Reader’s links Sept. 7, 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

102 Replies to “Reader’s links Sept. 7, 2017”

  1. What Iran learned from NorK:
    Pyongyang’s Playbook

    North Korea . . . authored the playbook now being used by Iran to fleece the United States and its allies. And if the United States fails to neutralize the North Korean threat, Iran will notice how the United States buckles in the face of nuclear pressure.

    The Islamic Republic has already learned a number of damaging lessons from North Korea. First, cheating on nuclear deals is permitted. North Korea cheated twice, and we kept coming back for more. President Bill Clinton announced the 1994 Agreed Framework as a deal that would “freeze and then dismantle its nuclear program,” but Pyongyang violated the agreement when it started a covert uranium-enrichment program.

    Washington tried another nuclear deal with the Kim regime, negotiating the 2005 Joint Statement, but North Korea built a nuclear reactor in Syria during the negotiations. The reactor was eventually destroyed by Israel in 2007.

    Normally that would have ended negotiations, proving that North Korea was not a serious interlocutor. Instead, the Kim regime was rewarded for its nuclear proliferation when the Bush administration removed it from the state-sponsors-of-terrorism list in 2008. . . .

    The number of Iranian violations detailed by the UN secretary-general António Guterres in a recent report is stunning. Two Iranian attempts to procure missile components, aircraft parts, and anti-tank missile components from Ukraine were thwarted over a period of just six months. How many others have gotten through? Iran also continues its shipment of arms to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, in violation of two UN Security Council resolutions. . . .

    While Iran has learned many lessons from North Korea, Washington should have learned a few, too. The most significant is that flawed, limited nuclear deals do not solve strategic issues.

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/pyongyangs-playbook/article/2009511

    • Given what is happening in Korea it is unlikely that the US can do anything without a war in the Far East. Given the low levels of our military once a large number of our troops are tied down in combat in Korea it is highly probable that Iran will start being more aggressive in the Middle East.

      In short probably not.

  3. UN: Syrian opposition must accept it has not won the war

    Syria’s opposition must accept that they have not won the six-and-a-half year war against President Bashar Assad, UN peace talks mediator Staffan de Mistura said on Wednesday.

    De Mistura suggested the war was almost over because many countries had got involved principally to defeat Islamic State in Syria, and a national ceasefire should follow soon after. The main rebel-held area, the city of Idlib would be “frozen.”

    “For the opposition, the message is very clear: if they were planning to win the war, facts are proving that is not the case. So now it’s time to win the peace,” he told reporters.

    Asked if he was implying that Assad had won, he said pro-government forces had advanced militarily, but nobody could actually claim to have won the war.

    “Victory can only be if there is a sustainable political long-term solution. Otherwise instead of war, God forbid, we may see plenty of low intensity guerrilla (conflicts) going on for the next 10 years, and you will see no reconstruction, which is a very sad outcome of winning a war.”

    http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/UN-Syrian-opposition-must-accept-it-has-not-won-the-war-504381

  7. SWEDEN RIVALS MEXICO FOR GRENADE ATTACKS, SHOOTING FATALITIES – 5 TIMES HIGHER THAN NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES

    A new report has shown that the number of fatal shootings in Sweden is up to four to five times that in Germany and the number of hand grenade attacks is on par with Mexico.
    Sweden per capita has a rate of gun crime resulting in fatalities four to five times that of its neighbour Norway or Germany according to a new report. The researchers say that the only European equivalent to gun crime in Sweden is southern Italy, and the use of hand grenades in attacks is rivalled only by areas of Mexico in which drug cartels operate, Sveriges Radio.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/09/06/swedem-mexico-grenade-attacks-gun-crime-neighbouring-countries/

    • In Sweden the Islamic Invaders have secured their bases and are now working to expand the territory they control. Since this has started in one European nation it won’t be long before it expands to all European nations that have allowed a large number of invaders to establish bases.

  8. MORE CULTURAL ENRICHMENT IN GERMANY
    Merkel´s guests brawl on the street in Ebersdorf, Germany

  11. Many residents of Leipzig feel increasingly unsafe in their city. The fear of being a victim of a crime has increased. Do figures confirm this concern and how safe is it in the metropolis?

    It is not just since the recent brutal rape of a jogger that residents in Leipzig no longer feel safe. The fear of becoming victims of a criminal offense by foreigners is great and justified. Now even state propaganda must admit this, as this report (in German) reveals:

    • You can search on leaflets droppen during WWII. They are more an ode to the designers than an effective means to sway minds. The Nazi ones are particularly offensive: Sam Levy is fooling with your girlfriend while you are fighting; A Yank is with your (British) girl while you are fighting.

      No one apologized for having silly, insensitive leaflets. The leaflets show how poorly the one side understands what motivates the opponent’s military forces. Alternatively, the leaflets show how poorly strategists communicate with those designing and approving the leaflet. An apology ignores these possible cross-purposes in Afghanistan.

  13. Indonesian school a launchpad for child fighters in Syria’s Islamic State (reuters, Sep 7, 2017)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-militants-school-insight/indonesian-school-a-launchpad-for-child-fighters-in-syrias-islamic-state-idUSKCN1BI0A7

    “… Drawing on court documents, registration filings and interviews with counter-terrorism police and former militants, Reuters has found that Hatf was one of at least 12 people from Ibnu Mas‘ud who went to the Middle East to fight for IS or attempted to go there between 2013 and 2016.

    Eight were teachers, four were students.

    At least another 18 people linked to the school have been convicted, or are now under arrest, for militant plots and attacks in Indonesia, including the three deadliest attacks in the country in the past 20 months, according to counter-terrorism police and trial documents of convicted militants….”

  16. North Korea celebrates nuclear test

    Pyongyang (AFP) – North Korea held a mass celebration for the scientists involved in carrying out its largest nuclear blast to date, with fireworks and a mass rally in Pyongyang.

