Reader’s Links for December 19, 2017

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About Eeyore

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

101 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 19, 2017”

  1. Notes from NorseRadish:

    Wither the Korean Peninsula?

    The Korean Peninsula rapidly is becoming a global flash point of serious dimensions. Far worse, there are very few ways of preventing this looming conflagration. Grimmest of all is that most of the major players in this geopolitical farce are not interested in resolving it anytime soon.

    Some of the main options:

    A.) Do Nothing. Several previous American administrations took this “kick the can down the road” approach and the current combustible situation is a direct outcome of their apathy.

    B.) Western Intercession. Any “boots on the ground” solution requires participation by South Korea—be it due to linguistic skills or the ability to unobtrusively infiltrate North Korea.

    C.) Peninsular Reunification. Irrespective of how seemingly optimal this outcome appears, it happens to be one of the least desired, especially by the most powerful regional groups.

    D.) Chinese Intervention. While the most difficult to obtain, this is one of the few workable strategies in terms of neutralizing (in every sense of the word) Kim Jong Un.

    Let’s scrutinize these options in order:

    Do Nothing

    This flaccid approach no longer is any sort of valid option. With North Korea’s acquisition of delivery (i.e., ICBM missile) systems, the risk of America sustaining even a single nuclear strike is totally unacceptable. Cost estimates related to the 9-11 Atrocity range between one and three trillion dollars.

    Now, consider what sort of economic impact just one nuclear strike would have against America’s mainland. Furthermore, while the media loves to harp on Hawaii’s vulnerability. All the same, more probable targets are Washington State (i.e., Boeing and Microsoft) or California (Silicon Valley). Please note that, were it ranked as a separate nation, California’s economy would be number six, in the entire world.

    Imagine just how many other states in the USA are wholly dependent upon California’s contributions to the federal tax base. Again, a single nuclear strike against the Golden State—be it Silicon Valley or Hollywierd—could see aftershock costs spiral into tens of trillions of dollars.

    It is for this grisly reason that, soon enough, South Korea’s traditional rôle as a powerless hostage to North Korean artillery (or other military might) may well need to be dismissed as any sort of deterrent. A secondary (and positive) “knock-on” effect of this policy shift would be needling Seoul into a more realpolitik mindset.

    Modern South Korea always has huddled beneath America’s nuclear umbrella … for decades. That era rapidly is coming to an end (in more ways than one). More about this “umbrella” issue to follow…

    Western Intercession

    While remotely doable, the unattractive prospect of America spending another trillion-plus dollars conducting whatever needed ground invasion of North Korea is, at best, unworkable. Also, for reasons to be shown below, securing this land mass is problematic in a number of other ways. The least of them being North Korea’s extensive tunnel system.

    While a few dozen well-placed MOAB-style thermobaric (i.e., “vacuum”) bombs could suck the oxygen right out of this extensive subterranean network, the military “no fun” factor still would remain rather high.

    Furthermore, any attempt to do so by America, or Western-backed powers such as South Korea, would ignite (so to speak) a countervailing Communist Chinese response for several clear reasons, regardless of how much Beijing has precipitated this chain of events.

    Peninsular Reunification

    Contrary to received wisdom, any idea of reunification is the ultimate “kumbaya” answer.

    Off-Topic Background: Within Japan there is the zaibatsu. This is a sub-rosa economic council of several exceptionally powerful families (e.g., Sumitomo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Yasuda), that effectively control the Japanese economy. As an example, if you do not enroll at one of the same academies that the children of these families attend, your chances of progressing beyond middle management in those various corporations are, approximately, ZERO.

    In Korea, replace the term “zaibatsu” with “chaebol”; (think: Hundai, LG, Samsung, Hanjin, Kumho, Lotte, and SK Group). Additionally, please keep in mind that the chaebol’s collective Mainland Chinese investment is rumored to be some $50 billion USD.

    Now, let’s set the Wayback Machine for Germany’s 1990 reunification. How much did that particular roistering event cost and what factors influenced it chances for success?

    Please acquaint yourself with the GINI Coefficient (…a measure of financial disparity intended to represent the income or wealth distribution of a nation’s residents, and is the most commonly used measure of capital inequality). The economic disparity in West versus East Germany was best illustrated by the difference in accumulated wealth. As in, respectively, €94K versus €40K or personal savings, a factor of around 50%.

