Reader’s links June 23, 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

123 Replies to “Reader’s links June 23, 2017”

  2. Quebec’s Premier has sent “a shock wave” through his province’s Muslim communities after he linked the lone-wolf attacker who stabbed a Michigan police officer to the wider Islamic religion.

    Philippe Couillard, long seen as an ally in Quebec’s mainstream Muslim communities, has for years taken pains to avoid linking the broader Islamic faith to terrorist attacks, including those perpetrated by Quebeckers on Canadian soil. The Premier’s political opponents have often accused him of being soft on Islamist terrorism.

    On Thursday, one day after a Quebec man was accused of wounding a police officer while shouting the Islamic phase “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) in an airport in Flint, Mich., Mr. Couillard dramatically shifted approach.

    A reporter pointed out terrorist attacks have often triggered a spike in assault, vandalism and name-calling against Muslims in Quebec and asked the Premier if he had a message to Quebeckers.

    “You cannot disconnect this type of event, terrorism, from Islam in general,” Mr. Couillard said. “I think President [Emmanuel] Macron yesterday was very eloquent about this when addressing the Muslim community in France. He told them it’s also your responsibility to act on the theological front to explain to your people that this is not part of the religion, that it’s contrary to the teachings of the religion.”

    https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-premier-couillard-in-change-of-tone-ties-michigan-attack-to-islam/article35441387/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com&cmpid=rss1&click=sf_globe&service=mobile

  3. Oscar Winning White Helmets Beahead Syrian Soldiers – Nobel Peace Prize next?
    Tuesday, 20 June 2017
    What are Syria’s UK-funded White Helmets doing when they’re not proclaiming solidarity with London firefighters and staging fake chemical attacks to provoke a US bombing campaign of their own country?

    If you answered taking part in beheadings, congratulations. You were sadly right.

    http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/32211/2/

    • A distance of over TWO MILES! What’s not to like?

      Imagine what a splendid message—as in: “Yo’ @ss is mine!”— was sent to ISIS scum when, in the midst of their operation, suddenly a high-value comrade drops like a rag doll, without an audible report or muzzle flash to seen.

      From the link:

      “First of all, there is bullet drop due to gravity,” Tony Bernardo, Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association tells Global News. “And the bullet drop would be unbelievable. At just a thousand metres [the drop] is about 14 ft., and it increases exponentially as you move farther out.”

      “The second factor is wind drift. Very small amounts of wind [can] make major drifts in the trajectory. A simple 10 mph breeze at [a distance of] 1000 m will make a difference of a few feet.”

      At such extreme distance, the travel time for the bullet can be as long as ten seconds – meaning the shooter must account for the rotation of the Earth underneath the bullet as the shot travels.

      “…rotation of the Earth”?!? WTF??? This sort of skill level challenges that of a neurosurgeon. According to the excerpt, this sniper would have had to aim some FIFTY FEET above his intended gift recipient target in order to center punch the SOB.

      Asstounding!

      • I am not a shooter, although I would like to learn, so I ask of the people here who are, is it not possible, that like people like, for instance, Paco de Lucia, who are accomplished in a super-human way in their field, that most of this becomes instinctive over time and practice, rather than a conscious calculation of a dozen impossible variables? I mean isn’t it possible that an otherwise regular fella, could sort of know that the farther he shoots, the more he needs to compensate a particular way for some reason, rather than saying that over 10 seconds the rotation of the earth at this long-lat in this direction requires me to adjust by so many seconds of arc this way and that?

        I am NOT trying to take anything away from the skill, or I guess Im trying to say, talent, of this individual, just understand it in the context of the greater mystery of the human condition.

        Paco’s playing could be analyzed like that. But there is no way a person can play like him with conscious analysis at the time.

        So I wonder if to a degree at least, a shooter like that develops ‘instincts’, which in this context would mean a semiconscious or unconscious calculation of historical data from thousands of successes and failures, resulting in an ability like this?

        Granted, a computer sniper, of which I am sure exist, or if they do not, will very soon, would actually run those numbers. Just the movement of the earth one would take a LOT of real time processing. Also one imagines the target wouldn’t stay still very long. You would have to pick a point where you believe the target will be in 10 seconds and aim for that on top of the other variables.

        I dunno really. Open to answers. I am not trying to make a case here, just trying to understand the skill set. is it a ‘feel’ like other highly developed skills?

