Reader’s links for July 17 – 2016

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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

111 Replies to “Reader’s links for July 17 – 2016”

  1. (The various wild theories are starting, I wouldn’t believe any of them without more evidence then what is currently being reported.)

    The Latest: Syrian state paper says coup attempt fabricated

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_TURKEY_MILITARY_COUP_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-17-08-49-15

    ISTANBUL (AP) — The Latest on Turkey’s failed military coup. (all times local):

    3:50 p.m.

    A Syrian government newspaper says the failed coup in Turkey was fabricated and aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the military.

    The daily Al-Thawra said Sunday that the attempted coup was a plot by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to “avenge the military and strip it of its remaining popular support.”

    It said police loyal to Erdogan “deliberately humiliated” the army in front of the people.

    Erdogan is a strong backer of the insurgents trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power in neighboring Syria. The Syrian government views the rebels as terrorists.

  2. Erdogan: the deeply divisive rule of Turkey’s ‘Sultan’

    Istanbul (AFP) – Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who appears to have survived a bloody attempt to remove him from power, is the most divisive leader in the history of the modern Turkish republic.

    Adored by supporters as a transformative figure who modernised Turkey, his foes paint him as an increasingly despotic “Sultan” who ruthlessly shuts down any criticism.

    Rising from premier to become the nation’s first directly elected president in 2014, Erdogan has dreamed of boosting his hold even further by changing the constitution to give Turkey a US-style executive presidency.

    – ‘Big master’ –

    But the dramatic events of Friday night have shaken his grip on power in a way few could have imagined even a day earlier.

    With a notoriously fiery temper, Erdogan is known to himself and followers as the “buyuk usta” — the “big master” — or simply “the Sultan”.

    The 61-year-old first came to power as prime minister in 2003, bringing stability after a history of coups and rocky coalitions and dragging the Muslim-majority country out of an economic quagmire.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/erdogan-deeply-divisive-rule-turkeys-sultan-160235398.html?ref=gs

  3. France says question marks over Turkey’s role in fight with Islamic State

    PARIS (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister said on Sunday that questions needed to be asked on whether Turkey was a viable partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

    “There are questions that are being asked and we will ask them. It (Turkey) is partly viable, but there are suspicions as well. Let’s be honest about this,” Jean-Marc Ayrault told France 3 television.

    He said he would raise the issue at meeting of the anti-Islamic state coalition in Washington next week.

    A French official later sought to clarify Ayrault’s comments, saying he had not meant to put in question Turkey’s viability in the fight against Islamic State, and that Ankara remained a crucial partner for the coalition to that end.

    “Turkey is a big country, a country that has a strategic role, is a NATO member, the biggest border with Syria and welcomes some 2.5 million Syrian refugees and is an ally,” Ayrault said in the interview.

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s supporters rallied in public squares, at Istanbul airport and outside his palace overnight in a show of defiance after a failed coup attempt on Friday killed at least 265 people and raised expectations of a heavy crackdown on dissent.

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/france-says-marks-over-turkeys-role-fight-islamic-105734902.html

  4. Did Erdogan STAGE the coup? US-based Turkish cleric facing extradition over botched rebellion claims president orchestrated plot to justify a clampdown on civil rights

    A US-based Turkish cleric accused of plotting a coup to overthrow the Ankara government has claimed President Recep Erdogan staged the rebellion himself to justify a major clampdown on opposition forces.

    Fethullah Gulen, who was a former key ally of Erdogan has been blamed by the politician of using his contacts to develop a ‘parallel structure’ to overthrow the state.

    Erdogan has called on US President Barack Obama to extradite Gulen, who is based in Pennsylvania.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693729/Did-Erdogan-STAGE-coup-based-Turkish-cleric-facing-extradition-botched-rebellion-claims-president-orchestrated-plot-justify-clampdown-civil-rights.html#ixzz4Efg6k61l
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    • I fell for it, wanted it so badly I cried.
      Strange, didn’t register such loathing before. Maybe Rita’s nickname “Adolf Erdogan” stuck, maybe it’s the mustache or his love affair with 0 and Hamas. (Though 0 seems to have broken it off. A spat: Erdo kept making him look bad in public. Especially at one of those Big-20 type gatherings.)

      • I thought it was Kemilists that were trying to keep the idea of a secular government in Turkey alive but thought it was done hurriedly to prevent internal security form arresting the plotters. Because of what I thought was a speeded up move I was always fearful that it would fail.

        The theory that Erdogan was behind the coup to have an exccuse to crack down on the opposition also fits the evidence and it helps explain his sudden friendship with Putin. For both Erdogan and Putin this would be a twofer, Erdogan getsto crack down on his internal opposition and gets to force the US and Europe to stop using Turkey to oppose the formation of a Caliphate.

        Putin actually has a threefer, he gets to take over as the power broker in the Middle East, he gets the 80 nukes out of Turkey by shutting down the airfield, and he causes a major fracture in NATO which in hte long run will probably cause it to fall apart.

        I don’t see anything good for Europe or the US in this scenario which is probably why Obama is working to let Russia run the US attacks on ISIS.

        • NATO – as it’s become – is no great loss. We may be looking at a new configuration that targets Tardish aggression. Who knows?

          • There will be a new alliance, North America needs a free and independent Europe as much as they need a free and independent North America. I hope/pray that Britain remains free so we don’t have to liberate her as well as France. I am not holding my breath waiting for this to happen.

    • The Erdo?an-Did-It Conspiracy
      While on its face, the notion that elements in the Turkish military loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an deliberately launched a “fake coup” to justify a crackdown on Erdo?an’s enemies sounds farfetched, the belief is taking hold not only among Turkey’s staunch secularist minority and followers of Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, but also among those who know the Turkish military well.

      I asked people who firmly believe that the coup was not what it appeared to explain why they cannot take the notion that what occurred on Friday was a genuine military coup seeking to oust the president. Here is what they said:

      The military would never start a coup at 10 pm on a Friday. In 1980, the coup began on a Sunday at five in the morning.
      The military—if it had been a true coup—would have immediately shut down airspace, borders, the internet, and all media outlets.
      The first move would have been to go after the leaders, not to block bridges in Istanbul when it was known that the president was in Marmaris.
      The military would have informed allied commands and NATO as soon as the operation was underway.
      To arrest hundreds if not thousands of officers and judges would have required putting together a list and, again given past precedent, that would have taken at least two days.

      The notion that the president could get on CNN-Türk through FaceTime without prior coordination, and then have other channels on air soon after would have required pre-arrangement.

      https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/turkey/recep-tayyip-erdogan-coup-conspiracy/

      • Expert: Failed coup in Turkey might have been staged

        Middle East expert Dr. Ephraim Herrera spoke to Arutz Sheva about Friday night’s attempted coup in Turkey, providing background and expert analysis.

        “The coup attempt is not surprising. Erdogan is connected to the Muslim brotherhood and aims to make Turkey an Islamic state again. So naturally the partisans of the Ataturk movement, who follow Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who’d removed Islam from Turkish politics, are not to happy about this,” Dr. Herrera explained.

