Reader’s links for April 26 – 2017

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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

121 Replies to “Reader’s links for April 26 – 2017”

  1. “Americans First, Task Force meeting featuring Clare Lopez pt 2of3”
    SoDakLiberty – April 8, 2017

        • She would have done a lot of good in that position. I wonder how many other members of the resistance have been quietly purposed and it was decided that they couldn’t get them confirmed?

          • Plenty.
            It’s unwise. He can’t immunize his administration against attack. They’ll go after him and all of us no matter what we do. Gets rid of Flynn for Mattis?!

            They legislate from the bench, engage in terrorism from the executive branch – the mayor of Berkley is just doing 0 on the local level. Encouraging lawless activism looks an awful lot like enemy subversion to this non-lawyer, YankeeKafir.

            So I say, double down. You can’t make nice with the MB or the communist/anarchist -whatevers. They’re not listening- they’re totalitarians -duh!

            We will have to engage at some point. It’s gonna happen and it’s high time.

    • Yucki,

      “My prayers embrace the martyred souls of the Armenian Genocide.”

      were they martyrs who had sacrificed their lives, or sat idly by clining on to Politicians’ Comfort and watched it overwhelm them?

      I had not heard of this Armenian martyr uprising. Is there a link?

      • They’re martyrs when they refuse to convert to save their lives. They die as Christians, their soul is immortal. I don’t think the concept of martyrdom requires dying for someone else; it’s bearing witness to a belief that transcends mortality.

        [That’s the way I understand it, at least. I’m not martyr material myself, so I’m on shaky ground here.]

        I live near one of the largest Armenian diaspora communities in the country. People there know Holocaust survivors in my circle; they’ve worked together on various programs over many years.

        I believe witness accounts. There’s the following theme with variations:

        Families had lived in mixed villages for generations. The Turks knew Armenians as neighbors, identified girls who would make suitable wives. These weren’t strangers, after all, there were even friendships.

        Or so they thought.

        The girls could’ve converted and married. It wasn’t like the Yazdis in Iraq: these were halal monotheists, given an “opportunity”. Why not?

        Especially early on, the proposals were quite “proper”. If only they agreed, the rest of the family might escape. They even promised to help.

        Very, very few agreed. They chose death over conversion.
        They got rape, gang rape, and death-by-torture.

        I think I would’ve chosen life. Never as a Yazdi slave, but fake conversion, life in the village I knew? Sure, I’d do it. Then I’d escape and leave nothing alive behind me.

    • Soros is working to see his political/social/economic philosophy rule the world rather then personally ruling the world. Although I wouldn’t rule out that he doesn’t want one of his kids to take over as world dictator. Most Dictators are thinking of establishing Dynasties not single life dictatorships.

  6. Telling Holocaust Stories — in Ladino
    Annette Cabelli, a 92-year-old Sephardic survivor from Greece, shares her memories with young audiences across Europe

    When Annette Cabelli walked into the auditorium at Pabellón de los Jardines de Cecilio Rodríguez, a pavilion of the Cecilio Rodríquez Gardens at Madrid’s Retiro Park, all conversations ceased and eyes turned to her. A survivor of three concentration camps and three death marches, Cabelli had traveled from France at the invitation of Casa Sefarad and Madrid’s Jewish community. She came to Spain—as a Sephardic Jew, her ancestral home—to share her testimony during the Holocaust remembrance week that takes place annually around Jan. 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

    “Every year we invite a Holocaust survivor…. [Cabelli] is Sephardic, and she can tell the story in Ladino, a language we don’t hear very often. For younger people to meet a Sephardic descendant is extra special.”

    http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/228690/holocaust-stories-in-ladino

    People in Spain get such a kick out of hearing Ladino, they treat you like a celebrity. It’s flattering both ways: for the speaker, a rapt audience for nursery rhymes and folk songs; for the people of Spain, the living proof how their own identity has been treasured over time and over space.

    Love of la patria runs deep.

    • Is there any actual evidence for this stand-alone claim whatsoever? It appears to be a link to nothing and there is no actual information at all. Just a claim to which the only rational comment is:

      –]Plz_Post_Hindu_Pepe 1 point 2 hours ago
      Bulllllllllllllshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttt

      It is a major story if true. therefore, deserves to at least have a link to any actual news story on it.

      • UC Berkeley riots: Violence looms as mayor questioned over ties to extremist group

        The University of California, Berkeley is likely to once again be the site of brutal protests on Thursday as questions arise about whether the city’s mayor has ties to an extremist group sparking violence.

        Ann Coulter has vowed to move ahead with a planned appearance at the university, despite Berkeley trying to reschedule her speech over security concerns. Law enforcement sources told Fox News that regardless of whether the conservative firebrand shows up, there is a “99 percent” chance that the college will erupt in violence.

        The sources are helping the Berkeley Police Department prepare for what is now seen as an inevitable showdown over First Amendment rights to free speech.

        Charles “Sid” Heal, a retired commander from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department who met with Berkeley police on Monday, said that authorities are preparing for the worst because extremist groups from across the spectrum are heading to Berkeley, and because the past three protests that devolved into violence were met by a “lackluster” response from local police.

        Heal and others said there is deep discord between the Berkeley Police Department and the city government, led by Jesse Arreguin, the 32-year-old newly elected mayor facing his first major test in running a large city. Arreguin has been accused of supporting left-wing violence because he is a member of the Facebook group of By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, a far left group that has incited violent protests across the country.

  9. New computers could delete thoughts without your knowledge, experts warn

    New human rights laws are required to protect sensitive information in a person’s mind from ‘unauthorised collection, storage, use or even deletion’

    “Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind,” wrote the playwright John Milton in 1634.

    But, nearly 400 years later, technological advances in machines that can read our thoughts mean the privacy of our brain is under threat.

    Now two biomedical ethicists are calling for the creation of new human rights laws to ensure people are protected, including “the right to cognitive liberty” and “the right to mental integrity”.
    Read more

    Facebook secretly building technology to read people’s minds
    Device that can literally read your mind invented by scientists
    ‘Mind-blowing’ discovery could revolutionise understanding of brain
    Can technology improve our brains?

    Scientists have already developed devices capable of telling whether people are politically right-wing or left-wing. In one experiment, researchers were able to read people’s minds to tell with 70 per cent accuracy whether they planned to add or subtract two numbers.

    Facebook also recently revealed it had been secretly working on technology to read people’s minds so they could type by just thinking.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/delete-thoughts-read-your-mind-without-your-knowledge-neurotechnology-new-human-rights-laws-a7701661.html

    • Zuckerberg should read the Greek myth of Icarus and read the definition of hubris. He’s trying to fly way to close to the sun

      • He should also read the history or revolutions, the people who successfully carry out a left wing revolution are usually the first rounded up and executed. In his case having his mind erased.

