Reader’s links for October 7 – 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

92 Replies to “Reader’s links for October 7 – 2016”

  1. France: Hollande slams Brexit and supports ‘next female president’ of US

    French President Francois Hollande insisted that the European Union (EU) needs to be firm with Great Britain since the government has decided on a ‘Hard Brexit,’ during a press conference in Paris, Thursday.

    SOT, Francois Hollande, French President (French): “We are living the crisis of the foundation of Europe. With the departure of one country, with deep divisions at the centre of the union, with differences which have become deeper, with the return of nationalism, the rise in populism, it’s not just another crisis, it’s the crisis.”

    SOT, Francois Hollande, French President (French): “And you [Great Britain] are today, after all this common work, all this effort we made to understand each other better, you’re ready to leave? You are ready to renounce concessions and compromises made within the Union? I think David Cameron thought he was going to win his referendum. It happened to us too, to have this hope. But, beyond the choice of holding or not holding a referendum, it’s the answer of the people that needs to be looked at for what it is. What was it gambled on in the United Kingdom? It was essentially on immigration, not on whether it was beneficial or not for Great Britain to stay in the union.”

    SOT, Francois Hollande, French President (French): “So we have to say to these European countries and I will not stop, that if they don’t defend themselves, they won’t be defended anymore. No matter who wins the American Presidential elections. Even if we hope for one more than the other without taking sides. But there is not really a choice. But besides, that, whoever will be the next [female] president elected in November, the USA do not share the same vision of protection, even if they are allies.”

    SOT, Francois Hollande, French President (French): “Today Great Britain wants to leave, but not have to pay anything. That is not possible. I have a lot of friendship for the United Kingdom. I do know what the British were capable of doing during tragic times in the history of France and of Europe. We are also tied by geographic proximity, economic ties, cultural ties and by population. But at the same time, it does not serve the interest of Europe or Great Britain to remain in ambiguity.”

    • “It was essentially on immigration, not on whether it was beneficial or not for Great Britain to stay in the union.”

      These luvies don’t get it. It their stink that is far greater than the unwashed.

      • Incidentally, to demonstrate what this “socialist” President thinks of the “population”:

        In her tell-all book, his last mistress, told the world that, in the intimacy of their parlour he talked about the ordinary folk as “les sans-dents” (the toothless). Dentistry is indeed not affordable for the less fortunate French and that was the best vengeance I have ever seen a woman scorned reak. His “sans-dents” did not like it at all and he quickly experienced, that they may have some teeth missing, but they still got their tongues. The fall-out was delicious 🙂

  2. Every third European bank is threatening by the downfall

    The IMF draws a gloomy picture of Europe’s banks. Many are too weak to make sustainable profits.
    A third of the European banking system with a volume of $ 8.5 trillion is affected.
    Deutsche Bank faces the challenge of convincing investors that it is capable of surviving.

    European policy gets a new crisis. A problem that not only weakens the economic upturn but can quickly become an acute economic problem for the continent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) declares one third of European banks to be non-viable.
    This warning is extremely unpleasant for the governments in Brussels, Berlin and Paris. They really prefer to endure the smoldering banking crisis. Even in the summer, the bank stress test was interpreted as a sign that the money bureaus in Europe were well-ordered. Even the crisis of the Italian institutes was checked off.
    But now the IMF is beating an alarm. And if such a powerful institution calls such risks, policy can no longer stand still. For already in recent weeks the turmoil around Deutsche Bank had disturbed the seemingly deceptive calm. But at the time, the French or Italians were still able to dismiss this as a special German problem. This is no longer possible with the publication of the IMF report.
    40,000 jobs are in the offing
    The economists do not say that tomorrow a banking crisis will break through Europe. But they explain that the banking landscape, as it exists today, can no longer exist. Even if the European economy continues to recover and the money builders are doing better, 30 percent of the institutes will not make enough money to survive. A further 26 per cent of banks will have trouble working in the future to be sufficiently profitable.
    The fact that the policy is well advised to listen to the economists now makes the sums clear now. According to the IMF, a total volume of EUR 7.6 trillion is at stake. This is more than the gross domestic product of Germany, France and Italy.
    How painful the decline of the European banking sector is already is shown by the personal plans of the houses. Nearly every institute intends to reduce further jobs in the coming years. According to data from the data provider Bloomberg, almost 40,000 digits are in front. Weak earnings, negative interest rates and stricter regulations are weighing on the profits of the financial groups……….
    (google translate)
    https://www.welt.de/finanzen/article158552975/Jeder-dritten-europaeischen-Bank-droht-der-Untergang.html

      • They currently own around 16% and are talking about increasing that to 25%, when the Bank crashes they will be able to buy it cheap but if they are smart they won’t want to buy at that time.

    • This problem has been caused by the Keynesian economists that are running all of the worlds central banks, The big problem isn’t banks that fail the stress tests and everyone knows will fail it is the banks that barely pass the stress test. When banks start failing these are the ones that may or may not fail, these are the ones that catch the “infection” and collapse. These banks are not just in Europe but are spread around the world and once Europe starts crashing the disaster will spread. Think back to the 08 crash and the way it spread or for that matter the crash in 29 that is blamed for the Great Depression. In reality the Keynesian/Socialist programs that both parties used to try and end the depression that led to the long nasty depression.

      This economic problem is another reason it is vital that Trump is elected, he will do the things that will cause any crash to be lessened. Cut taxes, cut regulations and if possible cut non military and police government jobs. Get the government out of the way and let the private sector grow the economy. The socialists that are running the world will refuse to do this.

      • The plan on both sides of ‘the Pond’ has been to so overstress our government systems financially so as to bankrupt them and thus bring down Western civilization. It is not an accident, but a very carefully laid out and executed plan.

        • You got that right and the worlds economy is about to collapse, the problem for the left is that too many people haven’t bought into their religion and will fight tooth and nail to ensure that the new governments/nations don’t use leftist economic policies. The lefts continued struggle to create a one world socialist government and culture is one of the reasons this war is going to last a long time.

    • It has been since the early part of the 20th Century, they can’t really compete in the arena of ideas so they have to shut up their critics.

  3. ISIS RECRUIT ‘SERIAL KILLERS’ ISIS to send wannabe ‘serial killers’ to the West in bloody new terror tactic

    SICK ISIS leaders have hatched diabolical plans to recruit wannabe ‘serial killers’ to terrorise innocents in the West.

    The hate group is now urging extremists living in Europe and the US to carry out frequent and random knife attacks in cities, towns and villages.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1929676/isis-to-send-wannabe-serial-killers-to-the-west-in-bloody-new-terror-tactic/

  4. Pound struggles to recover after plunging 6% in 2 minutes

    Algorithmic traders blamed for spurring sudden drop during thin Asian trading

    The British pound suffered a sudden fall of more than 6 per cent against the US dollar early on Friday before recovering most of its losses, amid mounting concerns over the UK’s exit from the EU.

    Shortly after currency markets opened in Asia on Friday, the pound lost as much as 6.1 per cent to $1.1841 in two minutes. The shortlived drop sparked speculation that it could have been triggered by a mistaken “fat finger” trade or a rogue automated algorithm, exacerbated by thinner liquidity during early Asian hours.

    It was the currency’s lowest level since May 1985 and the biggest intraday drop against the dollar since its 11.1 per cent plunge on June 24 in the wake of the UK’s vote to leave the EU.

    https://www.ft.com/content/dfb375be-8c23-11e6-8cb7-e7ada1d123b1

  5. Satellite images show activity at North Korea nuclear test site: report

    SEOUL (Reuters) – An increase in activity at North Korea’s nuclear test site could signal preparations for a new test or a collection of data from its last one, a U.S.-based monitoring group said on Friday, citing satellite images.

    The 38 North group, run by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, said there was activity at all three tunnel complexes at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site involving a large vehicle and personnel.

    “One possible reason for this activity is to collect data on the Sept. 9 test although other purposes cannot be ruled out, such as sealing the portal or other preparations related to a new test,” the group said, referring to the last nuclear test.

    The North is believed to be ready for another nuclear test at any time and there has been speculation it could mark the Oct. 10 anniversary of the founding of its Workers’ Party with another underground detonation.

    http://www.oann.com/satellite-images-show-activity-at-north-korea-nuclear-test-site-report/

  6. Special Report: In Duterte’s war on drugs, local residents help draw up hit lists

    MANILA (Reuters) – There are two versions of how Manila pedicab driver Neptali Celestino died.

    According to Philippines police, he shot at plainclothes officers during a sting operation on Sept. 12, and they returned fire. His family says police burst into their ramshackle home, cornered an unarmed Celestino and shot him in front of his teenage sons.

    Whatever the case, Celestino’s days seem to have been numbered. His name had appeared on a police “watch list” of drug suspects drawn up with the help of community leaders and other people who lived alongside him in Palatiw, a frenetic, traffic-choked area on the eastern side of the nation’s capital.

    The local officials who help cops draw up these lists are foot soldiers in a war on drugs that has led to the killing of more than 3,600 people since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30.

    Most of the 1,377 people shot by the police had appeared on the lists, according to national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa. It was unclear how many of the remaining 2,275 victims, who human rights activists suspect were mostly killed by vigilantes, were on the lists.

    http://www.oann.com/special-report-in-dutertes-war-on-drugs-local-residents-help-draw-up-hit-lists/

  7. Pentagon watchdog cites ex-aide to defense secretary for misconduct

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former top military aide to U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter used his government credit card to pay bills at night clubs, lied about it and behaved inappropriately with female subordinates, the Pentagon watchdog said on Thursday.

    In a written response to the watchdog’s report, former aide Army Major General Ron Lewis disagreed with its conclusions and disputed some of the facts, but said he was aware of “mistakes, errors in judgment, and perceptions” he may have created.

    Carter fired Lewis in November after learning of allegations of misconduct, a move that effectively demoted him as well. In a statement on Thursday, Carter said the Army would decide on any additional punitive action.

    Military aides serve an important function for their civilian bosses, joining them on official trips and advising on military issues.

    But the report described a pattern of questionable behavior by Lewis.

    http://www.oann.com/pentagon-watchdog-cites-ex-aide-to-defense-secretary-for-misconduct/

  8. Hillary plants child actress in audience at town hall event to ask scripted question

    The deception on the part of Team Hillary is being amped up by the minute, it seems. The Clinton campaign actually had the gall to plant a teen actor in the audience at a town hall event in Haverford, Pa. Tuesday night to ask a scripted question.

    You’d think if nothing else they’d have had the kid use an assumed name. Then again, since she’s in known in the community, the campaign probably decided to gamble and just let the girl use her actual name and hope viewers at home would be none the wiser.

    Here’s the Q, followed by Clinton’s equally spot-on A:

    Hi, Madam Secretary. I’m Brennan and I’m 15 years old. At my school body image is a really big issue for girls my age. I see with my own eyes the damage Donald Trump does when he talks about women and how they look. As the first female president how would you undo some of that damage and help girls understand that they are so much more than just what they look like?

    Notice how artfully the question writer — er, make that Brennan — worked in the name Donald Trump and the words women, looks, and female president.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/10/06/hillary-plants-child-actress-audience-town-hall-event-ask-scripted-question/

  9. Deutsche Polizei: “Sie lachen über unsere Justiz”

    Der Vorsitzende der deutschen Polizeigewerkschaft, Rainer Wendt, hat sich besorgt über die steigende Zahl straffälliger Flüchtlinge gezeigt. Konkret spricht er von “nordafrikanischen Intensivtätern”, die insbesondere rund um Bahnhöfe ihr Unwesen treiben. Wendt prangerte insbesondere fehlende Abschiebungen der Täter an: “Sie verachten unser Land und lachen über unsere Justiz.” Wenn die Politik nicht die Voraussetzungen schaffe, “damit dauerhafte Intensivtäter wieder abgeschoben werden können, und die Justiz sich ebenso verweigert, wird die Polizei dieses Problem nicht lösen”.

