Reader’s links for December 9 – 2016

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

About Eeyore

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

78 Replies to “Reader’s links for December 9 – 2016”

  1. ‘Go to Africa’ Seething party members blast city councillors over plans to build a mosque (express, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741539/africa-city-councillors-germany-mosque-third-way-rhineland

    “SEETHING political party members have lashed out at town planners by handing out flyers calling on councillors to stop the building of a new mosque.

    The Third Way party sent postcards to the private addresses of all 22 council members in the western community of Hachenburg in the Federal state of Rhineland Palatinate.

    One postcard reportedly said: “If you don’t love Germany, you should leave Germany.”

    Another read: “Travel voucher to Africa for the advocates of alienation.”

    It is believed the postcards were sent as a protest against the planned construction of a mosque, which requires the permission of local authorities…”

    • Netherlands trial: Geert Wilders guilty of incitement (BBC, Dec 9, 2016)
      http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38260377

      “Dutch anti-Islam political leader Geert Wilders has been convicted of insulting a group and inciting discrimination.

      But no penalty was imposed by the court near Amsterdam on Wilders, whose party is leading in polls ahead of parliamentary elections in March.

      Wilders was also acquitted of inciting hate over telling supporters in March 2014 he would ensure there were fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.

      He called the guilty verdict “madness” in a tweet posted a short time later.
      He said he would appeal.

      The three-week trial was triggered when police received 6,400 complaints about remarks Wilders made during a municipal election campaign in The Hague.

      At a campaign meeting, he asked supporters whether they wanted “fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands”.

      When the crowd shouted back “Fewer! Fewer!” a smiling Wilders responded: “We’re going to take care of that.”

      At the trial, prosecutors took testimony from Dutch-Moroccans who said his comments made them feel like “third-rate citizens”.

      ‘Line crossed’

      Wilders had argued his comments should be protected by his right to freedom of speech, reports the BBC’s Anna Holligan in the Schiphol court.

      But judges ruled there were limits and that this right could not be used to limit the freedom of others – in this case, a minority group.

      “If a politician crosses the line, that doesn’t mean free speech is being restricted,” said Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis. “A crime cannot be protected by the right to free speech.”

      The verdict suggests that, in effect, Wilders and his party staged a stunt. Judges found evidence that they planned the remarks in advance and coached the supporters on how to respond. He had intended to insult, they said.

      The judges described it as an “extraordinary case” because Wilders was the leader of a political party and had a duty not to polarise society.

      They said the conviction was punishment enough and that there would be no jail sentence or fine, as the prosecution had requested.

      This guilty verdict will do little to damage Geert Wilders’ political aspirations.

      In fact, the trial has provided the populist leader with the two vital elements upon which his party thrives – a platform to promote his political message and masses of media attention.

      In court he repeated warnings about the dangers of Islam and immigration.

      Many supporters see this trial as reaffirming their belief that Wilders is a courageous leader prepared to stand up for them and address the issues a politically correct elite is afraid to talk about.
      They have been emboldened by populist victories in the UK and US.

      Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) is currently 10 percentage points ahead of the ruling liberal party in the polls.

      In response to the guilty verdict, Mr Wilders accused the judges of convicting “half of the Netherlands” – a reference to research commissioned by the PVV which found 43% of the Dutch public believe the country has a problem with Moroccans.

      Wilders was previously prosecuted in 2011, over anti-Islam comments such as comparing the religion to Nazism and calling for a ban on the Koran. He was acquitted and the case was widely seen as giving the populist leader a publicity boost.””

      • Netherlands: Far-right politician Wilders convicted of inciting discrimination

        Leader of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) Geert Wilders was convicted of inciting discrimination and insulting a group in Amsterdam on Friday. Despite the conviction no penalty was imposed on the defendant.

        Three judges rule that the behaviour of the PVV leader during a campaign rally in 2014 was insulting towards the country’s Moroccan population. However he does not need to serve a prison sentence nor pay the 5,000 euro fine prosecution called for, as the judges believe the verdict is punishment enough for a democratically elected politician.

    • RT – Far-right Wilders convicted in hate speech case, says ‘half of Netherlands’ convicted with him

    • CNN – ‘Dutch Donald Trump’ could become next PM

      CNN’s Nic Robertson reports on Geert Wilders, the divisive, populist politician who is gaining ground in the Netherlands’ general election.

  2. Islamic State ‘has lost 50,000 fighters’ over two years (BBC, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38252092

    “At least 50,000 militants from so-called Islamic State have been killed since the US-led coalition started fighting in Iraq and Syria two years ago, a US military official has said.

    The senior official described the figure as a “conservative estimate”.

    The figure showed air power and a small number of US figures supporting local forces were having an impact, the official said.

    The US has, however, repeatedly warned that IS can replace fighters rapidly.

    The official on Thursday said that coalition air strikes could be intensified in places like Mosul, which Iraqi troops are now battling to recapture, but that had to be offset against the risk of civilian casualties.

    The campaign was beginning to damage IS, the official said.

    “I am not into morbid counts but that kind of volume matters, that kind of impact on the enemy.”

    The US has often been reluctant to provide figures on enemy casualties.

    But in August, Lt Gen Sean MacFarland was quoted by the AP news agency as saying that about 45,000 enemy combatants had been killed.

    In February, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said IS had about 25,000 fighters operating in Syria and Iraq, citing a US intelligence estimate…”

  3. China Prepares for Anti-Satellite Missile Test
    DN-3 missile spotted preparing for launch

    China is preparing to conduct a flight test of a new missile capable of destroying satellites in space, one of Beijing’s most potent asymmetric warfare weapons.

    Test preparations for the Dong Neng-3 anti-satellite missile were detected at a military facility in central China, according to Pentagon officials familiar with reports of the impending test.

    Intelligence agencies were alerted to the impending test by China’s announcement of air closure zones covering the expected flight path of the DN-3.

    http://freebeacon.com/national-security/china-prepares-satellite-missile-test/

  4. Japan launching ‘space junk’ collector
    December 9, 2016

    Japan will launch a cargo ship Friday bound for the International Space Station, carrying a ‘space junk’ collector that was made with the help of a fishnet company.

    Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-12-japan-space-junk-collector.html#jCp

    The vessel, dubbed “Kounotori” (stork in Japanese), is to blast off from the southern island of Tanegashima around 10:30 pm local time (1330 GMT) attached to an H-IIB rocket.

    Scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are experimenting with a tether to pull junk out of orbit around Earth, clearing up tonnes of space clutter including cast-off equipment from old satellites and pieces of rocket.

    More than 50 years of human space exploration since the Soviet-launched Sputnik satellite in 1957 has produced this hazardous belt of orbiting debris.

    There are estimated to be more than 100 million pieces in orbit, posing a growing threat to future space exploration, scientists say.

    Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-12-japan-space-junk-collector.html#jCp

  5. Egyptian pyramids bombing – six dead in attack near major tourist attraction
    AT LEAST six people have been killed in a bomb attack on a road leading to the Great Pyramid of Giza – a tourist attraction popular with British holidaymakers.

    The explosion appeared to have come from a rubbish bin in Cairo along a route used to access the entrance to the world heritage site, which lies in a western suburb of the capital.

    Giza, one of the the seven wonders of the world and the only one to remain largely intact, welcomes thousands of British tourists every year.

    However the dead are said to all be policemen and adminstrative officers working close to the landmark.

    There have been no confirmed foreign casualties although four civilians were also injured.

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741644/Egypt-Giza-Great-Pyramids-bombing-dead-attack-entrance-tourist-attraction

    • Egypt: Six police killed in bomb attack on police checkpoint in Cairo – reports
      Six policemen were killed and three more were injured in a bomb attack in Cairo on Friday, allegedly targeting a security checkpoint near the Al-Salam mosque, according to media reports.

      A recently-formed militant organisation called ‘Hasm Movement’ has claimed responsibility for the blast via a statement on their website. Hasm has also claimed responsibility for several other attacks on police checkpoints in the past few months.

  6. Anti-Islam Dutch MP Geert Wilders found guilty of hate speech

    Dutch far-right wing politician Geert Wilders was today found guilty of hate speech and inciting racial discrimination for leading a chant calling for “fewer, fewer” Moroccans in the Netherlands.

    Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said the court would not impose a sentence because the conviction was punishment enough for a democratically elected lawmaker. Prosecutors had asked judges to fine him 5,000 euros ($5,300).

    Wilders, head of the PVV Freedom Party, was not present to hear the judgement but his lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops immediately issued a statement to say that he would appeal.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/09/anti-islam-dutch-mp-geert-wilders-found-guilty-discrimination/

  7. Machete maniac who attacked toddler hunted by police (express, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/741709/Machete-maniac-attacks-toddler-west-midlands-hunted-police

    “POLICE are hunting a maniac who attacked three people, including a toddler, with a MACHETE in two terrifying doorstep attacks.

    The thug struck first when he attacked a 19-year-old man after knocking at a house in Hales Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands.

    The teenager was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

    Just over an hour later, at 7.35pm, a 35-year-old woman and her two-year-old son were also attacked at a house in Penley Grove, Washwood Heath, Birmingham.

    The mum and boy were taken to hospital after the woman was seriously hurt while her son escaped with minor injuries.

    A 35-year-old man and 40-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of murder but were later released on police bail.

    Officers are now hunting a mixed race man, between 5ft 8ins and 5ft 11ins tall, and in his 30s, who was in the area at the time of both attacks…”

  8. Refugees housed by YOUR CASH have ‘burnt down homes, attacked staff and grown drugs’ (express, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/741713/Refugees-asylum-seekers-G4S-burnt-down-homes-drugs-assaults

    “EXCLUSIVE: Asylum seekers housed by the taxpayer have trashed and burnt down the properties and attacked or abused support staff employed to look after them, without facing any punishment, it has been claimed.

    G4S, one of three companies hired by the Home Office under the COMPASS contract to house asylum seekers across the UK, has told of an increased number of attacks on its staff by refugees in 2016 – a year that also saw the number of refugees it has housed rise by 13 per cent due to increased immigration and more arrivals from Syria.

    G4S is currently housing 18,639 asylum seekers and says only a minority are causing the serious problems.

    The news comes as the Home Office announced last night it has ordered asylum accommodation providers to improve and increase their stock to meet an increase in demand, with record numbers expected to arrive next year…”

  9. A slap in the face of terror? Alleged ISIS prisoner struck by Iraqi special forces (express, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741683/ISIS-militant-prisoner-captured-slapped-face-Iraq-Special-Forces-Mosul

    “A VIDEO has emerged purporting to show a member of Iraq’s special forces slapping an Islamic State prisoner across the face.

    The video shows the armed man, who is wearing a baseball cap and carrying a large rifle, slap the Isis militant before grabbing him by the collar.

    The footage is believed to have been shot close to Mosul following a recent series of aerial bombardments.

    Isis militants are slowly being pushed out of Mosul due to a lack of ammunition – forcing them to retreat to cities closer to the Syrian border…”

  10. Europe flooded with over 1,700 ISIS terrorists primed to attack, EU reveals (express, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741587/ISIS-terrorists-EU-Europe-flooded

    “ISLAMIC STATE has sent more than 1,500 jihadi terrorists back to Europe from Middle East warzones, with orders to “carry out attacks”, a European Union report has said.

    An estimated 5,000 extremists travelled to Syria and Iraq with around 15-20 percent of those being killed on the battlefield.

    Between 30-35 percent of those that joined the terrorist organisation have been sent back to Europe with “specific missions” with those remaining staying to fight.

    According to the report, which will be delivered by the EU’s Counter-Terrorism Co-ordinator Gilles de Kerchove later today, there are two types of “foreign terrorist fighters” returning to the continent.

    The report said: “There are largely two categories of returnees: those in the majority who will drift back and those who will be sent back on specific missions, which are of most concern.”

    It also stressed the importance of European countries sharing information about the members of the Islamic fundamentalists.

    The report also claimed some women and children born or raised in the caliphate could have been radicalised during their time there and could also pose a threat.

