Reader’s links for April 18 – 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.

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

About Eeyore

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

111 Replies to “Reader’s links for April 18 – 2017”

    • European Commission urges Turkey to launch ‘transparent investigations’ into referendum results (hurriyetdailynews, Apr 18, 2017)
      http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/european-commission-urges-turkey-to-launch-transparent-investigations-into-referendum-results.aspx?pageID=238&nID=112153&NewsCatID=510

      “The European Commission on April 18 urged Turkey to launch “transparent investigations” into alleged voting irregularities in the April 16 constitutional referendum, in which the “yes” camp won 51.4 percent of the votes.

      International observers charged on April 17 that the referendum campaign was conducted on an “unlevel playing field” and that the vote count was “marred by late procedural changes that removed key safeguards.”

      “We call on the Turkish authorities to consider the next steps very carefully, and to seek the broadest possible national consensus in the follow-up to the national referendum,” European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said at a press conference in Brussels…”

      • Ankara slams international election observers’ criticism of referendum result (hurriyetdailynews, Apr 18, 2017)
        http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-slams-international-election-observers-criticism-of-referendum-result.aspx?pageID=238&nID=112140&NewsCatID=510

        “International election observers’ criticism that the April 16 referendum on shifting Turkey to an executive presidential system fell below international standards has drawn an angry reaction from Ankara, which has slammed “biased and prejudiced approaches” to the results…”

        • Austrian leaders say Turkey’s EU membership prospects are ‘buried’ (thelocal, Apr 18, 2017)
          https://www.thelocal.at/20170418/austria-turkey-membership-buried

          “Austrian leaders said the European Union should end talks over Turkey’s 30-year-old bid to join its ranks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a controversial referendum on gaining further powers.

          “With what happened yesterday, (Turkey’s) membership prospects are buried, in practical terms,” said Chancellor Christian Kern.

          “We are entering a new era,” the Social Democrat told reporters in Vienna.

          EU aid to Turkey to help it advance towards membership was now “obsolete,” he added.

          Like other European leaders, Kern also spoke out against any move to restore the death penalty in Turkey.

          Separately, Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said that after the Turkish referendum, “we can no longer simply return to business as usual.”

          “We must be honest about the relationship between the EU and Turkey,” Kurz said in a tweet.

          “We need to end the EU entry negotiations and instead work to establish a neighbourhood agreement” with Turkey, he said, referring to relations that are close but lie below full membership…”

      • funny – there is not a single veiled woman – whereas at the Erdogan’s meetings all women are wearing the hijab

  1. Egyptian Writer: “Islam Cannot Be Reformed” (moroccoworldnews, Apr 18, 2017)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/04/214383/egyptian-writer-islam-cannot-reformed-hamed-abdel-samad-german-egyptian-political-scientist-public-critic-islam-expressed-recent-interview-telquel-belief/

    “Hamed Abdel Samad, a German-Egyptian political scientist and public critic of Islam, expressed in a recent interview with TelQuel his belief in the impossibility of reforming Islam.

    “If it had been possible to reform Islam, it would have been done centuries ago,” Abdel Samad told the Moroccan French-language magazine. “Islam is an ultra-sacralized entity. Who would dare to reform Allah’s word? Furthermore, there is no central authority in charge of Islam as it is the case with the Catholic and Orthodox churches.”

    The German-Egyptian author claimed that, as Islam goes beyond religious belief, it cannot be reformed. “Islam is basically incompatible with secularism. It is a tradition that mixes religion with economy, and politics with militarism. It complicates the relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims. I don’t believe in general salvation.”

    On the other hand, Muslims’ mentality, according to Abdel Samad, can be “reformed.”

    “If we were to consider Islam as a supermarket, we can’t improve the placement of its goods. What we can do is change the consumer’s behavior for the better, so that they don’t choose expired products.”

    The criticizing of Islam by Arabs and ex-Muslims has grown in Europe and North America in recent years. In addition to Hamid Abdel Samad, other names have risen to prominence, such as the Moroccan Brother Rachid, the Somali Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Bengali Taslima Nasrin, the Palestinian Walid Shoebat and the Egyptian Nonie Rashid.