  10. UC Berkeley riots: Violence looms as mayor questioned over ties to extremist group

    The University of California, Berkeley is likely to once again be the site of brutal protests on Thursday as questions arise about whether the city’s mayor has ties to an extremist group sparking violence.

    Ann Coulter has vowed to move ahead with a planned appearance at the university, despite Berkeley trying to reschedule her speech over security concerns. Law enforcement sources told Fox News that regardless of whether the conservative firebrand shows up, there is a “99 percent” chance that the college will erupt in violence.

    The sources are helping the Berkeley Police Department prepare for what is now seen as an inevitable showdown over First Amendment rights to free speech.

    The University of California, Berkeley is likely to once again be the site of brutal protests on Thursday as questions arise about whether the city’s mayor has ties to an extremist group sparking violence.

    Ann Coulter has vowed to move ahead with a planned appearance at the university, despite Berkeley trying to reschedule her speech over security concerns. Law enforcement sources told Fox News that regardless of whether the conservative firebrand shows up, there is a “99 percent” chance that the college will erupt in violence.

    The sources are helping the Berkeley Police Department prepare for what is now seen as an inevitable showdown over First Amendment rights to free speech.

  12. US Navy fires warning flare at Iran vessel in Persian Gulf

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer fired a warning flare toward an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel coming near it in the Persian Gulf, an American official said on Wednesday, the latest tense naval encounter between the two countries.

    The incident happened Monday as the vessel attempted to draw closer to the USS Mahan despite the destroyer trying to turn away from it, said Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

    https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/us-navy-fires-warning-flare-at-iran-vessel-in-persian-gulf-1.465367#.WQCdj8a1uM8

  13. When will Obama have made enough money?

    Cantor Fitzgerald LP will pay former President Barack Obama $400,000 to speak at a conference in September, likely the first of many lucrative Wall Street paydays.

    Good for him.

    Obama doesn’t really need the money: He earned over $14 million for his first three books, and bidding for his next deal (a package with Michelle) has run over $60 million. But he has every right to cash in on his star power and his hard-won expertise.

    No doubt he’ll wind up giving a good chunk of it to charity (though we’d be majorly surprised if he set up anything resembling the Clinton Foundation).

    All that said, there is something a bit . . . rich here, given what Obama had to say in a 2010 speech pushing tougher Wall Street regulation:

    “We’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”

    Which makes you wonder when Obama will reach the point where he’s earned enough

  15. Trump slams federal court ruling on funding for ‘sanctuary cities’

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Wednesday attacked a federal judge’s ruling that blocked his executive order seeking to withhold funds from “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants, vowing to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Tuesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco was the latest blow to Trump’s efforts to toughen immigration enforcement. Federal courts have also blocked his two travel bans on citizens of mostly Muslim nations.

    “First the Ninth Circuit rules against the ban & now it hits again on sanctuary cities-both ridiculous rulings. See you in the Supreme Court!” Trump said in a tweet, referring to the San Francisco-based federal appeals court and its judicial district.

    The Trump administration has targeted sanctuary cities, which generally offer safe harbor to illegal immigrants and often do not use municipal funds or resources to advance the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

    http://www.oann.com/trump-slams-federal-court-ruling-on-funding-for-sanctuary-cities/

  16. U.S. moves THAAD anti-missile to South Korean site, sparking protests

    SEOUL (Reuters) – The U.S. military started moving parts of an anti-missile defense system to a deployment site in South Korea on Wednesday, triggering protests from villagers and criticism from China, amid tension over North Korea’s weapons development.

    The earlier-than-expected steps to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system was also denounced by the frontrunner in South Korea’s presidential election on May 9.

    South Korea’s defense ministry said elements of THAAD were moved to the deployment site, on what had been a golf course, about 250 km (155 miles) south of the capital, Seoul.

    “South Korea and the United States have been working to secure an early operational capability of the THAAD system in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threat,” the ministry said in a statement.

    The battery was expected to be operational by the end of the year, it said.

    http://www.oann.com/u-s-military-begins-moving-thaad-missile-defense-into-south-korea-site-yonhap/

  17. Turkey says detains 1,000 ‘secret imams’ in police purge

    ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish authorities arrested more than 1,000 people on Wednesday they said had secretly infiltrated police forces across the country on behalf of a U.S.-based cleric blamed by the government for a failed coup attempt last July.

    The nationwide sweep was one of the largest operations in months against suspected supporters of the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of President Tayyip Erdogan who is now accused by the government of trying to topple him by force.

    Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the overnight crackdown targeted a Gulen network “that infiltrated our police force, called ‘secret imams’.

    “One thousand and nine secret imams have been detained so far in 72 provinces, and the operation is ongoing,” he told reporters in Ankara.

    In the aftermath of the failed July coup, authorities arrested 40,000 people and sacked or suspended 120,000 from a wide range of professions including soldiers, police, teachers and public servants, over alleged links with terrorist groups.

    The latest detentions came 10 days after voters narrowly backed plans to expand Erdogan’s already wide powers in a referendum which opposition parties and European election observers said was marred by irregularities.

    http://www.oann.com/turkey-says-detains-1000-secret-imams-in-police-purge/

  18. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4446658/Boy-11-dies-severe-beating-staff-school.html#ixzz4fMBPabc3

    Schoolboy, 11, who had both legs amputated after ‘severe beating by staff’ at a religious school in Malaysia dies from his injuries after month-long fight for life
    Mohamed Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi, 11, was in an induced coma in hospital
    He had already lost both his legs and doctors were preparing to cut off his arm
    Police say he and 14 other boys were beaten with a water hose in their school
    It’s thought beating was for making a noise in school’s Islamic assembly building

  19. Fed. district judge who just blocked Trump’s sanctuary city order was major fundraiser for Obama
    By J.E. Dyer April 25, 2017

    It does get pretty hard to believe in an impartial judiciary and the actual meaning of the “rule of law,” when many judges seem to have so much involvement in partisan politics and money.

    Judge William Orrick III of the U.S. District for Northern California today issued an injunction against President Trump’s order to withhold certain federal funds from sanctuary cities. He was responding to separate suits brought by the city of San Francisco and nearby Santa Clara County.

    According to AP:

    The injunction will stay in place while the lawsuits work their way through court.

    The judge said that President Donald Trump cannot set new conditions for the federal grants at stake. And even if he could, the conditions would have to be clearly related to the funds at issue and not coercive, Orrick said.