        • It is a combination of both, it use to be what you are describing exclusively but starting around the time of Nam the worlds military establishments started working on turning it into a science instead of an art. There are now scopes with with particular rifles (M14s and particular loads (178 grain bullets at (I think) 3200 fps) just about anyone can hit out to about 1000 yards. The scope requires the 7.62 NATO at that speed and bullet weight. Also there are tables for various calibers with various ranges and various winds. (I forgot the name of the scope but remember it costs about $30,000)

          Having said that the wonder scope demands very low velocity cross winds, and no matter how much the work on it shooting very long ranges still requires the shooter internalizing the ballistic tables and being good at guessing wind strength. I don’t know if they are on sale or not but the History Channel reruns some shows about snipers a couple of times a year. They are telling about shots at various ranges that were taken in various war zones, they also include interviews with a lot of the snipers.

          Some of the shots that are described in the shows required massive skill combined with incredible luck.

        • The Germans were suppose to be working on a long range cannon with a buried barrel to support it that would have a range of several hundred miles. British precision bombers with 5000 and 10,000 pound bombs shook the sections of the buried barrel out of alignment and the Germans didn’t have time enough to dig them up and realign the barrel.

  7. A Virginia man has been charged with espionage for transmitting top-secret documents to Chinese officials.

    Kevin Patrick Mallory, 60, was arrested Thursday at his home in Leesburg, Virginia, and appeared in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

    Mallory, a self-employed consultant and Army veteran, was charged with gathering or delivering defense information to aid a foreign government and for making material false statements under the federal Espionage Act.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/06/22/virginia-man-charged-with-espionage-for-giving-top-secret-documents-to-china.html

  8. BREAKING: Gulf States Give Qatar List of Demands To Restore Diplomatic Relationships – All Demands Target The Muslim Brotherhood…
    Posted on June 22, 2017 by sundance
    The latest development, in the ongoing Arab state GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) initiative to stem the destabilizing behavior of Qatar, is a list of demands presented to Qatar. If you have followed the regional issues for the past few years you’ll quickly identify how each of the demands cuts to the core of the destabilizing issues.

    Included in the demands: ?Shut down al-Jazeera, ?stop cooperating with Iran and ?expel Turkish military provocateurs (Erdogan). The binding thread that connects each of these demands is the effort to stop Qatar from supporting/assisting the Muslim Brotherhood.

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/06/22/breaking-gulf-states-give-qatar-list-of-demands-to-restore-diplomatic-relationships-all-demands-target-the-muslim-brotherhood/

  9. Police officers contemplating suicide as forces struggle to cope with cuts, detective says (express, Jun 23, 2017)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/820362/police-suicide-detective-warren-hines-dave-thompson-theresa-may-cuts-tory-austerity

    “A NUMBER of police officers are contemplating suicide as forces across Britain struggle to cope with budget cuts, a senior detective warned.

    Detective Inspector Warren Hines called on the Government to increase funding following the loss of a reported 19,000 police posts since 2010.

    DI Hines, told Sky News: “We really are at a point now where we can’t cope with what we’re expected to deal with. Sickness and mental health problems amongst my colleagues are rife.

    “We’ve got examples of police officers who have been conveyed to hospital from work because they’ve had a meltdown.

    “I’m aware of incidents where sergeants in our public protection units are allocating work on the basis of who is the least tearful that morning when they get to work.”

    DI Hines explained that many of his colleagues have struggled to cope and are now at breaking point.

    He added: “In the last 15 months alone, around 80 officers in the West Midlands force have been referred to the National Police Federation Welfare Support Programme.

    “Those are people who are undergoing a significant mental health crisis.

    “They’re experiencing suicidal thoughts and tendencies and they are at risk of doing something really serious to hurt themselves, and this is only as a result of the pressures that they are being put under.”

    Dave Thompson, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and the head of finance for the National Police Chiefs Council, claimed that despite the Government’s promise that the force will not face any further budget cuts, the current “flat cash” settlement equates to a fall in real terms.

    He said: “Taking into account inflation and cost pressures, there will be less money every year for forces on top of real-terms cuts of 18 per cent since 2010.

    “Many forces are now using considerable reserves to maintain current staff numbers that, when spent, will see numbers falling even further.

    “The firearms commanders, casualty bureau, custody staff, body recovery teams and uniformed officers patrolling crowded spaces that are so central to preventing and responding to a terror attack are paid for by core police funding.”

    It follows claims that police budget cuts would leave forces in England and Wales struggling to deal with riots on the scale of those in 2011.

    Chief Constable Thompson said the “strain is showing” after multiple terror attacks.

