Reader’s links for Dec. 25 – 2015 (Merry Christmas everyone! May you Feel joy, may you spread joy!)

Daily Links Post graphic

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

111 Replies to “Reader’s links for Dec. 25 – 2015 (Merry Christmas everyone! May you Feel joy, may you spread joy!)”

  1. The Parables of Jesus should be taught and explained to every child in the world, because they reveal a mind that can observe itself. This objectivity lost to every resentful child who in pride holds up no-achievement as special. The Free World only comes to those with free minds.

    Islam and Socialism are cultures based on terror. Fear of Allah’s Messengers and fear of Communism’s decrees.

    If only submitting Muslims and Socialists would see they were seduced by token benefits they did not earn, rewarded for always looking away and entitlements for promoting and even greater push and sacrifice for The Cause, to exist in an Animal Farm dominated by their religious and political class of Mohammadans and Marxists whose sexual proclivities are the most brutal, twisted and vile. Shariah and Human Rights Courts trampling on the truth to set you free.

    Explain a Parable Day.

    “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.”

    This is not about a physical slap or a real jacket. It is about dealing with intimidation. If they insult you, ride with the blow and do not resist. If they curse your jacket, let them curse your shirt. Their goadings therefore cannot turn you into their robot controlled by fear. Islam will not enter your nation, socialism “feed the world because it’s your fault’ cannot either.

    If an Imam comes into a Socialist country with four wives and claims and receives from their Welfare State four houses, and preaches hate and death to that country to appease the Allah-Tormenter he carries around with him everywhere, do not resent, for you already know that country hated you first to make the population pay for his sickness; and do not hate the Marxists who change the world to hide their own true Undeserving-Belief with an inadequacy carried in themselves that can only be fed on plaudits and Nobel Peace Prizes. Their insults and accusations are only to infect you with their cruxes.

    Do not resist evil but deal with the infected prideful so they may be free from it. Protect the children with understanding the parables of Jesus so they may see what these blind do not, who healed what he could in his time and you can in yours.

    The cost of not protecting and strengthening minds is faith in Santa.

    Happy Christmas families everywhere.

    • What if Jesus is wrong and Donald Trump is right? What if Sarah Palin, instead of being all Christian and classy about it, had turned on Katie Couric and ripped her a couple of new ones – made her cry with running makeup and everything? Wouldn’t that have been cool? As it is, Katie and others mortally wounded Sarah to the point that she has never recovered from it. Sticks and stones aren’t the only things that can break bones…

      The well-brought-up George W Bush took the ‘I won’t dignify this with a reply’ route, and still gets hounded if he dares get off a plane anywhere. UnChristlike, the Donald stands right up from his seat and starts yelling about how he knows your boss and you’re, frankly, a mediocre employee whose on the verge of getting fired and isn’t worth the money that they’re paying you. Then he tells you you’re overrated, then he lets you know that his personal assessment of you has always been really negative. You’re garbage. You’re boring. You have nothing to offer and you just don’t have “it”.

      People think twice about dissing the Donald, don’t they… Take note, oh Prince of Peace…

      • Chris: “What if Jesus is wrong and Donald Trump is right?”

        Blessed are you who are poor,
        for yours is the kingdom of God.
        Blessed are you who hunger now,
        for you will be satisfied.
        Blessed are you who weep now,
        for you will laugh.

        So you are saying what if the way to a free conscience is wrong: repentance of vanity, to seek out and find the source of the pain of judgement that for a price the priests and politicians will protect, cover-up, make sinless and salve; to face the whole truth and nothing but the truth about yourself playing God; to apologise and forgive, and rejoice at being set free; or what Donald Trump gives you in return for more power with Laws of Conduct, is The Way?

        You have argued then for Shariah, for the outside of the cup, if you don’t know the difference of a free person and a submitting slave.

        Donald serves us. We serve our conscience. He is not our leader. And no one is our Saviour, for who would Jesus’ Saviour be? John the Baptist did not claim it when he set Jesus on the path to recovery for forty days and nights.

        However, methinks the brandy has become more liberal:
        “People think twice about dissing the Donald, don’t they… Take note, oh Prince of Peace…”

        A TV persona is nothing compared to a dead saint and 100 million stoked and enraged adherents. I would fear religion and socialism to remain anonymous than to worry about bluff and bluster.

      • Sarah wanted to strike back but McCain and company kept warning here not to descend to the level of the Dems, this allowed the left to continue to attack and to transfer those attacks to her children. They also drove the very capable Michelle Bachman out of politics. And are trying to do the same with Cruz by attacking his kids. Cruz is fighting back and is going to be a pain to the left for years to come.

        The attack on Cruz may backfire on the left since people are pointing out that the left is calling a couple of Hispanic kids monkeys.

      • Thank you Richard by bringing the focus to the level of those who through fear and trepidation mimic the Christian Narrative to get into Sky-Heaven.

        “What if Sarah Palin, instead of being all Christian and classy about it,”

        The natural balanced mind is not stressed. It has not imprinted the “on guard” Socialist ready to be offended, the “yes boss” submission of the Muslim, and it is not the flipped over into a new identity of the murdering get-out-of-hell-guarantee ticket sold by Born Again Apostles. It is not “classy” to be pretenders to wear the robes of others.

        If a person can see, and not be blinded by the fright, they will respond to every evil-intent with the measure they deserve.

        If Sarah had “had turned on Katie Couric and ripped her a couple of new ones – made her cry with running makeup and everything? Wouldn’t that have been cool?”