    During my visits there, please know that some Germans I talked to grumbled about how the country’s (recently constructed) eastern autobahns were in much better repair than the WWII-era roadbeds in Western Germany. Back to Korea…

    Rather handily, the Korean Peninsula and modern (unified) Germany have a conveniently similar land mass. That said, Eastern Germany was only one third of the land mass involved (as opposed to North Korea’s 50%). By comparison to its European counterpart, the Korean economic disparities are nothing short of bewildering.

    From the above link —

    The economy of South Korea is multiple times (36.7 times as per current figures) that of North Korea’s in terms of GDP. According to 2013 figures, the GDP of North Korea is estimated at $33 billion, while that of South Korea is $1.19 trillion. The GDP per capita is $33,200 in South Korea, while it is $1,800 in the North, according to the CIA World Factbook. South Korea’s trade volume was a gigantic $1.07 trillion in 2013. By comparison, North Korea reported a relatively minuscule $7.3 billion.

    So much for the much-vaunted Communist “worker’s paradise”…

    At this point, it is crucial to recall the relatively small economic disparity (measured by personal savings) between West and East Germany; a mere ~50%. Now, please compare this to the bewildering 95% differential between North and South Korean wealth.

    As Old Bill would say, “Therein lies the rub…”

    The cost of German reunification has variously been estimated at between one and three trillion dollars. After all, just demolishing all of that hideous Soviet Era architecture had to have been a priority for the aesthetically fastidious Deutschvolk, eh?

    So, given the beyond belief earnings differential between North and South Korea, what sort of expenditure will be required to rehabilitate a post-Soviet, and latter-day Chinese Communist hellhole like North Korea? If German reunification required a measly few trillion dollars what sort of tab awaits reuniting the Korean peninsula?

    Again, rumored estimates fluctuate in the three to seven TRILLION DOLLAR range.

    Given the grinding poverty in North Korea, where’s the money going to come from?!? Parasite removal from the North Korean population will cost a billion dollars alone.

    Now, please recall that South Korea’s Chaebol has exhibited ZERO interest (as it were) about withdrawing its very profitable $50 billion Red Chinese investment in order to sink that tiny sliver of necessary monetary reinvestment into the economic black hole of reconstructing North Korea.

    Chinese Intervention

    Here emerges one of the most telling and, simultaneously, discouraging aspects of this entire debacle.

    Why would China want to see Kim Jong Un deposed? What upside would there be for Beijing?

    A reunified Korean Peninsula—without Pyongyang at the helmis the very last thing that Beijing wants. After all, should South Korea come to dominate the outcome of this looming conflict, there is the resulting prospect of a Democratic, Capitalist, anti-Communist, global economic powerhouse perched directly on China’s eastern border.

    Keeping Pyongyang “at the helm” would require major leverage—if only in the form of nuclear weapons. North Korea has no such inventory of atomic bombs and the prospect of irradiating South Korea renders meaningless all scenarios of Communist peninsular ascendancy. Not even Red China would welcome such a pyrrhic victory.

    That said, just the prospect of having South Korea’s American ally—with concomitantly robust military bases—ranged along the Yalu River (within close striking distance of China) is enough to give the Politburo’s Mandarins permanent indigestion.

    So, there we have it … Red China, North Korea, the Chaebol, South Korea’s military, and even elements within Russia or America’s military all are manifestly disinterested in Korean reunification. It is only the Korean people themselves—whose families have been tragically rent asunder by decades of cruel, manipulative separation—that care.

    Even then, how many of these same folk are willing to invite massive North Korean artillery bombardment as part of ending this?

    Any talk of resolving this standoff without China being dragged (kicking and screaming) into the fray is absurd. Either Beijing makes a determined effort to ending this crisis or gets tarred as one of the principal conspirators.

    Again, Seoul taking a few thousand artillery hits (more about that in another post) is meaningless compared to America enduring a single nuclear strike. How to reconcile that issue?

    • China will rein in or possibly replace the Kim family under certain circumstances, however the cost of the most likely payment would be so high the US and the other Far Eastern nations will refuse to pay that price.

      China would do this in return for the US letting them have total control of the South China Sea including control of who sails there and what they carry. Obama and Hillary would probably have agreed to this but there is no way any other person that has a remote chance of winning the next few Presidential elections would.

