Reader’s links for January 27 – 2017

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

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

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

About Eeyore

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

54 Replies to “Reader’s links for January 27 – 2017”

      • Dear Mr President,

        Please let me address to you this message as a Christian with a Palestinian origin living in Switzerland. I am an expert on Arab and Islamic law, a field that I taught at various universities in Italy, France and Switzerland, and on which I published more than forty books, including an Arabic edition, an English translation and a French translation of the Koran in chronological order.

        It is the duty of each of us to support the efforts of our leaders towards a better society and to wish them success in fulfilling their obligations.

        The society, as a statue, has two legs: the public authority, and the scholars who have the knowledge. The public authority executes, and the scholars enlighten the public authority.

        When an epidemic occurs, it is necessary that scholars are able to identify it … But still they must have been trained and are free to express themselves. Then the scholars must inform the public authority in order to take the necessary measures to counter this epidemic.

        Your country, like Europe, the region where I come from, and the world are facing the rise of violence in particular by various Islamic terrorist groups. This violence is one of the causes of immigrant waves breaking on the shores of Europe, the US and other countries. In your statements, you highlighted these two issues.

        You described “radical Islamic terrorism” as an “evil” unseen before, adding that it should be just “eradicated off the face of the earth”: “we gonna end it. It’s time. It’s time right now to end it”. But you have not said how you will achieve this goal. You also called Angela Merkel’s open door policy to refugees a “catastrophic mistake”, saying that Berlin, instead of hosting refugees, would have done better to advocate more for the creation of no-fly zones in Syria in order to protect the local population from the bombing. “The gulf states should have had to pay for them. After all, they have money like hardly anyone else has”.

        Let me give you my humble opinion on these two issues.

        Regarding radical Islamic terrorism, it is certainly necessary to fight it with weapons, but weapons alone will not suffice. It is also particularly important to eliminate the ideology on which radical Islamic terrorism is based, namely the Islamic ideology. To take adequate action we must call things by their name.

        The radical Islamic terrorism is based on the Koran, the Sunnah of Muhammad and the teachings of Islam. Radical Islamic terrorist groups are only putting into practice what universities, Islamic centers, schools and mosques have been teaching for fourteen centuries in all Muslim countries, and even in Western countries, including yours. Egyptian journalists and intellectuals continue to denounce this teaching, which is the source of terrorism that destabilizes Egypt. This teaching is conveyed by mosques, schools and universities of Al-Azhar, the most important religious institution in the Sunni world. Without a radical change of this teaching, it is impossible to end the radical Islamic terrorism. But how to proceed?

        The Sudanese thinker Mahmud Muhammad Taha, known as The African Ghandi, had proposed to Muslims to follow the Koran and Islam of the Meccan period, more or less peaceful, and to abandon the Koran and Islam of the Medinian period:

        which advocates discrimination against women and non-Muslims;
        which prescribes war against the disbelievers until the conversion of the whole humanity to Islam,
        giving the People of the Book the choice between conversion to Islam, payment of tribute, or killing and enslavement of their children and women. As for those who are not part of the People of the Book, they have only the choice between Islam or killing and enslavement of their children and women;
        which prescribes cruel punishments violating human rights (amputation of a thief’s hand, stoning for adultery, killing of those who leave Islam, etc.). These punishments are also included in the unified Arab penal code signed by all Arab Ministers of Justice and published on the website of the Arab League, which I translated in French.

        ISIS and other radical Islamic terrorist groups faithfully apply the teachings of Islam. Western leaders who claim that the practices of these terrorist groups have nothing to do with Islam are misled and are in turn misleading their citizens. This is why they fail to eradicate radical Islamic terrorism. A doctor who wrongly diagnoses a disease exposes the patient to fatal danger.

        If the proposition of Mahmud Muhammad Taha had been accepted by Muslims, the current radical Islamic terrorism would not have appeared. But unfortunately Mahmud Muhammad Taha was hanged in 1985 on the instigation of Al-Azhar and other Islamic organizations such as the League of the Muslim world whose headquarters are in Saudi Arabia.

        To end the radical Islamic terrorism, we must take the necessary steps to change its ideological basis.

        We must therefore encourage the Muslim world to restrict the dissemination of the current Koran that mixes more or less peaceful Meccan chapters with the violent and discriminatory Medinian chapters, and impose new editions of the Koran in chronological order, separating the two parts, so that Muslims and the rest of humanity can distinguish between them. That’s what I did in my Arabic edition and my translations of the Koran.

        We should also require from Muslim countries a radical change of their teachings in schools, universities and mosques, and impose respect for religious freedom as defined by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

        The Arab countries must also formally withdraw the unified Arab penal code published on the website of the Arab League, which I translated in French.

        Finally, universities and research centers in Western countries, including yours, must work for such a change to take place.

        Regarding immigration, it is extremely likely that if Western countries open their doors, some hundred million Muslims will emigrate to escape the hell of the Arab and Muslim countries. Thousands of Muslims are trying to cross the borders risking their lives and finding themselves in inhuman situations. These Muslims carry the ideology that destroyed their own country, an ideology that will ultimately destroy the West too. On the other hand, many Muslims are incarcerated in Western prisons where they are further radicalized. It is estimated that 70% of prisoners in France are Muslims. When these prisoners will leave their prisons after they have completed their sentences, they will destroy the West. Terrorists who committed attacks in Europe and in your country went through these prisons, which are real terrorist nurseries.

        Faced with this reality that nobody can deny, would it not be wiser to create a new state on half of the territory of Saudi Arabia, under international protection, which can accommodate at least one hundred million Muslims wishing to leave their countries of origin as well as the Muslim detainees in Western prisons? This “new country” should be placed under international protection, managed according to international standards of human rights, and funded by half of the oil revenues of Saudi Arabia, which is the main provider of funds to terrorist groups and the main country propagating radical Islamic ideology on which Islamic terrorist groups are based. In doing so, we give a chance to these Muslims to be rehabilitated and get a new life, which is both dignified and humane.

