Reader’s links for Aug. 28 – 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.

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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

60 Replies to “Reader’s links for Aug. 28 – 2016”

  1. As Fed nears rate hikes, policymakers plan for ‘brave new world’

    JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) – Federal Reserve policymakers are signaling they could raise U.S. interest rates soon but they are already weighing new tools they may need to fight the next recession.

    A solid U.S. labor market “has strengthened” the case for the first rate increase since last December, Fed Chair Janet Yellen told a central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Several of her colleagues said the increase could come as soon as next month if the economy does well.

    Further rate hikes are expected to be few and far between as the U.S. central bank tries to balance a desire to fuel growth against worries it could overheat the economy.

    But Fed officials at three-day conference that ended Saturday also said they need to consider new policy tools for use down the road, such as raising the inflation target or even Fed purchases of non-government-backed assets like corporate debt.

    Such ideas would test the limits of political feasibility and some would need congressional approval. The view within the Fed is that it could take effort to win over a public already skeptical of the unconventional policies the Fed undertook during the last crisis.

    Policymakers think new tools might be needed in an era of slower economic growth and a potentially giant and long-lasting trove of assets held by the Fed. And they are convinced the time to vet them is now, while rates look to be heading up.

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/fed-nears-rate-hikes-policymakers-plan-brave-world-005117150–business.html

    Richard: This reminds me of a scheme I read about in the 1960s it was for the government to get massive amounts of corporate debt and take dividend producing stock (yes there are stocks that don’t pay any income but hey are the ones that usually control the company) and use the dividends and income tax to fund a guaranteed annual income for everyone. There was suppose to be a different of guaranteed income based on you education with the “shares” returning to the government on your death. There was also a scheme where you could skimp and buy more shares of stock that you could pass on to your kids. It went nowhere but some people on the FED seem to be working to that end.

    • It’s a bluff. They’ve done it countless times. The economy is in depression. There are no real job gaines. They’re screwed and they know it.

      • Maybe but this is the lefts last chance to turn us socialist for a long time, they want to make as many changes as they can before Obama leaves office.

      • FYI, Recession and Depression are technical terms a recession reqluires 2 quarters of negative growth a depression is when the Gross Domestic Product falls by 10% or greater.

        http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/lessons-recessions-depressions.asp

        Most people don’t realize this and use the terms incorrectly. To the best of my knowledge we havn’t had two quaters of negative growth and the GDP hasn’t dropped by 10%. We are in a long term economic slowdown that is much worse then has been reported. If it wasn’t for the oil industry ignoring the government orders and drilling on private land as well as other sectors of the economy (not many but a few) ignoring the government we would be in a depression. This economic slow down has been caused by massive government regulation and the printing of money. This is why the idea that the Federal Reserve Bank is gong to start buying private debt and possibly the Federal Government itself will try this. The more private debt that is in the hands of the government or organizations that are semi government the more control the government has of the economy.

        Government control of the economy always ends up being bad for the nation. The economy is a very complex economic machine that no one can control and the more the governments try the more economic trouble they cause and the longer it takes to get out of the mess. The time tested method of reversing a Depression, a Recession or an economic slow down is to reduce taxes and let the private sector have more money to spend. This always works. Especially if combined with a reduction in government regulations and a reduction in government expenditures. (The Great Depression wasn’t ended by the government spending of WWII it was ended by a tax cut in the late 1940s. The left will never admit this) The Marxist solution is to tax more and to spend on public works programs that today are called infrastructure spending. All both of those things do is remove more money from the private sector and drive the economy further in the hole.

        FYI contrary to popular leftist propaganda tax cuts also increase government revenues, the more the people have to spend the more money businesses make. They can increase payrolls, increase buying raw materials and pay more taxes on the increased profits with the workers new and old paying taxes on their increased earnings.

        The free market also causes people to see opportunity in new products and technology that they will risk their own money on, this also grows the economy and ends up increasing the standard of living for everyone. This innovation by the private sector also ensures that the world never really runs out of minerals, they find substitutes before the minerals are all used up.

  2. Half of Germans against Merkel serving fourth term

    BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s domestic popularity has declined, a poll showed on Sunday, with 50 percent of Germans against her serving a fourth term in office after a federal election next year.

    A series of violent attacks on civilians in July, two of which were claimed by Islamic State, have focused attention on Merkel’s open-door migrant policy, which allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere into Germany last year.

    Half of the 501 people questioned in the Emnid poll for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper were against Merkel staying in office beyond after the 2017 election, with 42 percent wanting her to remain.

    In November, the last time Bild am Sonntag commissioned a survey on the issue, 45 percent had been in favor of Merkel serving a fourth term, with 48 percent against.

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/half-germans-against-merkel-serving-fourth-term-poll-081227713.html

  3. Germany stabbing: Knifeman ‘shouts Allahu Akbar’ as he attacks couple at music festival leaving wife fighting for life

    A couple at a German music festival have been attacked by a knifeman who witnesses claim was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar”.

    A 66-year-old woman, believed to be the other victim’s wife, is said to be fighting for her life.

    The other victim – a 57-year-old man – is seriously injured however he still managed to overpower the man who was then arrested by police officers in Oberhausen.

    The attack took place just after 7pm on Saturday evening.

    Police officers say the suspect is a 26-year-old from Duisburg, Germany

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/germany-stabbing-knifeman-shouts-allahu-8722043

    • Germany stabbing Woman fighting for life after knifeman screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ attacked couple at German music festival

      Cops arrest 26-year-old man who slashed couple with picnic knife as seriously injured hubby overpowered him

      A MAN screamed “Allahu Akbar” as he attacked a couple with their own picnic knife at a German music festival.

      A 66-year-old woman, believed to be the other victim’s wife, is fighting for her life.

      Her 57-year-old husband was seriously injured but managed to overpower the attacker who was then arrested by police officers in Oberhausen.

      The attack took place just after 7pm on Saturday evening near Stadion Niederrhein,

      Police officers say the suspect is a 26-year-old from Duisburg, Germany.

      Local media said the man went on a “rampage” at the canal side music event.

      He harassed several daytrippers before snatching a knife from the floor where the victims were enjoying a riverbank picnic.

      He was tackled by the injured man as well as a cop and fireman.

      Police said the man arrested was homeless and on drugs, but have not rules out a “political motivation”.

