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.
(By the way. Its St. Valentine’s Day. May as well enjoy it while we are still allowed to have it, or more likely, while it is still safe to enjoy more or less.)
A Tale of Two Talks: Free Speech in the U.S.
by Douglas Murray
February 14, 2017 at 5:30 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9943/free-speech-yiannopoulos
Sometimes the whole tenor of an age can be discerned by comparing two events, one commanding fury and the other, silence.
To this extent, February has already been most enlightening. On the first day of the month, the conservative activist and writer Milo Yiannopoulos was due to speak at the University of California, Berkeley. To the surprise of absolutely no one, some of the new anti-free speech brigade attempted to prevent the event from happening. But to the surprise of almost everyone, the groups who wish to prevent everyone but themselves from speaking went farther even than they have tended to of late. Before the event could even start, Yiannopoulos was evacuated by security for his own safety. A mob of 150 people proceeded to riot, smash and set fire to the campus, causing more than $100,000 of damage and otherwise asserting their revised version of Voltaire’s maxim: “I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to your death my right to shut you up.”
Beyond the Failed “Two-State Solution”
by Guy Millière
February 14, 2017 at 4:30 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9906/failed-two-state-solution
The “peace conference” held in Paris on January 15, 2017 was supposed to be a continuation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 (voted on December 23, 2016), and John Kerry’s speech five days later. It was supposed to isolate Israel even further and provide a new step towards the declaration of a “Palestinian State”. It was a total washout. The final declaration, prepared in advance, was not ratified, and the resolution published at the end was so watered down it was meaningless. The United Kingdom’s representatives refused to sign it. US Secretary of State John Kerry chose to remain silent. French President François Hollande delivered a speech full of empty words, praising resolution 2334 and desperately stressing the need to “save the two-state solution”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the conference as the “death throes of yesterday’s world”. He may be right.
The Obama years are gone. The Trump years will be different. US President Donald J. Trump stated on March 21, 2016:
Thoughts on Making Universities Safe for Free Speech
by Jeff Trag
February 14, 2017 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9907/universities-free-speech
Universities and colleges in the United States need to be safe places where students of all backgrounds and beliefs can live and study, free from intimidation by other students, faculty, and administrators.
Protests are fine, and they are our right as Americans, but there needs to be zero tolerance for violence and intimidation. If a speaker or group is committing or inciting battery, assault or vandalism, the situation should be a police and judicial matter — as well as valid grounds for mandatory expulsion. There is no place for vigilantism by students, faculty or administers on campus to enforce political conformity. There is no place for any kind of intimidation and violence anywhere in the US. We should never let rioters have a hecklers veto over who gets to speak. The following are some ideas to rein in the current terror on campuses:
Korea Warns Against Visiting Paris Migrant Suburbs After Men Loot, Try to Set Fire to Coach of Tourists (breitbart, Feb 14, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/02/14/men-loot-try-set-fire-coach-tourists/
Soros-Backed Group Urges EU to Use ‘Nuclear Option’ on ‘Populist’ Poland (breitbart, Feb 14, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/02/14/soros-urges-eu-nuclear-option-poland/
Mass sexual assaults by refugees in Frankfurt ‘completely made up’ (thelocal, Feb 14, 2017)
https://www.thelocal.de/20170214/mass-sexual-assaults-by-refugees-in-frankfurt-completely-made-up
“Prosecutors in Frankfurt are investigating two people for making up a crime, after they claimed in a national newspaper that dozens of Arab men rioted and sexually assaulted women at New Year…”
Italy sentences Isis-linked kickboxer who ‘considered Vatican attack’ (thelocal, Feb 14, 2017)
http://www.thelocal.it/20170214/italy-sentences-isis-linked-kickboxer-who-considered-vatican-attack
“A Milan judge on Tuesday sentenced a Moroccan kickboxer and his wife to jail terms over their links to the Islamic State group and placed their two children in care.
Abderrahim Moutaharrik, a competitive kickboxer, was arrested in April on suspicion of links to Isis.