        If Sarah was a Ronald Regan or Margaret Thatcher she would deconstruct the nonsense there and then. Thus making the deficiencies of her adversaries visible for all to see within these messengers of hate. Inculcating the cruel intent, to react and put up with as a pebble in a shoe, surrender as a glorious worship to live, or fight against wherever they are found, would be the opposite of cool.

        These states of fear and their justifications will always be with us.

        The game-blamers are harnessed for their submission, to transfer their loyaty to their rescuers. Communists created Socialism to save them from its deliberate financial ruin to permit centralization; as Muhammad created Islam to them save them from its soulessness to accept rape and plunder.

        If America has enough sane people left, they may get a servant, if not, they will get another Useful Messiah for President.

  2. Merry Christmas to you Vlad, Eeyore and ALL at Vlad Tepes. Thank you for your relentless work.
    A quote from way back:
    “Don’t be discouraged. While things look worse and worse from many angles, a lot of conflicts we have won did not even begin till things had reached a more dire point than we are at now. I know it is hard to realize it. A leader will come who will legalize resistance to tyranny from socialists as well as Islam and the pushback will be fast and effective. Support any voices you hear that are ready to speak out about it.” Eeyore on 4.6. 2014.

    I hear they are talking of Geert Wilders as the next Prime Minister of Holland………..

    • What you say is very true, during WWII it wasn’t until late 1943 early 1944 that it became obvious that the Allies were winning, Britain fighting since 1938 had close to 6 years of thinking they weren’t going to win. Things were much worse for them then, the war hasn’t really started yet but way too many are wanting to give up and say we can’t win. These are the types who keep saying there is no military soluton to the problem, this statement ignores the fact that the Moslems military solution currently seems to be working for them.

      • The big difference back then was both sides of the political spectrum were for fighting the war, the Right because we had been attacked, the Left because Hitler had invaded the USSR.

        • This time the “Left” seems to have joined the brown shirts.
          I love that video above – digital will never have the fascination for me that the old vynil had.

          • I wish someone would make that song popular once again, we need people in that kind of mood.

          • I understand that they are working on a laser player that will play vinyl, they think the records will last longer then the CDs do given the careless actions of the kids.

              • Ok, FYI the left loved Hitler and the Brown Shirts until Hitler invaded the USSR, they claimed fascism as part of the left and screamed when we did anything to help Britain. The the the invasion of the USSR occurred and Hitler became the evilest thing on earth, the US was suppose to send all military equipment and soldiers to Moscow right now and to place them under Russian officers. Thus begin the big lie about Fascism being on the far right.

    • Merry Christmas!
      Send up a little prayer for those who can’t exchange such simple greetings. Can you imagine how utterly cruel -Christians today watching devil-worshippers celebrate Mohammad’s birthday.
      Beyond imaging.

      • Helloooooo my favorite Yankee Kuffar 😉

        A belated happy Hanuka to you and yours !

        You know that not ONE of the main French socialist and assorted left politicians (those in power and including the Paris and Calais Mayor – both females btw) have wished the French people a happy Christmas/b>? !!! Yet they bent over backwards and forwarts to open the tax-payer paid houses (such as the Townhalls and the Elysee) to celebrate the RAMADAN and mention it. Soon every real French person left in this moribund Republique will have to wash out their mouth with soap if they even mention “CHRISTmas”. Seeing the Jew-hatred pervading in my once beloved France, perhaps that hatred extends to that Jew whose birth we celebrate at the moment.

        As to the show-pony pope …. he refrained from adding “allah-u-akbar” to his “urbi et orbi” …so far.
        // End of rant mode
        And hugs .

        • I once got a laugh by saying that in this century we were going to have to liberate France twice, once from the Moslems and once from the French government. That statement is becoming truer every moment.

        • When Jews-at-risk have leave France this time, it’ll be okay, maybe.
          Right now it’s called “Boeing Aliya” – making a gradual transition, some of the family in Israel, others working in France, tending the old folks who won’t go. There’s an inevitability about it, for sure, but no animus.
          They’ll come back for vacations, to visit friends, it’ll be ok.

  3. Democratic presidential candidates blast U.S. plan to deport families (reuters, Dec 24, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-democrats-idUSKBN0U71GO20151224

    “The Obama administration on Thursday came under fire from Democratic presidential candidates and human rights groups for plans to intensify deportations of Central American migrants by rounding up undocumented families.

    Amid a surge in the arrival of unaccompanied children and families from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, U.S. government sources confirmed preparations to detain and deport, starting next month, families that already have been ordered to leave.

    The Washington Post first reported on Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security was considering launching the crackdown in January.

    Government sources, who asked not to be identified, said on Thursday the campaign by DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) marks an expansion from mostly targeting individuals to pursuing families with undocumented members.

    A spokesman for Hillary Clinton, who is leading among Democratic candidates seeking the presidency in next November’s elections, said she “has real concerns about these reports,” adding it is “critical that everyone has a full and fair hearing and that our country provides refuge to those that need it.”

    An ICE spokesperson, asked why the agency was targeting families, said it focuses on people who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security, “whether alone or with family members.”

    Senator Bernie Sanders, chief rival to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, said in a statement, “Our nation has always been a beacon of hope, a refuge for the oppressed … we need to take steps to protect children and families seeking refuge here, not cast them out.”

    Another of Clinton’s Democratic opponents, ex-Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, tweeted: “Holiday plans for raids to round up/deport Central American refugees fleeing death are wrong. We are a better nation than this.”

    Many seek asylum in the United States by claiming their governments are unable to protect them from drug-related or domestic violence.

