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Greece can’t ignore ‘migrant responsibility’ EU moves to lift border controls across bloc (express, Dec 8, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741091/EU-Greece-cannot-ignore-migrant-asylum-seekers-refugee
“GREECE must resume taking in migrants after a five-year hiatus in a bid to lift border controls across the bloc, European Union (EU) chiefs are set to say.
Within a 17-page report to be released today, the Commission will demand Greece ensures all asylum seekers are treated with “respect” in accordance with European law as they force Greece to start taking back migrants from March next year.
For the last six years, Greece has been excused from the European Union’s “Dublin Agreement” created in 1990, forcing member countries who are the first point of entry for migrants seeking asylum to process their application.
The European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights allowed the treaty to be waived in 2011 in Greece as the country’s asylum facilities were in an unacceptable condition as Greek authorities struggled to cope with the massive influx.
Commissioners are imposing the timeline as part of a bid to lift border controls in many EU countries which were imposed as members reacted to the migrant crisis which has caused the suspension of the Schengen zone which allows visa-free travel across countries.
Countries including Austria, Hungary, Germany and Denmark all imposed border controls to stop refugees entering and are only likely to lift them if they can send asylum seekers back to the European Union country they arrived in.
Greece will not be forced to take in “vulnerable applicants” and “unaccompanied minors”.
The new EU report obtained by Politico said: “It is recommended that the transfer of asylum applicants to Greece should be resumed.”
Although Greek conditions have not substantially improved since 2011, European officials have said migrant transfers between EU countries and Turkey have dramatically slowed down, so Athens must help.
An official for the European Commission said: “In terms of quality many of the reception facilities in Greece still fall short of the requirements.
“Many of the reception centres are not only overcrowded, but have substandard material conditions in terms of sanitation and hygiene.
“Moreover, overall coordination of the organisation of reception in Greece appears to be deficient.”
Commission officials added there will be plans for other EU countries to accept at least 2,000 migrants from Greece before the end of the year, in order to accelerate the relocation procedure.
Earlier this year, the EU promised to send £2.56billion to Turkey and visa-free EU travel for Turkish people in return for taking back a large number of Syrian migrants who attempted to seek asylum in Greece.
However, one EU official said only 748 migrants have been returned from Greece to Turkey since the agreement started in March.
And only a two-thirds of the funding has been designated to Turkey, with under a third handed to Turkey much to the Government’s anger.
An official said: “The Commission is making all necessary efforts to ensure an acceleration of disbursements.”
Interior ministers will meet on Friday to discuss further arrangements for asylum seekers, including a controversial permanent relocation plan to react to unusually high levels of refugee arrivals.
Next week EU leaders will meet where they will discuss the Dublin Agreement.”
“Greece can’t ignore ‘migrant responsibility’ EU moves to lift border controls across bloc”
Hokay. Not content with slitting their wrists, the EU Liberals are now going for their own jugular. What could possibly go wrong?!?
Jihadi gone! ISIS convoy caught in dramatic ambush as cowardly fighters flee Mosul (express, Dec 8, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/740793/ISIS-convoy-destroyed-Iraq-flee-Mosul-Sinjar-Syria-militants
Muslim leaders tell children to turn off Peppa Pig for ‘Islamic promoting’ alternative (express, Dec 8, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741128/peppa-pig-muslims-leaders-barakah-hills-sheikh-shady-alsuleiman-subhi-alshaik-islam-values
“MUSLIM leaders have urged parents to ditch the popular British television show Peppa Pig in favour of an Islamic alternative.
The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) want children to switch over and watch a show which promotes the “principles, ethics and values” of Islam.
The council is supporting One4Kids, a Sydney-based production company which makes Islamic kids shows, including Barakah Hills – which has been billed as the Muslim alternative for the hit TV show Peppa Pig.
Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman helped start a fundraising campaign to tell the story of the Abdullah family in the small town of Barakah Hills, an area with a mostly Muslim population.
The programme is labelled as “one of our many Peppa Pig alternatives”.
The One4Kids Facebook post added: “Barakah Hills represents an ideal Muslim community and is targeted to a post-toddler, pre-school demographic of children.
“The show’s main objective is to show children what it is like to be a practising Muslim as well as a good citizen in their community.
“Children will learn everything from how to have good manners, to how to get actively involved with community projects.”
One user commented that Peppa Pig was “very rude” and attacked the shows “moral values”.
The Facebook comment read: “Peppa pig is very rude. Yes please create a cartoon that teaches kids good moral values i.e sharing, neighbour rights, when it is time for prayer, they should stop everything and go and pray five times.
“No lying, no hitting, no shouting, getting dressed, obey parents, fasting. Everything that features the life of a Muslim.”
One4Kids producer Subhi Alshaik told the BBC: “I’m a fan of Peppa Pig like many people are… Muslim, non-Muslim, pig haters, pig lovers.
“We thought, maybe we should produce an alternative that is about everyday life. Why not have a show that is similar to Peppa Pig?”
Subhi Alshaik claimed Peppa Pig was a “great show” but argued he had heard the show was bad for children as it taught them “to be snobs”.”
BREAKING: Front National’s Marine le Pen calls to BAN free education for foreign children (express, Dec 8, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741213/Marine-Le-Pen-end-free-education-foreign-children
“MARINE le Pen has called for an end to free education for foreign children in France.
The head of the Front National made the controversial call at a speech in Paris just a month into her presidential campaign.
Ms Le Pen said she had nothing against foreigners, but added: ”But I tell them: if you come to our country don’t expect to be taken care of, to be looked after, that your children will be educated without charge.
“No more playtime.”
Next year the French will head to the ballot boxes to choose who will replace François Hollande as president.
Ms Le Pen will be going up against Republican François Fillon and current left-wing Prime Minister Manuel Valls, with the first pair expected to be the last two standing.
She has sculpted her party into an anti-immigrant, anti-EU party since taking over from her more extreme father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011…”
All nations need to start pushing policies like this, the citizens on any nations shouldn’t be expected to support the children of people who enter their nations illegally.
Here is a link to Ann Coulter’s latest column
http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2016-12-07.html#read_more
Here is one of the more interesting sentences in the article:
It’s already the law that citizenship is not acquired by being born on U.S. soil to an illegal alien. (No Congress has ever passed such a law, nor has the Supreme Court ruled that they are.)
This needs to be looked into by conservative politicians in all nations and enforced if this is on the books in any nation.
How to turn “anchor” babies into millstone babies.
If the new Attorney General will take a look at that we may be able to remove a lot more of the Mexican invaders.
EU: Little Progress From Turkey on Visa Conditions (abcnews, Dec 8, 2016)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-progress-turkey-visa-conditions-44055837
“The European Union says Turkey has made virtually no progress on meeting conditions to earn visa free travel for its citizens, a key part of their deal to prevent refugees reaching Europe.
The European Commission said Thursday that “seven benchmarks remain to be met by Turkey,” the same number as in the last progress report published in September.
Turkey has demanded visa waiver status this year, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to open the floodgates for migrants to leave if the EU reneges on its promises.
The European Commission insists that it’s up to Turkey to respect conditions that both sides have agreed upon.
A main sticking point is the requirement for Turkey to change its terrorism definitions so that journalists and Erdogan opponents aren’t locked up indiscriminately.
But with bombings by the Islamic State group and Kurdish separatists a regular occurrence, Turkey’s government can’t afford to give any impression that it might be watering down anti-terror laws.
Still, EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said both sides “are continuing, in an engaged and committed dialogue, to find solutions on all remaining benchmarks.”
Thursday’s progress report means that Turkey is unlikely to be granted the visa waiver this year, and is certain to further ratchet up public tensions between Ankara and Brussels…”
Nigel Farage launches astonishing attack on Angela Merkel after burka U-turn (express, Dec 8, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741222/Nigel-Farage-attack-Angela-Merkel-burka-EU
“NIGEL FARAGE has blasted German Chancellor Angela Merkel for “pretending to play the tough lady” in a desperate bid for reelection.
The former Ukip leader could barely contain his anger at Mrs Merkel as he attacked her following her shock announcement she would seek to ban the full-face veil in Germany “wherever possible”.
Speaking on a US radio station the 52-year-old described Mrs Merkel as “loathsome” and once again condemned her decision to allow nearly a million migrants to enter Germany last year.
“What I find absolutely loathsome are professional career politicians like Merkel who made the worst foreign policy decision any leader in the western world has made since 1945,” he told the Sean Hannity radio show.
“By saying regardless of who you are, where you come from, without vetting you can come in unlimited numbers, we saw things…”
He then directly blamed the German Chancellor, who is one of the biggest supporters of the EU project, for the mass sex attacks which took place in Germany almost exactly a year ago.
He continued: “Let’s not forget what happened at Cologne train station on New Years Eve last year.
“If listeners don’t know this story then brace yourselves because it’s pretty shocking.
“We saw the mass open sexual assault on hundreds of women in a public place outside a German train station. Caused directly by what Mrs Merkel had done.”
A federal Criminal Police Office report confirmed that most of the attackers in the incident arrived in Germany during the European migrant crises.
Nigel Farage continued his attack on Angela Merkel, urging the German people not to forget her errors when they come to vote in the German elections next year….”
British spy chief says Islamic State plotting attacks as Russia makes ‘desert’ of Syria (reuters, Dec 8, 2016)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-security-idUSKBN13X1CX
“Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria are plotting attacks against the United Kingdom and her allies as Russia tries to destroy President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents by making a desert out of the country, Britain’s foreign intelligence chief said.
In his first major public speech since winning the top job at the Secret Intelligence Service in 2014, Alex Younger said the United Kingdom was facing an unprecedented threat from terrorism including 12 foiled plots since June 2013.
