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Gunmen assassinate mayor of Libya’s biggest port city (memo, Dec 18, 2017)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171218-gunmen-assassinate-mayor-of-libyas-biggest-port-city/
“Reuters reports that a Gunmen fatally shot the mayor of Libya’s third-largest city, Misrata, late on Sunday, ambushing his car inside the city, security officials said.
The North African oil producer has been in chaos since the 2011 uprising that unseated Muammar Gaddafi, but Misrata, Libya’s biggest port, had been relative peaceful until now.
Gunmen chased the car of Mayor Mohamed Eshtewi after he left Misrata airport following his arrival on a plane from Turkey, a security official said, adding it was unclear who was behind it…”
Yemen: Al-Islah Party’s leader survives assassination (memo, Dec 18, 2017)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171218-yemen-al-islah-partys-leader-survives-assassination/
“The head of the Information Department of the Yemeni Al-Islah Party in the province of Rima, Mosleh Al-Ahmadi, survived an assassination attempt in Sana’a’s north-eastern city of Marib.
According to local sources, an explosive device was found in Al-Ahmadi’s car which was parked in front of his home in Marib. The sources added that the device exploded “moments before his usual departure.”
Al-Islah Party is one of the largest opposition parties in Yemen which was founded after the unification of the country on 13 September 1990 as a political party with an Islamic background…”
Turkey slams Austria ‘discrimination’ over new government programme (thelocal, Dec 17, 2017)
https://www.thelocal.at/20171217/turkey-slams-austria-discrimination-over-new-government-programme
“Turkey on Sunday slammed the incoming Austrian government, a coalition between conservatives and the far-right, for “discrimination” after its programme contained a pledge that Vienna will not agree to Ankara joining the EU.
The landmark coalition deal, marking the return to power in Austria of the Freedom Party (FPOe), has sparked ripples of concern throughout Europe after a year of successes for far-right movements in Europe.
The chancellor-elect, Sebastian Kurz of the conservative People’s Party (OeVP), already has a deeply-fractious relationship with Ankara due to his staunch opposition to Turkey’s EU bid while serving as foreign minister.
“This baseless and short-sighted statement in the new Austrian government’s programme unfortunately confirms concerns about a political trend based on discrimination and marginalisation,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Accusing the incoming government of “dishonesty”, it warned that if realised, the programme would bring Austria “to the brink of losing Turkey’s friendship” and be met with “the reaction that it deserves”.
Turkey’s decades-long ambition to join the EU has hit the buffers in recent months as the bloc sounded the alarm over the crackdown that followed the 2016 coup bid aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
While Austria has called for the accession process to be formally halted, this has met with opposition from key EU members, notably Germany.
Meeting Erdogan on his trip to Greece earlier this month — the first by a Turkish president in 65 years — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also backed Turkey’s EU bid.
But last month, the EU cut funds destined to Turkey in the 2018 budget, citing doubts about Ankara’s commitment to democracy and human rights in a move supported by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.”
Gunmen seize building in Afghan capital, firing on security forces (reuters, Dec 18, 2017)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack/gunmen-seize-building-in-afghan-capital-firing-on-security-forces-idUSKBN1EC0P7?il=0
“KABUL (Reuters) – A group of armed men seized a building under construction in the Afghan capital on Monday and were exchanging fire with security forces in a heavily populated area, an official said.
“The number of attackers, possible casualties and their target is not yet clear,” said Najib Danish, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.
The Afshar area of Kabul where the attack was under way is close to a facility of the National Directorate of Security, the main Afghan intelligence agency, as well as a private university.”
Militants attack intelligence training facility in Kabul (khaama, Dec 18, 2017)
https://www.khaama.com/explosion-and-gunshots-heard-in-kabul-city-04069
“A group of armed insurgents launched a coordinated attack on a training facility of the Afghan intelligence earlier today.
The attack was launched after the militants detonated explosives near the facility as they attempted to open their way into the facility.
Deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said a group of insurgents have taken positions inside a building close to the training center and clashes are still underway.
A security official earlier said some militants have taken positions inside a under construction building close to a training center of the intelligence department and are exchanging fire with the security forces.
There are no reports regarding the casualties as a result of the attack so far.”
Erdogan Vows to Clear Turkey-Syria Border of Kurds (aawsat , Dec 18, 2017)
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1116556/erdogan-vows-clear-turkey-syria-border-kurds
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to clear what he called “terrorists” from the towns of Afrin, Manbij, Tal Abyad, Ras al-Ain and Qamishli in northern Syria.
Speaking during a Justice and Development Party (AKP) local meeting on Sunday in Karaman, south of Turkey, Erdogan stressed “the drama” in Raqqa proved without any doubt that ISIS and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) are two sides of the same coin. He added that orders for one party to leave and the other to control the area where issued from the same side.
Media reports said that the Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the international coalition, allowed ISIS militants besieged in Raqqa to withdraw under a similar agreement that occurred between “Hezbollah” and the terrorist organization on Lebanon-Syria border.
Erdogan warned that there are attempts to create enmity between the peoples of the region, even within the same city, stressing that ISIS, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Turkey and Syria are part of that.
Erdogan also stated that the United States supplied PYD with more than 4,000 trucks loaded with arms and equipment, including heavy weapons.
In other news, local sources in Syria confirmed that Iran began using the land route between Tehran and the Mediterranean Sea through Iraq and Syria.
According to Anadolu Agency, a convoy composed of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), entered Syrian territory through the city of Albu Kamal and headed towards Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria.
With that, Tehran would have already began using the Tehran-Damascus line for military purposes and ensured its military presence in Syria.
