Reader’s links for December 13, 2017

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

About Eeyore

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

115 Replies to “Reader’s links for December 13, 2017”

  1. Egyptian singer Shyma sent to prison for two years over ‘explicit’ music video of her eating a banana

    An Egyptian pop singer has been sentenced to two years in prison for “inciting debauchery” after a music video showing her suggestively eating a banana was ruled to be too sexually explicit.

    Shyma was arrested shortly after releasing I have Issues, in which the she is seen dancing in underwear before appearing in front of a classroom of adult men and pouring milk over a banana before eating it, licking an apple and tasting the icing of a slice of chocolate cake.

    The video attracted more than one million viewers in a few days, but also sparked controversy among conservatives for the strong sexual gesturing.

    Shyma, 25, an Arab Idol competitor originally from Tanta, in northern Egypt, appeared at court on Tuesday wearing a niqab covering her face. She was seen reading the Quran while waiting for the sentence to be issued.

    The campaign against her started shortly after she released the video on her Facebook page in November. An influential blogger and presenter, Marwan Younis, posted a video on Facebook calling on his followers to report Shyma’s page to the social network for its sexually explicit content. The campaign succeeded and Facebook shut down the page.

    The singer also apologised in the face of an avalanche of criticism from MPs and newspapers, but it was not enough to stop police from arresting her.

    Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power in a military coup in 2013 in part by exploiting fears of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi’s crackdown on personal and public freedoms.

    But Mr Sisi’s rule has seen a continuing of repression of freedom of expression and political liberty.

    Shyma, whose full name is Shaimaa Ahmed, is the latest artist to face prosecution; in 2015, two bellydancers, Shakira and Bardis, were sentenced to six months in prison for inciting debauchery and immorality in their music videos.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/12/egyptian-singer-shyma-sent-prison-two-years-explicit-music-video/

    • Hahahahaha … if this is what passes for overt sexuality in Islam, try to imagine what would become of Hollyweird under sharia law.

      Studio City would perish in a typhoon of lashes, amputations, and beheadings that would eliminate any casting calls for “snuff flicks”.

      The continued movie-star support for Islam and Muslims gins up a degree of irony that is thick enough to spread on toast. Puhleeese!

      • I suspect there’s some ugly misogynist like Hugh Hefner at work here, doing his best to present demeaning images of women in order to make pots of money for himself. This display is no more liberating for women than the burkha is. Ghastly objectification of women in their different ways.

  2. Notes from NorseRadish:

    From – Facebook double standards

    “This is about rules and selective enforcement. At least for me. Not about the cartoon being offensive. It should be allowed. But so should they all unless they violate American 1st amendment limits, such as immediacy or liable laws.”

    Speaking as someone who is not easily impressed, Eeyore, I’m REALLY IMPRESSED!. Bravo!

    You have brilliantly skipped past all the pedestrian, regulatory (i.e., “hate speech”), bureaucratic rubbish and nailed the core hypocrisy involved.

    While, as a private corporate entity, Facebook has the Constitutionally protected right to (however contradictorily) impose arbitrary guidelines upon their website’s content—this in no way absolves them of the scathing criticism they so richly merit for abandoning commonly accepted ethical principles.

    These issues become all-the-more-vivid in light of Zuckerberg’s Jewish heritage. As in, once again, we are treated to the gruesome spectacle of Liberal Jewish diaspora effectively endorsing their eventual extinction at the hands of historic genocidal enemies.

    In opposition to Facebook’s lunatic policies; better that true Free Speech was comprehensively implemented so that a person could shout, “Fire!“, in a crowded theater—with instant and concomitant legal liability for any personal injuries resulting therefrom—than continuing to tolerate this persistent, unending erosion of Freedom of Expression that is happening throughout the West.

    I refer unfamiliar readers to my citation of Alexis de Tocqueville on the topic of, “Liberty of the Press in the United States”:

    If anyone could point out an intermediate and yet a tenable position between the complete independence and the entire servitude of opinion, I should perhaps be inclined to adopt it, but the difficulty is to discover this intermediate position. Intending to correct the licentiousness of the press and to restore the use of orderly language, you first try the offender by a jury; but if the jury acquits him, the opinion which was that of a single individual becomes the opinion of the whole country. Too much and too little has therefore been done; go farther, then. You bring the delinquent before permanent magistrates; but even here the cause must be heard before it can be decided; and the very principles which no book would have ventured to avow are blazoned forth in the pleadings, and what was obscurely hinted at in a single composition is thus repeated in a multitude of other publications. The language is only the expression and, if I may so speak, the body of the thought, but it is not the thought itself. Tribunals may condemn the body, but the sense, the spirit of the work is too subtle for their authority. Too much has still been done to recede, too little to attain your end; you must go still farther. Establish a censorship of the press. But the tongue of the public speaker will still make itself heard, and your purpose is not yet accomplished; you have only increased the mischief. Thought is not, like physical strength, dependent upon the number of its agents; nor can authors be counted like the troops that compose an army. On the contrary, the authority of a principle is often increased by the small number of men by whom it is expressed. The words of one strong-minded man addressed to the passions of a listening assembly have more power than the vociferations of a thousand orators; and if it be allowed to speak freely in any one public place, the consequence is the same as if free speaking was allowed in every village. The liberty of speech must therefore be destroyed as well as the liberty of the press. And now you have succeeded, everybody is reduced to silence. But your object was to repress the abuses of liberty, and you are brought to the feet of a despot. You have been led from the extreme of independence to the extreme of servitude without finding a single tenable position on the way at which you could stop.[emphasis added]

    Either you have Free Speech or you don’t. Contrary to common perception, it is a black-or-white issue that—just like violent, involuntary rape—has ZERO middle ground.