“As I speak, the highly organized external attack planning structures within Daesh (IS), even as they face military threat, are plotting ways to project violence against the UK and our allies without ever having to leave Syria,” Younger said at MI6’s Vauxhall Cross headquarters in central London.
Younger said Russia and Assad were preventing victory over Islamic State and the end to the civil war by casting all opponents of Assad as terrorists.
“Russia and the Syrian regime seek to make a desert and call it peace. The human tragedy is heart-breaking,” Younger said. “We cannot be safe from the threats that emanate from that land unless the civil war is brought to an end.”…”
robot wars Russian special forces take out ISIS terror boss with the help of machine gun-toting robot
Rustan Aselderov – known as Abu Muhammad – was fatally injured during the shootout in Dagestan
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2356121/russian-special-forces-take-out-isis-terror-boss-with-the-help-of-machine-gun-toting-robot/
Richard: This is going to happen more and more, as long as the robots are under human control it isn’t a matter for concern, it is when they are autonomous that the potential for problems occur.
Trump ignores Gore’s advice, instead picks skeptic to head EPA & dismantle climate agenda
‘Trump listened to what Gore had to say at their New York City meeting and then he exercised his good judgement and did the exact opposite.’
http://www.climatedepot.com/2016/12/07/trump-ignores-gores-advice-instead-picks-skeptic-to-head-epa-dismantle-climate-agenda/
Boris Johnson’s Saudi ‘proxy wars’ comment ‘not UK’s view’ (BBC, Dec 8, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38248316
“Downing Street has said Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s comments on Saudi Arabia do not represent “the government’s position”.
Footage has emerged from an event last week at which Mr Johnson said UK ally Saudi Arabia was engaging in “proxy wars” in the Middle East.
The PM’s spokeswoman said these were the foreign secretary’s personal views.
She said a forthcoming visit to the region would give him a chance to set out the UK’s position on Saudi Arabia.
Mr Johnson’s comments were made at a conference in Rome last week but only emerged after the The Guardian newspaper published footage of the event.
In it the foreign secretary said: “There are politicians who are twisting and abusing religion and different strains of the same religion in order to further their own political objectives.
“That’s one of the biggest political problems in the whole region. And the tragedy for me – and that’s why you have these proxy wars being fought the whole time in that area – is that there is not strong enough leadership in the countries themselves.”
‘Awkward comments’
Mr Johnson told the Med 2 conference: “There are not enough big characters, big people, men or women, who are willing to reach out beyond their Sunni or Shia or whatever group to the other side and bring people together and to develop a national story again.
“That is what’s lacking. And that’s the tragedy,” he said, adding that “visionary leadership” was needed in the region.
He went on: “That’s why you’ve got the Saudis, Iran, everybody, moving in and puppeteering and playing proxy wars.”
The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Landale said the emergence of the comments would be “awkward if not embarrassing for the foreign secretary”.
“Once again Mr Johnson’s use of language is causing headlines that his diplomats will need to explain,” our correspondent said.
Downing Street’s comment came as Prime Minister Theresa May returned from a visit to the Gulf where she had dinner with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
Her spokeswoman said that Mrs May wanted to strengthen the relationship with Saudi Arabia, saying, “we are supporting the Saudi-led coalition in support of the legitimate government in Yemen against Houthi rebels”.
She said: “Those are the prime minister’s views – the foreign secretary’s views are not the government’s position on, for example, Saudi Arabia and its role in the region.”
Robert Lacey, a historian and author of the Kingdom and the House of Saud, said that while he agreed with Mr Johnson’s comments, he questioned whether he should be saying them about an ally.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he believed it was a gaffe and that Mr Johnson was acting more like a journalist.”
Trump’s EPA Pick Spooks Liberals and the Environmental Lobby
Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt is a sharp critic of Obama’s executive overreach on energy.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/trumps-epa-pick-spooks-liberals-and-the-environmental-lobby/article/2005733
The libs are freaking out because he has fought against Obama’s illegal Executive Orders and will work to roll back the regulations established by those orders. This the real goo news, the good news is thanks to the Dems removing the filibuster from Presidential appointments to his Cabinet the Dems can’t stop any of his picks. Their juvienile temper tantrums no longer have the power to block the appointment of adults to positions where they can reverse the Marxist policies and regulations.
Trump picks retired combat leader for Homeland Security
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head Homeland Security is a blunt-talking retired Marine general who would become part of a small but influential team of former military officers with powerful influence over security policy in the next administration.
John Kelly is a widely respected combat leader who served as an enlisted Marine before becoming an officer and retiring this year after more than 40 years in the service.
“There could be no better choice,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a Marine who served in Iraq. “Marines get stuff done.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/12/07/trump-picks-retired-combat-leader-homeland-security/95104598/
Trump hires a third general, raising concerns about heavy military influence
President-elect Donald Trump has selected retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly as secretary of homeland security, officials familiar with the decision said Wednesday, recruiting a third former member of the military’s brass to serve at the highest levels of his administration.
Trump’s choice of Kelly — and his continued deliberations about tapping as many as two more military figures for other posts — has intensified worries among some members of Congress and national security experts that the new administration’s policies may be shaped disproportionately by military commanders.
“I’m concerned,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. “Each of these individuals may have great merit in their own right, but what we’ve learned over the past 15 years is that when we view problems in the world through a military lens, we make big mistakes.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-hires-a-third-general-raising-concerns-about-heavy-military-influence/2016/12/07/a6273fbc-bca0-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.e52fc1dbcea8
The view wasn’t through a military lens but through a political lens, the Dems always interfere with the military and them blame the military when the plans the politicians forced on the military fail.
“…Dems always interfere with the military and then blame the military when the plans the politicians forced on the military fail.”
Welcome to the world of Politically Correct war. Yeah, sure, (just like in
KoreaVietnamAfghanistanIraqSyriaHollyweird) our troops can dependably shoot the gun out of the villain’s hand without any icky, nasty, morally conflicting bloodshed. No need to cruelly target the enemy’s center-mass, merelywaste precious rounds and secondswhile aiming for an appendage and everything will work out just fine.Remember, be sure to remove your combat boots before entering that
weapons dumpmosque. Oh, and no bomb-sniffing dogs allowed either. Got that?[vomiting sounds]
Next time don’t whitewash the situation.
German Authorities Turn a Blind Eye to Child Sexual Abuse (sputniknews, Dec 8, 2016)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201612081048318106-german-authorities-sexual-abuse/
“The latest pedophilia scandal involving the Berlin Senate shows that the topic of child abuse remains very urgent. At the same time, the lack of interest among politicians and unwillingness of authorities to undertake concrete actions poses a serious obstacle to the resolution of this complex problem.
A recent study revealed that in the 1970s, the Berlin Senate had financed a project in which homeless teens were deliberately sent to pedophile men who were employed as their foster fathers and took care of them.
In particular, the researchers found links to the Odenwald School, a boarding school where the Berlin Senate sent underage boys, many of whom are assumed to have later become subject to sexual abuse.
The Senate is now set to investigate the issue, but so far no concrete steps have been made.
“This is not an issue of the past,” said Christine Bergmann, former Minister for Family Affairs and now a member of the Independent Commission on Sexual Child Abuse.
The Commission, which was founded about a year ago, deals with all forms of sexual abuse of children in Germany.
However, Norbert Denef, head of Network of Victims of Sexual Violence who himself was sexually abused when he was a child, said that the Commission lacks the power and political will to conduct a proper inquiry.
“The concealment of abuse scandals is systematic and there is a lack of political will to really work it all out,” Denef told Sputnik Germany. “This commission is politically authorized only to listen to the victims’ stories, it doesn’t actually work on them,” he stated.
Denef himself has already had experience with the work of the Commission. The Commission refused to take his case, when he requested permission to record the proceedings.
Its members said that they were further interested in his story, but recording of any conversation is not permitted.
Denef is annoyed about the unwillingness or inability of the Commission to take concrete steps toward solving the cases of child abuse in Germany.
“We have always been listening to stories over the last six years.
The therapeutic world has been listening to such stories for decades.
This is, from our point of view, a restraining tactic, according to which they again “only” listen,” Denef argued, adding that “something is being done, but nothing actually happens.”
One of the main problems, according to Denef, could be the fact that the Commission is actually powerless to solve such cases. It doesn’t receive access to many relevant files. Moreover, there are also problems with financing.
According to preliminary data, the Commission will have around 1.4 million euro available by 2019. With this money, it can hold only about 500 hearings, which won’t be enough given the fact that some 415 people have already applied for a confidential hearing.”
Russia Tests Nuclear-Capable Drone Sub
Unmanned underwater vehicle a strategic threat
Russia conducted a test of a revolutionary nuclear-capable drone submarine that poses a major strategic threat to U.S. ports and harbors.
U.S. intelligence agencies detected the test of the unmanned underwater vehicle, code-named Kanyon by the Pentagon, during its launch from a Sarov-class submarine on Nov. 27, said Pentagon officials familiar with reports of the test.
No details were available about the location or results of the test.
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis declined to comment. “We closely monitor Russian underwater military developments, but we will not comment specifically about them,” Davis said.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russia-tests-nuclear-capable-drone-sub/
China ‘needs more nuclear weapons to deal with Trump’: Government mouthpiece newspaper says extra defence is required should US treat Beijing ‘unacceptably’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4012440/China-build-nuclear-arms-prepare-Trump-media.html#ixzz4SG3oKFmh
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Welcome to the new arms race. They are trying to scare us into changing leaders before Trump is sworn in, they really don’t have a firm grasp on who our system works.
war games Iran opens chilling kid’s war-based theme park with military checkpoints and AK47s
Children dress up in full combat gear and pretend to be attacking enemies like Israel and the West
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2357311/iran-opens-chilling-kids-war-based-theme-park-with-military-checkpoints-and-ak47s/
THE Iranian government has opened a sinister kids’ war-based theme park which instead of roller-coasters and roundabouts has military checkpoints and AK47s.