In addition, Syrian regime forces and PMF controlled areas located on both sides of the border between the two countries.
Earlier in November, Syrian regime gained control of the city of Albu Kamal, ISIS’ last stronghold in Syria, while members of Iraqi PMF took over the other side of the border between Iraq and Syria.
A spokesman for the Revolutionary Commando Army, an opposition Syrian faction operating in eastern Syria, stated that the faction was ready to work with the United Nations to secure any aid convoy.
“Humanitarian aid is welcome to cross within the 55 km zone, an area protected by al-Tanf camp,” tweeted the official.
In southern Syria, “Furat Post”correspondent reported that “al-Omari Brigades” arrested six militants in the western town of al-Milyha and al-Shiyaha town in al-Lujat area of Daraa western countryside. The leader of the group was also arrested after raiding their outposts. The militants will be handed over to the authorities for investigation.
The journalist also pointed out that the group admitted to coordinating with regime forces, in addition to “Hezbollah.” It also admitted to carrying out a number of assassinations in liberated areas, in addition to planting IEDs and targeting Free Army fighters and leaders, including Saqr al-Mashwar, commander of al-Omari Brigades, in bombing attacks.”
French cities overwhelmed by refugee flow, govt must step in urgently – mayors (RT, Dec 18, 2017)
https://www.rt.com/news/413514-french-city-mayors-migrants-emergency/
“The mayors of seven major French cities say they have been “backed up against a wall” by an unending influx of refugees. Paris must address the strain on the areas, which are struggling to accommodate new arrivals, they wrote.
The mayors of Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Rennes, Toulouse and Nantes have called out the government for inaction, asking it to do more to tackle the refugee crisis.
The resources at the mayors’ disposal are far from adequate to cover the needs of asylum seekers who want to stay at already-overcrowded shelters, the mayors wrote in an article to Le Monde on Saturday.
Despite the steady increase in the number of available housing facilities, they are all “completely full,” according to the mayors, referring to a rise in refugee applications towards the end of the year. “The year 2017 ends with a massive increase in asylum applications and the arrival of newcomers puts extreme pressure [on local administrations],” they wrote.
The worsening situation with the lack of shelters means the city administrations are “backed up against the wall,” they said. The mayors went on to suggest more areas should share the burden, and proposed setting up a “network of solidarity between the cities of France.” They then demanded the government hold an extended meeting “at the highest level” “without delay” to discuss the “social emergency.”
In response to the plea, the French Interior Ministry issued a circular, proposing a resettlement scheme that would result in the mobilization of some 20,000 housing units by 2018, as reported by AFP. The program envisions mobilizing public and private property for the purpose of “balanced distribution” of refugees across France. It also asked the French prefects to establish “mobile teams” that would identify migrants living in emergency shelters…”
Trump: “My people are very upset” about Mueller obtaining emails
Officials of President Trump’s transition team plan to ask Special Counsel Robert Mueller to return “many tens of thousands” of transition emails they contend were unlawfully provided to him. But the prosecutor’s office says emails being used in the investigation were properly obtained.
President Trump, returning to the White House on Sunday, said when asked about the emails: “Not looking good. It’s not looking good. It’s quite sad to see that. My people are very upset about it. I can’t imagine there’s anything on ’em, frankly, because as we said, there’s no collusion. There’s no collusion whatsoever. A lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad.”
Keep reading 472 words
What’s new: A source close to Trump’s transition, which still exists as a legal entity so it can shut down what was once a 1,000-person operation, said the transition will send a letter to Mueller informing him that some of the emails are privileged, and asking for their return. The transition says it is willing to provide Mueller with vetted emails.
The source told me: “What they did is totally illegal, and they need to fix it.”
But Peter Carr, spokesman for the Special Counsel’s Office, told Axios early this morning: “When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner’s consent or appropriate criminal process.”
https://www.axios.com/new-trump-officials-demand-mueller-return-thousands-of-emails-2518147669.html
Richard: The witch hunt continues anf from what is coming out it is breaking the law daily, I don’t know if we can get any of them punished for their criminal behavior but I do know that the Freedom Watch crew are working to get this done. A few days ago I posted a video of Larry Klaman saying that if he or Rudy Guiianna were appointed special counsel to investigate the FBI, Mueller and the DOJ they would clean this mess up.
Trump: I’m not considering firing special counsel Mueller
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is not considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller even as his administration was again forced to grapple with the growing Russia probe that has shadowed the White House for much of his initial year in office.
Trump returned to the White House from Camp David and was asked if he was considering triggering the process to dismiss Mueller, who is investigating whether the president’s Republican campaign coordinated with Russian officials during last year’s election.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-likely-tax-victory-overshadowed-probe-170212114–politics.html
Given how they are screaming about Trump firing Mueller I think that is what they want. They know there is nothing to find and are trying to gin up a new scandal.
The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook
An ambitious U.S. task force targeting Hezbollah’s billion-dollar criminal enterprise ran headlong into the White House’s desire for a nuclear deal with Iran.
A global threat emerges
How Hezbollah turned to trafficking cocaine and laundering money through used cars to finance its expansion.
In its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration derailed an ambitious law enforcement campaign targeting drug trafficking by the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, even as it was funneling cocaine into the United States, according to a POLITICO investigation.
The campaign, dubbed Project Cassandra, was launched in 2008 after the Drug Enforcement Administration amassed evidence that Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle East-focused military and political organization into an international crime syndicate that some investigators believed was collecting $1 billion a year from drug and weapons trafficking, money laundering and other criminal activities.
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/
I’m stunned: This is seriously good reporting.