    Citizens of the capital lined the streets Wednesday to wave pink and purple pom-poms and cheer a convoy of buses carrying the specialists into the city, and toss confetti over them as they walked into Kim Il-Sung Square.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/north-korea-celebrates-nuclear-test-025827054.html

  17. BIN JONG UNElite US Navy Seals that killed Osama bin Laden are training South Korean assassination squad to take out Kim Jong-un

    Seal Team Six has is taking part in drills in South Korea as tensions with Kim’s regime mount

    THE elite US Navy Seal team that killed Osama bin Laden is training the South Korean military to assassinate Kim Jong-un.

    Seal Team Six, the group sent to Pakistan in 2011 to kill Bin Laden, is taking part in secretive drills alongside South Korean commandos to take out the North Korean leader in the event of a war.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4403004/navy-seals-killed-osama-bin-laden-training-south-korea-assassination-squad-kim-jong-un/

      • “-wait – let me guess – gas leak?

        Evidently, you’re unfamiliar with the aftereffects of refritos (a common south Los Angeles comestible. The sixth answer—provided by ChadC—is particularly air-clearing (so to speak).

  19. Iranian Spy Service Threatening, Blackmailing Global Media Outlets
    Iran regime threatening reporters, families to ensure positive coverage

    Iran’s clandestine spy network has been threatening and blackmailing scores of journalists, even going so far as to detain and threaten the family members of these reporters, in order to ensure positive coverage in global media outlets, according to a new report that estimates at least 50 international journalists have been threatened in just the past year.

    Iran uses its network of spies and its hardline judiciary to threaten journalists with punishment and in many cases detain family members in order to use them as leverage against Western reporters, according to a new report by Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, a watchdog group that advocates for freedom of the press.

    http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iranian-spy-service-threatening-blackmailing-global-media-outlets/

    • “Iran’s clandestine spy network has been threatening and blackmailing scores of journalists, even going so far as to detain and threaten the family members of these reporters, in order to ensure positive coverage in global media outlets, according to a new report that estimates at least 50 international journalists have been threatened in just the past year.”

      What the fü¢k did these brain-dead, idiot scribblers expect?!?

  20. SpaceX to Launch Secret Spy Craft Mission

    The forecast for the next mission by Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX is cloudy — and not just because of the weather.

    Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is slated for its 13th Falcon 9 launch of the year Thursday, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission is shrouded in at least two mysteries: the purpose of the payload it’s carrying for the U.S. military, and its chances of going off without a hitch amid a weather system ahead of Hurricane Irma.

    A day after pummeling Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, Irma is forecast to be about 900 miles southeast of the launch site during Thursday’s take-off, according to the nearby Patrick Air Force Base. The base said on its website Wednesday that thick clouds expected from a separate storm are a concern and estimated a 40 percent to 60 percent chance of launch Thursday. There’s also a Friday back-up window.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-07/spacex-to-launch-secret-spy-craft-mission-if-weather-cooperates

  21. The next challenge for facial recognition is identifying people whose faces are covered
    15 comments
    Current methods are unreliable, but progress is being made — and quickly
    by James Vincent@jjvincent Sep 6, 2017, 3:27pm EDT

    Facial recognition is becoming more and more common, but ask anyone how to avoid it and they’ll say: easy, just wear a mask. In the future, though, that might not be enough. Facial recognition technology is under development that’s capable of identifying someone even if their face is covered up — and it could mean that staying anonymous in public will be harder than ever before.

    The topic was raised this week after research published on the preprint server arXiv describing just such a system was shared in a popular AI newsletter. Using deep learning and a dataset of pictures of people wearing various disguises, researchers were able to train a neural network that could potentially identify masked faces with some reliability. Academic and sociologist Zeynep Tufekci shared the work on Twitter, noting that such technology could become a tool of oppression, with authoritarian states using it to identify anonymous protestors and stifle dissent.

    https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/6/16254476/facial-recognition-masks-diguises-ai

    • The next challenge for facial recognition is identifying people whose faces are covered

      Ear shape—regardless of facial covering—is as indicative of identity as a fingerprint.

      Likes me my wide-brim Stetson fedora and photochromic aviator Ray Bans, I do.

  22. ISIS is planning a wave of attacks against Western targets to boost morale following defeats in Syria and Iraq, intelligence official warns

    ISIS is said to be planning a new wave of attacks against Western targets in an attempt to boost morale following crushing defeats in Syria and Iraq.

    An intelligence official has warned the terror group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is said to be alive and plotting his next evil move.

    After US-backed offensives in Mosul and Raqqa have seen Islamic State fighters all but wiped out, the expert warned a new generation of terror groups could emerge from the ashes.

    In the meantime, al-Baghdadi is thought to be pulling together ideas for ‘sophisticated attacks’ on countries such as Britain as an EU chief warned ISIS was moving funds out of the Middle East and pumping cash into European operations.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4861446/ISIS-planning-wave-attacks-against-Western-targets.html#ixzz4s06ZqLlo
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  23. A Venezuelan woman had grown used to shortages. Then her HIV drugs ran out.

    CARACAS, Venezuela — The wheezing bus pulled in late from the slums, so Carmen Hernández was practically jogging toward the clinic now. It had opened 20 minutes ago, and she needed to be early. Late meant lines, and the 49-year-old mother of five couldn’t wait.

    She was wasting away.

    Her high cheekbones were protruding more, and the headaches were getting worse. A fearless tough talker, she didn’t flinch at the crackle of gunfire on her street. But this was different. She’d dropped eight pounds in four weeks. She was scared.

    “I should be at the clinic already,” she said, her voice on edge.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/a-venezuelan-woman-had-grown-used-to-shortages-then-her-hiv-drugs-ran-out/2017/09/06/62a7d694-8125-11e7-9e7a-20fa8d7a0db6_story.html?utm_term=.ada1049914bf

  24. China agrees U.N. action, and talk, needed to end North Korea crisis

    BEIJING/VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) – China agreed on Thursday that the United Nations should take more action against North Korea after its latest nuclear test, while also pushing for dialogue to help resolve the standoff.

