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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42217132 should be interesting to watch tonight…. what a surprise to BBC, wonder what kind of twist of narratives is going to be offered. UK Taxpayers money used for funding terrorists in Syria, doesn’t shock me at all having seen all these videos from a war torn country. It’s simply sharia implemented by their “moderate” police force.
UK foreign aid money ‘diverted to extremists’ in Syria (BBC, Dec 4, 2017)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42217132
“The government has suspended a foreign aid project after a BBC Panorama investigation found taxpayers’ cash was being diverted to extremists in Syria.
Officers from a UK-backed police force in Syria have also been working with courts carrying out brutal sentences.
A UK government spokesman said it takes allegations of co-operation with terrorist groups “extremely seriously”.
Adam Smith International, the British company running the project, said it strongly denies the allegations.
The Free Syrian Police (FSP) was set up following the uprising in Syria, to bring law and order to parts of the country that were controlled by opposition forces.
Adam Smith International (ASI) has been running the project since October 2014.
Britain was one of six donor countries paying for the project, which provides community policing to the rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Idlib and Daraa provinces.
It is intended to be an unarmed civilian police force, and not co-operate with extremist groups, but Panorama has found examples where that was not the case. Some of Panorama’s allegations against the project include:
Police cooperating with courts that carry out summary executions – including a case where two women were stoned to death
Police being paid in cash and then being forced to hand over funds to an extremist group controlling the area
Police officers being handpicked by an extremist group
Dead and fictitious people are on the police payroll
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson announced in April that the UK would commit a further £4 million to the UK-funded Access to Justice and Community Security (AJACS) scheme that supports the FSP.
ASI says the FSP is an unarmed community police force that brings the rule of law and safety to millions of people in a war-torn country.
An ASI spokesman said it “strongly refutes Panorama’s allegations”.
“We have managed taxpayers’ money effectively to confront terrorism, bring security to Syrian communities and mitigate the considerable risks of operating in a war zone,” he said.
“ASI has managed the project successfully alongside our partner in an extremely challenging, high-risk environment under the close supervision of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and five other governments.”
The company says it uses cash to fund the police because there is no practical alternative – and that the British government is aware of the payments.
Panorama has obtained ASI documents that show dead and fictitious people were on the police payroll.
One police station in Koknaya in Idlib province was supposed to be the base for 57 police officers. But the documents show that when ASI’s staff visited in September 2016, they couldn’t find a single officer.
ASI said officers were accounted for on subsequent visits. The company has now suspended the payment of all salaries at the Koknaya police station.
It said it had identified very few examples across Syria where deceased officers had remained on the salary list.
The documents also show how some police officers in Aleppo province were forced to hand over cash to the extremist group – Nour al-Din al-Zinki – in control of the area.
The Nour al-Din al-Zinki Movement has been linked to atrocities including the beheading of a young prisoner in 2016.
An ASI report from July 2016 warned that 20% of all police salaries were being handed over “to pay for the military and security support that Zinki provides to the five FSP stations located areas under its control”.
As well as handing over a cut of British aid money to Zinki, the police had also worked with a Zinki court “by writing up warrants, delivering notices, and turning criminals over to the court”.
‘Wholly abhorrent’
The police cooperation has continued despite allegations of torture and summary executions involving the court at al-Qasimiyeh.
Tory MP Crispin Blunt, former chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the FSP should not be supporting extremist courts.
He said: “You’ve got people being sentenced to death for homosexuality.
“Clearly that is completely and utterly unacceptable by any standard and the idea that British taxpayers’ money was associated with that would of course be wholly abhorrent.”
ASI says it has strict guidelines in place to ensure detainees are treated fairly and humanely, and that payments to the police stations which were paying Zinki were stopped in August 2016. It says donor governments were kept fully informed.
Panorama also discovered that the Free Syrian Police provided support for courts run by the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda – Jabhat al-Nusra – which handed out extreme punishments.
Police officers were present when two women were stoned to death near Sarmin in December 2014. Sources have told Panorama the officers closed the road so that the execution could take place.
ASI says the police officers who attended the stoning were not formally under FSP control and have since been removed.
Panorama has also seen evidence that al-Nusra handpicked police officers in two stations in Idlib province.
ASI says that the officers imposed by al-Nusra were detected in under two months and that payments to the station were then stopped.
The company says the payments in question only amounted to $1,800 (£1,340) and did not come from British government funds. But ASI didn’t explain how they could be sure when the whole project is funded by cash.
A UK government spokesman said: “We take any allegations of co-operation with terrorist groups and of human rights abuses extremely seriously and the Foreign Office has suspended this programme while we investigate these allegations.
“We believe that such work in Syria is important to protect our national security interest but of course we reach this judgment carefully given that in such a challenging environment no activity is without risk.
“That’s why all our programmes are designed carefully and subject to robust monitoring.”
You can see more on this story on Panorama, Jihadis You Pay For on BBC One at 7.30pm on Monday 4 December and afterwards on iPlayer.”
The Russian Army Is Inflating Giant Dummy Tanks
https://warisboring.com/the-russian-army-is-inflating-giant-dummy-tanks/
Interesting, I wonder why this story is being put out now?
This may be the blog related to a respected Israeli [not IDF] think-tank.
Israeli defense contractors support very interesting blogs. Info re-posted far and wide. Mostly too technical to be of much general interest, a tidbit often catches on.
“Jennifer” [J.E. Dyer] appears sometimes, scolding “loose lips”, or teasing about them.
High-tech arms sales are an important export for Israel. Lots of info, videos are marketing products, directed at potential consumers abroad – their military intel procurement departments.
When Terrorists Learn How to Hack
Terrorist groups are expanding their use of the internet beyond mere messaging and disseminating operational know-how, slowly adding a cyber-hacking toolset that could one day rival that of criminal or state-sponsored hacking. To date attacks have included website defacement, doxing of personally identifiable information, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. But this could grow to more disruptive attacks, not only with the potential to spread fear, but also raise revenue across the far reaches of the globe.
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/tech/terrorists-learn-hack
FBI, DHS Warn of Hacker Mercenaries Funded by Nation-States
http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2017/12/fbi-dhs-warn-hacker-mercenaries-funded-nation-states/144231/?oref=d-river
Good morning early-birds (or very late birds)!
Maybe Erdogan is losing it?
http://www.pravdareport.com/world/asia/turkey/12-10-2017/138898-erodgan_turkey_russia-0/
He is realizing that he has burned his bridges with NATO and is not in the position of being removed from office or becoming a Russian Puppet. He is sleepless because he has lost his chance of becoming Caliph.
The Arab countries hate him intensely. [They hate each other too.]
1- as a Turk.
2- he’s MB: their existential enemy.
3- he’s whoring with Twisted-Ragheads.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f2af5251f14311e919b0f9ea8f0e81ed9c8853e1d97e45a7d24ea4079562815e.jpg
With the Arabs you are either their master or their slave.
“What we’re having to do is really understand, as the director said earlier, the difference between state actors, people [who are] maybe just looking for financial gain and those hybrid actors and that’s become more difficult,” she said.
Does that mean Mrs. Clinton’s team set up another server?
It isn’t hard to imagine Hungary like cork in the Balkan bottle. Pop the cork and that migrant passage flows more smoothly.
That is a very apt description.
Then the contents of the bottle go bad fast.
And build up so much CO2 that the bottle breaks.
European cities used to have walls and fortified gates – for a reason.
That reason has returned:
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/7hgmsf/merry_medieval_christmas/
Prager U/Dinesh D’Sousa: Is fascism left or right?
