Reader’s links for Nov. 19 – 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

54 Replies to “Reader’s links for Nov. 19 – 2015”

  1. Chinese forces ‘kill 17 in Xinjiang’ after colliery attack (BBC, Nov 18, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34863059

    “Chinese forces have killed 17 people allegedly connected with a deadly assault on a coal mine in the troubled Xinjiang region, a report says.

    US-based Radio Free Asia said the dead included women and children.

    The report came a few days after police posted a message on social media sites saying they had successfully carried out an operation in Xinjiang.

    China says it is fighting terrorists in Xinjiang – hundreds have died in attacks over the past three years.

    Ethnic Uighurs – part of China’s Muslim minority – say Beijing’s repression of their religious and cultural customs is provoking the violence.

    The police operation came after an attack at the Sogan colliery in Aksu which left at least 50 people dead and 50 injured, Radio Free Asia reported, citing government and local sources.

    Details of the 18 September attack remain unclear and have not been reported in Chinese media, the report said…”

  2. Nigeria’s Dasuki ‘stole $2bn’ from anti-Boko Haram fight (BBC, Nov 18, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34855695

    “Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the arrest of his predecessor’s security adviser, for allegedly stealing some $2bn (£1.3bn).

    Sambo Dasuki is accused of awarding phantom contracts to buy 12 helicopters, four fighter jets and ammunition. He denies the allegations.

    The equipment was meant for the fight against Boko Haram Islamist militants.

    Soldiers have complained that despite the military’s huge budget, they were ill-equipped to fight…”

    • Yucki can you email me please? I would like your perspective on a thread that I am involved with on the J post where another volley was fired at me yesterday after more than a weeks silence by all and I would like to know what you think of it all. Please email me and I will give you the link to the article and thread.

  3. EXCLUSIVE — REPORT: 8 SYRIANS CAUGHT AT TEXAS BORDER IN LAREDO
    Two federal agents operating under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are claiming that eight Syrian illegal aliens attempted to enter Texas from Mexico in the Laredo Sector. The federal agents spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity, however, a local president of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) confirmed that Laredo Border Patrol agents have been officially contacting the organization with concerns over reports from other federal agents about Syrians illegally entering the country in the Laredo Sector. The reports have caused a stir among the sector’s Border Patrol agents.

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/18/report-8-syrians-caught-at-texas-border-in-laredo/

    • BREITBART – EXCLUSIVE—6 Men from Pakistan, Afghanistan Busted Illegally Entering Arizona from Mexico

      A highly trusted federal agent working under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has confirmed to Breitbart Texas that a group composed of 5 Pakistani men and 1 man from Afghanistan was captured by U.S. Border Patrol agents after having illegally crossed the porous U.S.-Mexico border in the Tucson Sector of Arizona.

      The six men were traveling in a group and were captured roughly 16 miles into the state of Arizona, specifically, near the small picturesque town of Patagonia, Arizona.

      The apprehension of the group occurred late on Monday night, November 16, 2015.

      Border Patrol agents were unable to do extensive interviews with the six Middle Eastern men because the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took over the matter. The aliens were immediately transferred to Tucson where the FBI took custody.

      http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/19/exclusive-6-men-from-pakistan-afghanistan-busted-illegally-entering-arizona-from-mexico/

  4. PC Yvonne Fletcher shooting: Libyan man arrested in UK (BBC, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34867860

    “A Libyan man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder PC Yvonne Fletcher three decades ago.

    PC Fletcher, 25, died after being shot while policing a demonstration outside the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984.

    Scotland Yard described the arrest of the man, in his 50s, as a “significant development”.
    He was detained on Thursday morning in south-east England and is now in custody. He is also suspected of money laundering offences.

    Two other Libyan nationals – a woman in her 40s and a man in his 30s – were also arrested on Thursday on suspicion of money laundering.