    Now, to start with, it sounds like Orrick is just making that up. “Not coercive”? What does that even mean? The federal government is coercive with money all the time. There are many superb examples, starting with funding for education programs, which put a number of hapless school districts under effective consent decrees — a few explicit, more in all but name — over the expansive Obama-era reading of Title IX. Another, closer to home, is policing and “civil rights” programs — which have yielded a similar result with highly coercive consent decrees for dozens of cities and counties.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/04/25/fed-district-judge-just-blocked-trumps-sanctuary-city-order-major-fundraiser-obama/

  20. A woman from India was sold to her immigration sponsor for an estimated $4,700 after she entered Saudi Arabia on a housemaid visa and is being tortured by her captor, her daughter tells the Times of India (TOI).
    “My mother is in trouble in Saudi. She wants to return home, but her Kafeel [visa sponsor] is not allowing her to get back here,” Sameena Begum, the victim’s daughter, told TOI.

    Her daughter revealed that the victim “is facing mental and physical harassment at the hands of her kafeel (sponsor) in Saudi Arabia,” points the Indian news outlet.

    “The torture started when she denied to a contract marriage with her Kafeel in Saudi Arabia. She, however, informed me sending a message that she was sold by agents. So the Kafeel does not want to send her back,” added the daughter, noting that her mother told her she was sold for 3 lakh, or 300,000 rupees (about $4,700).

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/04/25/indian-woman-sold-facing-torture-after-entering-saudi-on-housemaid-visa/

  21. Libya asks EU for motorboats, helicopters to patrol coast (abcnews, Apr 26, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/libya-asks-eu-motorboats-helicopters-patrol-coast-47024557

    “Libya is asking the European Union for motorboats and helicopters to help patrol the Mediterranean Sea for ships carrying migrants.

    The German government says a “request list” for Libya’s coast guard also includes ambulances, communications equipment and night vision gear.

    According to the German government’s response to a parliamentary question from the opposition Left Party, obtained by The Associated Press, the EU executive is currently considering the request.

    German public broadcaster ARD reported Wednesday that Libya wants some of the 130 motorboats to be armed.

    The EU wants to clamp down on migrants crossing to Europe from the North African country, which has descended into chaos since the 2011 toppling of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

    EU states are deploying submarines and aircraft to assist in reconnaissance efforts.”

  22. The Latest: More than 700,000 granted asylum in EU in 2016 (abcnews, Apr 26, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-700000-granted-asylum-eu-2016-47025156

    “The European Union’s statistical agency says European countries granted refugee status or some other protection to more than 700,000 people last year, most of them Syrians.

    Eurostat said Wednesday that the 28 EU member countries gave protection to 710,400 asylum-seekers in 2016, more than double the number the previous year. It came after more than a million people entered Europe, most fleeing conflict in Syria or Iraq but some also looking for jobs.

    Eurostat said that 405,600 people were Syrians, 65,800 were Iraqis and 61,800 Afghans.

    More than 70 percent of the Syrians were offered protection by Germany. Sweden took in almost 45,000..”

  23. 10 arrested in probe of Paris attacks (abcnews, Apr 26,2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/10-arrested-probe-paris-attacks-47024031

    “French police have arrested 10 people in an investigation of suspected suppliers of weapons to one of the attackers who killed 17 people at Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher store in January 2015, the Paris prosecutors’ office said Wednesday.

    Separately, police have also arrested four people in an anti-terror probe in the town of Trappes west of Paris, the prosecutors’ office said. It said those arrests were unrelated to the weapons probe, but gave no additional details.

    Arrests in the weapons investigation started Monday, with more on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the prosecutors’ office said…”

  24. Officials: Egypt tribesmen burned militant alive in Sinai (abcnews, Apr 26, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/officials-egypt-tribesmen-burned-militant-alive-sinai-47025947

    “Egyptian security officials say that members of a prominent local tribe in northern Sinai have burned alive a suspected Islamic State militant.

    The officials say the man’s charred body was found early on Wednesday south the town of Rafah in the Sinai Peninsula. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

    They say the killing came just hours after an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked a tribal checkpoint in northern Sinai and killed four members of the Tarabeen tribe on Tuesday.

    The incident is the latest escalation in the conflict in the restive peninsula, where Egyptian forces have been battling a growing insurgency with local tribes mostly remaining on the sidelines.”

  25. Turkey: 1,000 detained over suspected links to Gulen (abcnews, Apr 26, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-hundreds-detained-suspected-links-gulen-47023172

    “Turkish police launched simultaneous operations across the country on Wednesday, detaining more than 1,000 people with suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Warrants were issued for the detention of some 2,200 other suspects, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

    At least 1,013 have been detained so far in one of the largest operations against the Gulen movement in recent months, according to Anadolu.

    Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the operation comprised all of Turkey’s 81 provinces, describing it as an important step toward the government’s aim of “bringing down” the Gulen movement.

    The suspects are allegedly Gulen operatives called “secret imams” who are accused of directing followers within the police force…”

  26. IS group, Taliban clash in Afghanistan, dozens killed (abcnews, Apr 26, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/islamic-state-taliban-clash-afghanistan-dozens-killed-47026789

    “Afghan officials say Islamic State militants have attacked the Taliban in the northern Jawzjan province, igniting heavy clashes in which dozens of fighters were killed.

    Mohammad Reza Ghafori, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said Wednesday that the fighting, which began the day before, has killed 76 Taliban fighters and 15 from the IS affiliate. He says the IS militants seized two districts from the Taliban.

    The Taliban and IS are both fighting to overthrow Afghanistan’s U.S.-backed government and impose a harsh version of Islamic rule, but they are bitterly split over leadership and tactics. The IS affiliate is largely made up of disgruntled former Taliban fighters.

    Abdul Hafiz Khashyee, a police official, says the fighting took place in a remote area and there were no reports of civilian casualties.”

  27. Turkish opposition to challenge referendum at European court (abcnews, Apr 26, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-opposition-challenge-referendum-european-court-47026926

    “Turkey’s main opposition party says it will challenge the outcome of the country’s April 16 referendum on expanding the president’s powers at the European Court of Human Rights.

    The pro-secular Republican People’s Party is contesting the referendum over a number of irregularities, including a controversial electoral board decision to count ballot papers that lacked official stamps.

    The decision to take the issue to the Strasbourg, France-based court came Wednesday, a day after Turkey’s high administrative court rejected its bid to have the decision overturned.

    The vote to greatly increase the president’s powers was narrowly won by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “yes” side.”

  29. Russia says it thwarted terror attack, arrested 2 suspects (abcnews, Apr 26, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russia-thwarted-terror-attack-arrested-suspects-47026474

    “The Russian counterintelligence agency on Wednesday announced the arrest of two suspected supporters of the Islamic State group who it said were planning a terror attack.

    The two men were arrested in an apartment in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, a city on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, where a search turned up a homemade explosive device and IS propaganda literature, the FSB said.

    One of the suspects is a citizen of Russia and the other of one of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, the agency said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies. It provided no further identification…”

  30. France says analysis shows Syria regime behind sarin attack (abcnews, Apr 26, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russia-us-airstrike-syria-damages-peace-process-47024066

    “France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that the chemical analysis of samples taken from a deadly sarin gas attack in Syria earlier this month “bears the signature” of President Bashar Assad’s government and shows it was responsible for the deadly assault.