        He then clarified that the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t operate like ISIS. Their goal is to bring about Islamic world-domination through non-military means, mainly demographic ones. “We already see very large Turkish populations in Germany, Belgium, and other countries, and if Turkey enters the European Union, they would be able to move into anywhere in Europe completely freely.”

        While the desire for a coup among certain segments of Turkish society is not surprising, elements of the execution of the coup were very surprising indeed, said the Islam expert:
        “The generals didn’t cut off internet access during their operation, so Erdogan was able to freely and efficiently communicate with his supporters, and get crowds down to the streets to prevent the revolution. This means we cannot know whether this was really a coup by the officers, or one staged by Erdogan so that he can then eliminate opposition.”

        http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/215072

          • More evidence is pointing that way all the time, and he has been following Adolph’s play book so this could be the Reichstag fire.

  5. Survey reveals Germany’s top companies employ just 54 refugees

    Findings show challenge of integrating migrants into labour force

    Germany’s deputy chancellor has written to bosses of the country’s leading companies demanding they hire more refugees, after a survey found they had taken on a grand total of just 54.

    About 1m migrants arrived in Germany last year, about a third of them refugees from Syria. Angela Merkel’s government has made it a priority to integrate them into the German labour market as quickly as possible.

    But despite the large number of vacancies in the German jobs market — 665,000 in June — it has proven harder than expected to recruit the refugees into the workforce.

    A survey by the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper of the top 30 German companies found that they had together employed just 54 refugees. Fifty of them were hired by one company, Deutsche Post.

    In his letter, Sigmar Gabriel, economics minister and leader of the centre-left Social Democrats, said the smaller enterprises that make up Germany’s Mittelstand had been building bridges to enable refugees to enter the labour market.

    https://next.ft.com/content/d5d0bb96-49a8-11e6-8d68-72e9211e86ab

    • Why haven’t unemployed Spanish, Italian, and Greek nationals moved into these jobs? That’s what the EU was supposed to facilitate, no?

      • That is what their public statements were.

        To answer your question, why work when the governments gives you a comfortable living by stealing from the rich?

        • Who knew? That the alternative was a passel of young “Mohammeds” clogging the delivery-rooms, shored up by a column of fit, military-age Tards…?

          • We are going down hill on a dead run and the slope is getting steeper. Hope you stay on your feet on the way down.

  6. Turkey widens crackdown on military, judiciary after failed coup

    ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey widened a crackdown on suspected supporters of a failed military coup on Sunday, taking the number of people rounded up in the armed forces and judiciary to 6,000, and the government said it was in full control of the country and economy.

    Overnight, supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan rallied in public squares, at Istanbul airport and outside his palace in a show of defiance after the coup attempt killed at least 265 people.

    With expectations growing of heavy measures against dissent, European politicians warned Erdogan that the coup attempt did not give him a bank cheque to disregard the rule of law, and that he risked isolating himself internationally as he strengthens his position at home.

    Broadcaster NTV cited Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag as saying that more arrests were expected on top of the 6,000 people already detained.

    Authorities have rounded up nearly 3,000 suspected military plotters, ranging from top commanders to foot soldiers, and the same number of judges and prosecutors after forces loyal to Erdogan crushed the attempted coup on Saturday.

    http://www.oann.com/erdogan-supporters-stand-guard-as-crushed-coup-bid-shakes-turkey/

  7. Armed men in Armenia seize police station, demand politicians’ release

    YEREVAN/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Armed men seized a police station and hostages in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on Sunday, demanding Armenians take to the streets to press their demands for the release of opposition politicians they said had been jailed unfairly.

    One of their main demands was to free Jirair Sefilian, an opposition politician whom the authorities have accused of plotting civil unrest. Sefilian was jailed in June over allegations of illegally possessing weapons.

    Armenia’s security service said one policeman had been killed and two wounded in the violence, but that negotiations were now underway to resolve the standoff peacefully.

    Two hostages had been freed, it said. Armenian news agencies cited police sources as saying seven or eight hostages remained.

    Photographs from the scene show the area ringed with white armored vehicles.

    http://www.oann.com/armed-men-seize-police-station-hostages-in-armenia-security-service/

    • Armenia: Police confirm 1 officer killed in ongoing hostage situation

      Armenia’s deputy chief of police Hunan Poghosyan confirmed that a police officer, Artur Vanonyan, was killed and three others wounded during the storming of a police station in Yerevan earlier in the day. Footage shows a vehicle thought to belong to the hostage takers being placed atop a truck and driven away as the hostage situation continues to unfold.

      The police officer was killed when armed men stormed the police station in the Armenian capital on Sunday morning. Police have surrounded the building and are negotiating with the group, who are thought to have taken several people hostage. Armenia’s deputy police chief General Major Vardan Egiazaryan and Yerevan’s Deputy Chief of Police Valeri Osipyan are believed to be among the hostages. Two hostages were reportedly freed with seven or eight believed to remain inside.

  8. Europe’s eyes on Merkel to rebuild EU after Brexit vote

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) – When the chips are down in Europe, everyone turns to Angela Merkel for a solution. But the German chancellor often sits on her hands until the last minute, then does the minimum necessary to keep the show on the road.

    Since last month’s shock British referendum vote to leave the European Union, all eyes have been on Berlin to indicate a way out of danger for the 27 members who will remain.

    As usual, Merkel, the continent’s most powerful and experienced leader, is biding her time and letting underlings air their differences without tipping her hand before she departs for her three-week summer break this week.

    Votes had barely been tallied in Britain when her vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the center-left Social Democrats, and European Parliament President Martin Schulz rushed out a 10-point plan for a “refoundation” of Europe.

    Lamenting that ever more citizens doubted Europe’s ability to deliver a better future, they called for a more federal Europe with the European Commission as its government, and a more flexible, growth-friendly economic policy turning away from austerity to investment in an “industrial renaissance”.

    Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble rapidly shot down those ideas, rejecting any need for economic stimulus spending and reaffirming his balanced budget target up to 2020 at a time when many in Europe are pleading with Berlin to borrow money free of interest and invest massively in infrastructure.

    http://www.oann.com/europes-eyes-on-merkel-to-rebuild-eu-after-brexit-vote/

  9. Vietnamese protesters detained for rapping China over South China Sea case

    HANOI (Reuters) – About 20 Vietnamese demonstrators were detained on Sunday while trying to hold a protest against China’s rejection of an international court decision that denied its vast claims in the South China Sea.

    The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, deciding a case lodged by the Philippines, ruled last week that China’s nine-dash line denoting its territory, illustrated in a U-shape on Chinese maps, was illegal and breached Manila’s sovereign rights. Beijing has called the case a farce.

    The demonstrators, some wearing T-shirts with the slogan “No-U”, were forced by unknown men into buses and cars that were waiting for them around Hanoi’s historic Hoan Kiem lake, Reuters witnesses said.

    Vietnam has its own sovereignty disputes with China, but has been reserved in its comments on last week’s verdict, welcoming it but not saying if Hanoi would pursue the same legal path as the Philippines.