    Scotland Yard said the other two suspects, arrested at separate addresses in London and south-east England, are in police custody and that searches are under way across the country…”

  5. Raqqa activists criticise ‘ineffective’ air strikes on IS (BBC, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34855514

    “France has stepped up its air strikes targeting Islamic State (IS) in Syria since the deadly attacks in Paris on Friday, carrying out a series of raids on the jihadist group’s stronghold of Raqqa.

    It is almost impossible to get any news out of Raqqa or even communicate with residents there.
    IS has cracked down on activists and is controlling access to the internet.

    The main group that is monitoring the situation in the city, which calls itself Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, has to operate with extreme caution…”

  6. Syria crisis: Assad says no transition while ‘terrorists’ remain (BBC, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34867215

    “Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has said a political process to end the country’s bloody civil war cannot begin while it is occupied by “terrorists”.

    Mr Assad told Italian state television the timetable for elections “starts after starting to defeat terrorism”.

    It is unclear whether he was referring only to Islamic State (IS) militants or also to Western-backed rebels.

    Last week, 19 countries – including Mr Assad’s allies – set a deadline of 1 January for the start of peace talks.

    They signed a UN statement that calls for a ceasefire to be agreed by 14 May 2016 and for free elections to be held a year later…”

  7. The Latest: Croatia Refuses People Rejected by Slovenia (abcnews, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-macedonia-limits-migrant-crossings-greece-35298614

    “… Croatia’s interior minister says the country has refused to take back 162 people who were rejected by neighboring Slovenia as economic migrants.

    Ranko Ostojic said Thursday Croatia also will no longer allow in migrants from war-free countries who wish to pass through on their way toward Western Europe. He says Croatia has informed Serbia and Macedonia down the so-called migrant route, that “it is now obvious they will not be able to pass.”

    Ostojic also warned that all countries facing the migrant flow on their territories must coordinate their actions to avoid problems with the possible backlog of migrants stuck along the route.

    Asylum-seekers have traveled from Turkey to Greece, then Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia before getting to Austria and Germany, where most wish to stay….”

  8. Beijing vows justice as ISIS kills Chinese, Norwegian hostages (CNN, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/18/asia/isis-hostages-china-norway/index.html

    “Beijing has vowed to bring ISIS to justice after the group said it had executed two hostages, a Chinese and a Norwegian.

    ISIS said it had killed the two men, identified as Chinese national Fan Jinghui and Norwegian citizen Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad in its English-language online magazine “Dabiq.”

    President Xi Jinping “strongly condemned” ISIS for the killing of Fan, the first known Chinese national to be killed by the group, and the country’s foreign ministry said the Chinese government would “definitely hold the perpetrators accountable.”…”

  9. Another mentally ill Jihadist
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-34843419

    ‘Extreme ramblings’
    Concerns were raised with Luton Borough Council in September 2013, a month before Mr Flower’s death on 22 October, following a visit by the police to Babar’s home in August.
    Babar, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility, had planned to give a public lecture and his “radical religious views” would potentially put him at risk “from others in the community who would not agree”, the report said.
    The council’s safeguarding team requested a mental health assessment, but this was delayed as the mental health trust became involved.
    It meant agencies only began to “engage and assess him” four days before Babar killed Mr Flower.
    Babar had contacted the police again via email and phone on October 21 and had made various “extreme religious ramblings and threats”.

  10. America’s enemies within: How nearly SEVENTY have been arrested in America over ISIS plots in the last 18 months – including refugees who had been given safe haven but ‘turned to terror’ (dailymail, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://dailym.ai/1j7BSc6

    “US authorities have charged at least 66 men and women with ISIS-related terror plots on American soil – including a handful of refugees, Daily Mail Online can reveal.

    The terror group has set its sights on Washington, D.C. as it vows to further infiltrate the West and ramp up its blood-soaked offensive.

    President Obama insists that ‘slamming the door’ on Syrian refugees fleeing ISIS would be a betrayal of American values.

    But 34 governors are refusing to take in any more, in case jihadi fighters slip into their states and repeat the carnage of Paris.

    Analysis by Daily Mail Online reveals that a handful of foiled plots have already involved immigrants accused of harboring sympathy for ISIS.