      Cops secured the weapon and the attacker is due to face a judge later today.

      Several revellers at the riverside event were treated for shock.

      The attacker was also taken to hospital for minor injuries before being transported to jail.

      https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1686934/knifeman-shouts-allahu-akbar-as-he-attacks-couple-at-music-festival-leaving-wife-fighting-for-life/

      Oberhausen – Polizei: Mann attackiert Pärchen mit Messer – 66-Jährige erlitt lebensgefährliche Verletzungen

      Am Samstagabend gegen 19.20 Uhr randalierte ein Mann am Kanalufer an der Lindner Straße und belästigte die sich dort aufhaltenden Personen. Im weiteren Verlauf attackierte er ein Pärchen und stach mit einem Messer auf die 66-jährige Frau und den 57-jährigen Mann ein.

      Dabei erlitt die Frau lebensgefährliche und der Mann schwere Verletzungen. Der 57-jährige konnte den Täter trotz seiner Verletzungen noch überwältigen. Unterstützt wurde er dabei von einem Mitglied der Feuerwehr und einem Polizeibeamten, die sich privat auf einem angrenzenden Sommerfest aufhielten.

      Bei dem mutmaßlichen Täter handelt es sich um einen 26-jährigen Deutschen aus Duisburg, der ohne festen Wohnsitz ist. Nach Angaben des Geschädigten soll der Beschuldigte bei der Tatbegehung “Allahu akbar” gerufen haben. Die Hintergründe der Tat sind derzeit noch unklar. Dem Staatsschutz liegen keine Erkenntnisse über eine mögliche politische Motivation des Beschuldigten vor. Der Mann stand zur Tatzeit aber augenscheinlich unter dem Einfluss von Betäubungsmitteln.

      Junge Zeugen erleiden Schock

      Er wurde vorläufig festgenommen und auf Grund leichter Verletzungen und seines Gesamtzustandes in ein Krankenhaus gebracht. Auf Antrag der Staatsanwaltschaft Duisburg wird er heute dem Haftrichter vorgeführt. Die mutmaßliche Tatwaffe wurde sichergestellt.

      Mehrere jugendliche Gäste des Sommerfestes erlitten einen Schock und wurden von einer verständigten Notfallseelsorgerin betreut. Die Ermittlungen dauern zurzeit noch an.

      http://www.focus.de/regional/oberhausen/oberhausen-polizei-mann-attackiert-paerchen-mit-messer-und-ruft-allahu-akbar_id_5868501.html

  4. German military wants security checks on recruits, newspaper says

    BERLIN (Reuters) – There are signs that Islamists are trying to join the German armed forces to get military training, and there is a risk they might use that training to carry out attacks in Germany or abroad, a German newspaper cited a draft document as saying.

    Consequently, the armed forces want applicants to undergo a security check by the military counter-intelligence agency, starting in July 2017, so they can swiftly spot extremists, terrorists and criminals, Welt am Sonntag newspaper said in an article due to be published on Sunday.

    Such security screening would require changes in the laws governing the military. A draft document justifying such changes, seen by Welt am Sonntag, said there are indications that Islamists are trying to get “so-called short-term servicemen into the armed forces” for training.

    Germany is on edge after a series of violent attacks in July, two of which were claimed by Islamic State, and the interior minister has already announced plans to step up security.

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/german-military-wants-security-checks-recruits-newspaper-says-165105525.html

  5. Failed suicide bomber carrying ‘ISIS flag’ knifes Catholic priest before trying to blow himself up in terror attack

    A Catholic priest has been stabbed while holding a Sunday service by an ISIS-inspired knifeman who then tried to set off an explosive device but failed.

    Priest Albert Pandiangan was giving the mass in the city of Medan in Indonesia, located on the western island of Sumatra.

    He was approached by a young man who stabbed him in his left arm, local chief detective Nur Fallah said.

    Images of the priest later emerged showing him with a bloodied arm, while the suspect’s ID card was found at the scene accompanied with a drawing of the Islamic State terrorist flag.

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/failed-suicide-bomber-carrying-isis-8721643

  6. Urgent measures needed to counter growing N. Korean SLBM threat

    North Korea’s latest firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) indicates that Pyongyang’s military threat is growing further. The international community must work together to speed up efforts to halt the country’s provocations.

    The U.N. Security Council has started considering issuing a statement to condemn North Korea’s SLBM test launch toward the Sea of Japan.

    It is vital for the UNSC to swiftly send a strong message to North Korea, which has repeatedly conducted nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches in violation of U.N. sanctions resolutions.

    The regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opposes the planned deployment of the United States’ state-of-the-art Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea. The SLBM launch, which was conducted during a U.S.-South Korean joint military exercise, was apparently intended to shake Japan, the United States and South Korea by demonstrating North Korea’s ability to carry out a surprise attack.

    http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003178049

  7. Turkish army thrusts deeper into Syria, monitors say 35 villagers killed

    KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) – Turkey’s army and its allies thrust deeper into Syria on Sunday, seizing territory controlled by Kurdish-aligned forces on the fifth day of a cross-border campaign that a monitoring group said had killed at least 35 villagers.

    Turkish warplanes roared into northern Syria at daybreak and its artillery pounded what security sources said were sites held by Kurdish YPG militia, after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce overnight fighting around two villages.

    Turkey’s military said 25 Kurdish militants were killed in its air strikes. There was no immediate comment from the YPG, but forces aligned with the Kurdish militia have said it withdrew from the area targeted by Turkey before the offensive.

    Turkey, which is also battling Kurdish insurgents on its own soil, sent tanks and troops into Syria on Wednesday to support its Syrian rebel allies. The Turkish-backed forces first seized the Syrian border town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants before pushing south into areas held by Kurdish-aligned militias. They have also moved west towards Islamic State areas.

    Turkish officials have openly stated that their goal in Syria is as much about ensuring Kurdish forces do not expand the territory they already control along Turkey’s border, as it is about driving Islamic State from its strongholds.

    http://www.oann.com/turkish-army-pounds-north-syria-monitor-says-20-civilians-killed/

    • Syrian Rebels Advance on Kurds as Turkish Strikes Kill 35 (abcnews, Aug 28, 2016)
      http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-bombing-kills-20-northern-syria-41698594

      “Turkey-backed Syrian rebels seized a number of villages and towns from Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria on Sunday amid Turkish airstrikes and shelling that killed at least 35 people, mostly civilians, according to rebels and a monitoring group.