    He said: “We’d have real challenges in dealing with something like the 2011 riots again.

    “Last year we saw the prison service snap under pressure with riots in Birmingham Prison. We cannot afford this to happen to policing but the strain is showing from recent weeks.

    “I face a modern terror threat with 6,600 officers – a number that has already fallen by close to 2,000 and is set to fall further.””

    • Officials: 35 killed in 3 bomb attacks in 2 Pakistani cities (abcnews, Jun 23, 2017)
      http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bombing-southwest-pakistan-kills-wounds-10-48227886

      “At least 35 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded Friday in three separate bomb attacks in two major Pakistani cities, officials said.

      A suicide bomber was involved in the first car bombing near the office of the provincial police chief in the southwestern city of Quetta that killed at least 11 people and wounded 20. There were conflicting claims of responsibility for this attack from different extremist groups.

      Hours later twin bombings, minutes apart, hit a crowded market in a Shiite-dominated city in Parachinar, the main city in the Kurram tribal region and killed 24 people, mostly minority Shiite Muslims, according to government administrator Zahid Hussain.

      The bomb attacks come a few days before the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, which ends the holy month of Ramadan. TV footage showed panicked people rushing to safety following the Parachinar market bombings.

      Mohammad Amir, an official at a government-run hospital in Parachinar, said they had received 24 dead bodies and more than 20 of the wounded were listed in critical condition.

      It was unclear who was behind the attack in Parachinar but Sunni militant groups have claimed responsibility for numerous similar attacks in the past.

      Friday’s car bombing in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, was powerful enough that it was heard across the city, shattering windows on nearby buildings, said police spokesman Shahzada Farhat.

      Wasim Beg, a spokesman at a government hospital, said the death toll from the bombing had risen to 11 throughout the morning and some of the wounded remained in critical condition.

      TV footage showed several badly damaged cars and a road littered with broken glass.

      Hours after the attack, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility. Asad Mansoor, the militants’ spokesman, vowed more such attacks as part of the extremist group’s campaign aimed at imposing Islamic laws in the country.

      Later Friday, the Islamic State group said in a competing claim that it was behind the attack, adding that one of its followers targeted the police post in Quetta, detonating his suicide belt there. It also released a photograph of the alleged attacker, identified as Abu Othman al-Khorasani.

      The competing claims could not be reconciled.

      Anwarul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for the provincial government, blamed neighboring India for the blast but offered no evidence to back up the allegation.

      Pakistan and India routinely trade charges of interference and inciting attacks on one another’s soil.

      On Thursday, Pakistan said that an Indian naval officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and sabotage, had petitioned for mercy.

      Jadhav, who Pakistan said had crossed into Baluchistan from neighboring Iran, was arrested in March 2016 and sentenced to death in April.

      In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs insisted Jadhav was sentenced on “concocted charges” and expressed doubts about the existence of the petition for mercy. It also reiterated that the proceedings against Jadhav have been shrouded “in opacity.”

      Baluchistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists and separatists, who want a bigger share of the regional resources or outright independence, but also attacks blamed on the Pakistani Taliban and others. Those militant groups include Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is considered a close ally of IS, as well as Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which has taken credit for several previous attacks in Baluchistan and elsewhere and has bases in Pakistan’s tribal regions.”

  15. EU leaders launch ‘historic’ plan for joint military force
    Agreement on further military cooperation was ‘ambitious and inclusive,’ says Council President Donald Tusk.
    By JACOPO BARIGAZZI 6/22/17, 7:48 PM CET Updated 6/23/17, 4:24 AM CET
    EU leaders meeting in Brussels agreed on a plan for enhanced defense cooperation that could pave the way for a joint military force operating under an EU flag.

    Pushed by Berlin, Paris, Rome and Madrid, the plan activates a previously dormant mechanism in the 2009 Lisbon treaty that allows an opt-in approach, with countries permitted to launch joint security projects without requiring all EU members to agree. Such was the degree of support at the European Council meeting that the plan was agreed with just “five minutes” of discussion, a senior diplomat in the room told POLITICO.

