Reader’s links, December 12, 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.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

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

56 Replies to “Reader’s links, December 12, 2017”

    • CNN -James Clapper: Trump actions ‘look like obstruction’

      In an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, former director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that the efforts of the Trump administration and conservative media to discredit US institutions and special counsel Robert Mueller are “disturbing.”

      • Not near as disturbing as having partisan Politicians twist the law and selectively enforce the laws.

    • Wife of demoted DOJ member worked for fusion GPS: report

      Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz on the Mueller investigation and a senior Justice Department official getting demoted last week for concealing his meetings with the people behind the anti-Trump dossier.

    • Following the trail of the unverified Trump dossier

      Former senior British diplomat, Sir Andrew Wood, says he was instructed by Christopher Steele to reach out to Sen. McCain about the dossier; Catherine Herridge goes in-depth for ‘Special Report.’

  1. Iran commander: ‘Hezbollah more powerful than Zionist regime’ (memo, Dec 11, 2017)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171211-iran-commander-hezbollah-more-powerful-than-zionist-regime/

    “Israel no longer poses a “dangerous threat” to Iran following Hezbollah’s rise to military prominence, declared the Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami.

    The Iranian general said that the Islamic Republic had taken the decision to downgrade the threat posed by Israel. His announcement comes on the back of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, declaring victory in Syria today. The Russian air force and Hezbollah troops backed by Iran swung the tide of war in Syria in favour of President Bashar Al-Assad.

    Lebanon based military group, Hezbollah, has enhanced its reputation as a formidable force in the region. Despite losing fighters in the conflict, analysts believe it has recruited extensively and acquired new weapons and skills that turn it from a paramilitary group able to wage guerrilla operations into an actual mini-army.

    Salami’s remark highlights the growing confidence in Tehran of being able to rely on Hezbollah to confront its enemies in the region. According to Iranian sources, the IRGC commander said that Israel had been removed from the level of a “dangerous threat” as it “is balanced with Hezbollah and Hezbollah has the superior hand in this balance and is more powerful than the Zionist regime.”

    Addressing a forum in Tehran today, Salami stressed that “any new war between Israel and another party, including Hezbollah, threatens the regime’s [Israel’s] survival”. “This shows,” explained Salami, “that the US is in serious decline in its ability to prolong the Zionist regime’s survival.”…”

  2. Egypt: 161 placed on terror list over Muslim Brotherhood membership (memo, Dec 11, 2017)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171211-egypt-161-placed-on-terror-list-over-muslim-brotherhood-membership/

    “Egyptian authorities listed 161 citizens, including 21 women, as terrorists on charges of membership in an outlawed organisation, in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, and spreading chaos in the country, the Egyptian official gazette reported yesterday.

    The decision to list the 161 persons was issued in November, the paper said, adding that they will remain on the country’s terror list for three years.

    Egypt banned the Muslim Brotherhood, designated it a terrorist organisation and launched an unprecedented crackdown on its leaders, members and sympathisers in the wake of the 2013 military coup that ousted the first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi…”

  3. Houston man arrested for trying to aid Daesh (memo, Dec 12, 2017)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171212-houston-man-arrested-for-trying-to-aid-daesh/

    “An 18-year-old Houston man was charged on Monday with trying to support the radical group Daesh and distributing information about how to make bombs, the US Justice Department said.

    Kaan Sercan Damlarkaya, who is a US citizen, was arrested on Friday in Houston after the filing of a criminal complaint by federal prosecutors, the Justice Department said in an emailed statement.

    This followed an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that found he had allegedly said he planned to travel overseas to fight for Daesh or failing that, commit an attack in the United States, the statement said…”

  4. ISIS could be preparing to form new home in Afghanistan after losing war in Iraq and Syria (express, Dec 12, 2017)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/891155/isis-news-terrorism-syria-iraq-afghanistan-new-home-extremist-terror-attack

    “ISIS could be about to try and turn Afghanistan into their next stronghold, according to a political analyst for the Russian International Affairs Council.

    The terrorist organisation no longer have a physical home after Iraq and Syria were officially liberated from its clutches in the past month.

    Now, Nikita Mendkovich says Afghanistan may be the next place that the extremists try to set up home.