    The threat also comes from within, with American teenagers and Islamic converts among those seduced by the group’s torrent of chilling online propaganda.

    They include a U.S. Air Force veteran accused of waging war on the country he once served and a National Guard soldier who allegedly plotted to gun down his own colleagues.

    Others are seemingly ordinary American citizens, including a young nurse, a pizza parlor boss and schoolgirls tricked into becoming shrouded ISIS brides.

    Some have conspired to travel or send friends abroad to link up with fundamentalist fighters while others have planned for jihad closer to home – with Capitol Hill among the targets for a foiled bombing raid.

    The incidents detailed here are among dozens of alleged disrupted by police and federal agents since ISIS began to rise from the flames of the Syrian civil war. The earliest arrest was 18 months ago….”

  11. BREITBART –French PM Warns Of Risk Of Chemical And Biological Attack

    French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned that France is at risk of chemical and biological attacks from terrorists, in an address to the French parliament.

    “We must not rule anything out,” Mr Valls said. “I say it with all the precautions needed. But we know and bear in mind that there is also a risk of chemical or bacteriological weapons.”

    He said that “terrorism hit France, not because of what it is doing in Iraq and Syria… but for what it is.”

    “What is new are the ways of operating; the ways of attacking and killing are evolving all the time,” he added.

    “The macabre imagination of those giving the orders is unlimited. Assault rifles, beheadings, suicide bombers, knives or all of these at once.”

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/11/19/french-pm-warns-of-risk-of-chemical-attack/

  12. Italy hunting five terror suspects after FBI tip-off

    ROME (AFP) – Italy is looking for five terror suspects after a tip-off from the FBI about possible jihadist attacks on landmark sites including St Peter’s cathedral in the Vatican, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday.

    “Since yesterday afternoon, our security forces have been working to find five people,” Gentiloni told the Raitre television station, reiterating that the country was already primed for the possibility of an attack on St Peter’s or other historic monuments such as La Scala theatre in Milan.

    “The minister of the interior has explained many times that we are at a very high level of alert covering symbolic sites, places where people gather, from stadiums to cathedrals, and St Peter’s in particular, which were, among others, the places highlighted by the FBI yesterday,” Gentiloni said.

    “We always take such signals of alarm very seriously, especially when they come from the United States.”

    With the FBI alert plastered all over Italy’s front pages on Thursday, the minister appealed for calm.

    “We must not become prisoners of this alarm because that would be a gift to Daesh,” he said, using the Arabic name for the Islamic State group.

    http://www.france24.com/en/20151119-italy-hunting-five-terror-suspects-after-fbi-tip-off

  13. ISIS says New York is NEXT with suicide bombers ready to hit the streets in DAYS

    ISLAMIC State militants said they are ready to flood New York City’s streets with suicide bombers in a chilling new video just days after the Paris terror attacks.

    Unsuspecting Christmas shoppers are seemingly the target in the sick yet professional footage, released in the wake of the Paris attacks which killed 129 people.

    The propaganda video starts with a man praying before putting together a bomb and strapping it to himself.

    It then shows scenes of New York with iconic yellow taxis and a crowd of people walking along a busy street.

    Finally it cuts to the killer about to detonate his homemade explosive.

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/620527/Islamic-State-says-New-York-is-NEXT-with-suicide-bombers-ready-to-hit-the-streets-in-DAYS

    Islamic state video on this page :

    http://isdratetp4donyfy.onion.link/29876

    ( sequence concerning NYC from 4 min 34 to the end )

    • FBI’s Comey: We’re not aware of any credible Paris-style attack here

      The United States is not aware of any credible threat of a Paris-style attack, FBI Director James Comey announced Thursday in a joint briefing with Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Washington.

      “We are not aware of any credible threat here of a Paris-type attack, and we have seen no connection at all between the Paris attackers” and the United States, Comey said.

      The U.S. “will not let our action be overtaken by fear,” Lynch stressed in her remarks.

      “We will not allow merchants of violence to rob us of our most precious ideals,” she said. “They want us to live in fear, and we refuse. They want to change who we are and what makes us quintessentially American, and that is what we will never do.”