    Following the agreement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters, “This is an example of an area where we have moved very fast in the last couple of months and achieved significant progress.”

    http://www.politico.eu/article/eu-leaders-launch-historic-plan-for-joint-military-force/

  17. Beyond Pro-Choice: The Solution to White Supremacy is White Abortion
    ? June 21, 2017 ?Nicole Valentine ?america, privilege, pro choice, pro future, racism, trump, white privilege, white women, women’s rights
    In a progressive society, it is often white families that stand in the way of equality and justice. Systemic white supremacy depends, first and foremost, on the white family unit. When white conquerors forcefully penetrated the indigenous, egalitarian homeland of the Native peoples of America, they were quick to replicate their white societies, initiating their parasitism by establishing white plantations, headed by white fathers, submissive white mothers, and, most critically, white children, with full dominion over the enslaved and oppressed people of color that were forced to uphold these micro-fiefdoms.
    It is no surprise, then, that America’s fascination with the white family unit has gone hand-in-hand with the historical proliferation of white supremacy. After Bacon’s Rebellion, white micro-fieftans thought it necessary to expand the definition of white family to encompass the entirety of white society, so as to coerce the working class to fight amongst itself based on racial lines. Whites are embedded from birth with the sense of common white identity, and this identity conditions them to replicate the white family unit, thus furthering the cycle of white supremacy in America. That is why the white family unit must be destroyed.

    http://archive.is/gpCKg#selection-219.1-305.639

  18. Fresh off the presses (or where ever videos roll off from).
    I have not watched it yet, it’s about the HALAL racket in Australia (and probably globally, since this cancer has spread).

  19. Video incredible !!!
    Muslim women complain that newspapers are encouraging people to drink and forget the Muslims who are doing Ramadan.
    (A wave of heat waves crosses Europe like there has not been for 150 years)

    https://vid.me/Ieuc

    • She is a disgusting piece of work – and soooooooooooooooooooooo typical of her kind.
      She most likely wishes the REAL French peple to dehydrate and die – saves her brothers to kill them…..

      • Everyone who sees the video knows that she and others intend to force everyone to obey Sharia law. Which doesn’t make her any less disgusting.

  20. UK School Kids are Taught How Sexist They Are!
    Computing Forever
    Computing Forever

      • And we wonder why we have a generation of snowflakes!
        This sort of thing needs to stop, let kids be kids and just teach them the three “R”s which are sadly poor with gen snowflake.

    • euronews – Skirting the issue: schoolboys attend class in skirts during heatwave

  21. Britain’s new normal. For the second night in a row Muslim youth gangs moved into London’s largest Jewish community with knives, baseball bats, and machetes to beat and terrorize innocent Jews in their own neighborhood.

    At least one person was stabbed during a mass brawl in Stamford Hill in which dozens of violent youths clashed using bats, knives and even machetes following an illegal rave, according to reports from The European Union Times.

    Riot police were dispatched to stop the “violence involving machetes and swords after illegal rave” in Stamford Hill near Lynmouth Road, Shomrim N.E. London, a neighborhood watch group said on Twitter.

    Social media reports from the scene indicated that around 30 young people brandishing an assortment of weapons, ranging from knives to bats, fought each other and vandalized vehicles in the neighborhood.

    http://powderedwigsociety.com/uk-muslims-terrorize-jews/

  22. Expert believes U.S. university student died from a VIRUS contracted in savage prison camps where dead bodies are used to fertilise food for starving inmates
    Retired Australian High Court judge Michael Kirby did U.N. North Korea report
    He interviewed survivors who had been tortured in communist prison camps
    Justice Kirby said it appeared American student Otto Warmbier died of a virus
    Former judge said he was locked up in a prison where bodies turned to fertiliser

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4631728/North-Korean-report-author-says-virus-killed-Otto-Warmbier.html#ixzz4kp8b6Nbr
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  23. I’m not sure what to make of this one. On 1 hand the homeless need to be housed asap, and I do take a certain delight knowing that the rich will have to share their £2 billion yuppie appartment blocks with them (Let the rich have some “Enrichment!). On the other hand it highlights just how unfair the housing market is in London.
    I dunno, make of this what you will.

    Outrage as ‘selfish’ wealthy homeowners criticise move to rehouse homeless Grenfell Tower families in a £2billion luxury block in Kensington
    Some rich residents say the decision to move in Grenfell residents is ‘so unfair’ and will hit prices of flats
    City of London Corporation has purchased 68 flats in a luxury apartment block for some survivors
    Developer St Edward sold the flats at ‘cost’ price even though they have a market value of around £160million
    Some apartments in the new block – which boasts a swimming pool and gym – go for more than £8million
    Around 250 people – around half Grenfell’s population – will move into luxury flats 1.5 miles from disaster zone
    Theresa May has apologised for the failures by local and national government in responding to the fire
    By Martin Robinson, Uk Chief Reporter For Mailonline

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4627844/Grenfell-Tower-families-moving-2bn-block.html#ixzz4kpIkQM4p
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    • If Britain is like the US the majority of the Rich are supporting Labor and are now finding out what they have been inflecting on the lower classes.