      Turkey sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels drive the Islamic State group out of the frontier town of Jarablus last week in a dramatic escalation of its involvement in the Syrian civil war.

      The operation, labeled Euphrates Shield, is also aimed at pushing back U.S.-allied Kurdish forces. The fighting pits a NATO ally against a U.S.-backed proxy that is the most effective ground force battling IS in Syria.

      Turkey’s military said its warplanes killed 25 Kurdish “terrorists” and destroyed five buildings used by the fighters in response to attacks on advancing Turkish-backed rebels in the Jarablus area.

      A Turkish soldier was killed by a Kurdish rocket attack late Saturday, the first such fatality in the offensive, now in its fifth day.

      Various factions of the Turkey-backed Syrian rebels said Sunday they had seized at least four villages and one town from Kurdish-led forces south of Jarablus. One of the villages to change hands was Amarneh, where clashes had been fiercest. Rebels posted pictures from inside the village.

      Ankara is deeply suspicious of the Syrian Kurdish militia that dominates the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces, viewing it as an extension of the Kurdish insurgency raging in southeastern Turkey. Turkish leaders have vowed to drive both IS and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, away from the border…”

    • Turkey to fight IS, Syrian Kurdish militia with ‘same determination’: Erdogan

      Istanbul (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Sunday to devote equal energy to combatting Islamic State jihadists and Syrian Kurdish fighters, on the fifth day of an operation in Syria that has killed dozens.

      “We will make any kind of contribution to the work to clear Daesh (IS) from Syria,” Erdogan told a rally in the southern city of Gaziantep.

      “For the issue of the PYD (Democratic Union Party) terror group in Syria, we have just the same determination,” he added, referring to the main pro-Kurdish party in northern Syria and its allied militia.

      https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkey-fight-syrian-kurdish-militia-same-determination-erdogan-163953867.html

  8. Iran arrests nuclear negotiator suspected of spying

    DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has arrested a member of the negotiating team that reached a landmark nuclear deal with world powers on suspicion of spying, a judiciary spokesman said on Sunday.

    The suspect was released on bail after a few days in jail but is still under investigation, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said at a weekly news conference, calling the unidentified individual a “spy who had infiltrated the nuclear team,” state media reported.

    The deal that President Hassan Rouhani struck last year has given Iran relief from most international sanctions in return for curbing its nuclear program, but it is opposed by hardliners who see it as a capitulation to the United States.

    Ejei was responding to a question about an Iranian lawmaker’s assertion last week that a member of the negotiation team who had dual nationality had been arrested on espionage charges.

    http://www.oann.com/iran-arrests-nuclear-negotiator-suspected-of-spying/

  9. Iraq asks Saudi Arabia to replace envoy who riled Shi’ite militias

    BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq asked Saudi Arabia on Sunday to replace its ambassador in Baghdad after his comments about Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs and the alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims angered local Shi’ite Muslim politicians and militia leaders.

    The request by Baghdad’s Shi’ite-led government underscores the depth of enmity between Sunni and Shi’ite regional powers as sectarian conflicts rage in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

    Riyadh only reopened its embassy in Baghdad in December after keeping it shut since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

    Thamer al-Sabhan was the first Saudi ambassador appointed since the reopening, which was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against Islamic State militants who control swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and have claimed bombings in Saudi Arabia.

    “The presence of Sabhan is an obstacle to the development of relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia,” Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in comments to al-Aahd, a TV channel that belongs to Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq.

    He tweeted that the ministry was “asking its Saudi counterpart to replace the ambassador of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom in Baghdad.”

    Iraqi Shi’ite politicians and militias have made persistent calls to expel Sabhan, who has been calling on the Iraqi government to exclude Shi’ite paramilitary groups from its military campaign against Islamic State in order to avoid abuses against Sunnis in Iraq.

    The Iraqi foreign ministry denied on Monday that a plot to kill the envoy had been uncovered.

    http://www.oann.com/iraq-asks-saudi-arabia-to-replace-envoy-who-riled-shiite-militias/

  10. German vice chancellor says can’t see Turkey in EU anytime soon

    BERLIN (Reuters) – German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday he did not see Turkey joining the EU during his political career, adding that the bloc would not be in a position to take Turkey in even if Ankara met all the entry requirements tomorrow.

    Turkey started talks about joining the European Union in 2005 but has made little progress despite an initial burst of reforms.

    Many EU countries are wary about the possibility of the large, mainly Muslim country becoming a member of the bloc and Europe has long worried that Turkey’s anti-terrorism laws are used to quash dissent.

    A crackdown since a failed July 15 coup in Turkey has fueled tension between Ankara and Brussels.

    “Even if you’re very optimistic about my political career, I certainly won’t see Turkey becoming a member of this EU,” Gabriel, 56, told a news conference on Sunday.

    “With the state we’re in, we’re not even in a position to take in a city state,” said Gabriel, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) – the junior coalition partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.

    He said one logistical problem was Turkey’s large population, which stands at about 79 million according to the World Bank.

    http://www.oann.com/german-vice-chancellor-says-cant-see-turkey-in-eu-anytime-soon/

  11. Spain starts countdown to possible third national election in year

    MADRID (Reuters) – The clock starts ticking on Wednesday towards what could be Spain’s third national election in a year when acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces a confidence vote in parliament for a second term in office.

    Spain has been without a functioning government since inconclusive elections in December and June failed to hand a convincing mandate to any political party. So far, party leaders have been unable to agree on forming a coalition.

    The eight-month political deadlock has delayed investments in infrastructure such as roads and rail and put high-ranking government appointments on hold, leaving some Spanish embassies without an ambassador.

    Rajoy’s center-right People’s Party (PP) won the most votes in June’s election but lacks the majority it needs to win the vote even with support from centrists Ciudadanos (Citizens), Spain’s fourth-biggest party.

    The opposition Socialists have refused to back Rajoy or smooth the way to a PP-led minority government by abstaining in a second confidence vote, which will be held on Friday if Wednesday’s ballot fails. In the second vote a simple majority will suffice to put Rajoy back in power.

    http://www.oann.com/spain-starts-countdown-to-possible-third-national-election-in-year/

  12. Iraq Requests New Saudi Envoy After Assassination Remarks (abcnews, Aug 28, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraq-requests-saudi-envoy-assassination-remarks-41699160

    “Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said the government on Sunday formally requested that the Saudi ambassador in Baghdad be replaced after he claimed that Iranian-backed Shiite militias are plotting to assassinate him.

    Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal told The Associated Press that the government sent a formal request to Saudi Arabia to replace the kingdom’s ambassador in Baghdad, Thamer al-Sabhan. Jamal said al-Sabhan’s reported comments are untrue and harm relations between the two countries. He said the allegations are considered interference in Iraq’s internal affairs and that al-Sabhan has not provided the ministry with any proof or evidence of these claims.

    Shiite-led Iran and Sunni-led Saudi Arabia are regional rivals and broke off diplomatic ties in January after several years of frayed relations. In 2011, U.S. authorities said they had disrupted an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington at the time.

    Al-Sabhan was quoted as telling the Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper that Iraqi intelligence provided him with information about the assassination plans. He said this was happening as Iran tries to block reform efforts in Iraq and other Arab countries…”

  13. The real ‘we only tip citizens’ story is complicated, and virtually every media outlet got it wrong

    Stories of cruel messages scrawled on restaurant checks, defaming one protected class or another, have become a fixture of the news cycle. To date none of these stories has passed the smell test. But that didn’t the media from racing to declare an Hispanic waitress the victim of the latest vile, unprovoked racist attack by a vengeful customer. In their haste to make the waitress a martyr for all things social justice, reporters may have overstepped and libeled innocent people.

    At least, that looks like it could be the case with the story, which emanates from Harrisonburg, Va.

    The initial incident seemed straightforward. Sadie Elledge, a native-born Honduran-American, claims she was stiffed on a tip and instead received a message on the receipt reading, in all caps, “We only tip citizens.” The patrons allegedly responsible were a couple she served at Jess’s Lunch, a diner.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/08/28/real-tip-citizens-story-complicated-virtually-everyone-got-wrong/

  14. Australia: Hundreds gather to protest against ‘Muslim only’ estate

    Around 300 people gathered in Hannah Watts Park, Melton, on Sunday, to protest against the construction of a ‘Muslim only’ housing estate in the Melton, a suburb of Melbourne.

  15. Ever heard of Visegrad? Group of Central European states not happy with Merkel’s refugee policy

  16. Philippines: IS-linked Maute group inmates freed in ‘raid’ (BBC, Aug 28, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37207973

    “Eight Islamic militants linked to so-called Islamic State (IS) have been freed from jail in the Philippines in an apparently “staged raid”.

    Police said at least 20 fighters from the Maute group had turned up at the Lanao del Sur jail in the southern city of Marawi, but no shots had been fired.

    A military source told the BBC they believed the men had been allowed to escape.

    The militants were held last week after being caught with homemade mortars.

    At least 15 other inmates – who faced murder and drugs charges – also walked free, but it is not clear whether this was agreed.

    The Maute group has carried out several bombings and kidnappings in the southern Mindanao region…”

  17. Iran arrests nuclear deal negotiator on spying charge (BBC, Aug 28, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37209945

    “An Iranian man has been arrested on suspicion of spying over Iran’s nuclear deal with the West.

    A judiciary spokesman described the unidentified man as a “spy who had infiltrated the nuclear team”.

    The man was held for several days, Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejehi said, before being released on bail.

    Last year’s nuclear deal was widely celebrated in Iran and internationally, but some Iranian hardliners saw it as a capitulation to the US.

    The deal with the US, UK, China, France, Germany and Russia resulted in the lifting of sanctions against Iran imposed over its nuclear programme.

    Economic ‘spy’

    No details have been given about the arrest and it remains unclear on whether it is the same case as the one reported on Wednesday by semi-official Iranian news agency Tabnak.

    It said that Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani, a dual-national in charge of banking issues during the two-year negotiations, was arrested for “selling the country’s economic details to foreigners”.

    But Mr Dorri Esfahani later gave an interview with Tabnak in which he dismissed the reports as “ridiculous”.

    He was a member of a parallel team working on lifting economic sanctions, under one of the main negotiators for the deal, Iranian media reported.

    Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said last week that the suspect was “active in the field of the Iranian economy, and was linked to the British espionage service”.

    Unconfirmed reports in Iranian media linked the detained man with US and British intelligence.”

  18. Filipino Militants Free 8 Comrades, 15 Others in Jail Attack

    Muslim extremists supporting the Islamic State group freed eight fellow militants in a daring attack that also allowed 15 other inmates to escape from a provincial jail in the southern Philippines, police said Sunday.

    About 20 heavily armed fighters of the Maute militant group stormed the Lanao del Sur provincial jail in Marawi city before nightfall Saturday, disarmed the guards and rescued their eight comrades. The attackers also seized two rifles from guards, police said.

    The eight who escaped were arrested a week ago when they were caught with a homemade bomb in van at a security checkpoint.

    The others who escaped, apparently to divert the attention of authorities, were facing murder and illegal drugs charges.

    The Maute group is a new band of armed Muslim radicals who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and use black flags with logos of the Middle East-based extremists.

    Based in Lanao del Sur’s Butig town, the militants have attacked army troops and beheaded a soldier and two kidnapped workers earlier this year. Before being killed, the two workers were made to wear orange shirts similar to beheading victims of the Islamic State group.

    A number of Muslim armed groups in the southern Philippines, including some commanders of the violent Abu Sayyaf, have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group. The military has tried to play down their actions, saying there has been no evidence of an active collaboration between the foreign extremists and Filipino militants who are aiming to prop up their image and secure badly needed funds amid years of battle setbacks.

    President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office in June, has pursued peace talks with two large Muslim rebel groups, but has ordered troops to destroy the Abu Sayyaf and other hard-line militants.

    Troops have continued on-and-off offensives against the Maute militants in Butig in Lanao del Sur, a predominantly Muslim province, about 830 kilometers (520 miles) south of Manila.

    A major offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu province’s mountainous Patikul town, also in the south, has killed at least 19 militants, including an influential commander, Mohammad Said, who used the nom de guerre Amah Maas, his two sons, and another ranking fighter, Latip Sapie, military officials said.

