Reader’s links for February 17 – 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

117 Replies to “Reader’s links for February 17 – 2017”

  1. Bigotry against white people is reaching dangerous proportions; when will the MSM take notice?
    By Ben Bowles February 16, 2017

    A related — and perhaps even more trenchant — question is when will cooler heads on the Left begin to realize that this is a grievous problem for society at large and say, “Enough!”

    Back in the early days of the anti-white movement, the chief claim of adherents was that having light skin somehow conferred an unfair privilege. But we’ve now advanced well beyond demands, however foolish, that whites “check their privilege.”

    We have reached a point where, to borrow a bit of hyperbole from Black Lives Matter, it is “open season” on white people. On Monday, BLM activist and Daily News columnist Shaun King tweeted out:

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/02/16/bigotry-against-white-people-is-reaching-dangerous-proportions-when-will-the-msm-take-notice/

    • Pay close attention to this one and the hot links included in the article, it shows the future of the alt radical left and what is going to happen. There have already been attacks on whites based on their skin color and murders based on skin color. As long as the propaganda media ignores this issue it will grow until there is a full fledged race war. The Propaganda Media will ignore the problem as long as their masters in the Democrat Party tells them to. With the Democrats openly courting racist Blacks to be their new party leaders they will not tell the Propaganda media to pay attention to the actions of the alt radical left blacks when they call for a White Genocide or when they attack Whites because of their skin color.

      This and other problems will probably blow up into full fledged crisis’s some time this year.

  2. 11 dead as Nigerian troops repel Boko Haram suicide bombers (belfasttelegraph, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/11-dead-as-nigerian-troops-repel-boko-haram-suicide-bombers-35459449.html

    “Nigerian troops and civilian fighters have repelled the fiercest Boko Haram extremist attack in months on the key north-eastern city of Maiduguri.

    Nine bombers and two civilians were killed, according to witnesses, soldiers and police.

    SHARE
    Residents awoke to huge explosions around midnight as three female suicide bombers detonated vehicles at the Muna Garage truck stop on the city’s eastern outskirts, according to police.

    Muna Garage has been attacked many times in recent months.

    Maiduguri is the birthplace of the Islamic insurgency and the headquarters of the military campaign to halt it…”

    • This is a global war and if we are to win it will have to be fought on a global basis, we can’t afford to pull back to our borders and say that what is happening in the other nations is not our concern. We either force Islam to stop their global conquest or we loose to Islam, those are the only two choices.

  3. Turkey’s religious authority denies illegal activity by imams in Germany (reuters, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-turkey-spying-idUKKBN15W1A8?rpc=401&

    “The head of Turkey’s Diyanet religious authority denied on Friday that any of its imams had ever been involved in illegal activities and said investigations into them over alleged espionage had defamed the organisation.

    Mehmet Gormez was speaking after German police on Wednesday raided the apartments of four imams suspected of spying for Turkey’s government on followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of organising a failed coup last July.

    The raids in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate were a fresh strain on relations between two NATO allies which are already being tested by issues ranging from militant Islamist attacks to Europe’s migrant crisis.

    “No religious official has ever been allowed to turn towards any activity outside their job description, and no incident that could be deemed illegal has ever taken place,” Gormez told a news conference.

    The four imams were members of Ditib, Germany’s largest association of mosques, which brings clerics from Turkey to serve the community of some three million people with a Turkish background who live in Germany.

    “Our authority, our religious officials, and DITIB, which carries out religious services in Germany, have been the target of defamation and their followers have been offended,” he said.

    Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (GBA) has said the imams acted on an order issued last year by the Diyanet, which said the Gulen movement was behind the putsch attempt.

    Last month, the GBA opened an investigation into Turkish intelligence operations on German soil after a lawmaker filed a criminal complaint. Austria is also investigating whether Turkey has been operating an informer network targeting Gulen followers on its soil, via its embassy in Vienna.

    Turkey says Germany harbours militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and DHKP-C far-leftists, who have carried out attacks in Turkey. German officials reject the accusations….”

      • Yes it is the Turkish diaspora is spreading several types of Islam around the world and there is no telling how many of them (probably a lot) are loyal to Turkey and Erdogan (not necessarily in that order) and how many are bitter enemies. Then there is the fact that while the Kurds are fighting Turkey, Iran and ISIS to get their own nation they are also Moslems who are not interested in changing their religious affiliation or changing Islam to a less violent religion. Also we know that Eredogan is using Turkish Imams to gather info on his Turkish, Kurdish and European enemies. Turkey is the much underestimated enemy, I don’t think the MB will really support him for Caliph but if it looks like he is the bet candidate aka last man standing, they may decide to support him rather then find an Arab to support.

  4. Islamic State kills 17 soldiers at Afghan security posts (belfasttelegraph, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/islamic-state-kills-17-soldiers-at-afghan-security-posts-35459854.html

    “The Islamic State group has launched an attack on Afghan security posts, killing 17 soldiers, officials said.

    The attack took place on Thursday night in the Dih Bala district of eastern Nangarhar province, according to Ahmad Ali Hazrat, chief of the provincial council.

    Mr Hazrat said the militants attacked army posts from three directions and after several hours of heavy fighting, 17 soldiers were dead.

    General Doulat Waziri, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, said 21 IS fighters were killed…”

  5. Don’t turn Islamic State fight into battle against all Muslims – German minister (reuters, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-security-terrorism-idUKKBN15W1GJ?rpc=401&

    “German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday against turning the fight against Islamic State into a battle against all Muslims.

    “We should take care not to turn this fight into a front against Islam and Muslims in general,” von der Leyen said, according to the text of her speech, in a thinly veiled warning to the United States…”

    • Nor all Moslems are at war with us (this includes thinking Sharia should replace the current laws) just most of them.

  6. Islamic State readies for close combat in alleyways of west Mosul (reuters, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-idUKKBN15W1H7?rpc=401&

    “Islamic State militants are developing a network of passageways and tunnels in the narrow alleys of west Mosul that will enable them to hide and fight among the civilian population when Iraqi forces launch an attack that is expected any day now.

    Residents said the fighters have been opening passages in the walls between houses to allow them to move from block to block undetected, disappear after hit-and-run operations and track government troop movements.

    They have also opened sniper holes in buildings overlooking the Tigris river bisecting the city into east and west, they said.

    “They opened these holes and threatened us not to close them,” one resident told Reuters by telephone, asking not to be identified by name or location because Islamic State executes anyone caught communicating with the outside world.

    The militants are essentially under siege in western Mosul, along with an estimated 650,000 civilians, after U.S.-backed forces surrounding the city dislodged them from the east in the first phase of an offensive that concluded four weeks ago.

    The westward road that links the city to Syria was cut at the end of November. The militants are still in charge of the road that links Mosul to Tal Afar, a town they control 60 km (40 miles) to the west, however.

    Coalition aircraft and artillery have been bombarding selected targets in the west, included workshops in the eastern industrial zone where Islamic State is thought to build car bombs and booby traps. Ground forces have paused to redeploy and build new fortifications and staging posts along Mosul’s western flank, as well as rest and repair damaged hardware.

    Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a meeting of the armed forces commanders on Thursday that the offensive could start “very soon”…”

    • Someone has been studying fighting street to street, house to house. This is the worst type of close combat, it takes a long time and eats up troops on both sides.