    Laut Wendt tue die Polizei “alles, was sie tun kann”, und zwar “unter Inkaufnahme eines hohen Einsatzrisikos für die Kräfte, denn der bekannte Täterkreis zeigt sich bei Festnahmen häufig ausgesprochen gewaltbereit”. Doch ende das erfolgreiche Vorgehen bei der Justiz: “Wenn keine Untersuchungshaft angeordnet wird, keine Haftstrafen verhängt werden und keinerlei Abschiebungen erfolgen, kann die Polizei so viele Festnahmen durchführen, wie sie will, die Täter bleiben unbehelligt”, sagte Wendt am Mittwoch gegenüber dem Magazin “Frankfurter Allgemeine Woche”.
    “2244 nordafrikanische Intensivtäter alleine in Düsseldorf”

    Wendt verwies auf den “Casablanca- Bericht” des Bundeskriminalamts, der die Szene rund um den Düsseldorfer Bahnhof dokumentierte und in dem von 2244 nordafrikanischen Intensivtätern die Rede ist. In anderen deutschen Städten gebe es ähnlich hohe Zahlen. Laut Wendt habe die vorhandene Szene durch die Flüchtlingsströme aus dem afrikanischen Raum “natürlich reichlich Verstärkung” bekommen.

    “Abschiebeverhinderungsindustrie in Deutschland”

    Bereits Ende September hatte Wendt in der “Bild” kritisiert, dass es in Deutschland eine “regelrechte Abschiebeverhinderungsindustrie” gebe. Er warf “Anwälten und Organisationen wie Pro Asyl” vor, die rechtmäßige Rückführung abgelehnter Asylwerber “systematisch” zu verhindern.

    Die Bundesregierung hatte Ende September mitgeteilt, dass sich mit Stichtag 30. Juni 2016 in Deutschland 549.209 abgelehnte Asylwerber aufhielten. Fast drei Viertel von ihnen lebten bereits seit mehr als sechs Jahren in Deutschland. Kurios: Knapp die Hälfte der abgelehnten Asylwerber hatte ein unbefristetes Aufenthaltsrecht. Dass Asylwerber trotz eines abgelehnten Antrags nicht abgeschoben werden, kann eine Reihe von Gründen haben. Häufig werden die Flüchtlinge von ihrem Herkunftsland nicht mehr zurückgenommen. Ein Abschiebungshindernis liegt auch vor, wenn ein Flüchtling keine Papiere besitzt. Zudem können gesundheitliche Probleme der Grund für einen Verbleib in Deutschland sein.
    Entwicklungsminister warnt vor massiver Zuwanderung aus Afrika

    Wie Wendt warnt auch der deutsche Entwicklungsminister Gerd Müller (CSU) vor einer massiven Zunahme der Zuwanderung aus Afrika. Die Hilfen für den Kontinent müssten seiner Auffassung nach daher deutlich ausgebaut werden. “Der Migrationsdruck wird in den nächsten Jahren dramatisch zunehmen, wenn wir es nicht schaffen, wirtschaftliche Perspektiven in den afrikanischen Ländern zu schaffen”, sagte er am Donnerstag in einem Reuters- Interview. “Es muss uns klar sein, dass Afrika unser Partnerkontinent ist – was dort geschieht, hat unmittelbare Auswirkungen auf Europa.”

    Müller verwies darauf, dass sich die Bevölkerung Afrikas in den kommenden 30 Jahren auf mehr als zwei Milliarden Menschen verdoppeln werde. Deshalb seien mehr Hilfe und Investitionen privater Unternehmen nötig, um Hunderte Millionen Jobs zu schaffen. Deutschland wolle etwa mit Innovationszentren im Bereich Ernährung, Ausbildungspartnerschaften sowie Ausbau der Solarenergie helfen. Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel werde am Wochenende zu einer Afrika- Reise aufbrechen.

    Probleme mit Abschiebungen auch in Österreich

    Ähnliche Abschiebe- Probleme wie in Deutschland gibt es übrigens auch in Österreich: 6943 abgelehnte Asylwerber hätten bis August Österreich verlassen müssen, nur rund 3000 von ihnen wurden abgeschoben. Dazu kamen 1299 Überstellungen ins EU- Ausland gemäß dem Dublin- Abkommen. Damit mussten zwar heuer bisher 4299 Asylwerber gehen, allerdings liegt die Zahl der negativen Asylbescheide weitaus höher. 2015 waren es nur 9000 “Außerlandesbringungen” bei rund 24.000 negativen Asylbescheiden gewesen.
    Schweiz weist straffällig gewordene Ausländer aus

    Was straffällig gewordene Ausländer betrifft, geht unser Nachbarland Schweiz seit 1. Oktober rigoros vor. Dort werden all jene ausländischen Straftäter abgeschoben, deren begangene Delikte ein Jahr Gefängnis oder mehr nach sich ziehen . An erster Stelle nennt das neue Gesetz Mord und Totschlag sowie weitere schwere Verbrechen, darunter Vergewaltigung und andere Sexualdelikte, Raub und Menschenhandel. Vorgeschrieben sind Abschiebungen auch bei schweren Vermögensdelikten sowie bei Betrug in der Sozialhilfe oder bei Steuerbetrug.

    http://www.krone.at/welt/deutsche-polizei-sie-lachen-ueber-unsere-justiz-kriminelle-afrikaner-story-533037

    • BREITBART – German Police Union Chief: Migrants ‘Laugh At Our Justice’

      The chief of the German police union claims that criminal migrants from North Africa are laughing at the German justice system as they are allowed to go free after committing crimes.

      Cheif of the German police union Rainer Wendt has expressed severe concern regarding the increasing number of migrant criminals, especially those of a North African origin. He claims that unless the justice system changes no real action can be taken to solve migrant crime, reports Kronen Zeitung.

      “They despise our country and laugh at our justice,” Mr. Wendt said and warned that the police cannot address migrant crime unless the justice system is willing to step up and deport repeated offenders.

      The police, according to Mr. Wendt, “do all they are able to do,” regarding migrant crime. He claims that officers in Germany are putting themselves at constant risk as many of the migrants are known to have a high level of violent behaviour and attack police who attempt to arrest them.

      “If there is no pre-trial detention made, no imprisonment is imposed, and no deportations carried out then the police make multiple arrests and the perpetrators get away with it,” he said and maintained that the migrants end up back on the streets.

      Mr. Wendt cited the “Casablanca Report” which documented some 2,244 North African migrant criminals in the city of Dusseldorf. According to the police union chief, the numbers for other major German cities are similar and he said that the migrant crisis has only served to reinforce numbers in the already-existing migrant criminal gangs.

      Last year, Mr. Wendt made a similar statement at the height of the migrant crisis. “They don’t respect our law,” he said and asked why “things always have to go up in flames” before politicians “react”.

      Development Minister Gerd Müller of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said that the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel forecasts a massive increase in migrants from Africa.

      “The migration pressure will increase dramatically in the coming years if we do not manage to create economic opportunities in African countries,” he said, adding, “what happens there has a direct impact on Europe”.

      The findings match a report from the European Union border agency Frontex who earlier this year reported that the future of the migrant crisis was young migrant men coming from Africa to Europe for better economic opportunities rather than legitimate refugees fleeing conflict or persecution.

      http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/10/07/german-police-chief-migrants-laugh-justice/

    • Gen. Mike Flynn: Why Hillary’s record on Libya is even worse than you think

      A failed state, a terrorist haven, four dead Americans – this is the Hillary Clinton record in Libya we know about.

      But new evidence — and a review of the public record — reveals that Hillary Clinton’s actions in Libya were not just disastrous policy, but a violation of U.S. anti-terrorism law.

      A recent report to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British House of Commons concluded that Western intervention in Libya was based on “inaccurate intelligence” and “erroneous assumptions.” Advocates failed to recognize that “the threat to civilians was overstated and that the rebels included a significant Islamist element,” and the failure to plan for a post-Qaddafi Libya led to the “growth of ISIL” in North Africa.

      However, “inaccurate intelligence” doesn’t fully describe the whole story. A closer examination of the run-up to the Libya debacle on September 11, 2012 leads to the irrefutable conclusion that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton knowingly armed radical Islamist terrorists in Libya.

      False pretenses

      The American public was told that the intervention in Libya was necessary to prevent a humanitarian crisis. But just as Hillary Clinton would describe the attack on our Benghazi diplomats as a spontaneous protest over a video, the military intervention that led inexorably to the debacle in Benghazi was sold on false pretenses: to prevent an imminent massacre of civilians engaged in a pro-democracy uprising.

      Hillary Clinton described the 2011 Arab Spring rebellion in eastern Libya as a spontaneous pro-democracy uprising, but the Libyan connection to radical Islamic extremist groups was well known long before 2011.

      The region where the rebellion began was a fervid recruiting ground for jihadis who killed American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

      The leaders of the “civilian uprising” that Hillary Clinton supported were members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) who had pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda. They refused to take orders from non-Islamist commanders and assassinated the then leader of the rebel army, Abdel Fattah Younes.

      The LIFG had been jailed under Qaddafi until hundreds of their members were released through a de-radicalization program. That program was spearheaded by an exiled Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Libyan cleric based in Qatar named Ali al-Sallabi. The jihadis pledged they would never use violence against Gaddafi again.

      But nearly as soon as the LIFG was released they took up arms against the Qaddafi regime.

      Just as there was ample evidence that Hillary’s “pro-democracy protestors” were radical Islamists, there was no truth to the assertion a civilian massacre was imminent.

      Libyan doctors told United Nations investigators that, of the more than 200 corpses in Tripoli’s morgues following fighting in late February 2011, only two were female. This indicates Qaddafi’s forces targeted male combatants and did not indiscriminately attack civilians. Nor had Qaddafi forces attacked civilians after retaking towns from the rebels in early February 2011.

      While Muammar Qaddafi had a 40-year record of appalling human rights violations, his abuses did not include large-scale attacks on Libyan civilians. We restored full diplomatic relations with Qaddafi in 2007 and he was a key partner in counter-terrorism efforts.

      LIFG and affiliated jihadis received at least 18 shipments of arms from Qatar with the blessing of the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports. The arms shipments were funneled through none other than Ali al-Sallabi, the Qatar cleric who brokered their release from prison.

      The Islamists were able to pay for the weapons because Clinton had convinced Obama to grant full diplomatic recognition to the rebels, against the advice of State Department lawyers and the Secretary of Defense.

      As the Washington Post reported, this move “allowed the Libyans access to billions of dollars from Qaddafi’s frozen accounts.”

      These arms shipments are significant for several reasons. It led to the indictment of American arms dealer Marc Turi who was charged with selling weapons to Islamist militants in Libya through Qatar. The charges were dropped this week after Turi threatened to reveal emails showing Clinton had approved the sales.

      Here’s where it gets very sticky for Secretary Clinton. The rebel leaders were on the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization list. It is a direct violation of the law to provide material support for terrorist organizations under 18 U.S. Code 2339A & 2339B. Penalties for providing or attempting to provide material support to terrorism include imprisonment from 15 years to life.