    Hamed Abdel Samad is the most representative of this trend in Germany. He is an author of several books such as “Islamic Fascism”. The book was criticized by some commentators. Daniel Bax, a German writer, described it as ““a scrappily pasted-together book that contains a haphazard blend of Wikipedia knowledge, personal anecdotes and commentaries by the author.”

    In his lectures, interviews and TV appearances in Arabic, German and English, Hamed presents an image of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad as intolerant, extremist, supremacist, misogynist and totally incompatible with democracy and European values.

    A death fatwa was issued against him live on a salafist Egyptian TV channel in 2013. In Germany, he has been living under police protection.”

  2. Massoud warns of instability and war after dismissed by President Ghani (khaama, Apr 18, 2017)
    http://www.khaama.com/massoud-warns-of-instability-and-war-after-dismissed-by-president-ghani-02593

    “Ahmad Zia Massoud has warned of political instability in the country in his reaction to the presidential decree regarding his dismissal as senior presidential adviser for reforms and good governance.

    Speaking during a press conference in Kabul, Mr. Massoud also warned that the unilateral decisions by the President will take the country towards a civil war, urging the President to withdraw his decree regarding his dismissal…”

  3. 67 militants killed during counter-terrorism operation in past 24 hours: MoD (khaama, Apr 18, 2017)
    http://www.khaama.com/67-militants-killed-during-counter-terrorism-operation-in-past-24-hours-mod-02597

    “At least sixty seven militants were killed during the counter-terrorism operations in various provincesof the country in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Tuesday.

    A statement by MoD said the operations were conducted in Nangarhar, Kapisa, Khost, Ghazni, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Farah, Faryab, Herat, Kunduz, Kabul, Sar-e-Pul and Helmand provinces.

    The statement further added that 17 of the insurgents were killed in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz, 12 others were killed in Bala Murghab district of Badghis, and 12 others were killed in Nawa district of Helmand.

    A senior commander of the group was also among those during the operations in Helmand, MoD said, adding that 60 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were also destroyed.

    According to MoD, the senior Taliban leader wounded during the Helmand operations has been identified as Mullah Shahwali.

    The Ministry of Defense also added that 9 insurgents were killed and 11 others were wounded during a separate operation conducted in Khakriz district of Kandahar.

    At least 11 Taliban insurgents were killed during a separate operation conducted in southern Uruzgan province, MoD added.

    The anti-government armed militant groups including the Taliban insurgents have not commented regarding the reports so far.”

    • The Second American Civil War has started, at the moment it is being fought by the Millennial’s but it won’t be long before the fighting spreads to the older generations. The big problem is that the left has created a world disorder that means that once the Second American Civil War goes kinetic so will wars around the world. When these wars are over the world will be very different, either we will be a group of free nations with small governments and a lot of freedom or we will be a one world dictatorship with little to no freedom.

  4. zero hedge – Obama, Comey Relied On Discredited Dossier To Obtain FISA Warrant On Trump Campaign

    James Comey, the man who refused to bring charges against Hillary Clinton despite a mountain of concrete evidence that she, and several members of her staff, knowingly violated several federal laws, apparently used the largely discredited “Trump Dossier” to help secure a FISA warrant to secretly monitor Trump’s former campaign aide, Carter Page, according to CNN.

    Among other things, the dossier alleged that Page met senior Russian officials as an emissary of the Trump campaign, and discussed quid-pro-quo deals relating to sanctions, business opportunities and Russia’s interference in the election. Page has denied meeting the officials named in the dossier and says he never cut any political deals with the Kremlin. Per CNN:

    The FBI last year used a dossier of allegations of Russian ties to Donald Trump’s campaign as part of the justification to win approval to secretly monitor a Trump associate, according to US officials briefed on the investigation.