      Both Lynch and Comey expressed concern that Republican-led legislation to halt the flow of Iraqi and Syrian refugees into the country unless they pass strict background checks would only hamper efforts. The House approved the bill Thursday afternoon, though President Barack Obama has threatened to veto it.

      “The bills present us with an impracticality and an impossibility,” Lynch remarked, adding that the requirement for certifying that the refugees pose no risk “would effectively grind the program to a halt.”

      It would be “very, very difficult to say, as to anyone coming into the country, there is zero risk,” Comey said.

      When the attacks happened last Friday, Comey said the FBI immediately looked for connections to the homeland, covered every tip, collaborated with state and local partners and made sure all joint-task forces were “taken up a notch.”

      “Together we are watching people of concern using all of our lawful tools, and if we see something, we’re going to disrupt it,” he said. “The most important thing is, do not allow fear to be become disabling.”

      The work the agency is doing is “hard,” Comey said, “but we have the folks to get it done” and “make sure we are staying on them like a blanket.”

      Comey told reporters that the agency is tracking “dozens” of people in the U.S. because of perceived support or ties to the Islamic State.

      http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/james-comey-fbi-paris-attack-us-216076

      7 min video :

      http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/fbi-director-james-comey-attorney-general-loretta-lynch-35311404
      ===============================================
      CNN – FBI director: No credible terror threat to the U.S.

  14. SWITZERLAND ‘Isis cell operating out of Winterthur mosque’

    The Isis (Islamic State) jihadist group has been operating a cell from the city of Winterthur, northeast of Zurich, according to a Swiss war correspondent and expert on Syria.

    Kurt Pelda, was who was named Swiss journalist of the year in 2014, told local newspaper Der Landbote the terrorist group established the cell around the An’Nur mosque in Winterthur’s Hegi neighbourhood.

    “A man from Winterthur became radicalized in the last few months and recently travelled to Syria,” Pelda said.

    “We do not know exactly what he has done in Syria but there is every indication it has to do with Isis.”

    This follows reports of four other young people travelling from the city to Syria.

    Pelda told Der Landbote he believes someone is masterminding the cell from the mosque, “let there be no doubt” .??He added: “There is a whole bunch of preachers and prayer leaders who actively meet in the mosque or outside with young people and trying to radicalize them.”

    However, Atef Sahoun, president of the An’Nur Islamic Cultural Association, denied such activity was occurring.

    “If we discover radical tendencies in one member then the particular person will be immediately excluded,” he told Der Landbote.

    “We send them away, no matter who it is.”

    Pelda, however, said he plans to publish research on the Isis activity in the coming days.

    And Blerim Bunkaju, a Muslim and socialist party politician in Winterthur, said he heard a few months ago of several young Muslims becoming radicalized in the city, the Tages Anzeiger newspaper reported on Tuesday.

    http://www.thelocal.ch/20151118/isis-cell-operating-out-of-winterthur-mosque

  15. SYRIA – Combat launches of cruise missiles from the strategic missile-carrying aircraft Tu-95 against terrorists’ objects in Syria

  16. DAILY MAIL – British extremists appear in court surrounded by machinegun-toting guards after they were caught in Hungary despite being banned from leaving the UK

    Trevor Brooks, known as Abu Izzadeen, was stopped on train to Romania
    44-year-old offered Islam’s Holy Book when stopped by police on Saturday
    He was with second Briton who also served jail term for funding terrorism
    Police realised after men were held that they were banned from leaving UK
    Both men appeared in Budapest Central Court and face possible extradition

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3325459/British-extremists-appear-court-surrounded-machinegun-toting-guards-caught-Hungary-despite-banned-leaving-UK.html

  17. CNN – France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen speaks with CNN’s Hala Gorani about Europe’s immigration challenges after the Paris attacks

  18. Belgium: Europol chief warns of further terror attacks/strong>

    The head of the European Union law enforcement agency Rob Wainwright warned in Brussels, Thursday, that it is “reasonable to assume..without any recourse to exaggeration, that further attacks are likely,” during a European Parliament debate on the aftermath of the Paris attacks last Friday. “This represents the most serious terrorist threat faced by Europe in over ten years,” he said.