    Vietnam’s communist government is sensitive about anti-China sentiment among its people, many of whom welcomed the Philippines’ legal victory.

    China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

    Also on Sunday, a separate group of Vietnamese demonstrators held a rally that lasted less than one minute in front of the Philippines embassy in Hanoi.

    The nearly 10 people in the group hopped onto scooters and fled to evade arrest as police approached.Their signs read “China you must comply with international law” and “Thank you Philippines, you have a brave government.”

    http://www.oann.com/vietnamese-protesters-detained-for-rapping-china-over-south-china-sea-case/

  10. Turkey goes off the rez; looks like NATO’s going down

    Has anyone ever been as preternaturally well prepared for a coup as Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have been in the last 24 hours?

    The key to understanding what just happened is the handful of things Erdogan did, immediately, that he didn’t have to do, as a response to a coup attempt by the military.

    Until a few hours ago, we might have thought the prompt detention of more than 2,700 judges and prosecutors in the Turkish judicial system was chief among those. That’s a lot of judges and prosecutors to run out and arrest right away – within hours – after a coup planned by a rogue element in the military. It sure looks like someone was just waiting to execute an order on that one.

    But the picture is clearer now. And it’s obvious that the most important thing Erdogan did was allow one of the government’s ministers to blame the United States for the coup attempt.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/07/17/turkey-goes-off-rez-looks-like-natos-going/

    • US government behind Turkish coup attempt, Turkish minister says

      Turkish cabinet minister blames US for failed coup as Turkey shuts down Incirlik Air Base used by United States.

      A Turkish government minister has accused the United States of planning Friday night’s failed attempt to overthrow Turkey’s government.

      Speaking to Turkish television Saturday night, Suleyman Soylu, Turkey’s Labor and Social Security Minister, said the US was responsible for the coup attempt.

      The Turkish government shutdown access on Saturday to the Incirlik Air Base, where the United States and other NATO allies station combat units for strikes against ISIS terrorists. The air base also houses American nuclear weapons.

      American forces stationed at Incirlik have been put on condition Delta, the highest alert level, after power was cut to the base.

      The Turkish government ordered a no-fly zone around the air base hours in the wake of the coup attempt.

      http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/215046

    • Be sure and read this one, it is a professional intelligence analyst looking at the evidence of what is happening. Her conclusion is backed by a lot of evidence and spells trouble for the entire world and has Russia in the cat bird seat in the Middle East for the short term if not the medium term.

    • Turkey: Erdogan demands extradition of Gulen from US after failed coup

      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded that the US extradite Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Turkish cleric, who Erdogan has accused of organising the failed coup attempt that shook Turkey on Friday night, making the comments during a rally in Istanbul, Saturday. Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak was also at the speech.

      • This is where he is going to start the moves to kick the US out of hte air base and Obama is going to order the nukes dismantled.

    • Turkey: Erdogan carries the coffins of coup victims in Fatih Mosque

      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated in the funeral services for the victims of the attempted coup in Istanbul’s Fatih Mosque, Sunday. The president, surrounded by bodyguards, allies and supporters, could be seen delivering a speech before being a pallbearer, placing the coffins on specially designed vehicles.

      At least 265 people were been killed, many of them civilians, and over 1,500 injured in the coup attempt. The government’s response to Friday’s actions has been swift with 6,000 people being detained including high-ranking soldiers and judges, according to Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag.

    • Thousands mass outside Fatih Mosque for the funerals of Friday’s coup victims

      ( 33 min 16 )

      • More evidence Erdogan staged the coup, either that or Obama has dismantled all of hour human intel lines, or both.

    • Turkey: Erdogan hails ‘martyrs’ who resisted coup attempt

      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated in a funeral service for the victims of the attempted coup, at Istanbul’s Fatih Mosque on Sunday. The president, surrounded by bodyguards and supporters, delivered a speech in which he thanked those who, in accepting his call, had gathered in squares across the country to resist the attempted coup.

      SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President (Turkish): ”It was very important that our citizens accepted our call and filled the squares of the whole country. Our citizens resisted with the motto that ‘if they have tanks and bombs, we have our faith.’ It was not an ordinary thing that these young brothers lay down under the tank tracks. They did this because of their fate. We have 161 martyrs for the time being.”

      SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President (Turkish): “We will ask for the extradition of these individuals from the US and [other] Western countries with an official request from our Ministry of Justice and Foreign Ministry.”

    • DAILY MAIL – Shocking photo shows dozens of soldiers bound and stripped of their uniforms in Turkish gymnasium after failed coup

      Image shows several Turkish soldiers huddled together naked on the floor
      It is believed the photo was taken from a gymnasium in Sirnak, east Turkey
      The soldiers look to have been stripped of their uniform and handcuffed
      Comes as 6,000 rebels are detained in aftermath of uprising that killed 250

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3694469/Shocking-photo-shows-dozens-soldiers-bound-stripped-uniforms-Turkish-gymnasium-failed-coup.html

  11. ACLU preparing for legal challenges in event Trump is elected

    The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a 28-page report Friday arguing that most of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s governing agenda is unconstitutional and promising to keep a running tally of all Trump’s policy goals that run afoul of the Constitution.

    Titled “The Trump Memos,” the analysis encompasses the New York billionaire’s proposals on immigration, torture, libel, abortion, and government surveillance. It effectively serves as a blueprint for the legal arguments the ACLU would marshall when challenging Trump’s initiatives if elected president.

    “Donald Trump’s proposed policies, if carried out, would trigger a constitutional crisis,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero wrote Wednesday in the Washington Post.

    By our reckoning, a Trump administration would violate the First, Fourth, Fifth and Eighth amendments if it tried to implement his most controversial plans.”

    But we need to be prepared because the very freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution could come under a sustained attack by a President Trump in the Oval Office. If that day comes, make no mistake: We’ll be seeing him in court.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/07/16/aclu-preparing-legal-challenges-event-trump-gets-elected/

  12. France: ‘Terrorism has no religion’ Muslim group mourns Nice attack victims

    Around 15 members of the Islamic ‘Association Musulmane Ahmadiyya de France’ gathered at the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, Sunday, to lay flowers in honour of the victims of the Bastille Day attack.

    Abdel Rani, spokesperson for the association, explained that the members had come from all over France to spread a message of love and support from the Muslim community.

    SOT, Abdel Rani, member of Association Musulmane Ahmadiyya de France (French): “We are members of Association Musulmane Ahmadiyya de France and we already gathered at the site of the different attacks that unfortunately have already taken place. We’ve already come here, to Nice, coming from everywhere: the Paris region, Marseille, Toulon, and we are here to share our grief and prayers, especially for the victims and the family of the victims.”

    SOT, Abdel Rani, member of Association Musulmane Ahmadiyya de France (French): “Islam has no link [to the attack]. Terrorism has no religion. This act was completely inappropriate, [carried out] by a person who was possibly depressed, but Islam has nothing to do with all this. If he really follows the lessons of the Quran … On our banner and T-shirts, we have a text reading ‘Love for all, hatred for no-one.’ This is really the slogan of all religious peoples, at least of the Muslims who claim to follow the Islamic faith and who follow the lessons of the Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him.”

