Reader’s links for Sept. 1 – 2016

Daily Links Post graphic

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

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

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

About Eeyore

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

65 Replies to “Reader’s links for Sept. 1 – 2016”

  1. Terrorist prisoners to be locked away in new ‘Jihadi jails’ in bid to stop radicalisation (express, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/706037/Terrorist-prisoners-high-security-jihadi-jail-Anjem-Coudary-Lee-Rigby-Michael-Adebolago

    “DANGEROUS terrorists will now be housed in special ‘Jihadi jails’ in a bid to prevent them from spreading their poisonous ideology around Britain’s prisons.

    New segregated wings may be introduced to combat rampant radicalisation in jails as the number of inmates serving terror-related sentences has soared.

    A group of 20 twisted Islamists will be placed in four high security units in 2017 as the Ministry of Justice trials the new scheme.

    The move comes after a damning Government report slammed prison chiefs for letting “cultural sensitivity” prevent them from “challenging unacceptable extremist behaviour and views”.

    Justice Minister Liz Truss has said the new jails will “empower” staff and allow them to crush extremism in British jails…”

  2. Muslim extremist gives Islamic State salute as he’s jailed for sending seven Australians to their deaths in Syria (dailymail, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3768195/Muslim-extremist-gives-Islamic-State-salute-s-jailed-sending-seven-Australians-deaths-Syria.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

    “A Muslim extremist gave Islamic State’s one finger salute as he was sentenced to at least six years jail for arranging seven would-be ‘martyrs’ to reach Syria to fight alongside Australian terrorist Mohammad Ali Baryalei.

    Hamdi Alqudsi was found guilty in July of organising for the men to make a border crossing from Turkey and meet up with the notorious ISIS fighter between June and October 2013.

    The 42-year-old held up his index finger in the dock in the moments after NSW Supreme Court Justice Christine Adamson slapped him with an eight year sentence, with a non-parole period of six years, on Thursday.

    The traditional Islamic gesture – which refers to the tawhid or ‘the belief in the oneness of God’ – has been widely adopted by Islamic State fighters.

    Alqudsi was the first to be prosecuted under federal foreign incursion laws.

    Two women dressed in floor-length niqabs, and believed to be Alqudsi’s wife and another woman he regards as his second ‘wife’ who he lived with part-time before he was taken into custody, wept quietly in the public gallery of the Parramatta courtroom…”

  3. Algerian asylum seeker who has committed 17 crimes including for attempted robbery and drug crime is RELEASED onto the streets because Government can’t kick him out (dailymail, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3768620/Algerian-asylum-seeker-committed-17-crimes-including-attempted-robbery-drug-crime-RELEASED-streets-Government-t-kick-out.html

    “An Algerian asylum seeker with 14 convictions for 17 crimes can’t be deported because no other country will have him, the High Court heard.

    The 31-year-old career criminal poses a ‘high risk of harm to the public’ and has committed ‘numerous criminal offences’ including violent and drug crime.

    He arrived in the UK from Africa in 2003 and has been convicted of 17 offences over a seven-year period.

    The Algerian has brought a compensation claim against the Government claiming he has been unlawfully held in a detention centre.

    High Court Judge Martin McKenna has ruled in favour of the Home Office and dismissed the man’s claim.

    But he has been released from immigration detention after deportation attempts failed.

    Judge McKenna said the man, who has a history of alcoholism, drug use and homelessness and cannot be named, had been born in a refugee camp in southern Algeria, claimed that he was ‘stateless’.

    He said Home Office staff had approached authorities in different parts of Africa – in a bid to deport – but officials abroad had refused to provide travel documents to the man…”

    • The civil war started several years ago the public and the government has been ignoring this fact.

        • Thank you for the very informative article.

          Germany is in more trouble then I thought if they have an army that is 60% Moslem, for once I am glad their army is so small. From this article the civil war in Germany is only one major terror attack from starting. Once one European nation has a civil war the fighting will spread to all European nations. Speaking from a position of limited knowledge of what is happening on the ground the Eastern European nations are better prepared to fight and survive the coming civil wars and given what I have read about the civilian ownership of firearms in Austria add them to that number. The harsher and more controlling the gun laws are the poorer the chance of the European nations retaining freedom over the short run.

  4. Illegal Koranic school with up to 20 students found CONCEALED inside Paris mosque (express, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/706202/Illegal-Loranic-school-with-twenty-students-found-concealed-inside-Paris-mosque

    “AN UNREGISTERED Koranic school with the potential to indoctrinate children has been found within the walls of Al-Islah mosque – which is known for harbouring Jihadists – during a police raid in Paris yesterday…”

  5. The Latest: Germany: Syrian Tries to Kill Wife, Dies in Fire (abcnews, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-germany-syrian-kill-wife-dies-fire-41795338

    “… Police in Germany say a Syrian asylum-seeker has died after trying to kill his estranged wife by setting her on fire in the town of Ruedesheim, west of Frankfurt.

    A spokesman for Hesse state police says the 45-year-old man entered the building where his wife and three children were living early Thursday and poured a flammable liquid over her.

    Markus Hoffmann said the 31-year-old woman suffered life-threatening injuries. One of their children is being treated for shock.

    Hoffmann said the family had arrived in Germany together but the man, who was known to police over previous unspecified incidents, had later been housed separately.

    He said the building, which housed 14 migrants, is now uninhabitable…”

  6. Migrant crisis: Bavaria asylum claimants told where to live (BBC, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37246778

    “Migrants in the German state of Bavaria will no longer be able to choose where to live, as instead they will be told which town will become their new home.