    He said: “There has been long time instability in Afghanistan and a high level of terrorist activity in the context of the weakness of the governmental security agencies.

    “Currently, the groups fighting under the Islamic State flag are active in many regions of Afghanistan, including the Nangarhar Province and in some northern areas, like Kunduz.”

    The country has struggled to rid themselves of jihadis and have been involved in a civil war against extremism for years.

    US troops have been present in Afghanistan since 2001 to try and help bring peace and security in the region…”

  5. Trump says ‘chain migration’ led to NYC terrorist attack, wants family visas abolished (RT, Dec 12, 2017)
    https://www.rt.com/usa/412798-trump-chain-migration-terrorist-attack/

    “In the wake of the botched NYC terrorist attack, President Donald Trump has called for an end to the so-called “chain migration” and told Congress to act in order to thwart future incidents like the one carried out in a tunnel in midtown Manhattan.

    Trump issued a statement Monday after the morning’s terrorist attack, allegedly carried out by Bangladeshi-native and Brooklyn resident Akayed Ullah. He detonated a pipe bomb in the 42nd Street passageway tunnel in midtown Manhattan, injuring himself and three others.

    “Today’s terror suspect entered our country through extended-family chain migration, which is incompatible with national security,” Trump said. “America must fix its lax immigration system, which allows far too many dangerous, inadequately vetted people to access our country.”

    “Congress must end chain migration,” the president empgasized, referring to the program whereby immigrants enter the US through the sponsorship of relatives already established in the country…”

  6. German Police Union Boss: Politicians Give Empty Words Against Antisemitic Incidents While Migrant Policies Make It Worse (breitbart, Dec 12, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/12/german-police-union-boss-politicians-play-lip-service-antisemitism-migrant-policies-make-worse/

    “German police union head Rainer Wendt blasted German politicians in the wake of anti-Semitic protests over the weekend, saying that despite their condemnations of their migrant policies have made the problem of anti-Semitism worse.

    The German police chief scorned politicians who condemned the anti-Semitic protests that occurred in Berlin over the weekend and said their words were not enough, Die Welt reports.

    “The pithy statements of the politicians against anti-Semitism do not help us,” Wendt said, adding that “the same politicians who continue this immigration and deportation drama by illegally allowing in more and more foreigners from the most anti-Semitic region of the world and not even deporting the offenders among them, then proclaim that they are doing everything against anti-Semitism.

    “3,000 Salafists have turned 11,000, including many who once came to the country as asylum seekers,” he said.

    Wendt called on German politicians to take action in the wake of the protests against the United States moving its embassy to Jerusalem and declaring it the Israeli capital, which saw individuals burning Star of David flags in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin…”

  7. Austrian City Labelled Radical Islamic Extremist ‘Stronghold’ (breitbart, Dec 12, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/12/austrian-city-labelled-radical-islamic-extremist-stronghold/

    “The southern Austrian city of Graz is now being labelled a “stronghold” of radical extremism after a new report revealed that half of the mosques in the city are suspected of preaching radical Islam.

    Experts say that 11 out of the 20 mosques in the city have links to radical Islamic theology and are under constant surveillance by domestic intelligence and police.

    Authorities have also proven that many of those radicalised in mosques in the city have travelled to the Middle East to fight for the Islamic State terror group, with around a dozen having recently returned, Kronen Zeitung reports.

    Several large-scale raids have also occurred on mosques in the city, forcing some of them to shut down because of alleged links to terrorist groups…”

  8. Veil-Wearing Muslims Leave Austria as the Niqab Ban Kicks In (breitbart, Dec 12, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/12/veiled-muslims-leave-austria-niqab-ban/

    “Austria’s new ban on facial coverings in public has prompted veil-wearing Muslims and their families to leave the country, reports a new documentary.

    Police have so far refused to give details on the law’s effect on their work, but a spokesman told news show Vienna Today that there have been around 100 violations of the ban since it came into force on October 1st.

    Two thirds of these were said to concern the Islamic face veil, while the remaining third concerned people using masks or scarves to hide their face — an act which now carries a penalty of €150 since the ban came into place.