Byron York: Nunes blows up, threatens contempt after FBI stonewalls House on Russia investigator demoted for anti-Trump bias
House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes has issued an angry demand to the FBI and Department of Justice to explain why they kept the committee in the dark over the reason Special Counsel Robert Mueller kicked a key supervising FBI agent off the Trump-Russia investigation.
Stories in both the Washington Post and New York Times on Saturday reported that Peter Strzok, who played a key role in the original FBI investigation into the Trump-Russia matter, and then a key role in Mueller’s investigation, and who earlier had played an equally critical role in the FBI’s Hillary Clinton email investigation, was reassigned out of the Mueller office because of anti-Trump texts he exchanged with a top FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, with whom Strzok was having an extramarital affair. Strzok was transferred to the FBI’s human resources office — an obvious demotion — in July.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-nunes-blows-up-threatens-contempt-after-fbi-stonewalls-house-on-russia-investigator-demoted-for-anti-trump-bias/article/2642387
I will believe something is being done when I see the Contempt charge referred to a Judge and not the Justice Department.
Mueller Removed Top Agent in Russia Inquiry Over Possible Anti-Trump Texts
WASHINGTON — The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, removed a top F.B.I. agent this summer from his investigation into Russian election meddling after the Justice Department’s inspector general began examining whether the agent had sent text messages that expressed anti-Trump political views, according to three people briefed on the matter.
The agent, Peter Strzok, is considered one of the most experienced and trusted F.B.I. counterintelligence investigators. He helped lead the investigation into whether Hillary Clinton had mishandled classified information on her private email account, and then played a major role in the investigation into links between President Trump’s campaign and Russia.
But Mr. Strzok was reassigned this summer from Mr. Mueller’s investigation to the F.B.I.’s human resources department, where he has been stationed since. The people briefed on the case said the transfer followed the discovery of text messages in which Mr. Strzok and a colleague reacted to news events, like presidential debates, in ways that could appear critical of Mr. Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/us/politics/mueller-removed-top-fbi-agent-over-possible-anti-trump-texts.html
Mueller aide fired for anti-Trump texts now facing review for role in Clinton email probe
James Rosen
By James Rosen, Jake Gibson | Fox News
EXCLUSIVE – Two senior Justice Department officials have confirmed to Fox News that the department’s Office of Inspector General is reviewing the role played in the Hillary Clinton email investigation by Peter Strzok, a former deputy director for counterintelligence at the FBI who was removed from the staff of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III earlier this year, after Mueller learned that Strzok had exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague.
A source close to the matter said the OIG probe, which will examine Strzok’s roles in a number of other politically sensitive cases, should be completed by “very early next year.”
The task will be exceedingly complex, given Strzok’s consequential portfolio. He participated in the FBI’s fateful interview with Hillary Clinton on July 2, 2016 – just days before then-FBI Director James Comey announced he was declining to recommend prosecution of Mrs. Clinton in connection with her use, as secretary of state, of a private email server.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/03/mueller-aide-fired-for-anti-trump-texts-now-facing-review-for-role-in-clinton-email-probe.html
The man was removed from the Mueller investigation for political bias and then put in charge of hiring new agents!! What can go wrong with that.
Anti-Trump Text Messages Show Pattern Of Bias On Mueller’s Team
For nearly four months, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office, the Justice Department and the FBI have kept secret the fact that the FBI agent who oversaw the Russia investigation exchanged anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton text messages with an FBI attorney who was also his mistress.
Those messages, the existence of which were revealed in bombshell reports published over the weekend, highlight a pattern of the Mueller team.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/12/04/anti-trump-text-messages-show-pattern-of-bias-on-muellers-team/
FBI agent worked both Clinton and ‘Trump-Russia’ probes – and sent anti-Trump texts
By Jeff Dunetz December 4, 2017
Per reports in both the NY Times and Washington Post, special counsel Mueller had to boot a top FBI agent off his team this summer, after the DOJ inspector general began investigating the agent for sending text messages that were politically anti-Trump.
The agent, Peter Strzok, was the deputy head of counterintelligence at the FBI, and a key player in the Hillary Clinton’s private email server investigation and the probe into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/04/fbi-agent-worked-clinton-trump-russia-probes-sent-anti-trump-texts/
Such sordid creatures!
Remember we only catch the dumb crooks, the smart ones don’t leave tracks. Which is one reason Trump didn’t fire all of the known swamp critters, he needs them to draw out the hidden ones.
Leave little trails of crumbs…
Sara Carter – FBI Supervisor BOOTED from Mueller Probe INTERVIEWED Mike Flynn
A supervisory special agent who is now under scrutiny after being removed from Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office for alleged bias against President Trump also oversaw the bureau’s interviews of embattled former National Security advisor Michael Flynn, this reporter has learned. Flynn recently pled guilty to one-count of lying to the FBI last week.
FBI agent Peter Strzok was one of two FBI agents who interviewed Flynn, which took place on Jan. 24, at the White House, said several sources. The other FBI special agent, who interviewed Flynn, is described by sources as a field supervisor in the “Russian Squad, at the FBI’s Washington Field Office,” according to a former intelligence official, with knowledge of the interview.
Strzok was removed from his role in the Special Counsel’s Office after it was discovered he had made disparaging comments about President Trump in text messages between him and his alleged lover FBI attorney Lisa Page, according to the New York Times and Washington Post, which first reported the stories. Strzok is also under investigation by the Department of Justice Inspector General for his role in Hillary Clinton’s email server and the ongoing investigation into Russia’s election meddling. On Saturday, the House Intelligence Committee’s Chairman Devin Nunes chided the Justice Department and the FBI for not disclosing why Strzok had been removed from the Special Counsel three months ago, according to a statement given by the Chairman.
The former U.S. intelligence official told this reporter, “with the recent revelation that Strzok was removed from the Special Counsel investigation for making anti-Trump text messages it seems likely that the accuracy and veracity of the 302 of Flynn’s interview as a whole should be reviewed and called into question.”
“The most logical thing to happen would be to call the other FBI Special Agent present during Flynn’s interview before the Grand Jury to recount his version,” the former intelligence official added.
The former official also said that “Strzok’s allegiance to (Deputy Director Andrew) McCabe was unwavering and very well known.”
Flynn, a retired three-star general, issued a statement on Dec. 1, saying, “it has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of “treason” and other outrageous acts. Such false accusations are contrary to everything I have ever done and stood for. But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right.”
According to another source, with direct knowledge of the Jan. 24 interview, McCabe had contacted Flynn by phone directly at the White House. White House officials had spent the “earlier part of the week with the FBI overseeing training and security measures associated with their new roles so it was no surprise to Flynn that McCabe had called,” the source said.
McCabe told Flynn “some agents were heading over (to the White House) but Flynn thought it was part of the routine work the FBI had been doing and said they would be cleared at the gate,” the source said.
“It wasn’t until after they were already in (Flynn’s) office that he realized he was being formerly interviewed. He didn’t have an attorney with him,” they added.
Flynn’s attorney Robert Kelner did not respond for comment.
A former senior Trump administration official, however, described Strzok as one of the “best agents in the bureau. And has now become the latest victim in the Russia investigation.”
“He was the top counterintelligence agent and an asset to the bureau and America,” said the official, who disputed that Strozk would let his political leanings influence his work, despite the alleged anti-Trump text messages his sent Page.
FBI spokeswoman Carol Cratty could not be immediately reached for comment. Strzok could also not be reached for comment.
A former FBI agent said the investigation into Strzok and the reported text messages between him and Page, shows a “bias that cannot be ignored particularly if he had anything to do with Flynn’s interview and his role in it.”