    The new ruling applies to anyone whose application for asylum has been accepted in Bavaria, but who is still dependent on the state for housing.

    Once the claimants have found a job and can support themselves financially, they are then free to move.

    The aim is to help refugees integrate into German society.

    Authorities want to encourage new arrivals to learn the German language, rather than cluster together in areas with people from the same country of origin.

    “With the [ruling] we are guaranteeing that migrants in Bavaria live with us, not alongside us. This way we are preventing parallel societies forming, and at the same time we are fostering integration across Bavaria,” said Bavaria’s minister for social affairs Emilia Mueller….”

  7. Pope calls global warming sin, says protecting creation is work of mercy

    ROME— Insisting that environmental damage such as global warming amounts to a sin against creation, Pope Francis on Thursday once again called on Christians to join forces to protect the earth on what’s ecumenically designated as the “World Day of Prayer for Creation.”

    “To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God,” the pope writes, quoting an address the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gave in Santa Barbara, California, back in 1997.

    Francis has long shared the interest for protecting the planet with Bartholomew.

    In a message released by the Vatican on Thursday, Francis pointed out the “sins” against creation, which include humans destroying the ecosystem and degrading the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, and the contamination of the earth’s waters, land, air, and life.

    Keeping in mind both the Holy Year of Mercy and prayer day for creation, celebrated on Sept. 1, Francis on Thursday called for Catholics to add a new work of mercy to the traditional 14: “Care for our common home.”

    The works of mercy, as taught by the Catholic Church, are divided into corporal and spiritual. The first seven, which include feeding the hunger, giving drink to the thirsty and cloths to the naked, were directly taken from the New Testament.

    Yet on Thursday’s message, the pontiff proposes “a complement to the two traditional sets of seven.”

    As a spiritual work of mercy, the care for our common home, Francis wrote, “calls for a ‘grateful contemplation of God’s world.” As a corporal one, instead, it requires “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness” and “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world.”

    The “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” is a global ecumenical stewardship initiative, which began in 1989 under the leadership of the Orthodox Church. Yet it wasn’t until last year that the Catholic Church formally joined the initiative, with a letter from Francis establishing it.

    In that August 2015 letter, the pontiff wrote that an annual commemoration of Creation would offer an opportunity to thank God for the “wonderful handiwork entrusted to our care, and to implore God’s help for the protection of creation,” an idea he reiterated on his latest pro-environment message.

    The pope’s message, titled “Show Mercy to our Common Home” is divided into five sections, and it’s largely an appeal for “people of faith and goodwill” to come together in “showing mercy to the earth as our common home and cherishing the world in which we live as a place for sharing and communion.”

    As he did in his May 2015 environmental manifesto Laudato Si’, Francis once again says that global warming is at least partially man made, underlining that 2015 was the warmest year on record, and that 2016 will be warmer still.

    Although some people remain skeptical still, the scientific community has largely acknowledged that global warming due to pollution is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires and extreme weather events.

    “Climate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis,” Francis writes, adding that the world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, “are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact.”

    Francis also calls for the Jubilee of Mercy to summon in the faithful to a “profound interior conversion,” sustained by the sacrament of Confession, writing that after a “serious examination of conscience” Catholics can confess their sins against the God and his creation.

    The pope compared the need to make amends with the environment to Saint John Paul II 2000 appeal for Catholics to ask for forgiveness for past and present religious intolerance, “as well as for injustice towards Jews, women, indigenous peoples, immigrants, the poor and the unborn.”

    “As individuals, we have grown comfortable with certain lifestyles shaped by a distorted culture of prosperity,” with a desire to consume more than what’s necessary, where “we are participants” in a system that has imposed a mentality of profit at any price.

    “Let us repent of the harm we are doing to our common home,” Francis writes.

    Examining our consciences, repentance and confession, the pope continues, will lead to a firm purpose to make amendments and take an attitude more respectful of creation.

    Quoting his own Laudato Si’, something he does often in Thursday’s message, the pontiff gives several suggestions: “Avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.”

    Calling on world leaders to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Development Goals- and society to demand they be applied- the pontiff said that economics and politics, society and culture can’t be dominated by “short-term and immediate financial or electoral gains.”

    “Instead, they urgently need to be redirected to the common good, which includes sustainability and care for creation,” Francis’ message says.

    Christians of different denominations are marking the day of prayer for creation, although for many it’ll go until October 4th, feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.

    The pontiff is not the only Christian leader to release a message for the occasion. For instance, Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stressed the importance of education to highlight the links between the environmental crisis and the spiritual crisis of a world driven by greed, gluttony and selfish desires.

    The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Reverend Olav Fykse Tveit, sent a video message, calling for the world “obsessed by economic growth,” to radically rethink the ways of producing, trading and consuming natural resources.

    “In a world where nearly everything has a price tag, it’s time for us to affirm once again that creation is not for sale,” he said.

    Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, appointed by Francis on Wednesday as the first head of a new super-department on human development, told a Vatican news conference that Francis’s message of Thursday is the “next logical step” after Laudato Si.

    Turkson suggested, among other things, that Christians should use their purchasing power to boycott certain companies or products until they rethink their environmental footprint.

    Terrence Ward, an author on hand for Thursday’s news conference, called Laudato Si one of the most important papal documents of modern times, saying it “a breathtaking moral, social, economic and spiritual commentary on our modern epoch, fundamentally questioning our style of life.”