  7. Hundreds of African migrants storm border fence to reach Spain screaming ‘Viva Espana’ (express, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/768683/african-migrants-fence-spain-ceuta-morocco-viva-espana-ceti

    “HUNDREDS of bloodied and emotional African immigrants exploded with joy after storming a border fence to reach Spain early this morning.

    The men shouted “Viva Espana’, “We Love You Espana” and “Victory, victory” as they beat their chests in a show of joy at making it to Europe.

    Many were bare chested and barefoot – and others were bleeding from deep cuts they had suffered after managing to reach Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.

    Local authorities said they believed around 900 immigrants had attempted to storm the fence – and more than 400 had managed to cross it.

    The mass assault happened around just before dawn this this morning.

    Local TV broadcast extraordinary footage of the men celebrating…”

  8. Change Has Not Come to the Middle East

    The real story in the Middle East is not how much things have changed, but how little. The economic and political stagnation that birthed the 2011 uprisings has, if anything, worsened. The biggest change in the region has been the strategic disengagement of the U.S., which has reconfigured the region’s geopolitical landscape and spurred other external powers to increase their involvement in the region.

    The clearest case is Russia, whose intervention in Syria saved the Assad regime from elimination. But China, European states, and others have more quietly increased their own involvement in the Middle East, heralding the end of the decades-long era of unchallenged American primacy in the region. Yet America retains an interest in combating terrorism, preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and ensuring the free flow of commerce and energy.

    There are three changes to U.S. policy in the region that President Trump could make that would serve our interests well over time. First, he should act firmly to counter Iran. Doing so would not only help to sustainably end the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere, but would put the U.S. back on the same page strategically with our allies, who consider Tehran’s regional ambitions their top threat.

    Second, he should seek to rebuild U.S. alliances in the region, focusing on forging a more capable and useful multilateral grouping of likeminded regional partners. Finally, he should help our allies, where they are willing, to take actions that will make them more resilient to regional threats and responsive to their own populations.
    https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/middle-east/change-has-not-come-middle-east-1091

  9. NATO Needs to Reform into a Global Alliance Against Islamic Terrorism
    The Atlantic Alliance was indeed instrumental in deterring the USSR and keeping the European continent in peace, with America providing leadership, taking a big portion of the economic burden, and being willing to station hundreds of thousands of GIs in Europe.

    In the early ’90s, with the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, NATO acted as a multinational body to enforce peace among rivals and contenders. Thus, in 1995, allied forces bombed Serbian forces to force the Dayton agreement and put an end to the war over Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1999 they mounted a bombing campaign to guarantee the independence of Kosovo.

    After the dramatic attacks of 9/11, NATO activated, for the first time in its history, Article 5, the clause that determines an attack against one member is an attack against all. Unfortunately, there were no capabilities to really help the U.S. in such a far place from Europe as Afghanistan.

    NATO should accept that we are all under attack by Islamist extremist forces of all kinds and make the fight against Islamic terrorism its core mission.

    In order to reinforce our Western world, NATO must invite to become members, countries that are alike in the defense of our values and with the willingness to share the burden in this struggle. NATO should invite without delay Israel, Japan, Singapore and India to become members.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/13/nato-needs-reform-global-alliance-against-islamic-terrorism/

    • Before we can do anything like this we have to know if the European nations are going to fight the Islamic invasion that is currently taking place? If they aren’t there is no reason to welcome nations that are surrendering to Islam into the war of survival.

      • Looks bad. We may have to quarantine parts of the Continent. Figure out if we’re on a rescue mission, maybe evacuating friendlies. Who knows?

  10. This is a really, really bad guy.
    Does Hamas’ New Leader Portend War in Gaza?
    Yahya Sinwar has become the number-one leader of Hamas in Gaza. On Feb. 14, he boasted: “I will make Netanyahu cry.”

    Avi Dichter, former head of the Israel Security Agency and current head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, called Sinwar “Sheikh of the Murderers” and expressed regret that Israel had not assassinated him in the past, asserting that “even today he is not immune.”

    Hamas fears that Israel will look for the right opportunity to do away with Sinwar.
    The new Gaza leadership is mostly made up of senior leaders of the military wing and pro-Iranian political figures. Sinwar’s deputy Khalil al-Hayya is one of Iran’s supporters. Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar is Iran’s strongest backer in the Hamas top echelon.
    http://jcpa.org/hamas-new-leader-portend-war-gaza/

    • Iran Grabs the Reins in Gaza

      Hamas made a semi-official announcement on February 14, 2017, via Al Jazeera, that it had chosen Yahya Sinwar, one of the security prisoners released in the “Shalit deal” in 2011, as its senior leader in Gaza. Apparently he will serve as the “security minister” in the non-official government of Ismail Haniyeh.

      The implication of the selection means that Iran has retaken the reins in Gaza after a long hiatus during which Egypt, on one hand, and Turkey and Qatar, on the other, tried to fill the vacuum.

      Iran chose to take back the reins in Gaza because of the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Iran fears that in the upcoming talks in Washington, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu will discuss an aggressive option vis-à-vis Iran.

      It is doubtful if any “elections” were held in Gaza to choose Sinwar. The result is due to pressure by Hamas’ military wing on the political wing, and the announcement’s timing is Iran’s way of conveying a message before the Trump-Netanyahu talks.

      If that’s the case, don’t expect that Sinwar’s “election” foretells a new escalation from Gaza against Israel. Just the opposite, Iran will restrain Hamas in order to keep the Gaza front available for Iran’s own needs, and Iran’s alone.
      http://jcpa.org/iran-grabs-reins-gaza/

      • This is my great fear, that Iran will seize power in Iraq and Syria while increasing their influence in the other nations in that region. Saudi has the money to fight and Egypt has the people but a lot of the Egyptians are Shia and we don’t know how many of them will fight for Egypt and how many would join Iran.

        • No, no. Egypt is 90% Sunni, 10% Christian. Anything else is rounding error, foreign embassy. My experience, they hate Persians more than Jews. Passionate hatred.

          • I remember the year Morsi was in control of Egypt. The religious Sunnis where grabbing Shiia off the street and doing unspeakable things to them. They had a real islamic state for a year. And it created snuff video of PTSD inducing horror.

  11. Hizbullah Boosted by Battleground Successes in Syria Conflict

    “Hizbullah are the number one [regime] fighters in Syria. We never captured a Hizbullah member in the final stages [of the battle for Aleppo],” said Omar Salakho, a rebel commander.

    Hizbullah “set off on military expeditions far outside their borders and were successful,” says an Israeli security consultant. “They did a 180-degree shift from a guerrilla force to an invading force.”

    Growing ties between Hizbullah and Iranian-backed paramilitaries in Iraq, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), has in effect created a roving force that may seek to continue wielding power in the region.

    That could have ramifications for Sunni states and U.S. allies, such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, seeking to curb Iran’s influence.
    https://www.ft.com/content/62187b82-f1ee-11e6-8758-6876151821a6

    • This is real scary since Hezbollah is a creation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and is dedicated to spreading Islam around the world.