    Elif Öztürk, from ‘Documenting Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism’, told the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) news programme that the ban makes devout Muslims feel their identity is under attack from the state, “even when they are Austrian citizens”.

    According to the NGO worker, niqab-wearing Muslims are suffering under the new law — which carries a €150 fine — and have begun to emigrate, isolate themselves from society and even lose weight, as the most common responses to the popular measure…”

  9. Asylum Seeker Who Escaped Psychiatric Hospital Committed Over 50 Crimes in 14 Months (breitbart, Dec 12, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/12/asylum-seeker-escaped-psychiatric-hospital-committed-50-crimes-14-months/

    “Authorities in Germany have released new information regarding a dangerous asylum seeker who fled a psychiatric hospital in October, saying he committed more than 50 crimes over a period of only 14 months and is still on the loose.

    27-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker Hicham B. is said to have attempted to claim asylum in several different countries including Finland, France, and Denmark under false identities. When his lies were discovered he would simply move to another country and repeat the process, German public broadcaster Südwestrundfunk reports.

    Eventually, after committing over 50 crimes including sexual assaults, violence, and even attacking police officers, and threatening other asylum seekers with a knife, Hicham B. was arrested and placed in a detention centre in Ingelheim.

    He did not stay there long as he was transferred to a psychiatric hospital after attempting to set fires in his prison cell. According to other inmates, he told them that he would rather kill himself than leave Germany, and that he would also kill others if forced to leave the country.

    Once in the psychiatric hospital, the 27-year-old managed to escape the facility during a football match organised for the inmates, and due to the security guards not being allowed to detain escapees he was able to get away before police arrived. He remains at large…”

  10. Pakistani army: Militants attack patrol, killing 2 soldiers (abcnews, Dec 12, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistani-army-militants-attack-patrol-killing-soldiers-51732971

    “Pakistan’s army says militants opened fire on an army vehicle on patrol in the country’s mountainous northwestern region near the Afghan border, killing two soldiers.

    Tuesday’s statement says the military vehicle came under attack in the North Waziristan tribal region. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Islamic militants have long been operating in the area.

    The military has carried out massive operation against them but militants are able to cross the porous Afghan-Pakistan border and shelter on the other side. They have also been able to carry out cross-border attacks.

    The Pakistani army has been constructing a series of fences along the border, which zigzags across a remote and difficult mountain terrain, to check the movement of militants.

    Afghanistan objects to the construction of the fences.”

  11. Bangladesh questions family of man accused of NYC attack (abcnews, Dec 12, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bangladesh-condemns-us-attack-citizen-suspect-51731154

    “Bangladesh counterterrorism officers are questioning the wife and other relatives of a man accused of carrying out a bomb attack in New York City’s subway system, officials said Tuesday.

    Bangladesh’s government condemned the attack, saying it opposes all forms of terrorism and violent extremism.

    U.S. authorities have identified the suspect as Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant. Ullah is accused of strapping a crude pipe bomb to his body and detonating it during rush hour Monday in an attack in which only he was seriously wounded…”

  12. 2 teenage girl suicide bombers kill 4 in Nigeria’s north /abcnews, Dec 12, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/teenage-girl-suicide-bombers-kill-nigerias-north-51739954

    “A Nigerian official says two teenage girl suicide bombers attacked the town of Gwoza, in the country’s north, killing at least four people.

    Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, spokesman for the Military Command and Control Center in Maiduguri, said Tuesday that the attack was carried out Monday evening. He said local defense forces spotted the girls and shot one, detonating her vest and killing only her. He said the other girl managed to infiltrate the crowded residential area in Borno state and detonated herself, killing four others.

    He said several people injured have been taken to a nearby medical facility for treatment.

    The military command in Maiduguri also said two soldiers were killed Sunday after their vehicle hit a homemade explosive planted by Boko Haram insurgents along the Maiduguri-Damboa highway.”

  13. German government investigating nearly 1,000 cases of Islamic jihad terrorism (jihadwatch, Dec 12, 2017)
    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/12/german-government-investigating-nearly-1000-cases-of-islamic-jihad-terrorism

    “And 157 cases of non-Islamic terrorism. What was that you were saying about all religions having “extremists”?

    Anyway, Chancellor Merkel, take a bow. This is your doing.