The City of Games for Revolutionary Children park lets youngsters dress up in full combat gear and pretend to be attacking Iran’s enemies like Israel and the West.
Are they trying to recreate the Spartans or the Assassins? Either way those kids will be real scary by the time they are teenagers and in their early 20s.
Risking Beijing’s ire, Vietnam begins dredging on South China Sea reef
SYDNEY/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Vietnam has begun dredging work on a disputed reef in the South China Sea, satellite imagery shows, the latest move by the Communist state to bolster its claims in the strategic waterway.
Activity visible on Ladd Reef in the Spratly Islands could anger Hanoi’s main South China Sea rival, Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the group and most of the resource-rich sea.
Ladd Reef, on the south-western fringe of the Spratlys, is completely submerged at high tide but has a lighthouse and an outpost housing a small contingent of Vietnamese soldiers. The reef is also claimed by Taiwan.
In an image taken on Nov. 30 and provided by U.S.-based satellite firm Planet Labs, several vessels can be seen in a newly dug channel between the lagoon and open sea.
While the purpose of the activity cannot be determined for certain, analysts say similar dredging work has been the precursor to more extensive construction on other reefs.
http://www.oann.com/exclusive-risking-beijings-ire-vietnam-begins-dredging-on-south-china-sea-reef/
The Philippines, China, Nam and Taiwan all claim the entire Spratly Island group, traditionally it has been considered part of the Philippines but under the Obama administration the US stopped backing the Philippine claim and told them they were on their own. This is one of the reasons China is saying they want more nukes to defend against PET, they are afraid that he will once again make it US policy to back the Philippines historical claims to the Spratly Islands.
International law (treaties) don’t recognize artificial islands (soil, coral and sand dredged up and placed around a reef to build an island. China has been doing this on several reefs in the Spratlys and has then been building military air fields and bases on the new islands, there are reports on China building a small fleet of ships with nuclear power plants to provide electricity for the military bases.
The Spratly Islands are at one of the choke points into the South China Sea, they are near a deep water channel into the South China Sea and control of that channel would give China control of who sails in that region and what cargo they deliver. There many nations in that region that have to get all of their overseas through the South China sea. The total value of the trade moving through the South China Sea is multiple 10s of trillions of dollars of goods. China has made some comments that they want to charge passage fees into and out of “their”.
It should end their sea.
Merkel’s Bavarian allies praise tougher migrant stance but say it’s not enough
BERLIN (Reuters) – The Bavarian party allied to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat Union (CDU) on Thursday welcomed the CDU’s tougher stance on the integration of migrants but urged it to go further to restrict arrivals and up deportations.
The CDU and Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU) together form the conservative faction in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, but the two parties are at odds over how to deal with last year’s record migrant influx to Germany of 890,000 people.
Their rift persists as the CDU wants to improve relations with the CSU ahead of a 2017 election and regain support lost to the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD).
In a hardening of her stance on migrants’ integration in Germany, Merkel this week called for a ban on full-face Muslim veils “wherever legally possible” and the CDU passed a resolution on tackling forced marriage and honor killings, and cracking down on dual citizenship.
“The overall development is good,” CSU leader Horst Seehofer told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
http://www.oann.com/merkels-bavarian-allies-praise-tougher-migrant-stance-but-say-its-not-enough/
Iraq airstrike kills more than 100 civilians in Al-Qaim (memo, Dec 8, 2016)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161208-iraq-airstrike-kills-more-than-100-civilians-in-al-qaim/
“Iraq’s parliament speaker called for a government inquiry today into Iraqi airstrikes on a western border town which has now killed more than 100 civilians and wounded tens of others in what has been described as a “massacre” by Iraqis.
Hospital sources and local parliamentarians said three airstrikes killed well over a hundred civilians, a large proportion of which were women and children, yesterday in a market district of the Daesh-held town of Al-Qaim, close to the border with Syria…”
Muslim girls must take swimming lessons alongside boys, German court rules (telegraph, Dec 8, 2016)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/08/muslim-girls-must-take-swimming-lessons-alongside-boys-german/
“Muslim girls must take part in swimming lessons alongside boys, Germany’s highest court has ruled, just days after Angela Merkel called for a partial burka ban.
The country’s constitutional court ruled that Muslim schoolgirls must take part in mixed swimming lessons together with boys.
If girls object on religious grounds, they can wear burkinis, the court said.
The case was brought by an 11-year-old Muslim girl of Moroccan descent living in Frankfurt, after she was given an “unsatisfactory” grade because she refused to take part in school swimming lessons.
The girl, who cannot be named under child protection laws, argued she was entitled to refuse to take part in the lessons on religious grounds.
But the court ruled that schools have a duty to encourage “social behaviour” and are entitled the make the lessons compulsory, and that mixed swimming lessons are “not a serious impairment of religious freedom”.
While some other pupils at the school chose to wear burkinis to the lessons, the girl who brought the case refused, arguing the costume did not provide sufficient coverage.
She also claimed she was offended by the sight of boys and men in swimming costumes, and called for the lessons to be single-sex.
But the court found that she failed to give a “reasonable case for why the burkini does not conform to Islamic dress codes”.
The judges referred to her own arguments in court, saying she had testified that there are “no binding rules in Islam” about swimwear.
The burkini does not reveal the contours of a woman or girl’s body when wet, they said.
They said she had failed to give an adequate explanation for why she was unable to look away if the sight of partially clad men and boys offended her.
The court’s apparent endorsement of the burkini comes just two days after Angela Merkel added her voice to calls for a partial ban on the burka in German public life…”
Looks like some twisted reasoning on all sides to me.
This one is thought provoking and should be read, all three of the problems she is talking about are in their infancy but need to be stopped right now. All thee will take freedom away from the individuals and give power over people to either programmers working for private companies or government bureaucrats.
Three ‘inevitable’ trends in human affairs worth breaking everything to interdict
By J.E. Dyer December 7, 2016
My thinking about reconstituting some key elements of our current civilizational order is in its infancy. So what I write here will be neither comprehensive nor fully developed.
But it’s typical, from what I can tell, to see the emergency clearly before being certain what to do about it. And there are some emergencies already presenting themselves, as well as others emerging, in distant outline, on the horizon.
I’ve written before about breaking the current paradigm of the Internet. What’s behind the emergence of these three other trends is even more fundamental. No status quo or form of “peace” is worth paying the price of them in human life.
We may even find out that the global upheavals that seem likely in the coming years have the beneficial effect of removing the conditions that make such trends seem inevitable, or even desirable (to some people), or possible.
http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/12/07/three-inevitable-trends-human-affairs-worth-breaking-everything-interdict/
Insurers use California’s assisted-suicide law to deny treatment for terminal patients
About one-year ago, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state’s assisted-suicide bill into law. It fully went into effect this June, with the opening of the first clinic. While there is no data on the number of California assisted-suicides, Oregon recorded over 130 last year as part of their legalized physician-assisted death program.
Now, one young mother says her insurance company denied her coverage for chemotherapy treatment after originally agreeing to provide the fiscal support for it, but indicated it would be willing to pay for assisted suicide instead.
http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/10/insurers-use-californias-assisted-suicide-law-to-deny-treatment-for-terminal-patients/
The danger to this one can’t be overstated, this is a slippery slope to the government deciding how long we are suppose to live. Once you reach a certain age report to the termination center. A lot of Science Fiction stories, books and movies addressed this subject and were against it, now it is occurring in real life.
CANADA – Trump’s torture view may change secrets sharing with Canada: spy watchdog executive
The civil servant in charge of the government’s spy-watchdog agency says Canada may have to reconsider how it shares intelligence with the United States if president-elect Donald Trump makes good on his promise to torture terrorists to gather intelligence.
The federal official also remarked that had former U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden worked for Canadian intelligence and leaked secrets, “he should be shot,” but quickly backed off the opinion.
Michael Doucet, the executive director of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, made the off-the-cuff remarks to a small audience in Toronto last week. An audio recording of his talk was provided to The Globe and Mail by a student journalist from the Eyeopener, a campus newspaper at Ryerson University, which was the venue for the talk.
For 1 1/2 hours, the former intelligence analyst held forth on intelligence issues.
Members of SIRC rarely make unscripted or unguarded remarks publicly because they are sworn to secrecy about their work reviewing the highly classified spying operations of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
When contacted on Wednesday, Mr. Doucet acknowledged he made the comments, but said he was not expecting them to be recorded.
In recent weeks, the Liberal government has tried not to make remarks that could irritate or prejudge the incoming Trump administration. On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump unequivocally promised a return to brass-knuckles techniques for U.S. intelligence agencies, which may no longer want to use them.
“Don’t tell me it doesn’t work – torture works,” Mr. Trump once said, adding that he would personally authorize it.
His nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director has defended the so-called “extraordinary interrogation techniques” U.S. spies used under past administrations. “These men and women are not torturers, they are patriots,” Representative Mike Pompeo has said.
Should the CIA revert to practices such as simulated drowning techniques known as “waterboarding,” it could cause problems for CSIS and other Canadian agencies.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how this evolves in the U.S. in the next four years, because I think there is a game changer going on down there,” Mr. Doucet said at Ryerson. “How do we react with them? Because we think torture is a bad thing. … We don’t want information derived from torture.
“They may have a new administration that thinks torture is a good thing. … It’s going to be an interesting and challenging time, and we’ve got to think about what defines us as Canadians.”
Harking back to his years when he worked for Canada’s signals-intelligence agency – the Communications Security Establishment – Mr. Doucet told the audience intelligence-sharing is vast, and alliances are important. He pointed out that in the mid-2000s, he was CSE’s embedded liaison officer at the U.S. National Security Agency.