  19. Kerry says U.S. can ‘neutralize’ Islamic State quicker than it did al Qaeda

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday the United States has the ability to “neutralize” Islamic State much faster than it was able to do with al Qaeda.

    “We are going to defeat Daesh. We always said it will take time,” Kerry said, using an alternative name for the Islamist militant group.

    “We began our fight against al Qaeda in 2001 and it took us quite a few years before we were able to eliminate Osama bin Laden and the top leadership and neutralize them as an effective force. We hope to do Daesh much faster than that and we think we have an ability to do that,” he told reporters.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/19/us-franch-shooting-usa-isis-idUSKCN0T833X20151119

    video – Kerry: It’s Inappropriate For Americans To Panic

  20. Balkan states begin rejecting economic migrants

    ..... he wants to go to Germany and study to become a Human Rights activist....

  21. Kuwait arrests six suspected ISIS cell members (CNN, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/19/world/kuwait-arrests-six-suspected-isis-cell-members/index.html

    “Six men suspected of belonging to an ISIS terror cell have been arrested by authorities in the Middle East country of Kuwait.

    Kuwait State TV, quoting a Kuwaiti Interior Ministry statement, said the cell was allegedly involved in recruiting for ISIS, as well as providing logistics and funding for the terror group.

    Kuwait said the alleged cell is composed of two Kuwaitis, three Syrians and one Egyptian.

    In its statement, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said one of those arrested, Lebanese-born Syrian Osama Mohammed Saeed Khaiyat, used a website under his supervision to help fund and support ISIS.

    Khaiyat allegedly admitted under interrogation that he made a deal in Ukraine to buy ammunition and rockets for the terror group, shipping via Turkey to Syria.

    Kuwait said the suspect also confessed to printing badges and stamps featuring ISIS signatures and signs, as well as transferring money to bank accounts in both Syria and Turkey.

    Kuwait’s Interior Ministry also alleges the suspected cell collaborated with four people outside Kuwait, identified as two Syrians and two Australian-Lebanese. It’s not clear whether those four have been arrested, and officials did not elaborate on the alleged collaboration…”

  22. U.N. committee condemns Iranian intervention in Syria war (reuters, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/19/us-mideast-crisis-syria-iran-un-idUSKCN0T834320151119#ujar8OS5IeOAHZtg.97

    “The U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee on Thursday adopted a Saudi-drafted resolution condemning Iranian and Russian intervention in Syria, a decision that the Syrian and Iranian delegations rejected as unhelpful and unjustified.

    The non-binding resolution, authored by Saudi Arabia and co-sponsored by Qatar and other Arab nations, the United States and other Western powers, was adopted by the 193-nation assembly’s Third Committee.

    There were 115 votes in favor, 15 against and 51 abstentions.

    Without explicitly naming Russia, it said the General Assembly “strongly condemns all attacks against the Syrian moderate opposition and calls for their immediate cessation, given that such attacks benefit so-called ISIL (Daesh) and other terrorist groups, such as al Nusra Front.” “ISIL” and “Daesh” are names for Islamic State.

    The resolution’s language is clearly aimed at Russia, which has been bombing opposition forces in Syria for two months. Moscow says it is attacking Islamic State but Western officials say its strikes have mainly targeted other rebel forces, including Western-backed groups.

    The resolution also condemned the presence in Syria of “all foreign terrorist fighters … and foreign forces fighting on behalf of the Syrian regime, particularly the al Quds Brigades, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (of Iran) and militia groups, such as Hezbollah.”

    Saudi Arabia’s U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi urged U.N. member states to support the resolution, invoking the memory of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee whose tiny body washed up on a Turkish beach in September.

    “I appeal to you not to let Aylan down,” he said. “Do not kill him twice.”

    Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari rejected the resolution and accused its Saudi authors of hypocrisy about what he said are widespread human rights in the kingdom. He referred to “decapitation and flogging in public squares,” saying they were like abuses of Islamic State.

    He accused the Saudis, along with Qatar and Turkey, of supporting what he said were terrorists in Syria.

    The delegates of Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia rejected the charges.

    Iran’s deputy U.N. representative, Ambassador Gholamhossein Dehghani, also rejected the resolution. He said it blurred the clear distinction between “terrorists with those who fight against them.”

    The resolution demands foreign militias leave Syrian territory immediately.

    It also blasts Islamic State and other Islamist militant groups for rights abuses and atrocities.

    But most of the criticism in the resolution is aimed at the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia and Iran whom Western and many Arab nations would like to see ousted and blame for the nearly five-year civil war.”

  23. USA – FREDERICKSBURG VA Editorial: Tempers need to cool in furor over mosque

    […]The Islamic Center of Fredericksburg wants to replace its current building on Harrison Road with a larger worship center at the corner of Old Plank Road and Andora Drive.

    A meeting Tuesday night called by leaders of the Islamic Center to inform the community of their plans that began with a moment of silence for victims in the Paris attacks had to be stopped abruptly when some in the overflow crowd at Chancellor Community Center began shouting down the speaker.

    “Nobody, nobody, nobody wants your evil cult,” one man yelled. “I will do everything in my power to make sure this does not happen because you are terrorists. Every one of you are terrorists.”

    Despite a Spotsylvania deputy’s attempt to calm the situation, an expletive-laced shouting match ensued and the community dialogue ended.

    This should not have happened. We are all neighbors. Each of us has every right to be here and worship, or not, as we choose.

    There’s been little public controversy about the center, heretofore. People who worship at the center are involved in our community on a day-to-day basis.

    Samer Shalaby, a trustee of the Islamic Center and a longtime area businessman, presented the plans for the new mosque. He pointed out that the center has been in the area for 27 years and in its current building for the last 15 years. The center supports the Thurman Brisben Center for the homeless, Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank and Goodwill Industries.

    Munira Salim Abdalla, a leader of another local group, the Islamic Ummah Center of Fredericksburg, attended the meeting to support the center. She has served as a chaplain at Mary Washington Hospital and is a regular speaker at interfaith gatherings in the area. She and her group have volunteered to serve the community in various ways over the years.

    We all would be served to know one another better so as not to mistake our neighbors for our enemies.

    Whether moving the mosque to its proposed 10-acre site is a good idea or not should be handled like any other land-use matter in Spotsylvania County.

    Intolerance and misplaced anger hurt our community. They create the very division and mistrust desired by terrorists who hate the American way of life. It is our prayer that we don’t fall victim to that.

    http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-tempers-need-to-cool-in-furor-over-mosque/article_31e0b4d6-9b25-517d-8196-e793f45c27b4.html

  24. FBI looks into possible threat against Seattle-area mosques

    A Facebook post — that’s since been deleted — appears to be a thinly veiled threat against local mosques. According to the FBI in Seattle, the agency is aware of the comment and is working to assess “the veracity of the threat.”

    The FBI in Seattle says it is looking into a post on Facebook that appears to be a thinly veiled threat against local mosques, according to an agency spokeswoman.

    “The FBI is aware of that Facebook comment and we are taking appropriate actions to assess the veracity of the threat,” FBI spokeswoman Ayn Dietrich wrote in an email to The Seattle Times.

    Though the post appears to have been deleted, commenters took screenshots and reposted it on Facebook and Twitter. The post reads:

    “There are 18 Mosques in the Greater Seattle area where I live. I’ve got the addresses of each. Do You know where the next attack will come from? I at least know where to strike back! The only way that we can be completely free of the threat of terror is to eradicate the Death Cult masquerading as a religion from our streets!”

    The post appeared Wednesday on a community Facebook page called Last Patriots of America but has since been removed. In a Thursday post, a page administrator denied making any threats “to ‘shoot up’ local mosques,” writing: “Again you people lie to suit your own agendas.”