    Support for the deportations came from Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. “The primary solution to reducing this ongoing crisis is to eliminate the incentive that results from allowing 95.6 percent of these illegal immigrants to stay – by humanely and expeditiously returning them to their home countries.”

    DHS has put a priority on targeting for deportation previously convicted criminals who are undocumented. But it also wants to remove recently arrived Central Americans.

    Hispanic-Americans are a growing force in U.S. politics and Democrats hope a strong turnout in November could help them, especially with Republicans campaigning on a vow to seal U.S. borders from illegal immigrants.

    Donald Trump, who leads the Republican presidential field, caused an uproar last June, accusing Mexico of sending rapists and other criminals into the United States and saying undocumented immigrants carried “tremendous infectious disease.”

    Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-immigration group America’s Voice, said the upcoming raids would “be a political nightmare for the Democrats.”

    Michelle Brané, director of the Women’s Refugee Commission’s migrant rights program, said she had not received briefings from the administration. But she worried that some families facing deportation may not have had proper legal representation, especially if their cases sped through the courts.

    “It’s a pretty traumatic way to break in the new year,” she said.”

    • One lunatic barely does the required minimum and the other lunatics are already jumping as high as they can. So the lines are pretty much clearly drawn…

      • Phyllis Schlafly: Trump Is ‘Last Hope For America’

        Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/21/phyllis-schlafly-trump-is-last-hope-for-america/#ixzz3vLbgiqq1

        Long-time conservative leader and publicist Phyllis Schlafly believes that the only person who can save America from the precipice of disaster is Donald J. Trump.

        In a weekend interview with WND, Schlafly said of the GOP front-runner, “He does look like he’s the last hope [for America]. We don’t hear anybody saying what he’s saying. In fact, most of the people who ought to be lining up with him are attacking him.”

        Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/21/phyllis-schlafly-trump-is-last-hope-for-america/#ixzz3vLboy6h3

        • Comes the time, comes the man. When things are darkest someone usually several someones step up to save the day. We have all been saying we need a leader, well it is looking like we have found one. He isn’t my first choice but his is so much better then Hillary that I can’t think of a good example to use.

        • I tend to agree with this. Donald Trump is the only one who is not afraid to open his mouth. Everybody else has seen so many politicians get mowed down by the media for saying the itsiest, bitsiest little thing (binders full of women comes to mind), and they censor themselves without even knowing it. They’re all afraid. And God help you if you dare to question the holy dogma of climate change or have the audacity to want to talk about immigration or black gun-violence. Donald Trump is the only one with the balls to be President…

          In all honesty, I can’t see Hillary actually surviving long enough to get through a whole election. What’s she going to do when she’s standing on a stage and this large New York construction boss is yelling at her and shouting, “Why didn’t you send a plane, Hillary? Where was the Apache attack helicopter, Hillary? Why didn’t you rescue Davy Crockett at the Alamo, Hillary?. What about that FBI investigation into your handling of classified information, Hillary? Why do you have a possible Muslim Brotherhood member as a chief of staff, Hillary?”

          Remember, Trump has lots of money and has hardly spent any of it, but that doesn’t mean he won’t when appropriate. He’s good at that business/negotiating stuff…remember? Look out, Hillary…

          • At the moment Trump is the chosen one, and the more the establishment of both parties attack him the more attractive he gets. What is happening reminds me of what happened in the 76 and 80 campaign, the establishment had their favorite and wanted to destroy Reagan. In 76 they knew Ford couldn’t win but preferred Carter to Reagan, in 80 the people were fed up enough to vote for Reagan in the primary despite the establishment saying he didn’t stand a chance. It was the biggest landslide ever. Now the establishment wants to nominate another go along to get along moderate liberal. Once again the people are pissed off and scared enough to turn out in droves. Trump is taking advantage of this and will probably win both the nomination and the election. What we need to do is to ensure that we elect enough conservatives to Congress to ensure that his policies make it out of Congress and are put into action.

            • A friend who is as non political as it gets is saying that no matter who the Republicans run they will win because people will stampede to the polls to vote against Hillary or Saunders.

              • I think your friend is right. I don’t think the Democrats have a chance. And besides, it’s the Republicans’ turn and there is no compelling reason to buck that alternating pattern. It’s not as if the Dems are doing a particularly great job or anything…

              • If Trump will pick someone like Cruz for his VP, a true conservative who isn’t afraid to speak the truth we will hopefully get 16 years of Republican Presidents. Then hopefully the country will have turned so conservative that the moderates will once again be considered mildly left and looked at with suspicion rather then being called conservatives.

                And maybe they can remake the Hobbit so the modern leftist agenda isn’t in the movie/s. I am watching the three movies and they get further and further from Tolkien with every action and line of dialog.

          • He doesn’t need to spend, he knows he can stand up and tell the truth and the media will be so outraged they will spend all their time talking about what he has said.

          • Here is another old song that is true, it shows the need for a strong leader but also how a strong leader draws others of a like mind and then brings the people of lesser commitment along.

          • That she would, she hasn’t been in the public eye much lately but it use to be that she was quoted all the time.

    • >Hispanic-Americans are a growing force in U.S. politics and Democrats hope a strong turnout in November could help them, especially with Republicans campaigning on a vow to seal U.S. borders from illegal immigrants.
      It sounds as if being Hispanic means supporting illegal immigration…what demeaning a stereotype!

      http://www.latintimes.com/cesar-chavez-legacy-wet-lines-illegals-campaign-dark-side-latino-icons-opposition-162528
      As Miriam Pawel, a Pulitzer-winning editor and longtime journalist with Newsday and the Los Angeles Times, notes in “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez,” the wet lines were set up by Chavez’s close cousin Manuel, who in 1974 paid about three hundred United Farm Worker members to patrol a stretch of the border between Yuma, Arizona and San Luis, Mexico. They were intended to intercept unauthorized crossers en route and persuade them to turn back, thereby forcing the hand of lemon growers who were resisting a UFW strike for contracts. “If we can get the illegals out of California,” he would often say, “we will win the strike overnight.”