    The report said returnees were keeping in touch with ISIS in the Middle East via social media and increasingly turning from mainstream Twitter to the encrypted one-to-one messaging service Telegram.

    Fighters were not just limited to areas of Syria and Iraq, the report also indicated, with members of the terror group – also known as Daesh – also present in countries such as Libya.

    The report said: “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.”…”

  11. Spain: Several hundred migrants and refugees climb fence into Ceuta

    An estimated 250 refugees and migrants climbed over the barbed wire border fence in Ceuta, on Thursday evening and into the early hours of Friday morning.

    Many sustained injuries as they climbed over the giant fence separating Morocco from Spain and were receiving initial treatment by Red Cross workers on site. While many celebrated upon their arrival, the majority of the people, who crossed the border, have since been arrested according to Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido.

    • Nearly 400 migrants storm border at Spanish enclave of Ceuta

      Some 400 African migrants forced their way into the tiny Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Friday, authorities said, the biggest group in a decade to storm the walled city bordering Morocco in search of asylum.

      The group scaled two entry points in the six-metre-high (20-feet) barrier that surrounds the enclave, a local government spokesman said.

      The Red Cross said it had treated 103 people for minor injuries sustained during the assault, and that 25 had been taken to hospital.

      About 20 percent of the group who rushed the gates had not been located by authorities as of midday on Friday, Spain’s Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said.

      Ceuta along with Melilla, another Spanish territory in North Africa, have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.

      They are favoured entry points for African migrants seeking a better life in Europe, who get there by either climbing over the border fence or by swimming along the coast.

      The objective for migrants entering Ceuta illegally is to reach a temporary Spanish residency rights centre where they can, in principle, request asylum.

      http://www.thelocal.es/20161209/nearly-400-migrants-storm-fence-at-spanish-enclave-of-ceuta

    • reuters –U.N. General Assembly demands truce in Syria, end to Aleppo siege

      – The United Nations General Assembly voted 122 to 13 on Friday to demand an immediate cessation of hostilities in Syria, humanitarian aid access throughout the country and an end to all sieges, including in Aleppo.

      Thirty-six countries abstained in the vote on the Canadian-drafted resolution on the nearly six-year Syrian conflict. General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, but can carry political weight.

      http://news.trust.org/item/20161209174528-3nus8

    • An Aleppo victory would ‘turn to ashes’ for Assad – Johnson

      The capture of all of Aleppo by Syrian government forces would not bring peace to Syria because President Bashar al-Assad remains hated by millions of his own people, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday.

      Speaking at the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain, he said if and when the city fell to Assad’s forces “it will assuredly be a victory that turns to ashes.”

      “Remember that two-thirds of Syria is currently outside Assad’s control and he is still besieging 30 other areas comprising 571,000 poor, tormented inhabitants. Surely to goodness there can be no lasting peace in Syria if that peace is simply reimposed by a man who has engendered such hatred among millions of his own people,” Johnson said.

      http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-britain-idUKKBN13Y2G2

  12. Reaction of Geert Wilders to His Conviction

    by Geert Wilders
    December 9, 2016 at 7:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9530/geert-wilders-conviction

    Dear friends, I still cannot believe it, but I have just been convicted. Because I asked a question about Moroccans. While the day before yesterday, scores of Moroccan asylum-seekers terrorized buses in Emmen and did not even had to pay a fine, a politician who asks a question about fewer Moroccans is sentenced.

    The Netherlands have become a sick country. And I have a message for the judges who convicted me: You have restricted the freedom of speech of millions of Dutch and hence convicted everyone. No one trusts you anymore. But fortunately, truth and liberty are stronger than you. And so am I.

  13. NETHERLANDS – Dutch police arrest Muslim with loaded Kalashnikov

    AMSTERDAM, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Police in Rotterdam arrested a 30-year-old in whose apartment a Kalashnikov AK-47 was found with two full magazines and who is suspected of planning a terrorist attack, Dutch prosecutors said on Friday.

    Detectives searched the individual’s apartment after receiving a tip-off from intelligence agency AIVD, prosecutors said. Four boxes of highly explosive illegal fireworks were also found.

    “He is suspected of preparing a terrorist crime,” the prosecutors said in a statement on Friday

    A large image of the flag of jihadist group Islamic State was also found.

    http://news.trust.org/item/20161209153400-qph48

  14. Israel’s first project with Trump

    Caroline B. Glick
    By Caroline B. Glick

    Published Dec. 9, 2016

    Read more at http://jewishworldreview.com/1216/glick120916.php3#EkYeGHk3KsRt3h0F.99

    Israeli officials are thrilled with the national security team that US President-elect Donald Trump is assembling. And they are right to be.

    The question now is how Israel should respond to the opportunity it presents us with.

    The one issue that brings together all of the top officials Trump has named so far to his national security team is Iran.
    Read more at http://jewishworldreview.com/1216/glick120916.php3#EkYeGHk3KsRt3h0F.99

    • Hard to believe it’s 10 years since the Second Lebanon War. Horrible beyond horror. Lebanon as an independent state is now gone.

      0 has known all along that Iran represents the most profound threat to the Jewish state and to Jews everywhere. He communicated his intent from before he took office.

      Liberman’s a fool. Weapons in Lebanon, weapons in Syria – they’re all focused on Israel. And the controls are in the hands of Iran. Does Assad care if Israel has to kill a quarter-million Syrians to defend the Galilee? Plus a million Lebanese civilians?

      Then Putin can blow IAF out of the sky, come out the hero who saved Jerusalem from the Zionists.

      • That is a possiblity, I wish I knew how probable it is? One thing we keep forgetting is the strain if antisemitism in Russia, it is as strong and deep as the strain of antisemitism in the rest of Europe.

  15. Amnesty International Attacks Democracies, Forgives Islamist Tyrannies

    by Giulio Meotti
    December 9, 2016 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9342/amnesty-international-tyrannies

    According to Amnesty International, the centers that host migrants arriving in Italy, known as “hotspots,” are like concentration camps. This is what you learn from Amnesty International’s new report, which accuses Italy of nothing less than “torturing” migrants. The report features a sequence of testimonies, never proven, that describe methods worthy of a South American military junta.