The former U.S. intelligence official questioned, “how logical is it that Flynn is being charged for lying to an agent whose character and neutrality was called into question by the Special Counsel.”
According to an anonymous source in The Washington Post, Strzok’s and Page had exchanged a number of texts that ”expressed anti-Trump sentiments and other comments that appeared to favor Clinton.”
Nunes said Saturday that the mistress of Strzok, who was the top FBI official assigned to Mueller’s Special Counsel, was an FBI lawyer working for FBI Deputy Director McCabe.
The FBI and Justice Department have “failed to sufficiently cooperate with the Committee’s August 24 subpoena, and have specifically refused repeated demands from the House Intelligence Committee for an explanation of Pete Strzok’s dismissal from the Mueller probe,” Nunes said.
“We now know why Strzok was dismissed, why the FBI and DOJ refused to provide us this explanation, and at least one reason why they previously refused to make Deputy Director McCabe available to the Committee for an interview,” the chairman added.
Justice Department spokewoman Sarah Isgur Flores said, “we disagree with the Chairman’s characterization and will continue to work with congressional committees to provide the information they request consistent with our national security responsibilities.”
Isgur Flores said in a written statement to this reporter that the Justice Department provided the House Intelligence committee and leadership with “several hundred pages of classified documents and multiple briefings—including for example clear answers as to whether any FBI payments were made to a source in question related to the dossier—and has more recently cleared key witnesses they have requested to testify, including Mr. McCabe, Mr. Strzok, and the alleged handler in question.”
But Nunes said, “by hiding from Congress, and from the American people, documented political bias by a key FBI head investigator for both the Russia collusion probe and the Clinton email investigation, the FBI and DOJ engaged in a willful attempt to thwart Congress’ constitutional oversight responsibility.”
He added “this is part of a months-long pattern by the DOJ and FBI of stonewalling and obstructing this Committee’s oversight work, particularly oversight of their use of the Steele dossier. At this point, these agencies should be investigating themselves.”
Nunes instructed the House Intelligence Committee staff on Saturday “to begin drawing up a contempt of Congress resolution for DOJ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Unless all our outstanding demands are fully met by close of business on Monday, December 4, 2017, the committee will have the opportunity to move this resolution before the end of the month.”
A source familiar with the chairman’s request said Nunes knows the answers to “whether FBI paid for dossier, whether dossier launched investigation, whether the dossier was used as basis for FISA applications. what steps FBI took to verify dossier upon receipt and since in addition, DOJ has cleared every witness he asked for. Period.”
https://www.hannity.com/content/2017-12-04-exclusive-fbi-supervisor-booted-from-mueller-probe-interviewed-mike-flynn/
CNN – FBI agent dismissed from Mueller probe changed Comey’s description of Clinton to ‘extremely careless’
Electronic records show Peter Strzok, who led the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server as the No. 2 official in the counterintelligence division, changed Comey’s earlier draft language describing Clinton’s actions as “grossly negligent” to “extremely careless,” the source said.
The drafting process was a team effort, CNN is told, with a handful of people reviewing the language as edits were made, according to another US official familiar with the matter.
The shift from “grossly negligent” to “extremely careless,” which may appear pedestrian at first glance, reflected a decision by the FBI that could have had potentially significant legal implications, as the federal law governing the mishandling of classified material establishes criminal penalties for “gross negligence.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, raised questions over why the change was made after receiving documents from the FBI last month, but the identity of who was behind the edit has not been reported until now.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/politics/peter-strzok-james-comey/index.html
Flynn was ambushed by the Comey, Yates DOJ: Tom Fitton
Clinton email scandal, Russia probe compromised by biased investigator
FBI double standard on Flynn and Clinton?
Tucker: FBI is out of control, thinks it’s above the law
SARA CARTER FULL ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WITH SEAN HANNITY (12/4/2017)
TREY GOWDY FULL ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WITH BRET BAIER
JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO FULL ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WITH SEAN HANNITY (12/4/2017)
<strong<Hannity: The American justice system is hanging by a thread
Byron York: In Trump-Russia probe, was it all about the Logan Act?
The documents outlining Michael Flynn’s guilty plea in the Trump-Russia investigation do not allege collusion or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election. They do, however, suggest that the Obama Justice Department was intensely interested in Flynn’s discussions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak about policy issues — sanctions against Russia, a United Nations resolution on Israel — during the presidential transition, when Barack Obama was still in the White House and Donald Trump was preparing to take office.
At the time, top Justice officials suspected Flynn of violating the Logan Act, the 218-year-old law under which no one has ever been prosecuted, that prohibits private citizens from acting on behalf of the United States in disputes with foreign governments. Starting in the summer of 2016 and intensifying in the transition period, the Logan Act, while mostly unknown to the general public, became a hot topic of conversation among some Democrats. A number of lawmakers, former officials, and commentators called on the Obama administration to investigate the Trump team for a possible Logan Act violations — and to do it while Democrats still controlled the
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-in-trump-russia-probe-was-it-all-about-the-logan-act/article/2642434
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-in-trump-russia-probe-was-it-all-about-the-logan-act/article/2642434
U.S. House Republicans are drafting a contempt of Congress resolution against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray, claiming stonewalling in producing material related to the Russia-Trump probes and other matters.
Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes and other committee Republicans, after considering such action for several weeks, decided to move after media including the New York Times reported Saturday on why a top FBI official assigned to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russia-Trump election collusion had been removed from the investigation.
Republicans, including the president, pointed to the reports as evidence that the entire probe into Russian meddling has been politically motivated.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-03/u-s-house-republicans-prepare-contempt-action-against-fbi-doj-jaqegooo
Like the Cubans Before Them, Venezuelan Exiles Are Transforming Florida Politics
Both U.S. parties are hustling to recruit a flood of new voters in a crucial state for presidential elections
https://www.wsj.com/articles/like-the-cubans-before-them-venezuelan-exiles-are-transforming-florida-politics-1512327743
This is going to be interesting, I can’t see the people running from a communist regime voting to impose a communist regime on the US.
We got lots of solid Republicans into Florida from Cuba. Quite a different profile from that of, say, Puerto Rican Hispanics.
Of Mexican, those from further south are either total criminals or people running from the communists.
I think I posted the link to the picture of Che murdering a couple of teen age girls. If I did see that a lot of people get the photo because the useful idiots need to know Che was not anything close to being a hero. He was a murderous thug who enjoyed killing.
After Steinle verdict, rep unveils bill to imprison officials who shelter illegal immigrants
EXCLUSIVE – A Republican congressman plans to introduce a bill Monday that would threaten huge fines and prison time for elected officials accused of sheltering illegal immigrant criminals from deportation, in the wake of the not-guilty verdict in the Kate Steinle murder trial.
Indiana Rep. Todd Rokita’s bill is one of the most aggressive pieces of legislation to date aimed at sanctuary city policies, going beyond the Justice Department’s threat to cut off grants to those jurisdictions.
“Politicians don’t get to pick and choose what laws to comply with,” Rokita told Fox News. “Americans are dying because politicians sworn to uphold the law refuse to do so.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/04/after-steinle-verdict-rep-unveils-bill-to-imprison-officials-who-shelter-illegal-immigrants.html
Venezuela creating digital currency amid financing crisis
Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela is creating a digital currency to combat a financial blockade by the United States, President Nicolas Maduro announced Sunday.
The Petro will be backed by Venezuela’s oil and gas reserves and its gold and diamond holdings, the president said in his weekly television program.
“This is going to allow us to move toward new forms of international financing for the country’s economic and social development,” the president said.
The government also announced the creation of a “blockchain observatory” — a software platform for buying and selling virtual currency.