      There was also the Illegals Campaign, a central piece of strategy which saw the UFW direct members to report the presence of undocumented immigrants in the fields and turn them in to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the agency which preceded Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In East Fresno alone, Cesar bragged in 1974, twenty-two hundred undocumented workers had been identified through the Campaign. Michael Harpold, who spent 35 years patrolling the border with the INS, says he remembers meeting Chávez in 1965 near Delano, California. “He explained that the growers would break his striking union if we did not prevent them from hiring illegals; he would provide us carefully screened information to act on.”

      • The left keeps saying that but the longer the Hispanics remain in the US the more of them vote Republican, that is why they want to keep more and more immigrants coming in. Also the illegals are more likely to vote Dem then the legal immigrants.

  4. Although the day is now well into the morning, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.

    It is good to remember that great good may be in hidden away places (like a stable) for those beyond the hustle and bustle of life (like out in a field with sheep) and promised by the most distant reaches of the universe (like a star seen in the east).

  5. Baseless charges: Pakistan recalls ‘harassed’ diplomat from Bangladesh (tribune, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1016086/baseless-charges-pakistan-recalls-harassed-diplomat-from-bangladesh-national/

    “Pakistan on Thursday said it had recalled a diplomat deputed to the High Commission in Bangladesh as it dismissed the “baseless charges” against her.

    In a statement issued on Thursday, the Foreign Office said it had recalled Second Secretary Farina Arshad at the High Commission in Dhaka, as it accused Bangladeshi authorities of constantly harassing her….”

  6. Centre orders stricter action against Islamic State splinter groups (tribune, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1016082/culling-the-threat-centre-orders-stricter-action-against-is-splinter-groups/

    “The federal government has directed the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) operating across the country, especially in Karachi, to take stricter action against the self-styled Islamic State’s splinter groups.

    The order came after the Centre decided that it cannot allow religiously-inspired violence to spread throughout the country at a time when the administration is trying to defuse a politically volatile situation in the port city…”

  7. One dead as bomb rips through Ahmadi place of worship in Bangladesh (tribune, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1016311/one-dead-as-bomb-rips-through-ahmadi-place-of-worship-in-bangladesh/

    “A bomb exploded Friday at a place of worship of the minority Ahmadi group in Bangladesh’s northwestern town of Bagmara leaving the suspected suicide bomber dead and three other people injured, police said.

    Police said the bomb blast occurred when the small Ahmadiya Jamaat place of worship at Bagmara, some 250 kilometres from the capital, Dhaka, was packed with worshippers during Friday prayers….”

    • I wonder what the story is behind this poor pitiful Muslim loser who committed such a second-rate suicide attack? I wonder what he did to feel so guilty that the only way he could make things right with his so-called “god” was to martyr himself fighting Jihad in the cause of Allah? Did he drink some beer? Look at some porno? Skip too many prayers? Short-change the Zakat? Maybe he was guilty of thinking for himself or not hating Jews enough…

      This sick process will continue to repeat itself over and over again until the world wakes up, recognizes Islam for the barbaric atrocity that it actually is, and consigns it to the trash bin of history along with human sacrifice, head shrinking, and cannibalism…

    • I wonder how many people remember that in 1940 FDR campaigned for President under the saying he would never send American Boys overseas to die in a foreign war?

  8. Confusion, corruption among Afghan forces hit Helmand defense (reuters, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-taliban-helmand-idUSKBN0U80C320151225

    “More foreign troops died fighting in Helmand than in any other province in Afghanistan but little more than a year after NATO left, the region risks being overrun by the Taliban because of confusion, corruption and mismanagement in Afghan forces.

    Sangin is the latest Helmand district to slip into Taliban control, badly denting hopes that Afghan security forces would be able to fight on alone after international forces pulled out last year.

    Sarwar Jan is the commander of a police battalion that has been heavily engaged in Sangin and Marjah, another district mostly in Taliban hands, and he is scathing about Afghan army units he says left his isolated, under-equipped men to fight alone.

    “We call them up for reinforcement when there is an attack, but they won’t respond. So our forces are like: ‘If they don’t cooperate, why should we help them?'” he said.

    It is a picture familiar from the disaster in the northern city of Kunduz where last September Taliban fighters drove off demoralized and disorganized security forces and seized the town before pulling out two weeks later…”

    • Like Marxism Islam breeds corruption, this is a fact that use to be taught in the western schools.

  9. Exclusive: Islamic State sanctioned organ harvesting in document taken in U.S. raid (reuters, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-islamic-state-documents-idUSKBN0U805X20151225

    “Islamic State has sanctioned the harvesting of human organs in a previously undisclosed ruling by the group’s Islamic scholars, raising concerns that the violent extremist group may be trafficking in body parts.

    The ruling, contained in a January 31, 2015 document reviewed by Reuters, says taking organs from a living captive to save a Muslim’s life, even if it is fatal for the captive, is permissible.

    For a U.S. government translation of the document, click here here

    Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the document. U.S. officials say it was among a trove of data and other information obtained by U.S. special forces in a raid in eastern Syria in May.