      Nor is the Qatar connection insignificant. Qatar has donated anywhere from $1 to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, and emails reveal members of the Qatari royal family were privileged with back channel meetings with Secretary Clinton at the State Department. While whipping up support for the Libya military campaign, Clinton told Arab leaders, “it’s important to me personally,” the Washington Post reported.

      Hillary Clinton’s prosecution of foreign policy in Libya crossed several lines: she showed extremely bad judgment by ignoring military and intelligence officials, she let personal interests conflict with U.S. foreign policy and, most importantly, she may have broken the law — again.

      Any one of these transgressions should disqualify her from holding any kind of leadership role in our government, let alone president of the United States. The last one qualifies Hillary Clinton for government housing, though not in the White House.

      http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/10/06/gen-mike-flynn-why-hillarys-record-on-libya-is-even-worse-than-think.html

    • State Dept. releases 75 Clinton emails discovered by FBI

      The State Department on Friday released 75 of the 15,000 Hillary Clinton emails uncovered by the FBI during its investigation into the former secretary of State’s personal email server.

      Many of the 75 documents — comprising about 270 pages — are “near duplicates” of documents that were provided to the State Department by Clinton in 2014 and have already been made public.

      For example, several emails are identical to previously-released chains, but were forwarded from Clinton to aides with the note, “Please print.”

      The documents comprise entirely of emails sent or received by Clinton directly in her official capacity as secretary of State, and were expected to largely concern scheduling matters.

      The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch has been pushing for all of the documents to be released before the presidential election.

      A federal judge last month ordered the State Department to review approximately 1,000 pages of the documents before Nov. 8, releasing in batches those that are subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that is driving their release.

      The 270 pages produced Friday are the first batch, the result of a review of 350 total pages ordered by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg.

      Clinton deleted about 30,000 emails from the private server setup she used while serving as secretary of State, saying they were not work-related, before turning over thousands more to the government. But while examining her machines, the FBI recovered some additional emails that could be relevant to the FOIA lawsuit.

      A preliminary review of the 15,000 emails revealed that about 60 percent were of a purely personal nature. Around 37 percent — or 5,600 documents — were deemed work-related, but of those, a “substantial number” were exact duplicates of the 30,000 emails that Clinton turned over to the agency in December 2014, according to State Department lawyers.

      Those emails are excluded from Friday’s production and will not be re-released.

      The release comes amidst the ongoing release of Clinton’s emails through various FOIA productions.

      On Thursday, the Republican National Committee gave The Wall Street Journal emails it obtained through a FOIA lawsuit, revealing that communication officials in the Obama administration coordinated how to handle fallout from the email scandal before she launched her presidential campaign.

      The occasional drip of minor revelations is expected to continue up until the Nov. 8 election.

      State is scheduled to review 350 additional emails from the FBI files and publish what they are able to on Oct. 21 and Nov. 4. Thereafter, the agency will review 500 pages a month, producing as many responsive documents as exist in each batch.

      http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/299847-state-dept-releases-75-clinton-emails-discovered-by-fbi

    • WikiLeaks – RELEASE: The Podesta Emails

      https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/784491543868665856

      The Podesta Emails

      WikiLeaks series on deals involving Hillary Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta. Mr Podesta is a long-term associate of the Clintons and was President Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff from 1998 until 2001. Mr Podesta also owns the Podesta Group with his brother Tony, a major lobbying firm and is the Chair of the Center for American Progress (CAP), a Washington DC-based think tank

      https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/

    • The West would be well-advised to make sure that whenever a watery turd like Sheikh Mamdouh Al-Harbi surfaces in the Islamic cesspool, there is a .50 caliber roto-rooter ready and waiting to furnish him with swift-onset, high velocity lead-poisoning.

      The abrupt retirement policy which unerringly awaits these syphilitic, bilious, maggot-riddled, specimens of Islamic slime mold should be of such a drastically unappealing nature that the mere notion of having their names published (much less going on camera) becomes a source of distinct hesitation and, if not that, sincere regret.

      The notion that such intolerable spewing comes without a serious price-tag attached is an affront to all other earthly civilizations, especially those in the Classically Liberal West.

      Quoting “The Six Million Dollar Man” intro:

      We have the technology…

      As in America’s almost limitless supply of nimble, nigh-well undetectable, and supremely accurate drones that deliver Hellfire enemas with the adroitness and dexterity of a devoted, well-paid Hollywood madam.

  10. DAILY MAIL The migrants who nearly froze to death next to boxes of Aunt Bessie’s roast potatoes: 15 people – including a child – are found huddled together inside a ‘-25C’ freezer lorry at M25 service station

    Driver heard banging coming from the back of his lorry this morning
    Stopped at Clacket Lane services and police and ambulances were called
    The lorry had come from the Port of Dover, with its load at a reported -25C
    Suspected migrants thought to have huddled together in sleeping bags

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3827051/Fourteen-adults-child-freezer-lorry-M25-service-station.html

  11. DAILY MAIL- UK – Chester – Police break up fight in mosque as male worshippers are filmed pushing and arguing before Friday prayers

    Fight broke out between worshippers Chester Mosque at Friday prayers
    Men pushed and shoved and police were called to intervene
    One man said they were ’embarrassed’ about police being called to scene
    Argument alleged to be about how the mosque is managed in future

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3824669/Police-break-fight-mosque-male-worshippers-filmed-pushing-arguing-Friday-prayers.html

  12. Kerry Calls for War Crimes Investigation of Russia, Syria

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that a war crimes investigation was necessary to explore recent actions by Russia and Syria that claimed the lives of Syrian civilians.

    Kerry told the media that Syrian forces killed 20 and injured 100 when they struck a hospital overnight, the Associated Press reported. This is not the first time that allies Syria and Russia have hit civilian locations. “Russia and the regime owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals, and medical facilities, and women and children,” Kerry said. “They are beyond the accidental now, way beyond.” Russia has been engaging in air attacks in the region for roughly a year.

    The announcement was made while Kerry was appearing in Washington with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. Ayrault said that France hoped to be of assistance in brokering a cease-fire.

    Kerry had attempted negotiations with Russia for counterterrorism measures in Syria. In September, he proposed an agreement that could have gone forward if fighting had stopped for a week and aid had been permitted to get through. Neither of those things happened, and when Russia and Syria continued their attacks in Aleppo, discussions ended altogether.

    http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/breaking-kerry-calls-for-war-crimes-investigation-of-russia-syria/

    [...]The United States is particularly concerned about the 12+ American rodent terrorists who were embedded with Alqaeda in East Aleppo. Their being taken captive would be a massive humiliation for a president whose own legacy is now assuredly one of failure and deep degradation. The Syrian Army –MI are monitoring the communications between the American rodents and their commanders in Turkey. Their situation is untenable. The Americans are slowly starving and are giving hints they might have to surrender to the SAA. This is why the U.S. was so insistent on a cease fire. There is also discussion of an extraction operation using both U.S. and Turkish commandos to break in to East Aleppo and save the miserable lives of the American terrorists. Such an operation, if unsuccessful, will bring even more opprobrium to Obama and his team of imbeciles, not to mention a virtual admission of American support for Alqaeda. A real mess.[...]

    http://syrianperspective.com/2016/10/syrian-army-blasts-its-way-to-victory-in-bustaan-al-baashaa-saa-crushes-alqaeda-attack-in-west-ghoutaa.html

    • reuters -U.N. council to vote on Aleppo truce resolution, faces Russian veto

      UNITED NATIONS, Oct 7 (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council will vote on Saturday on a draft resolution that urges Russia and the United States to ensure an immediate truce in Syria’s Aleppo and “put an end to all military flights over the city,” the French U.N. envoy said.

      Russia signaled it would veto the resolution, drafted by France and Spain.

      “This is not a draft which is right for adoption, I have this suspicion that the real motive is to cause a Russian veto,” said Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin on Friday. “I cannot possibly see how we can let this resolution pass.”

      French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said on Friday he has asked for the draft resolution to be put to a vote on Saturday.

      “There is no time to waste, there is an absolute emergency in Aleppo,” he said.

      The draft text, seen by Reuters, also asks U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to propose options for a U.N.-supervised monitoring of a truce and threatens to “take further measures” in the event of non-compliance by “any party to the Syrian domestic conflict.”

      The draft urges Russia and the United States “to ensure the immediate implementation of the cessation of hostilities, starting with Aleppo, and, to that effect, to put an end to all military flights over the city.”

      Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, backed by Russian war planes and Iranian support, have been battling to capture eastern Aleppo, the rebel-held half of Syria’s largest city, where more than 250,000 civilians are trapped.

      Russia and China have previously protected the Syrian government from council action by blocking several resolutions, including a bid to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

      http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-un-aleppo-idUSKCN1271VN

      Russia threatens to veto French UN resolution on Aleppo ceasefire

      Russia on Friday threatened to use its veto to block a French-drafted UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Aleppo and the grounding of all warplanes over the Syrian city.

      “I cannot possibly see how we can let this resolution pass,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters when asked whether he would resort to the veto.

      https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-threatens-veto-french-un-resolution-aleppo-ceasefire-161818932.html

      • Russia says it sees legal consequences in Kerry’s war crimes comment -Interfax

        – Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday it saw legal consequences in comments by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who said Russian and Syrian government actions in Syria should be investigated as potential war crimes, Interfax news agency reported.

        http://news.trust.org/item/20161007182602-h5vnv

        • USA: Russia and Syria must face ‘war crimes’ investigation over hospital bombing – Kerry

    • Russia: US ‘unable to enforce’ cessation of hostilities in Syria – MoD

      One of Russia’s deputy defence ministers stated in Moscow on Friday that the latest ceasefire regime in Syria did not last, in part because “[our] American partners were unable to enforce the cessation of hostilities by the moderate opposition.”

      Anatoli Antonov said that “from September 12 to 19 [opposition] troops violated the ceasefire 302 times, 83 civilians were killed, 252 people were wounded and government troops lost 153 people.” He said that could be contrasted with “the observance of the cessation of hostilities by government forces in Syria” which was overseen by the Russian Reconciliation Centre. He noted that implementation of the ceasefire was controlled by “video cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles online.”

    • Russia: State Duma approves indefinite deployment of Russian air force in Syria

      The Russian State Duma voted in favour of deploying the country’s air force indefinitely in Syria, during a session in Moscow on Friday. The agenda of the session was to review the ratification of the Russian-Syrian agreement on an open-ended deployment.

      Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov addressed the Duma to explain that the “draft federal law” effectively “regulates force composition and structure, conditions of its deployment and functions.” He added that it also addresses the “issues of the operation of the Russian Armed Forces air group on the territory of Syria.” At the end of the session, all 446 deputies present voted in favour of ratifying the agreement, with Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin stating “the law is adopted.”

      SOT, Nikolai Pankov, Deputy Defence Minister of Russia (Russian): “The draft federal law that was submitted for your consideration proposes the ratification of the agreement between the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic on the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces air group on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, that was signed in Damascus last August. The provisions of the above-mentioned agreement establish the international-legal basis that regulates the force composition and structure, conditions of its deployment and functions and of course the issues of the operation of the Russian Armed Forces air group on the territory of Syria.’

      • The Latest: Russia Says It Killed 35,000 Militants in Syria (abcnews, Oct 7, 2016)
        http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-al-qaida-faction-refuses-leave-aleppo-42644618

        “… The Russian military says it has killed about 35,000 militants in Syria since the start of its air campaign there a year ago.

        Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Friday that the number includes about 2,700 residents of Russia and other ex-Soviet nations.

        Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that between 5,000 and 7,000 people from Russia and other ex-Soviet nations were fighting alongside the Islamic State group and other militants in Syria.

        Russia launched its air campaign in Syria a year ago, turning the tide of the war and helping Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces win back key territory. Moscow says the campaign’s goal is to fight terrorism.

        A U.S.-Russia brokered cease-fire in Syria collapsed last month, badly straining ties between Moscow and Washington. Antonov blamed the U.S. for the truce’s collapse….”

      • Syria conflict: US calls for Russia and Syria war crimes probe (BBC, Oct 7, 2016)
        http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37590014

        “Russia and the Syrian government should be investigated for war crimes, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

        “Russia, and the regime, owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals and medical facilities and children,” he said.

        “These are acts that beg for an appropriate investigation of war crimes.”

        Moscow has repeatedly denied attacking civilians, and said it targets terrorist groups in Syria.

        Mr Kerry, however, said Russian and Syrian government attacks on hospitals were “beyond the accidental” and part of a deliberate strategy in war-torn Syria.

        “This is a targeted strategy to terrorise civilians and to kill anybody and everybody who is in the way of their military objectives,” he said.

        Mr Kerry was speaking in Washington at a news conference with the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault.

        Mr Ayrault is in Washington before a meeting of the UN Security Council, where he will present a plan for a further ceasefire to try to get humanitarian access to the divided city of Aleppo.

        But Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, said France’s draft was unacceptable on a number of points and politicised humanitarian aid.

        US and Russian talks on the crisis have cooled after the breakdown in a ceasefire brokered in September. Both sides blame each other for the collapse…”

      • Russia Warns US Not to Intervene in Syria, Threatens to Shoot Down Any Airstrike Attempts (abcnews, Oct 6, 2016)
        http://abcnews.go.com/International/russia-warns-us-intervene-syria-threatens-shoot-airstrike/story?id=42618586

        “Russia has warned the United States not to intervene militarily in Syria against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, threatening that it may shoot down any aircraft attempting to launch strikes.

        In a bluntly worded statement, a spokesman for Russia’s defense ministry warned that Russia and the Syrian government had deployed sufficient air defenses to block any potential attacks…”

    • Kerry is positioning to make it seem legit to start a war against Russia.

      Yes, bomb the Syrian air force in an attack co-ordinated with Al-Nusra, then claim that it is Russia that is committing ‘war crimes’ in Syria.

      End well, this will not!

      • The only logical conclusion to the actions and statements by Kerry and Obama is that Obama wants a shooting war with Russia. Eeyore said in one of the posts that there is a Hungarian video that is being translated that is on this subject. Obama is almost out of office and he wants to do all of the damage to the US that he can.

        If (I still think it was the NSA that hacked Hillary and the Dems) the Russians did hack the Dems to get Trump elected you can see why they would want him instead of Hillary who would be worse then Obama.

        • OT-
          I tracked you down, though barely looked at today’s links. Candle-lighting is in 2 minutes!

          Wine or grape juice: Buy Israeli – not because of the money – but for efficiency of blessing. (Otherwise, any cheap hooch will do.)

          Fruit of the vine from the Holy Land is grown and harvested according to the instructions in the Bible. (At least the stuff I buy at the kosher market near my apt is.) And a priest at Boston College told me so.

          Shabbat Shalom – rest and fresh. And that’s a Commandment!

  13. Brother of Brussels knife attacker charged with terrorism: prosecutor

    Belgium remains on its second-highest level of terror alert in the wake of deadly suicide bombings in March

    The brother of a man accused of attacking two Brussels police officers with a knife has been charged with terrorism offences, the Belgian federal prosecutor said on Friday.

    Aboubaker D., the brother of attack suspect Hicham Diop, was “charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group”, the prosecutor said in a statement.

    Aboubaker D., a Belgian national born in 1970, was arrested on Thursday.

    Police shot Hicham Diop in the leg and arrested him after he allegedly attacked two police officers, one male and one female, with a knife in the Schaerbeek area of the Belgian capital on Wednesday.

    Prosecutors have charged 43-year-old Diop with “attempted murder in a terrorist context” and participating in terrorist activities.

    Media reports said Diop was a kickboxing former soldier who had served until 2009 and who had ties to jihadists who had gone to fight in Syria.

    Belgium remains on its second-highest level of terror alert in the wake of deadly suicide bombings targeting Brussels’ airport and metro system on March 22 in which 32 people were killed.

    http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/127231-161007-brother-of-brussels-knife-attacker-charged-with-terrorism-prosecutor

  14. Qatar Said to Weigh Raising Deutsche Bank Stake to Up to 25%

    Qatar’s royal family would raise stake from about 10 percent
    Lender said to have spoken to investors for capital increase

    Qatar’s royal family is considering increasing its stake in Deutsche Bank AG to as much as 25 percent, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

    Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani, former Prime Minister of the Gulf State, and the former Emir of the country, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani are exploring increasing their current stake of about 10 percent in Germany’s biggest lender, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. No final agreements have been reached.

    A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt-based lender declined to comment. Representatives for the Sheikhs didn’t immediately respond.

    The stock jumped as much as 3.2 percent in U.S. trading and was up 2 percent at $13.80 at 12:16 p.m. in New York. The shares have dropped about 46 percent in German trading this year, giving the company a market valuation of 17 billion euros ($19 billion).

    Qatar’s royal family, together with other investors, is mulling building a holding to a size that would give them greater control over the lender, Germany’s Der Spiegel reported on Friday, without saying where it obtained the information. The move could also trigger changes to management, according to the magazine.
    DOJ Talks

    Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer John Cryan, 55, has been under pressure to restore confidence in the company’s ability to withstand pending litigation costs. The lender has informally spoken to potential anchor investors, including new and existing shareholders, to back a possible capital increase. The bank is in settlement talks with the U.S. Department of Justice after an initial request that the company pay $14 billion over claims that it misled investors about the quality of securities backed by mortgages.

    S&P Global Ratings on Friday affirmed its BBB+ credit grade on the German lender, saying that it has “sufficient financial flexibility” to absorb a settlement, which will probably be “materially” lower than the $14 billion requested.

    The bank’s biggest shareholders include the Qatari royal family, BlackRock Inc. and Norges Bank, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Qatar injected about 1.75 billion euros into Deutsche Bank in 2014 to shore up capital of the lender.
    Share Sale

    The Gulf state has invested billions in emergency fundraising by Barclays Plc in 2008, making it one of the London-based bank’s largest shareholders. In 2008, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were among investors that Credit Suisse Group AG tapped for 10 billion Swiss francs ($10 billion) as the global financial crisis roiled markets.

    Senior advisers at top Wall Street firms are speaking to representatives of the lender about ideas including a share sale and asset disposals, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Deutsche Bank could also revisit selling its Deutsche Postbank unit or parts or all of its asset-management division, the people said. A spokeswoman for Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

    The banks are offering to help underwrite a stock sale to raise about 5 billion euros should the bank need it, the people said. That is about the maximum amount in discounted shares Deutsche Bank can sell without needing shareholder approval, the people said. The firm could also go to shareholders to request approval for more funds.

    Deutsche Bank is deliberating whether to sell the shares once it reaches a settlement with the Justice Department in the probe tied to residential mortgage-backed securities, said the people. No final decisions have been made and the bank could decide against a capital increase, they said.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-07/qatar-said-to-weigh-increasing-deutsche-bank-stake-to-up-to-25

    =====================================================

    Qatar won’t sell Deutsche Bank shares, might buy more: sources

    Qatari investors who own the largest stake in Deutsche Bank do not plan to sell their shares and could consider buying more if the embattled German bank decides to raise capital, sources familiar with Qatari investment policy told Reuters.

    Funds controlled by Qatar’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani bought 6.1 percent of Deutsche in mid-2014 and increased their stake to just under 10 percent, including options, in July this year.

    But Germany’s biggest bank has been engulfed by a crisis of confidence since last month after the U.S. Department of Justice demanded up to $14 billion to settle claims that the bank missold U.S. mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis. It is fighting the fine but may have to turn to investors for more money if it is imposed in full.

    Deutsche shares plunged to record intra-day lows below 10 euros last week on Friday and although they have since rebounded to just above 12 euros, they are 13 percent below last month’s peak and 46 percent below their close at the end of last year.

    That implies the Qataris may have lost, on paper, over $1.2 billion on their investments in the bank.

    However a Qatari source, who is close to Sheikh Hamad’s office but stressed that he was not involved in the Qataris’ internal discussions about Deutsche, said he expected Sheikh Hamad to stand by the bank.

    “Purchasing more stock – that could be considered … which is not to say there are any imminent plans to do that,” said the source, declining to be named as the matter is confidential.

    Officials in Sheikh Hamad’s office did not immediately comment, while Deutsche declined to comment.

    A second source said the Qataris had no intention of selling out. “This is a long-term investment. Qatar believes it will all work out well for the bank in the end.”

    If a capital hike does turn out to be required, “they would probably take part in it as they want to keep their roughly 10 percent stake. But they want to stay below the 10 percent threshold” for regulatory reasons, the source added.

    Any investor owning a stake of more than 10 percent in a listed German company is subject to stricter public disclosure rules.

    MANAGEMENT

    The first source also said that since the U.S. Department of Justice’s claim in September, he was not aware of any formal correspondence between Sheikh Hamad’s investment vehicles -Paramount Services Holdings and Supreme Universal Holdings – and Deutsche’s management.

    The second source said, however, that Qatar’s continued involvement in the bank would be under the condition that it resumed focusing on its daily business and did not lose more market share in key businesses such as investment banking.

    “They are too much focused on legal issues, the whole bank is ruled by lawyers at the moment. This needs to be changed.”

    Lawyer Stefan Simon was nominated to Deutsche’s supervisory board in July at the suggestion of the two Qatari investment vehicles. He was placed on the board to keep an eye on the bank’s execution of its strategy, the source said.

    The source added, however, that at the moment there was no pressure from Qatar for any changes in top management at Deutsche. “Execution is the issue, not strategy.”

    Qatar’s ruling family and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, have suffered a string of paper losses on high-profile portfolio investments in recent years, including a stake in Germany’s Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), which is facing fallout from a damaging emissions scandal.

    Meanwhile, low energy prices have pressured the economy of Qatar, the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporter, causing the government to restrain spending.

    Nevertheless, there is no sign of serious financial pain in Qatar – the QIA’s assets are estimated at $335 billion – and Qatari investors continue to buy assets around the world. In June, QIA agreed to buy a major office building in Singapore for about $2.5 billion.

    “Hamad bin Jassim, and Qatar for that matter, enter investments looking way down the road,” said Syed Bashar, a former economist with Qatar’s central bank.

    “They don’t think in years but in generations. Waiting is okay for them.”

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-deutsche-bank-qatar-idUSKCN127111

  15. Massive police search after ‘gunman’ spotted at German school

    A SCHOOL and nursery in the German city of Hamburg have been evacuated and armed police have been scrambled to the scene amid reports a gunman is on the loose.

    Around 40 police officers have swooped at the school in Elmshorn, on the outskirts of the city, after a student reported seeing a gunman dressed completely in black near the Elmshorner Waldorf School and the adjacent kindergarten on Adenauer Damm.

    The red alert was triggered at around 12.45pm on Friday and police scoured the scene for the gunman.

    Police later confirmed no one had been injured and no suspect was found.

    Around 400 children have been evacuated, and a nearby kindergarten was also evauated.

    Father of a student was quoted in local media saying: “My daughter is off sick today and my son is on a class trip. I was told that there are three armed men at the school.”