    North Korea, which is pursuing its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of international condemnation, said it would respond to any new U.N. sanctions and U.S. pressure with “powerful counter measures”, accusing the United States of aiming for war.

    The United States wants the U.N. Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and to subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

    http://www.oann.com/south-korea-deploys-anti-missile-system-as-u-s-seeks-tough-north-korea-sanctions/

    • “China agreed on Thursday that the United Nations should take more action against North Korea after its latest nuclear test, while also pushing for dialogue to help resolve the standoff.”

      So, what level of “action” is the UN at now? A stern talking-to?

      Or have things finally escalated all the way to some vigorous finger-wagging?

  25. Deal with the Democrats: Trump defenestrates a paradigm
    By J.E. Dyer September 6, 2017

    It will be quite a while before we see clearly all the fallout from President Trump’s unusual move on Wednesday.

    No one knows quite what to make of it. Basically, instead of allowing himself to be dangled for weeks with the threat of a fiscal showdown, he cut a deal with the congressional Democrats to increase the federal debt ceiling, fund the government through December, and provide $8 billion in emergency dollars to the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana.

    Republicans are understandably upset about this. It’s not just that Trump went over their heads. He ignored concerns that are central to Republican priorities; chiefly, some fig-leaf of fiscal continence, and the primacy of proper budgeting as a means of exercising congress’ constitutional powers in the political process. Whatever the pitstops and detours, the fiscal brinkmanship episodes of the recent past have always been ultimately trying to cycle back to those touchstones.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/09/06/deal-democrats-trump-defenestrates-paradigm/

    • One theory:
      http://i.imgur.com/Fca1zmQ.png

      image depicts comment/images of tweets related to comment suggesting POTUS pulled off the biggest coup imaginable today, playing the UNIParty – resulting in flurry of responsive activity/tweets recognizing they’ve been played

  26. Perfect murder: The five stages of jihad
    By Alexander Maistrovoy September 7, 2017

    Israel has become a testing ground for jihad. The conquest of the West is carried out according to the scheme tried out in the Holy Land.

    It was like déjà vu. August 2017. Paris. A rocket launcher was found in Paris No—Go Zone suburb. A few weeks later, the same launcher was found in Lyon, near the madrasah in the Muslim quarter. The media are silent. Human rights defenders are against Islamophobia. Gaza. Hamas. Rocket launchers were found in mosques. The media are silent. Human rights defenders are against occupation.

    Allusion? Obsession? Maybe.

    By coincidence of circumstances or divine providence (depending on your liking), Israel has become a testing ground of the lethal alliance — the “jihad” and lunatic progressivists. Here, in the cradle of the Judeo-Christian civilization, the most disgusting methods of terror and its laundering, know—how of legitimate and even sacred violence was developed. Here the strategy of the “Red—Green” alliance was formed. This is the place where poisonous shoots appeared and spread their spores all over the world.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/09/07/perfect-murder-five-stages-jihad/

  27. Hmm: Imran Awan seemingly WANTED Capitol Police to find Wasserman Schultz laptop
    By LU Staff September 6, 2017

    A laptop that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has frantically fought to keep prosecutors from examining may have been planted for police to find by her since-indicted staffer, Imran Awan, along with a letter to the U.S. Attorney.

    U.S. Capitol Police found the laptop after midnight April 6, 2017, in a tiny room that formerly served as a phone booth in the Rayburn House Office Building, according to a Capitol Police report reviewed by The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group. Alongside the laptop were a Pakistani ID card, copies of Awan’s driver’s license and congressional ID badge, and letters to the U.S. attorney. Police also found notes in a composition notebook marked “attorney-client privilege.”

    The laptop had the username “RepDWS,” even though the Florida Democrat and former Democratic National Committee chairman previously said it was Awan’s computer and that she had never even seen it.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/09/06/hmm-imran-awan-seemingly-wanted-capitol-police-find-wasserman-schultz-laptop/

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/09/06/hmm-imran-awan-seemingly-wanted-capitol-police-find-wasserman-schultz-laptop/

    • Nice encapsulation of Webb’s investigation by Freeper “Hostage(Article V)”:

      Related to this tweet by G. Webb: https://twitter.com/GeorgWebb/status/905786066149486594

      “Kwasi Owusu-Mensah was the IT guy at the Rayburn House Office Building where the laptop, documents, and importantly the letter to the US Attorney were found.
      It was Kwasi that left all those materials and laptop out where it could be found and it was he that called anonymously the DC Capitol Police.
      Why was is Kwasi?
      First of all, Kwasi is innocent but he wasn’t supposed to be. Secondly, Imran is a bad buy, very bad. He will do anything for money, anything, and he will do anything to save his neck, including steering reporters and investigators towards innocent people.
      Kwasi worked in the Rayburn building where he would order computer equipment from CDW and send it to where Imran instructed him. Imran was doping the equipment to continue his espionage efforts. Kwasi was a mere sales type of guy.
      So Imran gets word that reporters and investigators are sniffing about and getting near his world, focusing on him. To throw them off the track, Imran sets out to put the blame on Kwasi.
      “IT WAS KWASI! KWASI DID IT! SEE? IT WAS KWASI!”
      Nice convenient redirection.
      So what does Kwasi do when he sees what’s coming, when he’s looking at doing 30 years?
      He sets out the laptop, the cards, and a letter to the US Attorney in the phone booth of the building and calls the Capitol Police. Now who would write a letter to the US Attorney? Imran? No. That letter was not written by Imran.
      Rosiak needs to retract and do a better job. Rosiak is jealous of Webb who upstages him nearly every day. He should thank Webb but instead he whines and bitches.
      Start about time 16:17 but look before that if you have the time:

  29. Senate resolution condemns neo-Nazis, KKK, white supremacists. Let’s see … who’s missing?
    By Joe Newby September 7, 2017

    On Wednesday, a bipartisan resolution was introduced in the U.S. Senate that condemns neo-Nazis, the KKK, white nationalists, and white supremacists. But there was no mention in the resolution of the far-left Antifa, whose activities were classified in 2016 by the Department of Homeland Security as “domestic terrorist violence.”