  12. Egypt, Hamas, and Islamic State in Sinai

    Egypt has so far been unable to defeat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis – the Sinai Province of Islamic State – in spite of the large number of troops and superior armament sent to Sinai.

    Egypt is demanding that Hamas end its cooperation with Ansar Bait al-Maqdis. Hamas offers sanctuary in Gaza to its wounded fighters and enables it to experiment in Gaza with new weapons and explosives.

    Some 700 Ansar Bait al-Maqdis fighters are allegedly inside Gaza and Hamas will not hand them over to Egypt.

    Hamas is first and foremost an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that was forcibly ejected from power in Egypt by a popular uprising backed by the army, led by now-President Sisi.

    http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Uneasy-neighbors-481095

  13. How a Pro-Palestinian American Reporter Changed His Views on Israel
    In the summer of 2015 I moved to Israel for a year-and-a-half stint freelance reporting in the region. I was very pro-Palestinian. Almost everyone I knew was, viewing Israel as an aggressor, oppressing the poor noble Arabs who are being so brutally denied their freedom.

    It wasn’t until the violence became personal that I began to see the Israeli side with greater clarity. When I traveled to the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan for a story, a Palestinian kid pointed at me and shouted “Yehud!” which means “Jew” in Arabic. Immediately, a large group of his friends were running toward me with a terrifying sparkle in their eyes. I shouted at them in Arabic “I’m not Jewish,” over and over. I told them in Arabic that I was an American journalist who “loved Palestine.” They calmed down after that, but the look in their eyes when they first saw me is something I’ll never forget.

    Even the kindest, most educated, upper-class Palestinians reject 100% of Israel – not just the occupation of east Jerusalem and the West Bank. They simply will not be content with a two-state solution and they want the Israelis who live there now to leave. They almost never speak of coexistence; they speak of expulsion, of taking back “their” land. The ongoing desire of Palestinians to wipe Israel off the map is unproductive and backward-looking and the West must be very careful not to encourage it.

    I know a lot of Jewish-Israelis who are willing to share the land with Muslim Palestinians, but for some reason finding a Palestinian who feels the same way was near impossible. If the Palestinians are given their own state in the West Bank, who’s to say they wouldn’t elect Hamas, an Islamist group committed to Israel’s destruction? That’s exactly what happened in Gaza in democratic elections in 2006. Having Hamas in control of the West Bank and half of Jerusalem would be suicide for Israel. And no country can be expected to consent to its own destruction.
    http://www.jpost.com/Jerusalem-Report/A-view-from-the-frontlines-480829

  14. Israel’s Eye on Gaza: The IDF Electronic Observation Unit

    The IDF electronic observation unit, made up solely of female soldiers, is on guard watching Gaza 24/7.

    Members of the unit have to watch and locate any terrorist infiltration, while at the same time alert troops to the infiltration and then communicate with them, once they are in the field. “It’s hard for male soldiers to multi-task,” say Capt. Tuval Tzadok and Capt. Naama Dill.

    Soldiers in the unit were awarded three medals by the IDF Southern Command for their actions during the 2014 Gaza war, when soldiers identified groups of Hamas terrorists trying to infiltrate Israel on several occasions.
    http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israels-eye-on-Gaza-The-IDFs-electronic-observation-unit-481612

  15. VATICAN -The Latest: Pope Francis: ‘No religion is terrorist’

    Pope Francis said “no people is criminal and no religion is terrorist” in a welcome letter read at a Vatican sponsored conference on economic inequality in Northern California.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/16/the-latest-pope-francis-no-religion-is-terrorist/

    Pope: ‘Time Is Running Out, We Must Act’

    In Message to Popular Movements Meeting in California, Appeals for Creation to be Defended, Stresses No People Is ‘Violent,’ Nor Religion, ‘Terrorist’

    Acknowledging their commitment to fight for social justice, to defend Earth and stand alongside migrants, Francis noted he reaffirms their choice and offered, in this regard, two reflections.

    First, he said, “the ecological crisis is real,” noting climate change is a real scientific phenomenon and cannot be ignored.

    Noting everyone knows what happens when we deny science and disregard the voice of Nature, he urged: “Let us not fall into denial.” I ask you again—all of you, people of all backgrounds including native people, pastors, political leaders—to defend Creation.

    “No people is criminal and no religion is terrorist,” he said, adding, “Christian terrorism does not exist, Jewish terrorism does not exist, and Muslim terrorism does not exist.”

    “There are fundamentalist and violent individuals in all peoples and religions— with intolerant generalizations, they become stronger because they feed on hate and xenophobia.”

    https://zenit.org/articles/pope-time-is-running-out-we-must-act/

    Full Text: zenit( dot )org/articles/popes-message-to-popular-movements-meeting-in-california/

    Pope visits university: Do not be afraid of migrants.

    “…..there is no danger. They are escaping war,” he said.

  16. Poll: Should the US Put Boots on the Ground in Syria?
    A Defense Department official told CNN that US ground forces could be deployed to Syria to fight ISIS. Is this a good idea?
    By Elliot Friedland

    Thu, February 16, 2017

    The American government is reportedly weighing the possibility of sending soldiers into Syria to fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), according to defense department officials.

    “It’s possible that you may see conventional forces hit the ground in Syria for some period of time,” the unnamed official told CNN.

    The Syrian Civil War has raged since 2011 and has been a humanitarian catastrophe. If the United States places boots on the ground, this is the situation they will be entering:

    https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/poll-should-us-put-boots-ground-syria

  17. Maryland Mosque Memorializes Islamist Assassin
    A celebration was held at a mosque in Pikesville for Mumtaz Qadri who killed a Pakistani governor critical of the country’s heinous blasphemy laws.

    A mosque in Maryland held a celebration in honor of an Islamist assassin who killed a governor in Pakistan for speaking about against the country’s heinous blasphemy laws.

    As reported by Rabwah Times, the Gulzar E. Madina Mosque in Pikesville, Maryland, hosted an Urs celebration, a traditional commemoration reserved for saints and holy people, for Mumtaz Qadri who killed the governor of Punjab province Salman Taseer in 2011.

    Qadri was Taseer’s bodyguard and was incensed that Taseer called for the reform of Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. Taseer had also expressed support for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman framed for blasphemy, arrested and sentenced to death in Pakistan.

    Blasphemy laws in Pakistan, which carry the death penalty, are often used to exact revenge against Pakistan’s mistreated minority populations. Often, just the hint of a blasphemy accusation will spark mob violence resulting in death for the person charged.

    After Qadri shot Taseer to death, he was lauded as a national hero. More than 100,000 people attended his funeral and riots ensued for weeks after he was arrested, tried and hanged for his crime. He is viewed as a saint by a large sector of the population and a shrine is being built in Pakistan to memorialize him.

    https://www.clarionproject.org/news/maryland-mosque-memorializes-islamist-assassin

  18. A Bastion of Radical Islam Inside France
    ‘In Trappes the French Republic no longer exists. This is a town ruled by Islamists, jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists.’

    “In Trappes the French Republic no longer exists. This is a town ruled by Islamists, jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists.”

    MP Alain Marsaud, a former anti-terrorist investigating magistrate, made this claim in July 2016. Benoît Hamon, former municipal councillor of Trappes and Socialist Party candidate for the 2017 presidential election, dismissed Marsaud’s assertions as “lies and slander” not backed up by facts.