    And fellow father resident Dennis Traub: “Does anyone know what is going on in Elmshorn?

    “All I hear is weapons at the school and my son isn’t allowed to leave the kindergarten next door.”

    The area has been placed on lockdown as armed police carried out a room-by-room search for the man.

    Police dogs have also been drafted in to search for the man and any weapons.

    Germany has been on a heightened terror alert following a string of atrocities.

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/718720/Gunman-on-loose-German-school-nursery-evacuated-Elmshorner-Hamburg

  16. Germany: King Abdullah II of Jordan hails Merkel for her ‘leadership’ in the refugee crisis

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a joint press conference with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Berlin, Friday, following a discussion on the refugee crisis and the security situation in the Middle East.

    SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): “If we talk in detail what has changed to better [in Jordan]; there are more children who have school education, there are more people who can work, but measured against the high number of 700,000 Syrian refugees and a difficult situation in the country it is naturally only the first step, and that’s why we will consider what will be the next steps.”

    SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): “Naturally the situation in the regions plays a role, especially the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Syria and as well the situation in Iraq. Jordan borders both of the countries, and from that you recognise that in how difficult position the country is.”

  17. France: New mosque opens at Calais refugee camp despite demolition fears

    Muslim worshippers gathered to pray at the Calais ‘Jungle’ refugee camp’s Bilal mosque on Friday, only days before the remainder of the camp is expected to be demolished by French authorities. It is believed that this is the fifth makeshift mosque to be built in the camp.

  18. Are Tennessee Church Shootings Jihad?
    Evidence points to alleged shooter being a Muslim convert.

    he suspect arrested on suspicion of shooting up three Christian churches in Shelbyville, Tennessee appears to be a convert to Islam, a critically important detail that the incurious mainstream media has not been reporting.

    Wendell Tobias Buchanan, who turned 36 in August, is being held in the local county jail on $500,000 bond.

    Buchanan was taken into custody last Saturday (October 1), Pamela Geller reports,

    …shortly after he was seen driving by Horse Mountain Church of Christ on Horse Mountain Road, which was hit on at least three separate occasions by gunfire. Buchanan allegedly fired into two other churches — Philippi Methodist Church and Singleton United Methodist Church — the University of Tennessee Extension office and shot out several Charter Communications cable boxes during overnight hours Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

    As part of its ongoing terrorist protection program, Facebook has scrubbed Buchanan’s page of all information except his name. Geller managed to take screen shots while the information on the page was available.

    A Facebook post from September 8 indicates Buchanan professed belief in the Islamic deity and seems to radiate the zeal of a convert. “Friends and family of Facebook I’ve been granted knowledge of the unseen world as a mercy from my Lord Allah.”

  19. Bill Whittle’s Firewall: Debating Hillary, Part 4: Cyber Security
    There’s a word for people who sell out their nation’s security for money.

  20. A Constitutional Right to Muslim Migration
    The difference between government and tyranny.

    The United States Constitution makes Judge Richard Posner yawn.

    ”I see absolutely no value to a judge of spending decades, years, months, weeks, day, hours, minutes, or seconds studying the Constitution,” he once wrote.

    “Eighteenth-century guys, however smart,” Judge Posner suggested, couldn’t have grasped our high tech world. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, according to him, “do not speak to today.” He dismissed it as a document based on “what those 18th-century guys were worrying about.”

    Judge Richard Posner is a smart guy. And he’s no 18th-century guy. Instead he was born in 1939. That means that he speaks to today. Unlike old fuddy duddies like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

    As the judge of the future, Posner’s birth, a little more than a century after Jefferson’s death, qualifies him to tackle the bold new legal problems of tomorrow. Judge Posner discovered gay marriage in the Constitution. Or rather he discovered that marriage, like the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, was more 18th century nonsense and that Judeo-Christian values were a “tradition of hate.”

    Now Judge Posner has discovered a bold new right. The right of Muslims to settle in Indiana. This was one of those rights unforeseen by even the smart 18th century guys who lacked Pos’ legalistic savvy.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/264418/constitutional-right-muslim-migration-daniel-greenfield

  21. FBI files reveal missing email ‘boxes’ in Clinton case, allegations of evidence tampering
    Catherine Herridge

    By Catherine Herridge, Pamela K. Browne

    Buried in the 189 pages of heavily redacted FBI witness interviews from the Hillary Clinton email investigation are details of yet another mystery — about two missing “bankers boxes” filled with the former secretary of state’s emails.

    The interviews released earlier this month, known as 302s, also reveal the serious allegation that senior State Department official Patrick Kennedy applied pressure to subordinates to change the classified email codes so they would be shielded from Congress and the public.

    The details about the boxes are contained in five pages of the FBI file – with a staggering 111 redactions – that summarize the statements of a State Department witness who worked in the “Office of Information Programs and Services (IPS).” The employee told the FBI that, “Initially, IPS officials were told there were 14 bankers boxes of former Secretary of State Hillary CLINTON’s emails at CLINTON’s Friendship Heights office.” Friendship Heights is a neighborhood that straddles the Northwest neighborhood of the District of Columbia and Maryland.

    The State Department witness further explained to the FBI that “on or about December 5, 2014, IPS personnel picked up only 12 bankers boxes of CLINTON’s emails from Williams & Connolly.”

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/10/06/fbi-files-reveal-missing-email-boxes-in-clinton-case-allegations-evidence-tampering.html

  22. Merkel to BAN EU migrants claiming benefits – a day after attacking UK for doing the same (express, Oct 7, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/718831/Merkel-migrants-EU-benefits-restrict-Germany-Brexit-UK-open-door

    “CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel is plotting to ban EU migrants from claiming benefits for five years – just a day after attacking Theresa May over similar plans.

    Berlin is to restrict access to out of work benefits for EU migrants in Germany for up to five years, if a draft bill is passed next week.

    Yet to be agreed by the cabinet, if approved those moving to the European nation will not be allowed access to unemployment and welfare benefits, known as the Hartz IV.

    Instead EU migrants would be expected to work or have enough money to support themselves, and only be allowed access to the welfare system once they had ‘solidified’ their place in Germany.

    In January this year figures show 440,000 people from other EU nations were living in Germany claiming benefits.

    Mrs Merkel announced the initiative as her party’s support continued to fall in Germany, losing ground to far-right parties popular for their anti-immigration stance.

    Labour Minister Andrea Nahles, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Germany’s junior coalition partner, stressed only a minority would be affected by the new law.

    The current figure in receipt of these benefits are low-paid workers, supplementing their income, rather than those who are unemployed.

    Her shock revelation comes a day after she said allowing Britain to restrict benefits to migrants would lead to a ‘free-for-all’ in Europe.

    Just yesterday Mrs Merkel was giving a lecture on the importance of the fundamental principles of the EU, including the free movement of people.

    The politician said Britain cannot be handed access to the EU’s lucrative single market if it chooses to limit immigration…”

    • Let me understand this correctly, the article is saying that the migrants from EU won’t be able to get Hartz iv, on the other hand the migrants from outside of EU will be able to get it?

      • According to the “Bild”, the number of foreign Hartz IV recipients rose by twelve percent compared to the previous year.

        According to this, in April, 26 per cent of recipients were migrants with 1.54 million. Largest groups: Turks (295,000).
        On the other hand, the number of German Hartz recipients fell by almost 240,000 to 4.36 million.s from Eritrea increased by 229.4 per cent and Syrian with a plus of 195.1 per cent.

        The increase in the number of immigrants to Germany has also increased the number of foreign Hartz IV recipients. At the end of April, 26 percent of Hartz IV recipients came from abroad.

        On average, 7.7 per cent of Germans depend on Hartz IV, while 18 per cent for foreigners, the newspaper reported, referring to figures from the Federal Employment Agency (BA).

        https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article157422408/Jeder-vierte-Hartz-IV-Empfaenger-ist-Migrant.html
        At the end of April, a total of 1.54 million foreigners were paid according to Hartz IV. This amounted to 170,000 recipients or 12.4 per cent more than a year earlier.

        On the other hand, the number of German Hartz recipients fell by almost 240,000 or 5.2 percent to 4.36 million.

        According to the report, the most foreign recipients came from Turkey with some 295,000. It was followed by Syrians with 242,000 recipients and Poles with 92,000 recipients.

        The number of hard-to-reach recipient

  23. Migrant quotas DON’T work, we need an alternative NOW: Slovakia PM orders Brussels to act (express, Oct 7, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/718858/Migrant-quotas-Slovakia-PM-EU-migrants-Europe-nations-Brussels

    “SLOVAKIA wants the EU to drop a proposal to distribute asylum seekers and start working on an alternative plan, Prime Minister Robert Fico said, repeating his view that a permanent quota system was politically dead.

    The current EU President, who took on the rolling presidency, proposed in May to reform the so-called Dublin system of EU asylum rules based on a “fairness mechanism” under which each member state would be assigned a percentage quota of all asylum seekers in the bloc, aiming to ease the load on states like Greece and Italy.

    Eastern Europe’s ex-communist states have strongly opposed the proposal and pushed for alternatives at a meeting of heads of state in Bratislava last month.

    “Talks with EU leaders confirmed that mandatory quotas are becoming a politically dead issue,” Fico told journalists after meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, also a staunch critic of quotas, in Bratislava.

    Almost all Hungarians who voted in a referendum on Oct. 2 rejected the EU’s migrant quotas though turnout was too low to make the poll valid.

    “We want the European Commission’s legislative proposals to reflect attitudes of prime ministers and presidents … that have clearly confirmed voluntariness as a basic principle in migration matters,” he said.

    Slovakia holds the rotating six-month EU presidency until the end of the year and is responsible for coordinating agenda of ministerial meetings.

    Fico said he wanted interior ministers to start working on an alternative to the Commission’s proposal at their meeting on October 13.

    At the meeting of EU leaders in Bratislava, German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded defeat in a year-long quest to convince Berlin’s EU partners to accept migrant quotas.

    She agreed to let eastern European states off the hook by embracing their proposal of “flexible solidarity” meaning they would be allowed to send troops or money to European borders instead of taking migrants in.

    Under the Commission’s proposal, the quotas would reflect national population and wealth and, if a country found itself handling 50 percent more than its due share, it could relocate people elsewhere in the bloc. States could refuse to take people for a year – but only if they paid another country 250,000 euros per person to accommodate them.

    Slovakia and Hungary have also challenged at the European Court of Justice an earlier decision on a one-off relocation of 160,000 asylum seekers agreed last year, as Greece struggled to cope with the chaotic arrival of nearly a million people.”

  24. Shock as migrant boat washes up on beach in British holiday hotspot Gran Canaria (express, Oct 7, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/718836/Shock-as-migrant-boat-washes-up-on-beach-in-British-holiday-hotspot-Gran-Canaria

    “A BOAT carrying a group of immigrants including 11 children has landed in in British holiday favourite Gran Canaria.

    The group, all of whom are believed to be from North Africa, landed on the Tarajalillo beach in the tourist town of San Bartolome de Tiranja.

    The Red Cross and the island’s emergency centre were quick to race to the scene after the boat arrived at half past three in the morning in southern Gran Canaria.

    The exact number of people on board is not known, although the humanitarian charity has confirmed that 11 minors were travelling in the group – ten boys and one girl.

    All the children made the journey in good health and none had to by transferred to the hospital…”

  25. How Sweden became an exporter of jihad (BBC, Oct 7, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37578919

    “Sweden is a peaceful democratic state that has long been a safe haven for those fleeing conflict. Yet many young people whose families took refuge there are now turning their back on the country.