  24. “Georgina Stober, 46 whose husband is a teacher, was detained at her home after extreme images and videos were backed up onto a Yahoo ‘cloud’.

    The downloads were reportedly flagged up by the internet giant who alerted the authorities in the US.

    Officers there then passed on the IP address to the Metropolitan police after it was traced to Stober’s home in Carshalton, south London.

    Croydon Crown Court heard that the illegal material was found in a folder labelled ‘x-rate’ on Stober’s phone.

    The files included explicit videos of children as young as two being abused and videos of people engaging in sexual activity with different animals, including a cat, dog, cow, snake, fish and pig.

    When quizzed by police the Lambeth community nurse admitted that she had accessed images of female genital mutilation for ‘cultural reasons’.

    She also admitted she had been sent an image of a pastor having sex with a goat but denied any knowledge of the five child abuse videos and six bestiality videos found on her phone and laptop”
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4629788/Nurse-46-child-abuse-videos-saved-X-rate.html

    This treatment of the vulgar aspects of the internet – downloaded and passed around – is common in Affirmative Action Communities. It stimulates those who have underdeveloped brains from genes, culture and/or Religion.

    The fact the Land of the Free passes information to a Socialist State is reprehesible. Do not use Yahoo.
    The child porn she has denied uploading.
    These websites are often a front for pedophiles who then squirrel in their vice.

  27. LIVE: Al Quds Day rally takes place in Berlin, counter demo expected
    Ruptly TV
    Ruptly TV

  28. Hate crimes soar by 500 per cent in Manchester after the ISIS-inspired terror attacks as Muslims experience ‘never before seen levels of hostility’
    Reports of Islamophobia in Manchester have risen by 500 per cent after attack
    Last month, terrorist Salman Abedi, detonated an improvised explosive device
    Twenty-three people – including children – were killed following the terror attack
    Police in Manchester have reported an increase in the number of race crimes

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4629852/Hate-crimes-soar-500-cent-Manchester.html#ixzz4kpZpF44h
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  31. 30 GOP Congressmen Have Been Attacked or Threatened Since May

    A total of 30 Republican members of Congress have either been attacked or revealed that they were the victim of a death threat since the beginning of May.

    May 8: Wendi Wright, 35, was arrested after stalking Rep. David Kustoff (Tenn.) and trying to run him off the road. After pulling over, Wright “began to scream and strike the windows on Kustoff’s car and even reached inside the vehicle.”

    May 9: Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett needed heavy security at a town hall after receiving a series of death threats in May that police “deemed to be credible and real.”

    “This is how we’re going to kill your wife,” one message said. Others detailed how they would kill his children, and even his dog.

    http://freebeacon.com/issues/30-gop-congressmen-attacked-threatened-since-may/

  32. BREAKING: Feds explain sweet deal for billionaire sex offender Epstein

    Jane Musgrave Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

    6:46 p.m Thursday, June 22, 2017 Palm Beach County Crime

    WEST PALM BEACH

    Federal prosecutors went on the offensive this month, denying allegations that they bowed to pressure from billionaire Palm Beach resident Jeffrey Epstein and his high-priced lawyers at the expense of dozens of teenage girls he sexually abused.

    In their first public comment since 2007 — when they negotiated a deal that allowed Epstein to escape federal charges — prosecutors filed hundreds of pages of documents in U.S. District Court, explaining what led to the now infamous non-prosecution agreement that has been decried as “a sweetheart deal.”

    http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime–law/breaking-feds-explain-sweet-deal-for-billionaire-sex-offender-epstein/nN5WTmFcZRaRXzHZSYWtLP/

  33. Freighter Was On Autopilot When It Hit U.S. Destroyer
    USS Fitzgerald did not detect container ship

    The deadly collision between a U.S. destroyer and a container ship June 17 took place while the freighter was on autopilot, according to Navy officials.

    The Philippines-flagged cargo ship ACX Crystal was under control of a computerized navigation system that was steering and guiding the container vessel, according to officials familiar with preliminary results of an ongoing Navy investigation.

    Investigators so far found no evidence the collision was deliberate.

    Nevertheless, an accident during computerized navigation raises the possibility the container ship’s computer system could have been hacked and the ship deliberately steered into the USS Fitzgerald, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer.