    According to The Daily Caller:

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/09/07/senate-resolution-condemns-neo-nazis-kkk-white-supremacists-lets-see-whos-missing/

  30. Italy: Dozens of migrants depart boat and rush across Sicilian beach

    Police are searching for dozens of migrants that landed off the Sicilian coast of Giallonardo, near Agrigento on Wednesday.

    Sicilian beach-goers raised the alarm with the local coast guard and police, as migrants landed and rushed passed stunned bathers. An ongoing search is being carried out by police in the surrounding area.

      • We need a lot of spiritual leaders like him, ones that aren’t afraid to fight for their religion, their nation and their culture.

    • I agree with this civilized monk, all Islam produces is savagery. Fight, flight, freeze faint or submission. What dhimmitude lived in Muhammad now lives in them. The victim-violator.

      The end of Thailand:
      “One day there was a homeless young man, he had been trying to gather food but he keeps noticing that everyday his food disappears. One day he caught the mouse that kept stealing his food and he asked the mouse:

      “Why are you stealing from me? I am a homeless man, you can steal from richer people than me and it will not have any effect on them.”

      The mouse then told the homeless young man:

      “It is your destiny, you can only have eight items in your possession; no matter how much you beg, no matter how much you gather, this is all you will be able to have.”

      The homeless young man was shocked and said:

      “Why is that my destiny?”

      And the mouse replied:

      “I do not know. You should try and ask the Buddha.”

      So the homeless young man goes on his journey to find the Buddha and as he is going, it gets late. So he ends up at a wealthy family’s house and he asks if he could stay for the night. They let him in and they ask him:

      “Young man, why are you traveling so late?”

      So he answers:

      I have a question for the Buddha and tomorrow I will be on my way.”

      The family then said:

      “Can we give you a question to ask the Buddha? We have a young daughter who cannot speak, what do we have to do to make her speak?”

      So the homeless young man thanks them for the shelter and tells them:

      “Of course I will ask your question for you.”

      So the next morning he goes and continues his journey, until he reaches a range of mountains that he has to cross. He climbs up the mountain and he meets a wizard, whom decides to use his staff to take the young man and himself across the mountains. Then the wizard asks the young man:

      “Where are you going? Why are you crossing the mountains?”

      The young man answers:

      “I am going to ask the Buddha a question about my destiny.”

      The wizard then says:

      “Can I please give you a question to ask the Buddha? I have been trying to go to heaven for 1000 years. According to my teachings I should be able to go to heaven now. Can you please ask the Buddha what do I have to do to go to heaven?”

      “Of course I will ask your question for you.” says the young man, and he continues on his journey. He then runs into his last obstacle, which is a river he cannot cross. Luckily he meets a giant turtle, who decides to take him across the river. As they are crossing the river the turtle asks:

      “Where are you going?”

      “I am going to see the Buddha. I am going to ask him a question about my destiny.” says the young man.

      “Can you please ask a question for me too? I have been trying to become a dragon for 500 years. According to my teachings I should have become a dragon by now. Can you please ask the Buddha what do I have to do to become a dragon?”

      The young man thanks the turtle for taking him across the river and says:

      “Of course I will ask your question for you.”

      The homeless young man finally meets the Buddha, and the Buddha tells everybody:

      “I will answer three question for everyone here, but three questions only.”

      And the young man is shocked, he has four questions to ask, so he thinks carefully. He thinks about the turtle living for 500 years trying to become a dragon. The wizard living for 1000 years trying to go to heaven. The girl who has to live her whole life unable to speak. Then he looks at himself and says:

      “I am just a homeless beggar. I can just go back home and continue begging.”

      So as he looks at everybody else’s problems, his problem suddenly seems so small. He feels sorry for the turtle, and the wizard and the girl. He then decides to ask all of their questions, so he asks the Buddha, and the Buddha answers:

      “The turtle is unwilling to leave his shell, as long as he is unwilling to leave the comfort of his shell he will never become a dragon. The wizard always carries his staff and never puts it down, it is acting as an actor that is keeping him from heaven. As for the girl, she will be able to speak when she will meet her soulmate.”

      So the homeless young man bowed to the Buddha, and went on his journey back home. He reunites with the turtle, and tells him:

      “Hey, you just have to take off your shell and you will become a dragon.”

      The turtle then takes off his shell, and inside his shell were priceless pearls he from the deepest parts of the ocean. He gives them to the homeless man and tells him:

      “Thank you, I no longer need this because I now a dragon.” and he flew away.

      Then the homeless young man reunites with the wizard and tells him:

      “Hey, you just have to put down your staff and you will be able to go to heaven.”

      The wizard lets go of his staff by giving it to the young man, he thanks him and ascends to heaven.

      The young man now has wealth from the turtle and power from the wizard. He goes back to the family that gave him shelter and tells them:

      “The Buddha said that your daughter will be able to speak when she will meet her soulmate.” In that moment the daughter came downstairs and said:

      “Hey, is that the man that was here last week?”