      Guam is running videos on TV about what to do in case of a nuclear attack, Hawaii is holding missile attack drills and some Californians are asking why California, Oregon and Washington aren’t doing the same thing. The chances for war increase daily even though China knows that there is no way that they can win a war with the US. They can’t win a ground war and a nuclear war would be lost by everyone.

      Lets look at the likely scenario of a war with China:

      1: Japan rapidly reams and sends men and equipment to help us fight. Abe has gotten their Constitution changed to the point that they can use military force to help allies who are fighting a war so he wouldn’t be violating Japanese law.

      2: The Chinese economy will collapse much faster the the US, Japanese and South Korean economy. Wars are fought with money as much as they are fought with soldiers, guns and other weapons.

      3: The Three Gorges Dam. while it would be political suicide for a US President to order a strike on this dam the same can’t be said about Japan, South Korea or some of the nations that will be remaining neutral during the war. This dam being destroyed would drown about half of the Chinese population,wash away most of their farmable land and destroy well over half of their factories. As I said the US is restrained by internal politics but Japan, South Korea India and Taiwan all have the technology to build and launch cruise missiles to destroy the dam.

      4: Russia, Russia has already signaled that they will set out any war in that region. What happens when they see China losing, Putin would have a lot of temptation to declare war and seize a lot of land that borders Russia. It is well know that he wants to recreate the Russian Empire by taking back all of the land that was lost at the end of WWI and the Breakup of the Soviet Union. I see no reason this desire doesn’t include regaining the land Russia lost when it lost the Russo-Japanese war.

      These are all reasons not to fight a war but are they enough to force the Chinese Politburo to make a regime change in North Korea? China has a lot to lose and little to win if they force us into a war. But non of my analysis and that of NR take into consideration the loose of face that China would suffer if they give in to the US demands pressure to stop Kim and his suicidal nuclear missile program. If they give in will they loose so much face that the communist government in China will fall?

      • But none of my analysis and that of NR takes into consideration the loss of face that China would suffer if they give in to the US demands pressure to stop Kim and his suicidal nuclear missile program. If they give in will they lose so much face that the communist government in China will fall?

        Excellent observations, Richard. You are particularly right to mention the concept of “face” (i.e., “losing” or “gaining” face). Few people in the West have even a remote understanding regarding this concept of “on“, also known as, “miàn zi“.

        SIDEBAR: You are spot on about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) losing sufficient “face” to where their entire façade may well collapse. With mass departures (as in well-over one hundred million) from the CCP, Beijing is wetting its undies about how to best retain its current degree of control.

        It is the root of why Asians are stereotypically described as being “inscrutable”, and many other misconceptions. These are just facets of a larger construct based on “high-context” (e.g., Asiatic, Islamic) cultures and “low-context” Western cultures.

        If anyone reading this has not already done so, please consider perusing Sarah Rosenberg’s exceptionally well-written (and relatively brief) article, “Face – Beyond Intractability“. An excerpt:
        ———–
        “To understand the relevance of face in different cultures, one must learn how to identify low-context and high-context societies and what types of characteristics they each imply, especially in negotiating behavior. It is important to note that many cultures are neither wholly low-context nor high-context, but instead combine the two, and that the context may vary depending on the situation. However, these principles are helpful as a framework for discussion and analysis.

        In general, the U.S. and other Western countries are considered low-context societies. This means that verbal communication is most often direct, and that there is very little concern or need for nonverbal cues in order for people to understand each other. Raymond Cohen, a respected researcher on culture and negotiation, explains that at the core of a low-context society is the belief in the freedom of the individual, hence the term “individualistic” societies.

        In these societies, individual rights supercede blind duty to one’s family, clan, ethnic group, or nation. People generally try to “say what they mean and mean what they say.” In individualistic societies, “[e]quality is the prevailing ethic in society and politics. Status is acquired, not inherited…” and, more importantly, “…contract, not custom, prescribes the individual’s legal obligation to a given transaction, role or course of action.” In these societies, it is individual, personal guilt that serves as a moral compass. If one commits a social blunder as an adult, in most cases, there is no group shame involved, only personal embarrassment, and (one hopes) a desire to correct the wrong with a sincere apology. Conflicts are seen as a natural part of life; they are simply dealt with and then people move on. In individualistic societies, in theory if not always in practice, people are free to move and associate themselves with any groups they like. In light of all this, the place that face issues hold in low-context cultures is not nearly as important as in collectivistic societies. But when communicating with cultural “others,” it is obviously extremely important to make oneself aware of possible differences beforehand. Face, it turns out, is quite a serious issue in many places.