Although the president did not offer many details, analysts such as Henkel Garcia see the possibility of success as limited.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-create-digital-currency-amid-financing-crisis-210230448.html
Gucci confirms tax evasion prob
Italian fashion giant Gucci on Monday said police raided its offices over suspected tax evasion, confirming a report in the Italian press.
The Milan public prosecutor suspects the fashion house of declaring several years worth of Italian sales in Switzerland, thereby saving around €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) in domestic tax, La Stampa daily said.
The investigation is reportedly based on information from a former senior Gucci employee who has since left the company, which is part of French luxury group Kering.
La Stampa said financial police had spent at least three days searching Gucci’s new, ultra-modern Milan headquarters and also other offices.
“With respect to an article concerning an audit by the local tax police conducted at Gucci’ls offices in Florence and Milan published in an Italian newspaper today, Gucci confirms that it is providing its full cooperation to the respective authorities and is confident about the correctness and transparency of its operations,” Gucci said in a statement.
https://www.thelocal.it/20171204/gucci-confirms-tax-evasion-probe
Australia: Violence erupts between protesters ahead of Milo Yiannopoulos visit
Clashes erupted between protesters and supporters of right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos on Melbourne’s Racecourse Road, on Monday.
Protesters and right-wing supporters clashed as police intervened with pepper spray. Protesters chanted “Fuck of Nazis.”
Tucker: Trump retweet outrage shows death of free speech
Tucker made that man look like the lying anti-western bigot he is.
AUSTRALIA – ABC’s Q&A: Young Muslim woman breaks down over Trump’s tweets
THIS is the heartbreaking moment a young Australian Muslim woman broke down in tears over Donald Trump’s retweeting of a British hate group.
In an emotionally-charged night on the ABC’s Q&A show, where the debate was centred on the issue of free speech, Zara Bilal questioned what could be done about the US President’s constant spreading of racist ideology.
The response of the panellists — and her emotional reaction to the debate — earned the young woman praise on Twitter and left Simon Breheny with egg on his face.
The debate was kickstarted when Zara shared her personal feelings about Trump’s retweeting of the hate-filled, right-wing group Britain First.
[…]
“I would like to say the fact of the matter is this is: those tweets, they are continuing to have after-effects in our society which is why we’re discussing them,” the young woman said.
“Young girls are … having vitriolic statements thrown at them because of tweets that are happening on a different continent. That’s why a currents affairs program is having this discussion because Australian citizens are being affected.”
[…]
Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs said the danger in the Britain First retweets was the fact that Trump was “almost licensing the world to use social media and particularly the public context to abuse people on the basis of their race.
“And that is where we need leadership to stand up against the Trump behaviour. To say this is completely unacceptable and that we have to speak in favour of the ability for people to be in the public arena without that kind of racial and religious abuse.”
[…]Linda Singh accused Breheny of being flippant and “disregarding the questioner”.
“That the President of the US, the leader of the free world is targeting a certain group within our society and that’s having effects on the women here that have shared that experience with us tonight here in Australia. That’s outrageous. It’s terrible. And we can’t be flippant about it.”
more :
https://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/tv/abcs-qa-young-muslim-woman-breaks-down-over-trumps-tweets-ng-a6e793663c9a57940daf4f2f5a8b4d39
video : Q&A – Dec 04 2017
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s4758468.htm
Chris Wallace Grills McMaster Over Trump RTing Anti-Muslim Videos: ‘Why Is That Useful?’
UK and EU ‘appear close to Brexit breakthrough’
There are increasing indications that an agreement on the first phase of Brexit talks is about to be struck.
EU Council president Donald Tusk said he was “encouraged by progress” and a deal on Ireland, the “divorce bill” and citizens’ rights was “getting closer”.
Theresa May is meeting EU figures in an attempt to finalise the deal ahead of a summit in 10 days’ time.
Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the UK had made a concession on the Irish border.
The BBC’s political editor said Mr Lamberts had said the UK was prepared to accept that Northern Ireland may remain in the EU’s customs union and single market in all but name. But, she stressed, the BBC has not seen the draft document nor has it been signed off.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-42217735
U.K.’s May Fighting Fires at Home as EU Brexit Deadline Looms
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is battling to put out multiple political fires at home as she prepares for a crucial meeting in Brussels that she hopes will end the deadlock in Brexit talks.
Euro-skeptics including members of May’s own Conservative party set out new “red lines” for the negotiations ahead of a lunch meeting she’ll have on Monday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
In two further blows, the government’s social mobility advisers quit en masse, saying May has failed to improve the lives of the poorest people in Britain, while her deputy Damian Green is facing fresh calls to resign over allegations of sexual misconduct.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-03/u-k-s-may-fighting-fires-at-home-as-eu-brexit-deadline-looms
Mordor is falling
By J.E. Dyer December 4, 2017
Twitter has provided much food for thought this weekend.
After the tax bill was passed in the Senate, in the early dark of Saturday morning, gloomy tweeps came out of the woodwork to startle the sane with apocalyptic pronouncements on the event.
Some of them seemed to have no connection at all to reality.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/04/mordor-is-falling/
More Rotherhams in England thanks to the Lammy Review?
By Jerome Woehrle December 3, 2017
Around 1400 girls were sexually assaulted in Rotherham, England between 1997 and 2013. Officials in that town’s Labour Party government turned a blind eye to the victims out of political correctness, because the perpetrators were Pakistanis, while the victims were mostly working-class white girls (children as young as 11).
But England seems to have learned little from that episode. Indeed, a recent report from a Labour Party member of its Parliament, David Lammy, has taken aim at British police and courts for jailing black criminals at a high rate. The Lammy Review questions the fact that blacks are jailed in the UK at four times the rate for citizens of other races, even though that fact is not surprising by world standards — blacks are also jailed at four times the rate in the United States.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/03/rotherhams-england-thanks-lammy-review/
Another Rotherham Grooming Gang in Court for Raping and Abducting Young Girls (breitbart, Dec 4, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/04/rotherham-muslim-rape-gang-in-court-for-raping-and-abducting-teen-girls/
“Ten men are on trial accused of raping, abducting, and supplying drugs to eight teenage girls in the town of Rotherham.
Alleged attackers Amjal Rafiq, Nabeel Kurshid, Iqlak Yousaf, Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, Aftab Hussain, Abid Saddiq, Sharaz Hussain, Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, Masaeud Malik, and Waseem Khaliq, aged between 33 and 38, have beensubject to a National Crime Agency investigation into historical child abuse in Rotherham, where mostly Muslim rape gangs operated unopposed for more than a decade.
They first appeared at Sheffield Crown Court court in October, and have now been charged with a total of 33 offences reported to have taken place between 1998 and 2005. The men deny the charges and will stand trial at Sheffield Crown Court in 2018 between September and November.
Their court appearance on Friday was temporarily halted after defendants pointed at the dock and claimed three of the men were filming. Security guards stepped in and confiscated their devices, the Sheffield Star reports.
Judge Sarah Wright reminded those present that taking photos and filming is illegal and could be regarded as contempt of court. She said:
“It’s a criminal offence to take photos in the courtroom. I regard it as a very serious Contempt of Court if there are any breaches of court rules in the public gallery.”
Rotherham’s Labour MP, Sarah Champion, tweeted out news of the trial. In August, she was forced to resign from her position in the party for writing an article mentioning that the majority of sex groomers in the town are Pakistani-origin and the majority of their victims are white. She was accused of “Islamophobia” and racism…”
“MILO Meets Monica Crowley”
Milo – December 4, 2017
Where have you been, EB?
I was worried.