Do you think they want to jump the gun, so to speak, before Hezb launches its first mass casualty attack on U.S. soil?
Twitter’s new rules could result in a major purge of alt-right accounts
The new rules start tomorrow.
Twitter will begin enforcing new rules tomorrow that will suspend accounts affiliated with hate groups “on and off the platform” — a policy that could lead to a crack down on some alt-right users.
Initially announced in November, Twitter will also start penalizing accounts that include “hateful imagery and display names,” presumably including Nazi insignia, or those who “use [a] username, display name, or profile bio to engage in abusive behavior.”
For Twitter, the two new restrictions are attempts to combat rampant harassment and abuse on the site. Users affiliated with the alt-right or neo-Nazi movements in particular have seized on the company’s notoriously lax oversight to stoke racial tensions, peddle false news reports and attack their critics, including Democrats. Earlier this year, they organized a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia with the aid of the platform.
https://www.recode.net/2017/12/17/16787644/twitter-rules-alt-right-accounts
Surveillance cams, face scans help China make thousands vanish
KORLA, China — Nobody knows what happened to the Uighur student after he returned to China from Egypt and was taken away by police.
Not his village neighbors in China’s far west, who haven’t seen him in months. Not his former classmates, who fear Chinese authorities beat him to death.
Not his mother, who lives in a two-story house at the far end of a country road, alone behind walls bleached by the desert sun. She opened the door one afternoon for an unexpected visit by Associated Press reporters, who showed her a picture of a handsome young man posing in a park, one arm in the wind.
“Yes, that’s him,” she said as tears began streaming down her face. “This is the first time I’ve heard anything of him in seven months. What happened?”
“Is he dead or alive?”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/12/17/surveillance-cams-face-scans-help-china-make-thousands-vanish/959047001/
AP Exclusive: Digital police state shackles Chinese minority
KORLA, China (AP) — Nobody knows what happened to the Uighur student after he returned to China from Egypt and was taken away by police.
Not his village neighbors in China’s far west, who haven’t seen him in months. Not his former classmates, who fear Chinese authorities beat him to death.
Not his mother, who lives in a two-story house at the far end of a country road, alone behind walls bleached by the desert sun. She opened the door one afternoon for an unexpected visit by Associated Press reporters, who showed her a picture of a handsome young man posing in a park, one arm in the wind.
“Yes, that’s him,” she said as tears began streaming down her face. “This is the first time I’ve heard anything of him in seven months. What happened?”
“Is he dead or alive?”
https://apnews.com/1ec5143fe4764a1d8ea73ce4a3e2c570/AP-Exclusive:-Thought-police-instill-fear-in-western-China
The larger meaning of Obama letting Hezbollah off the hook
By J.E. Dyer December 18, 2017
A very great deal will be written about this piece by Josh Meyer for Politico in the coming days. It’s an article that deserves consideration and extensive analysis. Although there was much that we already knew before it was published, its central point – that the Obama administration actively blocked law enforcement efforts to take down Hezbollah networks – has not previously been made by insiders, with that focus and level of explicit clarity.
Meyer has talked to the DEA agents who painstakingly spent years making the case to go after high-level Hezbollah criminal operatives, only to find their appeals for Justice Department action turned down. Eventually, over the eight years of the Obama administration, their own operations were starved off and shut down as well.
Yet what they had on the Hezbollah networks around the world shows how dangerous the terror syndicate is. Again, we have known this all along. What we didn’t know was that, for a handful of reasons, including its desperation to conclude a “deal” with Iran, the Obama administration refused at key points to move against Hezbollah, when the evidence was indisputable, and the danger of doing nothing high.
In writing this post, I want to do one thing in particular. There will be, as I said, a great deal written, on many topics, as the punditry chews over Meyer’s article. But here I want to focus on one main point: that the origin of the Obama administration’s attitude was not solely related to the desire for an “Iran deal.”
https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/18/larger-meaning-obama-letting-hezbollah-off-hook/
The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook has been posted above be sure and read it and the entire article.
The “Project Cassandra” push against Hezbollah, with its origins in the last year of the Bush administration, was largely a project of the DEA, which had by then discovered the astonishing scope of Hezbollah’s syndicate crime. The criminal side of Hezbollah was moving drugs, arms, and cash around the world, creating new security hazards not only in the Middle East but in the Americas as well.
And it’s clear that the Obama administration’s priority was not to, shall we say, degrade and defeat Hezbollah; i.e., the goals Obama announced for going after ISIS in 2014.
Team Obama had no intention of weakening Hezbollah, and no vision for a Middle East without it.
Yet Hezbollah is precisely the problem for peace and stability in the Middle East. Hezbollah and its capabilities are the linchpin of Iranian proxy warfare across the region. Iran’s own Qods Force plays an indispensable role, to be sure; but it is an Iranian state entity, Persian, Farsi-speaking, and alien in the Arab nations. Hezbollah is Arab and indigenous in Lebanon and Syria, embedded in Arab identity in a way Iran’s state agents cannot be.
he Americas hit too
Of particular interest to Americans is Hezbollah’s ongoing involvement in the drug trade in the Americas, which has produced such devastating consequences in U.S. society. William Jacobson pointed that out in a post on Sunday.
But there’s another consequence from the Hezbollah narcotics presence, and its center-of-gravity shift in recent years to Venezuela, from the “Tri-Border” area of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, well to the south.
The Hezbollah profile Josh Meyer outlines in Venezuela, partnering with and bolstering the Los Zetas cartel, has been behind much of the Mexico-based Zetas’ growth in vulnerable territory north of the Darien Gap – in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – where another form of social devastation drove the migrant surge into the United States in the Obama years.