    Much like America’s Constitutional ownership of firearms, freedom of expression remains a principal and defining aspect of what differentiates the USA from—EU politics in particular—but even (more shockingly) nearby Canada.

    All throughout modern human history, THE VERY FIRST TWO CIVIL RIGHTS* to be infringed upon are The Right to Bear Arms and Freedom of Speech. Once that pair of niggling little issues is disposed of, there too-soon follows an immediate descent into hellish oppression. This general disarmament of EU countries and the current inability of their citizens to appropriately repel a recent tsunami of thieving, violent, terrorist, homicidal, predatory rapists sets the stage for WWIII (Hat tip: Richard).

    * Please always bear in mind that “Liberties” are granted whilst “Rights are inherent”. No stronger distinction can be made about the “inalienable rights” of a free people.

    SIDEBAR: To this very day, I remain utterly astonished by the way that a few dozen—albeit exceptionally well-educated (especially by today’s so-called standards)—”dead White men” were able to craft a comprehensive legal document (i.e., the American Constitution) that continues to remain applicable and altogether-functional MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES LATER.

    Incidentally, please take time to examine the role of Thomas Pinkney. Without his erudite abilities and personal dedication, America’s constitution may not have been anything close to what we have today.

    To continue, seeing as how America remains the preferred destination of (nearly) this world’s entire “immigrant” pool—regardless of whatever constant and unending calumny the USA is battered with—there emerges an undeniable conclusion that, just maybe, there is a seriously terminal degree of cognitive dissonance going on.

    Given whatever spittle-flecked clamor against America’s latest immigration controls (e.g., the recent anti-Muslim travel ban)—even as Europe’s “borderless” configuration is precipitating its own TOTAL COLLAPSE—there can be little doubt as to which model works.

    Saddest of all is how the USA’s own—once relatively modest—immigration intake policy has been subjected to a degree of bipartisan openendedness that constitutes felonious, criminal malfeasance.

    All of which is grist for several dozen other articles.

    Merry Christmas, all…

    NorseRadish

    • “These issues become all-the-more-vivid in light of Zuckerberg’s Jewish heritage. As in, once again, we are treated to the gruesome spectacle of Liberal Jewish diaspora effectively endorsing their eventual extinction at the hands of historic genocidal enemies.”

      Liberal – tied to mothers’ aprons.

      Jewish – High Days and Holidays.

      The combination is International Socialism. The ‘don’t do what daddy says’.

      If they are Gay, they become National Socialist. The ‘don’t do what mummy says’ go it your own collective identity way.

      Milo explains:

      https://youtu.be/YylNZwsFwpU

  5. 3 Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers killed in Syria (memo, Dec 13, 2017)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171213-3-iranian-revolutionary-guard-soldiers-killed-in-syria/

    “Three gunmen from the Tehran-backed Fatemiyoun Division, who are affiliated to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), were killed yesterday in clashes in Syria, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.

    The militants included Hamed Hussien Zadeh, Amin Husseini and Sayyid Nabi Husseini. was, according to the agency…”

  6. Saudi, UAE head to Paris to offer helping hand to West Africa force (memo, Dec 13, 2017)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171213-saudi-uae-head-to-paris-to-offer-helping-hand-to-west-africa-force/

    “Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are attending a summit in Paris on Wednesday aimed at accelerating efforts to set up a West African force to battle Islamist militants, a sign Gulf Arab states are upping their influence in the region…”

  7. Philippine Congress votes to extend martial law in south (abcnews, Dec 13, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/philippine-congress-votes-extend-martial-law-south-51757675

    “The Philippine Congress voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend martial law in the south by a year after the military warned that terrorist threats continue to lurk despite the defeat of a disastrous pro-Islamic State group siege…”

  10. “Dr. Mark Christian speaks at Omaha Legatus”
    SpiritCatholicRadio – Published on March 26, 2015

  11. What are the odds that a judge that sits on the FISA court was also selected to hear Michael Flynn’s pleas AND pass sentence? How many judges they got down there, one?
    This judge mysteriously recused himself from the sentencing phase…
    Why do you think that happened?
    My guess is that he was found out. When I first heard of this I thought this judge might have some integrity! Yeah, no. Had he had any integrity he would have recused himself immediately. He knew who Michael Flynn was.
    He was found out and didn’t want the digging to go any farther.

    • Mueller isn’t going to take anything before a Judge that isn’t considered politically reliable by the left.

      • I hear what you are saying Richard and I don’t disagree. What I find unconscionable is the ROT in our justice system.
        This judge is a relatively small point, but it isn’t…
        This judge displays all the inequalities of our justice system. The very fact that he needed to be investigated, and found out as one of the FISA court judges, speaks volumes to our current system of justice.
        What chance do you or I have if faced with a federal investigation of beating the rap?
        It is all rigged with unlimited dollars behind it.
        I am really sorry to say this because I love my country; it is the last bastion of freedom on earth. But, we are devolving into a police state and I don’t see any way out of it.

        • The way I read it was the Judge was recused. Passive mood – that’s significant.
          As opposed, for example, to DoJ Sessions, who recused himself Day #1 from everything and anything that might dirty his tiny little hands.

          No, Babs, it’s not a small point at all. It gets to the heart of justice: Who will judge the Judges?
          That’s Biblical.

    • I hear “impeach” in the context of MY President, and instantly think, “over my dead body.”
      That’s a bottom line.