    One commenter responded: “You threatened to ‘strike back’ against mosques in Seattle. That is a direct threat of violence based on ignorant bigotry.”

    Another wrote: “You deleted the post, but I took a screenshot and forwarded it to the Seattle police along with your IP address. I also filed a complaint of domestic terrorism with the Seattle branch of the FBI.”

    According to Dietrich’s email, the FBI is “also coordinating with our community, law enforcement, and government partners to provide guidance on maintaining a routine but vigilant security posture.

    “The FBI’s Seattle Division is committed to protecting the civil rights of all members of our Washington state community,” she wrote.

    Dietrich encouraged anyone with information about threats of violence or civil-rights violations to contact the FBI or in cases of immediate danger, to call 911.

    http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/fbi-looks-into-possible-threat-against-seattle-area-mosques/

  25. PAKISTAN – ‘Girlfriend culture’ against Islam, says Pakistani Supreme Court

    Ruling that a “girlfriend culture” has no place in an Islamic society, Pakistan’s Supreme Court has rejected the bail plea of a man held under cyber crime laws for allegedly creating a Facebook account of his “girlfriend” without her consent and posting her photos.

    The two-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim heard the bail application of Muhammad Munir, arrested two months ago by the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) for harassing a girl on Facebook.
    To the query of the bench regarding their mutual relationship, the counsel of the accused said that she was Munir’s girlfriend, the Express Tribune reported. “Upon this, the bench remarked that there is no culture of girlfriend in an Islamic society as it is a Western concept,” it reported. Later, the court refused to grant bail to the accused and asked the FIA to submit the chargesheet within 14 days and asked the trial court to decide the matter within six months.

    Barrister Masroor Shah appearing on behalf of the applicant submitted that Munir is a computer operator in a government office in Haripur district and the girl Shagufta, who is his classmate, lives in Peshawar.
    He contended that Munir had created the account in the name of Shagufta with her consent. He also expressed apprehension over the court’s denial of bail and said such kind of cyber laws might be misused. Earlier, the girl filed an application to the FIA against Munir for registration of a case for creating a fake account under her name.

    http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-girlfriend-culture-against-islam-says-pakistani-supreme-court-2146845

  26. CBC – Muslim women accosted on TTC, racist graffiti scrawled on GO train

    TTC condemns incident, says it has ‘zero tolerance’ for anti-Muslim behaviour

    Two Muslim women were accosted and verbally assaulted on a Toronto subway train on Wednesday night, the TTC said, and anti-Muslim graffiti was found on a GO Transit train.

    TTC spokesman Brad Ross condemned the incident, which he said took place around 6 p.m. Wednesday night at Sherbourne Station.

    The TTC has “zero tolerance for these kind of people,” Ross told CBC News.

    Two men and a woman boarded a train and proceeded to make racist comments about the two Muslim women, including an implication that they could be terrorists, he said.

    The woman who was in the group that made the racial slurs allegedly pushed one of the Muslim women, Ross said.

    A witness on the train activated the emergency alarm and the Toronto police officers and TTC special constables responded to the scene. The offenders, however, fled.

    Police are investigating and officers took statements from the victims and witness, Ross said.

    The TTC is providing surveillance images to police in hope of finding those responsible.

    Ross called the suspects “cowards.”

    Police are investigating.

    Anti-Muslim graffiti on GO train

    Meanwhile, a GO Transit train that had been operating on the busy Lakeshore corridor was hit with anti-Muslim graffiti in one of its bathrooms.

    Metrolinx released an image of the scrawled slur which staff noticed when the train came in for cleaning on Wednesday night.

    “We find it deeply offensive and it no way reflects our organization’s value,” said Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.

    Metrolinx is encouraging anyone who sees similar graffiti, or who feels threatened on the transit system, to either contact police or GO Transit security or staff.

    These are just the latest anti-Muslim incidents in the city following the attacks on Paris.