Accommodating Hezbollah didn’t just let a lot of frightening, newly-potent drugs into the U.S. It transformed social patterns in Central America – very much for the worse – and drove a migration crisis that still hasn’t subsided.
It is important to acknowledge that the single-minded, and misguided, pursuit of a bad “deal” with Iran has been behind a lot of flawed policy and evil consequences. But in terms of highlighting the consequences, the “Iran” theme, while valid in its own right, is a thinking aid; a mental trigger for what should really come to our minds.
The “Iran deal” isn’t a weak positive in the ledger – a benefit gained for a cost. That’s a deceptive proposition. The “Iran deal” is itself one of the worst consequences, because it constrains us, without meaningfully constraining Iran. We’re not talking tradeoffs here. The motive to pursue the “Iran deal” arose from the same attitude and perspective that drove accommodating Hezbollah.
I have my own ideas what the attitude and perspective were (they have to do with the ideological “Generation of 1968’s” view of revolution, and what it reflexively aligns itself with). But you’ll have to decide what yours are.
What I have posted isn’t the entire article, please read it, it has a lot of information about what happens and given the results of the actions of Obama and company tells us a lot about his motives.
(L-R) Marine Le Pen, Tomio Okamura and Geert Wilders during a conference of the rightwing Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group in the European parliament on December 16, 2017 © Michal Cizek / AFP
The European Union is a “disaster” and a “danger” for Europe that has no place in its future, leaders of far-right European parties said at a gathering in Prague. They also vowed to develop cooperation outside the EU structures.
“Because we love Europe, we accuse the EU of killing Europe,” the leader of the French National Front, Marine Le Pen, told reporters at congress of European right-wing parties in the Czech capital, Prague. She also advocated the establishment of a new sort of union, which she defined as a “Europe of sovereign nations.”
https://www.rt.com/news/413425-eu-killing-europe-far-right/
Staff at a swimming pool in Hanover, Germany, have faced threats after telling Muslim women not to wear jeans or street clothes in the pool, dye their hair, or leave large amounts of rubbish in the pool during Friday “women’s days”.
The staff claim to have received threats from the male relatives of the Muslim women according to leaked confidential documents from a city committee meeting. The city spokesman Ulrike Serbent confirmed the women who were causing the problems were Muslims, Die Welt reports.
“We wanted to avoid creating a xenophobic tone,” Serbent said, claiming that was the reason the problems were not publicised.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/18/muslim-women-cause-havoc-swimming-pool-threaten-employees/
New migrants BANNED from welfare benefits including the dole, parental leave and carer’s allowances during their first three years in Australia
Migrants will have to wait longer for government help under a new policy
Treasurer Scott Morrison announced measures to ‘encourage self-sufficiency’
There will be a three year delay before migrants can receive Newstart
Delay will also apply to family tax benefits, parental leave, carer allowances
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5189605/Migrants-banned-welfare-three-years-arrival.html
Linda Sarsour is accused of covering up the sexual abuse of a former contractor at the Arab American Association of New York and threatening her livelihood.
Linda Sarsour can now lock arms with Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer.
Asmi Fathelbab, a 37-year-old New York native, claims Sarsour put pressure on her to keep silent about her sexual harassment allegations against a male Muslim co-worker, and even shamed her for making the claim.
A devout Muslim and anti-Trump activist, Sarsour is one of the co-founders and inspirations behind the Women’s March on DC. She recently came out as a card-carrying socialist.
Speaking to the Daily Caller, Fathelbab said that the co-worker repeatedly rubbed his crotch on her while she worked under Sarsour at the organization in 2009 as a contractor. Sarsour was the executive director at the time.
https://www.dangerous.com/38990/linda-sarsour-metoo-accused-sexual-assault/
The city of Minneapolis may fire its police psychology evaluator because his tests screened out too many minority candidates, despite already lowering psych evaluations far below the national standard.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/12/15/minneapolis-to-reduce-police-psych-testing-after-screening-out-too-many-minorities/
From The_Donald, about Hungary’s fence and how it works:
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/7kkhbg/how_the_hungarian_border_fence_works_against/
The media’s deeply flawed argument against Trump’s North Korea sanctions
By LU Staff December 17, 2017
The Trump administration’s North Korea strategy is one of “maximum pressure and engagement,” that involves using economic, diplomatic, and military pressure to bring the rogue regime to the negotiating table.
Several prominent media outlets are asserting that sanctions on the rogue nation are hurting its people, not the regime. But this prevailing argument has one huge flaw.
News outlets like NBC and The Washington Post have in recent weeks run articles claiming American-led efforts to pressure North Korea through tough sanctions are harming the North Korean people, not the leadership.
“Sanctions aimed at punishing the North Korean regime are hampering the ability of aid groups to operate inside the country, triggering warnings that the international campaign is harming ordinary North Koreans,” The Post wrote Saturday, arguing sanctions are hindering humanitarian aid operations in the North.
“Sanctions are designed to hurt so that the government will change its policy,” the paper further argued, quoting an American involved in humanitarian work. “But they’re hurting the wrong people
https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/17/medias-deeply-flawed-argument-trumps-north-korea-sanctions/
Live Shots fired at US Air Force base in Suffolk after ‘car tries to force its way in’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/18/us-air-force-base-suffolk-lockdown-car-tries-force-way/
Young man violently beats elderly German woman in broad daylight, motive unclear (SHOCKING VIDEO)
https://www.rt.com/news/413530-germany-african-beats-elderly-woman/
P.S. – the story is not new – but it is getting more widely spread, which is a datapoint in and of itself
And something to make you smile this morning:
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/7kllsd/generation_z_is_growing_and_it_couldnt_be_more/
UK government refuses to say whether proclaiming divinity of Christ is a hate crime
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/12/uk-government-refuses-to-say-whether-proclaiming-divinity-of-christ-is-a-hate-crime
“BREAKING: Amtrak Train 501 Has Derailed Falling Off Bridge Over Interstate 5 in Washington – CBS”
Breaking911 – Twitter – December 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/942792394503786496
Germany: Hamburg station explosion, police rule out terrorism
A small explosion at Hamburg’s Veddel S-Bahn station on Saturday is not being treated as terrorism, police say.