  18. Once a Long Shot, Democrat Doug Jones Wins Alabama Senate Race

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Doug Jones, a Democratic former prosecutor who mounted a seemingly quixotic Senate campaign in the face of Republican dominance here, defeated his scandal-scarred opponent, Roy S. Moore, after a brutal campaign marked by accusations of sexual abuse and child molestation against the Republican.

    The upset delivered an unimagined victory for Democrats and shaved Republicans’ unstable Senate majority to a single seat.

    Mr. Jones’s victory could have significant consequences on the national level, snarling Republicans’ legislative agenda in Washington and opening, for the first time, a realistic but still difficult path for Democrats to capture the Senate next year. It amounted to a stinging snub of President Trump, who broke with much of his party and fully embraced Mr. Moore’s candidacy, seeking to rally support for him in the closing days of the campaign.

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Doug Jones, a Democratic former prosecutor who mounted a seemingly quixotic Senate campaign in the face of Republican dominance here, defeated his scandal-scarred opponent, Roy S. Moore, after a brutal campaign marked by accusations of sexual abuse and child molestation against the Republican.The upset delivered an unimagined victory for Democrats and shaved Republicans’ unstable Senate majority to a single seat.Mr. Jones’s victory could have significant consequences on the national level, snarling Republicans’ legislative agenda in Washington and opening, for the first time, a realistic but still difficult path for Democrats to capture the Senate next year. It amounted to a stinging snub of President Trump, who broke with much of his party and fully embraced Mr. Moore’s candidacy, seeking to rally support for him in the closing days of the campaign.

    • https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/us/politics/alabama-senate-race-winner.html

      Richard: We have just seen the test attack for the 2018 election, the Dems threw two of their own under the bus so they could have an advantage in the next 2 election cycles. Next year the Dems are going to start throwing mud and bringing out liars to accuse the Repubs of everything under the sun to try and take control of Congress. The soft coup is still at wonk and if/ I repeat if they gain control of Congress they will impeach President Trump and VP Pence to get a Dems in the White House. We are nearing the time when one side or the other will have to start a civil war, if the Dems lose next year that will be their only chance to regain power. If the Repubs lose next year this will be the only chance of retaining our freedom.

      Mark my words there are celebrations all around the world as the left sees a chance of regaining power in DC.

  19. CPJ Says Number Of Jailed Journalists Hits Historic High

    The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide has hit another new record, which it says reflects a “dismal failure by the international community to address a global crisis in freedom of the press.”

    In its annual survey of journalists in jail published on December 13, the New York-based media watchdog found 262 journalists behind bars around the world in relation to their work, a new record after a historical high of 259 last year.

    The census accounts only for journalists in government custody on December 1, not those imprisoned and released throughout the year or those who have disappeared or are held captive by nonstate groups.

    CPJ says that for the second consecutive year more than half of those jailed for their work are behind bars in Turkey, China, and Egypt, which are responsible for jailing 134 of the total.

    https://www.rferl.org/a/media-cpj-report-jailed-journalists-historical-high/28913580.html

  20. Palestinians no longer accept US as mediator, Abbas tells summit

    Palestinian president demands UN takes charge of peace process after Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel

    The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has formally declared that Palestinians will no longer accept the US as a mediator in the Middle East peace process following Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    In his strongest public statement since Trump’s announcement last week, Abbas called the move a “crime” that threatened world peace. He demanded the United Nations take charge of the peace process as Washington was no longer “fit” for the task.

    Abbas was speaking at a hastily convened meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, where members were called upon to recognise a Palestinian state amid strong condemnations of both the US and Israel.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/13/recep-tayyip-erdogan-unite-muslim-world-trump-east-jerusalem

    • Turkey: Leaders arrive for OIC extraordinary summit on Jerusalem

      Leaders and foreign ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) gathered for an extraordinary summit on Wednesday to discuss the repercussions of the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    • Turkey: World should recognise Jerusalem as Palestinian capital – Erdogan

      SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President (Turkish): “This is the situation of the state of Palestine since the 1947 plans of the UN. This is clearly demonstrating the fact that Israel is an occupant state, and on the other hand Israel is the state of terrorism. Mr Erdogan, why are you saying that? Well, how am I not supposed to say that? The terrorist soldiers are killing children of ten years of age. They are being detained and they are being put inside cages like that?”

      SOT, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President (Turkish): “I would like to call out to the nations of the globe respecting international law to rise up and recognise Jerusalem as the occupied capital city of the state of Palestine. As the Islamic countries, we will never give up on our demand for a free and sovereign Palestinian state, the capital of which is Jerusalem. And we’re condemning the violence shown by the Israeli soldiers vis-a-vis the Palestinian brothers and sisters protesting this decision of the United States regarding Jerusalem. And I would like to extend my condolences to the families of the martyrs who have fallen preserving and protecting the cause of Palestine.”

    • Iran: Students burn American flag during anti-US protest in Tehran

      Hundreds of Iranian students gathered in Tehran on Wednesday, to protest against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

      A group of Quds-advocate students gathered in front of the Swiss embassy where they burned the US flag and chanted anti-US and anti-Israel slogans while holding placards and banners.

    • ISRAEL – ‘United States is the snake itself’ – protesters decry Jerusalem declaration at US Embassy

      Scores of anti-US President Donald Trump protesters rallied outside the US Embassy in Tel-Aviv on Tuesday, as unrest over the Jerusalem declaration continues in Israel.