    “The apostate’s life and organs don’t have to be respected and may be taken with impunity,” says the document, which is in the form of a fatwa, or religious ruling, from the Islamic State’s Research and Fatwa Committee.

    “Organs that end the captive’s life if removed: The removal of that type is also not prohibited,” Fatwa Number 68 says, according to a U.S. government translation….”

  10. The Latest: 2 Dead as 200 Africans Try to Swim to Spain (abcnews, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-dead-200-africans-swim-spain-35950509

    “… Moroccan and Spanish news agencies say over 200 migrants tried swim to Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta and although 180 made it, two drowned, 12 were injured and others intercepted were before reaching Spanish soil.

    Citing local government sources, the Morocco state news service MAP says the migrants made the swim at around 2 a.m. but 104 were stopped by Moroccan forces.

    Spanish state broadcaster TVE showed images of migrants being helped by rescue services in Spain and reported that around 180 were believed to have come ashore and that some had climbed onto a border fence.

    Thousands of African migrants try to enter the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla each year hoping to reach a better life in Europe. Spain says 15 drowned trying to reach Ceuta last year.”

  11. Afghan Forces Still Battling Taliban Over Southern District (abcnews, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-forces-battling-taliban-southern-district-35949266

    “A provincial official says Afghan forces are still battling to push the Taliban out of a strategic southern district in Helmand province.

    Aktar Mohammad, a provincial council member, said Friday that the situation is unchanged in the Sangin district, where intense battles have raged for a week after the Taliban overrun much of the area.

    Mohammad says Afghan reinforcements have arrived in Sangin, backed by special operations forces that were dispatched earlier in the week.

    Britain has also sent a small contingent of advisers to the region.

    Mohammad says he and most residents of Sangin fled to the Helmand provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, when the fighting escalated.

    Sangin is a prize for the Taliban as it sits on routes for drug, arms and other contraband that fund the insurgency.”

  12. Russia, Taliban share intelligence in fight against ISIS (CNN, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/24/europe/putin-taliban-isis/index.html

    “With the number of ISIS fighters growing in regional neighbor Afghanistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin is turning to an old enemy — the Taliban — to share intelligence.

    A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said the contact between Moscow and the Afghan Taliban only involves intelligence-sharing and information exchange regarding the fight against ISIS….”

    • Remember what I said about this war being multi-sided with alliances shifting because someone sees some advantage to changing sides.

  13. Russia says its strikes reduce oil smuggling to Turkey

    Moscow (AFP) – Russia said Friday that trucks loaded with oil continue to cross from Syria into Turkey but in lesser numbers thanks to its bombing campaign against Islamic State jihadists.

    “Oil tank trucks are continuing to cross the Syrian-Turkish border,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

    Citing intelligence data, Moscow said the number of oil tankers moving along the so-called northern route towards a refinery in the Turkish city of Batman had gone down.

    The same could be seen along the western route leading to Reyhanli and Iskenderun, the two Turkish cities on the Mediterranean coast, the ministry said.

    “The number of oil tankers there went down to 265,” the statement said.

    http://news.yahoo.com/russia-says-strikes-reduce-oil-smuggling-turkey-143738758.html

  14. Exclusive: Islamic State sanctioned organ harvesting in document taken in U.S. raid

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Islamic State has sanctioned the harvesting of human organs in a previously undisclosed ruling by the group’s Islamic scholars, raising concerns that the violent extremist group may be trafficking in body parts.

    The ruling, contained in a January 31, 2015 document reviewed by Reuters, says taking organs from a living captive to save a Muslim’s life, even if it is fatal for the captive, is permissible.

    For a U.S. government translation of the document, click http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/doc/document.pdf

    Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the document. U.S. officials say it was among a trove of data and other information obtained by U.S. special forces in a raid in eastern Syria in May.

    “The apostate’s life and organs don’t have to be respected and may be taken with impunity,” says the document, which is in the form of a fatwa, or religious ruling, from the Islamic State’s Research and Fatwa Committee.

    “Organs that end the captive’s life if removed: The removal of that type is also not prohibited,” Fatwa Number 68 says, according to a U.S. government translation.

    The document does not offer any proof that Islamic State actually engages in organ harvesting or organ trafficking. But it does provide religious sanction for doing so under the group’s harsh interpretation of Islam – which is rejected by most Muslims. Previously, Iraq has accused Islamic State of harvesting human organs and trafficking them for profit.

    http://www.oann.com/exclusive-islamic-state-sanctioned-organ-harvesting-in-document-taken-in-u-s-raid/

  15. Accusations fly over Saudi hospital fire that killed 24

    DUBAI (Reuters) – Accusations flew over who was to blame for the deaths of at least 24 people in a Saudi hospital fire, with one official saying a crowd that gathered there had obstructed rescue workers and some Twitter users blaming lax safety standards.

    The blaze on Thursday tore through the intensive care unit and maternity ward at the general hospital in the southwestern port city of Jazan, capital of the Jizan region, one of Saudi Arabia’s poorest areas.

    The country’s deputy health minister was quoted by the Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper on Friday as saying 141 people had been injured in the fire – the latest in a series of accidents that have killed hundreds of people at Saudi public facilities.

    Saad al-Muqrin, the deputy governor of Jazan, appeared to place some blame for the deaths at the hospital on people who rushed to the scene to help, according to remarks reported in Al Sharq Al Awsat.