    The report validates Salman Rushdie’s accusation against Amnesty International: “Morally bankrupt.” The Wall Street Journal added two more charges against the famous Western non-governmental organization (NGO): “Anti-American fervor and intellectual confusion”.

    In the new Amnesty International report, a “witness,” under the name of only “Adam,” speaks of “a kind of clamp with three ends” by which Italian policemen allegedly grabbed his testicles. Evidence? Medical reports attesting to this violence? The version of the Italian police? Not in the wonderful world of Amnesty International, where a Western democracy can be safely accused of “torture” with flimsy, sub-standard, unverifiable “evidence” — the same as Amnesty’s many spurious charges against Israel. The Italian police and Interior Ministry denied all the charges, calling them ridiculous.

    Already in February 2016, Antonio Marchesi, president of the Italian section of Amnesty, said: “Those in Italy who have committed acts of torture can sleep soundly.” A month ago, Amnesty issued a similar report on the immigration centers in Australia, another democracy denounced as a “torturer” by this now badly-degraded NGO that won the now badly-degraded Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.

    • OT- Richard,
      Torah Portion = Genesis: 28:10-32:3.
      This is an ancient, complex portion. Lots of embroidery by commentators over the millennia.
      Beautiful passage, Jacobs’s Ladder, the blessing 14-16 being realized in our own times.

      [Personally, I object to Jacob’s bargaining with G-d, 21-23: I'll do this if You do that. But as always, character flaws show our forefathers were human. Rachel is beautiful but - maybe - excessively human.]

      Haftarah Portion = Hosea 12:13 – 14:10.
      Very heavy. Reprises what the tribes – the sons of Jacob born in the Torah portion above – have done wrong. Verses all metaphors that represent the history, for example, v.14 refers to the Exodus.

      Mama’s bad genes - both Leah and Rachel - kinda overly attached to idols, ya know?

      Candle-lighting is at 3:54 p.m. You’re an hour later. May you be cheered and refreshed this Sabbath.

  16. Obama Orders Investigation Into Election-Related Hacking

    President Barack Obama has directed U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct an investigation into hacking attacks related to the U.S. election and issue a report before he leaves office next month, White House counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco said.

    The report, which will be provided to Congress but not necessarily made public, will examine what impact hacking by Russia may have had on the election last month, Monaco said Friday at a breakfast in Washington hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

    “We may be crossing into a new threshold and it’s incumbent upon us to take stock of that,” Monaco said. The report will “impart lessons learned,” she said.

    The report comes as Democrats and some key Republicans in Congress are vowing next year to pursue Russia’s role in hacking even though President-elect Donald Trump has scoffed at a finding already made by U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russian government was behind attacks and leaks on Democrats.

    “I don’t believe they interfered,” Trump said in an interview with Time Magazine published this week. “That became a laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point. Any time I do something, they say, ‘Oh, Russia interfered.’”
    ‘Get Along’

    “Why not get along with Russia?” Trump said, adding the Russians can help defeat Islamic State. On the perpetrator of the cyber attacks, he said, “it could be Russia, and it could be China, and it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.”

    Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said this week that Senate Armed Services subcommittees will probe Russian hacking under President Vladimir Putin, who Trump has praised as a strong leader.

    “I am going to lead the charge to investigate Russia’s role, not only in the elections but throughout the world,” Graham told CNN. “So I’m going after Russia in every way we 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 a price.”

    Democratic Representatives Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Eric Swalwell of California signaled the minority party will pursue the issue as well, introducing legislation this week to create a bipartisan commission. They said in a statement that the panel would “interview witnesses, obtain documents, issue subpoenas, and receive public testimony to examine attempts by the Russian government and others to use electronic means to influence, interfere with, or sow distrust in this year’s U.S. elections.”

    Urging that the administration declassify as much of the new report as possible to make it public, Representative Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement Friday, “Given President-elect Trump’s disturbing refusal to listen to our intelligence community and accept that the hacking was orchestrated by the Kremlin, there is an added urgency to the need for a thorough review before President Obama leaves office next month.”

    https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-12-09/obama-orders-investigation-into-election-related-hacking-attacks-iwhy9nww

    • Has Russia tried to hack into US Government computers in the past? Yes. Did they try to interfere with the election? I doubt it, Putin is too smart to try something like that it would piss off just about everyone in the US.

      My take is that it was another Clinton lie trying to win the election, don’t forget she also claimed that President Elect Trump was in the pay of Russia!

      Given the number of lies the Dems told during the campaign, lies that all but the kool aid drinkers know were lies until more believable people then the ones Obama appointed to intel and police positions, people that have already been caught lying about crimes committed and about what the intel sources are saying I won’t believe this charge until intel people I trust say it is true.

      • Like I said above I won’t believe this until intel people I trust say the Russians tried to influence the election. The Dems have lied to long and often to be believable.

        Any White House spokesman for Obama or any Clinton have to be considered liars until proven otherwise.

    • WaPo- Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House

      The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter.

      Intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials. Those officials described the individuals as actors known to the intelligence community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and hurt Clinton’s chances.

      “It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”[…]

      […]Some key Republican lawmakers have continued to question the quality of evidence supporting Russian involvement.

      “I’ll be the first one to come out and point at Russia if there’s clear evidence, but there is no clear evidence — even now,” said Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the Trump transition team. “There’s a lot of innuendo, lots of circumstantial evidence, that’s it.”

      […]Though U.S. intelligence agencies were skeptical that hackers would be able to manipulate the election results in a systematic way, the White House feared that Moscow would attempt to do so, sowing doubt about the fundamental mechanisms of democracy and potentially forcing a more dangerous confrontation between Washington and Moscow.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html

      • With Obama in control this is a more likely actor in the other hacks, if they occur.