    According to Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, France came to this conclusion after comparing samples from a sarin attack in Syria from 2013 that matched the new ones. The findings came in a 6-page report published Wednesday.

    The Kremlin promptly denounced the French report, saying the samples and the fact the nerve agent was used are not enough to prove who was behind it. Assad has repeatedly denied that his forces used chemical weapons and claimed that myriad evidence of a poison gas attack is made up…”

  32. Spain: Police detain suspected IS-recruiter in Ceuta

    Police arrested a 29 year old Spanish man on suspicion of involvement in self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS; formerly ISIS/ISIL) recruitment in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, Wednesday.

  35. http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/04/michigan_lawmaker_proposes_bil.html

    LANSING, MI — Michigan residents would be banned from using other countries’ laws in court under a bill proposed by Rep. Michele Hoitenga, R-Manton, according to an email obtained by MLive.

    In an email sent to state lawmakers seeking co-sponsors on Monday, Hoitenga said her bill doesn’t specifically mention Sharia Law, but wrote that it would include the religious law association with Islam.

  37. reuters – Ann Coulter cancels her speech at UC Berkeley

    Conservative commentator Ann Coulter has canceled her speech planned for this week at the University of California’s Berkeley campus after a dispute with university officials, who feared violent protests, over whether a safe venue could be found.

    “There will be no speech,” she wrote in an email to Reuters on Wednesday, saying two conservative groups sponsoring her speech were no longer supporting her. “I looked over my shoulder and my allies had joined the other team,” she wrote.

    http://news.trust.org/item/20170426165332-ncuz8

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/04/ann-coulter-cancels-her-speech-at-uc-berkeley/

  38. Federal agencies and local authorities are preparing for a nuclear attack near New York City, running drills and simulations to test the regions preparedness should such an attack occur, reports Fox News.

    Operation Gotham Shield simulates a doomsday scenario in which a 10,000 ton nuclear device is detonated in New Jersey, just across the water from Manhattan. Experts say such an attack would kill thousands, spread nuclear contamination, and completely wipe out the region’s power and communications grid.

    FEMA is spearheading the simulation, but is joined by agencies and first responders from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Washington, DC.

    http://www.hannity.com/articles/hanpr-war-on-terror-487284/operation-gotham-shield-feds-prepare-for-15777020/

  39. Nigel Farage At EU Parliament – Let Hungary Join The Brexit Club 26th April 2017 (also names Soros)

  40. What We Talk About When We Talk About Gorka

    “Every young person holding a placard to protest my parents and myself—I challenge you now: Go away and look at everything I have said and written in the last 46 years of my life and find one sentence that is anti-Semitic,” Sebastian Gorka said yesterday before walking out of a panel at Georgetown University. “You won’t find one.”

    Gorka is right. But who cares? More specifically, why do I care? I’ve spent much of the last two months talking about Sebastian Gorka, and I’m tired. When I raised objections to the ludicrous assertion—repeated frequently and loudly by numerous media outlets—that the senior aide to President Donald Trump is some sort of crypto-Nazi, I was accused by many people of being a Gorka apologist.

    Let’s get some things out of the way. I’ve never met Sebastian Gorka and don’t know much about his work on Islam or terrorism. I’m also not a fan of his boss, Donald Trump, which I’ve made clear in one or two or three hundred articles this past year.

    What I object to—and what my interlocutors maddeningly refuse to engage with—is the effort to use history and Jewish memory, in particular, the crimes of the Holocaust, in the service of partisan political tricks. The falsification of history, in particular, the history of the Holocaust, is something that all Jews should object to because it is both the foundation and also the most frequent justification for Holocaust denialism. Indeed, it gives aid to Holocaust deniers—in Hungary and elsewhere in Eastern Europe—by using the same methods they do and giving credence to their loathsome rhetoric, which seeks to erase history by insisting that all crimes are the same, whatever their scale.

    What I am asking readers to do here is to resist, for a few minutes, the social-media-driven knee-jerk outrage du jour, and instead consider the far weightier issue of how these arguments play into an abuse of history.

    This week on NPR, Congresswoman Nita Lowey referred to Gorka as “a sworn member of a Nazi-allied far-right Hungarian group known as the Vitezi Rend.” Growing up in the Bronx, Lowey and her parents were fortunate enough not to have been caught up in the destruction of European Jewry, but they must have known at least some Holocaust survivors who came to America after the war. If they talked to the survivors about their experiences, they surely concluded that the societies from which they came were sick. They probably also heard, at least from some people, that not everyone who lived in Poland or Hungary or other Nazi killing grounds was a Nazi, and that the Nazis themselves were German conquerors who held Europe by force, even if they also found plenty of willing, and often eager, local accomplices.

    So where did Lowey, and others, get the idea that Gorka himself is “a sworn member” of that infamous “Nazi-allied” group, the Viteszi Rend? According to Lowey, she got it from the Forward, which since February of this year has published no fewer than 39 pieces about Gorka reported by numerous staffers in Hungary and in New York, all of which attempt to posit some link between Sebastian Gorka and his family and Nazis and—judging by the speed with which they are picked up by Democratic Party social-media operatives and elected officials—appear to be part of an ongoing, well-organized, well-funded partisan communications effort. But what matters most about the Forward’s reporting isn’t the very little that’s there on the page, but the much that isn’t.

    To read the newspaper’s reporting, you’d believe that Vitezi Rend, the organization to which Gorka is accused—despite his repeated denials—of having “sworn” or “pledged” his “lifelong allegiance,” is an unequivocal stand-in for the SS. The group is indeed listed by the U.S. Department of State as having been “under the direction of the Nazi government of Germany”—and this statement is true, in the sense that the entire Hungarian state was directly or indirectly “under the direction” of the Nazis once they directly occupied Hungary.

    But because the narrow, legalistic use of language can be dangerous when applied to the messiness of history, it is important to look more closely, especially since Hungary’s history during WWII is a layered and complicated one.

    Hungary’s leader since the country’s independence, Miklos Horthy, did collaborate with Hitler, and he did co-operate, on at least one occasion, with the Nazi plan for the extermination of European Jewry. In August of 1941, Horthy agreed to deport roughly 20,000 Jews without Hungarian citizenship who were seeking refuge in his country; most of them were slaughtered by the Nazis. But otherwise, Horthy refused to act against Hungary’s 800,000-strong Jewish community. He continued in his refusal until the Wehrmacht invaded his country and forced his compliance in March of 1944, before finally toppling him.