    • the gateway pundit – CAIR and Muslim Groups to Hold HUGE RALLY Against Trump’s Jerusalem Move on Saturday in Washington DC

      Muslim groups will hold a rally on Saturday December 16, 2017, at The Capitol Ellipse near the White House to protest President Donald Trump’s recent announcement to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel and his intention of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

      http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/12/cair-muslim-brougs-hold-huge-rally-trumps-jerusalem-move-saturday-washington-dc/

    • Al-Azhar council calls on Arab states to take ‘all measures’ to reverse Trump’s Jerusalem decision

      A council of top Muslim clerics of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, which is considered the world’s highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, has called on Arab and Muslim governments and organisations to take all necessary political and legal measures to reverse the recent decision by US President Donald Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

      The Council of Senior Scholars said that Trump’s decision, which it described as “arrogant” and “reckless,” will not change the reality that Jerusalem is Arab, Islamic and Palestinian.

      “These facts cannot be erased by reckless decisions or unjust prejudices,” the council said in a statement that was issued after a meeting of the council on Tuesday.

      The council also warned about “attempts to normalise relations with the Zionist entity before its withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” said the statement, which was issued after a meeting of the council on Tuesday.

      The council, an advisory body of Al-Azhar, urged educational institutions in Arab and Muslim countries to work towards raising awareness about the Palestinian issue in school curricula, weekly Friday sermons, and TV and radio programmes.

      The council agreed to create a committee to draw up curricula on the Palestinian issue to be taught in “all grades” in Al-Azhar educational institutions.

      The council – in cooperation with the Muslim Council of Elders, both headed by Al-Azhar head Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb – has set 17-18 January to hold an international conference to bring together senior Muslim and Christian clerics, political figures as well as regional and international organisations to drum up condemnation against the US move.

      Earlier this week, El-Tayyeb rejected a meeting requested by US Vice President Mike Pence and scheduled that was for next week in protest against the US decision, which he said must be reversed by President Trump.

      http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/285249/Egypt/Politics-/AlAzhar-council-calls-on-Arab-states-to-take-all-m.aspx

    • GAZA – Armed Hamas group holds 30th anniversary parade in Gaza

      The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades held a military parade to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movement, on the streets of Gaza City on Wednesday.

      Soldiers from Al-Qassam, which is the armed wing of Hamas, started their march on Al-Nasr street before proceeding through the city. A number of artillery and vehicles were showcased along the way, drawing the attention of local residents.

  21. South Korea conducts anti-terror drills ahead of Winter Games

    PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) – Set to host the Winter Olympics in February, South Korea conducted a series of security drills on Tuesday to prepare against terror attacks ranging from a hostage situation, a vehicle ramming a stadium and a bomb-attached to a drone.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018/south-korea-conducts-anti-terror-drills-ahead-of-winter-games-idUSKBN1E60VO

    • 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.

      • I wonder if China and Kim are ready to flip off the entire world by pulling a nuke test during the Winder Olympics?

      • Long overdue.
        Civil defense drills would be prudent in the West, too.

        Can’t be limited to the major medical centers, ongoing for years. Arteries to the medical centers aren’t in the least prepared. It’s a scandal.

  23. China Gathering Blood, DNA and Iris Scans for Massive Database of Millions in Muslim Province

    Chinese police have started gathering blood types, DNA samples, fingerprints and iris scans from millions of people in its Muslim-majority Xinjiang province to build a massive citizen database, according to report by activist group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

    The report, published Wednesday, said that officials are collecting the data from citizens between 12 and 65 years old using a variety of methods. Authorities are gathering DNA and blood types through free medical check-ups, and HRW said it is was unclear if patients were aware that their biometric data was being collected for the police during these physical exams.

    http://www.newsweek.com/china-gathering-blood-dna-iris-massive-database-millions-muslim-province-746529

  24. Scourge of savage MS-13 spreads further into Nassau

    On West Greenwich Avenue in Roosevelt, Long Island, the oak trees were just thick enough to hide Angel Soler’s mutilated body.

    The 15-year-old boy had been stabbed to death with a machete and dumped in a wooded area bordering the Southern State Parkway by members of the vicious El Salvadoran gang MS-13.

    https://nypost.com/2017/12/12/scourge-of-savage-ms-13-spreads-from-suffolk-to-nassaus-tony-north-shore/

  25. Thai Government Will Enforce U.N. Sanctions on N. Korea

    Thailand announced it will abide by U.N. sanctions against North Korea.

    The Prime Minister said his country has drastically reduced trade with the rogue regime ahead of an expected meeting with a U.S. envoy later this week.

    U.S. Special Representative for North Korea policy Joseph Yun will meet with Thai officials as part of visits with Southeast Asian leaders.

    http://www.oann.com/thai-government-will-enforce-u-n-sanctions-on-n-korea/

  26. Tillerson says U.S. ready to talk to North Korea; Japan wants pressure

    WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered to begin direct talks with North Korea without pre-conditions, backing away from a key U.S. demand that Pyongyang must first accept that giving up its nuclear arsenal would be part of any negotiations.

    Tillerson’s new diplomatic overture comes nearly two weeks after North Korea said it had successfully tested a breakthrough intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that put the entire United States mainland within range of its nuclear weapons.

    “Let’s just meet,” Tillerson said in a speech to Washington’s Atlantic Council think tank on Tuesday.

    The White House later issued an ambiguous statement that left unclear whether President Donald Trump – who has said Tillerson was wasting his time pursuing dialogue with North Korea – had given his approval for the speech.

    http://www.oann.com/u-s-ready-to-talk-but-north-korea-must-be-ready-to-change-course-tillerson/

  27. Two Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar: government

    YANGON (Reuters) – Two Reuters journalists were arrested on Tuesday evening in Myanmar’s main city, Yangon, a government spokesman said.