Please yucki, don’t ever worry. I’m busy with the fam and a 6 month old puppy 🙂
I couldn’t help it, I missed you.
You’re a good family man, plus a very lucky puppy.
Red-Green Axis Takes Aim at Free Speech
“American Resurgence Conference, Clare Lopez, former CIA Operations Officer” – The United West – November 21, 2017
“CLUB-K IS PERHAPS THE BIGGEST NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT FACING AMERICA RIGHT NOW THAT FEW PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT”
Worldview Weekend Hour – December 1, 2017
Guest: Clare Lopez
https://www.worldviewweekend.com/tv/video/club-k-perhaps-biggest-national-security-threat-facing-america-right-now-few-people-are
“Center Occasional Paper Exposes a Perfect Storm of Threat” Center for Security Policy
November 2, 2017
https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2017/11/13/center-occasional-paper-exposes-a-perfect-storm-of-threat-port-canaveral-container-lease-tied-to-russian-club-k-missile-system/
Add this to the Gulftainer File. Goes back to 1999. Cross-indexed every which way: Saddam’s Dr. Jafar, Pakistan, MB, CAIR, Pay-to-Play, UAE, Gulen, Iran, Port Canaveral and Trident Sub Base, etc.
Lot’s of ideological enemies cooperating like BFF. Hypocrisy, taqqiya, stone-cold killer greed? Just plain Evil writ large.
Sweden’s Ex-Premier Compares Migrant Influx to Couples Having Children (breitbart, Dec 4, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/04/former-swedish-prime-minister-asylum-seekers-children/
“Former Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has claimed that the large-scale influx of asylum seekers to Sweden is a blessing for the country, comparing them to couples having new children.
The former Swedish leader, who led the country from 2006 to 2014, compared the influx of asylum seekers to having children, saying: “Those who were first seen as a cost will become the best investment of your life,” Expressen reports.
Reinfeldt defended his longtime pro-mass migration views saying that Sweden “has been a country of immigrants. A country that has been open to people who came from all over the world, who entered our society and became part of our country, called themselves Swedes and helped build welfare with their efforts and work.”
When confronted with the fact that the Swedish budget costs for migrants were more than the costs for the entire armed forces, Reinfeldt once again compared asylum seekers to new children saying: “I want to emphasise that there are very few who bring children into the world who say, ‘I’m really doubtful because it’s quite expensive to have children, what should they be good for? Should you put up with these costs in the first few years? There are many diapers and so on.’”
The total cost of the migrant crisis for Sweden has been estimated to be as high as 14 times the military budget by Stockholm University associate professor Jan Tullberg.
The former prime minister also criticised the change in the migrant policy of the current government, claiming they were doing so out of fear of the rise of the anti-mass migration Sweden Democrats.
Earlier this week, the leader of the Sweden Democrats Jimmie Åkesson slammed the Swedish Migration Board, saying they should be more focused on deporting illegals and accused employees of engaging in activism…”
Putin: Almost all Syrian territory freed, including historic Christian regions (RT, Dec 4, 2017)
https://www.rt.com/news/411909-syria-freed-terrorists-putin/
“Almost the entire territory of Syria, including historic Christian regions, has been liberated from terrorists, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said. He stressed the importance of restoring peace to enable refugees of all faiths to return home.
“The situation in this country [Syria] is gradually changing. The Syrian armed forces, supported by the Russian military, have liberated from terrorists almost the whole territory of the country, including historic Christian regions,” Putin said on Monday at a meeting with the heads of Orthodox Christian congregations.
Moscow will help restore holy sites not only of Syria’s Christians, but also Muslims and Jews, the Russian leader stated.
“We will help also the members of other faiths, including Muslims, who, as we are well aware of, have also suffered greatly at the hands of bandits, terrorists and radicals,” Putin said. “We will also help Jews, a number of organizations have already reached us with a call for help in restoration of Judaic holy sites.”
Russia’s president reiterated the importance of a working group created by the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. The workgroup’s goal is to list the destroyed and churches in Syria in preparation for their reconstruction.
The return of the Christian population, as well as of the refugees of other faiths, might play the crucial role in restoration of peaceful life in the war-torn country, Putin stressed…”
Russia says it provides air cover to Kurds fighting in Syria (abcnews, Dec 4, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russia-air-cover-kurds-fighting-syria-51566706
“The Russian military says it has provided air cover to the Kurds fighting the Islamic State group in eastern Syria.
Maj. Gen. Yevgeny Poplavsky said that Russian warplanes have flown 672 missions in support of Kurdish and other volunteer units fighting IS east of the Euphrates River.
Poplavsky, speaking at Sunday’s meeting involving tribal leaders from eastern Deir el-Zour province, also noted that Russian military advisers helped coordinate their fight against the IS in the east. The U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have been chasing IS militants along the border with Iraq, capturing oil and gas fields in eastern Syria.
Poplavsky’s statement, released Monday by the Russian Defense Ministry, reflects Moscow’s efforts to strengthen ties with the Kurds.”
Iran memo demands US account for death of Iranian-American (abcnews, Dec 4, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iran-memo-demands-us-account-death-iranian-american-51566704
“Tehran has sent Washington a memo to protest the death of an unarmed Iranian-American who was shot by U.S. Park Police after a short chase in Virginia.
A Monday report by the official IRNA news agency says Iran’s Foreign Ministry delivered the memo to the Swiss envoy in Tehran, who looks after U.S. interests in Iran.
The 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar died last Monday, 10 days after the shooting that the FBI is investigating.
Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the memo demanded that Washington officials elaborate on the “regretful and illegal” incident, pursue prosecution of suspects and compensate the victim’s family for their loss.
Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic ties after?Iranian militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy following the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.”
Sputnik Freelance Reporter in Yemen Missing After Houthi Takeover of TV Center (sputniknews, Dec 4, 2017)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201712041059684845-sputnik-freelance-correspondent-missing-yemen/
“The Houthis reportedly seized Yemen Today’s broadcasting studios, owned by ex-Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, trapping some 40 employees inside.
Sputnik’s press service has issued a statement saying, “We are doing everything possible to determine the fate of and find our freelance correspondent in Yemen who went missing after the [Houthi] rebels took over the TV center building in Sana’a where he was at the time with other journalists.”
Sunday’s takeover of the Yemen Today channel’s station, that is known for being linked to the General People’s Congress of the country’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, occurred amid clashes between former allies — the Houthis and supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which have been underway since Thursday after Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) party said that the rebels attempted to carry out a coup and forbade loyal servicemen to obey their orders…”
Rebels kill Yemen’s strongman Saleh as alliance collapses (abcnews, Dec 4, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/yemenis-shelter-airstrikes-battles-capital-51556029
“Yemeni rebels killed their erstwhile ally Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s former president and strongman, as their forces battled for control of the capital, Sanaa, officials said. The collapse of their alliance throws Yemen’s nearly 3-year-old civil war into unpredictable new chaos.
The circumstances of Saleh’s death were unclear but Houthi officials said their forces caught up with him as he tried to flee Sanaa.
A video circulating online purported to show Saleh’s body, his eyes open but glassy, motionless with a gaping head wound, as he was being carried in a blanket by rebel fighters chanting “God is great” who then dump him into a pickup truck. Blood stained his shirt under a dark suit.
It was a grisly end for a figure who was able to rule the impoverished and unstable country for more than three decades and remained a powerhouse even after he was ousted in a 2011 Arab Spring uprising. His death recalled another Arab leader killed in the midst of his own country’s uprising, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, whose body was shown in a video being abused by rebels who killed in him 2011.