    Said, who had severed arms and was among the most senior Abu Sayyaf commanders, had been implicated in the kidnappings of several Filipinos and foreigners. He had good ties with the Moro National Liberation Front, a larger rebel group that has engaged in peace talk with the government, but has been suspected of providing sanctuary and combat support to the more brutal Abu Sayyaf in the past.

    “Let us vigorously pursue this terrorist-bandit Abu Sayyaf group with no let-up and destroy them,” military chief of staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya said, promising to pour more troops into Sulu. “We have this one chance to annihilate this menace to society that claims links with the ISIS.”

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/filipino-militants-free-comrades-15-jail-attack-41697795

  19. The latest government data breach came from (wait for it…) fishing licenses

    While it’s painful to admit, incidents of data hacking which expose personal data entrusted to the government are so common these days as to barely merit a headline. There’s been yet another breach this year and it’s not one which is likely to make a big splash in the media unless you happen to be an avid fisherman. In three northwestern states, the issuing of new fishing licenses had to be suspended recently because hackers attempted to access the database of information on anglers. How much – if any – data they obtained is not yet known, but there’s enough information in those files to have consumers worried. (AT&T Live News)

    A breach in a vendor’s system that processes online sales of hunting and fishing licenses in Idaho, Oregon and Washington state exposed several million records containing buyers’ personal information, officials said Friday.

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FBI are investigating the hack into Dallas-based Active Network, the Washington State Office of Cyber Security said in a statement. Washington halted all sales earlier this week, allowing anglers to fish license-free, while Idaho and Oregon have stopped only online sales…

    Active Network, whose event and activity management software is used by tens of thousands of event organizers nationwide, including marathons and other races, said the potential threat was isolated to fishing and hunting licensing systems in the three states.

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/08/27/latest-government-data-breach-came-wait-fishing-licenses/

    • Is this an ordinary data hack to get credit card numbers of did they want the addresses of people with a high probability of owning firearms? I am asking that because most of the people around here pay cash for their hunting and fishing licenses.

  20. Biden’s remark on Japan Constitution raises eyebrows

    TOKYO (AP) — A recent remark by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that America wrote Japan’s Constitution is raising some eyebrows in Japan.

    A popular front-page column in the national Asahi newspaper said this week that the comment “was unprecedented in its insensitivity” and “could even be considered arrogant.”

    Biden, appearing Monday with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, attacked Republican candidate Donald Trump for saying that Japan might need to consider obtaining nuclear weapons in the future.

    The vice president said, “Does he not understand we wrote Japan’s Constitution to say that they could not be a nuclear power?”

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/af44536131b34653a146b1b1807086d7/bidens-remark-japan-constitution-raises-eyebrows

    • Doesn’t Biden know that in return for the peace constitution adopted by Japan the US promised to protect them so they wouldn’t need a large army or the constitutional right to project force beyond their borders? The Clinton administration and not the Obama administration have pushed Japan to try and amend their constitutions to allow for the projection of force beyond their borders. The no nukes policy could change very quickly if the US is incapable of protecting Japan (Like we are right now) and China starts to push real hard <(like they are currently doing). There are calls for Japan to develop a much larger missile defense system because of the successful launch of a North Korean sub launched missile. They are especially worried because it is believed that North Korea may have the technological capability to miniaturize nuclear warheads. If they don’t already have that capability they are working hard to get it.

  21. Christians as “Target Practice”
    Muslim Persecution of Christians: May 2016

    More reports of the brutal treatment that Christians and other minorities experienced at the hands of the Islamic State (SIS) emerged during May. One account told of a couple who, after their children were abducted by ISIS militants, answered their door one day to find a plastic bag on their doorstep. It contained the body parts of their daughters and a video of them being brutally tortured and raped.

    Another Christian mother from Mosul answered the door to find ISIS jihadis demanding that she leave or pay the jizya (protection money demanded as a tribute by conquered Christians and Jews, according to the Koran 9:29). The woman asked for a few seconds, because her daughter was in the shower, but the jihadis refused to give her the time. They set a fire to the house; her daughter was burned alive. The girl died in her mother’s arms; her last words were “Forgive them.”

    The Islamic State reportedly beheaded another Christian leader on February 18. No media reported it, except for one Italian paper in May: “There are reliable reports are that Father Yacob Boulos, was beheaded by the terror group’ militants after he prayed on the altar of his church. He was punished for his faith.”

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8771/christians-target-practice

    Click through and read the article, it is broken down by country.

  22. Paris restaurant ‘refuses to serve Muslim women’ (BBC, Aug 28, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37209605

    “A video showing a restaurateur in a Paris suburb apparently refusing to serve two Muslim women has sparked anger in France and calls for protest.

    In the video, widely shared on social media, the man tells the hijab-wearing women: “Terrorists are Muslims and all Muslims are terrorists.”

    The incident took place at Le Cenacle restaurant in Tremblay-en-France on Saturday night.

    On Sunday, the man apologised to a group who had gathered outside.

    He said he had “got out of hand” due to the current tensions around the issue of wearing burkinis on French beaches, but also because he had a friend who had died at the Bataclan concert centre attack last November, Le Parisien reported (in French)…”

    • DAILY MAIL Women wearing headscarves are thrown out of Paris restaurant by its self-confessed racist owner as he says ‘Terrorists are Muslims and all Muslims are terrorists’

      Two women wearing headscarves were sat at a table at Cenacle restaurant
      But restaurant owner appeared and told the women they weren’t welcome
      Owner ranted at the crying women saying that ‘all Muslims are terrorists’
      Another customer filmed incident which has gone viral on social media

      Two women wearing headscarves were thrown out of a Paris restaurant after being threatened by its self-confessed racist owner who said ‘Terrorists are Muslims, and all Muslims are terrorists.’

      The disturbing scenes at Le Cenacle follow a series of incidents in which grandmothers and mothers have been thrown off public beaches in France for wearing Islamic looking clothing.

      Now a criminal enquiry has been launched into Saturday’s vicious attack at the restaurant in Tremblay-en-France, a north-east suburb of the French capital.

      The women sat down at a table and were originally offered glasses of water, before the owner appeared from the kitchen and said he did not want them there.

      A video of the attack shows the man saying: ‘Racists like me don’t kill good people. Racists like me.’

      He adds: ‘Madam, terrorists are Muslims and all Muslims are terrorists. Analyse my words, you’ll see that they’re right.’

      The women remain calm, and distance France’s five million plus Muslim community from attacks in which men affiliated to terrorist organisations such as ISIS have killed and maimed.