    Ward suggested that the concrete work of mercy called for by the pope is an important contribution to the pope’s Year of Mercy.

    https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/09/01/pope-calls-global-warming-sin-says-protecting-creation-work-mercy/

  8. Germany: 1 dead, several injured after blaze at asylum centre in Rudesheim-Aulhausen

    A fire broke out in an asylum residence in Rudesheim-Aulhausen on Thursday, when a man tried to set his estranged-wife on fire, killing himself and injuring his wife, two children and other residents in the vicinity, according to local police.

  9. Germany: AfD politician wears niqab to Thuringian parliament

    Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party MP Wiebke Muhsal wore a black niqab as she arrived at the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt on Thursday to show her support for a ban on the item of clothing in Germany.

  10. USA: Pentagon spokesperson questions Russian claim of al-Adnani airstrike

    Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook responded to reports that a spokesperson for the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, was killed in a Russian airstrike, during a press conference in the Pentagon Briefing Room in Washington DC, Wednesday.

    Cook called the death of Adnani “a very good thing.” He explained the key role that Adnani played in the militant group, and that he was directly responsible for recruiting foreign fighters. Cook said that Adnani was “responsible for encouraging attacks against the west, against civilians and military personnel in the west.”

  11. Iran sinks American navy fleet with a huge TIDAL WAVE in ISIS-style propaganda video showing slaying of ‘Great Satan’

    AN Iranian propaganda video shows a US naval fleet being sunk with a giant tidal wave.

    The disturbing footage, which also features the burning of an American flag, includes the caption “I will break your legs into pieces.”

    Titled ‘Steadfastness 2’, the professional looking clip was produced by an office of the country’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, according to Middle East Media Research Center (MEMRI).

    Similar to the propaganda released by terror group ISIS, the two-and-a-half-minute video starts with a group of boys playing football on a beach.

    However the tone soon darkens, when a plane is gunned down by a fleet of American warships.

    The video then shows a group of Iranian men wielding their national flag while singing and advancing towards the shore.

    The force of the mens’ anger and patriotism creates tidal wave which overwhelms the Naval fleet and even takes out helicopters in the sky.

    The caption before the deadly tidal wave reads: “If you step over me, I will break your legs into pieces.”

    Last week, footage emerged of four Iranian vessels conducting a “high speed intercept” of American warship USS Nitze near the Persian Gulf.

    The US has a huge naval base in Bahrain and their presence in the region is a source of tension between Washington and Iran.

    The latest video seems to be inspired by a 1988 incident involving Iran Air Flight 655 which was accidentally shot down by the US military killing 290 people.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1709199/iran-sinks-american-navy-fleet-with-huge-tidal-wave-weapon-in-isis-style-propaganda-video-showing-slaying-of-great-satan/

    • dream on scummers .. You will never see It
      when it happens. It will come from above & below.
      And you no longer will be anywhere ..

  12. ISIS slice ‘nine youths in half with CHAINSAW’ in brutal public execution
    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/isis-slice-nine-youths-half-8747418?

    “Bloodthirsty Islamic State executioners have sliced nine youths in half with a chainsaw in a gruesome public execution, it has been claimed.

    The youngsters, thought to be in their teens, were accused of belonging to an anti-resistance faction, sources in Mosul reported.

    An ISIS sharia court reportedly stated that they should be tied to an iron pole in the center of Tal Afar Square in Mosul and then sliced in two with an electric chainsaw…”

  13. Armed Clashes Reported between ISIL’s Foreign Commanders (farsnews, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950611000545

    “Infighting between two Tunisian and Moroccan commanders of the ISIL terrorist group in Raqqa province led to armed clashes and took toll.

    Sources in al-Akirshi village in Raqqa reported on Thursday that the ISIL’s Tunisian and Moroccan leaders fired bullets at each other and their comrades in fierce clashes.

    One terrorist was killed and 4 others were wounded in the armed clashes.

    Opposition source confirmed in August that differences between the Ansar (Syrian members of ISIL), and Mohajereen (foreign nationals of the terrorist group) have increased after the Takfiri group’s leadership granted more advantages to Mohajereen and their families in Raqqa…”

  14. Charity watchdog gives Clinton Foundation high marks

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A charity watchdog with an ongoing relationship with the Clinton Foundation gave the former first family’s nonprofit high marks Thursday, after an evaluation prompted by the heightened interest in the organization.

    The Clinton Foundation received four out of four stars — the highest rating that Charity Navigator gives after a close look at a charity’s finances. The rating is based on annual federal tax documents. It was not intended to reflect whether Hillary Clinton kept donors to her family’s foundation at appropriate arm’s length or provided favored access as secretary of state.

    Charity Navigator is a leading and respected organization that evaluates and rates charities so donors can make informed decisions about contributions. It was itself a member of the Clinton Global Initiative between 2012 and 2014. The Clinton group said Charity Navigator committed to spend an estimated $2 million over four years through 2016 to review more charities and provide more detailed information about them in its reviews.

    Charity Navigator also participated in a Clinton Global Initiative program in 2011 with other groups to identify worthy charities for U.S. veterans, journalism integrity and Islamic outreach, but Charity Navigator did not contribute money as part of that effort.

    Charity Navigator’s president, Michael Thatcher, told The Associated Press that the Clinton campaign did not influence the rating.

    The four-star badge comes at a time when the Clinton Foundation is under intense scrutiny about whether Clinton granted donors access at the State Department. An AP analysis found that of 154 people outside government with private interests who met or spoke to Clinton by phone, 85 had contributed either personally or through their organizations to the foundation. The Clinton campaign said Clinton would have met with the donors, anyway, in her role as secretary of state.