    A more likely explanation is that collision was the result of an autopilot malfunction, or the autopilot’s warning signals, used to notify the ship’s operators, were missed.

    http://freebeacon.com/national-security/freighter-autopilot-hit-us-destroyer/

  35. Mexican Govt. Crime Stats Show Highest Homicide Numbers in 20 Years

    Figures show that Mexico has seen the highest number of murders in 20 years.

    Government crime statistics report over 2,000 homicides last month.

    A Mexican security analyst says the figures are due to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s failing public safety policy, and increasing violence among drug cartels.

    Kidnapping, car theft, and fraud rates also increased in May.

    Officials are expecting the trend to continue.

    Since Pena Nieto took office in 2012, over 83,000 people have been killed in the country.

    http://www.oann.com/mexican-govt-crime-stats-show-highest-homicide-numbers-in-20-years/

  36. Taliban say U.S. must quit Afghanistan for peace (reuters, Jun 23, 2017)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-afghanistan-taliban-idUKKBN19E0WN

    “The Taliban warned on Friday against sending more Western troops to Afghanistan, while pledging that it sought only independence under Islamic rule and rejecting concerns it would harbour foreign militants.

    In a statement marking Eid al-Fitr, the festival at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada combined defiant calls for the United States to get out of Afghanistan with more conciliatory messages.

    “The occupation is the main obstacle in the way of peace,” he said, in comments which echoed similar messages the movement has sent in the past.

    While not explicitly acknowledging the recent debate in Washington over U.S. policy in Afghanistan, the message appeared to address several of the arguments made for maintaining or even boosting support for the Western-backed government in Kabul.

    In particular, it rejected the concerns that Afghanistan could once again become a haven for foreign militants seeking to attack the United States and its allies as al Qaeda did when it struck the Twin Towers in 2001.

    Calling for “complete independence of the country and establishment of an Islamic system”, he warned against plans under consideration to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by up to 3,000-5,000.

    “The more they insist on maintaining the presence of their forces here or want a surge of their forces, the more regional sensitivity against them will intensify,” he said.

    However, he also promised “constructive and good relations with you and the world” once “your illegitimate occupation of Afghanistan comes to an end”.

    He dismissed widespread accusations that the Taliban benefited from aid from other countries including Pakistan and, more recently, Russia, saying it would “not allow anyone else to intervene in Afghanistan”.

    “Likewise, we don’t permit others to use the soil of Afghanistan against anyone,” he said.

    He urged the United States to accept the “legitimate demands of the Afghan people” and seek peace through diplomatic means but appeared to offer no concession on the Taliban’s central demand that foreign forces must leave before peace talks begin.

    “The solution of the Afghan issue through peaceful means is part and parcel of the policy of the Islamic Emirate, should the occupation come to an end,” he said.

    The statement had harsh words for the government of President Ashraf Ghani, which it dismissed as a “stooge” of America and blamed for rising ethnic and factional tensions in Kabul and elsewhere.

    It also urged Taliban fighters to avoid civilian casualties, a call likely to be dismissed by the government and its allies following Thursday’s attack on a bank in Helmand that killed at least 34 people and last month’s deadly truck bomb in Kabul that killed at least 150 civilians.

    Although the Taliban have denied responsibility for the Kabul attack, Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency said it was planned and carried out by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network.”

  37. The Contempt-n-Condescension Games
    By J.E. Dyer June 23, 2017

    Has anyone in human history ever talked as much about condescension and contempt for other people as progressive leftists?

    Not that their point is to encourage feeling these sentiments. No, the pretext is (almost) always to admonish fellow leftists against expressing contempt and/or condescension.

    It’s bad politics, you see. It’s off-putting for the “white working class,” which stubbornly resists falling in line behind the contempt-feeling, condescension-expressing white professional class. If the white working class fell in line, it would vote for Democrats. But every four years, the progressive left is aggrieved to find that the white working class doesn’t realize how badly it needs th

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/06/23/contempt-n-condescension-games/

    • If I thought the libs arrogance would let them understand this article I would be worried, it tells them what they are doing wrong, but their arrogance and contempt is go great it doesn’t allow them to learn why they keep losing elections. The message that we are so stupid we don’t know what is best for us comes through in their statements even when they aren’t saying that directly.

  38. Al-Nahyan trial: UAE princesses guilty of servant abuse (BBC, Jun 23, 2017)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40380071

    “Eight princesses from the UAE have been convicted of human trafficking and degrading treatment of their servants by a Brussels court.

    They were given 15-month suspended jail terms and ordered to pay €165,000 (£145,000; $185,000) each, with half the sum suspended.