    “Unfortunately there was a large mob and some citizens rushed to enter the hospital in a desire to help, but actually they obstructed the evacuation and relief process by civil defense and health affairs, and 50 of them were injured in the incident and they occupied rescuers and officials and practitioners in aiding them,” he was quoted as saying.

    http://www.oann.com/accusations-fly-over-saudi-hospital-fire-that-killed-24/

  16. Muslim refused flight to Disneyland previously refused entry to Israel

    The British Muslim family which was prevented from flying to Disneyland was barred because one of the brothers had been refused entry to Israel two years ago and his teenage son’s Facebook account had links to terrorist websites, CBS News reported.

    The family of 11 was stopped from boarding their flight to Los Angeles at London’s Gatwick airport on Tuesday of last week by immigration officials.

    Mohammad Tariq Mahmood, who was travelling with his brother and nine of their children, said the officials gave no reason for blocking their travel plans, but claimed he believed it was because American officials “think every Muslim poses a threat”.

    http://www.gopusa.com/news/2015/12/25/muslim-refused-flight-to-disneyland-previously-refused-entry-to-israel/?subscriber=1

  17. McDonalds, Pizza Hut And KFC Refuse Muslim Demands To Serve Halal Meat – Muslims ENRAGED

    “Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce special orders don’t upset us,” unless of course if you happen to be Hong Kong’s chief imam, Mufti Muhammad Arshad who recently contacted McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut who are the three biggest food chains with an offer they’ve just turned down, the offer, Islamic-certified Halal meat.

    Arshad reportedly contacted the big three to request that they begin serving halal meat in many of their outlets. Halal means ‘permissible’ in Arabic.

    As it pertains to meat, it means that it comes from an animal that is slaughtered according to Islamic law.

    Moreover Allah’s name must be pronounced during slaughter, and a very sharp instrument must be used to slit the animal at the throat and the animal must be conscious and hung upside down to bleed dry.

    http://usherald.com/mcdonalds-pizza-hut-kfc-refuse-muslim-demands-serve-halal-meat-muslims-enraged/#

  18. Turkey’s Erdogan talks man on bridge out of suicide

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used his celebrated rhetorical skills to save a life on Friday, preventing a man from jumping off Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge.

    The man was apparently preparing to jump to his death when Erdogan’s motorcade was passing over the bridge linking Europe with Asia after Friday prayers.

    News footage showed Erdogan’s bodyguards bringing the sobbing man, who appeared to be in his early 30s, to talk to him through the window of his car.After a few moments, the man can be seen kissing Erdogan’s hand

    The man was then escorted to safety, the Dogan news agency reported.

    It said police had been trying for almost two hours to talk the man out of committing suicide after he abandoned his car on the bridge and climbed over the side railing.

    He has long been suffering from depression due to family problems, Dogan said.

    The iconic bridge spanning the Bosphorus at a height of 64 metres (211 feet) is a frequent suicide spot

    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/177408/World/Region/Turkeys-Erdogan-talks-man-on-bridge-out-of-suicide.aspx

    • And here I thought, Adolf Erdogan had only “Calif” ambitions, he now obviously wants to succeed Jesus. Call my cynical, but Spielberg and even lesser directors need not be worried about “that” competitor. Thanks for your outstanding work, Martin.

  19. 2 dead as 200 Africans try to swim to Spain

    Moroccan and Spanish news agencies say over 200 migrants tried swim to Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta and although 180 made it, two drowned, 12 were injured and others intercepted were before reaching Spanish soil.

    Citing local government sources, the Morocco state news service MAP says the migrants made the swim at around 2 a.m. but 104 were stopped by Moroccan forces.

    Spanish state broadcaster TVE showed images of migrants being helped by rescue services in Spain and reported that around 180 were believed to have come ashore and that some had climbed onto a border fence.

    Thousands of African migrants try to enter the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla each year hoping to reach a better life in Europe. Spain says 15 drowned trying to reach Ceuta last year.

    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/177406/World/International/-dead-as–Africans-try-to-swim-to-Spain.aspx

  20. Pope asks God to ‘repay’ those who shelter migrants

    Pope Francis issued a Christmas Day prayer that recent U.N.-backed peace agreements for Syria and Libya will quickly end the suffering of their people, denouncing the “monstrous evil” and atrocities they have endured and praising the countries that have taken in their refugees.

    Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis issued a plenary indulgence for Catholics in hopes of spreading the church’s message of mercy in a world torn by war, poverty and extremist attacks. The sun-soaked St. Peter’s Square was under heavy security, as it has been since the Nov. 13 Paris attacks by Islamic extremists that left 130 dead.

    An indulgence is an ancient church tradition related to the forgiveness of sins. Francis announced it after delivering his annual “Urbi et Orbi (To the city and the world)” speech listing global hotspots and his prayers for an end to human suffering.

    Francis referred to the “brutal acts of terrorism” that struck the French capital this year as well as attacks in Egypt’s airspace, in Beirut, Mali and Tunisia. He denounced the ongoing conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine and issued consolation to Christians being persecuted for their faith in many parts of the planet.

    “They are our martyrs of today,” he said.

    In an indirect reference to the Islamic State group, he said: “May the attention of the international community be unanimously directed to ending the atrocities which in those countries, as well as in Iraq, Libya, Yemen and sub-Saharan Africa, even now reap numerous victims, cause immense suffering and do not even spare the historical and cultural patrimony of entire peoples.”

    Francis said he hoped the plenary indulgence he issued for this, his Holy Year of Mercy, would encourage the faithful “to welcome God’s mercy in our lives, and be merciful with our brothers to make peace grow.”

    “Only God’s mercy can free humanity from the many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which selfishness spawns in our midst,” he said.