      The young girl and the once homeless young man have now found their soulmate.””
      https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/vibrantkundalini.com/2017/08/07/buddha-and-the-beggar/amp/

      • A year later the mouse found the Homeless Man in the gutter again and worse off.
        “What happened?”
        “The turtle came out of its shell and became a dragon, the wizard threw away his ego and gained his soul…”
        “Stop! That’s the Wizard of Oz. The Cowardly Lion gets his courage, the Tin Man his heart… so what were you? The Scarecrow who finally found his brains!”
        He looked at the mouse mournfully, “I should have gone and found out why I can only ever hold eight things in my possession.” He sat back and stared at the clouds.
        “And did you get the girl?” The mouse asked gently.
        “I thought I did. I thought I had a soul mate. But no, she only opened her mouth when she set her eyes on those precious pearls.”
        The mouse looked at him quizzically thinking that this Homeless Man might now be ready to listen.
        “Those eight items, that you were cursed to only carry… they are sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, balance, body-awareness, and conscience. EVERYONE has got them. It is what you do with them!”
        [It is rumoured that this is the origin of Thaimustew]

  32. Afghanistan: Activists call on UN and Muslim community to stop violence against Rohingya in Myanmar

    Activists in Kabul called on the UN and international Muslim community to help put an end to the latest military crackdown on the Rohingya by the Myanmar government, Thursday.

    “We calling on the United Nation, the Muslim world and other international institutions to save the innocent Rohingya Muslim from being massacred by Buddhists in the most brutal way,” one protester said in a statement.

    Violence has erupted in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, home to Rohingya Muslims, after an attack on the country’s police force, allegedly by Rohingya militants, left 12 officers dead.

    Myanmar’s military claims to be targeting militants in response. However, according to the UN, an estimated 73,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh amid widespread reports of indiscriminate killings, arson, looting and rape in Rohingya villages.

    • UK: Protesters demand UK pressures Myanmar to stop persecution of Rohingya

      Dozens of protesters gathered in front of London’s Downing Street to protest the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, asking the UK government to take action, on Wednesday.

      Protesters voiced the UK’s historical connection to the area, together with its position on the UN Security Council to “put pressure to stop the genocide.”

      Protests have taken place outside the world over Myanmar’s recent military action against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state after an attack by militants left 12 officers dead. The UN has estimated 123,600 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh over the past 16 days, amid widespread reports of indiscriminate killings, arson, looting and rape by the Myanmar military.

    • 100% BULL. Bengali squatters never accepted the partition of 1947. Communist separatist movements became active starting around 1972. Same as PLO.

      Myanmar is especially tempting since the discovery of oil & gas reserves. Soros/ China/ MB.

      It’s offered as a “bad” example: A country determined to fight for it’s identity, a true nation-state. Refuses to play the game.

  33. Russia: US should never forget we possess atomic & hydrogen bombs – N. Korea official

    North Korean Minister of Foreign Economic Affairs Kim Young Jae spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic forum in Vladivostok, on Thursday.

    North Korean Minister of Foreign Economic Affairs Kim Young Jae spoke on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic forum in Vladivostok, on Thursday, saying that North Korea would respond to the US sanctions and pressure with “strong countermeasures”.

    SOT, Kim Young Jae, North Korean Minister of Foreign Economic Affairs (Korean): “We strongly condemn attempts from the South Korean and Japanese governments to use the South-East Economic Forum in their untidy political aims; their attacks on the self-defensive measures, which North Korea has taken to strengthen its nuclear power. It is clearly clashing with the aims and agenda of our Forum, where we are discussing economic cooperation between Russia, Far East and Asian countries. At this moment, due to the successful tests of the intercontinental nuclear missiles, the USA and its satellite countries are conducting a campaign on the condemnation and tightening of sanctions against our republic. The US measures, which are impeding North Korean self-defensive nuclear forces and vilifying our republic, can be considered as an attempt to hide its real perpetrator ‘gut’, which is escalating the situation in the world and the nuclear threat. Trump’s belligerent expressions, this fire of range – the historical intrigues of the United States against our republic reveals that the US is an arrogant bandit, who has been neglecting the will of the international community as well as a provision of the peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. They are pursuing only one heinous aim – war. In order to eradicate the hostile campaign and nuclear extortion from the US side, we chose the path of nuclear weapons and new nuclear tests intercontinental missiles’ equipment is one of the milestones for us to achieve progress in the governmental nuclear forces. Due to this, we have powerful tools for nuclear deterring, which we can use to respond to the onslaught of hostile forces worldwide and keep peace on the Korean peninsula and in the region. The United States’ words – that they have ‘all options of choice’ – and their attempts to frighten us and force us to move backwards through aggressive sanctions and pressure, is a big mistake. The USA should never forget about our current status, which possesses nuclear, and hydrogen bombs, as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles. We will respond to the attempts of these barbaric sanctions and pressure from the US side with the powerful counter measures. I thank you for the prompt coverage of our position.”

      • Extortion attempt, only they are trying to extort people will courage and insight enough to now that giving in will only cause a much bigger war in a few years.

  36. New Scientist – Anatomy of terror: What makes normal people become extremists?

    It takes more than religious fanaticism or hatred to make someone take innocent lives, but recognise the true roots of ISIS-inspired terror and they can be addressed

    […]terrorists are brave altruists protecting the group from harm by powerful outsiders. Terrorist acts are warnings to the out-group, demanding that certain actions be taken, such as withdrawing a military occupation or ending human and civil rights abuses. Terrorism is a militarised public relations ploy to advance a grander scheme – a political tactic, not a profession or an overarching ideology.[…]But the vast majority of people who might share the same sense of grievance or political goals are not motivated to kill and maim the innocent.

    […]“When the politicians demonise ISIS as evil, hormones flood the brain with danger signals,” says Hriar Cabayan. “We forget how to think scientifically. We need to get inside the heads of ISIS fighters and look at ourselves as they look at us.”

    […]Military intelligence agencies focus more on locating and killing terrorist suspects than on understanding sociological motivations.

    […]Statistical models built around what is known of the frequency and casualty counts of insurgent and terrorist incidents in Syria and Iraq show the jihadists as Davids and conventional armies as lumbering Goliaths.