        In short, Mr President, it is not enough to send planes to bomb Islamic terrorist groups in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. We must also, and above all, dismantle the ideology that is the basis for these Islamic terrorist groups who are also active in Europe and in your country. To eliminate epidemics, it is not enough to treat the symptoms, it is also as imperative to address their causes and sources.

        I wish you, dear Mr President, full success in your job for the good of your country and that of all humanity.

        Dr Sami Aldeeb, University Professor
        Director of the Centre of Arab and Islamic Law
        Translator of the Koran into French and English, and author of numerous books

        • Fantastic. The clarity and precision.

          However, what remains will be a Anglicanized Islam, an Islam Lite; without masculinity and any substance. Only mothers will pass on their seed.

          What they need therefore, is a Holy Trinity to replace their unholy one, to say “there’s a Good God – the One who forgives all those who themselves forgive others;” and “there’s a Good Spirit – the One that loves life more than death;” and in a Jesus, “there’s a righteous person – the One who forgives seven times seventy times.”

          Islam simply can’t tie these shoelaces.

  1. DAILY MAIL – The incredible lunar TEMPLE: European space bosses reveal plan for 50m high ‘dome of contemplation’

    Perpetually sunlit peak close to the Moon’s south pole
    Would be built on the sunlit rim of Shackleton Crater, near proposed lunar base
    50 m-high domed structure Temple will be ‘symbol of unity for humankind’ 🙂 🙂 🙂

    It could be a temple like no other – and with a view that really is out of this world.

    The European Space Agency has revealed plans for a lunar temple to be built alongside mankind’s first outpost on the moon.

    The 50m high dome, close to a planned moonbase near to the moon’s south pole, would give the first settlers ‘a place of contemplation’.

    Artist Jorge Mañes Rubio, part of ESA’s future-oriented Advanced Concepts Team (ACT), designed the temple to be built alongside ESA’s planned moonbase.

    more :

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4162296/The-incredible-lunar-TEMPLE.html

  2. BREITBART -Leading Islamic Cleric: Prophet Muhammed Will Marry Virgin Mary in Heaven

    A leading Egyptian cleric irked his Christian compatriots when he said on television that the Islamic figure Muhammed would marry the Virgin Mary in heaven.

    Dr Salem Abdel Galil, a theologian at Cairo’s prestigious Al Azhar academy and a former director-general of the Ministry of Religions, said on his television program that “Allah, , chose Mary of all the women, alongside Asiya, Pharaoh’s wife, Aisha and Khadijea, Prophet Muhammed’s wives, and Fatima, the Prophet’s daughter. There are verses in the Quran that suggest that< in heaven Muhammed will marry the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus as well as Asiya, Pharaoh’s wife and Kultum, the sister of Moses peace be upon him.”

    “The Quran said: ‘Allah will give [the Prophet] women preferable to his wives, Muslim, pious, pure women.’” One, he said, referred to Asiya and the other to Mary.

    Egypt’s Christian community was enraged by Galil’s remarks. The community’s youth movement issued a statement demanding an apology. The movement’s chairman, Nader Soubhi, said: “We Christians don’t recognize any aspect of the Virgin Mary except her sanctity, her purity and her virginity. The Virgin Mary will never lose any of these.”

    In 2010, an Al Azhar cleric caused controversy with a similar ruling, which also raised the church’s ire. Then too, church representatives said they rejected the ruling “which contradicts our religion and holy book. It’s offensive to the Virgin Mary.”

    Reverend Abdel Masih Basit said that “the Virgin became pregnant while a virgin, and will forever remain so. And according to Jesus, in heaven you don’t marry but become angels.”

    “The Christian faith relies on the belief that a man’s soul turns into a spirit after his death and his body turns into light, and therefore there’s no need for partnership or sexual intercourse,” he said.

    http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/01/26/prophet-mohammed-will-marry-virgin-mary-islamic-cleric-says-raising-christians-ire/

    • A leading Egyptian cleric irked his Christian compatriots when he said on television that the Islamic figure Muhammed would marry the Virgin Mary in heaven.

      What more could anyone possibly want?!?

      However counterintuitive this might seem … please refrain from over-loudly protesting against this slime-mold piece of ambulatory human excrement’s claims.

      This is the sort of hyper-offensive posturing that shall bring down upon Islam the enraged sort of retribution that it so richly deserves and—without any modicum of internal opposition—see this towering sack of crap annihilated sooner than later.

      Any questions?

  3. Facebook rape gang who wooed girls online then plied them with drink and drugs before attacking them is jailed for 44 years (dailymail, Jan 26, 2017)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4161320/Facebook-rape-gang-jailed-44-years.html

    “A Facebook rape gang who wooed girls online before plying them with drink and drugs have been jailed for 44 years.

    The vile crew targeted a number of girls in Coventry, striking between 2015 and 2016.

    Waqaar Khan, 24, Marcus Woolcock, 22, Kadeem Bourne, 23, Keenan Kelly, 18, and Zahid Chaudhary, 20, were convicted of 18 offences at Warwick Crown Court.

    They included rape, sexual assault and human trafficking.

    Khan was jailed for 14 and a half years and Bourne 13 and a half years, while Kelly was handed a 10-year sentence.

    Woolcock was jailed for two years and Chaudhry was sentenced 18 months.

    The gang were convicted of attacking two teenagers, but six others, five of whom were under the age of 16, gave evidence at earlier hearings.

    The girls spoke of being picked up by taxis and taken to parties or car parks where they were plied with alcohol or drugs…”

  4. Shocking CCTV shows the moment student, 21, was mowed down and killed by show-off BMW driver going TWICE the speed limit as he gets five years for causing her death (dailymail, Jan 26, 2017)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4160544/BMW-driver-guilty-causing-student-s-death.html

    “CCTV footage of the moment a 21-year-old student was mowed down outside her university by an ‘arrogant’ BMW driver has been released.