    Yet, an official report submitted to Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas describes Trappes as a town that is out of control and the region of Yvelines (where Trappes is located) as the cradle of Islamic radicalism in France as far back as the 1980s.

    “The real problem is the battle against generalized radicalization and religious separatism, which are gradually spreading throughout France. Their development in the town of Trappes is a major source of concern,” the report stated.

    Trappes, located 18 miles west of Paris, has a population of 31,000 composed of 50 nationalities of which more than 50 percent are under the age of 30.

    According to the report, “Muslims make up between 60% and 70% of the population and, over the years, an active militancy has taken hold, manifested in a non-violent conquest of public spaces and certain institutions.”

    The first Islamic library and junior high school were founded in the constituency and demonstrations of solidarity with radical networks and organizations are not uncommon.

    https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/bastion-radical-islam-inside-france

    • OT- Candle-lighting 4:58pm (East Coast).
      Torah Portion is Yitro, Exodus : 18:1-20:23.
      http://bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displayid&id=2001

      Meet Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro. He’s the ancestor of the Druze, our first cousins. We’re very matey in Israel. Read here how terrific they are.
      The Portion builds to a crescendo for the recitation of the Decalogue on Mt. Sinai.

      Haftarah Portion is Isaiah 6:1 – 7:6 and 9:5 – 9:6.
      http://bible.ort.org/books/haftarotd4.asp?action=displayid&id=426

      This Portion will be very familiar to Christians. Spectacular poetry. Set to music – cantillation or ‘trope’ – even better.
      ………….
      Enjoy this Sabbath. Relax, set the worries aside for a while and find pleasure. You’re supposed to enjoy this time. That’s one of the Top Five of the Big Ten.

      ~~ Shabbat shalom~~

      • Thank you I have missed you giving me this info. I like the way you worry about the state of my soul.

        • Longer days, I’m less frantic getting everything done before candle-lighting.
          ~~ Body and soul. You’re too far away for me to check out the former. Though getting vitals remotely is easy these days, it’s not much fun. Mind and soul, that’s really where it’s at…

  19. Greeks in Turkey on the Verge of Extinction
    This population decline of Greeks in Turkey has not been due to natural causes but rather the result of state-sponsored attacks and pressure.

    The current Greek population in Turkey is estimated at fewer than 2,000. But this population decline was not due to natural causes; the Greek community has become nearly extinct due to many state-sponsored attacks and pressure.

    The largest attacks took place during the last years of the Ottoman Empire with pogroms and discrimination continuing until the present day.

    In 2007, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) announced that “the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks.”

    The destruction of Greek heritage and institutions, including schools, continued after the Turkish republic was established in 1923. One tool to annihilate non-Turkish communities including Greeks was the so-called “Liberation Courts” that were set up in many Turkish cities.

    “These courts,” writes the author Raffi Bedrosyan, “passed arbitrary decisions that almost invariably resulted in death sentences, with no defense or appeals allowed, and hangings carried out immediately. Among the victims of these courts were hundreds of Greek teachers in the American and Greek schools of the region, prominent community leaders, clergymen, and, tragically, entire members of the Merzifon Greek high school football team, only because the team was named Pontus Club, which was deemed sufficient reason to label them a rebel terrorist organization.”

    https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/greeks-turkey-verge-extinction

  20. Terror probe into Montreal couple found recipe, ingredients for bomb

    Probe into El Mehdi Jamali and Sabrine Djermane started with concerned family member but escalated when police found pressure-cooker bomb recipe

    MONTREAL—Police discovered the instructions and ingredients to make a pressure-cooker bomb in one of the homes of a young Montreal couple suspected of planning to flee the country to join Daesh in 2015, according to newly released court documents.

    In the case against El Mehdi Jamali and Sabrine Djermane, police searched Jamali’s family home and found duct tape, nails, batteries and superglue they alleged were to be used to make a bomb inside a plastic Dollarama bag, the police affidavit said. In Djermane’s apartment, they allegedly discovered the hand-written instructions to make a bomb identical to the ones used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

    Eighteen years old at the time, the couple was part of a wave of young Quebec Muslims who disappeared or allegedly tried to leave the country to join the Islamic terrorist group Daesh in early 2015. Like several others, the couple frequented a mosque run by Adil Charkaoui, a Muslim preacher once suspected by the federal government of being an Al-Qaeda sleeper agent.

    Now aged 20 and being held in pre-trial custody, Jamali and Djermane are charged with trying to leave Canada to join a terrorist group; possession of explosives; facilitating a terrorist activity; and committing an offence for a terrorist group. The trial is scheduled to begin later this year.

    The new details on the case are contained in more than 30 search warrant applications that were partially unsealed Thursday by a Quebec court judge. The affidavits of RCMP investigators outline the evidence which indicates a crime may have been committed. That evidence has not been tested or proven in court.

    The RCMP were initially tipped off to the couple’s activities by Djermane’s younger sister, Fatiha, who had attended a conference in Ottawa on the subject of radicalization and believed that she recognized the tell-tale signs in her sister’s behaviour.

    The sister told investigators that Djermane had recently moved out of the family home, had cut off old friends and stopped attending her nursing courses at Montreal’s College Maisonneuve.

    Jamali had sent a propaganda video to Djermane’s older sister, Rania that was titled “The Doctrine of the Mujahidin.” It featured radical Islamic leaders from Al-Qaeda and Daesh including Osama Bin Laden, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to the affidavit.

    Both Jamali and Djermane had valid Canadian passports, but had reported them as lost on April 10, 2015.

    The RCMP arrested the couple on April 14 and executed the search warrants at an apartment Djermane had begun renting and at the Jamali family home. What they allegedly found kicked off a more urgent phase of the probe.

    In Djermane’s apartment, police seized a blue binder with the handwritten recipe for constructing a pressure-cooker bomb as well as a document in Arab titled “Put your trust in Allah” which outlined the afterlife compensation for jihadists who die fighting in defence of the Muslim faith, the affidavit said.

    In Jamali’s family home, investigators found the Dollarama bag containing: two nine-volt batteries; four AA batteries; a box of assorted nails; a tube of super glue; and a Dollarama receipt dated Feb. 4, 2015.

    After an analysis, police said in the affidavit that the handwritten notes from the binder were “a word-for-word transcription” of the bomb-making instructions in Al-Qaeda’s propaganda magazine, Inspire. Investigators also found evidence that that one of the computers they had seized had been used to search for the word “inspire.”

    One search warrant for banking information turned up a $1,142.16 payment to Flight Hub, a travel booking site.

    Police also obtained a warrant to search Jamali’s Facebook communications, seized a Playstation 4 console on the suspicion it might have served as a surreptitious mode of communication, and verified the couple’s telephone records, the search warrants reveal.

    “After the search warrants of 14 April where elements demonstrated a capacity/knowledge of how to build a bomb, it is important to identify Jamali’s contacts to determine all possible accomplices in the alleged offences,” said one affidavit used to obtain Jamali’s cell phone records.