    […]A 2017 study by Jennifer Varriale Carson at the University of Central Missouri concluded that killing high-profile jihadists is “counter-productive, if its main intention is a decrease in terrorism perpetrated by the global jihadist movement”.

    […]According to a Pentagon-funded meta study of public opinion polls taken during 2015 and 2016, the “vast majority” of Muslims in Iraq and Syria do not support ISIS. But those who do cite religion or ideology far less than social, economic and governance grievances.

    […]” One of the most effective counter measures, he says, is community engagement. High-school football and the scouts movement have been effective responses to antisocial behaviour among the disenfranchised children of US immigrants, for example.

    […]Another promising avenue is to break down stereotypes, says social psychologist Susan Fiske at Princeton University. These are not necessarily religious or racial stereotypes, but generalised stereotypes we all hold about people around us.

    […]Social neuroscientists have identified two pathways in the brain by which we relate to others. One mobilises empathy and compassion, allowing us to share another person’s emotions. The second activates theory of mind, enabling us to see a situation from the other’s perspective.[…] After just a week, the compassion training started to enhance prosocial behaviours, and corresponding structural brain changes were detectable in MRI scans.

    https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23531390-700-anatomy-of-terror-what-makes-normal-people-become-extremists/

    • Right, find them and kill them.

      But beyond that, there is an alternative: Wiping out the communities that give aid and comfort. Make the consequences of each terrorist attack so punitive, the local host will stop harboring jihadis.

      For example, after an attack – or ABORTED attack:

      • Raid the homes and businesses within a given local. Every investigative lead suggests further targets for intervention. EVERY contact results in penalties.
      • Deport deport-ables, levy crushing fines to compensate victims and cost of police interventio, court fees.
      • Close the perp’s mosque.
      • Suspend professional licenses of lawyers, etc.

  37. Sacramento Finds Appeasement Won’t Work on Gangs

    Sacramento making extortion payments?

    The city of Sacramento, California, voted unanimously to pay local gang members $1.5 million not to kill people. They’re paying bullies not to be bullies. Didn’t the U.S. try something similar with Iran and North Korea? How did that work out?

    The city council approved the program, dubbed “Advance Peace,” Tuesday of last week. It was originally slated for a vote two weeks later, but a gang-related shooting the Sunday before, resulting in four injuries and one death, prompted a rushed approval.

    “Five people were shot in Meadowview on Sunday,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said when he called for the early vote, Fox40 reported.

    “Let’s get going on doing everything we can to save innocent lives,” he added.

    https://www.newsmax.com/MichaelDorstewitz/germany-nazi-steinberg/2017/09/05/id/811760/

  38. Germany: Churches Sheltering Hundreds of Bogus Asylum Seekers (breitbart, Sep 7,2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/09/07/germany-churches-sheltering-hundred-bogus-asylum-seekers/

    “German churches are sheltering hundreds of migrants — including many supposed converts — whose asylum claims have been rejected as illegitimate by the authorities.

    Asyl in der Kirche, a network of German parishes providing migrants with safe houses, told The Washington Post that there are 351 so-called “church asylum locations” in Germany, hosting at least 551 people.

    Many are so-called “Dublin cases” — migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected because they have already been registered in another EU country under the bloc’s Dublin III regulations.

    Germany is authorised to deport such people, but do not interfere with migrants living on church grounds — although they are legally entitled to do so.

    “The churches said: ‘Sometimes from a humanitarian or a Christian point of view, the law is not correct’,” said Martina Domke, head of migration at the Cologne office of Diakonie, the German Protestant church’s social-welfare organisation.

    One Lutheran church the Post visited had 12 migrants in the basement; one of them had been there for around six months.

    Many of these migrants “convert” to Christianity en masse — a phenomenon which has also been observed in Austria and even Lebanon.

    “This church went from just a few hundred members to more than 1,300 Iranians and Afghans,” boasted one German pastor. “All converts.”

    Conversion boosts the migrants’ chances of being able to remain in Europe even after their initial claims are rejected, since apostates — believers who leave their faith — are put to death in countries where Islamic law holds sway.

    Whilst the churchmen interviewed by The Washington Post protested the authenticity of their new recruits, law enforcement has complained conversion is often simply a tactic to avoid deportation.

    “If the deportation of the offender has failed because he has changed his faith, then one has to put two and two together,” argued Ulf Küche, a senior police officer and vice-chairman of the Federal German Criminal Police Office.

    It is possible for Muslims to outwardly deny Islam whilst privately continuing to hold true to it under the doctrine of taqiyya — a form of religiously sanctioned deception or dissimulation which EU counter-terror chief Gilles de Kerchove recently warned was being used by extremists “to disguise their convictions”.”

  39. Two Men Arrested at Birmingham Airport on Terror Charges (breitbart, Sep 7, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/09/07/two-men-arrested-birmingham-airport-terror-offences/

    “Two UK nationals have been arrested at Birmingham Airport after disembarking from a flight from Turkey under the Terrorism Act.

    Scotland Yard has confirmed that officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command have arrested two men at Birmingham Airport on Thursday.

    Both men, aged 29 and 40, are British citizens and were arrested Thursday morning after disembarking their flight from Istanbul, Turkey.

    The 40-year-old was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

    The 29-year-old was arrested on suspicion of belonging to a proscribed organisation, under section 11 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and was arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

    The Met confirmed in a statement that the 40-year-old was taken to a London hospital for a medical assessment, where he currently remains.

    The 29-year-old was taken to a London police station and remains in police custody.”

  41. Veiled Woman Assaults Shopkeeper for Selling Lingerie Near Headscarves (breitbart, Sep 7, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/09/07/niqab-clad-woman-assaults-saleswoman-lingerie-islamic-headscarves/

    “A saleswoman in a fashion boutique in Berlin was viciously assaulted by a niqab-wearing woman who objected to lingerie being displayed in the same window as Islamic headscarves.

