state as essential policy.”

    He said while there is no question that Islamic State is “profoundly evil,” Aboott’s comments suggesting that it is in some respects worse than the Nazis were “injudicious and unfortunate,” Goot told reporters.

    Those responsible for state-sponsored genocide were high government officials who operated in secret “not out of any sense of shame, but to avoid being held criminally responsible,” Goot added.

    Abbott later said he wasn’t in the business of ranking evil, but stood by his comments.

    “I do make this point, that unlike previous evil-doers, whether we’re talking about Stalin, Hitler or whoever, that tried to cover up their evil, this wretched death cult boasts about it,” Abbott told reporters.

    Abbott’s Cabinet is expected to agree next week to a US request to extend air strikes against Islamic State targets beyond Iraq into Syria.

    Abbott apologized in March for comparing the opposition Labor Party leader Bill Shorten to German World War II-era propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. He had described Shorten in Parliament as “the Dr. Goebbels of economic policy.”

    In February, Abbott apologized to Parliament for describing a 10 percent reduction in defense industry jobs under a former Labor government as a “holocaust of jobs.”

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/australian-pm-says-islamic-state-worse-than-nazis/


  19. Indonesian politician bans dating after dark (telegraph, Sep 3, 2015)
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/indonesia/11841926/Indonesian-politician-bans-dating-after-dark.html

    “The path of young love has never been an easy one. But dating just became much more challenging for Indonesian teenagers in West Java.

    Young couples have been banned from seeing each other after 9pm at night and could be forced to marry if they flout the new regulations.

    Dedi Mulyadi, the chief of Purwakarta district, intends to introduce the night-time dating curfew on teenagers aged under 17 in a morality crackdown.

    If they are caught breaking the ban three times, village councils can force their parents to require them to marry, he said.

    The new rules are intended to combat the moral decay of modern society, including the growth in unplanned teen pregnancies, and return the area to its rural roots, Mr Mulyadi explained.

    He said the new provision would ensure teenagers were home in bed early and reclaimed a more traditional way of life in the region 60 miles from Jakarta, the capital of the world’s most populous Muslim country…”

  20. House Benghazi committee deposition of former Hillary Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills now expected to run until at least 6 pm ET; started at 8:30 am ET – @ChadPergram

    NYT – Cheryl Mills, Hillary Clinton Aide, Testifies Before House Panel

    WASHINGTON — Cheryl Mills, a longtime lawyer and adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton, testified before a Congressional committee on Thursday morning about Mrs. Clinton’s personal email account and the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

    The panel took a lunch break at noon and the questioning continued shortly before 1 p.m.

    As Ms. Mills was being interviewed behind closed doors, the panel’s top Democrat, Representative Elijah E. Cummings, called on the committee’s Republican chairman to release a copy of Ms. Mills’ testimony. She had asked to testify in public, but the Republicans rejected that request, saying they had conducted all of their interviews in private.

    “The entire public does not deserve to have leaks that are taken out of context, and leaving the wrong impression,” Mr. Cummings said to a group of reporters assembled near the interview.

    It is not clear whether the committee’s chairman, Trey Gowdy, will release the transcript. After Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime adviser to Mrs. Clinton, testified before the panel in June, Mr. Gowdy declined to grant Mr. Cummings’ request to make the transcript public.

    Before Thursday’s hearing began, Mr. Gowdy told reporters why he had insisted that the Mills interview be done in private.

    “If you’re serious about getting the most amount of information, you are going to get it in a transcribed interview session, not in a public session where members are limited to five or 10 minutes,” Mr. Gowdy said. “So we have not had a public fact finding interview with a single witness, and I’m not going to treat her any differently.”

    On Wednesday it was revealed that Byran Pagliano, a former information technology official at the State Department who helped set up the server that housed Mrs. Clinton’s private email account, plans to invoke his Fifth Amendment right in response to questions from the committee. Mr. Pagliano’s lawyer declined to comment.

    A Clinton campaign aide said that Mr. Pagliano’s decision was “both understandable and disappointing to us, because we believe he has every reason to be transparent about his I.T. assistance.”

    “We had hoped Bryan would also agree to answer any questions from the committee and had recently encouraged him to grant the committee’s request for an interview,” the aide said.