Saleh’s death was announced by the rebels, known as Houthis, who have been fighting Saleh’s forces for the past week. Two of Saleh’s associates have confirmed and a third official from the government of Yemen’s internationally recongnized president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has also confirmed…”
Yemeni ex-President Saleh killed by Houthis following his realignment with Saudis (GRAPHIC) (RT, Dec 4, 2017)
https://www.rt.com/news/411854-yemens-ex-president-saleh-killed/
“The former President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been killed by Houthi fighters. Meanwhile, violence rages in the capital Sanaa following the breakdown of Saleh’s alliance with the movement last week.
Saleh’s death has been confirmed, both by his own General People’s Congress party and the Houthi-backed media. According to media claims, the movement has now gained the upper hand in the capital.
“The ministry of interior statement announces that they have taken over all the positions and strongholds of the treacherous militia in Sanaa and the surrounding areas, as well as other provinces in order to impose security,” Houthi TV reported adding that “Saleh and his supporters” had been killed.
In a statement on Monday, Saleh declared that Yemen “had to be saved from the madness of the Houthi group.”…”
What Were the Last Words of Yemen’s Murdered Ex-President Saleh? (sputniknews, Dec 4, 2017)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201712041059682449-yemen-saleh-last-words/
“A source in the Yemeni Army has confirmed with Sputnik the former president’s death. Earlier in the day, a graphic video was posted on the internet presumably showing the body of Saleh.
“Zero hour is coming to the battlefield in Sanaa,” former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Sunday in his last public statement, quoted on Monday by the Al Arabiya broadcaster. “The country has to be saved from the madness of the Houthi group.”
On Sunday, Saleh also refused to cooperate with the Houthi rebels, the group officially known as Ansar Allah.
Earlier on Monday, the Houthis blew up the house of the former president in Sanaa.
Later in the day, extremely graphic footage emerged on social media, presumably showing the corpse of Saleh. The video shows a man’s body resembling Saleh. However, the authorities are yet to confirm the authenticity of the video and the identity of the person depicted.
Speaking with Sputnik Arabic, a senior Yemeni Army official, Maj. Gen. Yahya al Mahdi, had confirmed the death of the former president. The Yemeni Army is an ally of Ansar Allah. According to al Mahdi, Saleh was killed several several hours ago on the Sinhan-Maareb highway amid his secret movements through the country…”
Getting huge play in Israeli media.
Saleh apparently reconciled with Saudi MbS.
He said on Saturday that he was “turning the page.” It was all very positive. Good news passed to Jared Kushner, congradulations all around.
Didn’t last long.
Man purposes, God disposes.
Only in the sense of Him paying attention to every sparrow. Otherwise it might not reach the “Man-as-agent of destiny” level.
You’ve probably read this article by Andy Bostom:
The Houthi ‘Motto,’ and My Limited Sympathy for War-Torn Yemen
http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-houthi-motto-and-my-limited-sympathy-for-war-torn-yemen/
euronews – Ex-Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh killed by Houthi forces
Houthis claim takeover of Yemeni capital, president calls for ‘all people’ to rise against them (RT, Dec 4, 2017)
https://www.rt.com/news/411868-houthis-take-over-yemeni-capital/
“The capital of Yemen, Sanaa is now reportedly under control of Houthi fighters, according to media citing the Interior Ministry. The Iran-backed group has allegedly retaken the city amid reports of the death of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saleh, who formally renounced his alliance with the Houthis on Sunday, was killed while trying to flee the capital, according to the Houthi-controlled ministry. It said their former ally “was creating chaos by working with militias of aggression” in the country, and “helping extremist militants.”
Having accused the former leader of betrayal and inciting even more violence in Yemen, the ministry said the Houthi forces have “ended the crisis” and now control “all positions” of opposing militias. There have been reports that the eldest son of the ex-president Ahmad Saleh, regarded as his likely successor, has been arrested.
On Monday, Yemen’s embattled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi ordered his armed forces to launch a massive military offensive against Houthis in Sanaa. The government of Hadi, based in southern Yemen in Aden and backed by Saudi Arabia, has announced what it called “Operation Arabian Sanaa,” Al Arabiya reported, adding that an amnesty has been promised to those fighters who cut ties with the Iran-backed rebels.
“The president will soon announce a general amnesty for all those who collaborated with the Houthis in recent months and who have retracted that allegiance,” the Saudi Arabian media cited Hadi’s prime minister, Ahmad Obaid bin Daghr, as saying. In a televised speech broadcast by Sky News Arabia, Hadi also called on people in all Yemeni provinces to “rise against” the Houthi forces…”
The Latest: Yemen’s president says unite against rebels (abcnews, Dec 4, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-yemeni-president-killed-51560207
“Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has urged Yemenis to unite against the country’s Shiite Houthi rebels, describing them as “Iranian militias” and a “nightmare.”
Hadi, who has been self-imposed exile in Riyadh in recent past years, delivered his televised speech hours after the Houthis killed their onetime ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saleh’s forces and Houthis joined ranks in 2014 against Hadi’s government, forcing him to seek military intervention by his Gulf neighbors. When the Saleh-Houthi alliance began to unravel, Hadi offered the opportunity of a fresh start in relations with Saleh, days before his death.
“Yemen is passing through a decisive turning point that needs our unity and steadfastness in the face of these sectarian militias,” Hadi said, referring to the Houthis.
He offered condolences for the death of Saleh, describing him and others who were killed in the past days of clashes as “martyrs.”
“Let’s put our hands together to end this nightmare,” said Hadi, who succeeded Saleh in 2012. He added that government forces would support an “uprising” against the Houthis in Sanaa.”
Let’s put our hands together to end this nightmare
Via Skype from Riyadh? Telepathy?
Smoke fills the air as fighters from Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, continue to gain grounds through the Yemeni capital Sanaa from former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces on Monday.
Earlier in the day the fighters attacked Saleh’s home claiming that the former president had been killed while attempting to flee to Maarib from the capital Sanaa. Unverified footage released from Khawlan, just outside of Sanaa, appeared to show a dead body resembling Ali Abdullah Saleh after the Houthis’ announcement.
Yemen: Houthi fighters patrol Sanaa after blowing up home of Ali Abdullah Saleh
Fighters from Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, have attacked the home of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Monday, before reportedly recapturing most of the city from forces loyal to Saleh.
Footage shows smoke rising from the home of the former Yemeni President after the Houthi attack, as Houthi fighters control and guard the area.
Earlier, unverified footage released from Khawlan, just outside of Sanaa, appeared to show a dead body resembling Ali Abdullah Saleh. The footage was released shortly after the Houthis claimed that Saleh had been killed while attempting to flee to Maarib from the capital Sanaa.
Since Sunday, at least 125 people were killed in battles between Houthi fighters from Ansarallah and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The two groups have fought together against the Saudi-led coalition, which intervened in Yemen in March 2015 in a bid to reinstate the government of ousted President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. In October, the Saudi-led coalition imposed a blockade on Yemen, following an intercepted missile attack on Riyadh, for which the Houthis claimed responsibility.
ISIS release horrifying execution video showing Syrian Air Force Pilot captured 18 months ago burned alive (dailymail, Dec 4, 2017)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5143115/ISIS-execution-video-showing-Syrian-pilot-burned-alive.html
ISIS issue new threat to Christmas shoppers with image showing armed jihadist in London’s Oxford Street decked out in festive lights (dailymail, Dec 4, 2017)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5143345/ISIS-poster-jihadi-walking-London-Oxford-Street.html
“ISIS has made another threat to Christmas shoppers in London with a menacing poster warning of an impending attack.