    The incident occurred in the Berlin district of Neukölln, known for its high percentage of migrant residents. The niqab-wearing woman raised her objections, but after her demands to remove the lingerie were denied, she attacked the shopkeeper, Die Welt reports.

    The victim, a 40-year-old woman from an Arabic immigrant background, said she saw a tattoo on the neck of her attacker and blonde hair under the niqab. Police say the woman had entered the shop once before and insulted the saleswoman in both German and Turkish before being told to leave.

    Authorities say they are considering the attack to be religiously motivated but have so far been unable to identify the woman involved as she fled the scene before police were able to arrive. Police added that the assailant left her mobile phone and a glove at the scene.

    The incident is not the first time a member of the Muslim community in Germany has tried to enforce morality on business owners or residents in Berlin. According to a report from July, Muslims of Chechen origin have repeatedly tried to enforce Islamic morality in the city.

    One girl who was harassed by so-called “morality police” said: “Even in a hijab, I was called a prostitute, for instance, for wearing eye makeup. And I thought: ‘Who am I trying to please?’”

    In 2014, radical Islamist preacher Sven Lau created a similar organisation he dubbed the “Sharia Police”. Lau was later arrested and charged with helping radical Islamic terror groups in the Middle East by raising cash and supplies for them. He was found guilty earlier this year and sentenced to five and a half year in prison.”

    • “Hisbah” from the Quran to ‘command good and forbid evil’.

      And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Messenger; (as for) these, Allah will show mercy to them; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise. Quran 9:71

      Duty for every Muslim to police the community for shariah-compliance.
      That’s what the Mutaween – morality police -do.

  43. Israel slow to recalibrate on Syria

    Middle East developments over the past few years have affected Israel’s conception of national security. For the first time in its history, Israel was not surrounded by conventional armies capable of threatening it. The IDF adapted itself more to guerilla warfare and fighting against widely dispersed networks of terror organizations, establishing commando units and upgrading infantry units.

    However, a formerly high-placed source in Israel’s security system told Al-Monitor last week, “Syria is returning, that is clear now….In the near future, Assad will be declared the final, unequivocal winner of this war. Following that, the path to Syria’s rebuilding and reconstruction will be short.”

    “It is safe to assume that the Iranians will invest a fortune in rebuilding the Syrian army and we will return to dealing with [Syria’s] Division 4 or Corps 5 or the various presidential forces we got to know in the decades preceding this war.” When the fighting ends, a new Syria will emerge – one much more dangerous than its predecessor.

    “This time,” an Israeli security source said, “it will be a Syria that is connected to Iraq, that is connected to Iran, which are both connected to Hizbullah….It may soon be revealed that Syria has become a protectorate of Iran. It may become just another proxy with the goal of spilling as much Israeli blood as possible.”

    Yes, developments on the Syrian front do worry Israel greatly, but they are not expected to change the basic components of Israeli deterrence. Israel will continue to emphasize that in the next confrontation in the north, it will destroy Lebanon, as the Lebanese state and Hizbullah are one and the same. The new Syria will find itself in a similar situation.

    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/09/israel-syria-iran-bashar-al-assad-war-intelligence-idf.html

  44. Israel Targets Syrian Scientific Research Center

    The Syrian army confirmed media reports claiming Israeli planes carried out a strike on Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS) near the city of Hama, which is responsible for research and development of nuclear, biological, chemical and missile technology and weapons.

    Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former chief of Israeli military intelligence, said, “The reported attack overnight is unusual. This is a military-scientific Syrian site in which they produce, among other things, precision missiles…. The factory that was attacked also manufactures chemical weapons and explosives barrels that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians. If it was an Israeli attack, it is finally an Israeli moral statement about the massacre in Syria.”

    According to military analyst Ron Ben Yishai, the center is a potential site for a planned Iranian precision missile factory to beef up Hizbullah’s arsenal. Israel recently warned that it would not tolerate the establishment of such a facility on Syrian soil.

    https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5013284,00.html

  45. The Mossad File on Nazi Doctor Josef Mengele

    For decades, Israel’s espionage agency, the Mossad, kept a file on Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor responsible for selecting which new inmates at Auschwitz would die immediately in the gas chambers and which would be put to work first or subjected to his horrible “medical” experiments.

    Documents and interviews reveal that for most of the time that Mengele was in hiding, the Mossad wasn’t looking for him, or placed finding him far down its to-do list.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/sunday-review/israel-mengele-auschwitz-holocaust.html

  46. Afghanistan: ‘Respect the religious values of Afghans!’ – citizens respond to US leaflet drop

    Jalalabad citizens reacted on Thursday after a series of leaflets was dropped by the US in Nangarhar Province, Tuesday, that some have interpreted as showing disrespect to Islam.

    SOT, Member of Nangarhar Provincial Council, (Pashto): “Most Afghans see the International Troops commanded by the US as friends and they are here to demolish the terrorists as well as support the strengthening of the government. Sometimes, they perform acts that anger [the populace]. In 2004 or 2003, they disrespected the holy Quran in Guantanamo Jail; then they disrespected the holy Quran at Bagram base. Now, they conduct propaganda in a way which disrespects holy Islam and causes anger among Muslim Afghans.”

    SOT, Member of Nangarhar Provincial Council, (Pashto): “We don’t know, why do they perform such actions? Do they test the patience of Afghans or try to encourage Afghans to rise up against them? Such disrespect to the religion of the Afghans will cause a rise of hostility of the people toward them. They should seriously attempt to stop such actions. I heard, the NATO commander is sorry for the action but how many times will they say sorry. If the saying-sorry formula is used again and again, it will not work. Afghans are religious people. They sacrificed themselves to defend their beliefs./strong> These actions shouldn’t be repeated in the future.”