    The watchdog had previously rated the Clinton Foundation with four stars in 2007, and in 2012 downgraded it to three stars due to changes in its methodology. Its original four-star rating was based on the foundation’s financial health and performance. In 2012, it also evaluated the charity on accountability and transparency. Charity Navigator requires five independent board members, but the foundation had only three during the 2009 fiscal year, Thatcher said. The downgrade came the same year that Charity Navigator was a member of the Clinton Global Initiative.

    The Clinton Global Initiative waived its membership fees for Charity Navigator, as it does for nonprofits, nongovernment organizations and social entrepreneurs. Charity Navigator treated the $20,000 waiver as an in-kind donation. Thatcher said his group joined Clinton’s to mingle with world leaders and promote its ratings.

    He said the new rating was unrelated to Charity Navigator’s relationship with the foundation. “The numbers speak for themselves,” he said.

    The rating itself is a fixed algorithm, 🙂 🙂 🙂 described in detail on the watchdog’s website. It looks at the financial health of charities and their accountability and transparency. In the Clinton Foundation’s case, it scored 94.74 out of 100. It was dinged on two minor issues, its donor privacy policy and its process for determining the chief executive officer’s salary.

    The Clinton campaign declined to comment on the story, and the foundation could not immediately be reached.

    Charity Navigator currently evaluates 8,351 charities, and most get a three-star rating.

    According to its 2014 consolidated tax report, the Clinton Foundation spends about 12 percent of its budget on running the foundation. Another charity watchdog, Charity Watch, previously gave the Clinton Foundation an “A” rating on a scale of A-F. Charity Watch has no connection to the Clinton Foundation, said its president, Daniel Borochoff. “We don’t want money from charities we rate, because we believe in being an independent charity watchdog,” he said.

    Charity Navigator stopped rating the Clinton Foundation entirely in 2014 because it said changes in the foundation’s business structure were incompatible with the way Charity Navigator calculates its ratings. After what Thatcher described as “unprecedented demand” based on searches for the Clinton Foundation on the watchdog’s website and requests from outside organizations, including news media, Charity Navigator asked the foundation to consolidate its tax forms in a way the watchdog could evaluate it. That led to Thursday’s four-star rating.

    Last year, Charity Navigator placed the foundation on its watchlist, a feature it added in 2014. A charity could have a four-star rating but also be on the watchlist, Thatcher said. In the Clinton Foundation’s case, the group cited multiple concerns, including news reports about the foundation accepting donations from foreign governments. It had voluntarily sworn off that practice while Clinton led the State Department, but the donations started again when she left her post. This became a concern as she was expected to announce her presidential bid. Charity Navigator removed the foundation from its watchlist in December, after the foundation amended its tax returns and clarified its position on foreign donations.

    Two of Trump’s charities are listed as unrated on Charity Navigator’s site because as private foundations they do not meet the watchdog’s criteria for evaluation.

    https://apnews.com/ea32f544c59249d2945da8e05979a5e3/Charity-watchdog-gives-Clinton-Foundation-high-marks

  15. EU-Turkey differences over terror law don’t mean visa deal will fail-Schulz

    – The European Union wants to see changes to Turkey’s anti-terrorism law which it considers too harsh but differences over the issue do not mean a deal to grant Turkish citizens visa-free access to Europe will fail, the European parliament chief said.

    European Parliament President Martin Schulz made the comments in a news conference after talks in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who said Turkey had made it clear it could not ease the anti-terrorism law.

    http://news.trust.org/item/20160901145729-hkt9w

  16. CNN – IG: Pentagon credit cards still being used at strip joints

    Washington (CNN)A year after finding that military personnel were using government credit cards at places such as Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club, the Pentagon’s inspector general said this week that safeguards still haven’t been put in place to protect taxpayer dollars from being used for unauthorized expenses.

    The IG office found last year that from July 2013 to June 2014, Pentagon personnel spent an unauthorized $952,258 at casinos. They dropped another $96,576 at places like Sapphire Gentleman’s Club, which advertises itself as the world’s largest strip club, “featuring 70,000 square feet of topless entertainment.”

    At the time, the IG warned that beyond the abuse of taxpayer dollars, the use of the travel credit cards for personal expenses in gambling houses and strip bars created potential national security vulnerabilities — blackmail is a risk if military personnel take part in sexual impropriety or incur major debt. Government travel card use is intended for official travel expenses only. The IG recommended steps to prevent abuse of the cards in casinos and strip bars in 2015. This week, it said, the Pentagon hadn’t taken those steps and the travel card program remains “vulnerable to continued misuse.”

    The IG also found that:
    — Pentagon management failed to perform reviews and responded inconsistently to cardholders’ improper charges.
    — The Pentagon had less money for legitimate travel expenses as a result.
    — Cardholders weren’t offered assistance for financial concerns or gambling addictions.
    The Defense Department, the IG said, “experienced potential national security vulnerabilities” because it hasn’t dealt adequately with cardholders who may pose security concerns, “including extensive travel card misuse, questionable judgment, the decision not to follow rules and guidance, financial concerns, or gambling addictions,” the report said.

    The IG report reveals some frustration with senior Pentagon officials, too, noting that one of them had seemingly dismissed the IG’s concerns by arguing that misuse in the 2015 report represented only .04% of total travel card spending.

    The IG hit back in this latest report, saying that the 2015 audit didn’t allow their office to assess the total amount of personal use in the travel card program or evaluate its overall strength.
    The Pentagon’s responses, the IG added, “attempt to minimize the potential risks presented by our findings, including the risk of security vulnerabilities by cardholders who misused travel cards.”
    The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The report comes at a time when the Defense Department is already under fire for inadequately screening personnel for behaviors that might pose national security risks.