    Farid Reza, 36, and William Spicer, 28, were showing off at more than twice the 30mph speed limit before the crash that killed 21-year-old student Hina Shamim on March 31, 2015.

    Reza – who has worked a chauffeur, bus driver and minicab driver – was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of causing the death of the Kingston University sports science student by dangerous driving…”

  5. Passenger accused of hate crimes after Muslim employee abused at JFK airport: ‘Trump will get rid of all of you’ (independent, Jan 27, 2017)
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-hate-crime-muslim-delta-airlines-employee-abused-john-f-kennedy-airport-kicked-a7548651.html

    “A Massachusetts man is accused of attacking a Muslim airline employee at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, allegedly kicking and shouting obscenities at the woman and telling her that President Donald Trump “will get rid of all of you,” authorities said…”

  6. Somalia’s al Shabaab says kills dozens of Kenyan troops in raid on base (reuters, Jan 27, 2017)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-attacks-idUSKBN15B0C9

    “The Islamist group al Shabaab said its fighters killed dozens of Kenyan troops when they attacked a remote military base in Somalia on Friday, while Kenya’s army dismissed the report and said “scores” of militants were killed.

    A spokesman for al Shabaab, which often launches attacks on troops of the African Union’s AMISOM force, said its fighters killed at least 66 Kenyans at the base in the southern town of Kulbiyow, near the Kenyan border.

    Al Shabaab said it lost fighters but did not give numbers…”

  7. Iraq inks billion-dollar power plant deal with US firm (alaraby, Jan 27, 2017)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/1/27/iraq-inks-billion-dollar-power-plant-deal-with-us-firm

    “Iraq signed a billion-dollar deal on Thursday with US firm General Electric for the construction of two power plants aimed at easing the country’s long-running electricity woes, the premier’s office said.

    Under the deal, the power plants, each with a capacity of 750 megawatts, will be built in the provinces of Dhi Qar and Muthannah at a total cost of $1.05 billion, a statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office said.

    GE announced the deal earlier this month, saying it had secured more than $1.4 billion in orders to set up the two plants and provide upgrades and maintenance at others.

    Iraq has struggled for years with major shortfalls in power production and electricity distribution problems…”

  8. German population hits record high of 82.8 million due to migrants (reuters, Jan 27, 2017)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-population-idUKKBN15B0VD?rpc=401&amp;

    “Germany’s population grew by some 600,000 last year to reach a record high of 82.8 million people due to the number of migrants who have arrived in the country, the Federal Statistics office said on Friday.

    In a preliminary estimate for 2016, the statistics office said the population had eclipsed the previous record high of 82.5 million recorded at the end of 2002, even though the number of deaths in 2016 exceeded the number of births by between 150,000 and 190,000.

    Deaths have exceed births in Germany since 1972, with a total of more than 5 million fewer births than deaths.

    However, countering that trend, more than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and beyond flocked to Germany in 2015 and 2016, drawn by its strong economy, relatively liberal asylum laws and generous system of benefits.

    Since the height of the euro zone debt crisis, Germany is also attracting many migrants from other European countries such as Greece and Spain.

    The figures used to calculate net migration were based on numbers signing up at registration offices. Asylum seekers are initially housed in reception centres and generally only registered later.

    Steady economic growth since 2010 and generous pro-family policies by successive governments in recent years have helped lift the birth rate but it is still below the death rate.

    German government support for refugees has climbed in recent years. For 2016 and 2017 the government set aside 28.7 billion euros ($30.64 billion) in funding to accommodate and integrate the more than one million asylum seekers who entered the country, the ministry said.”

  9. SJBs. (Social Justice Betas)

    “Stephen Welch, prosecuting, said an accident investigator said the Mitsubishi L200 4×4 was travelling at up to 104mph at the time of the collision.

    The court heard Dent had been having issues in his personal life, and told police who asked him why he did it: ‘I don’t know, I had probably just had enough.’

    According to the Hull Daily Mail, Mr Welch added: ‘He said he was at home and had been having issues with the Child Support Agency an ex-girlfriend and his partner.’ ”
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4163154/Shocking-moment-man-tried-drive-Humber-Bridge.html

    Maximum disruption in everything they do.

    “Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; and that will by no means clear the guilty , visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.”
    http://biblehub.com/numbers/14-18.htm

    Iniquity: immoral or grossly unfair behaviour.

    The parents whose resentments and immoralities, stirred by the Soviets in the 1960s and 70s, were imprinted into their grandchildren as fatherless, defenceless trigger-flakes.

  10. MEMRI TV – Fatah “Shabiba” Student Movement at Birzeit University Marks Fatah’s 52nd Anniversary

  11. the Daily Caller – Islamic Terrorist Recruiter Hired By George Washington U. Has Been Busted For HOOKERS AND BLOW

    The former al-Qaida recruiter hired by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism to research effective methods to de-radicalize potential terrorists has been arrested for allegedly arriving with cocaine to what he thought would be a meeting with a prostitute.

    The one-time terrorist recruiter is Jesse Morton, reports The Washington Post.

    The sting involved an ad offering sex services placed on Backpage.com. Morton replied to the ad and then appeared at the Governor House Inn & Suites in Falls Church — “worn, but clean, comfortable, convenient.”

    Upon arresting Morton on the motel premises, police searched him and his automobile. They say they found cocaine, a glass pipe and some other accessory for smoking crack cocaine.

    The charges against Morton are possession of a controlled substance and residing in a bawdy place.

    Morton has traveled a long road from radicalized Muslim who recruited countless terrorists, to George Washington University anti-terror expert, and just recently to his arrest at the Governor House Inn.