        The writers of the Constitution very clear that they wanted the individual states in charge of the elections and not the Feds, they were afraid of some President wanting to take control of the nation by rigging the vote. Remember our Founders were afraid of a big strong central Government. A fear that I understand and share, the progressives have taken a lot of rights from me since the 1960s and are trying to take more. Personally I want a Constitutional Convention to amend the Constitution are put in Mark Levin’s Liberty Amendments that would restore the US Government that the Founders wanted. We may get one because things are so bad and about to get worse.

  17. the gateway pundit : UN Human Rights Leader Compares Trump, Farage, Le Pen to ISIS

    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein spoke recently at the Peace, Justice and Security Foundation dinner.

    During his speech Al Hussein compared Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen, Victor Orban from Hungary and Geert Wilders from Holland to ISIS.

    Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein: «Geert Wilders released his grotesque 11 point manifesto only days ago. And a month ago he spoke on similar lines in Cleveland in the United States. (For the record those comments were delivered at a gay Trump party!) I will not repeat what he said but there are many others who will. And his party is expected to do well in the elections in March. And yet what Mr. Wilders shares in common with Mr. Trump, Mr. Orban, Mr. Zeman… Madam Le Pen, Mr. Farage. They also share with Daesh (ISIS).»

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/wow-un-human-rights-leader-compares-trump-farage-le-pen-isis-video/

    • This guy is some piece of work. I would like him to peddle his BS in any Islamic country…
      Of course that won’t happen because Islam must remain pure while Western countries are available for pollution.
      I would really like Trump to shake up the UN, just shake it up. Cut off funding for the “Human Rights Commission” or, better yet demand that countries pay into this corrupt org based on their population.
      The really sick thing here is that the US funds 22% of this. So, this stupid man is riding around in limos funded by US taxpayers.
      Shake it up Mr. Trump!

  18. MoA – Official Fake News Numbers Will Have Serious Consequences

    WASHINGTON — A senior US military official for the first time says the US-led coalition has killed 50,000 Islamic State militants in the last two years in Iraq and Syria.

    The official said it was a conservative estimate, but it’s a bit more than what others have stated before.

    […]The continued use of such false numbers and facts will lead to further deterioration of the trustworthiness of mainstream news and government institutions. In consequence the people will look, and vote, for outsiders to govern them. Radicals on the right of the political spectrum will gain more from this trend than the dispersed forces on the left.

    http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/12/official-fake-news-numbers-will-have-serious-consequences.html

    ==================================================
    Fox News – US officials say 50,000 ISIS fighters have been killed

  19. Castro’s Torture of American POWs in Vietnam
    An untold story.
    December 9, 2016
    Jamie Glazov

    The death of communist tyrant Fidel Castro has yielded much-deserved coverage of the monstrous nature of his tyrannical rule.

    What has gone virtually unreported, however, is the direct and instrumental role Castro played in the torture and murder of American POWs in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The story of Castro’s atrocities against American soldiers in this conflict is rarely ever told, least of all by our mainstream media.

    During the Vietnam War, Castro sent a gang of his henchmen to run the “Cuban Program” at the Cu Loc POW camp in Hanoi, which became known as “the Zoo.” As Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley have documented in their book Honor Bound in a chapter entitled “The Zoo, 1967–1969: The Cuban Program and Other Atrocities,” one of the primary objectives of this “program” was to determine how much physical and psychological agony a human being could withstand.

    Castro selected American POWs as his guinea pigs. A Cuban nicknamed “Fidel,” the main torturer at the Zoo, initiated his own personal reign of terror. He was described in documents based on POW debriefings as “a professional who was trained in psychology and prison control in Russia or Europe.”

    Among Fidel’s torture techniques were beatings and whippings over every part of his victims’ bodies, without remission.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265091/castros-torture-american-pows-vietnam-jamie-glazov

    • This goes a long way to explain the ‘head in the sand’ approach to the current situation.

  20. WaPo – Trump transition team for Energy Department seeks names of employees involved in climate meetings

    The Trump transition team has issued a list of 74 questions for the Energy Department, asking officials there to identify which department employees and contractors have worked on forging an international climate pact as well as domestic efforts to cut the nation’s carbon output.

    The questionnaire requests a list of those individuals who have taken part in international climate talks over the past five years and “which programs within DOE are essential to meeting the goals of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.”

    The questionnaire, which one Energy Department official described as unusually “intrusive” and a matter for departmental lawyers, has raised concern that the Trump transition team was trying to figure out how to target the people, including civil servants, who have helped implement policies under Obama.

    The questionnaire was first reported by Bloomberg News. The Post has obtained its own a copy of the document as well as confirmation from other people in the department.

    The memo provides the clearest indication yet of how Trump’s administration would begin to dismantle specific aspects of President Obama’s ambitious climate policies. Thousands of scientists have already signed petitions calling on the president-elect and his team to respect scientific integrity and refrain from singling out individual researchers whose work might conflict with the new administration’s policy goals.

    This potential clash could prompt a major schism within the federal government, with many career officials waging a battle against incoming political appointees.

    One question zeroed in on the issue of the “social cost of carbon,” a way of calculating the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions. The transition team asked for a list of department employees or contractors who attended interagency meetings, the dates of the meetings, and emails and other materials associated with them.

    The social cost of carbon is a metric that calculates the cost to society of emitting a ton of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The Obama administration has used this tool to try to calculate the benefits of regulations and initiatives that lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

    Another question appeared to delve deeply into the mechanisms behind scientific tools called “integrated assessment models,” which scientists use to forecast future changes to the climate and energy system. It also asked what the Energy Department considers to be “the proper equilibrium climate sensitivity,” which is a way that climate researchers calculate how much the planet will eventually warm, depending upon the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

    “My guess is that they’re trying to undermine the credibility of the science that DOE has produced, particularly in the field of climate science,” said Rob Jackson, a Stanford climate and energy researcher, in response to the question about the Integrated Assessment Models.

    The questionnaire also appeared to take aim at the national laboratories, which operate with a high degree of independence but which are part of the Energy Department. The questionnaire asked for a list of the top 20 salaried employees of the labs, the labs’ peer-reviewed publications over the past three years, a list of their professional society memberships, affiliations, and the websites they maintain or contribute to “during work hours.”