    A self-described anti-Semite, Horthy was nonetheless appalled at Hitler’s plan to slaughter his country’s Jews. “I was aware that the government in the given forced situation has to take many steps that I do not consider correct, and for which I can not take responsibility,” he wrote to a colleague shortly after the Nazis took charge. “Among these matters is the handling of the Jewish question in a manner that does not correspond to the Hungarian mentality, Hungarian conditions, and, for the matter, Hungarian interests. It is clear to everyone that what among these were done by Germans or by the insistence of the Germans was not in my power to prevent, so in these matters, I was forced into passivity.”

    You can attack Horthy, as serious historians and novelists have done, just as you’re free to question the motives of Rudolf Kastner, a leading Hungarian Jewish leader who paid the Nazis a fortune to save the lives of a handful of Hungarian Jews while failing to warn the rest of their impending doom.

    But here’s the point: Vitezi Rend was not a Nazi organization or an organization made up of Hungarians who favored the Nazis. It was a military honor society founded by Horthy in 1920 as a way to bestow favors on soldiers who’d proved themselves on the battlefield, and, presumably, to help safeguard the country’s independence and to serve as a bulwark for Horthy’s brand of Hungarian nationalism. As such, the organization represented a fair cross-section of Hungarian military personnel whom Horthy and the state wished to honor, including military lifers, far-right nationalists, left-wing nationalists, Nazi enthusiasts, and others of all stripes. The Vitezi Rend most likely had among its members military officers who helped the fascist and the violently anti-Semitic Arrow Cross movement—which Horthy banned, and in whose favor he finally was removed from office—brutally murder the Jews of Budapest in the streets by the tens of thousands. It also had among its members people like Vilmos Nagy de Nagybaczon, a Hungarian general who, in 1965, was named a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for his efforts to protect his nation’s Jews.

    Asserting that the Viteszi were somehow the same as the Arrow Cross means that you’re guilty of more than historical ignorance. If your zeal to score political points leads you to reduce the complex and often-repugnant history of an entire people to a triviality, you’re guilty of the same vile logic motivating so many of the real enemies of the Jewish people, who assert that all the crimes committed in WWII by anyone are equivalent, and therefore cancel each other out. To be a Communist is the same as having been a Nazi because both parties committed terrible crimes. Partizans who fought Hitler in the forest to avenge their murdered families are the same as local militias who used Jews as target practice at the Nazi killing pits because members of both groups killed at least some innocent people. It’s this logic you see at play in Lithuania’s campaign to purge itself of its history of collaboration with the Nazis by accusing Jewish partisans like Yitzchak Arad, the former director of Yad Vashem, of war crimes. It’s the logic of Holocaust deniers and others for whom the truth is incidental to ideology. And it’s the kind of logic we must never, ever accept. Sadly, the Forward has applied the same dubious tactic when addressing Gorka’s contemporary political affiliations, portraying him as an ally of groups like Magyar Garda, a right-wing militia which he in fact denounced, and pegging him as just another variety of Jew-hater by vague affiliation. That’s like arguing that conservatives opposed to Trump, like myself, are really allies of Steve Bannon because we both take pride in militaristic iconography, like eagles and flags, that many Americans may find threatening and distasteful.

    So, let’s be clear: Jewish history, memory, and identity are not and should never be allowed to become cheap political props. When activists take on the mantle of Anne Frank to bash the president, or when a reporter who traveled to Tehran at the Iranian government’s invitation and came back to report he’d found no anti-Semitism whatsoever lobs a manipulatively eliding accusation of Nazi affiliations against a public official, the sanctity of our past suffering is tarnished and our moral claim is reduced to a talking point. Nothing can be more dangerous or more loathsome. And nothing, regardless of your partisan orientation or feeling about Sebastian Gorka—or Donald Trump—should be resisted more fiercely.

    ***

    http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/231133/gorka-forward-vitezi-rend-trump

  41. https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/04/uk-muslim-issues-youtube-death-threat-to-critics-of-islam

    Anthony Small, a convert to Islam in Britain, tries to couch his threats as a warning and an effort to “protect” those who criticize Islam. However, his references to the Charlie Hebdo jihad massacre and Salman Rushdie make it very clear what he is saying.

    Note his praise of the post-massacre Charlie Hebdo editor who promised never to draw Muhammad. He is saying that saving one’s life for a few years is preferable to standing up to violent intimidation and the forcible imposition of Sharia blasphemy laws. Small’s appeal stands in contrast to the murdered Charlie Hebdo editor Charb, who said he would rather die standing up rather than live on his knees.

  42. PC PENTAGON CAVES TO CAIR, AGREES TO ‘REVIEW’ ANTI-TERROR TRAINING PROGRAM

    Assigns case to Muslim chaplain who graduated from radical Islamic school raided after 9/11.

    The Pentagon has agreed to formally review an anti-terror training program taught to special forces by a private contractor for material deemed offensive to Islam and Muslims, even though the Muslim group that lodged a complaint against the allegedly “Islamophobic” program has been accused by the Justice Department of supporting terrorism and is currently banned from outreach activities by the FBI.

    The instructor hired to teach the program says he fears his class might not get a fair hearing, because military brass have assigned the review to a Muslim military chaplain who graduated from a radical Saudi-funded Islamic school raided by federal agents after 9/11 on suspicion of terrorist activities. He is their second choice for conducting the review. They had originally picked a more radical military chaplain to inspect the training materials before learning he has ties to an imam with a history of ministering to Muslims later convicted of terrorism.

    Brass decided to launch the review after receiving a letter from the Council on American-Islamic Relations last month demanding the commander of US Air Force Special Operations sever ties with longtime counterterrorism instructor Patrick Dunleavy, claiming his lessons “contain anti-Islamic content.” CAIR, a suspected terrorist front organization, did not cite any examples of content from his “Dynamics of International Terrorism” course to support its claim.

    Dunleavy formerly served as deputy inspector general of New York State prisons’ criminal intelligence division and also worked with the NYPD’s intelligence division for several years. His five-day course, which he’s taught complaint-free at the AIr Force for several years, covers homegrown terrorism and prison radicalization, which tie directly into recent ISIS cases.CAIR claims to be a “Muslim civil-rights organization,” but the feds have ID’d

    CAIR and its founder as “members of the US Muslim Brotherhood,” while designating them both as “unindicted co-conspirators” in a 2008 terror-financing case involving Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and a US-designated terrorist group.

    “From its founding by Muslim Brotherhood leaders, CAIR conspired with other affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists,” US prosecutors charged in one court filing.

    As a result, the FBI has cut off ties to CAIR until investigators “can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and Hamas.”

    Air Force Special Operations commander Lt. Gen. Marshal Webb received the CAIR letter and, in turn, ordered Special Operations School commandant Lt. Col. Christopher Portele to initiate a review. It is not clear if Webb is aware of CAIR’s well-documented support of terrorists. A spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.

    Dunleavy says top brass more than likely are in the dark about the extent of CAIR’s terrorism ties. “I’m sure they don’t have a complete knowledge of CAIR or other Muslim Brotherhood groups,” he said in an interview.