    They were accused of holding more than 20 servants they brought with them on a 2008 visit in near slavery.

    But they were acquitted of the more serious charge of inhumane treatment.
    The princesses had denied all the charges.

    Their lawyer, Stephen Monod, said he was “satisfied to note that the Belgian justice has appropriately assessed this case which has generated many misconceptions for nearly 10 years”.

    He was unable to confirm that his clients would pay their fines, saying they had not yet decided whether to appeal.

    Sheikha Hamda al-Nahyan and her seven daughters did not attend the trial and rights activists said it was highly unlikely that the UAE would extradite them had they been jailed.

    The case came to light when one of the servants escaped from the hotel where the princesses had hired a floor of luxury suites.

    They said they were forced to be available 24 hours a day, had to sleep on the floor, were never given a day off, were prevented from leaving the hotel and were forced to eat the princesses’ leftovers.

    But the case took nine years to get under way, partly due to legal challenges to proceedings by the defence.

    Myria, a Belgian rights group which helped bring the case to court, released a statement saying the case was “an important step in the fight against trafficking in human beings, which should not go unpunished”.

    At the time of the trial, Nicholas McGeehan, an expert on migrant workers in the Gulf for Human Rights Watch told the BBC that it would be “hugely significant” if one of the wealthiest families in the world was publicly linked with trafficking and slavery.

    He argues that despite being abolished in law, domestic slavery continues in Gulf states – “perpetuated by ruling elites for whom it serves an important societal purpose in conferring status”.

    He added: “It’s top-down and tolerated.””

  42. WILLIAMSPORT — A Williamsport man has been jailed without bail on an open count of homicide that accuses him of stabbing the victim more than 20 times.

    Rashawn David Williams, 25, of Williamsport, is accused of stabbing Scott Cole, 36, also of Williamsport, in the 300 block of Locust Street shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday.

    City police said they do not know the motive for the attack that resulted in puncture wounds to Cole’s head, neck and torso.

    A man who lives nearby told police he went outside to investigate arguing and heard a voice yelling “he’s killing me.” He saw one man had another on the ground and was assaulting him, the arrest affidavit states.

    http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/06/man_charged_with_homicide_vict.html#incart_river_home_pop

  43. Russia: Turkish Stream ‘ready to supply gas to South and South East Europe’ – Putin

    • Russian President Vladimir Putin said “If our partners want it to happen” the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline would be “ready to supply South and South East Europe through Turkish territory”, while speaking over the phone line with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on board the Pioneering Spirit pipelaying ship in the Black Sea near Anapa, Friday.

      SOT, Vladimir Putin, Russian President (Russian): “I am here to launch a deep-water phase of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.”

      SOT, Vladimir Putin, Russian President (Russian): “We still need to agree on some things, such as pipeline entry point, passage of the pipeline through Turkish territory, issues related to environmental safety but if we continue to move forward at the same pace, we will realise all our plans.”

      SOT, Vladimir Putin, Russian President (Russian): “If our partners want it to happen, we will be ready to supply gas to South and South East Europe through the Turkish territory.”

      SOT, Vladimir Putin, Russian President (Russian): “I want to thank you for issuing a power generation license for the Russian company which will allow selling electricity until 2066.”

      SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President (Turkish): “Energy projects, especially gas projects, being realised between our countries for almost 30 years are a very important and reliable part of energy security in our country.”

      SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President (Turkish): “We expect such large projects as the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant and Turkish Stream to be fully completed and thanks to these projects our relations will be further strengthened.”

  45. the guardian – ‘Close al-Jazeera’: Saudi Arabia gives Qatar 13 demands to end blockade

    List includes cutting back ties with Iran and severing all links to extremist and terrorist groups including Isis and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham

    Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have tabled 13 demands on Qatar, including the closure of the Qatar-funded broadcaster al-Jazeera, as the price for lifting a two-week trade and diplomatic embargo of the country.

    The list of demands, obtained by Associated Press, marks another escalation in the Gulf’s worst diplomatic dispute in decades.

    Saudi Arabia and the other nations leading the blockade – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt – have in recent days been put under pressure by the US state department to set out their specific demands in an effort to help establish a mediation process.

    The Saudi-led alliance regards al-Jazeera, the most widely watched broadcaster in the Arab world, as a propaganda tool for Islamists that also undermines support for their governments.

    Other key demands made of Qatar include reducing ties with Iran and closing a Turkish military base, severing ties with “terrorist organisations”, and ending what the list describes as “interference in sovereign countries’ internal affairs”.