    The transition team list also asked how to keep open aging nuclear power plants, restart the controversial Yucca mountain nuclear waste site shelved by President Obama, and support the licensing of small modular reactors.

    It included 15 questions for the Energy Information Administration, some of them routine but some questioning the way the agency uses data about energy production.

    The questions called to mind past cases of conflicts between Republican administrations and federal agency scientists, on the environment and other matters.

    In Ronald Reagan’s first term, Anne Gorsuch was appointed to head the Environmental Protection Agency amid a major push for regulatory rollback. But after Gorsuch resigned amid controversy in 1983, Congress opened investigations into supposed “hit lists” at the agency used to track the views of members of scientific advisory boards, according to contemporary press reports.

    During the George W. Bush administration, meanwhile, there were complaints that scientific documents had been edited to raise doubts about the science of climate change, and that researchers had been prevented from speaking openly to the media and sharing their expertise.

    Energy Department officials have not yet decided how to respond to the questions targeting the agency’s climate activities, according to federal officials who asked not to be identified to discuss internal deliberations.

    “With some of these questions, it feels more like an inquisition than a question, in terms of going after career employees who have been here through Bush years to Clinton, and up to now,” said one current Energy Department employee. “All of a sudden you have questions that feel more like a congressional investigation than an actual probing of how the Department of Energy does its job.”

    Michael Halpern, deputy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Center for Science and Democracy, called the memo’s demand that Energy officials identify specific employees “alarming.”

    “If the Trump administration is already singling out scientists for doing their jobs, the scientific community is right to be worried about what his administration will do in office. What’s next? Trump administration officials holding up lists of ‘known climatologists’ and urging the public to go after them?” Halpern asked.

    He added that lawmakers have attacked executive branch scientists in the past for doing “work they find inconvenient. It seems that they are about to get accomplices in the Department of Energy. But don’t expect the federal workforce to simply roll over. The new administration will find thousands of federal workers who still believe in their departmental mission and will work hard to resist attacks on their peers. Scientists outside government are standing by to expose these actions and fight back.”

    The questionnaire spanned a broad area of Energy Department activities, including its loan program, its technology research program, responses to Congress, estimates of offshore wind, and cleanup of uranium at a site once used by the military for weapons research.

    The Trump transition team meetings with Energy Department officials so far have excluded political appointees, one current official said.

    At the Defense Department, Trump transition personnel are having multiple meetings a day with Pentagon personnel, but in some cases have asked Obama administration political appointees not to attend those meetings, officials there said.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/09/trump-transition-team-for-energy-department-seeks-names-of-employees-involved-in-climate-meetings/

    • Translation: The left has gone to great trouble to drive all honest scientist out of the EPA and Dept of Energy and they don’t want Trump removing the scientific whores with a political agenda the left has brought in and promoted.

  21. WASHINGTON – White House

    FACT SHEET:

    White House Announces Actions to Protect Natural and Cultural Resources in Alaskan Arctic Ocean

    Since taking office, President Obama has worked to protect the Arctic’s natural and cultural resources and the communities that rely upon them through the use of science-based decision making, enhanced coordination of Federal Arctic management, efforts to combat illegal fishing, and revitalization of the process for establishing new marine sanctuaries. Building on this effort, today, President Obama is announcing new steps to enhance the resilience of the Alaskan Arctic environment and the sustainability of Alaskan native communities with the creation of the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area.

    In addition to today’s protections, the Obama Administration is announcing approximately $30 million in philanthropic commitments for projects in rural northern Alaska and Canada. These projects include investments over the next three years related to shipping, ecosystem science, community and ecological resilience, and tribal engagement. Earlier this week, the Department of Commerce deployed an Economic Development Assessment Team to Nome, Alaska to help the region diversify, grow its economy, and address challenges related to climate change and community resilience.

    Today’s actions are also supportive of the March 2016 U.S.-Canada Joint Statement on Climate, Energy, and Arctic Leadership and make substantial progress on its objectives of conserving Arctic biodiversity through science-based decision-making, incorporating indigenous science and traditional knowledge into decision-making, and supporting strong Arctic communities. These actions employ science-based leadership to improve marine and coastal resilience and sustain our Nation’s precious natural resources.

    Executive Order Creating the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area

    Native villages in the northern Bering Sea region of Alaska largely practice a subsistence-based lifestyle that is inextricably tied to the rich marine ecosystem of the Bering Sea. Warming ocean temperatures, sea ice loss, and increasing ship traffic all threaten the subsistence practices and food security of these communities. The coastal tribes along the northern Bering Sea and the Bering Strait have requested that the Federal Government take action to protect the health of the marine ecosystems of the Northern Bering Sea and Bering Strait while maintaining opportunities for sustainable fishing and sustainable economic development.

    In direct response to these requests, the President signed an Executive Order creating the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area. This area, encompassing 112,300 square miles, represents a hugely productive, high-latitude ocean ecosystem and supports one of the largest seasonal marine mammal migrations in the world, including thousands of bowhead and beluga whales, hundreds of thousands of walruses and ice seals, and millions of migratory birds. It is home to more than 40 tribes of coastal Yup’ik and Inupiaq peoples whose way of life has been linked with the marine environment for thousands of years.

    The Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area is delineated for the purpose of focusing a locally-tailored collection of protections related to oil and gas, shipping, and fishing. The order also establishes a Task Force charged with coordinating Federal activities in this area to enhance ecosystem and community resilience, conserve natural resources, and protect the cultural and subsistence values this ecosystem provides for Alaskan native communities. Further, agencies are directed to consider traditional knowledge in decision making and establish a formal consultative mechanism for engaging with regional tribal governments to seek their input on Federal activities. This action advances science-based decision-making and engagement with Alaska Native peoples in addressing the changing Arctic consistent with the Joint Statement signed at the White House Arctic Science Ministerial and consultation with Alaska Natives in preparation for the Ministerial.