    He was radicalized in prison before the September 11 terror attacks, and began to pursue his education, he has said.

    While attaining a Master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University in 2007, Morton affiliated himself with radical Islamist groups in New York City. At the time, he went by the name Younus Abdullah Mohammad.

    Morton then started Revolution Muslim, a website and Youtube channel that would become one of the most prolific Islamic radicalization efforts in the United States.

    Over the course of three years, Morton recruited countless terrorists. Eventually he fled to Morocco, where he was apprehended and extradited back to the U.S. in 2011.

    Prosecutors described Morton as a foe of “the very freedoms on which our society is based.” They accused Morton of encouraging terror attacks against “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker on the Revolution Muslim website.

    Parker and Stone were enemies of Islam, Morton said, because of a cartoon which portrayed Mohammed wearing a bear costume.

    While still in prison on a raft of charges, Morton began secretly helping federal agents with counter-terrorism operations.

    He was released from prison in 2015, several years early.

    George Washington University hired Morton as a research fellow for its extremism-focused think tank in the fall of 2016.

    “I hope I can deter just as many people as I recruited,” Morton told The Hatchet, the GWU student newspaper, in September. “I have deep regret and remorse from my time as an extremist. I cannot change the past and I can only work to rectify what I’ve done.”

    Morton no longer works at George Washington. It’s not clear when he stopped.

    His biography on the GWU website no longer exists. When the bio was available, it read: “After his incarceration in 2011, Morton de-radicalized, and today he rejects Salafi jihadi and Islamist ideology.”

    According to the Post, Morton blames his Islamic radicalization on a painful childhood, drug abuse and the transformation he underwent after reading “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” while he spent some time in jail at age 20.

    The undergraduate cost for tuition, fees and room and board at George Washington University is $64,800 per year.

    Morton’s next court date is in April.

    http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/26/islamic-terrorist-recruiter-hired-by-george-washington-u-has-been-busted-for-hookers-and-blow/

    • BREITBART – Britain’s Theresa May in U.S.: Islam is Peaceful, Globalism Good, Climate Change a Priority

      British Prime Minister Theresa May used her speech in Philadelphia to needle the new Trump administration on a number of issues ranging from globalism to climate change, Islam, and even to defending the European Union.

      Mrs. May began her speech at the Republican Retreat in Philadelphia with a brief history of Anglo-American relations, invoking the spirit of the Founding Fathers of the U.S. as well as expressing gratitude towards America’s involvement in the World Wars of the 20th century.

      But her speech was also littered with politically correct terms, as well as left and centre-left talking points regarding international institutions, Islam, and radical Islamic terrorism, the latter of which she called “Islamist extremism”.

      The British premier compared “open, liberal and democratic” societies in the West versus “closed, coercive” ones. She hailed the United Nations, praised the World Bank, and called NATO “the cornerstone” of Western defence.

      And Mrs. May also spoke of the necessity for multilateralism in stark contrast with the line pushed by the White House — which prefers bilateralism — over recent days. She cited the need to tackle “climate change” as one of the reasons to back globalist institutions.

      She called for the two nations to be “internationalist” and “global”, though noted “Some of these organisations are in need of reform and renewal”.

      And while committing to the destruction of the Islamic State, she failed to mention the name of the group, choosing instead the term “Daesh” — a word preferred by politically correct types and most notably popularised by former Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama.

      She went on to describe “radical Islamists”, stopping short of echoing the phrases used by the new U.S. administration including “radical Islamic terrorism”.

      The British PM stated: “Of course we should always be careful to distinguish between this extreme and hateful ideology AND THE PEACEFUL RELIGION OF ISLAM , and the hundreds of millions of its adherents, including millions of our own citizens, and those further afield who are so often the first victims of this ideology’s terror”.

      And while Mrs. May hailed the founding principle of “liberty” and claimed the title of “conservative” to draw parallels between her beliefs and those of Republican attendees, she is perhaps best known in the United Kingdom for an unprecedented expansion of the surveillance state and indeed mass migration at historic levels.

      Mrs. May was a Remain campaigner during the Brexit referendum, and also used her speech in Philadelphia to underscore her commitment to Britain’s foreign aid spending.

      And while the British government voted against the State of Israel in the now infamous UN Security Council vote in December, she stated that democratic allies like the Jewish state must be protected.

      Mrs. May spoke of verification and “policing” of the Iranian nuclear deal and spoke of the trading relationship between the United Kingdom and United States.

      Curiously, despite Britain’s Brexit vote, Mrs. May said of the European Union: “We will build a new partnership with our friends in Europe. We are not turning our back on them, or on the interests and the values that we share. It remains overwhelmingly in our interests – and in those of the wider world – that the EU should succeed”.

      http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/01/26/britains-theresa-may-in-u-s-uses-daesh-instead-of-islamic-state-proclaims-belief-in-liberty-despite-expanding-uk-surveillance-state/

    • Politicians who follow trends have to be all things to a people, andinvaded with army of psychopaths embeded with a project of sociopaths, that’s no mean feat to hold back a civil war from the Brexit voters who pay for their tax credits.

  12. Why the U.S. Should Support a Kurdish State

    The U.S. should support a Kurdish state since the Kurds have more than earned the right to independence. Moreover, such a move will help reassure other U.S. allies that the U.S. will stand by them rather than abandon them.?   

    The time has come to redraw the map. Iraq’s borders were forged by the colonial powers at the end of World War I, throwing the Kurds in with other ethnic groups with whom they have little in common. Ever since, the Kurds have been fighting for the right to govern themselves. Rep. Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, pointed out in December 2015, “The Kurds are the sole U.S. allied force operating on the ground against ISIS in Syria and Iraq….For the last year and a half, we’ve had one effective fighter in this fight: It is the 160,000-strong Peshmerga force.”?   