“For every dollar we invest in intelligence, the Americans are investing hundreds,” he said.
An audience member asked Mr. Doucet what he thought of Mr. Snowden, the fugitive former intelligence contractor who leaked vast amounts of NSA documents, and what his fate would be had he been Canadian.
“Do you want my opinion on that? Do you really want it? I’ll give it to you. If Edward Snowden had worked for CSIS, and did what he did, he should be shot.”
Mr. Doucet clarified that he was being provocative, and would like to see Mr. Snowden put on trial. But he said he does not accept arguments that Mr. Snowden had to leak the NSA documents because he believed they contained evidence of illegality and had no other way of bringing that to light.
“My point that I’m not making very well is that if he worked for CSIS, there are all the mechanisms there, as there were in the states, to raise the issues that he felt needed to be raised,” Mr. Doucet said. “… If he really cared about the U.S., the U.S. system, he would have exhausted every avenue … he would not have released so much information that would have placed Americans, allies and others in risk of harm.”
During his talk, Mr. Doucet highlighted that Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale recently called SIRC a “whistleblower” agency.
That followed a Federal Court ruling this fall, when judges responding to a SIRC report accused CSIS officials of “breaching their duty of candour” in their applications for surveillance warrants by not revealing what they do with the data.
One broad theme of Mr. Doucet’s talk was that CSIS and its foreign counterparts are veering far from their roots of building cases with intelligence from informants by increasingly using technological surveillance instead.
“I would argue that our ‘human-intelligence’ operations are becoming ‘signals-intelligence’ organizations. The Big Data is out there. They are looking at it,” Mr. Doucet said. “They run the risk of not doing the right thing or embarking on illegal activities. And we have to pay attention to that.”
He called the Federal Court ruling a big win for SIRC.
“I was kind of thrilled. It was tremendous validation for us,” he said.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trumps-torture-view-may-change-secrets-sharing-with-canada-spy-watchdog-executive/article33263257/
‘Embittered’ WWII vets? Who’s embittered, jackwagons? Leadership FAIL from Obama, once again
By J.E. Dyer December 7, 2016
Look, I know the Josh Earnest interlude on Tuesday, in which the White House spokesman purported to show sympathy with Pearl Harbor survivors while also warning them, in essence, to get over it, makes a great soundbite. It’s clickbait.
We reported earlier on the relevant passage in Earnest’s presser:
WH: ‘Embittered’ WWII vets need to get over Japanese prime minister’s visit to Pearl Harbor
By LU Staff December 7, 2016
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during a press conference Monday that it was natural for World War II veterans to be “embittered” about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Pearl Harbor, but they should get over it for the sake of America.
It was announced Monday that Abe will be the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor since it was hit by a surprise attack that killed 2,403 Americans and brought the U.S. into World War II. The visit reciprocates Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima earlier this year for the anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on the city.
Abe said in a short statement he would pray for those who died in the war, but gave no indication he would express regret for Japan’s surprise attack.
During a White House press briefing Monday, Earnest was asked whether veterans might be offended by Abe’s visit if he expressed no regret over the attack.
Earnest responded by saying veterans may very well feel “embittered,” especially if they personally fought in World War II:
http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/12/07/wh-embittered-world-war-ii-veterans-need-get-japanese-prime-ministers-visit-pearl-harbor/
Islamdialog mal anders
Der Bund der deutschen katholischen Jugend (BDKJ) ist nicht gerade bekannt für rebellische und provokante Aktionen. Doch hat er jetzt in Baden-Württemberg für einigen Unmut gesorgt.
In Tübingen haben junge Katholiken mit Muslimen des umstrittenen Islamverbands Ditib eine Plakat-Kampagne gestartet. Auf den Plakaten stehen Sätze, die Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen Islam und Christentum betonen sollen. Alle Christen glauben an Allah, heißt es auf den Plakaten zum Beispiel.
Empörte Anrufe
Doch viele Menschen finden das gar nicht gut. Der katholische Jugendverband erhielt zuletzt viele empörte Anrufe, Briefe und Kommentare auf Facebook. Auch Politiker kritisieren die Aktion. Die frühere Tübinger SPD-Landtagsabgeordnete Rita Haller-Haid verweist darauf, dass der Islamverband Ditib der verlängerte Arm der türkischen Religionsbehörde sei. Die Frauenrechtsorganisation Terre des Femmes stört vor allem das konservative Frauenbild, das teilweise transportiert werde.
Aktion wird überdacht
Andere Kritiker der Plakataktion befürchten, die katholische Jugend lasse sich von dem islamischen Religionsverband für dessen Zwecke instrumentalisieren. Der BDKJ überdenkt jetzt die Plakataktion-aber der Dialog mit dem Islam soll weitergehen.
http://www.swr.de/landesschau-aktuell/bw/tuebingen/kritik-an-tuebinger-plakataktion-islamdialog-mal-anders/-/id=1602/did=18584804/nid=1602/haadfm/index.html
video :
http://www.swr.de/landesschau-aktuell/bw/tuebingen/plakataktion/-/id=1602/did=18585006/nid=1602/1qgv4ck/index.html
BBC News – Boris Johnson says Saudi Arabia is playing proxy wars
Boris Johnson has accused Britain’s ally, Saudi Arabia, of engaging in “proxy wars” in the Middle East. Speaking at a conference in Rome last week, the foreign secretary spoke of politicians “twisting and abusing religion” for political gain. He said Saudi Arabia and Iran were “puppeteering” because of a lack of strong leadership in the region
He is right about the proxy war and the puppeteering other then that I don’t know anything about him.
Channel 4 – How fake news from Macedonia affected the US Presidential Election 2016
SkyNews – The rise of fake news in 2016
Fake news on the internet and social platforms has been very prevalent in 2016. Will it worsen in 2017 and does it need to be regulated?
Dec 08 2016 Hillary Clinton on Fake News Dangers
« ….lives are at risk….»
WaPo- Republicans ready to launch wide-ranging probe of Russia, despite Trump’s stance
Leading Senate Republicans are preparing to launch a coordinated and wide-ranging probe into Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S. elections and its potential cyberthreats to the military, digging deep into what they view as corrosive interference in the nation’s institutions.
[…]The loudest GOP calls for a Russia probe are coming from McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.). Both have taken a hard line on Russia and have been highly critical of Trump, particularly his praise of President Vladimir Putin.
“They’ll keep doing more here until they pay a price,” Graham said of Russia. He plans to spearhead legislation and hold a series of investigative hearings next year into “Russia’s misadventures throughout the world,” including Russian meddling in the U.S. elections.
“I’m going after Russia in every way you can go after Russia. I think they’re one of the most destabilizing influences on the world stage. I think they did interfere with our elections and I want Putin personally to pay the price,” Graham said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.
[…]Democrats have also taken issue with Trump’s desire to pursue more friendly relations with Moscow, as well as his affinity for Putin.
“The primary area of discomfort for the Republicans here and the Trump administration, in foreign policy and national security, is over Russia,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee’s ranking Democrat, who accused Trump of becoming “a propaganda piece for the Kremlin” on MSNBC this week. “They may be giving him breathing space right now, but I don’t expect that to last.”
[…]But many Democrats are impatient with Republicans for not taking faster and more concrete steps against Russia after the Obama administration officially accused Moscow of meddling in the elections.
Democrats, meanwhile, are going to use whatever power they have to ensure that suspected Russian activities in the elections and beyond get attention.
Seven top-ranked Democrats sent a letter to President Obama on Tuesday asking for classified briefings “regarding Russian entities’ hacking of American political organizations,” including the DNC hack, emails released by WikiLeaks and fake news.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/12/08/republicans-ready-to-launch-wide-ranging-probe-of-russia-despite-trumps-stance/
CNN – Lindsey Graham plans Russia hacking probe
Syria: How do you know that the war is going to go on?
Did ISIS really catch Obama off guard?
Considering how he and his people ordered the intel reports changed to show he was doing a great job it we was surprised it was his own fault.
Syria: It’s called the Army of Aleppo.
Germany: Kerry ‘hopeful’ of Aleppo agreement following Lavrov meeting
TURKEY INCIRLIK AIRBASE – Turkish Man Breaks Into Incirlik Airbase, Takes Photos with Scarlett Johansson
A Turkish man waltzed past security at the Incirlik Airbase in the southern Turkish province of Adana on Tuesday to snap selfies with Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities.
The base was hosting a star-studded USO Holiday Tour organized by US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, to boost the morale of troops, but apparently did not take security seriously. After learning that Johansson was set to arrive at 7 a.m., the unidentified man headed there and snuck inside.
“Scarlett noticed me while I was waiting for her to take a photo with her, and she later put her hand on my waist. After I requested, she hugged me. Life stopped for me at that moment,” the man wrote on social media posts documenting his celebrity selfie collection.
After taking a photo with the star, the man also was able to secure photographs with actor Chris Evans and basketball star Ray Allen.
Olympic gold medalist Maya DiRado, entertainer Jim Karol and country music star Craig Campbell were also present at the event.
The base Incirlik is currently in use by a US-led coalition targeting Daesh strongholds, along with the Royal Air Force and Royal Saudi Air Force, the Daily Sabah reports.
https://sputniknews.com/us/201612071048292021-turkish-incirlik-airbase-selfies/
Around 1,500 European Islamist militants return from Mideast: Report
Around a third of the estimated 5,000 European Islamist militants who went to Syria and Iraq have returned to Europe, and some may have orders to attack, an EU report warned Wednesday.
Up to 2,500 fighters from Europe remained on the battlefield but their massive return in the short term seemed unlikely, according to the report seen by AFP.