“Amtrak train derails in Washington state onto Interstate 5; injuries reported” By Katherine Lam, Travis Fedschun | Fox News – December 18, 2017
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/12/18/amtrak-train-derails-in-washington-state-blocks-interstate-5.html
Russia: Lawyer Veselnitskaya explains reasons behind Trump Jr. meeting
Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya explained why the son of US President Donald Trump decided to meet with her during an interview in Moscow on Monday.
Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya came to the world’s attention after her meeting with Mr. Trump Jr. which was reportedly part of the alleged Russian ‘meddling’ during the 2016 US Presidential elections said that her meeting with Mr. Trump Jr. was motived by letters from music producer Rob Goldstone.
Mayors of seven large French cities have rung the alarm bell about the number of migrants and the lack of adequate housing in their cities.
In an article in the French newspaper Le Monde, they wrote that most of their shelters are overcrowded and unable to accommodate new refugees. The mayors of Bordeaux, Nantes, Lille, Grenoble, Strasbourg, Toulouse and Rennes want the government to take action.
In the article the mayors say that a new surge in migrants have created a housing shortage, all facilities are full and they’re “backed up against a wall” by the endless wave of refugees. They suggest to create a “network of solidarity” between French cities to resettle refugees.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2017/12/french-cities-are-being-overrun-by-an-endless-influx-of-migrants/#.Wjfsmf7XyCd.reddit
Greece: Man sentenced to 1,489 years for migrant smuggling (wapo, Dec 18, 2017)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/greece-man-sentenced-to-1489-years-for-migrant-smuggling/2017/12/18/6e18e96c-e405-11e7-927a-e72eac1e73b6_story.html
“A court in northern Greece has sentenced 23 people to prison terms ranging from eight to 1,489 years for smuggling Iraqi and Syrian refugees into the country from the Turkish border in 2015 and 2016.
The Thessaloniki court imposed the longest sentence on a 54-year-old Greek man convicted of running a smuggling ring that arranged the transport of more than 500 refugees in 43 separate cases. Under Greek law, the maximum prison term that can be served is 25 years, regardless of the length of the sentence.
Another 23 people, mainly taxi drivers, were acquitted.
The suspects were rounded up in a July 2016 police operation. Greece was the main entry point into the European Union of more than a million refugees at the height of the 2015 refugee crisis.”
Iraq to use drones to protect oil pipelines from 2018 (reuters, Dec 18, 2017)
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iraq-oil-drones/iraq-to-use-drones-to-protect-oil-pipelines-from-2018-idUKKBN1EC1KY
“Iraq plans to use drones to monitor and protect its oil export and production pipelines from the first quarter of 2018, an oil ministry spokesman said on Monday.
Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi has asked the ministry to seek out professional security companies that can supply Iraq with drones and sophisticated camera systems to protect its pipelines, spokesman Asim Jihad said.
Luaibi last week announced plans to build a network of pipelines which will carry crude oil and refined products across all its territory, as an alternative to expensive and hazardous transport by tanker trucks…”
Egypt says police kill 5 militants near Cairo (abcnews, Dec 18, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-police-kill-militants-cairo-51861843
“Egypt says police have killed five suspected militants in a shootout just outside Cairo.
The Interior Ministry, which oversees security forces, said police launched a raid against the militants on Monday in el-Obour, just north of the capital. It says another 10 suspects were arrested in follow-up raids nearby and in the northern city of Alexandria.
The statement says the suspects were part of a militant group plotting to attack churches. Rifles and ammunition were found at the scenes of the raids, it added.
Egypt has been struggling to combat an Islamic State-led insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula. IS and other groups have carried out a string of attacks across the country in recent years.”
US forces carry out airstrike against extremists in Somalia (abcnews, Dec 18, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-forces-carry-airstrike-extremists-somalia-51861895
“The U.S. military’s Africa command says its forces conducted an airstrike against Islamic extremists in Somalia last week, approximately 30 miles northwest of Kismayo, killing eight militants and destroying one vehicle.
In its statement released Monday, the U.S. Africa Command said that it assess no civilians were killed in the strike.
The statement said U.S. forces will continue to use “all authorized and appropriate measures” to protect U.S. citizens and to disable extremist threats. This includes partnering with the multinational African force in Somalia and the Somali National Security Forces to attack the extremist rebels of al-Shabab, their training camps, and their safe havens throughout Somalia and the East African region.
Al-Shabab is allied to al-Qaida and has been fighting for years to impose Shariah law in Somalia.”
Not particularly news, but this IS getting traction on T_D:
https://imgur.com/a/xnPhu
Guilt by Accusation is the New Norm
Don’t believe all women or all men.
December 18, 2017
Daniel Greenfield
Time has named #MeToo its ‘Person of the Year’ and every other day the hashtag lynch mob drags someone else in front of the spotlight. The accusations range from rape to harsh words. The evidence is hearsay. The target is shamed, fired from every job he ever held and purged from polite society.