    The aide added, “Bryan is an utter professional and a wonderful young man who does not live in the public eye and understandably may not wish to be drawn into a political spectacle.”

    Mr. Gowdy addressed the issue briefly before stepping into the interview. “You’re free to claim whatever inference you want from the fact that” he does not want to testify, Mr. Gowdy said.

    Mr. Cummings said he was disappointed that Mr. Pagliano did not want to testify.

    “When you look at all the wild accusations that have been made in regards to this committee, Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, I’m sure his lawyer made a determination that he didn’t want him to get caught up in that,” Mr. Cummings said. “He certainly has the right. Am I surprised he has decided to take the Fifth? No, I am not surprised. Am I disappointed? Yes. I would love to have heard what he had to say.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/us/hillary-clinton-email-benghazi.html

    Clinton Press Secretary Discusses Email Controversy

    • Flu?chtlinge in Rheine in Damloup-Kaserne eingezogen

      ... eine freundliche Atmosphäre! ... perfekt organisiert !

  21. FBI outlines reasons why six Southwest Airlines passengers were arrested and charged in Amarillo

    FBI special agent T. Scott Hendricks has filed an affidavit explaining why Southwest Airlines diverted a San Diego-Chicago flight to Amarillo late Monday and booted six passengers off the flight.

    The six, said to be members of a San Diego area soccer team, were subsequently arrested and charged with “interference with a flight crew and abetting.”

    Basically, according to Hendricks per Southwest, the passengers -Khalid Yohana, 19; Wasim Imad Shaker, 23; Essa Solaqa, 20; Ghazwan Assad Shaba, 21; Jonathan Khalid Petras, 20; and Saiman Hermez, 19- were refusing orders from the flight attendants, challenging their authority and being mean to other passengers.

    One flight attendant said that during the emergency demonstration prior to takeoff, the six “were asked numerous times to put their seat backs and tray tables up, which is required for takeoff of the aircraft, to which they verbally responded ‘no.'”

    They “complied” after the flight attendant warned them the airplane would return to the gate if they didn’t do so.

    “Later, while the flight attendants were taking drink orders, the six passengers started talking loudly and using profanity,” Hendricks said in his affidavit. The flight attendant “asked them to quiet down and they responded, ‘We can be as loud as we want and do whatever the [expletive] we want on here. You can’t make us listen.'”

    When the flight attendant “said they couldn’t do that, they lunged forward in their seats and said, ‘We can do whatever we want on here.'”

    That flight attendant denied their request for alcohol. They “became aggressive by lunging forward” at the flight attendant, who “stated she felt threatened and that they were escalating their aggressive behavior.”

    The passengers asked another flight attendant why the first flight attendant wouldn’t serve them alcohol. That flight attendant also declined to serve them.

    “They accused the attendants of being racist” and called the second flight attendant a “pig” as she walked away. The passengers then told a third flight attendant “that they could do whatever they wanted to because they bought a ticket.”

    The passengers “did not comply with anything they were asked to do and were repeatedly standing up and becoming increasing louder. Due to the increase in their non-compliant and unpredictable behavior,” one flight attendant “felt uncomfortable and saw that they were attempting to incite other passengers to join in their non-compliant behavior.”

    A flight attendant asked the pilots to divert the aircraft.

    According to the affidavit, a passenger across the aisle from the six passengers heard them call the flight attendant a racist and pig.

    “She heard them tell each other to throw gang signs, and then saw them using their hands to gesture gang signs. After using the bathroom, one of the passengers leaned towards the female passengers and called her a [expletive], ‘ugly ass’ and ugly.’ He then gave her the middle finger gesture. The passenger began to cry and was shaking. She contacted the flight attendants and was moved to another seat.”

    A flight attendant again asked the pilots to divert the aircraft, the FBI agent stated. “The flight crew determined a level one threat existed and instituted an emergency lockdown. The pilots diverted the aircraft for the safety of the flight crew and passengers.” The airplane landed at the Amarillo airport at about 10:45 p.m.

    The flight, originally scheduled to arrive at Chicago Midway at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, finally arrived there at 3:23 a.m.

    http://www.dallasnews.com/business/20150901-fbi-outlines-reasons-why-six-southwest-airlines-passengers-were-arrested-and-charged-in-amarillo.ece