    Turkish opposition is going to be fierce. The Turks fear that a Kurdish state on their borders will embolden the Turkish Kurds’ quest for autonomy, if not for secession in order to join the new Kurdish state. Yet much of the problem stems from Turkey’s extreme oppression of its Kurdish population. For decades, Ankara made it illegal for Kurds to use their own language, attempted to erase Kurdish culture, to deny their distinct identity by classifying them as “Mountain Turks,” and banning the words “Kurdish” or “Kurdistan.”

    http://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-trump-should-support-kurdish-state-19102?page=show

  13. Yes, sure:
    Ensuring Iran’s Enrichment Research Is for Peaceful Purposes

    Iran announced last week that it would start feeding its first IR-8 centrifuges with uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6). With more powerful IR-8s and other advanced centrifuges, Iran could enrich uranium for a weapon much faster. The nuclear deal allows testing of more advanced centrifuges.?   

    If Iran continues its current rate of testing, the country will be able to field a demonstration plant in three or four years that will have triple the capacity of its currently installed IR-1 centrifuges. With this plant, Iran’s breakout time would drop from one year to three or four months.?   

    The kind of enriched uranium production output Tehran aims to have is both unwarranted and excessive. The international market has an oversupply of both uranium and enrichment services – meaning that Iran could purchase enriched uranium more cheaply than it can produce it domestically.

    http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/olli-heinonen1-ensuring-irans-enrichment-rd-is-for-peaceful-purposes/

  14. The Palestinian Cause Is No Longer the Arabs’ Primary Concern

    The Palestinians need to understand that the Arabs of today are not the Arabs of yesterday, and that the Palestinian cause has lost ground among Arabs. This cause is no longer a top priority for them, because civil wars are literally pulverizing four Arab countries, and because fighting “Islamic” terrorism is the foremost concern that causes all Arabs, without exception, to lose sleep. It is folly to ask someone to sacrifice his own problems and national interests in order to help [you solve] your own problems.?   

    All I can say to my Palestinian brethren is that stubbornness, contrariness, and betting on the Arab masses are a hopeless effort, and that ultimately you are the only ones who will pay the price of this stubbornness and contrariness.

    https://www.memri.org/reports/saudi-journalist-palestinians-reliance-armed-resistance-political-suicide-palestinian-cause

  15. Russia Seeks Another Mediterranean Naval Base in Libya

    Russia has been strengthening its ties with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who heads the Libyan National Army (LNA) based in eastern Libya. Haftar opposes the Government of National Accord (GNA), which is supported by the UN and European countries and is based in Tripoli.
       
    Russia is prepared to give Haftar’s army military and logistical aid as part of his struggle against Islamic terror organizations.
       
    Russia views Haftar as a means to deepen its influence in Libya, which it regards as a springboard for establishing a military naval presence in North Africa.

    http://jcpa.org/article/russia-cultivates-strongman-libya-seeks-another-mediterranean-naval-base/

  16. reuters – Syria rebels await action from Trump on safe zones, Damascus silent

    Syrian rebels urged President Donald Trump to fulfill a pledge to create safe zones in their country, but analysts doubted he would proceed with a step that could drag Washington deeper into war, hasten Syria’s fragmentation and risk conflict with Russia.

    Trump told ABC News on Wednesday he “will absolutely do safe zones in Syria” for refugees fleeing violence and that Europe had made a mistake by admitting millions of refugees from Syria.

    President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents have long demanded safe zones to protect civilians who have fled government air strikes and bombardment of rebel-held areas.

    But reflecting uncertainties about the announcement, representatives of the insurgents voiced only cautious optimism.

    “We’ve seen no result on the ground from (U.S.) statements that were made six years ago. So therefore we await action before anything else,” said Fares al-Bayoush, a rebel commander in northwestern Syria.

    Qatar, which backs the rebels, welcomed Trump’s comments and “emphasized the need to provide safe havens in Syria and to impose no-fly zones to ensure the safety of civilians”.

    There was no immediate word from Damascus, but it is sure to oppose such a move as Assad has vowed to regain control of all Syria. Iran, which backs militias in Syria including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, would also oppose any U.S. intervention.

    Russia said it had not been consulted on Trump’s plan, warning that it should not “exacerbate the situation with refugees” and Washington should weigh up “all the consequences”.

    MAJOR POLICY SHIFT

    The creation of safe zones would mark a major shift in U.S. policy. Former U.S. President Barack Obama resisted an idea that would require a commitment to defend such areas from the Syrian government or its foreign allies, including Russia.

    Trump appears to see safe zones as a way to stem the tide of refugees which he sees as a possible threat to U.S. security.

    But there are no obvious answers as to how the United States would avoid the problems that have prevented it establishing safe zones in Syria before, including the complication of policing such an area in a war zone dotted with armed groups.

    “At this stage this is very much in the realm of political maneuvering,” said Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow and Syria expert at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. “I don’t think it is signaling imminent U.S. action.”

    Trump could order the State Department and Pentagon to produce a plan that would also create “safe areas” in countries surrounding Syria where millions of refugees already live.

    The Syrian government hopes Trump will end U.S. support for the rebels fighting Assad and refocus U.S. policy solely on fighting Islamic State, perhaps in cooperation with Russia.

    Trump has indicated he will do both.

    Almost six years of war has turned Syria into a patchwork of areas, some controlled by Assad, some by rebel groups and others by Kurdish militia or Islamic State militants.

    Previous discussion of safe zones in Syria has focused on rebel-held areas in the northwest stretching from Idlib province to the Euphrates river. Areas in the southwest at the border with Jordan have also been seen as a possibility.

    But the complications have grown since the Syrian opposition first called for safe zones, including the deployment of Russia’s air force to Syria.

    Defending a safe zone from attack by the Syrian government or its Russian and Iranian-backed militia allies would inevitably lead to an escalation, which is one of the reasons Obama had avoided this path in the first place, Sayigh said.