Some are guilty. Some might be innocent. But we’ll never know because there’s no investigation. The time frame between accusation and purge is hours or days when it takes your average HR department a week to file a form. Just like in every totalitarian leftist state, the accusation is enough.
And then it’s on to the next one.
There’s nothing American about #MeToo. It’s the revolutionary justice of a leftist purge where random political violence against ideological enemies is used to heal social ills. If there’s poverty, shoot a few rich men. If there’s unhappiness, string up some priests. And if there’s sexual assault, destroy whichever names are passed along by a few influential, but enigmatic figures, Ronan Farrow, Yashar Ali, with ambiguous backgrounds and agendas, through pressure campaigns aimed at their employers.
And don’t ask any questions. Only bad people ask questions. Only bad people want proof. Only bad people don’t instantly believe an accusation. And you’re either with #MeToo or with its targets.
But maybe we should start asking a few questions.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268733/guilt-accusation-new-norm-daniel-greenfield
What Roy Moore’s Candidacy Teaches Us
The weaponization of sexual harassment and assault charges.
December 18, 2017
Bruce Thornton
Following Roy Moore’s defeat in the Alabama Senatorial race, the political Nostradami of both parties are furiously predicting either doom or salvation for the other party. Dems think Doug Jones’ win means the South is up for grabs, and flipping the Senate and maybe even the House is possible. Donks predict that with the toxic Moore off the table, Jones’ win will no more flip the Senate than Scott Brown’s win did for the Republicans in 2010. More interesting is what Moore’s rise and fall tells us about our dysfunctional political culture.
Take the weaponization of sexual harassment and assault charges. A movement that started with Harvey Weinstein, a blatant offender who left enough credible evidence to start a criminal investigation, expanded into an orgy of accusations including clumsy flirting, boorish passes, juvenile gags, and other behaviors that in a workplace might constitute sexual harassment, but would not be subject to legal sanction. The level of subjective interpretations involved in many of these charges confuses the issue even further, and can leave determining “sexual assault” in the eye of the beholder. And of course, false charges are easy to manufacture once we are instructed to believe every accuser before any corroborating evidence is available.
An example of how subjective the standards are for making a serious accusation can be seen in the case of one of the three women who recently accused Trump of
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268748/what-roy-moores-candidacy-teaches-us-bruce-thornton
A mural in East London:
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/7kmh46/meanwhile_in_a_trendy_hipster_neighborhood_in/
The FBI’s Secret State Police
Deep state cadres pose a clear and present danger to democracy in America.
December 18, 2017
Lloyd Billingsley
America must “tend to this garden of democracy or else things could fall apart quickly. That’s what happened in Germany in the 1930s which, despite the democracy of the Weimar Republic and centuries of high-level cultural and scientific achievements, Hitler rose to dominate.”
It was the sort of thing one would expect from a UC Berkeley sophomore but the speaker was the 44th President of the United States in a December 5 address to the Economic Club of Chicago. This was the president who thought “Austrian” was a language, so his reductio ad Hitlerum was entirely predictable and completely without significance. On the other hand, there are parallels to National Socialist Germany in America.
The FBI’s current stonewalling bears more than a passing resemblance to the Geheime Staatspolizei, the National Socialists’ secret state police. The people’s representatives have been seeking answers on the probe of Russian influence in the 2016 election. Former FBI boss Robert Mueller has failed to turn up any evidence of “collusion” in more than a year, but other matters have come to light.
FBI man Peter Strzok has been Hillary Clinton’s Odd Job, changing gross negligence to extremely careless, failing to keep records of the interview with the former First Lady, and allowing her aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills to tell more than 300 lies about the unsecured server Clinton used to send classified material.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268750/fbis-secret-state-police-lloyd-billingsley
P.S. This is how you get vigilantism….
Just a reminder that DIY train derailement guides are a thing:
Al-Qaeda Targets D.C. to Boston Line, Hazmat Cargo Trains in DIY Derailment Guide
https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/2017/08/14/al-qaeda-targets-d-c-to-boston-line-hazmat-cargo-trains-in-diy-derailment-guide/
After Alabama, Dem Senators Urge Franken to Stay
December 18, 2017
Daniel Greenfield
Remember when it seemed like the Democrats had begun taking sexual harassment seriously. They even got a sitting senator accused of groping women to resign.
Everyone who bet that would change the moment they won or lost in Alabama, come up and collect your winnings. Everyone who really believed the Democrats had changed, come collect your limited edition of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Dem senators have switched from self righteously demanding that Senator Franken leave to self righteously demanding that Senator Franken stay.
There are two of obvious factors at work here.
1. No further Franken accusers seem to be coming forward. Apparently the Senate Democrats have decided that 8 is enough. Without the threat of new and more damning accusations and the resulting media attention, it’s safer to take a pro-Franken stand.
2. After winning in Alabama, and and scamming some gullible Republicans into thinking that they’re suddenly a moral party, they got what they wanted and now it’s Welcome Back Franken.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/268754/after-alabama-dem-senators-urge-franken-stay-daniel-greenfield
New Conservative Austrian Gov Recognizes Israel as Jewish State
December 18, 2017
Daniel Greenfield
f you believe the media, smashing Jewish store windows, firebombing synagogues and chanting, “Kill the Jews” isn’t anti-Semitic. But criticizing George Soros is. If you believe reality, it’s another matter.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/268753/new-conservative-austrian-gov-recognizes-israel-daniel-greenfield
Words Not Enough to Deter Iran
Brazen actions by Quds Force commander Qassem Suleymani show he is not deterred.