Belgium expressed concern last month that Islamist militants were increasingly returning to Europe as US-backed coalition forces drive the Islamic State (IS) militant group from territory in Syria and Iraq.
The report said between 15 to 20 percent of the Europeans have died on the battlefield, around 30 to 35 percent have returned and 50 percent remain in the battle theatre, which amounted to between 2,000 and 2,500 Europeans.
As many as 1,750 may have returned, based on the percentages listed in the report which EU counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove will present to EU interior ministers on Friday.
The report said there were two types of “foreign terrorist fighters” returning.
“Those in the majority that will drift back, and those who will be sent back on specific missions, which are of most concern,” the report warned.
It said even some European women and children born or raised in the so-called caliphate declared by IS in Iraq and Syria could pose a security threat as they may have been radicalised.
Without giving figures, it said some returnees have been convicted and serving prison sentences, while others are being monitored and some are free in their communities.
It recalled that foreign fighters who have returned to Europe have staged both foiled and successful attacks, including the slaughter in Paris in November last year and this year’s bombings in Brussels in March.
Both sets of attacks were claimed by IS, which is also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh.
“There is also a significant foreign terrorist fighter contingent with Daesh in Libya which might attempt to use their nationality or family connections to return to Europe,” the report said.
It said returnees were keeping in touch with Daesh in the Middle East via social media and increasingly turning from mainstream Twitter to the encrypted one-to-one messaging service Telegram.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/251587/World/International/Around-,-European-Islamist-militants-return-from-M.aspx
twitter – video ( 2 min 47 )
East Aleppo – “English teacher” on al jazeera
https://twitter.com/walid970721/status/806094769902518272
on youtube :
al jazeera – Into Aleppo’s war zone with the White Helmet rescuers
RT- Islamic terrorists funded by British benefits cash – former watchdog
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of British housing and child welfare payments have been used to fund Islamic terrorism in recent years, a former watchdog head claims.
ALEPPO – SYRIA – Russian foreign minister says Syria army has halted fighting in east Aleppo; says 8,000 to be moved out – Interfax
Lavrov says already “lost voice” urging de Mistura to stop sabotaging intra-Syrian talks
Russia set to ‘beat terrorists’ in Syria until their full elimination, fulfilling UN SC resolution – Lavrov
==========================================
Russia to Discuss Aleppo Rebel Pullout With US
Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow and Washington have agreed to call a meeting to discuss the withdrawal of Syrian rebels from Aleppo.
Sergey Lavrov said Thursday after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Hamburg that they agreed to call a meeting of military experts and diplomats in Geneva on Saturday.
He said they would work on a document outlining details of the rebels’ exit from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods, along with civilians who are also willing to leave the city.
The Syrian government has dismissed calls for a cease-fire, as its troops press their offensive on the rebel-held enclave.
Lavrov says the Syrian army suspended its advance Thursday to allow some 8,000 civilians to leave the city in a convoy spreading across 5 kilometers (more than 3 miles).
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-assad-aleppo-win-big-gain-end-war-44054604
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reuters – Syrian army’s Aleppo advance slows but victory in sight
The Syrian army’s advance in Aleppo slowed on Thursday but a victory was still firmly in sight after President Bashar al-Assad vowed that retaking the nation’s second city would change the course of the six-year civil war in his favor.
Lightning gains in recent days in which government forces and their allies recaptured Aleppo’s historic Old City lost some momentum in the face of stiff rebel resistance but the Syrian leadership was confident.
Assad has long sought to seize divided Aleppo which would put him in control of Syria’s major cities, the south, central spine and western flank bordering the Mediterranean, dealing a devastating blow to rebels who have fought to unseat him.
Outside of Aleppo, the government and its allies are also putting severe pressure on remaining rebel redoubts. Assad said in an interview with a Syrian newspaper that victory in Aleppo would be a landmark, but not the end of the war.
The rebels on Wednesday called for an immediate five-day ceasefire and the evacuation of civilians and wounded, but gave no indication they were ready to withdraw, as demanded by Damascus and its ally Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Russian and U.S. experts would meet in Geneva on Saturday to discuss the situation in Aleppo, Moscow’s RIA news agency reported.
It also cited him as saying that the Syrian army had stopped active military operations in Aleppo to facilitate an effort to remove civilians. Reuters reporters in the city said bombardment could still be heard after Lavrov’s comments were published.
“We are close to reaching an understanding, but I want to warn against high expectations,” the Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after meeting Lavrov in Hamburg that he was not confident but “hopeful” about reaching an agreement, and was still waiting for “certain feedback and input” from Moscow.
The White House said it would adopt a “wait and see” approach on whether Russia helps cease military operations.
The U.N. assessment for a possible deal, which would see civilian evacuations from besieged rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo and help aid delivery, was bleak.
Russia and the United States were “poles apart” in trying to agree on terms for evacuations from east Aleppo, U.N. Syria humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said.
Five months of talks over aid plans all failed and produced “nothing”, Egeland said, adding it was up to Moscow and Washington to agree an evacuation from east Aleppo, where the U.N. Syria envoy said more than 100,000 people may be living.
More than 800 people have been killed and 3,000-3,500 wounded in eastern Aleppo in the past 26 days, while the remaining trapped civilians await an effective death sentence, the president of Aleppo local council said.
“Today 150,000 people are threatened with extermination. We are calling for a halt to the bombing and guarantees of safe passage of all,” Brita Haji Hassan said during a trip to Geneva.
‘WAR WILL NOT END’
As the Cold War foes struggled to agree, fighting raged on around the Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the Syrian army trying to push into the few remaining rebel-held Aleppo neighborhoods.
A Reuters journalist said government forces were shelling rebel-held areas of southwestern Aleppo into the afternoon. Columns of smoke were seen rising from rebel-held areas.
Pro-Damascus media reported that Syrian government forces and their allies had launched attacks against insurgents in the Sukkari, Kalasa and Bustan al-Qasr neighborhoods, west and south of the ancient citadel.
An opposition activist in Aleppo said insurgents had staved off the attacks on the latter two districts.
A Syrian military source reported the army and its allies had also advanced in the Sheikh Saeed district in the south of the rebel enclave. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, also reported that.
Government forces have in the past two weeks seized more than two-thirds of rebel-held eastern Aleppo, which had been in insurgents hands for years.
Assad said the army advances will completely change the course of the war, and vowed to fight on after recapturing Aleppo. He described Aleppo as the “last hope” of rebels and their backers, “after their failure in the battles of Damascus and Homs”.
“Aleppo will completely change the course of the battle in all of Syria,” Assad said, speaking in an interview with the Syrian newspaper al-Watan.
“The battle of Aleppo will be a gain, but … it doesn’t mean the end of the war in Syria. It is a significant landmark towards the end of the battle, but the war in Syria will not end until terrorism is eliminated.
“Terrorists are there in other areas, so even if we finish in Aleppo, we will carry on with the war against them,” he said.
Damascus says all insurgents it is fighting are terrorists.
‘MAKE A DESERT AND CALL IT PEACE’
Retaking Aleppo would also be a success for President Vladimir Putin who intervened to save Moscow’s ally in September 2015 with air strikes, and for Shi’ite Iran, whose elite Islamic Republic Guard Corps has suffered casualties fighting for Assad.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians and made more than 11 million homeless, creating the world’s worst refugee crisis, and allowed for the rise of the ultra-hardline Islamic State group, which still controls areas of eastern Syria.
The head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence agency Alex Younger warned on Thursday that Islamic State was plotting attacks on the West “without ever having to leave Syria”.
“Russia and the Syrian regime seek to make a desert and call it peace. The human tragedy is heart-breaking,” he added.
The scale of death and destruction, and lack of access has made it difficult for humanitarian organizations to reach hundreds of thousands of besieged people in Syria.
Nearly 150 civilians, most disabled or in need of urgent medical care, were evacuated overnight from a hospital in Aleppo’s Old City, the first major evacuation from the eastern sector, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
It urged “all parties to allow a humanitarian pause,” adding that the situation in east Aleppo “is known to be catastrophic”.
Tawfik Chamaa, a representative of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations (UOSSM), said 1,500 people needed medical evacuation, but any evacuation should have international observers to prevent them being “executed or diverted on the way to hospital”.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN13X1QB
euronews – Syria: plight of Aleppo civilians ‘shameful for humanity’
euronews – Britain’s MI6 chief warns of ‘unprecedented’ terror threat to UK
ISIL militants are using the chaos created by the Russian backed military campaign of Bashar al-Assad in Syria to plot attacks against the UK and its allies, the head of MI6 has warned.
Germany: ‘They must be allowed to live,’ says Aryault about civilians in Aleppo
Dec 08 2016 – moderate civilians in Aleppo
feh!
CNN – Tide of anguished humanity on the move in Aleppo
CNN – Rep. Gabbard: CIA supporting terror-linked groups in Syria
Democratic Congresswoman Tusli Gabbard told Jake Tapper that rebel groups supported by the U.S. in Syria have links to terror groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
CNN interviews this sensational American? She’s terrific. It’ll probably get whoever invited her fired.
It was Obama who got us into that mess, this will make her unpopular among the Dem leadership.
I wish there were more Dems who are as smart as this woman.
The Crusades – Shock promo
The Crusades, An Arab Perspective – Part 1: Shock
The president’s stated priorities have not turned out well. In his 2016 State of the Union address, President Obama summarized his achievements. That same night, the White House issued a press release touting Obama’s accomplishments. Now that he will be leaving, how well did these initiatives listed in the press release actually work out?
“Securing the historic Paris climate agreement.” The accord was never submitted to Congress as a treaty. It will be ignored by President-elect Trump.