        High-context societies include countries such as Korea, China, and Japan in Asia, Middle-Eastern countries such as Egypt and Iran, and Latin American countries. Sometimes, these cultures are referred to as collectivistic, or interdependent. Very often, these high-context cultures are hierarchical and traditional societies in which the concepts of shame and honor are much more important than they are in low-context societies.

        In high-context cultures, group harmony is of utmost importance. People in these cultures dislike direct confrontation, and for the most part avoid expressing a clear “no.” Evasion and inaccuracy are preferred in order to keep appearances pleasant. There is a danger of losing face simply by not reaching an agreement with another person or group, if that was the goal. Being humiliated before the group, or losing face before one’s constituents, can be a fate worse than death in some cases.”
        ———–
        Please note how Korea and China top Rosenberg’s list of “high-context” cultures. This alone is a strong indicator of the rocky shoals that will need to be navigated as this (North Korean) situation proceeds.

        Far more disconcerting is my own perception that very few within the US Deep-State Department have ever even read the above article. It was this same ignorance of “face” that played no small part in WWII’s Pacific Theater against Japan. (Read, “The Winds of War”, by Herman Wouk—the movie, while good, does not convey this concept like the book does.)

        The “pressure” required to make Red China resolve this mess that they’ve so arduously manufactured will take every ounce of negotiating skill that Trump has (in abundance, thank goodness).

        To address your multi-point scenario more in order:

        1: Japan – As I have mentioned elsewhere, with, “a bomb in the basement“—or a baker’s dozen of them—Abe’s shift in Constitutional language represents a key (and much-needed) addition to the threat matrix confronting Communist China.

        This is one of the few principal levers that will be able to pry Beijing loose from its fatal embrace with North Korea. Especially if South Korea and Taiwan go nuclear as well.

        2: The Chinese Economy – You are so right about how, “Wars are fought with money as much as they are fought with soldiers, guns and other weapons.” This is why I continue to stress the importance of America (quietly) blackmailing Red China with the prospect of an economic boycott.

        Beijing’s totally corrupt and money-hungry apparatus apparatchiks are so dependent on foreign trade dollars (i.e., hard currency) that they must be hoisted by their own petard on just this single economic issue.

        All Trump needs to do is whisper into the hotline, “Hey, go ahead and try eating all of those cell phones, laptops, wide screen televisions and plastic lawn chairs—then get back to us about capping Kim Jong Un’s ample posterior.”

        3: The Three Gorges Dam – While I disagree with your overestimation about how that single strategic strike might, “[kill] half of the Chinese population, wash away most of their farmable land and destroy well over half of their factories”, hey! close enough for government work!

        Breaching Three Gorges Dam would retard Communist China’s entire economy by decades. After all, we’re talking about a structure that may well be slowing the earth’s rotational speed.

        Between immediate fatalities (and their burial), immediate relocation of evacuees, wiped out infrastructure, loss of arable land plus ensuing famines, water-borne disease epidemics, disaster response expenses, predictable imposition of martial law, reduced industrial productivity, reconstruction costs, relocating other affected (surviving) populations, not to mention all of the graft, bribery, and corruption that will trail in the wake of this event (like used toilet paper stuck onto the heel of China’s shoe), the overall costs may as well be the same as you have predicted.

        … In other words—as is so often the case—we are in violent agreement

        4: Russia – Let’s all hope that Russia has “grown a brain” and realizes that (openly) siding with North Korea will bring them nothing but grief.

        As in, Europe developing even more facilities for receiving bulk maritime shipments of Liquefied Natural Gas—like that at the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda. Choking off a vital Russian money machine like Gazprom will be a major “shot-across-the-bow” to Putin and his merry band of thugs.
        ———–
        I do not envy Trump’s task of juggling all of these geopolitical bowling balls. Again, America can thank goodness it has Adult Supervision someone in charge who is able to “negotiate” (see video clip below).