December 18, 2017
Kenneth R. Timmerman
In a dramatic press conference held at Andrews Air Force base on Thursday, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, accused Iran of violating its commitments under UN Security Council resolution 2231, the instrument that renders official the deadly “Iran deal” known as the JCPOA.
Standing in front of a giant section of fuselage from an Iranian Qiam missile shot down by Saudi Arabia as it was hurtling toward the Riyadh international airport recently, Haley said: “Just imagine if this missile had been launched at Dulles Airport or JFK, or the airports in Paris, London, or Berlin. That’s what we’re talking about here. That’s what Iran is actively supporting.”
In other words, acts of war. Let me make that very specific: Iran has declared war on Saudi Arabia, and is engaging in that war by attacking civilian targets in the Saudi capitol, Riyadh, and by targeting civilian facilities, such as the international airport and the Yanbu oil export terminal, where another Qiam missile was shot down.
“What is most revealing about this missile is what’s not here,” Haley said. “It is the large stabilizer fins that are typically present on these kinds of missiles. The Iranian Qiam missile is the only known short range ballistic missile in the world that lacks such stabilizer fins and includes nine valves that you will see running along the length of the missile. Those valves are essentially Iranian missile fingerprints.”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268751/words-not-enough-deter-iran-kenneth-r-timmerman
Terrorist Provocations in Gaza may lead to Full Scale War
Tensions escalate as Israelis endure barrage of terrorist rocket fire from Gaza.
December 18, 2017
Ari Lieberman
Sirens went off in southern Israel last Thursday as jittery Israeli civilians dashed for cover or scanned the skies for rockets and counter-rocket fire. It turned out to be a false alarm but no less disconcerting. Approximately 17 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since December 7, the day following America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Four rockets were fired on December 13. One landed in open area, two were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system and a fourth landed in Gaza, hitting a United Nations-run school. It’s a sure bet that had the school been damaged as a result of Israeli fire, Israel would have been excoriated by so-called human rights groups and their nefarious allies in certain quarters of the establishment media. Another rocket was fired on Friday but it too fell short and landed in northern Gaza, ironically hitting the home of the brother of a senior Hamas official. A further two rockets were fired on Sunday, landing in the vicinity of the Hof Ashkelon region and causing damage to a house and car.
The sudden escalation in rocket fire from Gaza has the potential of spiraling into a wider conflict. It is believed that those responsible for the uptick do not belong to Hamas but are taking their orders from other terrorist groups that roam Gaza, such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Still, Hamas controls the borders and they could put a stop to the mischief if they wanted. That is why Israel holds Hamas, Gaza’s governing authority, responsible for all rocket fire and that is why Israel often directs its retaliatory fire at Hamas installations.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268752/terrorist-provocations-gaza-may-lead-full-scale-ari-lieberman
Dec 18 2017 -Algeria – Setif – Muslim attempts to destroy a statue
HD
Algérie: un malade mental vandalise une statue d’une fontaine emblématique de Sétif
Alger – Un homme, atteint de “déficience mentale” selon la police, a endommagé lundi à coups de burin la statue féminine de l’emblématique fontaine Ain El Fouara de Sétif (300 km à l’est d’Alger).
Une vidéo postée sur les réseaux sociaux montre un homme barbu et vêtu d’un qamis blanc -tenue islamique originaire du Golfe adoptée par les salafistes en Algérie- s’attaquer, juché sur le socle de la fontaine à plus de 1,50 m du sol, au visage et aux seins de la statue avec un marteau et un burin.
Des passants tentent de le déloger en lui lançant des pierres, jusqu’à l’arrivée de la police.
L’auteur présumé, arrêté par la police, est un homme de 34 ans, issu de la commune de Béni Hocine, à environ 35 km de Sétif, et qui présente une “déficience mentale” grave, selon la police locale, citée par l’agence étatique APS.
Des photos publiées par le site Sétif Info montrent que le visage de la statue et un de ses seins ont disparu tandis que l’autre est abîmé.
Dans un communiqué, le ministre algérien de la Culture Azedine Mihoubi -originaire de Sétif- “a dénoncé avec une grande consternation le comportement hystérique d’une personne qui a essayé à l’aide d’un marteau de détruire et de défigurer l’oeuvre Ain El Fouara”.
“La police a arrêté l’auteur et la justice déterminera les motifs de cet acte odieux et condamnable”, a-t-il ajouté, promettant une “restauration rapide des parties endommagées de ce chef-d’oeuvre”.
Selon le ministre, “des spécialistes sont déjà sur place pour déterminer l’étendue et la nature des dommages et adopter les normes de restauration appropriées”.
La fontaine Ain El Fouara (“la source qui jaillit”) est un monument emblématique de Sétif. La statue, oeuvre du sculpteur français Francis de Saint-Vidal, a été réalisée spécialement pour la ville et installée en 1899. Bien que datant de la colonisation française, les Sétifiens y sont très attachés.
La statue avait été dynamitée en 1997, un attentat attribué aux islamistes, en pleine “décennie noire” de guerre civile les opposant à l’Etat algérien. Elle avait été réparée en 48 heures après une exceptionnelle mobilisation des habitants de Sétif.