    He notes that the military also has a problem vetting Islamic clergy.

    Air Force chaplain Walid Habash is expected to begin reviewing slides from Dunleavy’s lesson material later this week, despite the fact that he received his Islamic education from a radical Muslim Brotherhood school in Virginia. Habash’s alma mater the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, or GSISS, was raided by federal agents in 2002 as part of a post-9/11 terrorism investigation. The longtime director of GSISS — Saudi-tied Taha Jabir Alalwani — is an unindicted co-conspirator in two federal prosecutions related to terrorist financing.

    Other GSISS alumni include former New York prison chaplain Warith Deen Umar, who preached that the 9-11 hijackers should be honored as martyrs and that black converts to Islam are natural recruits for carrying out future attacks against the US.

    Habash has led Islamic prayer service at the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention camp. In 2005, the FBI busted up what was described as an Islamist “spy ring” for al-Qaida at Gitmo involving other Muslim military chaplains, as well as Arabic translators, accused of “serious breaches of national security.”

    Habash was substituted last week for Muslim military chaplain Rafael Lantigua after Air Force brass learned of his radical associations, apparently for the first time.

    It turns out that Lantigua sits on the board of directors of an Islamist group with a radical cleric who ran a New York mosque where the terrorists who plotted to bomb synagogues in the Bronx were radicalized. That 2009 case — which touches the cleric, Imam Salahuddin Muhammad — is one of Dunleavy’s presentation slides. Muhammad, a former convicted armed bank robber, was a protege of Umar.

    In addition, Lantigua recently spoke at a New York Islamic conference where cop-killer Jamil Al-Amin and Luqman Abdullah, a Detroit imam killed in a shootout with the FBI, were honored. Muhammad gave the keynote address at the February event.

    Once this information came to light, and questions were raised over how impartial Lantigua, who holds the rank of captain, could be regarding the subject of Islamic radicalization in the prisons, Air Force brass began a search for a new Muslim chaplain to review Dunleavy’s lesson plan.

    “The military has an ongoing problem vetting their Muslim clergy,” Dunleavy told me. “Nobody wants to touch this political powder keg.”

    In a press release CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper accused Dunleavy of being an “anti-Muslim propaganda mouthpiece” with a “personal prejudice against Islam and Muslims.” The same spokesman once told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he wants the US to become a Muslim country.

    “I wouldn’t want to create the impression that I wouldn’t like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future,” Hooper said, betraying CAIR’s real agenda.

    Nonetheless, CAIR has found success already in convincing law enforcement to alter training programs, including bleaching references to “Islam,” “Shariah,” “caliphate” and “jihad” and other allegedly offensive terms from state and federal anti-terrorist training materials. It has also pressured the sidelining of some instructors.

    Emboldened, the group is now targeting military training curricula for censorship. Dunleavy is just the latest subject-matter expert targeted for a smear campaign.

    He and other trainers chiefly blame “political correctness” for the capitulation to CAIR at the highest levels of government. Talking honestly about the violent nature of Islam, a minority religion, is taboo in Washington. It’s much safer for career advancement to apologize for it — even though officials know that sweeping the religious doctrines and motives behind growing Islamic terrorism under the rug won’t make them disappear. In fact, it will only lead to more attacks and more American victims.

    “The concerted effort by groups like CAIR to remove any material from law enforcement or military training that outlines the process of Islamic radicalization is fraught with danger,” Dunleavy warned, particularly in light of the case of the Paris terrorist Karim Cheurfi.

    Cheurfi, an ISIS-tied Muslim who last week fatally shot a police officer while wounding two others with an AK-47, had all the indicators outlined by Dunleavy in the material the Pentagon is now second-guessing thanks to CAIR protesting. They include: prison radicalization, exposure to radical Islamic preachers, and attraction to jihadi violence. In spite of these and other warning signs, Cheurfi escaped close monitoring by authorities. Identifying ingredients in this “radicalizing cauldron” is key to authorities stopping such jihadists, says Dunleavy, author of “The Fertile Soil of Jihad: Terrorism’s Prison Connection.”

    It’s also important for screening military recruits, especially now that the Pentagon has started issuing more waivers for applicants with prison records.

    Dunleavy says the government is basically letting supporters of the bad guys — working on both the outside and inside — blindfold law enforcement and military personnel to the point where they can’t effectively spot the bad guys.

    Indeed, his case is the latest example of how baseless charges of “Islamophobia” and “anti-Muslim bigotry” are used to hamstring legitimate counterterrorism efforts, which will only pave the way for more islamic terror attacks in the future.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/266509/pc-pentagon-caves-cair-agrees-review-anti-terror-paul-sperry

  43. CNN – Bride of ISIS trapped in a living nightmare

    CNN’s Ben Wedeman speaks to a woman who lived in Syria and was married to a succession of ISIS fighters

  44. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-man-sentenced-death-atheism-ahmad-al-shamri-hafar-al-batin-appeal-denied-a7703161.html

    A man in Saudi Arabia has reportedly been sentenced to death on charges of apostasy after losing two appeals.

    Several local media reports identified the man as Ahmad Al Shamri, in his 20s, from the town of Hafar al-Batin, who first came to the authorities’ attention in 2014 after allegedly uploading videos to social media in which he renounced Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

    He was arrested on charges of atheism and blasphemy and held in prison before being convicted by a local court and sentenced to death in February 2015.

  45. http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/04/25/duterte-tells-civilians-to-take-arms-against-islamic-state-affiliate-after-soldier-beheading/

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered an extended military operation against the Islamic State affiliate Abu Sayyaf and assured civilians that any violent action they take to subdue local terrorists will be forgiven in a court of law, following the arrest of a policewoman with ties to the group and the beheading of a soldier.
    Abu Sayyaf, which has been active for years in the southern Philippines but more recently pledged allegiance to Islamic State caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has become active in southern Bohol Island, a new territory for them. Duterte’s administration has responded with a reinforced military presence in the region, while Duterte himself has threatened to cannibalize the jihadists.

  46. France: Presidential candidate Macron heckled while visiting striking workers in Amiens
    French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron was heckled as he visited striking workers in front of the Whirlpool plant in his home town of Amiens, Wednesday.

    While some whistled and booed, others chanted “Marine president,” referring to his opponent Marine Le Pen who had visited the strikers in the morning.

    Chantalle Flahaut, striker (French): “We waited for him to make him understand that we don’t agree with everything he does. (Journalist asking question) We want to make him understand that he is a hypocrite. I am sorry but he is a hypocrite. He is a hypocrite. The government has to stop giving money to the rich. It has to stop. The multinationals don’t bring work, they take it away.”