    SOT, Member of Nangarhar Provincial Council, (Pashto): “Since 2001, up to 136,000 US troops have been deployed to Afghanistan but they were not successful in achieving their goals. It is because of such negative acts. If disrespecting the holy Quran and holy Islam continues by foreign troops, it means they are encouraging Afghans to fight against them. If 136,000 American troops were not successful, around 10,000 [more] will obviously [also] not be successful.”

    SOT, Jalalabad citizen, (Pashto): “Muslim Afghans are aware that international troops led by the USA disseminated anti-Islamic propaganda leaflets in order to make Afghans irritated. Afghans oppose such acts. We condemn any activity that is against holy Islam, Afghan culture and the demands of Afghans.”

    SOT, Jalalabad citizen, (Pashto): “Foreign troops must not repeat such bad acts. They are here for the purpose to support Afghans in ensuring security and development. We want them to support Afghans in ensuring security because they are seen as peacemakers.”

    SOT, Jalalabad citizen, (Pashto): “The USA is here to secure their interests but not for rebuilding Afghanistan. They perform annoying deeds in order to test the level of national pride of Afghans. They want to know, do they act in defence of Islam or not. It is the only purpose. We Afghans are opposing these actions.”

    SOT, Jalalabad citizen, (Pashto): “We urge that such actions not be performed again. Afghans are Mujahadeen, honest Muslims, always made remarkable sacrifices for defending the holy. They [Afghans] proved their honesty toward holy Islam by defeating the world powers like Russia, Britain and others. On one hand they give us the hand of friendship, on the other hand, they express enmity. They deceive us by telling Afghans that we made a strategy for you, do this, did that but they didn’t want what was proper to support us. Why do they write Kalima [Islamic verse] on the image of a dog to disrespect holy Islam?”

    SOT, Jalalabad citizen, (Pashto): “If such actions continue, the Islamic soul of the people will be awakened. They will start holy war [Jihad] against the foreigners and the conclusion will be very bad. Then it will be bad for both Americans and Afghans. I tell Americans to respect the religious values of Afghans!”

  48. the gateway pundit – The FBI released a 1,475 page file today on Breitbart News organization. The FBI dumped the documents online just moments ago.

    One of the first documents shows that the investigation was oepmended in February 2016 — during election year.

    The document says they opened the investigation after Breitbart.news was hit with a denial of service attack.
    That’s very odd.

    LawNewz reported:

    The FBI has over 1,000 documents related to the Breitbart News Network.

    A file containing those documents was released by the FBI just moments ago.

    Of those 1,475 total documents, only twenty-three are currently publicly available for inspection. And each of those 23 publicly available documents are highly redacted–most to the point of providing no information whatsoever.

    The remaining 1,452 documents are classified under various exemptions to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

    Byzantine statutes provide multiple exemptions to the nation’s foremost transparency law. Most of the Breitbart-related documents are classified under exemptions b6, b7C, and b7E. B6 is a general privacy exemption typically related to personnel and medical information. B7C is a “categorized” exemption allowing classification under more sweeping terms.

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/09/breaking-fbi-1475-page-file-conservative-pro-trump-breitbart-news/

    https://lawnewz.com/high-profile/breaking-the-fbi-has-a-1475-page-file-on-breitbart/

  49. RT- Southern Poverty Law Center funnels millions into offshore bank accounts

    n their investigation, the Free Beacon looked at a bunch of the SPLC’s financial forms and found that they had accumulated $328 million in net assets in 2015, which was the most recent tax form they found for the ‘nonprofit.’ And those same financial forms showed that the SPLC had business interests in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda. In other words, the ‘nonprofit’ was funneling money offshore. The Resident breaks it down.

  50. Former school caretaker who shared terrorism videos on Facebook is jailed (standard, Sep 7, 2017)
    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/school-caretaker-who-shared-terrorism-videos-on-facebook-is-jailed-a3629621.html?amp

    “A former school caretaker who shared terrorism videos on Facebook has been jailed.

    Mehdi Bira, 45, from Camden, north London, faces a year in prison after being found guilty of two counts of dissemination of terrorist material.

    He trawled the internet for other extremist material, including information on Jihadi John and Isis, a court heard.

    Sentencing Bira at the Old Bailey, Judge Andrew Lees said: “I am sure you read at least part of those publications and you watched at least part of those videos.

    “I’m sure that you were not viewing that material out of curiosity or to update yourself on current affairs or, as you asserted, to share the suffering of those who were killed by Isis or al Qaida terrorist organisation. That was the very evidence the jury rejected.

    “It was obvious to me that dissemination of this sort of material is potentially very dangerous to society and that is why the offences, and indeed all terrorist offences, are serious, and why a custodial sentence, in my judgment, is inevitable.”

    The defendant came to Britain from Algeria in 1998 and worked to support his wife and two children, now aged three and five, the court heard.

    Bira was arrested at his home on September 7 last year after officers became aware he had posted the videos on his social media account.

    Officers seized his phone, computer and media devices, and when they were analysed, detectives found Bira had shared terrorist content of an extremist nature via Facebook.

    All together, officers found 48 terrorist-related videos on his devices – 25 of which he had deleted.

    In his defence, he said he believed the posts were just viewed by a small group of “Facebook friends”.

    At his trial, Bira was found not guilty of a third count – using WhatsApp to disseminate terrorist material.

    Following his conviction, Bira said he had no wish to use WhatsApp or Facebook again, the court heard.

    His wife, who had been a GP in Algeria, said in a statement read to court that her husband was “not a bad person”, adding: “He’s a good husband and father. He’s a family man.”

    Detective Chief Superintendent Clarke Jarrett, from the Met’s counter terrorism command, said: “The distribution of terrorist material on social media is a serious offence.

    “Such material supports terrorism and is often intended to influence and radicalise others. I would urge the public to report any extremist or terrorist material online.””