    In Djermane’s caller history, they found that she had contacts with Shayma Senouci, a young girl from Montreal believed to have fled to Syria on Jan. 16, 2015, and is also the subject of a terrorism probe.

    https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/02/17/terror-probe-into-montreal-couple-found-recipe-ingredients-for-bomb.html

  21. BREITBART – Czech President: Muslim Migrants Should Work in Their Own Countries, Not Claim Benefits in the West

    Czech president Milos Zeman believes Muslim migrants should stay in their home countries and work, not come to Europe and claim benefits.

    Czech online magazine Parlamentni Listy reports the president as saying he has “nothing against immigrants who come here to work and who have similar language and similar culture like ours”, citing the Ukrainians and Vietnamese in the country as communities which were not creating issues.

    “I do not want immigrants who come from other cultures who come for social benefits, not because of work,” he continued. “Muslims should remain in the countries where they live [and] they should work in them, and they should not go to Europe, where they do not want to work.”

    Zeman also commented that “Islam is based on contempt for women”, echoing his 2016 remarks that “in the Qur’an, women [are] something like the inferior part of mankind”.

    In Germany, which has absorbed more migrants than any other European Union (EU) member state after Chancellor Angela Merkel issued an open invitation to them in unlimited numbers, reports suggest only 34,000 new arrivals have found work. 975,000 are said be claiming benefits.

    The president’s spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, made headlines in January 2017 for defending U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s executive order on ‘Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Attacks by Foreign Nationals’. The executive order was designed to temporarily prohibit nationals from seven states identified as “countries of concern” and all asylum seekers entering the U.S., allowing time for a thorough review of the refugee vetting process to be conducted.

    “Trump protects his country,” Ovcacek tweeted. “He’s concerned with the safety of his citizens. Exactly what EU elites do not do.”

    Ovcacek also stated that President Zeman “has long disagreed with accepting Muslim migrants. The priority is the safety of [Czech] citizens. The USA is our ally now.”

    Zeman, who polls as the single most popular politician in the Czech Republic, will announce whether he will run for a second term or not on March 10th.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/02/17/czech-president-muslim-migrants-work-countries-not-claim-benefits-west/

  22. Publisher shutters Turkey weekly over ‘offensive’ Moses cartoon

    Entire staff of ‘Girgir’ dismissed over caricature featuring swearing Israelites; Erdogan aide calls publication ‘immoral and a hate crime’

    STANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — The publisher of one of Turkey’s most prominent cartoon magazines on Friday shut down the weekly and fired all its staff after it published a cartoon of Moses deemed to be offensive.

    Girgir had published in its latest edition a cartoon showing the bearded Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, with his companions complaining and using vulgar curse words.

    “The decision has been taken for the magazine to be closed and all the staff laid off because of the distasteful cartoon,” the publishers said in a statement on the magazine’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.

    “The cartoon has disturbed society and disturbed us as a publishing company,” it said.

    Girgir has since 2015 been published by the group of the Sozcu newspaper, a secular nationalist daily staunchly opposed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    The publishers blamed the cartoon on a deliberate attempt to “put the company in a difficult situation,” and said it would inform prosecutors of which employees were behind it.

    A statement by the magazine, before the closure was announced, apologized for the cartoon, saying “it was not noticed before printing because of tiredness and insomnia.”

    Known in Jewish tradition as Moshe Rabbenu (Moses our rabbi), Moses in the Old Testement leads the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt towards the Promised Land. But he is also sacred to Christians as well as Muslims, featuring prominently in the Islamic holy book the Quran.

    Cartoons of holy figures, especially from Islam, are a near taboo in Turkey.

    Two Turkish journalists from the Cumhuriyet daily were last year ordered to serve two years in jail for illustrating their columns with a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad originally published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

    Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin tweeted after the publication of the Girgir cartoon that “this has nothing to do with freedom of speech or humor. This is immoral and a hate crime.”

    The cartoon was also angrily condemned by the editor in chief of Istanbul’s Jewish weekly Shalom Ivo Molinas who tweeted: “What a disgrace! What disrespect!”

    Turkey still has several satirical weekly cartoon magazines, including Leman and Penguen, which are seen as bastions of satire amid growing criticism of press freedom under Erdogan’s rule.

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/publisher-shutters-turkey-weekly-over-offensive-moses-cartoon/

    Turkish cult satirical magazine shut down over Moses cartoon

    Publishers say they have closed down Turkey’s once top-selling satirical magazine following a cartoon that was deemed to be offensive to Jews and Muslims.

    Lawyers for Girgir magazine’s publishing house said Friday the company did not approve of the “unpleasant” cartoon that poked fun at Moses and had decided to close down the publication and fire its workers, according to Hurriyet newspaper.

    The magazine also apologized to readers through Twitter for “causing hurt” while prosecutors were investigating whether the cartoon “denigrated” religious values.

    Girgir, established in 1972, was Turkey’s largest selling satirical magazine in the 1980s and 1990s.

    Although it was briefly shut down following the 1980 military coup, it had a cult following mostly due to the fact that it got political messages across through cartoons, escaping censorship.

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-cult-satirical-magazine-shut-moses-cartoon-45559262

  23. United States asked Canada to help spy on candidates during 2012 French election: WikiLeaks

    Central Intelligence Agency documents released by WikiLeaks Thursday list Canada as one of several countries asked to assist the United States while they spied on the 2012 French presidential election.

    The three CIA tasking orders request that current French president Francois Hollande, then president Nicolas Sarkozy and current first round presidential front runner Marine Le Pen all be closely monitored.

    CIA officers were asked to uncover the secret strategies of the candidates, as well as information on internal power dynamics within the parties. Canada is listed as one of five countries working on human intelligence parts of the operation however there are no specifics on which parts of the operation, if any, Canada was involved in.

    The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Communications Security Establishment Canada, and the Department of Global Affairs did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Ashley Lemire, senior communications advisor at the Department of National Defence, told the National Post: “The Government of Canada does not comment on leaked documents.”

    These revelations come amidst claims by the U.S. intelligence community that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The orders are all marked “NOFORN”, meaning they are supposed to be restricted to U.S. eyes only so no potential allies are offended. Leaked documents showing Canadian spying on allies have caused significant diplomatic issues before.

    In 2013, documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden showed that the Communications Security Establishment Canada spied on Brazil’s mining and energy ministry in an attempt to gain economic intelligence. At the time, NDP leader Tom Mulcair said the revelations gave Canada “a black eye in the world.”

    Economic intelligence was also a focus of the spying during France’s 2012 election. Agents were asked to answer questions about non-ruling political parties and candidates including: “What are their opinions on the German model of export-led growth?” A 2012 document, marked “SECRET”, that Wiklieaks previously released, tasks U.S. intelligence with compiling information on brewing export deals or export contracts in France worth $200 million or more.

    In addition to Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Australia are all listed under a section indicating which countries are assisting with the “HUMINT” or human intelligence aspect of the operation. Those four countries, along with the United States, make up the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance.

    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/national/united+states+asked+canada+help+candidates+during+2012+french/12927895/story.html

  24. Turkey: ‘Earth born’ Erdogan kicks off ‘Yes’ campaign for upcoming referendum

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallied with thousands of supporters in Kahramanmaras, Friday, officially starting his ‘Yes’ campaign for the upcoming referendum on installing a presidential system of government, on April 16.

    SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey (Turkish): “But who am I? I am just an earth-born. Is there any document that guarantees I will survive until April 16th? No? We are all mortal. But the system is immortal at this point. Therefore, we are talking about the immortal, not the mortal. I am not without a character, to ask for this system for my own benefit, nor the lowest of the low to fight for this system just for my own soul.”

    SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey (Turkish): “My brothers, are we saying ‘Yes’ to a strong Turkey? [Crowd shouts back ‘Yes’] Are we saying ‘Yes’ to a greater Turkey? [Crowd shouts back ‘Yes’] I believe that you will go from door to door until April 16th. I also believe that all of you will work in harmony with the brothers from MHP [Nationalist Movement Party], who helped that the vote of confidence was achieved in the parliament. I believe that you will work hand-in-hand. And the evening of April 16th will be the evening when the reform will be achieved.”

  25. Ottawa to settle lawsuit with three Muslim Canadians jailed, tortured in Syria

    Abdullah Almalki of Ottawa, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, of Toronto, suffered separate ordeals at the hands of Syrian interrogators, acting in part on questions the RCMP passed on.

    OTTAWA—The federal government will settle a lawsuit filed by three Muslim Canadian men who were jailed and tortured in Syria more than a decade ago with a formal apology, the removal of their names from Canada’s “no-fly” list and a multimillion-dollar compensation package, the Star has learned.

    An announcement could come as early as next week.

    A settlement of their $100-million claim for damages would be the final dramatic chapter in a troubling and long-running post-9/11 saga.

    Abdullah Almalki of Ottawa, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, of Toronto, suffered separate ordeals at the hands of Syrian interrogators, acting in part on questions the Mounties passed on. In El Maati’s case, he was transferred and endured additional torture in an Egyptian jail.

    Their cases never got the attention the other high-profile post-Sept. 11 torture case of Maher Arar drew. That’s in part because a judicial inquiry into their torture was conducted in secret with a narrower mandate — ostensibly to speed up the probe — than the lengthy public inquiry into the Arar affair. There were no daily hearings or parade of witnesses with disturbing testimony.

    In 2008, retired Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci concluded that Canadian officials indirectly contributed to the mistreatment and torture of all three men by sharing information with foreign intelligence and police agencies, including sending questions to Syrian authorities which prolonged their nightmares.

    Alex Neve, head of Amnesty International Canada, is not involved in the litigation and could not comment on any negotiations toward a settlement.

    But Neve has long called on Ottawa to take responsibility for its officials’ actions. Asked to comment, Neve said in an email that Amnesty International “hopes that a settlement is indeed imminent, and Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin can get on with healing, recovery and rebuilding their lives.”

    Almalki was an Ottawa communications engineer who had dual Syrian-Canadian citizenship. Arrested in May 2002 at the Damascus airport, he was detained for 22 months.

    El Maati was a Toronto truck driver arrested at the Damascus airport in November 2001 as he was travelling to celebrate his wedding. Later transferred to Egypt, he was jailed for more than 26 months.

    Nureddin, a Toronto geologist, was stopped by Syrian officials in December 2003 as he crossed into Syria from visiting family in northern Iraq. He was held for 33 days and never charged.

    Lawyer Phil Tunley who leads the legal team for all three men refused to confirm or deny a settlement has been reached when contacted by the Star, citing his clients’ confidentiality.

    Nor would key federal ministers comment when contacted through their offices.

    Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s spokesperson Dan Brien said he would not confirm or deny the settlement, or offer any comment on a matter that is “still before the courts.” Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould spokesperson Dave Taylor also said her department would offer no comment.

    But Neve was scathing.

    “The torture and other human rights violations these men experienced took place between 13 – 15 years ago,” he said, adding the Iacobucci inquiry documenting Canada’s role in those abuses was released more than eight years ago.

    The United Nations Committee against Torture called on Canada to “move quickly to provide redress to them over four years ago,” said Neve. “It is a dramatic understatement to say that compensation and an apology for these three men is long overdue.”

    A trial of the men’s civil claim was to get underway Feb. 27. Now it appears the men will attend a public announcement of the settlement, which may come in advance of a motion to formally drop the lawsuit.

    It was long delayed by unsuccessful federal efforts under both Conservative and Liberal governments to protect intelligence sources. Federal lawyers failed to persuade the courts that a 2015 law that enacted new protections for the identity of CSIS human sources should apply retroactively.

    The Liberal government’s efforts in the litigation came in spite of the fact that the Liberals in opposition had voted in support of an apology, compensation and a recommendation that the Government of Canada “do everything necessary to correct misinformation that may exist in records administered by national security agencies in Canada or abroad with respect to” the men and their families.

    The Star was unable to confirm the amount of compensation that will be paid out to each man and their families, but the Arar case is a guide to what might be considered fair.

    Arar received a federal apology and $10.5 million in compensation and another $1 million to cover the legal fees in his fight for restitution after devastating experience, for a total of $11.5 million.

    In the dramatic months after the 2001 Al Qaeda terror attacks in the U.S., the RCMP and CSIS aggressively pursued individuals suspected of terrorist links, acting on tenuous leads or failing to caution other agencies that information was unverified or uncorroborated.

    The security agencies’ net ensnared Canadians like Arar, a dual Syrian-Canadian citizen. Arar was detained by American authorities on his way home to Ottawa from a Tunisian family holiday and then shipped to Syria via Jordan. He was jailed, tortured and interrogated at Far Falestin prison in Damascus.

    The Arar commission of inquiry led by Justice Dennis O’Connor determined Canadian actions were indirectly responsible for Arar’s rendition and torture. The other three men weren’t deported to torture, but were arrested upon arrival in Syria, interrogated and tortured at the same Syrian military prison as Arar.

    https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/02/17/ottawa-to-settle-lawsuit-with-three-muslim-canadians-jailed-tortured-in-syria.html

  26. Frightened Somalian refugee caught fleeing to Canada from Donald Trump’s America (express, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/768823/Somali-refugee-caught-fleeing-Canada-from-USA-Donald-Trump-fears

    “A SOMALIAN refugee was caught crossing the border from the US into Canada by a journalist as he seeked for asylum.

    The refugee, called Mohamed, was caught crossing the border in freezing temperatures after fleeing from the US.

    In the footage from NBC, the reporter calls over to the refugee who holds his hands up in the air, terrified, as he kneels in the snow.

    The Somalian refugee was then introduced to the journalist who asks him whether he just crossed the border into Canada.

    After questioning the man, who appeared to be in a daze, the reporter called the Canadian police to take him to refuge…”

  27. Fury as devastated Italian earthquake zones ordered to re-house migrant families (express, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/768798/Italy-earthquake-zone-Emilia-Romagna-survivors-homeless-rehouse-migrants

    “ITALIANS left homeless by catastrophic earthquakes in 2012 have now been left furious after being told new homes were to be found for 200 migrants.

    More than 12,000 displaced people are still waiting to be re-housed after the deadly quakes in the northern Emilia-Romagna region almost five years ago.

    Towns that were badly damaged in the 6.1 and 5.8 magnitude quakes resemble building sites and local authorities admit reconstruction is a long way from being completed.

    Many of those made homeless in the disaster are still living in emergency makeshift accommodation while others remain in the houses of friends, relatives and parents.