The poster, which as been published by a pro-ISIS media group, shows a jihadi draped in a bullet belt walking down Oxford Street underneath this year’s Christmas lights which currently hang above the central London road.
It carries the warning: ‘From now onwards we will go to attack them and they will not come to attack us.’…”
ISIS are planning ‘spectacular attacks’ from the desert despite no longer being a serious war-fighting force says senior US colonel (dailymaill, Dec 4, 2017)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5144663/IS-planning-terror-attacks-desert-says-officer.html
“Islamic State militants are planning ‘spectacular attacks’ from the desert as they morph into an insurgent force, a top US colonel claimed yesterday.
Colonel Ryan Dillon said the barbaric group no longer has an army nor the capability to launch major combat operations in Iraq and Syria following a series of devastating defeats.
But he said as a result they were moving into remote areas such as the desert where they can plot mass casualty attacks on civilians and local forces.
Col Dillon, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the Western coalition against IS said: ‘They are no longer a military threat. They no longer have an army that we saw present itself in 2014.’
Speaking during a briefing at the US embassy in London, he said they no longer have the ability to fight in a major combat operations.
He said there were some 3,000 IS fighters remaining in Iraq and Syria.
But these were ‘moving off into uninhibited areas, in areas where they are used to being familiar with, in the desert, in smaller cells, to transition back to how they began with insurgent like tactics and in efforts to conduct spectacular attacks throughout Iraq and Syria.’
‘We are going to make sure we adjust accordingly, whether that’s through training or intelligence sharing.’
He warned the defeat of IS in major towns and cities did not mark the end of the campaign.
He said: ‘It does not mark the end the end of Daesh.
‘We are looking at the enemy and seeing how he adapts and we will provide our partners the support that they need to deliver the lasting defeat to Daesh in Iraq and Syria.’”
Germany Offers Voluntary Repatriation Payments to Migrants That Will Go Home
BERLIN (AP) – Germany wants to support rejected asylum-seekers who voluntarily move back to their home countries with a one-time payment of 3,000 euros ($3,570).
The Interior Ministry says those who qualify can apply by a Feb. 28 deadline and they would get the money once they return home.
Migrants who agree to go back even before their asylum request is rejected have already been offered 1,200 euros per adult and 600 euros per child under a different program for almost a year. They are now eligible to apply for both programs.
But the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported Sunday that 8,639 migrants participated in the returnee program between February and October, even though there are about 115,000 rejected asylum-seekers in Germany -many of whom can’t be deported for humanitarian reasons.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/03/germany-offers-voluntary-repatriation-payments-migrants-will-go-home/
Obama’s CIA Director: Trump’s Russia Contacts Didn’t Break Law
Washington Post readers who believe that the paper will Woodward and Bernstein their nemesis out of office are hardest hit. How inconvenient. Reality is supposed to stay away from the left’s media bubble.
That’s rich coming from Obama’s CIA boss and Secretary of Defense.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/268590/obamas-cia-director-trumps-russia-contacts-didnt-daniel-greenfield
Flynn’s Plea Bargain A Near-Nothing Burger
With no smoking gun, the anxious Left’s euphoria is premature.
December 4, 2017
Matthew Vadum
Former National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn’s endlessly hyped plea bargain does not signal the beginning of the end for the Trump administration, no matter how ardently the mainstream media and left-wing political hacks want it to be so.
It is merely an inevitable consequence of the perjury traps set by the corrupt Washington swamp-dwelling Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and sprung by otherwise law-abiding Trump operatives. Mueller was appointed May 17 by Rod J. Rosenstein, in his capacity as acting Attorney General by virtue of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ self-initiated recusal in the Russian electoral interference investigation.
The euphoria on the Left is premature.
The Flynn matter is an inconvenient bump in the road with bad political optics in the short term, not a harbinger of Armageddon. It may even constitute an admission by Mueller that this is all he has against the Trump administration and that he is running out of options as a prosecutor.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268606/flynns-plea-bargain-near-nothing-burger-matthew-vadum
Assessing Threat Levels At Home And Abroad
An all-star panel identifies enemies from within and without at Restoration Weekend.
December 4, 2017
Mark Tapson (Moderator): Gentlemen, let’s begin with the big picture, the topic title. What are the threats abroad to America and American allies and interests? And even though the word “threats” may suggest military threats, I think it’s fair to include cultural and economic threats as well if you want to get into that. So let’s go down the line, shall we, and give an overview of what everyone considers those threats to be and why. We’ll begin with Daniel.
Daniel Greenfield: Well, I’m going to actually speak, not so much about threats to America as a country but threats to our civilization, by which I mean Western civilization. So civilizations have two types of threats. One is rival powers, for example in the case of China, and I think we have somebody on this panel who’s quite an expert on that. I don’t need to go into that any further. But the other threat is the threat of barbarism, the threat of barbarians overrunning a civilization, and we do have a barbarian threat here that everybody is quite aware of, I’m sure, and that is Islam. Now barbarians can overrun civilizations when civilizations become decadent, when they’re weakened, when they allow barbarians to actually start invading their borders because the barbarians are useful. The barbarians do useful things; they handy for chores, and they’re handy to fight the wars that you don’t want to fight. So the Romans armed the barbarians and turned them into their soldiers. We do the same thing. We’re arming jihadists in Syria. We armed jihadists in Libya because we thought they would be useful for advancing our foreign policy, and then those jihadists turn around and they kill us because you know, that is what barbarians do. So the biggest threat to our civilization, and it’s important that we think of ourselves as a civilization rather than just a country, is our own decline. When we start to decline, when we start to doubt ourselves, when we stop believing in our own exceptionalism, then we let the barbarians take over, we let the barbarians invade, and then we say that the barbarians are our strength. Because what could possibly make us stronger than having some barbarians in our country, running us over, blowing us up, stabbing us and shooting us, while peacefully shouting “Allahu Akbar” for reasons, of course, that have nothing to do with Islam.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268595/assessing-threat-levels-home-and-abroad-frontpagemagcom
video at site
test
If Kate Steinle’s Killer Isn’t Guilty, Then San Francisco Is
Posted On 01 Dec 2017
In the summer of 2015, a 32-year-old tourist named Kate Steinle was shot and killed in San Francisco in a senseless murder that inspired outrage from sea to shining sea. The (confessed) killer – a homeless illegal immigrant named Jose Garcia Zarate – was arrested and charged with first degree murder. His story, which included seven previous felonies and five previous deportations, sent shockwaves through the American political system. Donald Trump, then on the precipice of what would turn out to be a historic run for president, used the tragic case to rail against San Francisco’s sanctuary city policies, which Garcia Zarate admitted acted as a beacon, drawing him there in the first place.
And he apparently made a fantastic decision when he chose to commit his most deadly felony there as well. Because on Thursday, a jury in San Francisco determined that Garcia Zarate, the (confessed) killer, was not actually responsible for Steinle’s death in any way that deserves lawful punishment. It was just fine. An accident. He was not guilty of murder and he was not guilty of manslaughter. He was not even guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. No, the worst he could be convicted of was unlawful possession of the gun – the gun he used to kill an innocent woman.
Okay, so now what?
http://patriotnewsdaily.com/if-kate-steinles-killer-isnt-guilty-then-san-francisco-is/
Social Media, Fake News, and Free Speech
One of the pillars of American exceptionalism is tottering.