    Shipping

    In recognition of the increase in shipping through the Bering Strait, the Coast Guard is nearing completion of a Port Access Route Study (PARS) for the region. A PARS is the first step in assessing the need for vessel traffic control measures and developing a set of recommendations. Any recommended international routing measures would be submitted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which sets international rules for maritime commerce. The Executive Order directs the Coast Guard to give careful consideration to community recommendations regarding environmentally sensitive Areas to Be Avoided (ATBAs) and to publish its initial findings by the end of 2016 and to move its conclusions to the International Maritime Organization for action by 2018.

    Fishing

    Sea bottom habitat is extremely important to the ecosystem in the Northern Bering Sea and helps to support the incredible abundance of marine mammals and sea birds in the region, including critical subsistence resources. In recognition of these connections, bottom trawling is already banned in the region to protect the sea floor. The Executive Order makes it Federal policy to support the continued prohibition on bottom trawling, which destroys sensitive benthic ecosystems.

    Oil and Gas

    Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the President has withdrawn Norton Basin planning area and portions of the St. Matthew-Hall planning area from future oil and gas leasing to further protect the regional ecosystem and coastal communities. The five year leasing plans issued by the Department of the Interior do not include plans for leasing in the withdrawn areas, so there will not need to be changes to those plans to reflect the withdrawal. The total area withdrawn from leasing through this Executive Order is 40,300 square miles.

    • Coordination and Consultation

      This Order also advances the Administration’s priorities of elevating traditional knowledge in decision making and coordinating Federal efforts in the Arctic. Today’s actions establish a Federal Task Force on the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area (Bering Task Force), under the Arctic Executive Steering Committee (AESC) established by Executive Order 13689. The Bering Task Force will coordinate Federal activity and consider additional mechanisms to reduce impacts to subsistence and cultural activities within the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area. The Executive Order also formally elevates the voice of Alaskan native tribes and the role of indigenous knowledge in decision-making within the region by mandating that the Task Force establish and engage in regular consultation with a Bering Intergovernmental Tribal Advisory Council, which will consist primarily of tribal government representatives with participation from Federal, state, and local officials for coordination purposes. Together, these two groups will guide the incorporation of valuable traditional knowledge and science into Federal resource management in the northern Bering Sea region, thus preserving this unique ecosystem and the indigenous peoples who rely upon it.

      Commitments to Rural Northern Alaska and Canada

      Today, in support of the U.S.-Canada commitments to a Shared Arctic Leadership model, the philanthropic community is pledging approximately $30 million for projects in rural northern Alaska and Canada.

      The Arctic Funders Collaborative (AFC), a group of eleven U.S., Canadian and international philanthropic foundations, is announcing that a subset of its members will coordinate and mobilize resources through grant programs across the Arctic at a projected $27 million over the next three years in the following areas:
      Community-led planning and monitoring initiatives that foster adaptation and resilience to a changing Arctic climate
      Low-impact shipping corridors in Arctic Alaska and Canada, including routing and mitigation measures to help improve maritime safety and spill prevention
      Northern-led policy development informed by indigenous knowledge and science
      Fostering connections between Northern priorities and social finance institutions in ways that support culture, community resilience and sustainable economic opportunities
      Building in-region capacity of indigenous-led organizations and emerging leaders across the Arctic

      Priority geographic areas for marine stewardship support include the northern Bering Sea and the Bering Strait, the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the Northwest Passage, Lancaster Sound, Baffin Bay, the Davis Strait, and Hudson Bay.
      Today, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is announcing a $3.7 million grant to support research that couples state-of-the-art geophysical observations from unmanned aerial systems with a community-engaged research approach to bridge scientific and indigenous understanding of sea ice change in the Alaskan Arctic. Led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Columbia University, and Kotzebue residents, the project will research changing patterns of Arctic ice and other physical characteristics in Kotzebue Sound and the Chukchi Sea, using a combination of traditional knowledge and sensing technologies in modules carried by drones. From the beginning of the work – including development of the research design – the project will involve local experts who have sea ice experience and other environmental knowledge.

      https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/09/fact-sheet-white-house-announces-actions-protect-natural-and-cultural

    • Your bold, Martin, is great fun!
      ecological resilience, and tribal engagement/ science-based decision-making
      For thousands of years, no less!

  22. [ Muslim ] Man sentenced to four years in Houston Christmas Day mosque fire

    The man who pleaded guilty to arson in a fire at a mosque on Christmas Day in 2015 has been sentenced to four years in jail.

    Gary Nathaniel Moore, who investigators say also used the name “Jamal” Moore, was in court today.

    Prosecutors said just after the fire that Moore was seen on surveillance video leaving the building, and that authorities found lighter fluid at his home — the same accelerant found in the mosque.

    http://abc13.com/news/man-sentenced-to-four-years-in-houston-christmas-day-mosque-fire/1647935/

  23. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to visit Sterling, Va., mosque Monday amid spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Loretta Lynch is visiting a mosque in Virginia next week amid a sharp increase in hate crimes targeting Muslims.

    Lynch is scheduled to visit the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling on Monday morning.

    She’ll travel to New York City the following day for a discussion with gay, lesbian and transgender youth at Harvey Milk High School and to visit the Stonewall Inn and Stonewall National Monument.

    FBI statistics released last month show reported hate crimes against Muslims rose by 67 percent in 2015 to their highest number since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

    There were 257 reported incidents of anti-Muslim bias in 2015, compared to 154 the year before.

    Lynch has said the numbers should be “deeply sobering for all Americans.”

    https://www.apnews.com/376286b7a45e4ade9aad0333dca240a7/Lynch-to-visit-mosque-amid-spike-in-anti-Muslim-hate-crimes

  24. Another liar heard from.Dr. Sebastian Gorka on Trump’s Cabinet: ‘After Eight Years of Pajama Boys, It’s Time for the Alpha Males’

    Breitbart News National Security editor Dr. Sebastian Gorka, author of the best-selling book Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War, joined SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam on Friday’s Breitbart News Daily to talk about the final act of the secretary of state drama, beginning with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s idea of working with former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as a “dynamic duo” at the State Department.

    Dr. Gorka said he has heard the idea of Bolton serving as Rohrabacher’s deputy secretary of state “floated by people who were involved with the Reagan administration, the pre-neocon establishment that so many people miss today.”