    And they were outraged when the area was taken out of special measures on January 1, paving the way for the first wave of migrants to be relocated there.

    Italy’s migrant crisis shows no sign of abating – with official interior ministry figures revealing nearly 10,000 migrants and refugees landed in Italy in the first five weeks of the year – and officials are keen to distribute the arrivals across the whole nation.

    But for people struggling in the nine municipalities that make up the Northern Area which was badly affected by the earthquakes, the idea of trying to re-house migrants is at best a bad joke and at worst a provocation that is sending waves of fury through the region…”

  28. Turkish cult satirical magazine shut down over Moses cartoon (abcnews, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-cult-satirical-magazine-shut-moses-cartoon-45559262

    “Publishers say they have closed down Turkey’s once top-selling satirical magazine following a cartoon that was deemed to be offensive to Jews and Muslims.

    Lawyers for Girgir magazine’s publishing house said Friday the company did not approve of the “unpleasant” cartoon that poked fun at Moses and had decided to close down the publication and fire its workers, according to Hurriyet newspaper.

    The magazine also apologized to readers through Twitter for “causing hurt” while prosecutors were investigating whether the cartoon “denigrated” religious values.

    Girgir, established in 1972, was Turkey’s largest selling satirical magazine in the 1980s and 1990s.

    Although it was briefly shut down following the 1980 military coup, it had a cult following mostly due to the fact that it got political messages across through cartoons, escaping censorship.”

  29. EU must not let US push it to increase military spending – Juncker (RT, Feb 17, 2017)
    https://www.rt.com/news/377691-juncker-us-europe-military-demands/

    “Europe mustn’t be pushed by the US to increase its military spending, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said. Modern politics is also about humanitarian assistance and development, not only “raising defence spending,” he added.
    “It [increasing military spending] has been the American message for many, many years. I am very much against letting ourselves be pushed into this,” Juncker said, speaking on the sidelines of the international Munich Security Conference on Wednesday.

    Juncker added that he does not like “our American friends narrowing down this concept of security to the military.”

    According to the EC president, a “modern stability policy” is made up of several parts.

    “If you look at what Europe is doing in defence, plus development aid, plus humanitarian aid, the comparison with the United States looks rather different. Modern politics cannot just be about raising defence spending,” he said.

    “Europeans must bundle their defence spending better and spend the money more efficiently,” he added…”

  30. Merkel: Germany will raise defense spending, but slowly (abcnews, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/merkel-germany-raise-defense-spending-slowly-45559951

    “German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her country will stick to its long-term commitment to raise defense spending to levels agreed with NATO partners — but no hurry about it.

    Merkel said that “Germany is conscious of its responsibility” to spend more on arms but added other issues are also important for global security.

    She said Germany would stick to the long-term goal of raising defense spending to 2 percent of economic output by 2024.

    Merkel spoke Friday when she and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls for NATO allies to carry more of the financial burden. NATO members agreed at a 2014 summit in Wales that countries not currently meeting the 2 percent goal would do so over a decade.

    Merkel said Germany had increased defense spending by 8 percent in this year’s budget over last year. “We must do more here, no question, but the matters of development aid and crisis prevention are also important,” she said….”

  31. Russell Simmons teams up with rabbi, imam for anti-Trump rally dubbed ‘I Am A Muslim, Too’ (abcnews, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/russell-simmons-teams-rabbi-imam-anti-trump-nyc/story?id=45555632

    “The 9th Circuit Court may have blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations, but a massive rally organized by Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons in response to the travel ban remains slated for Sunday in New York City’s Times Square.

    The rally, called “I Am A Muslim Too,” seeks to unite people of all faiths. So Simmons will be joined by Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the non-profit organization Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) and Imam Shamsi Ali of the Jamaica Muslim Center, who served as grand marshal of New York City’s Muslim Day Parade last fall…”

  32. Car bomb in Turkish town kills 3-year-old, wounds 15 people (abcnews, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-explosion-hits-turkish-town-injuring-people-45566792

    “A car bomb attack targeted government lodgings in southeastern Turkey on Friday, killing a 3-year-old child and wounding 15 other people, an official said.

    The bomb exploded near the homes of judges and prosecutors in the mainly-Kurdish town of Viransehir, in Sanliurfa province, which borders Syria.

    Sanliurfa governor Gungor Azim Tuna told state-run Anadolu Agency that a young man parked the explosives-laden vehicle near the lodgings and later detonated it with a remote-controlled device. The attack killed the 3-year-old son of a court clerk, he said.

    Around 15 people were hospitalized but none of them was in serious condition, Tuna said.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack…”

  33. Official: IS kills 8 Iraqi militia near Tikrit (abcnews, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/car-bomb-baghdad-claimed-islamic-state-kills-59-45556988

    “The Islamic State group attacked a battalion of state-sponsored militia southeast of Tikrit on Friday, killing at least eight militia members, an intelligence official said.

    IS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency. The statement said IS fighters had struck the 9th Battalion of the Popular Mobilization Forces, “killing its commander and 13 soldiers.”

    The statement also said that IS fighters blew up the battalion’s headquarters and other nearby positions and destroyed two Humvees that had arrived to assist the battalion.

    The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief reporters…”

  34. Pakistan cracks down on militants after IS shrine attack (abcnews, Feb 17, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistan-detains-dozens-75-killed-shiite-shrine-45554129

    “A brutal attack on a beloved Sufi shrine that killed 88 people raised fears that the Islamic State group has become emboldened in Pakistan, aided by an army of homegrown militants benefiting from hideouts in neighboring Afghanistan, analysts and officials said Friday.

    Pakistani security forces have carried out sweeping country-wide raids following Thursday’s bombing of the shrine in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province that also wounded 343 people. The military’s public relations wing reported on its official twitter account that more than 100 suspected “terrorists” were killed in the raids, while government officials lashed out at Kabul accusing the Afghan government of ignoring earlier pleas to crackdown on militant hideouts.

    Zahid Hussain, an expert on militants in the region, said a toxic mix of violent Sunni militant groups, many belonging to banned groups that are flourishing under new names, have wrapped themselves in the banner of the Islamic State group.

    “The Islamic State (group) might not have a strong organizational structure in Pakistan but we have thousands of members of banned groups sympathetic to the (their) ideology,” Hussain said in an interview. “They subscribe to the Islamic State (group) world view.”…”

  35. China floats the biggie: Barring foreign ships from claimed territorial waters
    People.cn (Global Times) February 16, 2017

    [Ed. – Here we go. This is preparation for China to selectively close off international waters in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s claims of territorial waters are wildly excessive — and unrecognized by other nations or the UN. Although Americans will focus on the potential impact for U.S. shipping, the first rights that will have to be defended are those of nations like the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. If WE don’t defend their rights, shooting to defend ours will become inevitable. It’s no accident that the cute little “for example” is the South China Sea. That’s what this is all about.]

    China is to revise its 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law, which would allow the relevant authorities to bar some foreign ships from passing through Chinese territorial waters.

    The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council announced Tuesday it is soliciting public opinions on the revisions.

    The draft would empower maritime authorities to prevent foreign ships from entering Chinese waters if it is decided that the ships may harm traffic safety and order.