    “Yes it is correct that they were arrested,” spokesman Zaw Htay said. “Not only your reporters, but also the policemen who were involved in that case. We will take action against those policemen and also the reporters.”

    He did not say why the journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, had been arrested, provide details of the action they faced or explain what case he was referring to.

    Reuters global communications chief Abbe Serphos said: “We are urgently seeking more information about the circumstances of their arrest and their current situation.”

    Wa Lone, who joined Reuters in June 2016, has covered a range of stories, including the Rohingya refugee crisis in Rakhine State. Kyaw Soe Oo has reported for Reuters since September.

    http://www.oann.com/two-reuters-journalists-arrested-in-myanmar-government/

  28. Exclusive: After Grenfell fire, same builders rehired to replace dangerous cladding, Reuters finds

    LONDON (Reuters) – Some building companies that installed dangerous cladding on social housing blocks across Britain are now winning new contracts following the Grenfell Tower blaze to remove their original work and install panels that can pass safety tests, a Reuters review shows.

    The safety of high-rise buildings has come under scrutiny since the Grenfell disaster in June which killed 71 people. The British government, which ordered a series of tests to establish which types of cladding panels met fire safety rules, said those on the London tower block did not comply.

    A Reuters review identified 65 other towers with cladding of a type that was approved by local building inspectors, but which government tests found did not comply with the statutory regulations. The towers were clad by major builders including French groups Engie and Bouygues , and Britain’s Galliford Try , Forrest, Wates Group, Rydon Group and Willmott Dixon.

    http://www.oann.com/exclusive-after-grenfell-fire-same-builders-rehired-to-replace-dangerous-cladding-reuters-finds/

  29. Alabama election: Moore takes early lead; NYT projects win? *UPDATE* Fox calls for Jones
    By J.E. Dyer December 12, 2017

    The polls have closed in Alabama, and the early news is that Republican Roy Moore has a meaningful, if narrow, lead.

    At the top of the hour, Fox just reported on a rumored New York Times projection that Moore would win. At the moment, with about 21% of the vote in, Moore is up 51.3% on Democrat Doug Jones, who has 47.4%.

    That’s less narrow than it was 30 seconds ago.

    In the interest of getting this thread up, I will post it, and add developments and commentary shortly.

    NBC reports that Senate Republicans will huddle on Wednesday morning to “discuss next steps” if Moore wins.

    Larry Elder is making some sense right now, if where he’s going with it is that there needs to be an actual investigation of the allegations against Moore. There hasn’t been one; all we have to go on right now is a grab-bag of unprovable charges. I can manufacture charges against every single one of you out there in the space of five minutes. That should not be the standard by which we demand that people either take themselves out of action, or be hounded off the public stage. Either have an investigation of the accusations against Moore, with some rigor to it, or shut up about them.

    But they were made, and what the left learned is that they worked, to galvanize the GOP against itself. You think the political left isn’t going to use that one again? Remember, they don’t have to be able to prove anything, to use such allegations for political purposes.

    That’s a tough standard to beat. It has made me sick to see so many people calling shame on anyone who thought Moore should have due process and a day in court. I think Al Franken should have due process and a day in court too, and John Conyers and Blake Farenthold — none of which means I like or think very highly of any of them. But I hope all the shame-callers out there are prepared to live without fairness or the benefit of the doubt in the days ahead. Because by their own standard, that’s what they’re going to have to do.

    In any case, congratulations to Doug Jones.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/12/alabama-election-moore-takes-early-lead-nyt-projects-win/

  30. Not The Onion: Colleges recruit ‘therapy llamas’ to calm the nerves of stressed students
    By LU Staff December 13, 2017

    American colleges and universities, ever vigilant to the needs of its snowflakes in residence, have taken a new step toward easing test anxiety. Several schools have brought “therapy llamas” onto campus to help relieve student stress during the exam period.

    Radford University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of South Florida have recruited llamas to help treat pre-test jitters, according to Campus Reform. Whether these animals apparently degrees in psychotherapy was not clarified.

    Radford’s December “Library Stress Buster” featured not only llamas to pet as a way of reducing stress, but bunny rabbits.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/13/not-onion-colleges-recruit-therapy-llamas-calm-nerves-stressed-students/

  31. House Dems hacked (with Awans implicated) around same time as DNC in 2016; Dem leadership STILL silent
    By LU Staff December 12, 2017

    Xavier Becerra, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, barely reacted when he learned the caucus server had been infiltrated in 2016, although he loudly decried the hack of the Democratic National Committee that happened around that same time. No one has faced punishment for the caucus server infiltration.

    The then-congressman, who is now California’s attorney general, refused to articulate even the barest details of the cyber breach at a press conference Wednesday, and would not say whether he’s seeking criminal charges against longtime IT aide Imran Awan and his family.

    Members of the Awan family logged on to the Caucus server 7,000 times without authorization between October 2015 and August 2016, according to a House investigation. The logins suggested “the server is being used for nefarious purposes and elevated the risk that individuals could be reading and/or removed information,” it said.

    Multiple sources said Sean McCluskie, who was Becerra’s chief of staff and is now chief deputy attorney general of California, knew of problems well before law enforcement was brought on board in October 2016.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/12/house-dems-hacked-awans-implicated-around-time-dnc-2016-dem-leadership-still-silent/

  33. A series of gruesome discoveries at several London parks has sparked a probe to figure out who’s been stabbing and beheading swans.

    The grim discoveries were made last month when two swans were found beheaded in Birchmere Park in southwest London, while another was discovered at Southmere Lake, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

    http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12/13/swans-stabbed-beheaded-in-london-parks.html

    Note: in the UK, all wild swans are the personal property of The Queen, so beheading swans may indeed be a form of political messaging.