    Another big challenge would be how to police the area to maintain its neutral status as a safe zone, he added.

    DO SAFE ZONES WORK?

    While much of Trump’s Syria policy remains unclear, Syrian Kurds, who have generally avoided conflict with Assad, look set to remain central to U.S. strategy.

    The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia controls swathes of northeast Syria, where conflict with the government is rare and the U.S. air force mounts regular air strikes against IS targets.

    Syrian Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria alarms Turkey, which fears it could increase separatist sentiment among its Kurdish minority. Kurdish groups already govern northern Iraq, where the establishment of a no-fly zone in 1991 helped them on their way to autonomy from Baghdad.

    The YPG has links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a designated terrorist groups in Turkey.

    Growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria largely explains why Turkey launched a major incursion into Syria last year, helping insurgents from the Free Syrian Army drive both Islamic State and Kurdish militia away from the border.

    The operation dubbed “Euphrates Shield” has created what Turkish officials call a safe zone that is 100 km (62 miles) long. This week, a new Turkish-trained Syrian police force deployed in the town of Jarablus in that strip of territory.

    Turkey, which hosts 2.8 million Syrian refugees, has long advocated safe zones in Syria.

    But underlining the caution with which foreign governments are viewing Trump’s comments, Turkey said it was waiting to see the outcome of a “study” requested by Trump.

    Aid agencies in the region are concerned.

    Karl Schembri, Regional Media Adviser in the Middle East for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said that from the group’s experience, “we know that militarily enforced ‘safe zones’ rarely work and can actually put civilians at more risk”.

    http://mobile.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSKBN15A2MW

  17. Not that anyone here needs this kind of accounting, but these are good arguments to offer grumbling friends elsewhere:

    What Aid to Israel Buys America
    One demand that Donald Trump repeatedly raised is for U.S. allies to contribute more to the costs of their defense. Thus, it’s worth recalling why Israel is America’s largest recipient of military aid, and why it’s cheap at the price.

    Unlike all the other allies Trump complains about, Israel isn’t under America’s military protection and doesn’t want to be. It never has and never will ask American troops to defend it. The annual aid helps Israel purchase the weaponry it needs to defend itself by itself. Israel genuinely doesn’t want America to protect it militarily. The belief that it must defend itself by itself is deeply ingrained in Israel and enjoys wall-to-wall consensus.

    While aid to Israel currently totals $3.1 billion a year, and is slated to rise to $3.8 billion in 2019, it’s cheap compared to the cost of U.S. troop deployments to protect other American allies. For instance, maintaining U.S. bases in Japan costs America $5.5 billion a year, and that’s in a country where troops haven’t had to fire a shot in decades.

    Nor can Israel be accused of failing to contribute financially to its own defense. While 23 of NATO’s 28 members spend less than 2% of GDP on defense, Israel spends 5.2%, well above America’s 3.5%.

    Last July, Ha’aretz reported that in the battle against ISIS, “According to Western intelligence sources, Israel has supplied more intelligence to its allies than any other intelligence organization.”

    With regard to combat testing of U.S. weapons systems, America’s F-16 fighters contain over 600 modifications introduced by Israel. As Ha’aretz reported in 2010, “between 10% and 15% of every new F-16 made in America…consists of Israeli systems.”

    Israel’s destruction of a Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 prevented ISIS from getting its hands on the raw material for a nuclear bomb. The reactor was located in one of the swathes of Syria ISIS captured. Similarly, America was able to defend its allies in the Gulf War only because Israel had destroyed Iraq’s nuclear program a decade earlier.

    https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/israel/what-aid-to-israel-buys-america/

  18. >>Disgusting! Black African tries to ejaculate on baby face S-Bahn Munich Freedom<<

    A particularly disgusting case, a miserable economic refugee masturbates in front of several mothers and then tries to ejaculate the face of an infant

    The sex attacks are happening in the most popular place for cursing, masturbating and raping Arabian refugees, in a public transport, here in the form of a tram S-Bahn on Munich's freedom. With the freedom in Munich the African must probably have misinterpreted in April last year: The migrant first masturbated before a 28-year-old woman. This urged him energetically to refrain from doing so, but the Black African was not the least interested. The woman escaped then before the 27 – year – old Ethiopian, while this visibly sexually excited pulled further through the tram. The fact that several witnesses, including women and mothers, were looking at the incident did not interest the daring economic refugee either.

    http://www.rapefugees.net/schwarzafrikaner-versucht-auf-saeuglingsgesicht-zu-ejakulieren-s-bahn-muenchner-freiheit/

    • Turkey threatens to CANCEL EU migrant deal over Greece extradition row (express, Jan 27, 2017)
      http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/759891/Turkey-cancel-European-Union-migrant-deal-Greece-extradition-row

      “TURKEY is threatening to cancel its migrant deal with the European Union (EU) after Greece refused to extradite Turkish soldiers following a failed coup.

      Greece’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday against extraditing the eight soldiers, who have sought political asylum in Greece, saying they feared for their lives in Turkey.

      Ankara says they were involved in the July 15 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and branded them traitors.

      The three majors, three captains and two sergeant majors fled in a helicopter to Greece after the coup attempt.

      They are accused of having a significant role in the attempt as well as having links with a group which allegedly tried to assassinate President Erdogan on the night of the coup.

      All eight say they were not involved and fear for their lives if extradited home.

      Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the ruling as a “political decision” and demanded a retrial.

      He said: “We demanded that the eight soldiers be tried again. This is a political decision, Greece is protecting and hosting coup plotters.”

      In further comments, he warned Turkey is considering cancelling the deal between the EU and Turkey which means Ankara has to take back migrants who have made their way from the country to Greece.

      In return for taking the migrants back, Turkish citizens are meant to get visa-free travel to Europe and Turkey is meant to get a sizeable lump of cash from the bloc…”

  19. Morocco arrests seven suspected militants and seizes weapons

    Moroccan authorities said on Friday they had arrested seven suspected militants linked to Islamic State and seized weapons and explosive belts.