    Antonio Abrunhoso, striker (French): “I am neither for Le Pen nor for Macron, I guarantee. I am neither for the one nor for the other. But I am for keeping my work and I would like to keep it. They can have fun as may as they want in the Elysee, but they should leave us in peace and let us work. And they should stop imposing a Europe in which you are paid 2,75 euro on the right and 10 euros on the left. That’s it.”

    • ‘This is ABSURD!’ Stony-faced MEPs look on aghast as Hungary PM gives them both barrels

      HUNGARIAN prime minister Viktor Orban this afternoon gave eurocrats and MEPs an extraordinary verbal battering as he let rip over the bloc’s “absurd” meddling in his country’s internal affairs.

      The firebrand leader tore into Brussels during a jaw-dropping speech to the EU parliament in Brussels, in which he accused euro representatives of being “prejudiced” against his country.

      In an attack on EU political correctness he raged: “We are really irritated by the verbal strait jacket which stops us from calling a spade a spade and this kind of talk has become very common in European public life recently.”

      Today the EU Commission decided to open infringement proceedings against Budapest over changes to its higher education laws which critics say are designed to shut down a university owned by financier George Soros.

      Eurocrats are also considering following suit on proposed legal changes to policies on migration, funding of NGOs and media plurality which they believe contravene European Union law.

      Hitting back today, Mr Orban ridiculed the EU’s “spectacular and embarrassing” judgements about his country in the past which did “not stand the test of time” and accused MEPs of “condemning us on untruths”.

      He blasted: “Fairness is not a question of the size of the country. Honourable members, I’ve come here to defend my country. This situation is really absurd.

      “It’s almost like someone being accused of murder and being convicted even whilst the alleged victim is alive and kicking.

      “Hungary and the Hungarian government is committed to the EU and this is unquestionable.

      “However, in many aspects we are unhappy with how the EU works. When we criticise your EU it’s because we want to correct these mistakes and we want to reform the EU.

      “It’s our conviction that this is the only way to regain people’s confidence towards EU institutions.”

      He raged: “If you manage to overcome your prejudices towards us you will find fresh, critical and innovative thinking behind them. This is exactly what lies behind the successes of Hungary.”

      Mr Orban said that he believed the EU was overstepping its legal remit by trying to impose migrant quotas on Hungary, saying: “We reserve ourselves the right to decide who we share Hungary with who we live together with.”

      And he added: “It is also true, I won’t deny this, that our vision of Europe is of a Europe built on strong member states.

      “If you don’t like our position, come forward with reasoned arguments but don’t judge us and condemn us because we have our own opinion.

      “Hungary is a proud country, we have always been committed to European Christian values.

      Mr Orban has accused US-based billionaire Mr Soros of using his university and charities which work with asylum seekers in an attempt to undermine his Government.

      In his speech today he accused Mr Soros of “attacking Hungary” and described him as an “open enemy of the euro”, saying he was actively encouraging illegal migration to Europe.

      After his speech the Hungarian PM was roundly condemned by MEPs, who described his migration policies as inhumane and accused him of betraying European values.

      Leader of the Socialists and Democrats, the Italian MEP Gianni Pitella, accused him of “knowingly lying” when he accused the parliament of defending a hidden agenda on behalf of Mr Soros.

      He told him: “Don’t go back to Budapest saying it’s all our fault, that we’re the bad guys imposing certain choices on you and trying to stop you with regard to the university, the NGOs, the media and the refugees. I think you should stand by your conscience and tell your people the truth.”

      Liberals leader Guy Verhofstadt said he saw a “sort of modern day version of old Communist Hungary” in Mr Orban’s authoritarian leadership style, adding: “It’s like Stalin or Brezhnev are back.”

      The Brexit negotiator even suggested that the Hungarian leader should think about quitting the EU, accusing him of taking the bloc’s money but not being prepared to play by its rules.

      However, the Hungarian PM found an ally in the form of former Ukip leader Nigel Farage who said Brussels would “go on interfering in the lives of Hungarian people” and urged him to call a Brexit style referendum on membership.

      http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/796883/European-Union-Hungary-PM-Viktor-Orban-criticises-EU-speech-Brussels-parliament

      • 26 April 2017, Brussels

        Dear Mr President, esteemed Vice-President of the Commission, dear Members of Parliament,

        The European Parliament is once again holding a debate on Hungary. I came here to you to Brussels, to participate in this debate. During my nearly 30 year tenure as a representative, I have always highly valued debate and the confrontation of different views. Democracy is based on reasoning, and it also gives the moral basis of the European Union. I am convinced that better decisions are made, when they stem from debate and not unilateral revelations. With my participation, I would also like to help you make an informed decision, when Hungary is on your agenda. I remember that the resolutions of the previous Parliament did not stand the test of truth. Just think of the visible and universally embarrassing failure of the Tavares Report. You may know that we Hungarians never give up the fight, and I will today once again try to apply the power of common sense in this debate. We have a dispute with partly with you and partly with an American financial speculator. I know that the power, size and weight of Hungary is much smaller than that of the financial speculator, George Soros, who is now attacking Hungary and who – despite ruining the lives of millions of European people with his financial speculations, and being penalized in Hungary for speculations, and who is an openly admitted enemy of the euro – is so highly praised that he is received by the EU’s top leaders. But this is no reason to condemn us based on falsehoods, because fairness does not depend on a country’s size.

        Esteemed Parliament,

        I came here to protect my country in this debate. But it is also important to give you an account of the success stories. In 2008 we started from a point where Greece was. The government of Hungary at the time was the first to turn to the Monetary Fund and the EU for a loan. Since then, we have fully repaid this money, ahead of maturity. Since then, we have created hundreds of thousands of jobs. Hungary is on the road to the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union. This is 4% currently. We have created a workfare society, we are giving jobs instead of benefits to everyone who wants to work. Our aim is full employment. Our budget deficit has exceeded the level you required for years – it was 1.8% recently – the state debt is decreasing, and our economic growth is steadily around 4%. We have a number of problems to solve, but we have reason to be proud. I am convinced that the success of Hungary is also a European success, and the EU is in great need of success stories nowadays. It would be foolish if this fact did not get enough attention, due to ideological differences.

        Esteemed European Parliament,
        It seems to me that there are several issues that may be of interest to you. The news has spread that the Hungarian government – using the power of law – has closed the Budapest-based private university of American financial speculator George Soros. The rector of this university wrote the following to the lecturers and the students of the institution, I quote: “We would like to emphasize that the existence of the Central European University is not threatened by anything, the university will continue to operate under any circumstances.”

        Esteemed Commission,

        This charge is therefore baseless. It has no factual basis. The situation is absurd. It is like when someone is accused of murder and convicted, while the victim of the alleged crime is alive and well. And pointing and shouting “murderer” at the convict himself. The reality is that the small amendment adopted by the Hungarian National Assembly affects 28 foreign universities operating in Hungary, and does nothing but unifies the rules that apply to them, closes the possibility of speculations and abuses, demands transparency, and eliminates the privileged position these institutions enjoyed over European universities. You are European legislators. It is my duty as Prime Minister of Hungary, the leader of an EU member state to ensure that European and Hungarian universities are not in a disadvantage compared to their competitors outside the EU. No matter how vast and rich person their owner may be.

