Reader’s Links for September 21, 2017

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In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

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

About Eeyore

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

91 Replies to “Reader’s Links for September 21, 2017”

  1. School Expels Student For Reporting Illegal Immigrant To ICE

    Kentucky’s Transylvania University dismissed a Trump-supporting undergrad—for drawing attention to another student’s illegal immigration status and urging others to report her to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    The student, Taylor Ragg, targeted his classmate Paolo Garcia, who is in the United States illegally from Mexico. Garcia is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and had been heavily criticizing President Donald Trump.

    According to Ragg, Garcia had openly bragged about her illegal status. When she described herself, in a Facebook post, as “undocumented, unapologetic and unafraid,” Ragg alerted others to her social media post—urging people to “report this illegal.”

    Read more at http://americanactionnews.com/articles/school-expels-student-for-reporting-illegal-immigrant-to-ice#HS3s3Tc6pxrq460C.99

  2. Rep. Maxine Waters: ‘Impeachment Is About Whatever the Congress Says It Is’

    (CNSNews.com) – Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who previously has called for the impeachment of Donald Trump, on Thursday told a Congressional Black Caucus Town Hall on Civil Rights that she expects other members of the black community to back her up:

    “Don’t come here and tell me, ‘Maxine, you keep on doing what you do.’ But when you gonna give me some support?” she asked. “How many of you in your organizations have said, ‘Impeach 45’ ?”

    Waters urged the crowd not to get hung up on what law to invoke in the impeachment process:

    Impeachment is about whatever the Congress says it is. There is no law that dictates impeachment. What the Constitution says is “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and we define that.

    https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/cnsnewscom-staff/rep-maxine-waters-impeachment-about-whatever-congress-says-it

    video at site.

  3. Show your face or face a fine: Austrian authorities distribute flyers about burqa ban (RT, Sep 21, 2017)
    https://www.rt.com/news/404134-austria-burqa-ban-fine/

    “As less than two weeks remain until the ban on Muslim face veils comes into force in Austria, the authorities decided to inform the citizens and foreign nationals about it once again by issuing statements and distributing flyers.

    “The Anti-Face-Veiling Act prohibits covering facial features in public by clothes or other objects in such a way that they are no longer recognizable,” a statement, which will be included in the flyers to be distributed in airports upon arrival, as well as by police officers in public places, says.

    The flyers, which include four languages – German, English, Arabic, and Turkish – will also warn both Austrian nationals and tourists that those violating the new law face fines of up to €150 (US$178).

    The Austrian Interior Ministry also issued a similar statement on its website. The law is set to go into effect on October 1. According to the statement, “all places, which can be accessed at all times or at certain times by a group of people not limited beforehand, including transport facilities such as bus, rail, air or maritime traffic,” are considered to be public and come under the provisions of the law.

    The statement also says that those found in violation of the law will be obliged to remove their face veils at the request of police, or be “taken to a police station by a police officer.”

    Officers will be forbidden, however, to remove face veils by force.

    The legislation, which is commonly referred to as a ‘burqa ban,’ also covers other headwear. People wearing balaclavas, covering their faces with scarves, or even wearing medical masks without sufficient reason could also be found in violation of the new law, according to the Wiener Zeitung.

    The law exempts those covering their faces due to medical or safety reasons, as well as due to hazardous weather conditions such as smog. Participants of street carnivals and other “artistic, cultural or traditional events” are also exempted, along with athletes requiring face-covering gear.

    Austria approved the ban on full face veils in May as part of a larger ‘integration law,’ which the foreign ministry says is aimed at encouraging people to assimilate into Austrian culture.

    “People are not judged by their country of origin but by their will to contribute to Austria. The main goal of this law is to promote and call for integration,” the foreign ministry said in a March press release.

    The law drew criticism after it was initially proposed, with thousands taking to the streets to protest in February, chanting slogans such as “Hey minister! Hands off my sister!”

    Islam is the fastest growing religion in Austria, with around 700,000 Muslims living in the country – twice as many as in 2001, according to AFP. Almost half of those are Turks, followed by Bosnians, Chechens, Syrians, and Afghans.

    Austria was also the first European country to recognize Islam as an official religion, but Vienna city councilor Omar al-Rawi told AFP on Thursday that today’s political parties always address Islam “in a negative context.””

    • ‘Manifestations of religion’: French-Algerian millionaire vows to pay burqa ban fines in Austria (RT, Sep 21, 2017)
      https://www.rt.com/news/404146-french-millionaire-austria-burqa-ban/

      “A French businessman of Algerian origin has called on Muslim women to defy the face veil ban in Austria, offering to pay all their fines. This comes two weeks before the ban enters force.