He was given a six-year prison term while his wife Salma Bencharki, was sentenced to five years, the AGI news agency reported…”
Spain Arrests Moroccan Terror Suspect (moroccoworldnews, Feb 14, 2017)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/02/208244/spain-arrests-moroccan-terror-suspect/
“A 33-year-old Moroccan man linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been arrested in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the suspicion of planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Spain, said the Spanish Ministry of Interior in a communiqué on Tuesday…”
26 ISIS Militants ‘Neutralized’ in Northern Syria: Turkish Military (moroccoworldnews, Feb 14, 2017)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/02/208186/26-isis-militants-neutralized-in-northern-syria-turkish-military/
“At least 26 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) militants were killed, wounded or captured in northern Syria over the 24 hours up to the morning of Feb. 14, the Turkish military said.
The Euphrates Shield operation, in which Turkish forces are backing Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, is currently trying to take the town of al-Bab, 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the Turkish border.
A statement from the General Staff said 135 ISIL targets – including shelters, headquarters, defensive positions and vehicles – were hit by the FSA and the Turkish army.
The Turkish Air Force destroyed 42 buildings used by the jihadist group and a vehicle carrying a bomb, the statement added…”
At least 86 arrested in new blitz against Kurdisk PKK (ansamed, Feb 14, 2017)
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2017/02/14/at-least-86-arrested-in-new-blitz-against-pkk_8d00764c-fea7-47f4-84ca-155d871f98af.html
“At least 86 people were arrested across Turkey on Tuesday morning in a fresh operation against the Kurdish militant organisation PKK, state news agency Anadolu reports. The blitz coincided with the 18th anniversary of the capture of Kurdish nationalist leader and PKK founding member Abdullah ‘Apo’ Ocalan. Arrests were made in seven provinces across the country including Ankara and the Kurdish-majority Southeast. The suspects included the nephew of the mayor of Agri in eastern Turkey and exponents of the PKK, which accuses the government of trying to silence it in view of the referendum in mid-April on a constitutional amendment to introduce an executive presidential system.”
Syria Islamist militants infighting kills nearly 70: Monitor (ahram, Feb 14, 2017)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/258185/World/Region/Syria-Islamist-militants-infighting-kills-nearly–.aspx
“Nearly 70 fighters from two formerly allied Islamist militant groups have been killed during infighting over the past 24 hours in northern Syria, a monitor said on Tuesday.
The clashes between former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham and the hardline Islamist militant Jund al-Aqsa faction erupted on Monday morning, after tensions over influence in the northwestern province of Idlib.
The fighting reflects the growing strained relations between different factions in Idlib province that once fought alongside either other against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces…”
Turkish army returns Syrian Kurdish PYD fire (hurriyetdailynews, Feb 14, 2017)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-army-returns-syrian-kurdish-pyd-fire.aspx?pageID=238&nID=109728&NewsCatID=352
“Turkish security forces returned fire into Syrian territory controlled by the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) on Feb. 13 and killed one militant of the group, the Turkish Armed Forces stated on Feb. 14.
It said the clash occurred at a border post in the Nusaybin area of the southeastern province of Mardin, across the border from an area controlled by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the PYD, which Ankara considers both to be an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and thus terrorist organizations…”
UN terror debate: Pakistan warns against defaming Islam (tribune, Feb 14, 2017)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1326271/un-terror-debate-pakistan-warns-defaming-islam/
“Pakistan has warned against linking Islam or any other faith with terrorism, while calling for a comprehensive analysis of the threat in all its complexities.
“The global campaign against terrorism cannot be reduced to a slogan slandering Islam or any other religion or race,” Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations, told UN Security Council on Monday, as she reiterated Islamabad’s commitment to eliminate terror.
Speaking in a debate on addressing the danger of terrorist attacks against critical infrastructure, Lodhi also underscored the need to examine the reasons why terrorism — despite a global campaign against the menace — continues to evolve in new and more virulent forms and ideologies, across ever extending geographic regions, threatening peace and security…”