December 4, 2017
Bruce Thornton
Free speech has come under attack on two fronts since Donald Trump was elected president. Many unhappy with his victory charge that Russia interfered in our election on his behalf by using social media like Facebook and Twitter, which should be held responsible for the content on their sites. Meanwhile, some political activists and politicians are calling for a revision of our free speech laws to prevent “hate” speech and “fake news” from polluting the public square. Everybody is complaining about false or biased reporting that is distracting and confusing voters with disinformation and appeals to unsavory emotions. One of the pillars of American exceptionalism, the right of citizens to speak freely, no matter how rough or hateful their words, seems to be tottering.
The revelations that Russian propaganda exploited social media to affect the outcome of the election has resulted in Twitter, Facebook, and Google executives getting hauled before Congress to answer questions about the parts their businesses may have played in supposed Russian electoral interference. According to the testimony of these executives, Russian-sponsored Facebook ads reached 135 million American voters over 32 months, and the New York Times reports “more than 126 million users potentially saw inflammatory political ads bought by a Kremlin-linked company, the Internet Research Agency.” Many Congressmen from both parties demanded to know what social media companies will do to control the dissemination of questionable or hostile information.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268572/social-media-fake-news-and-free-speech-bruce-thornton
Starving Socialist State That Can’t Afford to Print Money Wants Own Bitcoin
Venezuela has lots of Socialism, no food and no money. And when I say, “no money”, I mean that literally. The Socialist failed state can’t afford to pay to print its own money.
Flashback: Socialism works until you run out of money to pay for the paper to print your money
There’s no money. Inflation is out of control. The people are starving. The Socialist dictatorship is now a tyranny in fact. So it’s time for some Bitcoin. Finally a Socialist cryptocurrency for the masses.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/268603/starving-socialist-state-cant-afford-print-money-daniel-greenfield
Iran and Hamas Test Limits of Israel’s Patience
Israel responds to emerging threats and establishes credible deterrence.
Three weeks ago, the BBC revealed that Iran was in the process of constructing a military base just south of Damascus near the town of Al-Kiswah, 31 miles from the Israeli border. The British broadcaster displayed what it described as satellite photos showing a series of symmetrical structures arranged in a deliberate pattern, and connected by a road.
That base was hit over the weekend in the early morning hours of December 2. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that loud explosions were heard in the vicinity of Damascus and electricity was cut off in parts of the city. The Times of Israel, citing Arab media reports, noted that at least 12 Iranians were killed in the blasts and some of their names were posted on accounts of a messaging app associated with Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
As is its wont, Israel has not commented on the attack, preferring instead to keep its enemies guessing. Some reports have suggested that Israel employed Jericho surface-to-surface missiles while others maintained that the Israeli Air Force fired a number of missiles while over Lebanese airspace.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268597/iran-and-hamas-test-limits-israels-patience-ari-lieberman
Erdogan: No Moderate Islam
by Burak Bekdil
December 4, 2017 at 4:30 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11484/erdogan-moderate-islam
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Turkey’s strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, may have exhibited all possible features of political Islam since he came to power fifteen years ago, but at least he has been bold and honest about his understanding of Islamism: There is no moderate Islam, he recently said again.
This comment does not mark any U-turn, or a radical deviation from his earlier freshman-self back in the 2000s. The problem is that his Western “allies” have stubbornly preferred to turn a blind eye to his poster-child Islamism. Worse, they still do.
Several years ago, Erdogan’s ideological-self clearly stated that “Turkey is not a country where moderate Islam prevails.” In the same speech, his pragmatic-self — the one that wanted to look pretty to a chorus of Western praise — added that, “We are Muslims who have found a middle road”. But which “middle road?”
In the several years that followed, Erdogan proudly exhibited another feature of Islamism in a make-believe assertion: Muslims never do wrong; if a Muslim does wrong then he is not Muslim.
Contrary to Media Reports, FBI Hate Crime Statistics Do Not Support Claims of Anti-Muslim Backlash
by Jonathan S. Tobin
December 4, 2017 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11483/fbi-hate-crimes
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The annual release of the FBI’s hate crime statistics report has attracted little attention by the mainstream media in the past few years. The most recent report, however — revealing a rise in hate crimes targeting Muslims and whites in 2016 — has been greeted with more notice than usual by the daily newspapers; even CNN chimed in to highlight the results of the report.
The reason for the sudden interest in the report was that its data appeared to confirm some of the conventional wisdom about the impact of the U.S. 2016 presidential election on anti-Muslim sentiment in America. According to the report, compared to 2015, there were increases in most categories of hate crimes. The bulk of them were based on race, ethnicity and ancestry — with the total number of such incidents rising by 5%. Still, it is the increase in anti-Muslim crimes, which increased by 20% since 2015, that stands out.
As bad as that sounds, there are those, such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), who consider it to be merely another piece of evidence that America has become a hostile place for Muslims since the September 11, 2001 attacks – and particularly since Donald Trump began running for president. In fact, the ADL, which has long held that hate crimes are under-reported, due to the lack of uniform procedures for compiling data in different states around country, views the FBI report as simply the tip of the iceberg.
Jonathan Tobin without a paywall!
Now I can access his articles directly instead of cadging brief citations out of context.
Might not be such good news for him, though.
https://nypost.com/2017/12/02/witness-describes-terror-after-man-hurls-molotov-cocktail-into-supermarket/
Customers at a Brooklyn supermarket Friday feared for their lives after a masked man hurled a Molotov cocktail inside, a witness said.
“Everyone was scared. People were screaming. There was fire and smoke everywhere,” a worker at Tashkent Supermarket told The Post.
BREAKING – Donald Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ allowed by US Supreme Court (express, Dec 4, 2017)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/888080/Donald-Trump-Muslim-travel-ban-US-Supreme-Court-full-effect
“THE United States Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to enforce his controversial “Muslim ban”.
The ban is now set to go into “full effect”, although it is not clear on what timescale this will happen.
Legal challenges against the controversial measure are still making their way through the US courts, and have not yet reached the Supreme Court.
However it will nonetheless go into full effect as the legal proceedings continue.
The ban will prevent citizens of six majority-Muslim countries from entering the US.
It applies to travellers entering the US from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
Lower courts allowed parts of the ban to go into effect in June.
People from the targeted nations with strong ties to the US – for example if they had relatives who lived in the country or were US citizens – could not be kept from entering the country.
However the stronger version of the ban will apply, preventing all travel from citizens of the six countries.
The Supreme Court approved the motion with just two dissensions, by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
The two dissenting justices would have left the lower court orders in place.
A final decision on whether the ban is constitutional will be made by the end of June 2018.”
Richard: More evidence Civilization is dead.
19-year-old US Model Just Sold Her Virginity for $3.9 million to an Unnamed Businessman
he US-based model claims that this was a dream come true for her, as she needed the money to fund her schooling.
A controversial site called “Cinderella Escorts” has become popular with young and old customers who buy women’s ‘virginity’ online. The escort agency is run from the bedroom of 26-year-old Jan Zakobielski in his parent’s home in Dortmund, Germany.
Men who want to have sex with the escorts on the site have put down a 40 percent deposit by transferring the funds to Cinderella’s bank account prior to a meeting. The remaining money is paid in cash to the women at the point of sale of sex.
http://iniada.net/2017/11/22/19-year-old-us-model-just-sold-her-virginity-for-3-9-million-to-an-unnamed-businessman/
Will Afghanistan Be the Next Home Base for ISIS?
Home > World > Afghanistan > Will Afghanistan Be the Next Home Base for ISIS?
By Clarion Project Monday, December 4, 2017
As ISIS gets roundly defeated in Iraq and Syria, its operations have gotten stronger in Afghanistan. Will this conflicted country be the future home of the next “caliphate”? Quite possibly.
Take a look at our infographic below and get updated on the current situation in Afghanistan.
https://clarionproject.org/afghanistan-next-home-base-isis/