      “I am reaching out to all women in Europe and especially to women in Austria who voluntarily wear the burqa, I will always be there and pay the fines,” Rachid Nekkaz, a French property dealer and a millionaire with Algerian roots, who says he is not personally a “face veil advocate,” told the Austrian Servus TV in an interview seen by Reuters. The interview will be aired on Thursday evening.

      “If one accepts religious freedom, one must also accept the manifestations of religion,” he also said, adding that he seeks to protect the people’s right to openly demonstrate their religious beliefs, the Austrian APA news agency reports.

      Nekkaz already pays fines for Muslim women wearing face veils in public places defiance of the ban in such countries as France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. He even established a special organization called “Touche pas à ma constitution” (Do not touch my constitution) that settles these bills.

      According to Nekkaz, he already spent around € 300,000 ($360,000) covering face-veil fines in various countries.

      His proposal, however, was slammed by Austrian authorities. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz already threatened the businessman with charges over “incitement to commit an offense.”

      “We would certainly not let it happen,” Kurz said, adding that “those who would wear the niqab or burqa in Austria should expect to face the consequences,” APA reported…”

  4. American Islamists Turn to Ankara

    by Samantha Mandeles and Samuel Westrop
    September 21, 2017 at 4:02 pm

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11041/american-islamists-turn-to-ankara

    For the past few years, the international Muslim Brotherhood has found a welcoming home in Ankara in the face of opposition from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Consequently, U.S. Islamist organizations have also turned to the Turkish regime for collaboration and support.

    On September 18th, a Washington, D.C.- based organization, the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC), hosted an event in New York City with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “US-based Muslim Brotherhood supporters have a busy week coming up,” the Middle East analyst Eric Trager noted. “They’re hanging with Erdogan on Monday, protesting Sisi on Wednesday.”

    Organizers of the TASC event included Ahmed Shehata, a lobbyist for the Muslim Brotherhood who has also worked for Islamic Relief and the Muslim American Society — two prominent Islamist groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United Arab Emirates in 2014.

    Last year, following Turkish claims of an attempted coup against the regime, a TASC rally in support of Erdogan outside the White House included Shehata and a number of prominent American Islamist leaders, such as Nihad Awad, the Executive Director of the terror-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). As the Investigative Project on Terrorism notes, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party subsequently sent a delegation to the United States to hold meetings with senior CAIR officials. Since then, Awad has continued to meet with representatives of the Turkish regime.

  5. Richard: This is what I have been afraid of, Once again the left is lying about the US in Nam, They lied the people in South Vietnam into slavery, they lied about or ignored the people the Viet Cong murdered after they took control of the South and they did their best to ignore the million people who drowned trying to escape from communism. Now Ken Burns is putting the North Vietnamese propaganda in his new documentary about Nam. Everyone who has had much dealings with the left knew he was going to lie and the useful idiots are going to praise him for his artistic work as a historian.

    Infamous North Vietnamese Propaganda Makes Appearance In Ken Burns Series

    Reading Communist propaganda can be tiring. Take, for example, the North Vietnamese pamphlet of October 1966 titled “Report on U.S. War Crimes in Nam-Dinh City” which tells its readers:

    http://www.dailywire.com/news/21367/infamous-north-vietnamese-propaganda-makes-spyridon-mitsotakis?utm_source=dwemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=092117-news&utm_campaign=position2

  6. EU: Delusions without Borders

    by Judith Bergman
    September 21, 2017 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11034/eu-borders-delusions

    On September 13, the President of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, Jean Claude Juncker gave his State of the Union Address to the European Parliament, saying:

    “Last year… Europe was battered and bruised by a year that shook our very foundation. We only had two choices. Either come together around a positive European agenda or each retreat into our own corners… I argued for unity. I proposed a positive agenda to help create … a Europe that protects, empowers and defends… Over the past twelve months, the European Parliament has helped bring this agenda to life. We continue to make progress with each passing day… In the last year, we saw all 27 leaders… renew their vows… to our Union. All of this leads me to believe: the wind is back in Europe’s sails.”

    Most EU citizens probably wondered what EU Juncker was talking about. The EU Juncker inhabits does not appear to be the same one most Europeans live in.

  7. Saudi cleric says women have ‘a quarter of the intellect’ of men (alaraby, Sep 21, 2017)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/blog/2017/9/21/saudi-cleric-women-lack-brainpower-of-men-to-drive

    “In Saudi Arabia, where women cannot drive, a senior state cleric has ruled women should not be allowed behind the wheel because they have “a quarter the brainpower of men”.

    Sheikh Saad al-Hajari, the head of the government’s religious edict authority in the southern province of Assir, recently made the comments at a lecture on “the evils of allowing women to drive”, Saudi daily Sabq reported on Wednesday.

    “It is not their fault, but women lack intellect do they not?” Hajari asked an audience.

    “Their lack of intellect does not harm their piousness because they are made that way,” he said, explaining that in Islam a woman’s testimony is worth half of a man’s.