    Lawmakers are pointing to the Pentagon’s failure to discover that Maj. Gen. David Haight, a senior officer on the front lines of handling tensions with Russia, spent 10 years frequenting swingers clubs, engaging in group sex and carrying on an affair.

    “More needs to be done to detect potential threats to national security secrets,” Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill told CNN about Haight.”Too many cases in recent years have shown gaping holes in the process.”

    The initial problems with military travel cards came to light because the law requires the IG at each Cabinet agency with more than $10 million in travel card spending to periodically review those programs.

    At the time, the IG recommended simple steps to end the use of travel cards for unauthorized expenses, including setting up red flags if military personnel used cards while they weren’t on travel, if they went above per diems or if they had multiple declined authorizations.

    Those steps would have helped officials spot some of the offenders the IG highlighted in its 2015 review. The IG office found a civilian employee at the Defense Logistics Agency had used his card 29 times in two years at Maryland Live! Casino. He made three attempts to withdraw $402 in cash with the card that were denied.

    Another petty officer 1st class in the Navy spent $1,116 during 17 days of work travel at places like Red Parrot Gentlemen’s Club and Dreams Cabaret. His allotted budget for meals and incidentals on that trip was $151.50.

    The IG also said the Pentagon could establish a policy to identify high-risk merchants or categories — a step that would quickly flag a vendor like “Vegas Showgirls,” which showed up in the 2015 investigation. And it could request that Citibank notify management officials of potential fraudulent or suspicious activity on accounts.

    This year, once again, the inspector general called for the Defense Travel Management Office and program managers to improve oversight, toughen internal controls of the program and provide clear, written rules forbidding the use of travel cards at high-risk merchants.

    http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/01/politics/military-credit-cards-strip-clubs-casinos/index.html

  17. Germany: DefMin Von der Leyen launches training scheme for Syrian refugees

    German Minister of Defence Ursula Von der Leyen visited Ingolstadt on Thursday, as Germany started its pilot training programme for Syrian refugees at a location in the area.

    Together with the organisation ‘Helfende Haende’ (Helping Hands) the German army is training 50 Syrian refugees in construction, carpentry and sanitation, for 12 weeks. According to Von der Leyen the programme was not only intended to give refugees a purpose in Germany, but also enables people to return to their home country if the opportunity ever arises. The defence minister said that the majority of refugees wish to go back to Syria and this initiative will “keep the bridge to Syria permanently open [for them].”

    SOT, Ursula von der Leyen, German Minister of Defence (German): “We are here in Ingolstadt, by the pioneers in the education of Syrian refugees. Last year during the refugee crisis the army first of all provided administrative assistance through the ‘Helfende Haende’ (Helping Hands), giving their all. If we take a look at what has been achieved in that year – 2.2 million deployment hours, which the army contributed, we built 51,000 shelters, we gave out more than one million items of foodstuffs, just to name a few numbers, at peak times 9,000 soldiers a day were assisting refugees under Helfende Haende.”

    SOT, Ursula von der Leyen, German Minister of Defence (German): “In principle we know that the majority would like to be able to return to their home country, but in light of the war a vision and perspective are missing. That’s why we have to do everything so they are integrated well here and can earn their livelihood, [and] see a purpose. However I think it is also wise to keep in mind that one day there could be peace again in Syria, and then these people will be desperately needed with these skills. Out of this consideration this initiative was created. Again, I simply asked myself, what can we do to improve the integration of refugees, but also keep the bridge to Syria permanently open.”

  18. DAILY MAIL – COPENHAGEN SHOOTING – Denmark drug raid turns bloody as suspect opens fire on cops

    COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish police on Thursday shot and critically wounded a 25-year-old man accused of shooting two officers and a bystander during a drug raid in a Copenhagen neighborhood known for its independent streak and thriving hashish trade.

    Police identified the suspect as a Danish citizen born in Bosnia-Herzegovina who sympathized with Islamic extremists, though that wasn’t believed to have played any role in the shooting.

    He opened fire late Thursday when plainclothes officers tried to arrest him in Christiania, a drug-rife former squatter colony created in the 1970s when hippies occupied some abandoned navy barracks, police said.

    In a statement, police said he “apparently” has sympathies for the Islamic State group and links to Millatu Ibrahim, a Salafist group that is outlawed in Germany, but “there is currently no evidence that this has influenced the shooting incidents at Christiania.”

    Police spokesman Joergen Skov earlier said the suspect shot one officer in the head, a second in the thigh and a bystander in the leg before escaping. Their conditions were unclear.

    Police tracked down the suspect several hours later 5 kilometers (3 miles) to the south in Kastrup near the airport and shot him early Thursday. He was hospitalized in critical condition.

    Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen called the shooting of police officers “despicable” and “disgusting.”

    The suspect was not able to appear before a pre-trial hearing Thursday but the court decided he should be kept under formal arrest until he is fit enough to face a hearing. He was held on preliminary charges of three murder attempts, organized hashish sale and illegal weapons possession.

    Danish authorities aren’t as forgiving as they once were toward Christiania’s hashish trade, valued at an estimated at 1 billion kroner ($150 million) a year. But while police regularly conduct raids in the area, shootouts with suspects are rare.

    “An incident like this gives reason for contemplation,” Skov said. “Have things become so rough now that this is what we face when our colleagues do their job?”

    In February 2015 police shot and killed a 22-year-old gunman who had opened fire at a free speech seminar and a synagogue in Copenhagen, killing two people and wounding five police officers.

    Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3768493/2-police-bystander-suspect-wounded-Copenhagen-shootout.html

  19. He definitely wanted to die’: Passenger on Edmonton-bound flight describes incident

    There were tense moments for passengers and crew on an overnight Edmonton-bound Westjet flight that ended with one man in handcuffs, a passenger who helped the crew subdue the unruly passenger told CTV News what he saw.

    Steven Kelly told CTV News he was sitting four rows back from the cockpit of the Boeing 737 when a man wearing a backpack walked from the back of the plane, to the front, twice during the last half of the four hour flight.

    “He definitely wanted to get out of that plane, he definitely wanted to die,” Kelly said.

    Kelly said the man approached the flight attendant each time, and asked to get off the plane while it was still in the air.

    “When he came up the second time, I knew right away that there was something, that something was going to happen,” Kelly said.

    More than one hundred people were on board the plane at the time, Kelly said the flight attendant asked for help, and he and some other passengers stepped in – Kelly said he helped physically subdue the passenger.

    “We ziptied him, and they brought him to the back of the plane where they held him for about a half hour or so until we landed,” Kelly said.

    RCMP said Wednesday that a 20-year-old man was arrested early that morning, after causing a disturbance on a flight. The individual was taken into custody without incident once the plane landed. Police are investigating.

    According to Kelly, another passenger said the man had spent the first three hours of the flight praying, but it wasn’t clear exactly what his motivation was.

    “The entire time he was calling us ‘non-believers’, and if there were any believers on board, to kill him,” Kelly said.

    “I don’t honestly know if he was trying to open the door, he definitely was moving towards the door, he was only a few feet away from it.”

    Westjet declined an interview with CTV News Wednesday, but a spokesperson confirmed an incident took place on board a flight “involving an unruly individual who was removed by RCMP at the request of the crew.”

    The airline also confirmed there were no injuries.

    http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/mobile/he-definitely-wanted-to-die-passenger-on-edmonton-bound-flight-describes-incident-1.3053260

    Young man arrested at Edmonton International Airport after ‘disturbance on a flight’

    RCMP said a 20-year-old man was taken into custody early Wednesday morning after allegedly “causing a disturbance on a flight” headed for Edmonton.

    Police said the man was taken into custody without incident after the plane landed safely at the Edmonton International Airport (EIA).

    Mounties said they continue to investigate what happened and that it is too early to say whether charges would be laid but said the man was allegedly “behaving erratically” on the flight.

    An EIA spokesperson confirmed the incident was connected to a WestJet flight but said they could not confirm further details.

    Late Wednesday afternoon, WestJet emailed a statement to Global News regarding the matter.

    “We can confirm that we had an incident on board one of our flights involving an unruly individual who was removed by RCMP at the request of the crew,” the statement said. “There were no injuries and we thank our guests on the flight for their patience while this matter was resolved. Out of respect for the privacy of this individual, we will not be making any further comments.”

    http://globalnews.ca/news/2914826/young-man-arrested-at-edmonton-international-airport-after-disturbance-on-a-flight/

    • This is one reason we need to get back to what the founders intended rather then what leftist Judges want.

    • There isn’t a whole lot that can be added to that although the author did miss the fact that Putins discussions and agreements with Turkey and Israel gave Putin more leverage with Iran. With Turkey to fall back on Iran is of less importance to Putins long range plans. This includes Russia keeping possession of a warm water port in the Med and it possible down at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula. These ports are necessary if Putin is going to become the leader of a Great Power. Both are a disadvantage to the US and Europe but China’s move into the Med places them in competition with Russia and a Russian Port on the Indian Ocean puts it in competition to China. China is the forgotten player in this Game of Thrones and forgetting them is going to prove to be a major mistake in the future.

      • Respect, respect, respect. Superpower status.
        I believe he hates Muslims right down to his toes. How can he hide it, I wonder?

        • He is hiding his feelings in public because he wants Russia to return to super power status, he will do just about anything to achieve this goal including hiding his true feelings towards what he may consider savages. Another reason to hide his true feelings is that he has positioned himself to be the protector of the faith, hiding his feelings allows him to gain some control over their actions.

  20. Christiania shooter is Isis ‘sympathizer’: police

    The 25-year-old man who shot three people in Christiania on Wednesday night has alleged ties to terrorist groups, police said late on Thursday.

    “He apparently has ties to [militant Islamist group] Millatu Ibrahim and sympathies for IS,” police said in a statement, using one of the many names for the Islamic State terrorist group.

    http://www.thelocal.dk/20160901/christiania-shooter-is-isis-sympathizer

    Danish ISIS ‘sympathiser’ is charged with attempted murder after shooting at police on a drug raid in Copenhagen

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3769567/Danish-ISIS-sympathiser-charged-attempted-murder-shooting-police-drug-raid-Copenhagen.html

    A man accused of shooting two officers and a bystander in a drug raid in Copenhagen has been shot and critically injured by police.

    The suspect was a 25-year-old Danish citizen born in Bosnia-Herzegovina who sympathised with Islamic extremists, though that was not believed to have played any role in the shooting

    http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/denmark-drug-raid-turns-bloody-as-suspect-opens-fire-on-police-35014067.html

  21. The Secession of French Muslims

    by Yves Mamou
    September 1, 2016 at 5:30 am

    For many today, French secularism is an anti-human rights ideology, a kind of moral deformity close to racism.

    How can a free country, they ask, even think of doing such a thing as trying to ban a veil or a burkini — the full body covering for women to wear on the beach? How, they ask, can the French Republic call itself free and remain free when many of its citizens would like to rob Muslim women, peacefully obeying their own religion, of the freedom to choose their own clothes?