“Achieving the Iran nuclear deal.” That “deal” was another effort to circumvent the treaty-ratifying authority of Congress. It has green-lighted Iranian aggression, and it probably ensured nuclear proliferation. Iran’s violations will cause the new Trump administration to either scrap the accord or send it to Congress for certain rejection.
“Securing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.” Even Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton came out against this failed initiative. It has little support in Congress or among the public. Opposition to the TTP helped fuel the Trump victory.
“Reopening Cuba.” The recent Miami celebration of the death of Fidel Castro, and Trump’s victory in Florida, are testimonies to the one-sided deal’s unpopularity. The United States got little in return for the Castro brothers’ propaganda coup.
“Destroying ISIL” and “dismantling al Qaeda.” We are at last making some progress against some of these “jayvee” teams, as Obama once described the Islamic State. Neither group has been dismantled or destroyed. Despite the death of Osama bin Laden, the widespread reach of radical Islam into Europe and the United States remains largely unchecked. The precipitous withdrawal of all U.S. peacekeepers in 2011 from a quiet Iraq helped sow chaos in the rest of the Middle East
. “Ending combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.” The Afghan war rages on. The precipitous withdrawal of all U.S. peacekeepers in 2011 from a quiet Iraq helped sow chaos in the rest of the Middle East. We are now sending more troops back into Iraq.
“Closing Guantanamo Bay.” This was an eight-year broken promise. The detention center still houses dangerous terrorists
. “Rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region.” The anemic “Asia Pivot” failed. The Philippines is now openly pro-Russian and pro-Chinese. Traditional allies such Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea are terrified that the U.S is no longer a reliable guarantor of their autonomy.
“Supporting Central American development.” The once-achievable promise of a free-market, democratic Latin America is moribund. Dictatorships in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua remain impoverished bullies. All have been appeased by the U.S.
“Strengthening cybersecurity.” Democrats claimed Russian interference in the recent election. If true, it is proof that there is no such thing as “cybersecurity.” The WikiLeaks releases, the hacked Clinton e-mails and the Edward Snowden disclosures confirm that the Obama administration was the least cybersecure presidency in history. Share article on Facebook share Tweet article tweet
“Growing the Open Government Partnership.” The NSA scandal, the hounding of Associated Press journalists, some of the WikiLeaks troves, and the corruption at the IRS all reveal that the Obama administration was one of the least transparent presidencies in memory.
“Honoring our nation’s veterans.” Obama’s Department of Veteran Affairs was mired in scandal, and some of its nightmarish VA hospitals were awash in disease and unnecessary deaths. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki was forced to resign amid controversy. Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized for issuing an offensive report falsely concluding that returning war vets were liable to join right-wing terrorist groups. The southern U.S. border is largely unenforced. Immigration law is deliberately ignored.
“Making sure our politics reflect America’s best.” The 2016 presidential campaign was among the nastiest on record. WikiLeaks revealed unprecedented collusion between journalists and the Clinton campaign. Earlier, Obama had been the first president in U.S. history to refuse public campaign money. He was also the largest fundraiser of private cash and the greatest collector of Wall Street money in the history of presidential campaigns.
“Protecting voting rights.” Riots followed the recent presidential election. Democrats, without merit, joined failed Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s recount in key swing states they lost. Progressives are berating the constitutionally guaranteed Electoral College. State electors are being subject to intimidation campaigns.
“Strengthening policing.” Lethal attacks on police are soaring.
“Promoting immigrant and refugee integration and citizenship awareness.” The southern U.S. border is largely unenforced. Immigration law is deliberately ignored. The president’s refugee policy was unpopular and proved a disaster, as illustrated by the Boston Marathon bombings, the San Bernardino attack, the Orlando nightclub shooting, and the recent Ohio State University terrorist violence.
Note what Obama’s staff omitted: his doubling of the U.S. debt in eight years, the unworkable and soon-to-be-repealed Affordable Care Act, seven years of anemic economic growth, record labor nonparticipation, failed policy resets abroad, and a Middle East in ruins. …..
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442859/barack-obama-promises-failed-his-presidential-legacy-suffers
FRANCE – Lieux Publics – Quand les femmes sont indésirables
Watch What Iran Does, But Also Listen To What They Say
“Death to America” chants are still reverberating loudly in Tehran.
President-Elect Trump will be tested by the Islamic state of Iran soon after taking office on January 20. It could come the very day of his inauguration with an enormous (if superficial) head-fake, as they gave President Reagan by releasing our U.S. diplomat-hostages the very minute he swore the oath of office. Or it could come later, in a less benign form.
But this much is certain: that test will come, and the foreign policy establishment in Washington will fail to see it coming and mistakenly interpret it once it occurs. Again.
Establishment analysts focus on Iran’s actions. In itself, that is not a bad thing, but it’s kind of like buying a peach at an American supermarket because of its wonderful good looks, only to cut it open at home to find it wooden and tasteless.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265081/watch-what-iran-does-also-listen-what-they-say-kenneth-r-timmerman
In summery what Iran does is the short term Iranian threat but what they are saying is the long term Iranian threat. One problem the US has is the trouble we have in establishing and maintaining a long term policy on nations, ideologies and theologies that are major threats to our existence. As he points out when you are thinking in terms of eternity what is ten years? This will be a problem because we can step on the Islamists right now but how long will we be able to keep them down?
“This will be a problem because we can step on the Islamists right now but how long will we be able to keep them down?”
It all depends upon the warhead’s half-life.
LOL
Cuba’s Surge in Tourism Keeps Food Off Residents’ Plates
HAVANA — For Lisset Felipe, privation is a standard facet of Cuban life, a struggle shared by nearly all, whether they’re enduring blackouts or hunting for toilet paper.
But this year has been different, in an even more fundamental way, she said. She has not bought a single onion this year, nor a green pepper, both staples of the Cuban diet. Garlic, she said, is a rarity, while avocado, a treat she enjoyed once in a while, is all but absent from her table.
“It’s a disaster,” said Ms. Felipe, 42, who sells air-conditioners for the government. “We never lived luxuriously, but the comfort we once had doesn’t exist anymore.”
The changes in Cuba in recent years have often hinted at a new era of possibilities: a slowly opening economy, warming relations with the United States after decades of isolation, a flood of tourists meant to lift the fortunes of Cubans long marooned on the outskirts of modern prosperity.
But the record arrival of nearly 3.5 million visitors to Cuba last year has caused a surging demand for food, causing ripple effects that are upsetting the very promise of Fidel Castro’s Cuba.
Tourists are quite literally eating Cuba’s lunch. Thanks in part to the United States embargo, but also to poor planning by the island’s government, goods that Cubans have long relied on are going to well-heeled tourists and the hundreds of private restaurants that cater to them, leading to soaring prices and empty shelves.
Without supplies to match the increased appetite, some foods have become so expensive that even basic staples are becoming unaffordable for regular Cubans.
“The private tourism industry is in direct competition for good supplies with the general population,” said Richard Feinberg, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, and specialist on the Cuban economy. “There are a lot of unanticipated consequences and distortions.”
You’ve got to be fecking kidding me! These aren’t “unanticipated consequences”, it’s the Law of Unintended Consequences that always bites Liberals and their Centrally Planned Societies directly on their pampered @sses.
For those with any doubts, please read: Quinoa: Good for you – bad for Bolivians
International prices may have nearly tripled in the last five years, but domestic costs have also risen sharply, threatening to price an Andean population, that has consumed the foodstuff for 7,000 years, out of the market.
This is what happens with food fads and fantasies like “Let’s go visit the worker’s utopia of Egalitarian Cuba!” These wannabe commies can’t live without their papaya mango smoothies and egg-white omelets, even if it keeps food off the plates of those happy, grinning peasants that live “so close to the land.”
[/leftist gushing]
Please pardon me whilst I hurl some hydroponically raised vegetable broth-cooked organically grown quinoa.
CUBA – OCTOBER 2016 -pics
http://varlamov.ru/2021586.html
http://varlamov.ru/2019747.html
http://varlamov.ru/2030773.html
http://varlamov.ru/2022427.html
But the record arrival of nearly 3.5 million visitors to Cuba last year has caused a surging demand for food, causing ripple effects that are upsetting the very promise of Fidel Castro’s Cuba.
What Promise? It is a communist hellhole the only thing that will change it is to change the type of government and to to a free market economy rather then a government controlled economy.
Tacit Consent’ in Israeli-Russian Relations
Moscow is not interfering with Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Syria.
December 8, 2016
Joseph Puder
One of the most interesting stories, if not the most puzzling, is the close understanding and amity between Jerusalem and Moscow. While the Russian Air Force pounds the civilian population in Aleppo on behalf of the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and his Iranian allies, Russia is coordinating the moves of its Air Force in Syria with Israel’s Air Force. Moscow is not interfering with Israeli attacks on Hezbollah convoys carrying lethal arms shipped to Syria by Iran, as the Shiite terrorist group is attempting to move these arms to Lebanon. Walla, a Hebrew language Israeli news outlet wrote on December 1, 2016 that “Russia’s silence following reports that the Israeli Air Force bombed an arms depot and a Hezbollah bound weapons convoy in Syria on Wednesday might signal ‘tacit consent’ to such action as long as they do not harm Kremlin’s interests.” Israel, on its part, is staying out of the civil war in Syria, but provides medical assistance to wounded opposition fighters combatting the Assad regime.
The Obama administration failure to act on its announced “Red Line,” (on Assad’s use of chemical warfare on fellow Syrians) and subsequently leaving the Syrian arena in Russian hands, has damaged U.S. credibility in the region. It has also encouraged Russia to take aggressive action against opposition forces supported by the U.S., and Syrian civilians.
Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian defense ministry said according to Russian RT-TV (11/29/2016) that, “Over the past few days, well planned and careful action by the Syrian troops resulted in a radical breakthrough. Half of the territory previously held by the militants in eastern Aleppo has been de facto liberated.” Konashenkov’s cynical statement referring to the Assad regime’s brutal actions in attacking (along with Russian aerial support) civilians in homes, hospitals and schools with barrel-bombs to be “well planned and careful action,” sharply contrasts with Israeli hospitals opening their doors to perform truly humanitarian work by treating wounded Syrian civilians and fighters.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265030/tacit-consent-israeli-russian-relations-joseph-puder
This tells us more then most people think, Putin is playing both chess and a Game of Thrones and a game of go at the same time. He is working to put Russia back in the game as a power broker at the world political table. While he is doing this he has to keep the Sunni terrorists in Russian Territory quiet while enabling his erstwhile ally (Iran) and hampering the erstwhile ally (Saudi) and still keep both of them from gaining enough power to dominate the Middle East. And since Russia is a major oil supplier in the world he is doing this while trying to increase the price of oil.
One of the ways he is keeping Iran from taking over and dominating the Middle East is by allowing Israel to attack the Iranian Puppet Hezbollah and degrade their ability to damage Israel. Obama is going to be upset and so are the Iranians but the Saudi’s and Egypt are going to be happy, you can add Erdogan to the happy list although he may have been want a larger scale attack on Hezbollah.
AUSTRALIA – Hospital apologises after bacon found on Muslim prayer mats
A Sydney hospital has issued an apology after bacon rashers were found strewn across Muslim prayer mats.
A visitor to the Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital discovered the meat in a public prayer room on Thursday afternoon.
“We are disappointed and we immediately arranged for the prayer mats to be professionally steam cleaned,” acting general manager Linda Campbell told AAP.
“We apologise for the offence caused and our staff have ensured that the prayer room is available for use.”
In a video posted to social media, staff members can be heard telling those in the room to wait for cleaners to arrive.
“That’s horrible … it’s just not fair,” a woman can be heard saying.
“What a horrible thing to do.”
Another woman questions if she is even safe to pray in the room.
The room has been cleaned and remains open to hospital guests.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/33461380/hospital-apologises-after-bacon-found-on-muslim-prayer-mats/#play
“What a horrible thing to do.”
I agree. An entire pig’s head would have been far more appropriate.
“Putin is playing both chess and a Game of Thrones and a game of go at the same time. He is working to put Russia back in the game as a power broker at the world political table. While he is doing this he has to keep the Sunni terrorists in Russian Territory quiet while enabling his erstwhile ally (Iran) and hampering the erstwhile ally (Saudi) and still keep both of them from gaining enough power to dominate the Middle East. And since Russia is a major oil supplier in the world he is doing this while trying to increase the price of oil.
I’m confident that Putin will be experiencing a bit of difficulty juggling his balls.
[cue violin music]
He is having problems but until the US is once more in the game he doesn’t have to worry about dropping any.
US Fails to Vet 15,000 Immigrants Due to Security Error
Before the Department of Homeland Security noticed the error, 175 immigrants were granted citizenship, the government admitted.
Fifteen-thousand applications for immigration were not vetted by the FBI’s name-check database due to an error by Homeland Security, The Washington Times reported.
Before the security error was noticed, 175 immigrants were granted citizenship, the government admitted.
Since the error was discovered, all naturalization ceremonies have been halted and officers working for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have been banned from approving new citizenship applications.
The error, caused by a computer code malfunction, was made public by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, who said the problem was disclosed in an internal email to which he was privy
Earlier this year, citizenship was accidentally given to hundreds of criminals because Homeland Security had only checked their fingerprints through their electronic database and not with the thousands of fingerprints that are to date only recorded on paper.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/us-fails-vet-15000-immigrants-due-security-error
SRI LANKA – Muslim Ministers demand arrest of aggressive monk
Muslim Ministers today demanded the arrest of a Buddhist monk who had disrespected Islam.
Minister Rishad Bathiudeen told Parliament that a police complaint was filed against the monk.
However he said the monk continues to be part of discussions being held by the Government with no legal action being taken against him.
State Minister M. L. A. M. Hizbullah also questioned what action will be taken against the monk.
He said that a joint letter by Muslim Parliamentarians raising concerns over threats being faced by Muslims in the country was sent to the President and Prime Minister.
He said the Bodu Bala Sena continues to make statements disrespectful to Islam and action must be taken against them.
Hizbullah also warned that Muslim leaders will not be able to control Muslim youth if Islam continues to be disrespected in the country.
Buddha Sasana Affairs and Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that the Government is looking to resolve the recent issues through dialogue.
He said that President Maithripala Sirisena had a discussion with religious leaders this week in an attempt to ensure religious unity.
Rajapakshe said that when an attempt is being made to resolve the issue, representatives of the public must support such attempts.
He accused some Muslim Ministers of attempting to incite more racial hatred instead of attempting to resolve the issue
http://colombogazette.com/2016/12/08/muslim-ministers-demand-arrest-of-aggressive-monk/
They got kicked out of Burma and are not trying to take over Sri Lanka
Terror In America: Three Ongoing Cases
These three cases show that terrorist attacks continue to be a credible threat to the United States.
Two court cases and a terror plot tip-off highlight that terrorism is still a threat to the United States.
1 An Ohio man found guilty of a terrorist plot to attack the US Capitol building screamed “Allah is in control, not this judge!” as he was led from the courtroom after being sentenced. Christopher Lee Cornell, of Cincinnati was sentenced to 30 years in prison and lifetime probation following his release. He pleaded guilty to charges brought against him for his intentions to attack the Capitol during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address.
The would-be jihadist was arrested in January 2015. The authorities found two semi-automatic rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition in preparation for the assault.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/terror-america-three-ongoing-cases
UK Muslims Not Integrating: New Report
A new report concludes that many UK Muslims are not integrating into British society causing concern for increased likelihood of radicalization.
By Codi Robertson
Thu, December 8, 2016
A new British government-commissioned report has determined that despite a long and sustained effort by the British government to boost social integration of immigrants, there is a great degree of social segregation.
And while this is a blow to the strong desire for social cohesion and a strong British identity amongst its people, it also may have consequences in the security realm.
The head of the year-long study, integration tzar, Dame Louise Casey, criticised the government’s mediocre efforts. “The problem has not been a lack of knowledge but a failure of collective, consistent and persistent will to do something about it or give it the priority it deserves at both a national and local level,” Casey stated.
One group that has for a while now felt particularly segregated from British society are Britain’s Muslim citizens. In the report, Casey shares that she observed a “vicious cycle” where Muslims feel they are being blamed for terrorism and extremism, which in turn lead them to feelings of suspicion and mistrust, and even hostility.
https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/uk-muslims-not-integrating-new-report
A new report concludes that many UK Muslims are not integrating into British society
I’m shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you!
Horror Hydra: Recent ISIS Atrocities in Iraq and Syria
Although ISIS is taking a beating from coalition forces, the world’s premiere terror organization has still been able to wreak havoc.
Although Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) is taking a beating from coalition forces in Iraq and Assad’s army in Syria, the world’s premier terror organization has still been able to function, wreaking havoc in its wake. Here are some of the latest exploits of the brutal group:
1 Special ops police from Italy are helping a father locate his six-year-old son who was taken by his mother to Syria and forced to join ISIS. The couple, both originally from Albania, were living near Milan when the mother abducted the son, changed his name to Yussuf, circumcised him and forced him to train in “body-to-body” combat so that he could become a “future fighter” for ISIS.
The woman moved to Syria to marry a jihadi fighter from Macedonia
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/horror-hydra-recent-isis-atrocities-iraq-and-syria
Tech Giants Team Up Against Incitement on Social Media
Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube will launch a shared database to track and remove terrorist images and videos more easily.
Facebook Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube have joined forces to tackle terrorist incitement on social media, reported USA Today. The companies will create a database of terrorist content which they say will enable them to remove radical content more swiftly when it appears on their platforms.
“Our companies will begin sharing hashes of the most extreme and egregious terrorist images and videos we have removed from our services – content most likely to violate all of our respective companies’ content policies,” the four companies said in a joint statement.
“By sharing this information with each other, we may use the shared hashes to help identify potential terrorist content on our respective hosted consumer platforms. We hope this collaboration will lead to greater efficiency as we continue to enforce our policies to help curb the pressing global issue of terrorist content online.”
Read the full statement about countering terrorist incitement on social media here.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/tech-giants-team-against-incitement-social-media
France to Build University of Counter Jihad
The ministry of justice has budgeted over $30 million for a 25-acre campus dedicated to training wardens to deal with radicalized inmatesIn July 2016, Clarion Project published a piece titled French Prisons: Universities of Jihad.
Now a confidential document leaked from the French Ministry of Justice reveals that they are planning to fight fire with fire by building a University of Counter Jihad.
The Ministry has budgeted over $30 million for a 25-acre campus dedicated to training wardens to deal with radicalized inmates. The complex, which will be built in 2018-19 next to Fleury-Mérogis prison, will comprise four school buildings and a hall of residence for 105 full-time instructors who will train several thousand wardens each year. There will also be an administrative building to accommodate 250 staff redeployed from Fresnes and Fleury-Mérogis prisons.
The campus will host a base complete with an assault course and shooting ranges for ERIS, the dedicated prison SWAT team, which will be increased from 60 to 80 officers. There will also be a K9 training facility including an explosives depot.
https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/france-build-university-counter-jihad
What’s wrong with this picture?
It is a different design on penitentiaries, having isolated exercise areas to keep the numbers congregate in any one area small and easier to control.
Here Is the List of 78 Companies Who Have Blacklisted Breitbart – Make Sure to Boycott Them!
Jim Hoft Dec 7th, 2016 7:54 pm 286 Comments
At least 78 companies have blacklisted Breitbart.com and will no longer advertise with them.