      But the Cenacle owner continued: ‘I’m living in a secular country and this is my opinion.’

      After the man shouted ‘It seems like you didn’t understand. Now get out!’ the crying women make phone calls and leave.

      Another customer sitting nearby recorded the whole conversation on his phone, and it is now the subject of widespread public debate.

      Laurence Rossignol, the Women’s Rights minister, said she had ordered a full enquiry by the Inter-ministerial Delegation into Racism and anti-Semitism (DILCRA.

      Ms Rossignol called for sanctions against the ‘the unacceptable behavior of this restaurant owner.’

      Police in nearby Villepinte meanwhile confirmed that their officers had attended the scene, and were also investigating.

      Today the restaurant owner – who has not been named – said he regretted what happened, but had got caught up in the fiery debate surrounding the so-called ‘burkini ban’.

      On Friday, the controversial measure which prevents women wearing Islamic looking swimsuits, or any other dress that might be considered religious, was overturned by a Paris appeal court.

      It came after images of a woman stripping down and then being fined in Nice by four armed police sparked outrage around the world.

      The court ruled that the burkini ban ‘seriously, and clearly illegally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom.’

      Despite this, a number of French resorts, including Nice, are still fining women.

      More pictures taken on the city’s beach on Saturday showed a police officer jumping off a boat and telling two young women and a little boy to get off the pebbles.

      Far right conspiracy theorists have claimed that such incidents are being fabricated, with the help of international picture agencies, but the photographers concerned have rubbished these accusations.

      Police have also insisted that they would never be drawn into cheap publicity stunts which clearly portray them in a negative light.

      The video of the Paris restaurant incident was today going viral all over social media.

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3762481/Women-wearing-headscarves-thrown-Paris-restaurant-self-confessed-racist-owner-says-Terrorists-Muslims-Muslims-terrorists.html

  23. Merkel rejects Muslim migrant ban, urges fair distribution

    BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday slammed those countries in Europe who say they won’t take in Muslim refugees, a position that several eastern European governments have taken in response to the influx of migrants from the Islamic world.

    Merkel said she was hopeful that European Union members would reach an agreement on outstanding questions arising from the migrant crisis, one of which is how to fairly distribute asylum-seekers among all the bloc’s 28 member states.

    She told German public broadcaster ARD that “everybody has to do their bit” and didn’t rule out the possibility of letting some countries take in fewer migrants if they contribute more financially instead.

    “How the individual components are weighted will have to be seen,” said Merkel.

    But she reiterated her stance that blocking refugees based on their religion was misguided.

    “What I continue to think is wrong is that some say ‘we generally don’t want Muslims in our country, regardless of whether there’s a humanitarian need or not,'” she said. “We’re going to have to keep discussing that.”

    Her comments come almost a year after Merkel’s decision to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants stuck in other European countries to come to Germany.

    That move prompted a further wave of migration through the Balkans that culminated in the daily arrival of more than 10,000 asylum-seekers at German borders at one point.

    Officials have spoken of more than a million arrivals in 2015, but Germany’s top migration official said the actual figure was likely lower once duplicate registrations and people who traveled on to other countries are excluded.

    Frank-Juergen Weise, the head of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, said in an interview in the German weekly Bild am Sonntag that he expects a sharp drop in numbers in 2016 compared with last year.

    Weise told German weekly Bild am Sonntag that his agency is planning for between 250,000 and 300,000 new arrivals this year.

    The influx prompted countries such as Hungary to sharply criticize Merkel, and even accuse her of threatening Europe’s stability.

    In Germany, anti-migrant feeling has increased too. A nationalist party to the right of Merkel’s Christian Democrats has received a surge in support and chancellor, who has stuck by her motto “we will manage,” has seen her popularity ratings fall.

    A poll published Sunday by Bild am Sonntag found that 50 percent of respondents opposed a fourth term for Merkel, should she decide to run again in 2017. The survey of 501 voters, conducted Aug. 25 by the research firm TNS Emnid, had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

    In her interview Sunday, Merkel declined to be drawn on whether she would run again, or even when she might announce her intention to stand again.

    https://www.apnews.com/ed56e6f1643e4ebb979d3f6c48a79a09/Merkel-rejects-Muslim-migrant-ban,-urges-fair-distribution

    • EU nations must not to refuse Muslim migrants: Merkel (france24, Aug 28, 2016)
      http://www.france24.com/en/20160828-eu-nations-must-not-refuse-muslim-migrants-merkel

      “BERLIN (AFP) – The refusal of some EU countries to accept Muslim refugees is “unacceptable”, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday as Germany called for quotas to divide the influx throughout the bloc.

      “That’s not right at all that some countries say: ‘generally speaking, we don’t want to have Muslims in our countries’,” Merkel told German public television channel ARD.

      Backing the idea of a quota system for taking in migrants, the German leader stressed that “everyone must do their part,” and that “a common solution must be found.”

      A common European migration policy is a highly controversial issue, which will be on the agenda of an EU summit next month, with eastern members the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia refusing to take in refugees under an EU-wide quota system championed by Berlin.

      Slovak President Robert Fico has vowed he would “never bring even a single Muslim” into his country.

      In 2015, Germany took in around a million asylum seekers, most from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan, and this year it expects up to 300,000 more to arrive, the Federal Office for Migrants and Refugees (BAMF) said Sunday.

      “We can ensure optimal services for up to 300,000. Should more people arrive, it would put us under pressure, then we would go into so-called crisis mode. But even then we would not have conditions like last year,” BAMF chief Frank-Juergen Weise told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper

      Merkel’s decision last September to open the doors to asylum seekers was seen in many European nations, notably those in the east, as an invitation for further mass migration.

      Some, like the Slovak leader, voiced fears of the emergence of a significant Muslim community in their countries.

      On Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said he does not want a “large Muslim community… given the problems we are seeing” and that each EU member should be able to choose how many migrants to accept.

      German public sentiment is sharply divided when it comes to Merkel, who has not yet said whether she will stand for a fourth term in a general election expected in September or October next year.”

  24. Anti-burkini law in France would worsen tension: interior minister (reuters, Aug 28, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-burqa-france-idUSKCN1130TW

    “A law banning the full-body “burkini” swimsuit in France would stoke tensions between communities and would be both unconstitutional and ineffective, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in an interview published on Sunday.