    • France: Promenade des Anglais nightclub offers roses to Nice attack mourners

      Workers at the ‘High’ nightclub, based on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais, gave away 1,000 flowers to mourners of the Bastille Day lorry attack, Sunday.

      Manager of the club, Gilles Tevenet, said that the business was “directly touched” by the attack due to its proximity to the killings. He explained that “on this day of communion, this Sunday, a special day for all of us, it would be good to make a gesture and offer a rose to all passers-by, as a symbolic and normal act.”

      SOT, Gilles Tevenet, manager of Club High (French): “We are an institution which was directly touched in the moments that followed this terrible drama and we thought that today, on this day of communion, this Sunday, a special day for all of us, it would be good to make a gesture and offer a rose to all passers-by, as a symbolic and normal act.”

    • DAILY MAIL Riviera killer’s relatives were jailed for gun crimes: Three family members are Islamic extremists who were imprisoned in Tunisia

      Police sources say Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s relatives arrested in 2008
      Relatives, thought to be wife’s cousins and brothers, found with weapons
      Killer’s brother said family were shocked and Bouhlel ‘wasn’t religious’

      Three relatives of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel are Islamic extremists who were jailed in Tunisia.

      They are understood to be brothers and cousins of Bouhlel’s wife. Police sources said two of them were arrested in 2008 for training with weapons in the mountains.

      One said: ‘After release, one, who we think is extremely dangerous, went to Syria, and we are checking if one was in Nice, but he definitely flew to Europe from Tunisia. The third man usually lives here but we haven’t traced him.’

      Father-of-three Bouhlel, 31, had been in trouble with police and lost his job as a lorry driver after falling asleep at the wheel.

      His wife was divorcing him after claiming he beat her. Last night, speaking at the family home in Msaken, Tunisia, Bouhlel’s brother Jaber said: ‘I was with my parents when we were told Mohamed was driving the lorry.

      ‘We thought it must be an accident. Then we heard he was dead and police shot him. We couldn’t believe it.

      ‘Mohamed wasn’t religious. He had problems with his family but nothing else.’

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693975/Riviera-killer-s-relatives-jailed-gun-crimes-Three-family-members-Islamic-extremists-imprisoned-Tunisia.html?

    • DAILY MAIL – ‘Bring more weapons… It’s good. I have the equipment’: Terrifying final text messages of Bastille Day killer sent MINUTES before he murdered 84 people

      Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel sent text messages and took a SELFIE just before the attack
      Texts were sent at 10.27pm to two of the men now in custody
      The mobile phone was found in the cab of his bullet-riddled truck
      CCTV shows Bouhlel driving up and down the promenade two days before
      His neighbour described moment he said ‘one day, you’ll hear about me’
      Bouhlel’s brother said he sent a picture of him ‘laughing a lot’ before attack

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3694282/Brought-weapons-s-good-equipment-Terrifying-final-text-messages-Bastille-Day-killer-sent-minutes-murdered-84-people.html

    • Nice – Muslim killer bisexual

      D’après une information exclusive de Sarah Lou Cohen (consultante Police Justice de BFM TV) révélée le 17 juillet 2016 à 19h04 sur la chaîne, le terroriste Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel était bisexuel. On a trouvé sur son téléphone portable des photos de conquêtes féminines et masculines.

    • [..... not a single shocking word like Islam, shariah, Muslim, etc on the page ....]

      CNN – Attacker Mohamed Bouhlel: Why did he launch rampage?

      By Paul Cruickshank, CNN Terrorism Analyst

      […]Bouhlel also had serious mental health challenges. His father said he suffered from nervous breakdowns in which he “broke everything,” and that he believed his son’s mental health deteriorated after his separation from his wife.

      By all accounts Bouhlel had a volatile personality. In March he was given a six-month suspended prison sentence after throwing a wooden pallet at a driver following a traffic accident.

      According to reports in the French media, a neighbor said that Bouhlel was so angered when his wife left him that he “defecated all over the place” and shredded his daughter’s teddy bear.

      […]it was premeditated, as does the symbolic date chosen: July 14, the French national day,

      […]local associates of the Nice attacker detained for questioning have told interrogators that Bouhlel started speaking supportively of ISIS days before the attack. Four of his associates were arrested late Friday and early Saturday in Nice.

      […]The Nice attacker appears to fit a pattern. In the last two years, multiple terrorist attacks in the West have involved a blend of radicalization and mental health factors, a category of terrorist some analysts such as Max Abrahms have termed “loon-wolves.”

      One such case was Man Haron Monis, who carried out a hostage attack in Sydney in December 2014 after pledging allegiance to ISIS. At the inquest into the attacks, he was described as unpredictable and a “dangerous psychopath” suffering from narcissistic personality disorder.

      Another case in point was Mohammad Abdulazeez, a naturalized American who shot dead four U.S. Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 2015. Investigators established Abdulazeez was radicalized online, but according to his family he also suffered from bipolar disorder and depression, which were aggravated three months before the attack with his arrest for a DUI.

      Orlando shooter Omar Mateen, who claimed his attack was on behalf of ISIS, was described by his ex-wife as “mentally unstable and mentally ill.”

      […]

      http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/17/world/nice-attacker-mohamed-bouhlel-why/

    • The Mirror – Nice massacre monster Mohamed Bouhlel went from baby faced teen to muscle-bound mass murderer

      … taking strong medication to control mood swings while also being addicted to strong cannabis

      … gym fanatic

      …mood swings

      …addicted to strong cannabis

      …mental illness

      …strong weed

      …mentally sick from childhood

      …suffered shock attacks.

      …He smoked lots of drugs, like strong weed, and he drank

      married his aunt’s daughter, [ ... his cousin !!! ... ]

      …He was always doing drugs

      …Bouhlel’s father Mohamed Mondher insisted his son was mentally ill and not a radicalised soldier linked to the terror group.

      “From 2002 to 2004 he had problems that led to a ­nervous breakdown.

      He was always alone, always ­silent, refusing to talk.

      his son had “no connection with religion.

      It is understood he only started going to a mosque in April.

      ….he must have been radicalised “very quickly”.

      http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/nice-massacre-monster-mohamed-bouhlel-8436103

      • B.S.
        ….
        Daily Freier: Electronic Intifada Says Tomorrow’s Suicide Bomber “Not Even Very Religious” (SATIRE)

        Chicago: Electronic Intifada says that they don’t have all the details about tomorrow’s suicide bomber, but they are “like totally positive” that he will definitely not commit his act in the name of a certain monotheism.

        “This guy is not a Jihadist.” explained Electronic Intifada editor Ali Abunimah “C’mon, he drank in college. What kind of extremist does that? Really, I mean calling this terror is just Hate Speech.” Ali shifted in his seat slowly and looked into the distance. “I mean, like, if this thing actually goes down tomorrow”

        The reporter challenged Mr. Abunimah on this premise, and he countered “The guy goes to Strip Clubs. Strip…Clubs. Please stop trying to make this into something it isn’t.”