  35. Who Really Lost in Alabama
    Learning the wrong lessons
    December 13, 2017
    Daniel Greenfie

    The Alabama Senate election was about everything except Alabama. And in the end, Alabamans stayed home and let the inevitable turnout tide of passion politics take its course. Minority voters rallied to Obama. Republicans stayed home. And the GOP is now holding on to a bare one-seat Senate majority.

    The Democrats had abandoned Alabama, along with much of the South. They weren’t interested in Doug Jones until they smelled weakness. And they still aren’t interested in representing Alabamans now. They just want another Senate seat to bring them closer to blocking and impeaching President Trump.

    Alabama isn’t a place to them. It’s another chess piece in a Washington D.C. game that they can use to block judicial nominations, shut down the government and reverse the results of the previous election. They have Alabama now, but history suggests that unless they learn the lessons that cost them their former strongholds in the South, they won’t hold on to the seat that they paid a very pretty penny for.

    The Alabama River follows a long and meandering course. But not nearly as long and meandering as the dark river of money that poured into the Alabama Senate race.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268715/who-really-lost-alabama-daniel-greenfield

    • He is right, in the long run the Dems have lost, but the question of who lost in the short run is still up in the air, that question will be answered in the 2018 election. Will the Dems manage to use their slime and destroy tactic to gain control of Congress next year? If they do 2019 and 2020 will be very nasty with the Dems working to impeach Trump and Pence and place the Dem Speaker of the House in the White House. A successful coup like that will cause a civil war.

  38. Democrats’ IT Man Imran Awan Abuses Women
    What is Awan hiding and why are Democrats protecting him?
    December 13, 2017
    Lloyd Billingsley

    In Congress (Al Franken, John Conyers), entertainment (Harvey Weinstein, Ben Affleck) and the establishment media (Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose), women are stepping up with charges of sexual harassment, and in some cases powerful men are stepping down. As this unfolds, one key abuser has managed to avoid both the outcry and the scrutiny he deserves.

    Imran Awan, the IT man employed by Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other prominent Democrats, remains at the center of financial and security scandals. As Luke Rosiak of the Daily Caller reported, “multiple women” in relationships with Imran have “called Virginia law enforcement and alleged being abused by him.”

    Police found one of the women “bloodied” and another said she felt like a “slave.” A third woman, Awan’s stepmother Samina Silani, is on record that Awan invoked his authority as a congressional employee to intimidate immigrant women, warning them of his power to have people kidnapped.

    Imran Awan performed work for Democratic representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Yvette Clarke, Diana DeGette, Jackie Speier, Marcia Fudge, Frederica Wilson, Karen Bass, Joyce Birdson Beatty, Lois Frankel, Julia Brownley, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Kyrsten Sinema, Robin Kelly, Catherine Clark, Jacky Rosen, Stephanie Murphy, and Lisa Blunt Rochester.

    Frederica Wilson’s office told the Daily Caller she “does not condone violence against anyone, particularly women. Imran was immediately fired when the allegations were disclosed but our office will not comment on an ongoing investigation.” According to Kyrsten Sinema, “our office contracted with this individual in February 2013 after he was recommended to us by several colleagues and former members. We terminated his contract with our office in February of 2015 for incompetence.”

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268687/democrats-it-man-imran-awan-abuses-women-lloyd-billingsley

    • What does he have on the high ranking Dems? I don’ tknow but it must be real bad for them to allow this much blackmail. Does the FBI know what it is? Given the level of corruption at the top they may and may be doing some blackmailing of their own.

  39. Trump lawyer wants separate special prosecutor to probe DOJ-Fusion conflicts
    Fox News

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    A top member of President Trump’s outside legal team called Tuesday for the appointment of a separate special prosecutor to look into potential conflicts of interest involving Justice Department and FBI officials.

    Jay Sekulow made the call following a Fox News report revealing that the wife of a DOJ official demoted for concealing his meetings with the firm behind the anti-Trump “dossier” herself worked for the same firm, Fusion GPS, during the 2016 election.

    Sekulow told Fox News that a special prosecutor should be appointed to look into these issues.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/12/trump-lawyer-wants-separate-special-prosecutor-to-probe-doj-fusion-conflicts.html

    • Good idea, it will have to be someone from outside DC who is clearly not a swamp critter and the investigators will have to be outsiders as well. If any of them are even close to being swamp critters the investigation won’t be trusted.

  40. “Our Lives Have Turned into a Living Hell”
    A month of extreme Muslim slaughter of Christians.
    December 13, 2017
    Raymond Ibrahim

    Reprinted from the Gatestone Institute.

    One month after Islamic militants bombed two Egyptian churches during Palm Sunday and killed nearly 50 people in April 2017, on Friday, May 26, several SUVs stopped two buses transporting dozens of Christians to visit and pray at the ancient Coptic Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, in the desert south of Cairo. According to initial reports, about ten Islamic militants, heavily armed and dressed in military fatigues, “demanded that the passengers recite the Muslim profession of faith”—which is tantamount to converting to Islam—and when they refused, the jihadis opened fire on them, killing 29 Christians, at least ten of which were young children (including two girls aged 2 and 4). Mohsen Morkous—an American citizen described as “a simple man” whom “everyone loved”—his two sons, and his two grandsons were among those killed.

    According to more detailed accounts based on eyewitness testimonials, the terrorists ordered the passengers to exit the bus in groups; “as each pilgrim came off the bus they were asked to renounce their Christian faith and profess belief in Islam, but all of them—even the children—refused. Each was killed in cold blood with a gunshot to the head or the throat.”