    The current radicalization in France is not like that of the recent migration of Muslims to other European countries. Muslims have been coming to France in large numbers since the French left Algeria in 1962. The French never made any distinction between the French of “Gaul” and the French of North Africa. The current radicalization is not of those who came then, but of the younger generation — of French Muslims. They were born in France, speak French, were schooled in France — but they are not at ease with the values of France.

    Islamic fundamentalism in France has been imported from the outside — by avenues such as Al Jazeera and Muslim wars in the Middle East. Now, therefore, these young French Muslim citizens have a real wish for secession from the rest of the population — like the wish of the Confederate states for secession from the United States, before and during the U.S. Civil War. These young French Muslims apparently do not want to live in the same country anymore. They seem to want a separate country, or a different country.

    For more than 25 years, the French Republic, right and left, has been trying to disentangle the country from the “Muslim textile problem” (hijab, niqab, burka, burkini and so on). When the problem began back in 1989, the head of Creil College expelled three Muslim girls for wearing the Muslim veil, the hijab. A strong debate followed: pro-veil vs. anti-veil. Same arguments: as usual, tolerance, freedom of choice, and freedom of religion were on one side, secularism and respect for rules on the other side.

    Rules? What rules?

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8793/france-secession-muslims

  22. “Liberal” Turkey Claims Europe Is Racist

    It’s not a bad joke; it’s a very bad joke. Turkey, where all variants of ethnic and religious xenophobia are a national pastime, is accusing the West of being racist.

    Speaking after a spat with Austria and Sweden over news reports and tweets from those countries that accused Turkey of allowing sex with children under the age of 15, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu claimed that the behavior of European countries reflected the “racism, anti-Islamic and anti-Turkish (trend) in Europe.”

    He is talking about the same Europe where the inhabitants of one of its biggest cities, London, recently elected a Muslim as its mayor. In Turkey, not even the smallest village of a few hundred inhabitants has a non-Muslim mayor.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8820/turkey-liberal-racist

  23. Calls for no headscarves in kindergartens in Salzburg (thelocal, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.at/20160901/calls-for-no-headscarves-in-kindergartens-in-salzburg

    “Salzburg’s deputy mayor has called for parents not to send their children to kindergartens wearing headscarves, arguing they could turn young girls into sex objects.

    The suggestion by Deputy Mayor Anja Hagenauer follows weeks of debate over the burqini ban on French beaches, that was suspended last week by the country’s highest administrative court.

    Hagenauer has said a ban on headscarves is not legally possible but says she is making an “urgent recommendation” for parents not to send their daughters to kindergarten wearing headscarves.

    “It is not about banning something religious,” she told the ORF, adding that wearing the headscarf suggests the child “is being looked at by men in a lustful way” and could be seen as a “sexual object”.

    There are around 2,300 children are cared for in the city’s kindergarten facilities, with around a fifth from Muslim families. It is not known how many children in this age bracket actually wear headscarves to kindergarten.

    Hagenauer added that she does not want some four or five-year-old girls being treated differently to others, such as not going into a paddling pool or being able to do sports activities.

    She added that she would also consider a similar initiative for secondary schools in Salzburg…”

  24. ISIS THREAT: Austria reveals almost 300 potential terrorists are now in the country (thelocal, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/706439/ISIS-THREAT-Austria-300-potential-terrorists-Europe-EU

    “HUNDREDS of jihadis are believed to be living in Austria making the country a possible target for the next Islamic State (ISIS) terror attack, it has been revealed.

    The country’s Interior Ministry of Austria admitted they have identified 278 potential jihadists – many of whom have spent time in Iraq or Syria.

    The numbers were revealed by Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka from the conservative Austrian People’s Party after parliamentary questions were asked, according to Austrian daily ‘Die Presse’.

    The majority of the radical Muslims are said to come from the north Caucasus region.

    Estimates total the number of active jihadists in Europe who have previously joined ISIS in Syria or are willing to do so at around 5,000…”

  25. Woman who mocked burka goes into hiding after Muslim thugs offer bounty for her murder (express, Sep 1, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/706410/Lejla-Colak-Muslim-Islam-burka-Bosnia-religion

    “A JOURNALIST has faced a barrage of chilling rape and death threats after criticising the burka – forcing her to go into hiding.

    In a controversial article, Lejla Colak said forcing women to wear the Islamic headscarf was like forcing them to strap a sex toy to their heads.

    Twisted online trolls have launched a sick hate campaign against the Bosnian reporter, offering a cash prize if anyone kills or rapes her.

    One social media user wrote “Are there any volunteers to rape lovely Lejla? I will personally pay for it” while others called for her to be burnt alive.

    In her article, Colak wrote: “To wear a burka, niqab or any other religious sign or mark on your head is the same as wearing a dildo in public.

    “Imagine walking around with a giant dildo and traumatising people.

    “Religion is supposed to represent something that is extremely personal just like an individual sexuality.”

    Ms Colak has since apologised for the wording of the article.

    She said: “I can apologise for the form but not for the content. Yes, religion – all of them – should be a private matter.

    “Everything I have said I mean. Forgive me only for that piece of plastic with which I have hurt the feelings of the public.”

    The reporter went on to say she was saddened that people with “different attitudes” to religion are made to feel “unwelcome” in Bosnia.

    She said: “I accept responsibility for what I wrote – I understand that it’s not liked by opponents, that they will not understand or will get angry.

    “But I wonder whether there are limits, given that the reaction was an invitation to rape and murder.””

  26. State Dept. to give AP all Clinton schedules before election

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has agreed to turn over all the detailed planning schedules from Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state to The Associated Press by mid-October. It is an abrupt reversal from U.S. government lawyers’ warning last week that hundreds of pages would not be released until after the presidential election.

    The minute-by-minute schedules offer a detailed look at Clinton’s daily routine during her four-year tenure as secretary of state between 2009 and 2013.

    The department has so far released about half of her more complete daily schedules. The new agreement announced Thursday was drawn up after government lawyers told the AP last week that the department expected to release the last of the detailed daily schedules around Dec. 30, weeks after the election. The AP objected to that.

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/25b8693ad2cf4a22a0b4865db17d0786/state-dept-give-ap-all-clinton-schedules-election

  27. China’s ‘little green boats’ have Japan on alert
    Read more at http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0916/lake090116.php3#vmZYzEppLJvF7FyU.99

    In early August, Japan’s Coast Guard witnessed an unconventional Chinese assault on its territorial waters. According to Japanese officials I met with last week, at least 300 Chinese “fishing vessels” began incursions into the exclusive economic zone around the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, disputed territory administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan as well.

    Japan has seen similar probing activities for years. But in August, the Chinese escalated. There were far more boats than before, and the Chinese sent armed coast guard vessels to accompany these “fishermen.”

    This may sound fairly benign compared to the shooting wars in Ukraine and Syria. But for Japan, the matter could not be more serious. Its military assesses that many of these sailors are really Chinese irregular militias, similar to the non-uniformed “little green men” that Russia has sent to eastern Ukraine to stir up separatist sentiment. Call them “little green boats.”

    Second, the Chinese maneuvers around what they call the Diaoyu Islands appear to be part of its larger strategy to gain control of the shipping lanes of the East China Sea, similar to its construction of artificial islands in the adjacent South China Sea. Since the naval officer and historian Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote his treatise “The Influence of Sea Power on History” in 1890, the U.S. has considered the defense of free navigation on the high seas to be a pillar of its national security.

    Finally, the Chinese activity near the Senkakus is another example of the rise of ambiguous warfare, where a state uses irregular forces or nonmilitary means to advance its territorial goals. Kunihiko Miyake, president of the Tokyo-based Foreign Policy Institute for Global Studies, told me last week that China was trying to “win the islands without fighting.” He added: “They know if they fought us, this would be a fight with us and the United States. That’s why they will not physically challenge us. They will use fishing boats with their unofficial maritime militias, but they don’t send military vessels yet.”

    Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense who was in my delegation of journalists and policy experts last week in Japan, told me, “What the Chinese military is doing in the South China Sea and the East China Sea resembles in some ways the approach of the Russian military in its incrementalism, in its ambiguity about whether it’s civilian or military, and in its challenge to the international community.”

    Read more at http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0916/lake090116.php3#vmZYzEppLJvF7FyU.99

    Be sure and read the rest of the article

    • Be sure and click over and read the rest of the article.

      The problem with the approach that China is taking is that all it takes is one miscalculation and they are in a shooting war with the US and several nations in the Far East. With the exception of the US (after Trump rebuilds our military) none of the nations can stand up to China on its own, but they won’t be on their own they will be together and together they have a very credible military force, one that stands a good chance against China even if the US isn’t fighting on their side. Russia in the Crimea is facing a greatly weakened NATO and even if the US military is rebuild we would have to pass through the Turkish controlled straits before we could challenge Russia. Plus the probably upraising in Europe when they start pulling their military forces out of Europe to fight in Crimea.

        • They are trying, remember nothing is happening that doesn’t have an impact, often a major impact on other events. I keep saying not to concentrate so much on Europe and the Middle East and ignore the rest of the world. I know at times I make the same mistake.

  28. Gulen movement ‘founded by CIA, like Mormons and Scientology’ – Turkish prosecutor (RT, Sep 1, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/news/357944-gulen-movement-founded-cia/

    “Fethullah Gulen’s movement was founded by the US special services, claims a Turkish prosecutor. Authorities in Ankara have accused the US-based cleric of masterminding the attempted military coup on July 15.

    The Gulen movement has the same structure as the Mormon Church and the Church of Scientology in the United States, Zafer Dur, a prosecutor in the Aegean province of ?zmir who investigated the movement’s financial links, said in the indictment against the cleric, as reported by the Hurriyet Daily News.

    Such similarity could be an indication that it was actually created by the CIA, because the agency established these sects disguised as non-governmental organizations to “make changes to society,” the indictment reads.

    Dur also stressed that the network that the Gulenists built in the fields of education, heath, political, technology and culture resembles these two churches and has the same goals. He pointed out that Gulen, who is only a “primary school graduate” and has lived in the US since 1999, would not be able to create such a large organization that infiltrated various state institutions in Turkey solely through his own efforts.

    “Without international backing, Gulen could not have opened schools in 160 countries,” Dur said, according to the Hurriyet. He also claimed that the members of the Gülen movement worked directly for foreign intelligence services.

    “Investigative journalists have been reporting that [Gulenists] worked as contractors for foreign intelligence services such as the CIA, MI6 and BND and infiltrated into the intelligence services of other countries acting in the name of the services they worked for,” Dur said in his indictment, referring to the US, British and German intelligence services.

    This is not the first time that Turkish officials have accused US intelligence of providing assistance to the Gulen movement. In late July, the Edirne Public Prosecutor’s office issued an indictment, which said that CIA and FBI provided training for the cleric’s followers…”