    “Would you give a man with half an intellect a driving licence? So how would you give one to a woman when she has half an intellect,” he said.

    “And if they go out to the market this gets halved again! So they now have a quarter of an intellect,” Hajari said without giving an explanation for his reasoning.

    He then argues that because women pray less than men – during menstruation women are prohibited from prayers – they also have half the “faith” of men.

    The sheikh’s comments have been circulated widely by social media users in the conservative kingdom with many people harshly criticising his reasoning.”

    • Muslims worried as Austria’s party leaders put spotlight on Islam (thelocal, Sep 21, 2017)
      https://www.thelocal.at/20170921/muslims-worried-austria-election

      “As Austrians grow more openly hostile towards Muslims, major political parties are deliberately brandishing Islamophobia in the Catholic majority country ahead of next month’s parliamentary election.

      A torch-lit procession of ultra-nationalists gathered recently on the outskirts of Vienna to listen to fiery speeches on the anniversary of a 17th-century victory over Muslim Ottomans.

      “Today we have to defend our homeland again,” thundered the leader of the Identitaren movement.

      While the small extremist group is on the fringes of politics, nearly a third of Austrians told a recent survey they would not like to live next to Muslims — a higher figure than in Germany, France, Switzerland and Britain.

      National newspapers warn of “spiralling refugee costs”, Muslim “rapists” and impending Islamist assaults, in response to a record influx of migrants and jihadist attacks across Europe.

      Despite a largely successful integration model, traditionally centrist parties are tapping into these fears to win votes in the country of 8.75 million people.

      Encroaching on far-right territory, the popular new leader of the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), Sebastian Kurz, wants to slash migrant benefits and shut all Islamic kindergartens, which he says create “parallel societies”.

      His party was instrumental in prohibiting foreign funding of mosques and pushing through a ban on the Muslim full face veil, due to enter into force in October.

      That paid off with the ÖVP stealing top spot in opinion polls for the October 15th election. The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) is now battling for second place with the Social Democrats (SPÖ).

      Not to be outshone, SPÖ Chancellor Christian Kern kickstarted his campaign with a video of him chatting to disgruntled voters in a pub.

      “I’m not a racist but… it’s unacceptable that people wear burqas and I am afraid in my own country,” an agitated woman says.

      Kern nods his head, replying: “Everyone has to respect our rules.”

      The FPÖ meanwhile claims that “Islam has no place in Austria” and has vowed to replace the integration ministry with a department for the “protection of the homeland and dominant culture”.

      ‘Insidious’ political Islam

      “When parties address the issue of Islam, it’s always in a negative context,” said Vienna City councillor Omar al-Rawi who previously worked as integration representative for Austria’s Islamic Community, a key Muslim group.

      “The populist undertone is always present. It’s a shame because Austria used to be a success model for how to deal with Muslims,” the 56-year-old from Baghdad told AFP.

      Austria was the first European country to recognise Islam as an official religion in 1912 following its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

      Today Islam is the fastest-growing religion, with around 700,000 Muslims in the country — twice as many as in 2001.

      Turks make up almost half of them, followed by Bosnians, Chechens, Syrians and Afghans.

      There are now more Muslim than Catholic children in Vienna’s state primary schools.

      In some classes, less than half speak German — an issue the ÖVP wants to rectify with mandatory language lessons for pre-schoolers.

      Separately, radicalisation among young Muslims is also a concern, with some 300 Austrians having joined Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq.

      “Most Muslims here are good people but the danger of insidious political Islam is real,” said Austrian-Iraqi journalist Amer Albayati who heads the Liberal Muslims Initiative of Austria.

      The terrorism expert in his mid-70s lives under police protection after receiving death threats from Islamists.

      “The government is not acting on the problem,” he told AFP.

      No ‘one-size’ solution

      At Vienna’s Brunnenmarkt, a huge multicultural market, the rhetoric cuts no ice.

      “I understand that people are more afraid of Muslims now” because of the attacks in neighbouring Germany and elsewhere, said Julian Mihailov, a Bulgarian Turk who moved to Austria in 1959.

      “But normal Islam has nothing to do with extremists,” the vegetable vendor, 47, told AFP.

      Although the security concerns are real, analyst Peter Filzmaier warned against a “lumping-together” of Muslims in the election.

      “There are extremely big differences depending on the country of origin,” he told AFP.

      First-generation Turks are more isolated than their Austrian-born children, while Somalis tend to be more hardline than Bosnians or Iranians, Filzmaier said.

      “There are no one-size-fits-all solutions,” he added.

      For Rawi, Austria has never faced a more uncertain election.

      “I think a majority of Muslims are worried about what direction the country is moving into,” he said.

      “Many are in a socially vulnerable category… and they wonder if their children will still have the same opportunities.””