    On Monday, a Muslim mother was beaten and robbed by two men after dropping her children off at a Flemingdon Park-area school. Last weekend, a mosque was set ablaze in Peterborough, Ont.
    Violence both Islamophobic, sexist

    Mohamed El Rashidy, a lawyer with the Canadian Arab Federation, said there’s been a spike in hate crime numbers this year — though many more go unreported.

    The Federation, in partnership with the National Council of Canadian Muslims, has documented 42 cases against Arabs and Muslims across the country this year, the majority of which have taken place in Ontario and Quebec.

    El Rashidy said some people contact him directly about hate crimes, or seek, through him, increased police presence for their neighbourhoods.

    “People are calling me and they’re scared,” he told CBC News.

    El Rashidy was one of several anti-racism activists who voiced their outrage at a Queen’s Park news conference about the violence that’s occurred across southern Ontario.

    “We say enough. We call on all Canadians to come together,” said Debbie Douglas, executive director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants.

    Douglas pointed out that the recent attacks have been both Islamophobic as well as sexist, as it’s primarily hijab-wearing women who have been the target of attacks.

    “A hate crime is one of the most vile types of crime, because it is an attack upon identity and community,” Margaret Parsons, executive director of the African-Canadian Legal Clinic, said in a news release ahead of the press conference.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/muslim-women-subway-slurs-1.3326281

  27. Donald Trump today has been talking up the idea of a database to track Muslims in the name of security.

  28. USA: Sanders lauds benefits of Democratic Socialism in landmark speech

    U.S presidential candidate Bernie Sanders gave a long-awaited speech on Democratic Socialism at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Thursday. Sanders talked to students of the university for over an hour, highlighting the pillars of his “political revolution”, based on socialist principles that hopes to bring economic fairness back to America.

  29. New Islamic State video threatens attack on White House

    Islamic State militants released a video on Thursday threatening the White House with suicide bombings and car blasts and vowing to conduct more attacks on France.

    The six-minute video released by Islamic State fighters in Iraq applauds last week’s Paris attacks, according to a translation of the Arabic provided by the Maryland-based SITE Intelligence Group.

    The latest threat comes one day after the militant group put out a video showing scenes of New York City, which suggested it was also a target.

    State Department spokesman John Kirby told CNN that Thursday’s video was being examined to determine its “veracity.” “Everybody here in the United States government are taking these threats seriously,” he said.

    The video opens with television news clips of the Paris attacks and then shows two militants separately speaking to the camera.

    Titled “Paris Before Rome,” the video shows an Islamic State fighter threatening to “pound” French monuments and vowing to strike at the White House.

    “We will blow it up, the same as we blew up the idols in this good land,” one fighter says, referring to the White House.

    The second fighter threatens U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande. “We will grill them … with (explosive) belts and car bombs.”

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/19/us-france-shooting-usa-video-idUSKCN0T831K20151119

  30. Dozens Under Watch in the US to Guard Against Paris Copycat Attack (abcnews, Nov 19, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/dozens-watch-us-fear-paris-copycat-attack/story?id=35308750

    “Dozens of suspected radicals in the United States are under “tight surveillance” because law enforcement officials fear they might try to pull off a copycat version of the Paris attacks after being exposed to ISIS propaganda, according to FBI Director James Comey, during a rare joint briefing with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Thursday.

    The news came as senior law enforcement officials told ABC News Thursday that they are aware of a possible second ISIS video threatening Washington, DC. Authorities believe the video is part of an ISIS propaganda campaign to scare the American public in the wake of the Paris attacks. However, officials maintain that they have not identified a specific, credible plot targeting the U.S. homeland.

    The suspected radicals have been under watch for months, but there are now fears that they might try to imitate last week’s attack in Paris, which killed 129, Comey said.

    “We are making sure we apply additional scrutiny to anybody who might be tempted to be a copycat, and so we’ve gone through all of our caseload to try and assess which are the ones that might pose a risk of trying to copy what happened in Paris and make sure that we’re staying on them like a blanket,” Comey said.

    He said that “hundreds” of FBI investigations have tried to determine where people consuming ISIS propaganda are on “the spectrum from consuming to acting.”…”