    France’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, ruled on Friday against a decision to ban the burkini by the mayor of the resort town of Villeneuve-Loubet.

    The ruling may set a precedent for the dozens of French towns that have also ordered burkini bans.

    The issue has become politically charged at the start of party primaries ahead of next year’s presidential election in France, with several leaders on the right and far-right calling for a law prohibiting the full-body swimming costume worn by some Muslim women…”

    • Netherlands: Beach-goers hold ‘burkini’ solidarity protest in Scheveningen

      Protesters gathered to demonstrate their right to freedom of clothing and religion, in solidarity with women affected by the ‘burkini’ ban in France, on Scheveningen beach, in The Hague, Sunday.

  25. USA: Refugee solidarity rally urges US govt to do more to help

    Dozens of people gathered at the Washington Monument on the National Mall, Sunday, to show solidarity with refugees all over the world. Several activist groups and human rights organisations rallied on Sunday morning to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis and urge the US government to do more to help with refugee resettlement.

    • If they are trying to look like the refugees arriving in Europe, they need to be wearing designer clothes and take selfies with iPhones!

  26. Zawahiri says jihadists should prepare for guerrilla war in Iraq
    By Thomas Joscelyn | August 26, 2016 | tj*******@gm***.com | @thomasjoscelyn

    As Sahab, al Qaeda’s propaganda arm, released the third episode of Ayman al Zawahiri’s “Brief Messages to a Victorious Ummah” series on Aug. 25. The latest installment is subtitled “Fear Allah in Iraq.” The al Qaeda leader clearly expects the Islamic State to continue to lose ground, arguing that the Sunnis of Iraq should “reorganize themselves” for a “protracted guerrilla war to defeat the neo-Safavid [Iranian]-Crusader occupation of their regions as they did before.”

    Zawahiri critiques the Islamic State’s approach to waging jihad in Iraq in his brief message, which is just over four minutes long. His arguments further highlight how al Qaeda and the Islamic State have evolved very different strategies for waging jihad. Whereas al Qaeda wants to be viewed as a popular revolutionary force, serving the interests of Muslims, the Islamic State deliberately markets itself as a top-down authoritarian regime that seeks to overtly impose its will on the populace. Al Qaeda and the Islamic State share the same long-term goal, as they both want to resurrect an Islamic caliphate. But they diverge on the steps that should be taken to achieve this goal.

    http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/08/zawahiri-says-jihadists-should-prepare-for-guerrilla-war-in-iraq.php

  27. Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield is a message to the Kurds
    By Merve Tahiroglu | August 24, 2016 | me***@de*************.org |

    Turkey launched its largest military operation into Syria today, sending tanks, planes and ground forces into Jarabulus in an effort to clear the Islamic State from its last remaining frontier with Turkey. The offensive, led by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels, came days after an Islamic State-linked suicide attack in a Turkish border town. The main objective for the operation, however, was to counter recent advances of US-backed Syrian Kurds along the Turkish border.

    Above all, it was a message: a reminder of Ankara’s determination to limit US cooperation with the Kurds, Washington’s most effective partner against the Islamic State in Syria.

    Turkey has been preparing for the Jarabulus operation for days. Last weekend, an Islamic State-linked suicide bomber attacked a Kurdish wedding in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, killing 54 – many them children. The attack was the latest in a string of Islamic State-linked bombings that have killed hundreds in Turkey over the last year. But it triggered a much stronger response than previous assaults. On Aug. 22, Turkey vowed to “completely cleanse” the Islamic State from its border region – referring to Jarabulus, the only remaining Islamic State territory at the Turkish frontier. Yesterday, the Turkish military began firing artillery into northern Syria and shelled Islamic State targets 224 times. This morning, Syrian rebel fighters crossed into Jarabulus from Turkey, and with Turkish and US air support, launched operation “Euphrates Shield” to liberate the city from the Islamic State.

    http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/08/turkeys-operation-euphrates-shield-is-a-message-to-the-kurds.php

    • This is an interesting article that explains in more detail what is happening with the Turkish incursion into Syria, as I said it was to stop the Kurd’s from taking more territory that would link what they already hold together. This combined with the territory they hold which would have given them a de facto country, this is something Turkey, Iran and Syria all oppose. I don’t know what the US got out of this besides convincing the Kurd’s we won’t cover their backs but it was something. Possibly they got a Turkish promise that Russia wouldn’t be allowed to use the NATO airfield at ?ncirlik. By doing this we are supporting our nominal NATO ally but stabbing what is (with the exception of Israel) our best ally in the region in the back. If we are serious about stoping the Islamic threat the smarter move would have been to allow the Kurds to establish their country and put another player in the game of thrones.

  28. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/lubricant-dispencer-hyrdrochloric-acid-sydney-gay-club-aarows-man-charged-a7214151.html

    A 62-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly switching lubricant with acid at a Sydney gay club.

    Police said the unnamed man went into the Aarrows club in the Rydalmere area of the city on Saturday and filled a lubricant dispenser with hydrochloric acid.

    No-one was hurt following the incident as the dispensers had been fitted with alarms after previous attempts to tamper with them.

  29. IRGC commander discusses Afghan militia, ‘Shia liberation army,’ and Syria
    By Amir Toumaj | August 24, 2016 | am**@de*************.org | @AmirToumaj

    A retired Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander who was deployed to Syria gave a lengthy interview to a hardline media outlet last week about IRGC operations in the country. Serving with the Afghan Fatemiyoun Division, Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Falaki highly praised the militia. The commander describes the array of IRGC-backed forces fighting in Syria and the Middle East as a unified army – apparently with the ultimate goal of destroying Israel.

    The interview with General Falaki is a window into IRGC propaganda. The Iranian public is the primary audience, though the message is also directed towards the outside world. The interviewer recommends the commander’s discussion to “those who want to see the bravery of the Fatemiyoun … from a different angle.” The interview, in other words, introduces itself as a response to the negative perceptions about Afghans forcibly recruited into the militias, and delves into the broader wars of the Middle East.

    A veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, Falaki rose through the ranks to command a mechanized brigade of an infantry division. Following the war, he retired and has been involved in various “cultural” activities, including a veterans group.

    Falaki lamented about the insufficient support in Iran for Afghan refugees, which he views as an untapped pool of recruits. There are approximately three million Afghan refugees in Iran – a majority of them are Shia Hazaras – and discrimination against them is well documented.