    A statement from the interior ministry said the group had ties with commanders of the Sunni Islamist group in Syria, Iraq and Libya and had set up a hideout in the coastal town of El-Jadida.

    It said the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation seized an assault rifle, seven pistols, ammunition and bomb-making material. Authorities said they also found two explosive belts in the raids in El-Jadida, Sale and other towns.

    Morocco, a Western ally against Islamist militancy, says that since 2002 it has dismantled more than 150 militant cells linked to groups fighting in Syria and Iraq.

    Hundreds of fighters from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have joined militant groups in the Middle East and Libya. Security experts say some try to return and create new jihadi groups in their home countries.

    Authorities blamed Islamists for a bomb which killed 17 people at a tourist cafe in the city of Marrakesh in 2011.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-morocco-security-idUSKBN15B1CX

  20. President Trump signs executive action to keep ‘radical Islamic terrorists’ out of the U.S.

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed an executive action implementing “new vetting measures” that he says are aimed at keeping “radical Islamic terrorists” out of the United States.

    “We don’t want them here,” he said.

    The president said he only wants to admit people to the United States who will support the country. His comments echoed his campaign pledge to implement “extreme vetting” programs, particularly for people coming from countries with ties to terrorism.

    The president signed the executive action at the Pentagon, where he met with the joint chiefs of staff and participated in a ceremonial swearing-in for Defense Secretary James Mattis.

    http://pix11.com/2017/01/27/president-trump-signs-executive-action-to-keep-radical-islamic-terrorists-out-of-the-u-s/

    Trump signs order for tighter vetting of immigrants to prevent terrorism

    U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order he said would impose tighter vetting to prevent foreign terrorists from entering the United States.

    “I’m establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America,” Trump said at Pentagon ceremony. “We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people,” he said.

    Trump also signed an order he said would begin the rebuilding of the U.S. military by “developing a plan for new planes, new ships, new resources and new tools for our men and women in uniform.”

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-politics/trump-signs-order-for-tighter-vetting-of-immigrants-to-prevent-terrorism/article33809191/

    • Los Angeles Times – Editorial

      Trump’s freeze on immigrants and refugees plays into the hands of Islamic terror recruiters

      President Trump is expected to sign orders Friday to temporarily freeze immigration from seven Muslim nations and halt refugee resettlements from everywhere — a classic example of a solution in search of problem, and just the kind of symbolic act that gives weight to radical Islamists when they argue that the U.S. is an enemy of their faith.

      Trump’s campaign for president was built on a foundation of fear and resentment, and that dark cloud hangs over these putative attempts to bolster national security. Based on a draft version of the executive order, it seems that Trump will impose a 30-day suspension of visas for people from seven predominately Muslim countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — while the government reviews and presumably tightens its visa-vetting protocols. He also will direct security officials to determine within 30 days what information they need to evaluate potential visitors, and list the countries around the world that don’t provide it. Countries that don’t correct the error of their ways within 60 days of that report — including the seven affected by the ban — will have their citizens barred until they comply.

      Worse, Trump apparently plans to suspend U.S. acceptance of all refugees — people fleeing war or oppression for whom returning home is not an option — for 120 days as the government reviews and revises its screening procedures, and he is expected to slash the number of refugees the U.S. would accept through October 2017 from 110,000 (set by President Obama last September) to 50,000. Trump also will prioritize the resettlement of refugees seeking asylum on grounds of religious persecution, officially valuing people oppressed because of their religion over those targeted for political dissent, sexual orientation or other reasons.

      And Trump wants plans drawn for “safe areas” for Syrians within Syria or nearby nations, which could help the administration at a later point if it wants to institute a longer-term ban on Syrian refugees. But the draft order offers no details on how the safe zones would be secured, or the legal basis for the U.S. establishing control of territory in a sovereign (if war-torn) state.

      Such efforts to restrict access to the U.S. by people fleeing war-torn parts of the world would be misguided and inhumane. The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, reported in 2015 that in the 14 years after the 9/11 terror attacks, 784,000 refugees resettled in the U.S. Yet during that time only three resettled refugees were convicted on terror-related charges — two of them for plotting against an overseas target and the third for hatching “plans that were barely credible,” according to the report. The vast majority of refugees allowed into the U.S. are first vetted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, whose screeners then recommend placements in third countries. When the U.S. gets a referral, it conducts its own security screening before offering resettlement, a process that routinely takes one to two years.

      What’s more, a study by the New America Foundation shows that 80% of the terrorist attacks in this country since 9/11 have been carried out by American citizens (although some of those perpetrators were naturalized citizens).

      It is not surprising that some Americans are worried by the hostility directed at them from a small, radicalized segment of the Islamic world. But such fears should not be channeled into a broad, discriminatory retrenchment that is at odds with the best of our humanitarian principles — especially if that retrenchment would likely do little to protect us.

      The U.S. became a wealthy world power in large part through immigration. And it’s openness has provided a lifeline to the oppressed of the world — the U.S. has formally resettled more refugees than any other country (though at the moment it is not bearing its fair share of the burden of resettling the tens of millions of migrants currently fleeing war zones). Trump’s actions are not only inhumane, they are a betrayal of what the United States stands for.

      http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-trump-immigrants-refugees-20170126-story.html

    • JAN 25 -Two Kenyans, 90 Somalis deported from US under unclear circumstances

      Two Kenyans and 90 Somalis have been deported from the US over unknown reasons.

      The group arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi and was processed by immigration officials.

      Government spokesman Eric Kiraithe confirmed that the group arrived in Nairobi and said he did not know why they had been deported.

      “I don’t have details of their deportation but it is true there are 90 Somalis and two Kenyans who arrived at JKIA after deportation from the US,” said Kiraithe.