    The list was handed to Qatar by Kuwait, which is attempting to mediate in the crisis. Qatar has been given 10 days to comply, but the ultimatum is silent on what would happen if the demands are not met.

    In a sign that the UK does not regard the demands as reasonable, foreign secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday: “Gulf unity can only be restored when all countries involved are willing to discuss terms that are measured and realistic.

    “The UK calls upon the Gulf states to find a way of deescalating the situation and lifting the current embargo and restrictions which are having an impact on the everyday lives of people in the region.”

    The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said earlier this week that any demands made of Qatar had to be reasonable and actionable. Tillerson rebuked the Saudis and their allies for failing to justify their actions, in a sharp about-turn from US president’s Donald Trump’s backing for the embargo.

    The acting managing director of al-Jazeera’s English language service denounced demands that the network be shut down.

    Giles Trendle said al-Jazeera was committed to continuing broadcasts, telling AP that the network stood firm in providing “our usual comprehensive and impartial coverage of events around the world”.

    Demands to shut the network were “nothing but an attempt to muzzle a voice of democracy in the region and suppress freedom of expression,” Trendle said.

    Turkey’s defence minister rejected suggestions that it should review its military base in Qatar and said any demand for its closure would represent interference in Ankara’s relations with the Gulf state.

    Turkey’s defence minister, Fikri I??k, told broadcaster NTV that he had not seen a demand for the base to be shut. “The base in Qatar is both a Turkish base and one that will preserve the security of Qatar and the region,” he said.

    There is no suggestion in the list that there must be regime change inside Qatar. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Qatar will see the demands as the basis for serious negotiations.

    Qatar has become reliant on Turkey, and to a lesser extent Iran, for the supply of food since since the embargo came into force on 5 June. It has previously said it would not hold talks until the embargo was lifted.

    Speaking on Thursday, before the 13 demands were tabled, Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said his country had always abided by international laws and played a key role in the international coalition fighting Isis.

    “Qatar does not support the Nusra Front in Syria … and it does not support any terrorist organisation,” he told France 24, referring to the old name for the Islamist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.

    Cutting ties to Iran would prove incredibly difficult – Qatar shares with Iran a massive offshore natural gas field, which supplies the small nation that will host the 2022 Fifa World Cup with much of its wealth.

    Qatar insists it does not fund terrorists, and has previously said that the embargo is a punishment for following an independent foreign policy more sympathetic to the principles of the Arab spring than that of its neighbours.

    The 13 demands in full

    1- Curb diplomatic ties with Iran and close its diplomatic missions there. Expel members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and cut off any joint military cooperation with Iran. Only trade and commerce with Iran that complies with US and international sanctions will be permitted.

    2- Sever all ties to “terrorist organisations”, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State, al-Qaida and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Formally declare those entities as terrorist groups.

    3- Shut down al-Jazeera and its affiliate stations.

    4- Shut down news outlets that Qatar funds, directly and indirectly, including Arabi21, Rassd, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed and Middle East Eye.

    5- Immediately terminate the Turkish military presence in Qatar and end any joint military cooperation with Turkey inside Qatar.

    6- Stop all means of funding for individuals, groups or organisations that have been designated as terrorists by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, the US and other countries.

    7- Hand over “terrorist figures” and wanted individuals from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain to their countries of origin. Freeze their assets, and provide any desired information about their residency, movements and finances.

    8- End interference in sovereign countries’ internal affairs. Stop granting citizenship to wanted nationals from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain. Revoke Qatari citizenship for existing nationals where such citizenship violates those countries’ laws.

    9- Stop all contacts with the political opposition in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain. Hand over all files detailing Qatar’s prior contacts with and support for those opposition groups.

    10- Pay reparations and compensation for loss of life and other, financial losses caused by Qatar’s policies in recent years. The sum will be determined in coordination with Qatar.

    11- Consent to monthly audits for the first year after agreeing to the demands, then once per quarter during the second year. For the following 10 years, Qatar would be monitored annually for compliance.

    12- Align itself with the other Gulf and Arab countries militarily, politically, socially and economically, as well as on economic matters, in line with an agreement reached with Saudi Arabia in 2014.

    13- Agree to all the demands within 10 days of it being submitted to Qatar, or the list becomes invalid.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/23/close-al-jazeera-saudi-arabia-issues-qatar-with-13-demands-to-end-blockade

  47. Listen to Flint airport stabbing suspect Amor Ftouhi’s first appearance in court