    More than 300 people have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq, making Sweden per capita one of the biggest exporters of jihadists in Europe.

    I meet a young woman in the basement of a building in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second city. She seems like any other young Western woman, wearing tight clothing and make-up and displaying a number of tattoos on her arms and neck. But she has recently returned from Raqqa in Syria, where her husband died fighting for the so-called Islamic State (IS).

    She recalls some of the horrors she witnessed there. The sound of Yazidi women being raped in the room next to hers; offenders being lashed and executed; the constant bombardment and airstrikes – all part of the daily life of a jihadi bride.

    To begin with, it had seemed more appealing – she had been glad to be there. But after her husband died she began to notice things that were alien to the religion she had been brought up in.

    “When they burned the Jordanian pilot I asked them why they burn up a human being. Is that right in Islam? What I know is that you are not allowed to burn anyone.”

    With the help of another IS fighter, she managed to get smuggled out of Syria, across the border to Turkey before flying back to Sweden. She shows me pictures of her Kalashnikov and her injured daughter, her face covered with shrapnel wounds.
    Why did she decide to join IS, I ask?

    “When you go this way you don’t think about the worldly life. Like I can have a good bed. You don’t care about these things. You just think about the fastest way I can die and go to heaven.”

    After the interview I drop her off on the outskirts of the city. Driving away, I notice her playing with a stray cat – looking just like any other shy young girl.

    Gothenburg is where much of the recruitment for jihad is taking place. With a population of just over half a million, this port city and former industrial powerhouse has seen at least 100 men and women leave to join militants fighting for the proclaimed caliphate.

    It’s one of Sweden’s most diverse cities. A third of the population are from immigrant backgrounds, many of them Muslim, and in the north-eastern suburb of Angered, the proportion rises to more than 70%.

    Sweden’s massive housing shortage and long waits for rent controlled apartments in the centre of town mean that many new arrivals end up here, and stay here. This includes some of the 160,000 people who received asylum in Sweden last year.

    Angered has become a tough area to police.

    Parts of it are classified as “vulnerable”, which in Swedish police terminology indicates a breakdown of law and order, among other things, and the emergence of a parallel society.

    I am told that religious enforcers attempt to control the community to ensure Sharia law is adhered to. They allegedly harass and intimidate people – mainly women – for the way they dress and for attending parties where there is music and dancing, which they consider haram.

    Meanwhile, two-thirds of children have dropped out of school by the time they are 15, and unemployment is 11% – high by Swedish standards. It’s these vulnerable young people that the extremists target.

    One softly spoken young man – who I will call Imran – told me hardline recruiters were manipulating young people who had lost their way, and encouraging them to join IS.

    “Like a big brother will say to you, like a father will say to you, ‘Stop doing drugs, stop hitting people. Come with us instead. Fight for God. Fight for Allah. Fight for your freedom of the Muslims.

    The Muslim people are being killed and raped. You are wasting your life. You don’t get nothing from the Swedish people.’

    “This guy has been a criminal just like me and done a lot of bad stuff. And now he is coming to me and telling me, ‘You have to change.'”

    Imran was initially eager to travel to the Middle East and join IS. But after seeing videos and photographs of their brutality he says he is now afraid, and wants to build a life for himself in Sweden instead.

    Suburbs like Angered have become pressure cookers of discontent.

    You see this built-up resentment mainly with the second-generation “non-ethnic Swedes”, as they’re known here.

    Many of their parents fled war-torn countries in search of safety and found it in Sweden. They appear grateful for what the country has offered them. Their children, however, often feel they’ve been discriminated against and left out of the system. Many young people I spoke to said they felt disconnected from the country where their parents came from – but didn’t feel they were Swedish either.

    The issues here have been further compounded by the sudden influx of refugees fleeing wars in Syria and Iraq. Accepting refugees is part of what it means to be Swedish. Last year alone, Sweden accepted more refugees per capita than any other European country.

    Ulf Bostrom, a veteran Gothenburg policeman who has become Sweden’s only “integration officer”, puts part of the blame for the problems the city now faces on police cutbacks.

    “We have lost more than 50% of the policemen working in uniform in the different areas – 50%,” he says. “You can see for yourself. How many policemen have you seen during your time here in the areas you have been to? Have you seen any?” No, I reply.

    Bostrom himself, however, is a well-known figure in Gothenburg’s suburbs and spends most of his time building trust and engaging with the migrant community and different faith groups.

    He took me to the Bellevue mosque on the outskirts of Gothenburg, which is reported to have ties to various Islamist and terrorist-designated organisations. Many of the people who have gone to Syria and Iraq have had connections here, and spiritual leader of al-Shabaab, Hassan Hussein, visited in 2009.

    Later I attended Friday prayer at Angered’s largest mosque where about 500 worshippers had gathered. The imam, who came to Sweden from Syria three years ago, urged them to respect Swedish laws and customs and to assimilate as much as they could into mainstream society. But I was told that on one occasion two men stood up and verbally attacked him for condemning extremism, before they were escorted out. Just another indication of how divided and polarised these communities are.

    What has happened to Swedes who have travelled to Iraq and Syria, I ask Bostrom.
    “Well there is a number of 311 or so but none who have come back have been arrested. I think our terrorism law is not functioning well enough,” he says.

    Only in April was the law changed to make it illegal to travel abroad with the intention to commit acts of terrorism.

    Klas Friberg, the regional police chief and Ulf Bostrom’s boss, says the authorities are aware of the problems they face, and know that security needs to be improved in areas where parallel societies have taken shape.

    But the reality is that right now young people from immigrant backgrounds are being radicalised.

    Why would someone raised in Gothenburg want to leave one of the most peaceful and progressive countries in the developed world to join a violent extremist group in the Middle East?

    With so many of them saying they don’t feel Swedish, perhaps the bigger question is: has integration and Sweden’s experiment with multiculturalism failed?”

    • I wrote “no comment” but should wrote “Future typical dress in the Western Europe and Canada”

  26. MOROCCO – Three Dutch tourists seriously injured at Casablanca mosque stabbing

    Three Dutch tourists were stabbed and seriously injured while visiting a mosque in the Moroccan town of Casablanca on Tuesday, reports ANP.

    The foreign affairs ministry has announced that a 57-year-old woman, her 30-year-old son and 27-year-old daughter were attacked by a man while visiting the Hassan II Mosque, one of the world’s largest Islamic temples.

    ‘He appeared out of nowhere and began stabbing them,’ said a spokeswoman.

    Local media have blamed a 28-year-old ‘confused’ and ‘hysterical’ man who was quickly overpowered by police, injuring one in the leg. The Dutch embassy is helping the victims in hospital and has informed the family.

    http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/10/three-dutch-tourists-seriously-injured-at-casablanca-mosque-stabbing/

  27. Pakistan-India border to be sealed by December 2018: Rajnath Singh (tribune, Oct 7, 2016)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1195060/pakistan-india-border-sealed-december-2018-rajnath-singh/

    “The India-Pakistan border will be completely sealed by December, 2018, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday.

    “This is time bound, it will be done by December, 2018. We are readying an action plan for that,” Singh said after a meeting with chief and home ministers of Indian-held Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat which border Pakistan.

    “A border security grid will be in place soon,” he said, adding that the Indian government was also “looking at technological solutions to man the border.”

    The decision comes as tensions escalate between the neighbouring countries following India’s ‘surgical strike’ claims in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The claims were taken with a pinch of salt even by international media…”

  28. SC sets date for Aasia Bibi blasphemy appeal (tribune, Oct 7, 2016)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1195048/sc-sets-date-aasia-bibi-blasphemy-appeal/

    “The accused in Pakistan’s most infamous blasphemy case has been granted a fresh chance to escape the gallows after the Supreme Court confirmed Friday it will hear Aasia Bibi’s appeal against her execution next week.

    Bibi, a Christian mother of five, has been on death row since 2010 in what some activists have called a battle for Pakistan’s soul as the state walks a sharp line between upholding human rights and appeasing populist hardliners.

    “The Supreme Court of Pakistan under the chair of Justice Saqib Nisar will hear Asia Bibi’s appeal against her death sentence on Thursday, October 13 in the SC,” her lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook told AFP. The court confirmed Friday that the date had been set.

    Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in deeply conservative, Muslim-majority Pakistan. Anyone even accused of insulting Islam risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of vigilantes. Rights groups complain the controversial legislation is often abused to carry out personal vendettas, mainly against minority Christians.

    Bibi was convicted and sentenced to hang in 2010 after an argument with a Muslim woman over a bowl of water. Her supporters maintain her innocence and insist it was a personal dispute.

    Supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, who assassinated provincial governor Salmaan Taseer after he advocated for Bibi in 2011, regularly call for her hanging.

    A decision by the court in her favour would “send a powerful message to the world that Pakistan respects the rule of law and not the mob,” Mustafa Qadri, an expert on human rights in South Asia, told AFP recently.

    He also predicted that supporters of the assassin Qadri would react violently to such a decision. Qadri was hung earlier this year, bringing hardliners into the streets chanting slogans against Bibi, although they dispersed after several days.”

  29. Police send backup to Gotland after reported rape fuels anger (thelocal, Oct 7, 2016)
    https://www.thelocal.se/20161007/police-send-backup-to-gotland-after-reported-rape-sweden

    “Sweden’s national police have sent backup to the island of Gotland following unrest sparked by the release of five men who were arrested on suspicion of raping a woman.

    Five men were arrested earlier this week after a woman in her thirties reported that she had been raped in a property in the medieval town of Visby on the Baltic Sea island Gotland, off the east coast of Sweden.

    They were released on Wednesday after the prosecutor judged that there was not enough evidence to ask the court to have them remanded in custody (according to Swedish law, a prosecutor can detain someone up until noon on the third day after the arrest, after which a court decision is required to remand them).

    The five men, in their twenties, are still understood to be part of an ongoing investigation into the incident.

    The woman’s lawyer told the Aftonbladet tabloid earlier this week that she had shared a taxi home with one of the men after a restaurant visit and needed to use the bathroom.

    “She followed him in and had no fears that something would happen. Then the man took advantage of the situation. The abuse started in the toilet,” her legal representative Staffan Fredriksson said.

    The other men are said to have joined them in the property later.

    “Where they came from we don’t know. This was going on for a couple of hours,” said Fredriksson. “She got paralyzed in this situation and was not able to bring herself to resist physically, other than saying no.”

    The woman is understood to be able to walk around her home, but cannot walk long distances and uses a wheelchair.

    Police mainland backup arrived on the island on Friday after emotions flared following media reports on the men’s release from custody. Some of this is understood to have included threats made against the five men. A separate probe has also been launched after individuals turned up on the prosecutor’s doorstep.

    “If you’re talking about it in very general terms, it is very serious that people try to influence the legal system. It is obviously serious if that is the purpose,” police investigator Mats Holst told the Hela Gotland newspaper on Thursday, but would not comment further on the latter incident.

    The back-up officers, who have been sent from Stockholm, are to work to prevent violence or threats from escalating, strengthen safety-building measures and assist in other criminal investigations on the island.

    “It is to make sure that we can handle our fundamental mission as police on Gotland and to enable us to act on the incidents of the past few days,” said Torbjörn Nilsson, the head of Gotland police, in a statement.

    He also told Hela Gotland: “We simply do not accept that people take the law into their own hands as many have expressed that one should do”.

    “You have to distinguish between these past weekends and what it is like on Gotland in general. Gotland is relatively, compared to other places, very safe and there are few crimes compared to the rest of the country,” he added. “But the way people have now acted is unprecedented.”