      Kiraithe said authorities were working on taking the Somalis to Mogadishu Wednesday.

      Other officials said the number is higher than in past cases and expressed fears American authorities were cracking down on illegal immigrants there.

      It came ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected signing of executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries.

      According to Reuters, Trump, who tweeted that a “big day” was planned on national security on Wednesday, is expected to ban, for several months, the entry of refugees into the United States, except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place.

      Another order will block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts who asked not to be identified.

      https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000231219/two-kenyans-90-somalis-deported-from-us-under-unclear-circumstances

    • reuters – Trump says Syrian Christian refugees will be given priority

      President Donald Trump said on Friday that Syrian Christians will be given priority when it comes to applying for refugee status in the United States.

      “If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair, everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody but more so the Christians,” Trump said in an excerpt of an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

      http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-syria-christians-idUSKBN15B29M

      Brody File Exclusive: President Trump Says Persecuted Christians Will Be Given Priority As Refugees

  21. French right has no presidential candidate if Fillon steps down (france24, Jan 27, 2017)
    http://www.france24.com/en/20170127-french-right-republicains-have-no-presidential-election-candidate-fillon-steps-down

    “France’s conservative party les Républicains will be without a Plan B if its presidential candidate, François Fillon, is forced to step down amid an ongoing scandal of alleged illegal payments to his wife.

    Fillon is under growing pressure following this week’s revelations in satirical French weekly Le Canard Enchainé that Penelope Fillon was paid around 600,000 euros in public salaries between 1998 and 2002. The newspaper alleges there is little evidence she did any work that would justify the payments.

    Fillon, who denies the allegations and says his wife worked hard as parliamentary assistant, said he will step down as les Républicains’ candidate if he has to face charges.

    The situation leaves his party in a critical situation. According to polls, Fillon is expected to go through to a second round of the presidential election against far-right leader Marine le Pen, and win…”

  22. German Crime Drama Features Ethnic Germans Raping Muslim Woman

    A popular crime drama on German state TV featured a storyline where a group of ethnic Germans molested a Muslim woman in the streets.

    The show, named “Tatort,” aired earlier this month on the taxpayer funded ARD network.

    “Notice that this whole episode focuses on evil right-wingers and a bunch of happyfaced refugees,” the YouTube uploader wrote in the description to the video.

    “In fact they show this woman getting beaten up after having tried to apply at the German Police. Just wat.”

    Searching Google, I am unable to find a single case of ethnic Germans raping a Muslim woman in the streets of Germany.

    It’s quite possible this has literally never happened.

    On the other hand, Muslim men raping German women is a weekly occurrence.

    Just three days ago, I reported on a case where a 38-year-old Pakistani man raped a 19-year-old German woman and intentionally bit her lip to infect her with his STD.

    http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=56185

  23. Afghan and Pakistani border guards clash in Spin Boldak (khaama, Jan 27, 2017)
    http://www.khaama.com/afghan-and-pakistani-border-guards-clash-in-spin-boldak-02740

    “The Afghan and Pakistani security forces exchanged fire in Spin Boldak district located close to Durand Line, the local officials said.

    The incident took place late on Thursday after the Afghan border guards opened fire on a number of militants who were trying to enter the district from the other side of the line.

    Provincial police spokesman Zia Durani confirmed that a border policeman lost his life and two others were wounded during the clash.

    He said the Pakistani border guards opened fire on the Afghan police forces after the militants came under fire.

    According to Durani, the militants and Pakistani militia forces have likely suffered casualties during the clash but there are no reports regarding the number.

    The militant groups and Pakistani authorities have not commented regarding the incident to so far.

    Incidents involving cross-border attacks mainly by the militants are not rare as the porous areas along the Durand Line are normally frequented by the Afghan militants as well as the foreign insurgents including the Pakistani Taliban insurgents.

    The Afghan and Pakistani forces have also clashed for numerous times along the Durand Line last year, mainly in eastern and southern provinces.”

  24. Study: Religion more important than law to refugees (thelocal, Jan 27, 2017)
    http://www.thelocal.at/20170127/study-religion-more-important-than-law-to-refugees

    “Almost half of refugees think religious law is more important than the laws of the country in which they live, a study found.

    The study in Austria found that 40 percent of migrants thought religion always took precedence over secular laws. A similar percentage were found to think that Western people are too liberal in their lifestyles and have too much freedom.

    One in five even said women should not be allowed to work.

    Four out of five refugees said they agree with the equality of men and women, but they wanted to see Muslim women covering up in Austria. Some 37 percent said they wanted separate gymnastics and swimming lessons for boys and girls in schools.

    A total of 61 percent of the refugees claimed to be religious, with about 30 percent praying five times or more a day. While 83 percent said they happily coexist with other religions, 45 percent said that other religions are not equal to Islam.

    According to the study, refugees accept the freedoms of the Austrian legal state as an abstract principle, but reject it for themselves.

    Questioners interviewed 900 Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi refugees in Austria to find the shocking results.

    Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s 30-year-old Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration, commented on the survey results just after he visited an integration course for refugees.

    He said: “Refugees have not yet internalised many values.”

    The conservative minister spoke of a “major challenge” in the integration process.

    He highlighted the importance of such measures as the integration course he had just visited, saying it was important to show basic values and to “clearly define borders”.

    He said: “If there are violations against our laws or against our basic values, we do not react with exaggerated tolerance, but show that the regulations in Austria must be strictly adhered to.”

    Kurz said that many new proposals would “hopefully soon be decided in integration laws”. This includes among other measures, a compulsory non-profit employment for refugees (1-euro-per-hour-jobs), a ban on full-face veils such as the burka and a ban on Quran distribution projects by Salafists.

    But he admitted that some of his proposed ideas still have to be agreed to by his Social-Democratic coalition partners, who still object to a burka ban and compulsory low-wage employment.”