        When the Daily Freier asked Mr. Abunimah how he deals with the avalanche of tough questions about Terrorist’s motives and ideology Neo-Con vitriol, he admitted that Electronic Intifada now utilizes a Microsoft Word template that allows it to quickly publish a proper explanation for the “context” of future attacks….like tomorrow…..or like whenever these things might happen.

        http://www.israellycool.com/2016/07/17/guest-post-daily-freier-electronic-intifada-says-tomorrows-suicide-bomber-not-even-very-religious/

  13. USA – BATON ROUGE – 7 officers shot; 3 feared dead in Baton Rouge

    DAILY MAIL – Masked gunman kills three cops and wounds at least four more in Baton Rouge ambush: Mass shooting in city where Alton Sterling’s death began wave of anger at police killings two weeks ago

    Three police officers dead after at least seven shot in Baton Rouge
    A masked gunman was seen firing indiscriminately at cops, a witness said
    Shooter was seen walking down highway with rifle before shooting officers
    Four injured police officers are in a critical condition in hospital
    Alton Sterling was pinned down and shot by two white cops 12 days ago

    The man, who was wearing black, was seen firing indiscriminately at around 9am as he walked out between a shop and a car wash,

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3694441/Masked-gunman-shoots-multiple-cops-Baton-Rouge-two-weeks-video-officers-killing-Alton-Sterling-dead-provoked-outrage.html

    CNN – no description of the gunman

    http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/17/us/baton-route-police-shooting/index.html

    • Police: 2 other possible suspects at large in Baton Rouge officer shootings; unknown how shooting started, working to secure scene

  14. Bahrain Court Orders Main Shiite Opposition Group Dissolved (abcnews, July 17, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/reports-bahrain-court-orders-main-shiite-party-dissolved-40644120

    “A court in Bahrain ordered the country’s main Shiite opposition group to be dissolved on Sunday, deepening a crackdown on dissent in the strategically important Western-allied kingdom.

    The order against al-Wefaq marks one of the sharpest blows yet against civil society activists in the Sunni-ruled island nation, which was rocked by widespread protests led by its Shiite majority demanding political reforms five years ago….”

  15. The Latest: Turkish Police Enter Air Base to Make Arrests (abcnews, July 17, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-turkey-cracks-alleged-coup-plotters-40644190

    “… Turkey’s state-run news agency says police officers have entered an air base in central Turkey to arrest military personnel.

    Anadolu Agency says police had entered the air force base in Konya to round up high-ranking officers as part of the investigation into Friday’s failed coup attempt…”

  16. Turkey Coup Attempt: Commander of U.S.-Linked Base Among 6,000 Arrested (nbcnews, July 17, 2016)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/turkey-military-coup/turkey-coup-attempt-commander-u-s-linked-base-among-6-n611081

    “Turkey widened a crackdown on suspected supporters of a failed military coup on Sunday, bringing the number of people rounded up to 6,000 — including the commander of an airbase from which the U.S. launches airstrikes on ISIS fighters.

    Amid the arrests, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Turkish television that life in the country was back to normal, announcing the central bank, capital markets board, banking system and stock exchange were all functional.

    An official told Reuters that “a few important soldiers on the run and being sought” would likely be captured “shortly,” in addition to the 6,000 people already detained.

    An official who did not wish to be named told NBC News that among those arrested was General Bekir Ercan Van, commander of the Incirlik air base from which U.S. aircraft launch airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Ten other soldiers at the base were also detained, he said.

    Operations at the base were briefly halted following the coup attempt, but resumed Sunday afternoon local time, according to the Pentagon…”

    • Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out ‘virus’ (BBC, July 17, 2016)
      http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36818401

      “Turkey has arrested 6,000 people after a failed coup, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowing to purge state bodies of the “virus” that caused the revolt.

      At a funeral for one of the 290 victims, Mr Erdogan repeated an accusation that US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the plot.

      Mr Gulen strongly denies any involvement.

      High-ranking military officers are among those held.

      One of Mr Erdogan’s top military aides, Colonel Ali Yazici, is among those now in custody, Turkish media reported.

      The death toll rose on Sunday to more than 290, a foreign ministry statement said. More than 100 of those killed were involved in the coup, officials said.

      “We will continue to cleanse the virus from all state institutions, because this virus has spread. Unfortunately like a cancer, this virus has enveloped the state,” Mr Erdogan told mourners at the Fatih mosque in Istanbul.

      He had earlier suggested parliament might consider a proposal to restore the death penalty.

      Tens of thousands of Turks partied into the small hours of Sunday on the main squares of key cities to celebrate the failure of the coup…”

  17. Nice attack: Driver ‘researched route’ earlier in week (BBC, July 17, 20016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36818719

    “The Tunisian man who drove his lorry into crowds of people in Nice researched the route in the days before the attack, French media have reported.

    The reports say Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove through the seafront promenade area of the French city on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation…”

  18. Nice Attack Investigation: Two More Detained After Truck Massacre (nbcnews, July 17, 2016)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/france-truck-attack/nice-attack-investigation-two-more-arrests-after-truck-massacre-n611066

    “Two more suspects were detained for questioning early Sunday in connection with the Nice truck attack, officials said, amid lingering questions over whether the killer had accomplices.

    The Paris prosecutor’s office told NBC News that a man and a woman were taken into custody for questioning. That leaves six people still being held in wake of the bloodbath. A seventh, the attacker’s ex-wife, was released from custody Sunday morning…”

  19. U.S. Doctor: 300,000 Face Death or Starvation in Aleppo, Syria (nbcnews, July 17, 2016)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-doctor-300-000-face-death-or-starvation-aleppo-n609151

    “An American doctor treating the horrific injuries suffered by Syrian civilians has warned that the closure of a vital highway has put 300,000 people at risk of death and starvation.

    Dr. Samer Attar, a Chicago-based orthopedic surgeon who volunteered to help local medics in the embattled city of Aleppo, said last weekend’s severing of the Castello Road has already caused shortages of food and medicine…”

  20. Syrian army takes main road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo (CNN, July 17, 2016)http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/17/middleeast/syrian-army-road-aleppo/index.html

    “The Syrian army and pro-government forces have taken control of the main road leading into rebel-held areas in Aleppo, effectively cutting off the rebels’ main supply route, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sunday…”

  21. 3 officers dead after shooting near BRPD HQ

    BATON ROUGE – Two Baton Rouge Police officers and one East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office deputy are dead following a Sunday morning shooting on Airline Highway.

    Another three officers have been reported wounded, but the extent of those injuries has yet to be made available.

    Authorities have confirmed that one suspect is dead while two others remain at large. Law enforcement encouraged any citizens who see anything suspicious to contact police as soon as possible.

    A witness told WBRZ News 2, a man was dressed in black with his face covered shooting indiscriminately when he walked out between a convenience store and car wash across from Hammond Air Plaza. Shots were fired around 9 a.m. Sunday. The exact location of the business where the shooting took place has yet to be released.