This is the fascist left trying to silence conservative voices.
photo of the list
http://16004-presscdn-0-50.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/breitbart-comps.jpg
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/list-78-companies-blacklisted-breitbart-make-sure-boycott/
REVEALED: Michigan Recount Uncovers Serious Voter Fraud in Detroit- VOTES COUNTED UP TO 6 TIMES
Jim Hoft Dec 7th, 2016 9:23 am 535 Comments
More bad news for Democrats—
Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s Michigan recount unintentionally exposed this major voting fraud scandal.
REVEALED: Michigan Recount Uncovers Serious Voter Fraud in Detroit- VOTES COUNTED UP TO 6 TIMES
Jim Hoft Dec 7th, 2016 9:23 am 535 Comments
More bad news for Democrats—
Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s Michigan recount unintentionally exposed this major voting fraud scandal.
vote-polling-place
In Detroit, one of the chief ways they engage in voter fraud is to count the same ballot MULTIPLE times. This is just ONE way. They also do some shady stuff with absentee ballots etc.
Once they started the Michigan recount in earnest, and knowing he would be exposed, the Detroit City Clerk Daniel Baxter all of a sudden started claiming that the optical scanners which read the paper ballots did not work the day of the election. Baxter blamed the discrepancies on decade-old voting machines. That is his cover story. Nothing like this was mentioned until he realized their voting fraud scheme would be detected.
Baxter’s claim is that, when trying to push the ballots through the readers, the ballots would be stuck and they’d have to push them through again thus ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ resulting in a double count. He says the poll workers sometimes ‘FORGET’ to adjust the machine count and instead let the ballot count twice.
Of course, that’s COMPLETELY BULLSH*T.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/revealed-michigan-recount-uncovers-massive-voter-fraud-detroit-precincts/
Once again, Liberals fall prey to the Law of Unintended Consequences. Gotta love it!
This may be why Wisconsin and Pennsylvanian fought so hard to stop the recount, they knew things like this occurred and wanted to keep the new AG from starting an investigation in their states.
CBC – Identities of 2 Quebec men who fought in Syria revealed
RCMP investigating group of 10 men who trained, prayed at Montreal-area shooting range
An investigation by Radio-Canada’s Enquête has uncovered the identities of a group of 10 young Quebecers who secretly joined militants in Syria to fight against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
The group was made up of friends who often gathered at a Montreal-area shooting range to practise before seven of them left for the Middle East between the summers of 2012 and 2013, Radio-Canada has learned.
According to witnesses, the young men brought two firearms to the shooting range. One of them was an imitation Soviet semi-automatic carbine, called an SKS, similar to the one used by rebels in Syria.
Some of the young men trained at the shooting range over a period of several months, two to three times a week.
Several of them are believed to have been converts to Islam. Witnesses said that during their practice sessions, they would interrupt their shooting to pray.
Radio-Canada learned that after one of those practices, a client overheard one of the men say he was unhappy the targets weren’t non-believers.
The owners of the centre were notified about that incident and contacted authorities, who launched an investigation.
After that, police were present during the men’s practices. The RCMP started monitoring several of the men with electronic surveillance, following some of them closely — in some cases, day and night.
CBC learned, in collaboration with Enquête, that members of the group were the first wave of Quebecers to leave the country to fight in Syria.
Some of them are believed to have joined the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group that fights against Assad and collaborates with radical Islamists with links to al-Qaeda.
At the time of their departure, the youngest Quebecer was just 17 and the oldest was 26.
They are now being investigated by the RCMP, suspected of terrorist acts linked to the kidnapping and extortion of two Americans in Syria.
Wassim Boughadou and Tarek Sakr
?Quebecers Wassim Boughadou and Tarek Sakr were two members of that group who, along with one other man, organized the practices at the shooting range.
Boughadou, whose parents were born in Algeria, was a trainer at a gym.
Sakr, a pharmacology student, has family ties to Syria. According to Enquête’s sources, two of Sakr’s cousins were killed in Latakia, a region of Syria that was wracked by violence at the start of the conflict.
In the summer of 2015, the RCMP carried out search warrants at the pair’s home and at the homes of two other members of the group.
Link to hostages?
Neither Boughadou nor Sakr could be reached for comment. They are believed to still be travelling around Turkey, and Syria, and Boughadou may have spent time with ISIS.
Other members of the group are back in Quebec and are still under investigation.
Police investigators suspect the group of Montreal men committed terrorist acts linked to the kidnapping and extortion of two Americans in Syria — Theo Padnos and Matthew Schrier.
CBC News has previously reported that following his escape, Schrier uncovered information possibly linking one of his masked captors to a Westmount address in Montreal.
Schrier told CBC News that he noticed the men’s distinct accents and that he and Padnos were convinced that two of their jailers were Canadians.
Schrier said during his imprisonment he was asked to hand over his passwords and social security number. Later, he learned that his credit card was used to buy two Samsung tablets, delivered to an address in Westmount.
According to Radio-Canada’s investigation, the two tablets may have ended up in the hands of Wassim Boughadou.
The RCMP have not laid any charges against any of the Montreal men in connection with Schrier’s case, and Radio-Canada/CBC has no proof that any of them were in Padnos and Schrier’s cells when they were being held captive.
Ismael Habib on trial
Ismael Habib is another one of the young men who trained at the shooting range.
He left Quebec in 2013, after the kidnapping of the two American hostages.
He is now on trial in Montreal on charges of attempting to leave Canada to commit terrorist acts and of giving false information to obtain a passport.
Witnesses at that trial have testified that Habib confessed to them about having spent time in Syria and wanting to go back. Video presented as court evidence shows Habib whipping a man, who, according to police testimony, Habib said was a Syrian prisoner. The undercover agent said Habib told him the video was shot in Syria.
Since his return to Canada, Habib is believed to have received threats from his former brother-in-law Wassim Boughadou.
Victims of manipulation?
Radio-Canada’s Enquête repeatedly asked the young men who have returned to Quebec for interviews.
All refused, except for one, who wrote the following response:
“I reiterate that I have nothing to do with the crimes that were committed against Schrier and Padnos … I find that it’s unfair to associate my face with this just because of a shooting range where there was no question of joining a terrorist group nor of committing a crime.”
Someone close to one of the 10 men, who agreed to an interview with Radio-Canada on condition of anonymity, said the young men are more victims than anything else.
“They left, I think, with good intentions, to do their duty as Muslims,” he said. “But I think that they were manipulated.”
“There were some who were much more radical,” he added. They are still overseas, he said, and “won’t be coming back.”
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/montreal/syria-militants-quebec-terrorism-hostages-1.3885740
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http://ici.radio-canada.ca/tele/enquete/2016-2017/segments/reportage/11962/enquete-otages-journalistes-americains-djihadistes-quebecois-syrie
Milo at Michigan State: — starts at 13:10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJX4beXKwpg
He gets better and better. Check the sidebar for his appearances at Miami University and Ohio University; these programs are all post-Trump victory. Watch closely for the candid shots of the audience, the demeanor and body language, and how it changes from beginning to end of the program, the difference in how Milo is received by a woman student and her male companion, etc.
I have nothing but admiration for Milo’s courage, energy and wit.
Are these people just fü¢king stupid or what?!?
You do not, repeat DO NOT launch a
potentiallypretentiouslyportentouslyhopefully controversial video with OVER TEN SOLID MINUTES OF COMPLETE AND TOTAL NON-CONTENT.If anyone wonders why the Republican Party and Conservative initiatives result in such fecking dismal outcomes, just ask yourself why the useless wankers who produced this video allowed some TWELVE MINUTES of airtime to pass before initiating a single word of audible speech.
These flipping dilettante prinking artistes need to uncork their microcephalic heads out of their goddamned overly-dilated @sses and purchase a stinking clue.
How the flock is this supposed to be anything that even remotely approaches a digestible, much less appealing, format when it comes to increasing useful public awareness? HELLO, BIG RED TRUCK!!! Western Civilization is burning down around our farking collective ears and you gits are prancing about in your editorial suite producing worthless repetitive wiggling digital footage of the Very Long Baseline Array???
Please fü¢k off and die at the earliest opportunity, you counterproductive, pansy-@ssed, nancy-boys. As always, any opposing arguments are welcome.
A great pleasure. Milo’s a gift.
He campaigned for our PET flat-out. He reaches these kids; he’s magic.
I’m grateful to have him on our side.
CODE PINK: WOMEN FOR PEACE
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6149&utm_source=Discover+The+Networks&utm_campaign=20c0a0e816-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_442b012922-20c0a0e816-156485275When Code Pink: Women for Peace was launched on November 17, 2002, the organization described itself as a “grassroots peace and social justice movement” whose mission was “to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities.” Rejecting “the Bush administration’s fear-based politics that justify violence,” the nascent group called instead “for policies based on compassion, kindness and a commitment to international law.” The group’s name was intended to mock the Bush administration’s “Code Orange,” “Code Red,” and “Code Yellow” designations for the various levels of terrorist threats that, in the government’s estimation, existed at any given time.
Code Pink was founded principally by four radical activists: Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin, Diane Wilson, and a Wiccan spiritualist calling herself Starhawk. (Approximately 100 additional female activists also participated in getting the organization off the ground.) Evans was, and remains, the nominal leader of the group, which works closely with Ms. Benjamin’s Global Exchange and Leslie Cagan’s United For Peace and Justice. According to a Capital Research Center report, Code Pink members “subscribe in varying degrees to strands of Marxist, neo-Marxist, and progressive left-wing thought, and their ideas belong to a long and complex history of radical politics going back to the early Bolsheviks.” The group views America as an irremediably “racist” and “sexist” society whose political and economic systems, by their very nature, breed war, poverty, and injustice.
Jew-haters.
yech, poo