    “By the time they killed half of the people, the terrorists saw cars coming in the distance and we think that that is what saved the rest,” said one source. “They did not have time to kill them all. They just shot at them randomly and then fled.”

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268676/our-lives-have-turned-living-hell-raymond-ibrahim

  41. Islamic Extremism: Who is Purest of Them All?

    by Giulio Meotti
    December 13, 2017 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11442/islamic-extremism

    The number of victims in the jihadist attack at a Sufi Mosque in Egypt has risen to 305 and is destined to rise even more. Inside this number there is another one, even more tragic: the 27 children murdered by Islamic terrorists. It has been not only one of the world’s most sickening terror attacks since 9/11. It was, in intent, a genocidal attack aimed to erase a religion and a community from the face of earth.

    The murder of children is the most ruthless face of the war that radical Islam has declared: Palestinian children used as human shields by Hamas, Israeli children butchered in buses and cars, Iraqi children massacred by smiling terrorists with candy, French children brought as recruits to Raqqa, Iranian children sent by the Ayatollah Khomeini to Iranian camps, Christian children wiped out by the Taliban in Pakistan, Western children murdered in Barcelona, Manchester and Nice, and the children of Beslan forced to drink their own urine before being killed. How much longer will we have to update the ferocity of radical Islam?

    Some Muslim writers have compared the savagery of extremist Muslims to that of the Nazis. In his novel “Le village de l’Allemande”, the Muslim Algerian writer Boualem Sansal compared the similarities: “Single party, militarization, propaganda, falsification of history, xenophobia, affirmation of a plot hatched by Israel and the United States, etc.” According to another Muslim dissident, Naser Khader, “the radical Muslims are the Nazis of Islam”.

  42. Locked up in the Islamic Republic of Iran

    by Denis MacEoin
    December 13, 2017 at 4:30 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11422/iran-prisoners

    All of you will be familiar with articles on individuals who have been imprisoned, tortured, or even executed in several Muslim countries. Many such individuals are Iranians, imprisoned unjustly for their beliefs or actions that would be considered perfectly innocent or even praiseworthy in the West. Since the revolution of 1979, Iran has been not only the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, but also one of the world’s most consistent human rights abusers. In Amnesty International’s most recent (2016-2017) report on rights issues in the country, it listed abuses under numerous headings:

  43. Jihad Festering in America

    by A. Z. Mohamed
    December 13, 2017 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11448/jihadists-students-america

    A new investigative report reveals that hundreds of Saudi and Kuwaiti nationals residing in the United States — some with dual citizenship, and most students subsisting on government scholarships — have joined ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq during the past three years.

    Titled “From American Campuses to ISIS Camps: How Hundreds of Saudis Joined ISIS in the U.S.,” the report — released June 1 by the Washington-D.C.-based think tank, The Institute for Gulf Affairs (IGA) — provides details of the flow of students leaving American institutions of higher learning to fight in the Middle East.

    According to a 2016 working paper produced by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Saudi Arabia is the second-largest source of ISIS fighters from Muslim-majority countries, with an estimated 2,500. If the IGA report is accurate, a whopping 16% of these fighters were in the U.S. when they joined ISIS.

    An equally disturbing finding of the report is that the Saudi government, which has been monitoring its nationals in the U.S., is fully aware that many of their own citizens are joining ISIS and not only has done little to stop them, but has kept information about the subject from American authorities.

    This finding completely contradicts the 2014 State Department assertion t

  45. North Korean defector details horrific treatment: forced abortions and dead bodies fed to dogs

    hands of the North Korean regime during an event on human rights Monday held by Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

    According to Fox News, the panel, called “The Terrifying Experience of Forcibly Repatriated North Korean Women,” was sponsored by the U.S., the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, France, and Canada.

    China, alongside Bolivia and Russia, reportedly attempted to stop the event.
    What is Ji Hyeon-A’s story?

    According to Ji Hyeon-A, now a human rights activist in South Korea, Chinese authorities sent her, a defector, back to North Korea three times.

    link.theblaze.com/click/11567263.712801/aHR0cDovL3d3dy50aGVibGF6ZS5jb20vbmV3cy8yMDE3LzEyLzEyL25vcnRoLWtvcmVhbi1kZWZlY3Rvci1kZXRhaWxzLWhvcnJpZmljLXRyZWF0bWVudC1mb3JjZWQtYWJvcnRpb25zLWFuZC1kZWFkLWJvZGllcy1mZWQtdG8tZG9ncy8/52d10b930f365bf272f1c7d7C532daf99

  46. Richard: This article is from the Washington Free Beacon via Liberty Unyielding, I am posting both URLs. the comment by the editor is from Liberty Unyielding.

    Ed. – The mask has basically dropped from the pretense that Erodgan is an ally. A lot of things could happen, but all things being equal, the Erdogan regime looks like something that has to come to a crisis point from (potentially) multiple perspectives in the near future.]

    A wealthy ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has placed a bounty on the heads of two former U.S. military and intelligence officials as part of what U.S. officials told the Washington Free Beacon is an effort by the Turkish government to threaten and intimidate Americans who they believe are working to undermine Erdogan.

    A bounty of three million Turkish lira, or nearly $800,000, was placed on the heads of former Pentagon official Michael Rubin and former top CIA official Graham Fuller for what Erdogan’s allies claim is their role in a 2016 failed coup that nearly toppled Erdogan’s ruling government.

    Both Rubin and Fuller have been vocal critics of Erdogan’s, often publicly highlighting his widespread corruption. Rubin, in particular, has been in constant conflict with Erdogan, who once filed a lawsuit against the former Pentagon official in a bid to silence him.