    The dossier has also been cited by FBI Director James Comey in some of his briefings to members of Congress in recent weeks, as one of the sources of information the bureau has used to bolster its investigation, according to US officials briefed on the probe.

    This includes approval from the secret court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to monitor the communications of Carter Page, two of the officials said. Last year, Page was identified by the Trump campaign as an adviser on national security.

    According to the Washington Post, the warrant to monitor Page was obtained in the summer of 2016 which indicates that the FBI was in possession of the now-infamous dossier well before President Obama supposedly received his first briefing on the material in December 2016.

    Of course, as we reported back in January (see “Here Is The Full 35-Page Report Alleging Trump Was “Cultivated, Supported And Assisted” By Russia”) the dossier, compiled by ex-British intelligence official Chris Steele, was almost immediately discredited by the public at large after numerous glaring errors were quickly identified and salicious stories of ‘golden showers’ and other sexual acts were also dismissed as pure rubbish.

    Allegedly the dossier was even available to the Clinton campaign should they have chosen to use it to discredit Trump, but even they were quickly convinced that no one would buy it.

    All of which, once again, brings into question the level of stupidity and/or pure corruption that must have been involved in this process given the shear number of people whose approval was undoubtedly required to authorize the issuance of a FISA warrant that paved the way for Comey and the Obama administration to secretly monitor the Trump campaign.

    Meanwhile, Carter Page offered a simple reply to this latest revelation saying that he looks forward to the discovery process and testimony that will come from the lawsuit he plans to file in short order.

    “I look forward to the Privacy Act of 1974 lawsuit that I plan to file in response to the civil rights violations by Obama administration appointees last year. The discovery process will be of great value to the United States, as our nation hears testimony from them under oath and we receive disclosure of the documents which show what exactly was done in 2016.”

    Statement from Carter Page re: CNN report that FBI used dossier to build case against him: “I look forward to…the lawsuit I plan to file” pic.twitter.com/GtoSLFMiZO

    — Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 18, 2017

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-18/comey-used-trump-dossier-basis-obtaining-fisa-warrant

  5. EXCLUSIVE: Officials Defy Trump’s Promises: 40 Miles of Border Ordered Unpatrolled

    U.S. Border Patrol agents are once again sounding the alarm about miles of border being left wide open and unsecured. Breitbart Texas exclusively obtained a document showing a Havre Sector Border Patrol manager knowingly issuing orders to leave 40 miles of Montana border open and unpatrolled. Obama holdovers in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency are continuing with the same careless disregard in the Trump Administration that they did under former President Obama, according to Border Patrol agents.

    Breitbart Texas has the specific order that was given to the agents signed by the Obama-holdover manager. The order demands that agents on the northern border stay within one assigned zone and are not to leave that zone to patrol other zones that the agents have historically patrolled — even though there are no agents assigned to patrol the other zones. The Havre Sector has six Border Patrol stations and the order applies to one of these stations consisting of six zones. A total of 60 linear miles are covered by the one Border Patrol station in question, yet agents say that this only allows them to patrol 20 of the 60 miles of border.

    http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/04/18/exclusive-officials-defy-trumps-promises-40-miles-border-ordered-unpatrolled/

  6. FBI Investigating Radical Terrorists in All 50 States as Threats Hit Peak
    Terrorists inside America plotting attacks ‘each and every single day’

    Federal authorities have open investigations into radical Islamic terrorists in all 50 states, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which is warning that the threat of terrorism in the United States has reached an all time high with radicalized individuals in the country plotting to strike “each and every single day.”

    The FBI has “open terrorist investigations in all 50 states,” according to DHS Secretary John Kelly, who disclosed on Tuesday that there have been at least 37 “ISIS-linked plots to attack our country” since 2013, a number that shows no signs of diminishing.

    Kelly, in his first wide-ranging public address on the threat of terrorism in America since taking office, warned that America’s borders remain wide-open and that there is evidence terror-linked individuals are exploiting these national security weaknesses and entering the United States.

    http://freebeacon.com/national-security/fbi-investigating-radical-terrorists-50-states-threats-hit-peak/