(©AFP / 18 décembre 2017 19h30)
https://www.romandie.com/news/Algerie-un-malade-mental-vandalise-une-statue-d-une-fontaine-emblematique-de-Setif/873963.rom
“Amtrak Train Derails Onto Highway in WA”
Right Side Broadcasting – Live Coverage
December 18, 2017
DAILY MAIL – High-speed Amtrak train ‘hit something’ before derailing on Washington State line – killing at least six and injuring 77 – as it’s revealed high-tech system designed to PREVENT accident was NOT enabled
An Amtrak train derailed near DuPont, Washington around 7:40am Monday, killing at least six and injuring 77
Seventy-eight passengers were on board, in addition to five crew members
The train derailed while crossing a bridge over Interstate 5, causing one car to crash onto the freeway below
Five cars and two semi-trucks were struck by the falling car, but no motorists were killed
It was the first day of a new high-speed service linking Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon
A local mayor voiced his fear about the new train causing a deadly accident earlier this month
An anonymous official said it appears the train may have struck something right before the derailment
High-tech Positive Train Control (PTC) system that each of the brand Amtrak Cascade engines are equipped with was not switched on
The NTSB is sending a 20-person team to DuPont to investigate the derailment
Records show that the train was going 81 mph before it derailed, when it was supposed to only be going 79
The president of Amtrak said the train was not equipped with positive train control, which automatically slows a train if it’s going too fast
President Trump blamed the crash on ‘crumbling infrastructure’ in a tweet
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5191431/Amtrak-train-derails-highway-bridge-Washington-state-media.html
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the gateway pundit : Panicked ANTIFA Website Deletes Article About Sabotaging Train Tracks in Olympia After Derailment — Read It Here
Independent journalist Mike Cernovich tweeted an archived link to a now deleted article from “prominent,” far-left website It’s Going Down, on an ANTIFA group bragging about pouring concrete on train tracks in Olympia, WA.
The story is from April, but a more recent post from another far-left website, published just 9 days ago, is still up.
[…]Earlier this year, a prominent #Antifa website published an article tacking credit for the sabotage of train tracks in Olympia, WA. In this article they claimed to have poured concrete on the tracks. It has since been deleted,” tweeted Far-Left Watch.
[…]
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/12/hiding-something-antifa-website-deletes-article-sabotaging-train-tracks-concrete-washington-state-derailment/
FRANCE -BÉZIERS – La justice ordonne au maire de Béziers de retirer la crèche de Noël de l’hôtel de ville
Robert Ménard a 48 heures pour désinstaller la crèche mise en place en dépit de l’avis de la justice.
http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/la-justice-ordonne-au-maire-de-beziers-de-retirer-la-creche-de-noel-de-l-hotel-de-ville-18-12-2017-7460646.php
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twitter :
https://twitter.com/VilleBeziersOff/status/942795189164310529
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRV6LCbW4AEwkeH.jpg
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A is for Allah – being taught as a ‘Christmas Carol’:
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/7kmuaq/ultra_conservative_town_is_brainwashing/
Have a listen yourself:
Commission: EU Too White, Mass Third World Migration Must Be ‘New Norm’ (breitbart, Dec 18, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/18/eu-white-mass-migration-norm/
“Brussels has said that Europeans must accept mass migration from the third world as the “new norm”, warning that neither walls nor policies will allow any part of the EU to remain “homogenous and migration-free”.
“It’s time to face the truth. We cannot and will never be able to stop migration,” writes EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos, in a piece for POLITICO, published Monday entitled, “Europe’s Migrants Are Here to Stay”.
In it, the Eurocrat wrote “human mobility will increasingly define the 21st century”, and that mass migration is an issue Brussels has committed Europe to “for the long haul”, stating: “Migration is deeply intertwined with our policies on economics, trade, education and employment — to name just a few.”
Pointing to migrants from the world’s poorest countries who were granted refugee status in Europe, Avramopoulos made clear that Brussels sees asylum not as a way to offer temporary respite from war but instead as another method of permanently transplanting third world populations into EU nations.
“They have found safety in Europe, but we also need to make sure they find a home,” he writes of refugees, going on to insist that programming Europeans to welcome mass migration is “not only a moral imperative”, but “also an economic and social imperative for our aging continent — and one of the biggest challenges for the near future”.
To this end, the Commission is working to “enhance legal channels for economic migration with a more ambitious Blue Card for highly skilled workers and kick-start targeted labour migration pilot projects in key third countries”, he notes.
Whilst Brussels claims that the Blue Card will bring “highly-skilled workers” to Europe, Breitbart London reported last year that revisions to the scheme clearly contradict this, stating that it would be necessary to provide newcomers with education, employment, and vocational training.
Noting that people from non-European backgrounds living in Europe are much more likely to be unemployed or on low wages, the Commission even stressed that “integration measures” would be necessary for hosting the arrivals they claim are essential to the continent’s economies.
In the piece, the Greek politician also praised a series of POLITICO articles which accuse the EU of being “too white”, in which the bloc was urged to bring in measures which would encourage replacing native Europeans with “people of colour” in Brussels jobs.
But this, the migration commissioner said, is “not nearly enough to prompt the changes that our societies need to be ready for the realities of the 21st century”.
Avramopoulos, who last week shot down Council of Europe chief Donald Tusk’s suggestion to scrap the controversial migrant quota scheme forcing third world migrants on unwilling nations as “anti-European”, went on to make clear he believes that no corner of the EU can be exempt from mass migration.
“It is naïve to think that our societies will remain homogenous and migration-free if one erects fences,” he thunders, in a paragraph clearly aiming at nations in Central Europe, where leaders have fought against the imposition of third world migration.
“It is unwise to think that migration will remain on the other side of the Mediterranean, if one only shows solidarity in financial terms,” he continues. “It is foolish to think that migration will disappear if one adopts harsh language.”
“At the end of the day, we all need to be ready to accept migration, mobility and diversity as the new norm and tailor our policies accordingly.
“The only way to make our asylum and migration policies future-proof, is to collectively change our way of thinking first,” the migration commissioner concludes.”
This is criminal. Treasonous.
Why does he – do they – think they have a mandate for such decisions?