    The Turkish prosecutors office has issued arrest warrants for both Rubin and Fuller.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/13/turkey-charges-u-s-officials-2016-coup-attempt-wealthy-erdogan-ally-posts-bounty/

    http://freebeacon.com/national-security/turkey-places-bounty-two-former-u-s-government-officials/

  47. A 32-year-old white woman shopping in a Bronx deli was accused of being a Trump supporter by a pair of strangers who threw groceries at her and robbed her, police sources said Wednesday.
    “You stupid white c—t,” the assailants, who are Hispanic, yelled at the victim inside the Jerome Market Deli on Jerome Ave. near E. 167th St. in Highbridge about 3 a.m. Dec 2.
    “You think you can live here in the Bronx, you Trump supporter? You white b—h!”
    Her attackers started flinging store goods at her.

    https://archive.fo/z0B3S#selection-1177.1-1189.51

  48. Victor Marques and his wife Marsha are both blind.

    They were visiting Kamloops, B.C., on the weekend of Nov. 25, when they said they were refused service multiple times by both of the city’s taxi companies, Yellow Cabs and Kami Cabs, because drivers didn’t want their guide dogs in the cab.

    “We’re not obligated to tell the dispatcher that we have dogs,” Marques said. “They are supposed to, by law, pick us up.”

    According to the B.C. government, under the Guide Dog and Service Dog Act, certified dog and handler teams have the same rights as people not accompanied by dogs and cannot be denied access to taxis.

    http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/british-columbia/kamloops-taxi-blind-discrimination-1.4444943

  49. WaPo’s in-depth profile on Fusion GPS manages not to mention extensive Russian contacts

    [WaPo’s Fusion profile] makes no mention of some of the outfit’s more notorious, and widely reported, projects—work that shows a very different side to the charming, albeit hard-charging, rogues profiled in the Post. Fusion GPS spearheaded the campaign to undo the Magnitsky Act, American legislation imposing sanctions on Russian officials and other figures close to Vladimir Putin. Their work featured a smear campaign against the driving force behind the Magnitsky Act, financier William Browder. …

    “It’s as if Fusion GPS gave the Washington Post a dossier on the hard-working and wholesome researchers working at Fusion GPS,” says Thor Halvorssen, a human rights activist who was targeted by a Fusion GPS smear campaign on behalf of corrupt Venezuelan businessmen. “The Post ignored some of Fusion GPS’s worst excesses, including the scorched earth tactics they used against a journalist in London who was whistleblowing corruption in Venezuela, Alek Boyd. Fusion GPS planted stories that he was a rapist and pedophile.” …

    http://thefederalist.com/2017/12/12/washington-post-profile-of-fusion-gps-downplays-firms-shady-russian-connections/

  50. Turkey’s Erdogan Invites Venezuela’s Maduro to Anti-Israel ‘Islamic Community’ Meeting

    Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro will attend an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Turkey Wednesday on the Muslim world’s response to President Donald Trump’s declaration that the U.S. would acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    Maduro was invited by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called the meeting, to attend as a special observer. Maduro’s socialist government was among the loudest in Latin America protesting Trump’s declaration, in which he also announced Washington would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

    Maduro announced his travel Monday night and departed Venezuela en route to Istanbul on Tuesday. Venezuelan state television described the OIC meeting as having “confronting American threats against the State of Palestine” on its agenda.

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/12/12/turkeys-erdogan-invites-venezuelas-maduro-islamic-meeting/

    LIberty Unyielding comment: [Ed. – Maybe he’s going for the food? Actually (seriously), radical Islamist infiltration of Venezuela has been a reality, by multiple means, for over a decade. The interesting thing in this case is the connection with Erdogan. The connections prior to now have been much more with Iran, Hezbollah, and radicalized Lebanese of a particularly Latin American stripe.]

    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Venezuela#2009_Israel_conflict_and_synagogue_attacks
      http://jewishjournal.com/news/world/69606/ Chávez now announced that he was cutting off all relations with Israel. Diplomats were now stripped of all immunity, thus deemed illegal aliens, with no protection whatsoever. – The situation in Caracas remains volatile. Consul Biran ascertained that the commandos assigned to oversee the closure of the embassy were receiving direct orders from Chávez and two high ranking officers, one of whom reportedly has close ties to Hezbollah. In addition, Chávez has been cultivating relationships with the Iranian government for years. There are now numerous weekly direct flights from Caracas to Tehran. Additionally, many reports solidly point to a strong Hezbollah presence. – Amid his anti-Israel propaganda, President Chávez sends frequent messages of support to the Jewish community, assuaging fears. Underscoring the unpredictable nature of his posture toward the community, he issued an order that matzah and kosher wine would not be available for Passover. Under pressure, he reversed the order.

      • Actually an old story in Venezuela. As elsewhere, they convinced themselves it was tolerable. Till it wasn’t.

        A friend from college left with her family years ago. Only two sisters of a large extended family from the Bukovina had survived concentration camp in Trasnistria. They settled separately – just in case – there’d be another place to run.

        One went to Venezuela, the other to Eretz. Of the two children born in Eretz, the boy died in Lebanon.

        In Venezuela a game became popular: “Brand the Jew”. They’d burn crosses on kids’ foreheads with cigarettes. However long it took, lots of cigarettes were necessary.
        ……….
        Venezuela’s Dispossessed

        Half of Venezuela’s Jewish community fled under Hugo Chávez, who died this week. Will the other half follow?

        http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/88901/the-dispossessed