        Esteemed Parliament,

        The other issue on the agenda is the national consultation, recently announced by my government. I would like to inform you that it has become commonplace in Hungary in the past decade to regularly ask for the opinion of our citizens. In the past years, we have held four national consultations. I wholeheartedly recommend this method to you. During the current consultation, the Hungarian government has asked for the support of the Hungarian people, in order to formulate its position on concrete issues to be represented in Brussels.

        Esteemed Representatives,

        I would like to make it clear that the commitment of Hungary and the Hungarian government towards the European Union cannot be questioned. Hungarian politics has been built on this base for the past thirty years. This is the reason I gave my signature and the reason why I fully agree with the recently adopted Declaration of Rome, and the programme of my party family – the European People’s Party – adopted in Malta. At the same time, Mr President and Mr Vice-President, we are in many respects dissatisfied with the functioning of the European Union. We are formulating criticism because we want to correct mistakes and we want to reform the European Union. We are convinced that we can only regain the trust of citizens towards European institutions, if we do everything we can to eliminate the causes of bad and inefficient operation. For the therapy we need a clear diagnose and the unequivocal names of our maladies. I for one, but we Hungarians in general are in favour of straight talk. We talk clearly and unambiguously, so everyone can understand, even if we know that this may not appeal to everyone. We on the other hand are irritated by the restrained political language, unable to name things for what they are, that has become widespread in European public life nowadays. But I don’t think that we should expect the same temperament and debate-style in all 28 member states of the European Union. This is the reason I personally like European political culture and the reason I find it exciting. If you break down your prejudices against us, you will find a refreshing, innovative and creative way of political thinking. This is also true for the consultation.

        I am convinced that Hungary’s results are due to this. Regarding the questions raised by the national consultation questionnaire – to put it in a straightforward way – the basic stance of the Hungarian government is contrary to the intentions of the Commission. Our position is clear: we do not want, and do not think it is in accordance with the founding treaties of the Union, to settle migrants in our country in a mandatory way. The decision on who we live with can only be made by the Hungarian citizens. It is important information that George Soros and his NOGs want to transport one million migrants to the EU per year. He has personally, publicly announced this programme and provides a financial loan for it. You could read this yourselves. We reject this. We do not want to lose the right of national ratemaking for public utilities, because we fear that this would increase the burdens of the people and once again lead to a drastic prices increase, from which Hungarian families have suffered enough. And we do not want to entrust the Union with the right of formulating our taxation policy – currently under national jurisdiction – either, because we think this would undermine our competitiveness. And we don’t understand why the Commission is criticising the Hungarian public work program year after year in its annual report, which is an important element of the workfare and not welfare society that we built. These are currently debated issues. Our position is that we do not want change in these questions, we don’t want to reorganise national and Union competences in these matters, thus we are defending the current status quo – formulated by our common will. Hence the term “Stop Brussels”. Is this a sin? We adopted the current set of rules – that we now want to defend – together, they are also common EU achievements. I don’t think you can consider the Hungarian position and the Hungarian consultation anti-European for this. It is also true that our vision is based on a strong Europe of strong member states. In such a Europe, member states bear responsibility instead of running away from it. Responsibility for state debt, the budget and border protection.

        Dear Representatives,

        We want to influence decision making here using the tools of debate, reasoning and persuasion. I advise anyone who does not like the position of our country to contend their own arguments with ours, so we can fight this debate, but please, do not condemn us because Hungary has her own, independent opinion.

        Esteemed Parliament,

        The third issue is the regulation on non-governmental organisations. The currently discussed Hungarian proposal – I mean the proposal discussed in Hungary – follows the American example. Many countries of the Union and if I am correct, even this Parliament, in the framework of the Pieper Report is dealing with the complicated question of how we can make the operations of financially strong foreign external lobbies, willing to influence democratic decision-making, transparent to everyone. The Hungarian legislation builds on the principal of clarity and transparency. We want nothing else but to be able to know of NGOs what kind of money and what kind of interests are behind them. This does not undermine their constitutional rights to have their voices heard, represent their interests and be able to organise themselves freely.

        Dear Representatives,

        It is also important to note that the attitude of the Hungarian government has been free of detours and consistent on wanting to comply with the rules of the club, and we have always complied so far. We are aware that EU membership comes with not only rights, but also obligations. We have tried to resolve the conflicts of the past years through dialogue and negotiations. I am glad to inform you that as a result of this we have been able to conclude – by mutual consent – such complicated issues as media regulation, the new Hungarian constitution, the transformation of the judicial system, or the development of nuclear energy. These are successfully concluded cases. I would like to assure the Vice-President that we will strive for this outcome on the issues currently on the agenda.

        Dear Mr President,

        Hungary is a proud country. Hungarians have always considered themselves an important nation, devoted to the Christian values of Europe, and wanted to have their say in the decisions that concerned them. My government in Hungary is working to strengthen Hungary’s commitment to the European Union. Our work has been successful. The European Union’s support is the highest among member states in Hungary, over 70%. And we are proud of this. Believe me, people will support, but will only support the European Union if it is fair and built on open debates, capable of admitting that it needs reform from time to time.

        Dear Mr President,

        We have always given you respect. I would like to ask you, when Hungary is concerned, please be critical of the prejudice, please stick to the truth and I ask you to always apply the same standards. Only this way can we be worthy of being called Europeans.

        Thank you for your attention!

        Szerz?: Orbán Viktor

        https://politikaivelemenyek.eu/prime-minister-viktor-orbans-speech-in-the-european-parliament-miniszterelnok-hu/

  48. Ann Coulter cancels Berkeley speech

    Outspoken conservative commentator Ann Coulter said Wednesday she canceled her planned appearance Thursday at the University of California, Berkeley, according to Reuters.

    “It’s a sad day for free speech,” Coulter said, according to the New York Times.

    Coulter had been insisting she would give her lecture Thursday as originally planned, despite the school canceling her appearance last week and then rescheduling it for a date in May when there are no classes.

    Conservative student group Young America’s Foundation announced Tuesday it’s no longer sponsoring Coulter’s speech, as Berkeley never provided security assurances for it — not to mention a space for it to take place. The YAF statement added that Coulter “may still choose to speak in some form on campus, but Young America’s Foundation will not jeopardize the safety of its staff or students.”

    Coulter also noted lack of any support for her speech.

    “Everyone who should believe in free speech fought against it or ran away,” she said, the Times reported.

    http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/04/26/ann-coulter-cancels-berkeley-speech/