    Libya has been in a state of lawlessness since dictator Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown in 2011. Syria has seen a five-year war that has killed over 250,000 people and forced millions to flee the country. The surge of refugees flowing out of Syria to Europe has created a migration crisis for the entire continent.

    “We pray to the Lord that the agreement reached in the United Nations may succeed in halting as quickly as possible the clash of arms in Syria and in remedying the extremely grave humanitarian situation of its suffering people,” he said. “It is likewise urgent that the agreement on Libya be supported by all, so as to overcome the grave divisions and violence afflicting the country.”

    Francis praised both individuals and countries that have taken in refugees fleeing “inhuman conditions,” saying their generosity had helped the newcomers “build a dignified future for themselves and for their dear ones, and to be integrated in the societies which receive them.”

    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/177389/World/International/Pope-asks-God-to-repay-those-who-shelter-migrants.aspx

    • “Pope asks God to ‘repay’ those who shelter migrants”

      My BS detector goes into overdrive whenever I see this media-floozie – I wonder how long before his “Urbi et Orbi” will be followed by an “Allah-u-Akbar”….

  21. Germany: Christmas Eve arson attack hits planned refugee centre

    The under construction refugee hostel in Schwabisch Gmund, at the Baden-Wuerttemberg state was massively damaged after a suspected arson attack hit the facility on Thursday night.

    • Someone let them cross borders’: Messages from Turkish intelligence found in ISIS phone

      Iraqi soldiers found several ISIS-related mobile phones, one in the dead body of a prominent leader, carrying messages from Turkish intelligence agencies

      • The Arabs want the new Caliph to be Arab not Turkish, they remember the Ottoman Empire and want an Arab Empire while the Iranians want to bring back the Mahdi and create a new Persian Empire that encompasses the world.

  22. Merry Christmas, Vlad! Thanks for all you do. I do feel great joy today. The peace of Christmas has settled on our town. Last night I stood outside and looked up and down the street at the beautiful colored lights, and looked up to the Heavens, so clear in the frigid air, and the street, a main road through our part of town, was empty, as it is now on this blessed day.
    Obama said the U.S. is not a Christian country. HA! The laugh’s on him.
    (BTW, the cross of Matamoros that I wear is drawing much comment. I wear it now instead of the gold cross I wore for years.)

    • We are still Christian, many don’t go to Church as often as we should be we are still a nation of believers. Given the way the left has taken control of so many sects we do need a new reformation.

  23. An Ottawa paintballer made $550,000 to spy on a suspected ISIL network in a two-year investigation

    The informant who befriended and spied on suspected members of an ISIL terror network in Ottawa was paid at least $550,000 during the two-year RCMP investigation, the Citizen has learned.

    The undercover agent went from working at an Ottawa paintball supply shop to making top dollar by wearing a wire against suspected jihadis — including twin brothers Ashton and Carlos Larmond, their paintball colleague Suliman Mohamed and suspected ISIL fighter Khadar Khalib.

    The undercover agent also worked as a referee at a paintball battlefield. And for a time, he was on a military simulation team that included a handful of Canadian soldiers he trained with on the paintball battlefield.

    He is considered a prized police agent in a terrorism case anchored in wiretap evidence. If he was new at the job, it didn’t show. He never blew his cover, not even when one of his Ottawa targets suspected he was wearing a wire and patted him down, according to police.

    The informant allegedly captured a key pre-dawn meeting in the parking lot of the Ottawa main mosque on Nov. 25, 2013. It was at this meeting that police allege Ashton Larmond gave the undercover agent $1,300 to cover the agent’s airfare to get to Syria and join the fight. Larmond allegedly advised him on which route to take, and what to bring, right down to warm hiking boots.

    The informant dropped out of Ottawa’s paintball community sometime before his targets were arrested in January, around the same time his Facebook account was de-activated.

    None of the terrorism charges against the accused have been tested in court and it is not known if the informant has been kept on the payroll since going into hiding.

    http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/an-ottawa-paintballer-made-550000-to-spy-on-a-suspected-isil-network-in-a-two-year-investigation

  24. FRANCE – CORSICA

    Corsica [ Muslim ] Violence Injures Firefighters; Prayer Hall Damaged [ by locals ]

    A crowd vandalized a Muslim prayer room in Corsica a day after an ambush [ by Muslims] left firefighters injured on the French island.

    The region's top police official was on the tense scene at a housing project Friday evening.

    The violence began Thursday night, when firefighters responding to an emergency call were ambushed [ by integrated moderate Muslims ] in Ajaccio, according to the local France 3 television. On Friday a gathering that started as a show of support for the injured emergency officials turned violent, and some in the crowd vandalized a prayer room. France 3 reported new police reinforcements at other prayer rooms.

    France's prime minister, Manuel Valls, called Friday for respect for French law after "the intolerable aggression toward firefighters and unacceptable profanation of a Muslim place of prayer."

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/corsica-violence-injures-firefighters-prayer-hall-damaged-35953718

    In French :

    "Arabi fora (les Arabes dehors)!"
    ( Arabs go home )
    des exemplaires du Coran ont été partiellement brûlés.
    ( Corans set on fire )

    http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2015/12/25/97001-20151225FILWWW00107-ajaccio-des-manifestants-saccagent-une-salle-de-priere-musulmane.php

  25. MAPPED: Shocking march of the far-right across Europe as migration fears reach fever pitch (express, Dec 25, 2015)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/629022/EU-migration-crisis-far-right-parties-Europe-Germany-Sweden-France

    “FAR-RIGHT parties are on the march across Europe as the unprecedented migrant crisis gripping the continent fuels a surge in support for nationalist movements.