    “So it’s not an isolated incident, and it’s a very interesting offer,” Gorka said. “I have no idea if the people on the 26th floor in Trump Tower are responding to it, but it’s intriguing.”

    http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2016/12/09/gorka-trumps-cabinet-eight-years-pajama-boys-time-alpha-males/

    audio at site

      • The people who aren’t religious refuse to accept the idea that the Islamic believers mean everything they say and are acting according to the ordered in the Koran.

  25. Number of potential female jihadists in Austria higher than expected (thelocal, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.at/20161209/number-of-potential-female-jihadists-in-austria-higher-than-expected

    “Jihadism in Austria is an issue that evidently also affects women. According to a survey conducted by the Austrian Green Party via the Ministry of the Interior, over 280 people revealed that they either planned to or had already traveled to IS conflict zones in Syria and Iraq to join groups engaged in active combat.

    Of those who responded to the questionnaire, 59 were female and the remaining 221 were male. On the day the survey closed, 87 people were known to have returned to Austria from one of these perilous areas – 13 of these being women. 50 of the survey participants reported that they had been prevented from leaving the country for such perceived reasons, 22 being women.

    Women’s laureate Berivan Aslan expressed surprise and shock at the high number of women. “The number is unpleasant. I did not expect the percentage of female IS-sympathisers to be as high as 21 percent.” She pointed out in a statement to the APA that in Belgium, where the jihadist scene is considerably larger, the proportion women is only 17 percent….”

  26. 80% of migrants reaching Italy irregular (ansamed, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2016/12/09/80-of-migrants-reaching-italy-irregular_16ea19f0-5345-49ad-adfe-29d0f90f09da.html

    “Rome, December 9 – Some 80% of the migrants arriving across the Mediterranean to Italy are irregular, European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said Thursday, noting that 80% of migrants crossing the Aegean to Greece are refugees. Friday will see an informal meeting of EU interior ministers ahead of a December 15 summit.”

    • Italy blasted over migrant intake as experts claim 80 per cent have NO RIGHT to asylum (express, Dec 9, 2016)
      http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741907/Italy-blasted-over-migrant-intake-experts-80-per-cent-asylum-illegal

      “EIGHTY per cent of migrants in Italy have become illegal immigrants who are not eligible for asylum in the country, politicians have claimed.

      Matteo Renzi’s defeat over reform of the Italian senate and his subsequent resignation have caused political turmoil in the EU nation – and led to mass criticism of the country’s current policies.

      As key figures prepare to fight for the Prime Minister’s job Renzi’s decisions are being dissected, both at home and abroad.

      European Immigration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos has labelled his reception policies over those arriving via Libya “absurd”.

      A new report has found Prime Minister of Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj, is directly benefiting from the migration from his country to Europe.

      The research has suggested 300 million euros per year are generated from human trafficking and that amount represents the most substantial revenue to the cities controlled by Sarraj.

      Admiral Enrico Credendino, the commander of the mission Eunavfor Med, and author of the report said the smuggling of human beings guarantees a turnover of between 275 and 325 million euro per year.

      Mr Credendino concluded the migration is a constant income for the Libyan leader while it remains a great strain on Italy.

      He said: “As long as we continue accepting everyone arriving on boats, Sarraj will continue receiving money from criminal groups that push migrants to our shores.”

      Commissioner Avramopoulos said: “If we compare Italy and Greece, said the Commissioner yesterday, up to 80% of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea are refugees, while 80 per cent of those who arrived in Italy from the Mediterranean are illegal.”

      The majority of migrant arriving in Italy are not from Syria, but from countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia and Mali, experts have said.

      Mr Avramopoulos said many will be able to stay despite being illegal, due to the allocation of migrants, approved by Brussels in late 2015.”

  27. Sweden CHAOS boils over: Cars go up in flames as violent thugs attack police officers (express, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741873/Sweden-chaos-Cars-flames-violent-thugs-attack-police-officers

    “SPECIAL units in Sweden were forced to rush out to aid Gothenburg police on Thursday after a gang of thugs launched violent attacks on deployed officers.

    The violent assault on the police came after they attempted to search a home in the northeastern part of the city.

    It is not known why officers were ordered to the premises, however the attending officials were unable to carry out the order as the thugs turned out in force to hinder the search.

    Around 50 people amassed in the streets to cause havoc as they tossed firecrackers at the police, as well as the police cars.

    The chaos erupted around 7pm and approximately 15 patrols were rushed to the area to aid the under-attack police officers.

    Police confirmed they had patrols deployed throughout the night, in addition to bringing in special units and a helicopter to reestablish control in Hammarkullen, southwest Sweden….”

  28. ERDOGAN’S MUSLIM SPIES: Turkish imams snooping on Merkel’s Germany for President (express, Dec 9, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/741853/Turkish-imams-spy-Germany-President-Erdogan

    “TURKISH imams are spying in Germany to try and find out more about anyone who could be involved in July’s coup attempt.

    According to German media, the spies write reports on the alleged Gulen supporters and the secretive information is collected from imams of the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion (Ditib).

    The names of the so-called spies are then reported to the relevant state bodies and consulates.

    Turkey blames Gulen and his movement for orchestrating the military coup attempt on July 15, which killed 248 people and injured over 2,200.

    The Ditib has 970 mosques in its community and is the largest umbrella organisation in Germany, which is controlled by the Turkish government.

    The Turkish intelligence agency MIT are also being used to spy on Turkish citizens.

    For example, an imam in Westerwald, Germany reported when suspects changed positions after the coup and their family links.

    According to the well-respected Die Welt newspaper, a lot of people who are being spied on are German citizens.

    In July 2016, a coup d’etat was attempted in Turkey against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    Turkey has used imams in various countries within and outside the EU, including Bulgaria, Norway and Switzerland, to gather intelligence about Gulen followers.

    Earlier in the year, Turkish President Erdogan ordered a purge of Turkish government jobs accusing supporters of Mr Gulen of infiltrating government institutions.

    There have been reports that Gulen-linked soldiers in Germany are considering building their own mosques in the country.”