    “More than 1,100 terrorism cases,” translated from “Mehr als 1.100 Terrorismus-Verfahren,” Deutscher Bundestag, December 11, 2017 (thanks to Stan):

    Berlin: (hib / PST) In the area of ??responsibility of the Department of Terrorism of the Federal Public Prosecutor, 1,119 preliminary investigations were initiated in 2017, as of 24 November. This is what the Federal Government said in its reply (19/184) to a small question from the group Die Linke ( 19/92) with. Among them are 959 investigations related to Islamist terrorism, of which 234 related to the so-called “Islamic State”. The Federal Government also reports on 151 preliminary investigations relating to international, non-Islamic terrorism and six related to domestic right-wing terrorism.”

    • Mehr als 1.100 Terrorismus-Verfahren (Deutscher Bundestag(!), Dec 11, 2017)
      https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/-/533540

      “Berlin: (hib/PST) Im Zuständigkeitsbereich der Abteilung Terrorismus des Generalbundesanwalts sind im Jahr 2017, mit Stand zum 24. November, 1.119 Ermittlungsverfahren eingeleitet worden. Dies teilte die Bundesregierung in ihrer Antwort (19/184) auf eine Kleine Anfrage der Fraktion Die Linke (19/92) mit. Darunter sind 959 Ermittlungsverfahren mit Bezug zum islamistischen Terrorismus, davon 234 mit Bezug zum sogenannten “Islamischen Staat”. Weiter berichtet die Bundesregierung über 151 Ermittlungsverfahren mit Bezug zum internationalen, nicht-islamistischen Terrorismus sowie sechs mit Bezug zu inländischem Rechtsterrorismus.”

  14. Police officers face too many obstacles fighting terrorism: fmr. NYPD officer

    Former Secret Service agent and NYPD officer Dan Bongino on the obstacles that police officers face in today’s time and the New York City bombing.

  15. Glenn Greenwald on malfeasance in the mainstream media

    On ‘The Ingraham Angle,’ journalist discusses the botched CNN story.

  16. AFP- Fresh protests in Berlin against US Jerusalem recognition

    A few hundred people gather in front of Berlin’s central station to protest against the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The peaceful protest follows a statement from the German government on Monday saying it was was “ashamed” of weekend demonstrations, which saw some protesters chant anti-Semitic slogans and torch Israeli flags.

    • Germany: ‘Save Jerusalem’ – Hundreds join pro-Palestine rally in Berlin

      Around 200 protesters gathered in front of the Berlin Central Station on Tuesday, to rally against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

      SOT, Protester (German): “Mr. Trump, up until today there are 7,400 wounded in Palestine – as well as four murdered Palestinians. The Israeli government is responsible for this.”

      SOT, Protester (German): “Donald Trump, as the representative of the American people, promises a nation that doesn’t belong to him, but rather to us, to a people who – for 100 years – have taken it from the Palestinians in the same unfair way that it was awarded also in the Balfour declaration.”

      SOT, Protester (German): “Jerusalem, or Al-Quds in Arabic, is not the capital of Israel. We reject that. We are calling on Israel and the USA to stand by the UN resolution and that all the peace agreements and discussions are left, with two nations, with two capital cities. East Jerusalem for the Palestinians and West Jerusalem for the Israelis.”

    • Strasbourg: ‘We believe that Jerusalem shall become capital of two states’ – Mogherini

      EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini reaffirmed the position of the European Union, saying that “we believe that Jerusalem shall become the capital of two states; West Jerusalem for the State of Israel, East Jerusalem for the State of Palestine.” She was speaking at the plenary session of European Parliament in Strasbourg, Tuesday.

  17. Islam-Debatte um Kinderspielplatz in Neukölln

    In Berlin-Neukölln wurde am Mittwoch der Themenspielplatz „Ali Baba und die 40 Räuber“ eröffnet. Im Vorfeld gab es Beschwerden aus Bevölkerung und Politik. Der Grund: über dem Märchenspielplatz aus 1001 Nacht thront die Mondsichel. Für einige offenbar schon ein Indiz für Islamismus.