    The draft revisions stipulate that authorities will be able to designate specific areas and temporarily bar foreign ships from passing through those areas according to their own assessment of maritime traffic safety. …

    Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the revisions will provide legal support for China to safeguard its maritime rights.

    “As a sovereign State and the biggest coastal State in, for example, the South China Sea, China is entitled to adjust its maritime laws as needed, which will also promote peace and stable development in the waters,” Wang said.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/02/16/china-floats-biggie-barring-foreign-ships-claimed-territorial-waters/

    http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0216/c90000-9178826.html

    • Although Americans will focus on the potential impact for U.S. shipping, the first rights that will have to be defended are those of nations like the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. If WE don’t defend their rights, shooting to defend ours will become inevitable.

      China has been talking about doing this for several decades the other test balloons weren’t this obvious. The Chinese were probably waiting until Hillary took office but since she will never become President and the alt radical left is working to start a civil war in the US they decided that this was a good time to start pushing. How far they push depends on what our reaction is and what happens in the US later this year.

      While the Editor at Liberty Unyielding didn’t include India on the list of nations whose rights we have to protect India is a large trading partner with the other nations in that region and China has been interested in seizing a lot of India to use to settle its surplus population for a long time.

      The alt radical left around the world has created the perfect storm of trouble that is all coming to a head at roughly the same time.

  36. The Russian Conspiracy Theory Boils Over
    The Left camouflages a “rolling coup attempt” as a righteous national security push.
    February 17, 2017
    Matthew Vadum

    The so-called scandal involving former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn is 9/11, Pearl Harbor, Iran-Contra, Watergate, proof of presidential fascism, a cynical money-making scheme, and a pro-Russian spy thriller all rolled into one, according to the increasingly deranged rants of howling left-wingers and their truth-adverse confederates in the mainstream media.

    Despite this relentless barrage of fake news and smears, President Donald Trump pushed back against the orchestrated campaign against him yesterday at what is sure to go down in history as The Best Presidential Press Conference of All Time as he gave the mainstream media the beat-down it deserves. (See transcript.)

    “To give you an idea how Trump’s press conference went, afterwards, the press corps demanded a safe space,” Ann Coulter tweeted of the 77-minute long White House event, Trump’s first solo presser as president. “I wish this press conference could go on all day.”

    “The public doesn’t believe you people anymore,” a ferocious, animated Trump told the assembled press corps. “Maybe I had something to do with that. I don’t know. But they don’t believe you.”

    “This whole Russia scam that you guys” are pushing on people is “so you don’t talk about the real subject which is illegal leaks.”

    “The public sees it,” he said. “They see it. They see it’s not fair. You take a look at some of your shows and you see the bias and the hatred. And the public is smart. They understand it.”

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265837/russian-conspiracy-theory-boils-over-matthew-vadum

  37. Why the Media’s Trump Lie Machine is Failing
    No one believes the media anymore.
    February 17, 2017
    Daniel Greenfield

    Every five minutes the many mouths of the media broadcast, type, post and shriek that President Donald J. Trump is a liar. After months of this treatment, more voters find him truthful than them.

    49% of voters believe that Trump and his people are telling the truth. Only 39% believe that the media is.

    The media’s war on President Trump isn’t hurting him. It is destroying the media’s own credibility.

    After Trump’s win, the media came to the conclusion that its biased attacks on him had been too subtle and understated to connect with the “dumb” voters. So it decided to be far more overt about its smears.

    The New York Times, which used to be the best at disguising its biases in the omnipotent voice of professional journalism, called President Trump a liar in its headlines. The media cheered this descent into naked partisanship by the paper of record. But it didn’t hurt Trump. It hurt the Times.

    Headlines blasting President Trump as a “liar” are easy enough to find on the internet. The New York Times derives much of its influence from its appearance of serious professionalism. Calling Trump names made it hard to distinguish the New York Times from the Huffington Post.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265832/why-medias-trump-lie-machine-failing-daniel-greenfield

  38. The New Black Panther Party: Black Racism Personified
    Any “national conversation” on race must acknowledge the most taboo racism of all.
    February 17, 2017
    John Perazzo

    Founded in 1990, the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (NBPP) is a militant black separatist organization that promotes racial violence against Jews and whites. NBPP preaches a “Ten-Point Platform” similar to its that of its namesake – the murderous Black panther Party of the 1960s and ’70s – demanding such things as: “full employment for our [black] people,” in light of the fact that “the white man has … used every dirty trick in the book to stand in the way of our freedom and independence”; “the overdue debt of reparations” from “this wicked racist government [that] has robbed us”; exemption for blacks “from all taxation”; and “education for our people that exposes the true nature of this devilish and decadent American society.”

    Khalid Abdul Muhammad, a onetime spokesman for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, joined NBPP in the mid-1990s and by1998 had become NBPP’s chairman. He earned a reputation as an inveterate racist and anti-Semite by characterizing Jews as “slumlords in the black community” who were busy “sucking our [blacks’] blood on a daily and consistent basis”; asserting that Jews had provoked Adolf Hitler when they “went in there, in Germany, the way they do everywhere they go, and they supplanted, they usurped”; telling a San Francisco State University audience that “the white man is the Devil”; declaring that blacks, in retribution against South African whites of the apartheid era, should “kill them all”; and praising a black man who had shot some twenty white and Asian commuters in a racially motivated shooting spree aboard a New York commuter train as a hero who possessed the courage to “just kill every goddamn cracker that he saw.” Muhammad also advised blacks that “[t]here are no good crackers, and if you find one, kill him before he changes.”

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265806/new-black-panther-party-black-racism-personified-john-perazzo

  39. Christophobia: A Global Perspective
    The reality of anti-Christian persecution.
    February 17, 2017
    Jack Kerwick

    Interesting times these are.

    While the Pope of my church seems to spare no occasion to castigate Western societies for allegedly not doing enough to welcome and accommodate Islamic refugees from the Middle East, he rarely says anything about the epidemic of anti-Christian persecution around the world.

    In stark contrast, while addressing the topic of Middle Easterners who are seeking refuge in the United States, President Trump—who, readers may recall, Pope Francis once suggested wasn’t really a Christian because of his expressed desire to build a wall along America’s southern border—explicitly resolved to provide relief for Christians.

    Trump’s critics immediately pounced on him for religious discrimination.

    Some context on this matter readily reveals that the Pope’s view is as morally confused as the President’s is sensible.

    Firstly, contrary to what the Christophobes would have us believe, Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world today. In 2016, approximately 900,000 Christians suffered persecution.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265824/christophobia-global-perspective-jack-kerwick

  40. Hungary: All NGOS Should Declare Foreign Funding, Including Soros Money

    BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s governing party says that it will propose legislation forcing non-governmental organizations reveal the source, amount and aim of foreign funding they receive.

    Lajos Kosa, parliamentary faction leader of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, said Friday that the intention is to shed light on how the groups financed from abroad are trying to influence Hungary. Kosa said that draft legislation would be submitted to parliament next month.

    Orban has repeatedly criticized groups funded at least in part by Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist George Soros, describing them as “foreign agents” seeking to undermine the authority of elected officials.

    Corruption watchdog Transparency International’s local office, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee are those among named and targeted by the government for their activities.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/02/17/hungary-ngos-declare-foreign-funding-including-soros-money/