    State Police, SWAT, BRPD and EBRSO repsonded to contain the area, shutting down Airline Highway from Goodwood to Old Hammond and from Old Hammond to Drusilla Drive. As of noon, BRPD were still on the scene at the B-Quik gas station near the intersection of Airline Highway and Old Hammond. They described the scene as active but contained.

    Gov. John Bel Edwards has called a 3 p.m. news conference to discuss security. Check back on WBRZ.com and on our Facebook page for livestreams of the event.

    http://www.wbrz.com/news/3-officers-dead-after-shooting-near-brpd-hq

  22. Riviera killer’s relatives were jailed for gun crimes: Three family members are Islamic extremists who were imprisoned in Tunisia (dailymail, July 17, 2016)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693975/Riviera-killer-s-relatives-jailed-gun-crimes-Three-family-members-Islamic-extremists-imprisoned-Tunisia.html?

    “Three relatives of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel are Islamic extremists who were jailed in Tunisia.

    They are understood to be brothers and cousins of Bouhlel’s wife. Police sources said two of them were arrested in 2008 for training with weapons in the mountains.

    One said: ‘After release, one, who we think is extremely dangerous, went to Syria, and we are checking if one was in Nice, but he definitely flew to Europe from Tunisia. The third man usually lives here but we haven’t traced him.’…”

  23. How Serious Is Sweden’s Fight against Islamic Terrorism and Extremism?

    Like all other European countries, Sweden is trying to fight against jihadists and terrorists, but it often seems as if the key players in Sweden have no understanding of what the threats are or how to deal with them.

    In 2014, for instance, the Swedish government decided to set up a post called the “National Coordinator Against Violent Extremism.” But instead of appointing an expert as the national coordinator, the government appointed the former party leader of the Social Democrats, Mona Sahlin. Apart from Sahlin having a high school degree, she is mostly known for a corruption scandal. As a party leader of the Social Democrats, she lost the 2010 election, and as a minister in several Socialist governments, she has not managed to distinguish herself in any significant way. Göran Persson, who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006, described Mona Sahlin this way:

    http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8444/sweden-islamic-terrorism

  24. “Worthless Christians” Treated “Like Animals”
    Muslim Persecution of Christians: April 2016

    United States: A pro-ISIS group called the United Cyber Caliphate defaced the website of the Christian Reformed Church in Lamont, Michigan. A 15-year-old girl discovered the vandalism, which consisted of an ISIS propaganda video and Arabic text. The recruiter featured in the video says, “We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses and enslave your women by the permission of Allah, the Exalted. This is His promise to us, He is glorified and He does not fail in His promise.”

    Ethiopia: Muslims in the majority-Christian country started riots in the East Shewa Zone to attack Christians whom they accused of converting Muslims. They burned down 14 churches of different denominations and left more than 2,000 Christians without places for worship. One church cemetery was also vandalized. A church leader said: “We have been worshipping outside and sitting on the bare ground bearing the hot sun. We appeal to our brothers elsewhere to come and assist us. The attackers poured petrol and were chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ [Allah is Greater] before setting the church building on fire.”

    Uganda: Around midnight on April 12, a mob of Muslims demolished a Christian church. They were heard chanting: “We cannot live together with neighbors who are infidels. We have to fight for the cause of Allah.” Musical instruments, more than 500 plastic chairs and other property were also destroyed. Two days earlier, a group of Muslims shouted “Allah only is to be worshipped, and Muhammad is his prophet” and slaughtered a church leader’s pigs, a key source of income. He had previously received a text message saying, “Let this be known to your church members that pigs are extremely unholy and an abomination before Allah, very outrageous and shameful. They are haram [forbidden] and unlawful as our holy Quran does prohibit them.” A church member also received a message that read, “We are soon coming for the heads of your pigs.” He soon found that eight of his swine had been killed.

    Iraq: The Islamic State blew up Mosul’s iconic Clock Church, famed for its soaring clock tower, with explosives. According to the Assyrian International News Agency, “Militants cordoned off areas surrounding the church and looted the building for profitable artifacts and antiquities before destroying the remaining parts with explosives…. The Clock Church….became a target of ISIS attacks last year, when its cross was removed.” Although Mosul was once home to about 45 churches, most have either been destroyed or converted into courts or jailhouses since the Islamic State took over in June 2014.

    Indonesia: An Islamist group vandalized a new church in Bekasi and demanded that the local mayor cancel its permit. The Santa Clara Church had received its permit in July 2015 and opened this year on March 7. The Islamic Forum Community and other Muslim leaders accused church leaders of acquiring the permit through false means. The mayor of Bekasi denied the allegation and refused to annul the church’s permit. He said it had fulfilled all the legal requirements necessary for construction. “Despite this,” explained the Asian Human Rights Commission, “law enforcement agencies have failed to protect the Santa Clara Church congregants; in fact, it seems the agencies have no will or policy to enforce the law against vigilantes. As a result, the church congregation lives under pressure and intimidation.” The rights group further called upon the local police to “take a strong stance” against the Islamic Forum Community and “ensure that the government guarantees protection to the Santa Clara congregation to practice their religion.”

    http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8451/christians-treated-like-animals

  25. Japan Reverts to Fascism

    Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/437950/japans-new-fascism

    Tsunami in Japanese politics. This week, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partners won a two-thirds majority in the legislature’s upper house, to go along with their two-thirds majority in the lower house. A two-thirds majority is required in each house to begin the process of amending Japan’s constitution. And amending the constitution is one of the central planks in the LDP’s platform. The constitution was imposed on Japan by the United States after the Second World War; it has never been amended. Why should it be amended now? As Bloomberg reports, the LDP has pointed out that “several of the current constitutional provisions are based on the Western European theory of natural human rights; such provisions therefore [need] to be changed.” What has the LDP got against the “Western European theory of natural human rights”? you might ask. Well, dozens of LDP legislators and ministers — including Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe — are members of a radical nationalist organization called Nippon Kaigi, which believes (according to one of its members, Hakubun Shimomura, who until recently was Japan’s education minister) that Japan should abandon a “masochistic view of history” wherein it accepts that it committed crimes during the Second World War. In fact, in Nippon Kaigi’s view, Japan was the wronged party in the war.

    Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/437950/japans-new-fascism

    • The headline is very flamboyant, the changes to the Constitution will give the government vast power during times of war, including the right to fight outside of the Japanese Islands and waters but don’t in themselves guarantee a return to the Japan of the 1930s and 1940s.

  26. France questions if Turkey a ‘viable’ partner in Islamic State group fight (france24, July 17, 2016)
    http://www.france24.com/en/20160717-french-ayrault-turkey-viable-partner-against-islamic-state-terrorists-incirlik

    “France’s foreign minister said on Sunday that questions needed to be asked about whether Turkey is a viable partner in the fight against Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.

    “There are questions that are being asked and we will ask them. It (Turkey) is partly viable, but there are suspicions as well. Let’s be honest about this,” Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told France 3 television.

    He said he would raise the issue at meeting of the anti-Islamic State (IS) group coalition in Washington next week.