    This shocking map shows how anti-immigration campaigners have enjoyed huge gains in this year’s elections, whilst thousands have taken to the streets to protest against the overwhelming influx of migrants and refugees.

    From Greece to Germany and Switzerland to Sweden, far-right protestors and parties have stormed the mainstream of European politics as voters rebel against years of predominantly socialist rule….”

    • Nationalism is what saved the west from the last Islamic conquest it is what will save this one.

  26. SYRIA – Jihadists ‘to quit south Damascus districts’: sources

    Damascus (AFP) – Some 4,000 people, half of them jihadist fighters, will leave three besieged southern districts of Syria’s capital at the weekend as part of a landmark ceasefire, sources told AFP Friday.

    Militants from the Islamic State jihadist group and its rival, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front, will reportedly quit the districts of Qadam, Hajar al-Aswad and the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmuk.

    “An agreement was reached whereby 4,000 fighters and civilians, including members of Al-Nusra and IS, would leave” the neighbourhoods on Saturday, one government official close to the negotiations said.

    They would then be transported to the northern cities of Raqa, held by IS, and Marea which is controlled by Islamists and Al-Nusra, the official said.

    The second phase of the deal would see government institutions reopen in the neighbourhoods and “the necessities of daily life would be secured”, the official said.

    It will be the first time in more than two years that market goods have been able to be sent in to the three southern districts, which have been under a crippling government siege.

    IS militants attacked the Yarmuk Palestinian camp in April, fighting Al-Nusra units there for control.

    The jihadists then overran parts of Qadam in August after launching an attack from their base in nearby Hajar al-Aswad.

    Their advance into Qadam had brought them closer than ever to central Damascus.
    The ceasefire deal comes after two months of intense negotiations between Syria’s government and district leaders, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

    Speaking on condition of anonymity, one local leader in Qadam said that “every fighter will be allowed to leave with his family and one suitcase and his personal weapon”.

    – ‘Larger reconciliation process’ –

    The areas are already in the process of being demilitarised.

    A Syrian army unit entered Qadam on Thursday to confiscate heavy weapons and military equipment used by the jihadists, a security source on the ground said.

    Eighteen buses had also crossed into the neighbourhood in preparation for Saturday’s evacuation, which would include “2,000 combattants, mostly jihadists”, he added.

    Local ceasefires have been implemented in other parts of Syria with varying degrees of success.

    Typically, towns or villages under siege agree to a truce in exchange for humanitarian aid and the evacuation of wounded civilians and fighters.

    A similar deal earlier this month in the central city of Homs saw 2,000 rebels and civilians leave the last opposition-held neighbourhood.

    Mohammad al-Omari, a representative of Syria’s reconciliation ministry, told AFP that the “first phase of the deal will have a positive effect on Yarmuk and all of the southern areas”.

    He said he hoped a “larger reconciliation process” would allow some 1.8 million people to return

    More than 250,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict erupted in 2011, and millions have fled their homes.

    A United Nations representative in Damascus told AFP that the world body had no role in the negotiations or developments in the southern areas of the capital.

    And Chris Gunness, spokesman for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, said it was seeking “further details” about the deal.

    “As UNRWA is deeply concerned about their well-being, the agency is seeking from the Syrian government further details of any negotiated arrangements that will affect the humanitarian situation of civilians in Yarmuk,” he said in an email.

    http://news.yahoo.com/jihadists-quit-south-damascus-suburbs-sources-131515498.html

  27. Melissa Hayden Jacques d’Amboise – The Nutcracker – The Bell Telephone Hour – 1965 – US TV

    • @Martin
      I want to express my very special admiration to you and dont quite know how to do it without sounding over schmaltzy or simpering….

      I admire your enormous out-put over the year, but I admire even more that in all the horrors which you bring us and which would be swept under the carpet, denied, embellished or otherwise tampered with if they are brought to us at all by the “responsables”, you have that wonderful sense for beauty. To love such beauty it must be really really an effort to face all that ugliness – ! Thank you for your effort.

      • Thanks Rita…

        I guess the deal would be :
        – I search – I find – I post –
        then…
        YOU watch – YOU read – YOU think – YOU comment —

        and at the end, later, when I read your comments, more often than not I realize that I think exactly the same things as most of you !

        and it is not my fault if sometimes I have to post those horrible videos
        (of course I watch other things than beheadings but on youtube ugliness is a lot easier to find than videos that give an authentic esthetical pleasure to the senses ... )

      • Everything Rita says, ditto. Double ditto.
        I’m saving these ballet videos for later, right before bed as a night-cap. Thank-you.

        I know when you’re teasing too, Martin. I’ll read your bold on some screed and quite literally lol. Then see the video that intensifies the absurdity and I’m helpless.

        I’m grateful you’re here to curate this collection. But you’re more active, you’re more Virgil, holding my hand through this journey. I can’t imagine going it alone.

        • Thanks yucki ,

          first, I spend too much time in front of the computer …

          … and I should go to bed earlier…

          … the level of stupidity we are facing everywhere nowadays is unprecedented… there is almost no way we could fight it … we can only put up with it, at least for now

          I guess that our out of reach goal would be to get Islam eradicated down to its roots the sooner the better otherwise we risk in a near future to face terrible and bloody fights everyhere on the planet with the brainless vectors of that disease now that the whole world has been lebanonized…

          ...... B flat !!! .....

  28. TURKEY – At least seven killed in Turkish ‘cleansing’ operation

    Turkish troops pound the town of Cizre in what the government describes as an operation to “cleanse” the area of militants