    According to Hela Gotland, 28 rapes have been reported on the island so far this year.

    Earlier in the week, Gotland police were forced to delete comments on its Facebook page after the discussion escalated and several people urged them to release the identities of the suspects.

    “We are restrictive when it comes to specifying ethnicity, description or other information such as age, appearance and addresses. We do specify that in some cases if it is important to move the investigation forward and we need the help of the public. Otherwise not,” wrote the police on their Facebook page.”

  30. Vienna’s benefits system acts as a ‘magnet for refugees’ (thelocal, Oct 7, 2016)
    https://www.thelocal.at/20161007/viennas-benefits-system-like-magnet-for-refugees

    “Refugees in Austria are increasingly moving to Vienna because other Austrian states have reduced the amount of social security benefits asylum seekers can receive, which is designed to cover their basic living costs.

    People granted asylum in Austria are typically awarded up to €914 a month to cover their basic living costs (Mindestsicherung) but many areas – including the states of Lower and Upper Austria have reduced this to €520.

    Critics of the Vienna government – a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens – say it has vastly underestimated the cost of providing basic benefits to asylum seekers.

    Figures show that the budget for social benefits has had to be increased to around €130m. The government of Vienna says that the number of recipients of social benefits has “risen sharply because of the inflow from other federal states”.

    From 2011 to 2013 the number of benefits claimants who relocated to Vienna was around four percent. That figure doubled in 2015 and is now around eight percent (14,414 people).

    The opposition ÖVP party claims that Vienna has a “budget crisis” because of the increase in spending on social welfare and wants a special meeting of the city council to discuss record unemployment and debt levels and a refusal to reform the system.

    Sonja Wehsely, the city councillor responsible for social affairs, says that only a small percentage of people are totally reliant on the Mindestsicherung, and that the number of “large refugee families” is few.

    But she admitted that poor economic growth, a lack of employment opportunities and a rise in the number of people being granted asylum has led to increased costs, and that this has become political fodder for the ÖVP and right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ).

    She argues that if the Mindestsicherung benefit is cut then vulnerable people risk falling into homelessness, poverty and crime, and that the benefit exists to create social equality and peace in the city.

    Reinhold Lopatka, political leader of the ÖVP parliamentary group recently said the social system is especially unfair in Vienna and that refugees who have been granted asylum status in Austria get more money from the authorities than farmers receive in pension benefits.

    “A farmer who has been working hard his whole life has spoken with me. He now receives pension benefits of €620 and his son has to subsidise him so that he can feed himself. Currently migrants in Vienna receive €837.60, although they have never contributed to our benefits system”.”

  31. WaPo- Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005

    Donald Trump bragged in vulgar terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women during a 2005 conversation caught on a hot microphone — saying that “when you’re a star, they let you do it” — according to a video obtained by The Washington Post.

    The video captures Trump talking with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” on a bus with Access Hollywood written across the side. They were arriving on the set of “Days of Our Lives” to tape a segment about Trump’s upcoming cameo on the soap opera.

    The tape obtained by the Post includes audio of Bush and Trump’s conversation inside the bus, as well as audio and video once they emerge from it to begin shooting the segment. […]

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html
    ==========================================
    Tim Kaine to reporters in Las Vegas on the new Trump audio: “It makes me sick to my stomach.”

    Kaine: “This is behavior that’s just outrageous. … I should be surprised and shocked. I’m sad to say that I’m not.”

    https://twitter.com/betsy_klein/status/784492338617790464

  32. Germany closer to blocking EU citizens’ ‘welfare tourism’ (thelocal, Oct 7, 2016)
    https://www.thelocal.de/20161007/germany-moves-forward-on-plan-to-block-eu-citizens-from-welfare-for-5-years

    “The German government wants to stop citizens of other EU countries, particularly from eastern Europe, from moving to Germany just for its benefits.

    Government sources told DPA that the German cabinet was in agreement about approving a proposed law to prevent EU citizens from countries outside Germany from claiming welfare benefits during their first five years in the country.

    “We are aiming for a swift approval by the cabinet,” said a Labour Ministry spokeswoman. The law will then go to the German parliament (Bundestag) for debate.

    The law would mean that EU citizens would have no entitlement to welfare payments unless they are currently in employment or if they have acquired an entitlement to social security payments by working.

    Only after a stay of five years without any government support would EU citizens have an automatic right to claim ‘Hartz IV’, the most basic form of unemployment benefit that exists in Germany.

    Hartz IV was introduced in 2003 as a base social welfare payment available to all German citizens, regardless of whether they had ever had a job.

    German media first reported in April on the draft of the proposal by Labour Minister Andrea Nahles, and she said at the time that only a small number of people would be affected by the law.

    “Cities have been waiting for this law and now the German parliament should quickly pass it,” said deputy head of the Association of German Cities, Helmut Dedy, to the Mitteldeutschen Zeitung.

    “The new rules are necessary to create legal compliance and to avoid the significant financial strains on cities that come with extra social benefits.”

    Nahles drafted the bill in reaction to a ruling by the Federal Social Court which found that EU citizens have a right to welfare payments after living in Germany for 6 months.

    Local governments – which are responsible for paying social welfare – were outraged by the ruling, arguing that it would put an unbearable pressure on their finances.

    According to the Federal Employment Agency, nearly 440,000 people from other EU states receive social benefits. Polish people made up the largest group of recipients at 92,000, followed by Italians (71,000), Romanians (57,000), and Greeks (46,000).

    Many of these people are not unemployed, but rather earn too little money to support themselves and thus use social benefits to subsidize their low incomes. Many of those who do this come from Bulgaria and Romania.”

  33. Gadowski: ISIS is like a pudle of ink, when we hit it the ink spatter will be very broad.
    The existence of the Islamic State is not the main reason for the wave of immigrants
    It is an excuse used by refugees who are in no way touched by ISIS terror said in an interview with Darius Ko?odziejczyk Witold Gadowski, writer and journalist who specializes in the Middle East, poet and co-founder of the film “Insha Allah” . As noted, the existence of the Caliphate is beneficial both for the world powers, and criminal organizations.
    Dariusz KO?ODZIEJCZYK: A few months ago media bombarded readers with information about immigrants heading to Europe, showed photos from Hungary, where they attempted to breach the borders. Currently, apart from some websites, there is a silence. Have the immigrants change the objective of their journey, or perhaps it is a socio-technical procedure, which is to reassure the Europeans in a situation when “refugees” are continuously moving in our direction?
    Witold Gadowski: This is primarily a propaganda, but also social engineering. This is to allow to stiffle a topic dangerous for the European establishment, because I saw that the south of Italy is still flooded by refugees, similarly so is Greece. Nothing has changed, only the tone of communication media has changed.
    Not so long ago you stayed in Calabria in southern Italy. You have show that Calabrian mafia ‘Ndranghetaa has large share of trafficking immigrants to Europe. On the other hand, there are news that another criminal organization, Cosa Nostra declared war on the so called refugees. That is because Cosa Nostra is defending its territory and influence against gangs created by the so-called refugees . Media often quoted the chief of police in Palermo, Guido Longo, who claimed that we are dealing with the mafia’s attempt of an aggression against immigrants. What do you think, why there are such a different attitudes by the Italian criminal organizations in this case?
    There is no contradiction here. In recent times Cosa Nostran has been very weak, and indeed is engaged in the protection of their own territory. ‘Ndrangheta, who in my opinion is the most powerful criminal organization in Europe, is involved in the migrants smuggling and for taking money from them. However, Ndrangheta immediately push migrants out of the Calabria towards the north of Italy, for example to Milan. Refugees in Calabria must behave very pecefuly, otherwise they are killed. From time to time migrants’ dead bodies are founds, that’s why they stay only in the centers created specialy for them.
    Doesn’t members of the ‘Ndrangheta understand that soon, because of the increase in the number of migrants forming their own gangs and bent on confrontation with the Europeans, not only Italy, but also their own interests may be at risk?
    It should be stressed that this process has two faces, on the one side the Calabrian mafia derives profits from the smuggling of migrants, on the other hand it tries to make certain that they do not stay in the areas inhabited by the different clans. However , because we are dealing with criminal clans without a central leadership, which have their own interests, it is hard to expect logic and far-reaching perspective from them. Interestingly, Italian State fighting the ‘Ndrangheta takes its property and on that property they settle the refugees. And then there are clashes between ‘ Ndrangheta clans and the immigrants.
    Many politicians and commentators shows the Islamic State terror as the main reason for the influx of migrants to Europe. Don’t you not think that it is pretty naive thinking? If one takes into account the area where operates the Islamic State and the population density, somehow it is hard to imagine that these hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of immigrants came from those areas.
    Currently, the existence of the Islamic State is not the main reason for the present wave of immigrants. This is really a pretext used by all kinds of refugees, including Chechens who havnt suffered from ISIS terror. This migration is difficult to stop, once it has started and showed weakness of defence ??? Europe’s borders . It is difficult to stop people from Eritrea, Sudan, Afghanistan and the Maghreb countries, because they want to get to Europe.
    Dont’ you think that it is Western Europe and the United States who are really responsible for the current immigration situation? They in fact led to the destabilization of the Middle East by supporting “Arab Spring” in countries such as Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, or Syria?
    The main culprit is the United States and their policies during the final period of the George Bush Jr presidency and during Obama rule. That policy has led to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and sparked a domino effect, the collapse of successive Arab dictators. You have to remember that dictatorships constituted a protection barrier against a massive influx of people from the ??Arab countries to Europe. Destroying the countries whose authorities were often very cruel and which temselves – to put it mildly – were not perfect, destabilized the area. This resulted in a mass exodus of migrants to Europe. So the biggest culprit in this case is the United States, which since 2003 devastated the Middle East. However, we can not forget France, which contributed to the fall of Gaddafi and to the ruled by Gaddafi Libya. The United Kingdom participated in this process and to the lesser extend so did Germany
    The film “Insha Allah. Blood of Martyrs “, which you directed togeter with Michael King and Maciej Grabysa , shows that many countries depend on the existence of the Islamic State. These countries include Russia, Syria, but also Turkey, which after all is the NATO member state. Why existance of Islamic State suits Turkey, when its leaders so often speaks against it.
    Do you mean that in this way, under the guise of the war on ISIS, Turkey may lead a military operation against the Kurds, or are there other causes?
    First of all, the existence of the Islamic State legitimizes the processes occurring in Turkey that is taking over more and more power by president Erdogan and the islamist AKP party. In this way the system is created by Kemal Atatürk is being broken. Thanks to the activities of the Islamic State Turkey took the initiative in the Middle East and has become the most important real player in this area. It is expected that Turkey will seek to create a puppet state in northern Syria, which will will depend entirely on Turkey and will push out Kurds from this region. What’s more, responding to the accusations of Islamization of Turkey, Recep Erdogan may use rhetoric that he is an Islamist with a human face, and the bad Islamists are ISIS but not he. Padoxically, this situation is convenient for Iran, which expands its influence and at the same time is blocking Saudi Arabia. In fact for Saudi Arabia the existence of ISIS becomes less and less expedient, though it is the money from this country who financed the first groups of Islamic fanatics. As you can see the policy of Turkey is more sublime than the one of the Saud dynasty.
    Is a person with knowledge of the creation and functioning of the Islamic State, acquired, among others, during the production of the film, you think that some countries, for example Russia or the United States or the coalition of countries, can muster up the courage to aim decisive strike on ISIS? After all with the military superiority that have these states, the war would continue only for 2-3 weeks.
    If it was a classic military operation than the Islamic state would be destroyed, but here we have a dilema of ink droplets. If you hit the puddle of ink, the ink spatter will be very broad. And so it is in the case of the Islamic State. At the time it will be broken terrorist cells will come into being in other places. Islamic terrorism will take a different form. I think the analysts interviewed the United States, Great Britain come to the conclusion that the existence of the Islamic State is more favorable than his defeat. The reason is quite mundane, even for the United States. Many terrorists from around the world got together in one place and therefore it is easier to follow them and to monitor.
    For Russia the existance of ISIS allowed it to return to being a player in the Middle East, which is certainly a big diplomatic success. Without the existence of Islamic State it would not be possible. Russia has managed to save his ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who no longer awaits the fate of Saddam Hussein or Gaddafi. It’s hard to say what will happen in the future, because there are many factors that play the role and we do not know who will prevail. In my opinion, in the near future there will be assault on Mosul occupied by ISIS, but it may end up as a humanitarian disaster. Mosul is the place of 1.5 million people and the attack using aircraft and the artillery can end up with many casualties. The more so as the Islamists are ready to use suicide attacks, killing the hostages and putting explosives in residential buildings in Mosul.
    Perhaps in this case, the best solution would be to carry out a precise action with the use of special forces and killing leaders, as well as the most important field commanders ISIS, which would paralyze its functioning?
    Islamic State has duplicated its offices, functions. There is one ISIS Prime Minister in Syria, another in Iraq. French intelligence, which has good knowledge of Syria, have for a long time sounded an alarm that the system that duplication of positions and activities of many fanatical, intelligent leaders means that in place of the severed heads of the hydra there will grown back the new ones.
    Thank you for an interview.
    Interviewer – Dariusz Kolodziejczak
    http://niezlomni.com/gadowski-panstwo-islamskie-kropla-atramentu-uderzymy-rozpryski-rozsieja-sie-szeroko/