    Das sei aber völlig normal, erklärte die SPD-Bezirksbürgermeisterin von Neukölln, Franziska Giffey gegenüber RT Deutsch. Die Sichel sei Teil des Szenarios. Der kleine Holzbau sei eine Burg und keine Moschee. Der Spielplatz hat rund 250.00 Euro gekostet. In Neukölln gibt es noch weitere Themenspielplätze, wie zum Beispiel Käpt’n Blaubär oder Pippi Langstrumpf. Gegen die protestiert übrigens niemand, sagte Spielplatzplaner Axel Kruse zu RT Deutsch.

    Die Kinder die zur Eröffnung kamen, störte die Religionsdebatte wenig. Sie hatten ausnahmslos Spaß auf dem neuen Spielplatz.

  18. Chess, smokes, therapy for ex-jihadists at Syria rehab centre

    In a rehabilitation centre in northern Syria, young men huddle over an innocuous game of chess and some cigarettes — activities they once brutally suppressed as Islamic State group jihadists.

    Based in the rebel-held town of Marea, the Syrian Centre for Countering Extremist Ideology is home to around 100 one-time IS fighters from Syria, the Middle East and even Europe.

  19. MEMRI – Tariq Ramadan on MEMRI: Look at the Deception and Lie!

    Swiss Islamic academic Tariq Ramadan, currently on leave of absence from Oxford University following allegations of rape, accused MEMRI of deception and lies in reporting his position on FGM. In a previous video posted by Ramadan on his Facebook page, excerpts of which were translated by MEMRI:

  20. North Korean state media says Kim Jong Un can control the weather

    North Korean state media’s latest claim says that its leader, Kim Jong Un, can control the weather.

    The report, lauded by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency and reported by the Daily Mail and other outlets, is only the latest in a string of incredible accomplishments claimed by North Korea on behalf of its dictators over the years.

    What are the details?

    Standing atop an Mount Paektu — an active volcano on the North Korea/China border — the KCNA referred to Kim Jong Un, their “peerlessly illustrious commander,” who “controls the nature.”

    According to USA Today, North Korea’s official state newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported that when the North Korean leader “ascended” to the top of the mountain, a blizzard stopped and “fine weather unprecedented” commenced.

    http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/12/12/north-korean-state-media-claims-kim-jong-un-can-control-the-weather

  21. North Korea readying for another nuclear test? Satellite images show hectic activity at Punggye-ri
    Over the weekend, Radio Pyongyang broadcast secret coded messages hinting at a possible impending weapons test.

    North Korea appears to be pressing ahead with its nuclear programme. Satellite images recently detected hectic activity at the North Korean nuclear test site, Punggye-ri.

    Experts say that after North Korea’s last nuclear test, minor tremors were detected near Mt Mantap, located close to the nuclear site. However, Pyongyang is now engaged in additional tunnel work at the site.

    http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/north-korea-ready-another-nuclear-test-satellite-images-spot-hectic-activity-punggye-ri-1651082

  22. FRANCE- PARIS DEC 12 2017

    Robert Ménard : « Le combat de la crèche c’est le combat pour ce que nous sommes ! »

    Discours de Robert Ménard, Maire de Béziers, et d’Emmanuelle Ménard, Député de l’Hérault, à la manifestation pour la défense de la civilisation chrétienne organisée par le SIEL, le mardi 12 décembre 2017 à Paris devant le Conseil d’Etat

    • France: ‘A Christian country’ – Beziers Mayor leads rally against French secular laws

      Mayor of Beziers Robert Menart led scores of Parisian Christians in a rally on Tuesday, decrying French secular laws that they believe impedes their national “traditions.”

    • **Related**
      “Is Islam Luring the Christian Church Into Denying Jesus? Converted Imam Answers” Embedded Links + Video: Webinar – March 21, 2017
      Audio + Text.
      https://www.christianpost.com/news/islam-luring-christian-church-denying-jesus-converted-imam-179230/

      The American Pastors Network presents a webinar titled, “Is Islam Luring the American Church into Denying Jesus?” Dr. Mark Christian, a converted Muslim Imam, and current Executive Director of the Global Faith Institute, speaks about how the church has compromised truth by forming alliances with Islam. He calls out Pastors with compelling historical information and an accurate analysis of the Quran and the Bible to further clarify this issue.