    A French official later sought to clarify Ayrault’s comments, saying he had not meant to call into question NATO member Turkey’s viability in the US-led coalition’s fight against the IS group, and that Ankara remained a crucial partner…”

  27. Clashes between security forces, putschists at Turkish air base: official (france24, July 17, 2016)
    http://www.france24.com/en/20160717-clashes-between-security-forces-putschists-turkish-air-base-official

    “ISTANBUL (AFP) – Clashes broke out Sunday between security forces and putschists at a Turkish air base in the central city of Konya, a Turkish official told AFP.

    “We are able to confirm that there are clashes at the air base in Konya between the security forces and putschists resisting arrest,” the source said.

    The official also confirmed an incident at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport, where police fired warning shots at putschists who were resisting arrest. They eventually surrendered.”

  28. Egypt court sentences 5 Morsi supporters to death for killing judge’s son (ahram, July 17, 2016)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/233443/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-court-sentences–Morsi-supporters-to-death-f.aspx

    “A Mansoura criminal court on Sunday sentenced five supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi to death for killing a judge’s son in 2014.

    The court sentenced to death three defendants who were present in the court while the other two were tried in absentia.

    The prosecution accused the defendants of murder and joining an illegal group.

    The victim, the 26-year-old son of judge Mahmoud El-Sayed El-Merly, was shot dead in the garage of his house while he was on his way to work in August 2014 in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura.

    Mahmoud El-Sayed is a senior judge in the Cairo appeals court who oversaw a number of high profile cases in the past five years including, the Mubarak regime corruption cases.”

  29. Egypt court hands death sentences to 6 Brotherhood members over 2013 violence (ahram, July 17, 2016)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/233416/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-court-hands-death-sentences-to–Brotherhood-.aspx

    “A Cairo criminal court handed death and life imprisonment sentences in absentia on Sunday to nine members of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood over violence related events that took place in Giza governorate in 2013.

    On Sunday, the court sentenced six people to death and three others to life imprisonment over their participation in violent attacks referred to as the “Omraneya events” in November 2013.

    Life in prison sentences carry up to 25 years in jail, according to the Egyptian penal code.

    They were referred to court after prosecution accused them of illegally gathering, protesting, cutting off roads, and possessing firearms.

    The prosecution also charged them of committing assaults, including murdering a child and the attempted murder of others.

    The nine convicts were tried in absentia, and thus given the maximum penalty for their crimes.

    If they turn themselves into the authorities, they can appeal their initial death and life imprisonment sentences.”

  30. CANADA – Syrian refugee program sparks political push for other humanitarian settlement

    OTTAWA – This fall, federal public servants are expected to go to Northern Iraq to figure out how to get hundreds of people from there to Canada as refugees.

    It’s the first time Canadian staff will go to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, expressly for that purpose.

    Private sponsorship groups and the government have been trying to find a way to get refugees out of the area for months, but have been stymied by a lack of Canadian resources on the ground.

    That the Immigration Department is sending in a team is one result of ongoing political pressure on the Liberal government to continue a flat-out push to resettle refugees in the spirit of the program that saw 25,000 Syrians brought to Canada in a matter of months.

    This week, the House of Commons immigration committee will apply more pressure.

    They’re holding an unprecedented series of summer meetings examining how to use immigration policy to help anyone, not just refugees, displaced by conflict come to Canada.

    The fact there are few legal avenues beyond private sponsorship for those fleeing conflict to immigrate to Canada on humanitarian grounds is a quirk of United Nations definitions around refugees and displaced people and a resettlement policy that dates back to 1951, said Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the Liberal chair of the committee.

    But a sizable number of people don’t fit those categories, he said.

    “We can’t stand by and wring our hands in angst and say well, it doesn’t fit,” he said.

    “Let’s find ways we can provide a framework to provide sanctuary to these people in Canada.”

    Amnesty International Canada’s refugee coordinator, Gloria Nafziger, said she welcomes the study, though is confused by it.

    Only a fraction of a fraction of the world’s refugees in need of resettlement ever get it, she pointed out.

    “It’s good that we recognize that many internally displaced people are in refugee-like situations, they just haven’t been able for many, many reasons to cross the border and seek protection,” she said.

    “But kind of finding a solution to that or looking at solutions to that when we haven’t really been able to find solutions to refugees that cross borders, it’s just puzzling to me.”

    The study has its roots in Opposition Conservative MP Michelle Rempel’s desire to accelerate efforts to resettle Yazidis, an ethnically Kurdish minority group whose treatment at the hands of Islamic militants was termed a genocide by the UN last month.

    Some Yazidis are in Turkey, where private sponsors are up against the Turkish government’s notoriously slow approvals process for exit permits. The failed coup of the last few days is likely to make matters worse.

    But most Yazidis are in northern Iraq, and since that’s their home country, the UN won’t refer them to countries like Canada for resettlement.

    The Tories argue that the plight of the Yazidis is so severe that the Liberals should specifically ask the UN to help get them out. The team headed to Erbil in the fall is only processing existing applications.

    The government has so far resisted those calls. The Liberals also resisted pressure from the Conservatives to label the acts of torture, sexual slavery, forced conversions and killings of Yazidis as a genocide, agreeing only after the UN report was released.

    But they pushed back against Rempel’s desire to have the committee study Yazidis alone.

    So MPs hear about other groups as well, including Sikhs in Afghanistan and the situation in South Sudan where renewed fighting in recent weeks has sparked concern for that region’s displaced populations.

    Rempel said the Liberals are refusing to yield on the Yazidis because of refugee policy under the prior Conservative government that did focus on religious minorities. She said she hopes the hearings this week help change their minds.

    “There are complex policy responses but then there’s also low hanging fruit, like lifting the cap on privately sponsored refugees from Iraq,” she said.

    “This doesn’t have to be left versus right or blue versus red, these are complementary policies the government is turning their back on because it’s something we have done.”

    http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/syrian-refugee-program-sparks-political-push-for-other-humanitarian-settlement-387174721.html

      • It is starting to look like we need two walls, that is a idea we hate, the US and Canada have such a long history of having an undefended border and now the left is forcing us to change that.

  31. Buck Sexton Annihilates Lefty Professor Who Claims ISIS Isn’t ‘Coming After Us’

  32. Admiral Has Concerns Of Islamic Radicalization In Latin America

    SAN ANTONIO — The top commander of U.S. forces in Latin America said Wednesday that his counterparts in the region have expressed concerns about Islamic self-radicalization and the return of fighters from Iraq and Syria.

    Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd, commander of U.S. Southern Command, described a “dense web” of criminal enterprises threaded throughout the region that includes conduits to spread ideology used to recruit troops and lone-wolf attackers for the Islamic State group.

    “You want to spread an extremist message in the Caribbean and recruit fighters for ISIL? We have a worrisome number of networks engaged in that,” he said Wednesday in Washington, D.C., during a briefing at the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan think tank. ISIL is another name for the Islamic State group.