    “We go to south Lebanon and support the Shias over there,” Falaki said, and “spend so much money” supporting Shias elsewhere. “We in Iran have sometimes looked at them [Afghans] as drug-dealing criminals, trouble-makers, or construction workers,” he added.

    Afghan nationals have participated in the Syrian war as early as 2012. According to interviews with commanders, the first wave from Iran were 25, most of whom were veterans who had fought under the IRGC during the Iran-Iraq War against Saddam, as part of the Abouzar Brigade, and against the Soviets and the Taliban, as part of the Mohammad Corps. The latter dissolved following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and its members fled to Iran. These experienced fighters later formed the senior leadership of the Fatemiyoun. None from the first generation of the Fatemiyoun leadership has survived, according to the militia.

    http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/08/irgc-commander-discusses-afghan-militia-shia-liberation-army-and-syria.php

    • This one is explaining what has been happening in Iraq and other locations where Iranian proxy;s and allies are fighting Sunni’s. It also tells how the Iranian’s agreed to allowing Russia into the war and to use the airfields because they were desperate.

  30. http://fusion.net/story/339574/kuwaits-new-dna-collection-law-is-scarier-than-we-ever-imagined/

    But after an ISIS-linked man ignited a bomb in a Shiite mosque in Kuwait last year, killing 27, the mother of all troubling laws was rushed through the country’s Parliament. The law requires that all citizens, residents and visitors to the country submit DNA samples to enter or stay in the country. It was passed in the name of national security and in helping identify victims of large scale attacks.

    Only recently are we starting to understand just how powerful and potentially intrusive the new DNA law, which is expected to fully go into effect late this year, will be. In a wealthy nation where citizenship is passed down by bloodline and is extremely restricted, officials have been letting on about a mission creep that will give citizenship enforcement an unprecedented scientific grounding, and possibly leave thousands stripped of their nationalities.

  31. http://uawire.org/news/media-belarusian-and-russian-militaries-are-jamming-mobile-communications-along-border-with-poland

    Residents in the northeastern regions of Poland have begun to experience certain difficulties due to the proximity of Russian and Belarusian military units as stated in a publication of Belarus Partisan.

    Military communications used by the security forces of the Russian Federation and Belarus emit powerful signals. As a result, Polish cellular signals, in the interference zone are suppressed, Rzeczpospolita asserts. In order to use their cellular phones, Poles are forced to buy sim cards from Russian telecom operators and connect to roaming or use payphones, the number of which has decreased significantly.

    • Some politician or high ranking officer is either paid off or has a lot of stock in the cell phone companies selling the sim cards.

  32. http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Bahrain-a-Brutal-Clinton-Donor-Enjoyed-Expedited-Access-20160822-0022.html

    Newly released emails from Hillary Clinton’s time as U.S. secretary of state reveal that her staff helped grant access to Clinton Foundation donors, including the Bahraini al-Khalifa monarchy accused of killing and torturing hundreds of people during the 2011 Arab Spring-inspired uprising there. The monarchy of Bahrain – which hosts a major U.S. military base that’s home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet as well as CENTCOM – gave the foundation US$32 million.

    RELATED:
    Clinton’s Wall Street Donors Literally Sipping Cocktails over Sanders Defeat

    Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that released the documents on Monday, said in a statement that the emails show Clinton aide Huma Abedin “provided influential Clinton Foundation donors special, expedited access to the secretary of state.”

    The emails show that top Clinton Foundation official Doug Band sent an email to Abedin in June 2009 saying that Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the crown prince of Bahrain, was coming to the Washington for two days and seeking a meeting with Clinton, noting he is a “good friend of ours.” Abedin wrote back that the crown prince had asked to see Clinton through “normal channels.”

    • The problem is carbon dioxide isn’t a pollutant, plants breath in CO2 and breath out O@ for us to breath. Without CO2 we will have a lot less plants to furnish our O2.

  33. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-29/chinese-hackers-behind-defence-austrade-security-breaches/7790166

    Sensitive Australian Government and corporate computer networks — including those holding highly confidential plans for a privately financed geostationary communications satellite — have been penetrated by sophisticated cyber attacks, a Four Corners investigation has established.

    Key points:

    Defence research division, Austrade breached by hackers
    Satellites a possible target of BoM security breach
    Information theft often done for commercial profit, expert says
    Austrade and the Defence Department’s elite research division, now named the Defence Science Technology Group, both suffered significant cyber infiltrations in the past five years by hackers based in China.

    Intelligence sources say they suspect the attackers in these cases were sponsored by Beijing.

    Four Corners has also confirmed Newsat Ltd, an Australian satellite company whose assets were sold off last year after the company went into administration, was so comprehensively infiltrated three years ago that its entire network had to be rebuilt in secret.

  34. http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/08/26/idf-investigation-refutes-december-2014-newsweek-cover-story-finds-palestinian-family-members-likely-killed-by-mortars-fired-by-gaza-terrorists/

    IDF Investigation Refutes December 2014 Newsweek Cover Story, Finds Palestinian Family Members Likely Killed by Mortars Fired by Gaza Terrorists

    In a December 2014 Newsweek European edition cover story titled, “Gaza: One War, One Family. Five Children, Four Dead,” Sarah Helm wrote that 12 members of Nabil Siyam’s family – including his wife and four of his five children — were killed on July 21 of that year as they fled their home in Rafah after “Israeli rockets” hit the home next door.

    The MAG report said, “The factual findings and the material… presented to the MAG indicate that no attack — aerial or otherwise — that could have resulted in a strike on the family as alleged was carried out by IDF forces in the area in question and on the relevant date.”

    Furthermore, the report said, “it was found that at the relevant time, and in close proximity to the Siyam family’s residence, terror organizations in the Gaza Strip fired a series of mortars, aimed at the territory of the State of Israel. A number of these launches were ‘failed launches,’ wherein the mortar shells that were aimed at Israeli territory, fell within the territory of the Gaza Strip.”

  35. Austria: ‘We should send them back’ – Identitarian activists rally in VIENNA against Turkey

    Dozens of far-right Identitarian movement activists rallied outside the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) offices in Vienna on Sunday, to protest against the perceived interference of the Turkish state in Austria. The UETD are closely affiliated with the-ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey.