Reader’s links for September 19 – 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

147 Replies to “Reader’s links for September 19 – 2016”

  1. France’s Le Pen picks burkini-banning mayor as campaign director (france24, Sep 19 2016)
    http://www.france24.com/en/20160919-france-le-pen-campaign-director-burkini-ban-mayor-rachline

    “Far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Saturday named the young politician David Rachline as the director of her presidential campaign, a risky choice who should appeal to party loyalists, while she reaches out to a broader audience.

    Le Pen made the widely expected announcement during a speech to supporters in the Mediterranean city of Fréjus in an event that, by her own account, marked “the start of the mobilization for this presidential campaign”.

    Rachline, 28, has been the mayor of Fréjus since April 2014 and the youngest member of France’s Senate since October of the same year. The leader of the anti-immigration National Front (FN) party described him as “a man who symbolizes youth, work, merit, loyalty and success”, as she made his campaign appointment official.

    He is also a politician with a questionable past and who has stoked controversy since he took over the mayor’s office two years ago. Experts said he represented a crafty, although risky, pick. Rachline could help Le Pen quell divisions within her party and appeal to her core constituents, while she softens her message in the quest for new voters.

    “It may be a careless decision, because David Rachline has a track record for saying extreme things, and Marine Le Pen does not want to scare people and wants to avoid gaffs at all costs,” said Nicolas Lebourg, a political analyst at the left-leaning Fondation Jean Jaurés think tank.

    “Or it may be part of a strategy to counterbalance her softer image, because she still needs to keep the FN’s core voters fired up,” he added…”

  2. Don’t mix Islam and terror, pleads French Muslim woman (thelocal, Sep 19, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.fr/20160919/dont-confuse-islam-and-terror-pleads-french-muslim-woman

    “A young French Muslim woman who lost three family members in the July 14 jihadist attack on Nice made an impassioned plea on Monday not to confuse the Islamic faith with terrorism.

    Yasmine Bouzegan Marzouk, 21, told a national ceremony in tribute to the French victims of terror attacks that they were carried out by “barbarians who do not follow the law, faith or religion”…”

  3. Nine ideas to bring Islam and France closer together (thelocal, Sep 19, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.fr/20160919/nine-ideas-to-bring-islam-and-france-closer-together

    “A French think tank has laid out a series of propositions aimed at making Islam more compatible with France and French Republican values.

    A new Ifop opinion poll based on the results of an unprecedented survey of French Muslims has produced some interesting results.

    While it revealed that the vast majority of French Muslims accept the country’s Republican values, some 30 percent were in “revolt” against the secular values.

    Based on the poll’s results the Institute Montaigne, a liberal think tank, has drawn some conclusions about what could and should be done to help create a “French Islam”.

    The question of whether Islam is compatible with French values has long been a hot button issue in France but even more so after a string of terror attacks and the divisive row about the burkini.

    “Islam of France must become French. Today it is not,” reads the report by the think tank, which aims to develop policy in the areas of social cohesion.

    Here are the suggestions for how it can be done. Many of them will be controversial to France’s supporters of secularism. (Click here to read the full report in French)

    1. Teach classic Arabic to pupils in French public schools.

    The idea of this proposition would be to lessen the attractiveness of Arabic courses that are offered in mosques or private and often unregulated Koranic schools. The Ifop survey suggested many Muslims in France want their children to learn Arabic and by teaching it in schools it would help break the notion that Arabic has become an “identity language” of young radicals, the think tank argues.

    If the language is taught in public schools it would also help to disassociate it from religion and help it be seen just a second language that thousands of pupils could learn to help boost their job prospects, the Institute says.

    2. Elect a “grand Imam” of France

    The imam would have to be French and would lead the way in developing a French Islam that is compatible with Republican values of liberty, equality, fraternity and of course secularism. He would speak “for the silent majority who are integrated in Republican France and who are the first victims of Islamists and religious radicals”.

    3. Create a junior ministry for religious affairs and secularism

    This would be placed under the stewardship of the French Prime Minister and would essentially be aimed at improving relations between the government and local authorities in France and religious groups. It would make sure the 1905 law around the separation of church and state is upheld but also be in charge of handing out visas to foreign imams and checking on religious organisations.

    4. Create a national school for chaplains

    The school would be in charge of training and recruiting chaplains that work for the state. This would mean the training and nomination of chaplains, who represent different religions in places like hospitals and prisons, will not be carried out by religious groups, but by the state.

    5. Create more areas for Muslims to be buried in public cemeteries

    The Institute Montaigne recognizes that whilst most Muslims choose to be buried in their country of origin, many more are choosing to be buried in France. The problem is cemeteries in France do not have the capacity and do not have the legal means to expand their Muslim areas.

    More Muslim areas in cemeteries allow people to be buried in France, which the think tank says represents a symbolic attachment between them and France and is a sign of integration.

    6. Extend the concordat in eastern France to include Islam

    France’s strict law of secularism dating from 1905, doesn’t actually cover all of the country, because at the time Alsace-Lorraine in the east was actually a territory of Germany.

    And in this territory there is still a concordat that gives official status to certain religions – Christianity – Catholic, Lutheran and Reformist as well as the Jewish religion.

    This means religious lessons are taught in schools, although they are optional and ministers in each religion receive a salary from the government. This should now be extended to cover Islam says the Institute Montaigne, so it can benefit from official state financing in this region.

    7. Tax on halal products to help finance a “French Islam”

    If the government allows the financing of Islam, meaning construction of mosques, salaries and training of imams through a tax on halal consumption, it would help “French Islam adopt a theological line compatible with French society” and break with the “more hardline discourse put forward by other states.”

    8. Boost knowledge of Islam by taking statistics

    In a bid to improve knowledge of the Muslim faith in France the institute says the government must drop its reluctance to take statistics based on religion, which is currently forbidden by law. This simply prevents useful information from being built up on the country’s followers of Islam.

    9. A schoolbook linking two sides of Mediterranean

    A text book that could be used in schools that incorporates the roles of Italy, Spain, France Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia would help show the positive cultural and religious links between the two sides of the Mediterranean.”

  4. Bishops condemn remark by Bavaria’s Scheuer (DW, Sep 19, 2016)
    http://www.dw.com/en/bishops-condemn-remark-by-bavarias-scheuer/a-19562363

    “An anti-migrant, anti-clerical remark by a top Bavarian politician has outraged German church leaders. Catholic and Protestant heads say they are shocked and accuse Andreas Scheuer of aiding far-right populists.

    German church leaders on Monday denounced the remark about refugees made by Scheuer, the general secretary of Bavaria’s governing Christian Social Union (CSU), to a journalists’ club in Regensburg last Thursday.

    “The worst is a football-playing altar-serving Senegalese. He has been here for three years – as an economic refugee – we can’t get rid of him,” Scheuer told the club while claiming that rejected asylum applicants were difficult to deport because of lengthy legalities.

    Scheuer (pictured above, right) is the executive top aide to Bavarian premier and CSU chairman Horst Seehofer (pictured left), who since last year has rejected the liberal refugee policies of his erstwhile Christian Democratic (CDU) partner, Chancellor Angela Merkel.
    Cardinal Marx ‘incensed’

    Cardinal Reinhard Marx, whose church province includes Regensburg said he was “horrified and incensed” by Scheuer’s remark…”

  5. Syrian hurls kids out window ‘because wife wants freedom’ (thelocal, Sep 19, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.de/20160919/syrian-hurls-kids-out-window-because-wife-wants-freedom

    “The trial begins in Bonn this week of a Syrian man who threw his three children from a first-floor window, allegedly because he disliked his wife’s desire to enjoy the same freedoms as German women.

    The 36-year-old refugee is suspected of attempted murder after hurling the children out the window of the asylum centre where the family lived.

    His seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son suffered broken bones and skull fractures in the fall. His one-year-old daughter landed on her brother and escaped the potentially deadly fall with bruises and a liver contusion.

    Prosecutors say the suspect has admitted to throwing his children out the window of the asylum accommodation, formerly a Chinese restaurant, in Lohmar.

    According to the indictment, the crime stemmed from the 36-year-old’s frustration with his wife, who “in Germany no longer wished to accept the roles they had at home, and did not want to put up with everything he wanted any more.”

    He rejected his wife’s desire for greater freedom and in January was issued with a ten-day barring order after attacking her. A few days later, she let him move back in.

    But on February 1st, the same day he targeted his children, the couple quarrelled again and the 36-year-old struck his wife in the face with a saucepan, an attack classified in the indictment as bodily harm.

    The defendant left Syria alone in 2014, travelling through Turkey, Bulgaria and France before arriving last year in Germany, where his family joined him.

    Crimes committed by refugees have remained a political hot potato in Germany ever since a spate of sex attacks in Cologne on New Year’s Eve made international headlines.

    Figures show that the number of crimes committed by asylum seekers has plummeted in recent months, but the anti-immigrant AfD is continuing to make major gains across Germany amid worries over a surge in refugee arrivals last year.”

  6. Rape victim stabs Syrian asylum seeker (thelocal, Sep 19, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.at/20160919/rape-victim-stabs-syrian-asylum-seeker

    “A 45-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker has been arrested for attempted murder in Vienna after stabbing a 27-year-old Syrian man who he claims drugged and raped him.

    Police are now investigating whether the Moroccan was raped on Sunday in the Ottakring district, as he claims, and if the Syrian man was involved.

    The Moroccan is in police custody and the 27-year-old Syrian is in hospital, where he’s being treated for serious injuries.

    Both men are asylum seekers who live in accommodation in the Favoriten area. Originally, the 45-year-old told the authorities he was 35 years old and came from Syria. Police spokesman Thomas Keiblinger said it was likely he had lied as he thought he’d have a better chance at being granted asylum if he was believed to be from war-torn Syria.

    Keiblinger said the man had refused to go into much detail about his rape ordeal, saying he would save his story for the judge…”

  7. Saudis say 17 held after ‘IS group plot’ foiled (ahram, Sep 19, 2016)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/244233/World/Region/Saudis-say–held-after-IS-group-plot-foiled.aspx

    “Saudi Arabia said Monday it has smashed three cells linked to the Islamic State group which planned to attack military facilities and other targets and has also detained 17 suspects.
    The interior ministry said 16 men and one woman were arrested. They were mostly Saudis but also included one Yemeni, an Egyptian and a Palestinian.

    They are the latest arrests connected with the Sunni extremist group in Saudi Arabia.

    Since late 2014, IS has claimed a series of bombings and shootings targeting Shia in the Sunni-majority kingdom, as well as the security forces.

    Dozens of people have been killed, largely in Eastern Province, which is home to most of the country’s Shiites.

    “Months-long efforts culminated in the foiling of a terrorist plot that was to be carried out by a network made up of three cluster cells connected to IS,” the ministry said in a statement to the official Saudi Press Agency.

    “They targeted security officials and security, economic and military establishments and citizens in different locations.””

  8. Turkey demands UN investigation of YPG (hurriyet, Sep 19, 2016)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-demands-un-investigation-of-ypg-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104039&NewsCatID=359

    “Turkey on Sept. 19 called on the U.N. to investigate serious human right violations allegedly committed in Syria by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the armed branch of the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD).

    “Daesh [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – ISIL] constitutes an enormous threat to the region and beyond. Terror is our common enemy, and Turkey’s determination to fight terrorism remains firm. We also would like to draw attention to serious human right violations committed by the YPG, which deserve a more detailed and separate investigation,” Turkey’s ambassador to the United Nations office in Geneva, Mehmet Ferden Çar?kç?, told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

    “YPG acts such as trying to change demographics and kidnapping local Kurdish politicians may lead to Syria falling apart,” he warned.

    Turkey designates the PYD and YPG as terror organizations as it regards them as offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkey and the U.S. are at odds over the PYD and YPG, as the U.S. sees them as a reliable partner in the fight against ISIL.”

  9. Next anti-ISIL target is al-Bab, says Erdo?an (hurriyet, Sep 19, 2016)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/next-anti-isil-target-is-al-bab-says-erdogan.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104004&NewsCatID=352

    “The next target within the scope of the anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) operation, which Turkey launched around one month ago, is Syria’s al-Bab, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said on Sept. 19.

    “Jarablus has been finished [cleansed of ISIL militants]. Are the residents [of Jarablus] turning back in joy? They are. Likewise, al-Rai has been also cleansed. Now we are going down as far as al-Bab,” said Erdo?an Sept. 19 in Istanbul before his departure for New York, where he will give a speech at the 71st General Assembly of the United Nations.

    “’But why are you going down there?’ That is the question now. We need to rid these places from being a threat to us,” he added.

    The ISIL bastion of al-Bab is 30 kilometers (18 miles) from al-Rai on the Turkish border and in the battleground province of Aleppo…”

  10. Syria: Anti-government forces Homs evacuation halted

    A scheduled evacuation of several hundred members of Syrian anti-government groups, from Homs, was postponed on Monday. The postponement is considered to have been caused by the recent breach of the country’s ceasefire by US-led airstrikes on Syrian Army Forces.

    • SYRIA – Homs evacuation delayed, but governor vows to press on

      A planned evacuation of several hundred Syrian rebels from the last opposition foothold in Homs city was delayed until Tuesday, the Homs governor said, vowing to press ahead despite opposition warnings it will sink a truce.

      The district of al-Waer in Homs, home to 60,000 people, is besieged by the government, which has been seeking to conclude local agreements with rebels to win back full control of strategic areas in western Syria.

      Homs Governor Talal Barazi said the delay in evacuating the fighters from the al-Waer district was due to “logistical obstacles”, but he was confident it would go ahead successfully.

      “This is the fifth time that fighters and their families are evacuated from Homs,” Barazi told journalists in the city. “All previous evacuations were successful, and this one will be too.”

      He said on Sunday that between 250 to 300 fighters were due to leave Waer on Monday. Fighters from Waer have previously been given safe passage to the insurgent-dominated province of Idlib in northwestern Syria.

      Rebel groups however say the plan is part of a government strategy of forcibly displacing people from areas after years of siege and bombardment. In a statement on Sunday, they said the government would have “clearly ended its commitment to any proposed truce” if anyone was evacuated from Waer.

      A truce brokered by the United States and Russia came into effect in Syria on Sept. 12, though both the combatants have accused each other of numerous violations.

      Explaining the obstacles that led to the delay, Barazi said earth berms and concrete barricades need to be removed from the route to ensure the rebels reach their final destination. He said this could be Idlib province or the border with Turkey.

      The Syrian army has provided all appropriate conditions for the convoy’s safe passage, he added. “I don’t think there are big obstacles,” Barazi said. “God willing, tomorrow will be a suitable day to resume this operation.”

      http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-homs-idUSKCN11P0VO
      ===================================
      Rebels warn govt against evacuation of Homs district

      BEIRUT Syrian rebels said on Sunday that any evacuation of people from the last opposition-held district of Homs city would amount to the government ending its commitment to a truce, after the state announced that such an evacuation was set for Monday.”If any person is evacuated from al-Waer (district) or any other besieged district in Syria … the regime will have clearly ended its commitment to any proposed truce, and all the revolutionary factions will continue in their legitimate right to fight it,” said the statement.

      http://www.qatar-tribune.com/news-details/id/24155

    • Bomber asked House Dem to bring his Pakistani wife to U.S.

      The suspect in the weekend bombing attack in New York asked his congressman in 2014 for help with his wife’s emigration to the United States in 2014, the lawmaker revealed Monday.

      “[Ahmad Khan] Rahami contacted my office in the year 2014 because he wanted his wife to come from Pakistan,” Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., said on MSNBC. “At the time she was pregnant and Pakistan, they told her she could not come over until she had the baby, because she had to get a visa for the baby.”

      Sires’ congressional district includes the town of Elizabeth, one of the neighborhoods in which Rahami allegedly placed pipe bombs. Police also believe he is responsible for placing explosives in two locations in New York City, including one that detonated and injured 29 people.

      Five members of Rahami’s family were arrested Sunday night, but they were released without being charged. Sires couldn’t say for certain if Rahami’s wife ever made it to the country.

      “I assume she did,” he said. “[Rahami] was kind of nasty, too.”

      http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/bomber-asked-house-dem-to-bring-his-pakistani-wife-to-u.s./article/2602237

  11. DHS Admits “Mistakenly” Granting Citizenship To 858 Immigrants From “Countries Of Concern To National Security”

    Just days after the Obama administration leaked plans to admit 57% more refugees in 2017 compared to 2015, the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General, John Roth, released a memo highlighting how the U.S. government mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants from “countries of concern to national security” who had pending deportation orders from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    The report does not identify any of the immigrants by name, but, according to the Associated Press, Inspector General John Roth’s auditors said they were all from “special interest countries” — those that present a national security concern for the United States — or neighboring countries with high rates of immigration fraud.
    Per the DHS release:

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted U.S. citizenship to at least 858 individuals ordered deported or removed under another identity when, during the naturalization process, their digital fingerprint records were not available.

    In July 2014, OPS provided the Office of Inspector General (OIG) with the names of individuals it had identified as coming from special interest countries or neighboring countries with high rates of immigration fraud, had final deportation orders under another identity, and had become naturalized U.S. citizens. OIG’s review of the list of names revealed some were duplicates, which resulted in a final number of 1,029 individuals. Of the 1,029 individuals reported, 858 did not have a digital fingerprint record available in the DHS fingerprint repository at the time U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was reviewing and adjudicating their applications for U.S. citizenship.

    What’s worse, the Homeland Security investigation found that at least a couple of these naturalized citizens obtained “sensitive” positions after being granted citizenship. One person was found to be working in law enforcement while 3 others received security clearance to access secure areas of commercial airports and maritime facilities
    .
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-19/dhs-says-us-accidentally-granted-citizenship-858-immigrants-countries-concern-nation
    (worth reading all of it)

  12. The following is a list of the 45 things that had to be done before the communists could take over the United States, and the 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto.

    We Were Warned in 1963: Has Communist Ideology Overtaken America?
    Posted on February 1, 2013 by Dean Garrison

    Has Communist Ideology Overtaken America? Education is crucial. Today I want to share two very interesting lists with you, and sickleflagrather than adding an extensive amount of my commentary, I want to give you the chance to examine the facts for yourself. It is my opinion that many communist goals have already been accomplished. I also believe that advancement has been made in other areas. But, you owe it to yourself to do your own research. I believe not only in the freedom of speech, but also in the responsibility of free thought. So please don’t take my word for it. Examine the facts for yourself.

    Again, I want to share two lists with you. The first is a list that was entered into 1963 Congressional Record. The second is the 10 planks of The Communist Manifesto.

    If you can’t see this happening in America, and a ton of progress being made, then I offer two potential explanations:

    http://www.dcclothesline.com/2013/02/01/we-were-warned-in-1963-has-communist-ideology-overtaken-america/