    His predecessor, Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, said in January that about 150 people from the region were known to have joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

    “There’s a few very, very radical mosques; one in particular that’s associated itself, himself, the imam, with ISIS,” Kelly said, describing activity in the Caribbean.

    Tidd pointed to the issue of extremists using the internet to incite self-radicalization, which could facilitate home-based attacks, citing recent examples in San Bernardino, Calif., and Orlando, Fla. But he stopped short of describing the issue as an imminent threat to the United States.

    In a March briefing to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tidd said that his command is challenged by the ability to “identify, monitor and fully illuminate and understand these networks and the resources necessary to significantly disrupt, degrade and ideally dismantle them.”

    http://www.stripes.com/admiral-cites-concern-of-islamic-radicalization-in-latin-america-1.419299

  33. Update in Baton Rouge Police Shooting

    UPDATE, via CNN:

    The dead suspect in the Baton Rouge shooting was wearing all black and was wearing a mask, Baton Rouge Police Department Sgt. Don Coppola said. Coppola said he did not know what the mask looked like, but that it was “some type of mask to conceal (the shooter’s) identity.”

    — One suspect is dead, and two others may be at large
    — Police are looking for anyone wearing army fatigues, all black or possibly a mask

    Another day, another thug shooting at police officers. Today, it’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana:

    – Police have closed streets between Baton Rouge Police Headquarters and I-12 where law enforcement officers have been shot.

    Sources say two Baton Rouge Police officers and one East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office deputy are dead following the shooting. Another officer was critically injured. EBRSO confirmed multiple officers from both BRPD and EBRSO sustained injuries in the shooting and were taken to area hospitals. There is no word yet on the extent of all of the injuries.

    A witness told WBRZ News 2, a man was dressed in black with his face covered shooting indiscriminately when he walked out between a convenience store and car wash across from Hammond Air Plaza. Shots were fired around 9 a.m. Sunday. The exact location of the business where the shooting took place has yet to be released.

    A very large manhunt began immediately with officers hurrying to contain the scene.

    AS CBS noted, tensions have been high in Baton Rouge:

    At a three-hour service Friday, mourners paid their respects to 37-year-old Alton Sterling, whose shooting outside a convenience store began a tumultuous week in race relations in America.

    Last week, police arrested and identified three young people who they say plotted to kill Baton Rouge cops using guns stolen from a pawn shop. Law enforcement said at a conference they believe it to be a substantial and credible threat on police officers in the Baton Rouge area.

    On Friday, grieving residents of Baton Rouge honored an appeal at the funeral of Sterling to celebrate his life rather than demonstrate about his death.

    We’ll update this story as it develops.

    Read more at http://americanactionnews.com/articles/breaking-another-mass-shooting-of-police-officers#oOLIJHOmZVObS5rO.99

    • Emails, Documents Tie Clinton Camp to Turkish Imam

      New emails and documents uncover ties between the Clintons and an Islamic imam from Turkey who has been in self-exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

      According to The Daily Caller, several pieces of evidence tie the Clintons to Fethullah Gulen, against whom Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has launched a crackdown.

      In the past, Gulen and his followers, called Gulenists, have had great influence over Turkey’s media, court system, and the police.

      But their power has been under siege by Erdogan, who has seen them as a threat to his quasi-fascist regime.

      The Gulen movement is considered moderate. While embracing some aspects of traditional Islam the group rejects extremists, terrorism, and jihadist activities.

      The movement has resisted Erdogan’s efforts to undermine Turkey’s democracy. Gulen also has been decidedly pro-Western and has advocated for stronger ties between Turkey and the U.S.

      Erdogan has accused Gulenists of trying to weaken the Turkish government and has even gone as far as to ask President Barack Obama to send Gulen back to Turkey.

      Emails and documents obtained by Judicial Watch show that Gulen’s group has been in contact with the Clinton camp.

      A 2009 email, for example, shows a Gulen follower asking Hillary Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin for help in putting one of his allies in touch with Obama for a meeting in Turkey.

      In another connection, a group with ties to Gulen hired the Podesta Group — John Podesta is a longtime Clinton aide and confidant — for lobbying activities on Capitol Hill. The executive director of that Turkish group, the Alliance for Shared Values, has donated to the Clintons.

      http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Clinton-Ties-Turkish-Imam/2016/07/14/id/738643/

      ================================================
      DAILY CALLER – New Ties Emerge Between Clinton And Mysterious Islamic Cleric

      A newly-released email and lobbying documents filed with Congress reveals new ties between Clintonworld and members of a network operated by a mysterious Islamic cleric from Turkey.

      Connections between Clinton and acolytes of the imam, Fethullah Gulen, could muddle the complex relationship between the U.S. and Turkey, a key NATO ally, if the former secretary of state wins the White House.

      Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, has mounted an aggressive crackdown against Gulen and his followers, known as Gulenists. Erdo?an, who was once allied with Gulen, has even personally asked President Obama to extradite the 74-year-old guru, who has lived in self-exile in Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains since 1999.

      The connections between the Gulen movement and Clinton are not the first to be revealed. They also add to questions about what it is the Gulenists want from Clinton and whether the Democrat has rewarded their financial support with favors.

      Last year The Daily Caller reported that numerous Gulen followers have donated to Clinton’s various political campaigns and to her family charity. One Gulen movement leader, Recep Ozkan, donated between $500,000 and $1 million to the Clinton Foundation.

      As senator from New York, Clinton gave a keynote address at the Turkish Cultural Center’s annual banquet.[…]

      more:

      http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/13/new-ties-emerge-between-clinton-and-mysterious-islamic-cleric/

    • Erdogan supporters attack a Gulen school in Gelsenkirchen -Germany

      Angriff auf ein Bildungsinstitut der Hizmet-Bewegung in Gelsenkirchen-Hassel . Am Samstagmorgen kam es gegen 10.30 Uhr zu einer weiteren Versammlung. Die verlief nicht so glimpflich wie die Spontandemo in der Nacht zuvor, erklärte die Polizei auf Anfrage. Schauplatz war ein türkischer Jugendtreff an der Polsumer Straße in Gelsenkirchen-Hassel. Bis zu 150 Erdogan-Anhänger versammelten sich vor dem Gebäude – der Jugendtreff selbst stehe der Gülen-Bewegung nahe, so die Polizei. Die Demonstranten warfen zwei Fensterscheiben des Lokals mit Pflastersteinen ein. Menschen wurden nicht verletzt.

      Auslöser des Zorns waren offenbar die beiden Schilder, die auf den Jugendtreff hinweisen: Der Treff-Name “Harmonie” stand auf dem einen, “Jugendtreff Hassel e.V.” auf dem anderen Schild, erklärte die Polizei am Abend. Erst, als der Betreiber beide Schilder abgehängt hatte, beruhigte sich die Menge. Die Polizei war mit einen Großaufgebot vor Ort, zur Unterstützung waren die Bereitschaftspolizei aus Köln nach Gelsenkirchen gekommen. Erst gegen 16 Uhr war der Einsatz beendet. Die Ermittlungen zur Sachbeschädigung an dem Lokal hat der Staatsschutz übernommen.