  34. Germany: Right-wing protesters march through Bautzen once again

    Tensions were running high in Bautzen on Friday evening, when right-wing protesters and left-wing activists came face to face once again.

    The town has seen a string of right-wing demonstrations in recent months. This time around 300 right-wing supporters marched and chanted “We are the people.” Around 120 people staged a counter-protest, but were kept away from the right-wing march by the police, to avoid an escalation. However, the atmosphere remained tense and, according to local reports, two journalists have reported right-wing protesters to the police for aggressive behaviour.

    Bautzen Mayor Alexander Ahrens has stated that he is tired of the right-wing protesters. However he also complained that it’s always the same people who stand up to right-wing extremists, and called for other residents to start fighting back as well. Around three weeks ago, violence erupted between a group of young refugees and right-wing extremists in Bautzen.

  35. Bulgaria: Right-wing ‘Migrant Hunter’ leads protest against refugees in Sofia

    Over one hundred protesters gathered in Sofia, Friday, to denounce what they consider to be an invasion of illegal immigrants into Bulgaria.

    Initiated by the right-wing group ‘National resistance,’ the protesters marched under the slogan ‘Bulgaria above all – let’s clear the Lion’s bridge from Islamists.’ The protesters accuse the Bulgarian government of selling the country for “blood money from Saudi Arabia, Soros and the Islamic State,” according to one of the protesters, Peter Nizamov, who is also known as the ‘migrant hunter.’

    During his speech Nizamov the ‘migrant hunter’ further stated that Bulgarians will now be forced to take refugees into their own homes. The protesters called for refugees to leave the country and stopped in front of a mosque in Sofia, blowing their whistles and booing.

    There was a heavy police presence before, during and after the protest. No escalations were reported. Similar events were held in several other cities in Bulgaria on Friday.

    SOT, Petar Nizamov, Bulgarian ‘migrant hunter’ (Bulgarian): “We are protesting here against the migrants. But they are not the biggest problem. We would resolve it in a few days if this country wasn’t ruled by traitors who sold us for blood money from Saudi Arabia, Soros and the Islamic State. Did you know that the Council of Ministers took a decision to force mayors of local Bulgarian municipalities to accept refugees in our homes. I repeat: into our own houses.”

  36. Greece: Dozens protest against refugee children going to schools in Thessaloniki

    Dozens of people marched in Oraiokastro, a suburb of Thessaloniki, Friday, to protest against refugee children attending local schools.

    The protesters, among them members of the far-right Golden Dawn party, marched waving Greek flags to Oraiokastro’s town hall, where speeches were held. A small number of counter protesters reportedly attempted to confront the marching group, but police managed to keep the two sides apart.

    The Greek government’s decision to grant refugee children permission to attend schools from the beginning of October, has ran into intense opposition, in many cases from parents in a number of communities near refugee camps in northern Greece.

  37. Turkey: Turkish soldiers to remain in Iraq says Turkish PM Yildirim

    The Prime Minister of Turkey Binali Yildirim defended the Turkish military intervention in Iraq, and said their soldiers were there to stay, despite criticism from officials in Baghdad. Yildirim was speaking to journalists in Ankara on Friday, where he commented on the Iraqi parliament’s description of Turkish troops as an “occupying force.”

    SOT, Binali Yildirim, Prime Minister of Turkey (Turkish): “The soldiers fulfil their duties. So, our soldiers are on duty there. Our soldiers there are engaged in a fight with the headache of the world – Daesh. We are not the only ones engaged in this fight in Iraq and Syria. All the countries are engaged in the same fight – the United Nations are engaged, coalition forces make it, the USA, Russia and around 60 countries contribute to this fight. Many countries – not even having physical or emotional relations with Iraq – have their special forces and soldiers there. They keep conducting this fight in the name of humanity. Hence, I find this and similar declarations from Baghdad extremely dangerous and provocative. That is, our soldiers didn’t go there just today. They have been there for a long time and are fulfilling very meaningful and useful work. We have neither a pretension for Iraqi territory nor a hostile approach towards Iraq. We carry the responsibility to stop the clashes and to ensure peace in the region. The government of Baghdad instead of being obsessed with those thoughts, should do something – if they have the power for that – against the terrorist organisation, which they have fed at their chest for years and which has been a big pain for Turkey. They should do that first and then talk.”

  38. Germany: Causes of the refugee crisis must be better addressed – Merkel

    Speaking at her party youth wing organisation’s event in Berlin on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany had managed to reduce the number of refugees arriving in the country by ensuring better conditions for migrants in countries closer to their point of departure.

    SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): “What happened last year, Wolfgang Schauble called a ‘rendez-vous with globalization.’ And at that time we first really understood, that what happens on our doorstep in the outer borders of Europe, in Cyprus, Syria and its neighbours, a terrible civil war takes place, whose pictures move us from evening to evening, where we work with all our might, and in the end it lasts far too long to reach a ceasefire, and I appeal wherever I am for Russia, rightly, to assume its responsibility over the Assad regime. When we see the pictures from Aleppo, we also know why people escaped, but to combat the reasons for escaping means, on the one hand, naturally, working to bring civil wars to an end, to bring a ceasefire, so that a political solution can be found.”

    SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): “It cannot be illegal immigration, it cannot be [via] human traffickers and smugglers. It cannot be that, having started, one finds themselves in great danger along the way, but rather we must reduce the number of those who come to us illegally, we need to concentrate on those who really need our help, who really need protection, and we need to combat the reasons for their fleeing and we need to give a chance to those people to have a humane existense close to their homeland.”

    SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): “Today I would like to say that we have already achieved one of those [aims]. We have reduced the number of people arriving to us. We have done something in Jordan, in Lebanon, in Turkey, so that the refugees who arrive to these countries are better off, and we help them; but, however, a lot remains to be done.”

  39. Judicial Watch: Federal Contractor Tells Local Official to Keep Syria Refugee Plans Secret

    ‘If we open it up to anybody and everybody, all sorts of people will come out of the woodwork’ — Amila Merdzanovic, executive director, Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program

    Second Group Helping to Resettle Syrian Refugees in Rutland, Vermont Received 91% of its Funding from Government Grants

    (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released 128 pages of documents it obtained from the mayor of Rutland, Vermont, showing a concerted effort by the mayor and a number of private organizations to conceal from the public their plans to resettle 100 Syrian refugees into the small southern Vermont town.

    The documents include an April 14, 2016, email from Amila Merdzanovic, executive director of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, to Mayor Christopher Louras, in which she wrote:

    I want to share with you the concern my HQ has about holding a public forum. If we open it up to anybody and everybody, all sorts of people will come out of woodwork. Anti-immigrant, anti-anything. They suggest that the forum be invite only but make it as wide as possible. Work with faith leaders, United Way, etc… Perhaps, we could go back to the Congregational Church and continue the conversation there.

    The mayor and resettlement organizations shrouded the plan in such secrecy that not even the town’s aldermen were informed of what was taking place behind closed doors. The aldermen eventually wrote to the U.S. Department of State protesting the plan and opened an investigation into the mayor’s actions. The State Department has not yet ruled on whether it will resettle refugees in Rutland despite the aldermen’s protest.

    Handwritten notes state that the issue was, “Not what can ‘we’ do for ‘them,’ but what the diversity, cultural richness do for the community.” The documents contain detailed discussions of what Rutland will need to provide for the refugees – including housing, jobs, medical care, and places for worship.

    Judicial Watch received the documents in response to a Vermont Public Records Law request to the office of Mayor Christopher Louras.

    Merdzanovic later told the Boston Globe that the hidden talks were “the right thing to do — to move slowly, keep it to a small circle of people, and then expand.”

    On April 10, 2016, she wrote to the director of the State Refugee Office about her coordination with the mayor to keep the resettlement program secret:

    He did share with me that the Governor’s office called him after getting a frantic call from DOL [Vermont Department of Labor] inquiring about the plan to resettle ‘100 Syrians in the next month’ in Rutland. Again, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of not sharing the information even if it is confidentially. Please respect our process, you will have plenty of opportunity to share and take action once we have met with the stakeholders. At that point we can and will share it widely. It will not serve any one of us well if the community in Rutland learned about it through the grapevine and not directly from us. The above example shows that what people hear and how they interpret it is two different things.

    A May 3 document shows Hal Cohen, secretary of the agency for human services, introducing a meeting: “Vermont gains from diversity – new ideas, delicious food (laughs) …” A set of April meeting notes by the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants stated: “Refugees can bring global perspectives and expertise … direct knowledge about history and world events (unfiltered by media) … synergize energy & momentum with youth.”

    The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit based in Virginia, is the parent organization of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program working with the mayor’s office. According to its financial statements the Committee received $46,560,462 of its $50,858,706 (or 91.45%) for fiscal year 2015 from “government grants.”

    Local opponents of the refugee plans wanted a public vote on the proposal and transparency on the refugee settlement plan.

    In December 2015, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. State Department to obtain documents about the Obama administration’s plan to resettle Syrian refugees across the country. Judicial Watch is investigating the Obama administration’s Refugee and Resettlement program, which plans to bring an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States in 2016, and even more in 2017. Obama is pressing ahead with his plan even though 129 people were killed and 350 were wounded by Syrian-trained terrorists recently in Paris. The Obama administration is working in conjunction with The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to settle these individuals all across the U.S. The federal government contracts with non-profits and other entities to settle and provide financial payments to refugees.

    “Americans should be concerned that the Obama administration is funneling at least $46 million in tax dollars to a shady operation that encourages elected officials to cover up Obama’s Syrian refugee scheme,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

    http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-federal-contractor-tells-local-official-keep-syria-refugee-plans-secret/