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TyxxLHfBwE

        Imagine (or don’t) Billary up against these smiling vipers. The US wouldn’t stand a millisecond’s fecking chance.

        Again, thank you, Richard.

        • As much as I hate the idea of more nations having nuclear weapons it is possible that just the threat of South Korea and Taiwan getting some (possibly with help from Japan will be enough to make China reconsider their actions. But we still have to find a way to get them to do this while saving their face with their internal enemies.

          OK so I over estimated the number of people who would drown and the amount of ecological damage destroying the dam would do. You are right that the aftermath of such a strike would possibly maybe even probably do as much damage just take months or years longer.

          Lets look at 2 and 4 together. The Chinese economy is one of the weakest in the world and as you said if we quit importing their goods they can’t afford to buy the food to keep their people from starving. This would hurt Australia but in the long run would help them, assuming they don’t take in many more Chinese “refugees”. Russia on the other hand is weaker then most people think, they are dependent on the sale of natural gas and gold. If the price of either falls they are in massive trouble and Putin will have to pull back from his Middle East adventure. I understand that he is using contractors rather then regular Russian military forces because dead Russian military have to be taken home and the contractors can be buried in the Middle East and forgotten. Putin is suppose to be at least as smart as the two of us and maybe smarter, he knows the trouble he has internally and in the Middle East. He isn’t about to get into another war if there is a way for him to set it out and still gain some advantage. In this case retaking land that Russia use to control.

          All of the above from you and me says that we are stumbling towards a war that may, I repeat may be avoided if the Deep State will let Trump do the negotiations. I am not holding my breath on the latter, and if it happens we are still faced with the Islamic Conquest which we have to resist on every continent. .

          • Dead Russian mercs are a bonus. Ex-cons too violent to repatriate alive.

            Putin’s not in love with SuShi ragheads: Shark-face only looks like a smile. He’s juggling, trying to play statesman – if it costs him nothing.

            He’s probably getting food and lodging compensation from all the chiefs- of -state who’ve been visiting him lately. Some leave nice gifts.

            Like naval bases in the Med from Egypt. Contracts for nuclear reactors. Intelligence against allies like Iran and Turkey.

            Mossad thwarts more domestic terror attacks for him than the FSB. MbS takes out one or another Saudi royal to settle a personal score for Uncle Vlad. (I’m enjoying that.)

  2. Tens of Thousands of Uyghurs Held in Chinese Reeducation Camps – Investigation (sputniknews, Dec 19, 2017)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/201712191060117150-tens-thousands-uyghurs-reeducation-camps/

    “China has been sending thousands or even tens of thousands of Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic minority group living primarily in the western province of Xinjiang, to detention camps for political crimes like having extremist thoughts, according to a new investigation.

    Citing religious oppression and suppression of political expression, some Uyghur separatists have carried out acts of terror in Xinjiang and other parts of China over the last decade. Beijing has long been accused of trying to undermine religious observance in the region, and the latest program is seen as an effort to retrain Uyghurs’ thinking.

    According to an Associated Press investigation, Chinese government documents describe the detention centers as “free, completely closed-off, militarized” areas where training sessions that can last three months to two years are conducted. There, Uyghurs learn “Mandarin, law, ethnic unity, de-radicalization, [and] patriotism.”

    While detained, the Uyghurs must adhere to the “five togethers:” to live, practice drills, study, eat and sleep as one. “The government has referred to its detention program as ‘vocational training,’ but its main purpose appears to be indoctrination,” the AP noted.

    The campaign to reign in Xinjiang’s alleged extremists has been led by Chen Quanguo, who was promoted to the top governmental position in Xinjiang after quelling unrest in another area experiencing tension with Beijing: Tibet. Chen promised to “bury terrorists in the ocean of the people’s war and make them tremble,” the AP quoted him as saying after he was promoted.

    Human Rights Watch reported in January that Tibet and Xinjiang are two areas where Beijing has committed its most serious human rights violations.

    “Since 2011, authorities in Tibet have placed permanent teams of Communist Party officials in every religious institution to oversee daily management of religion… Another of Chen’s flagship policies in Tibet entailed a major expansion of surveillance mechanisms, from high-tech police posts at urban road junctions to making a single person responsible for the behavior of every five to 10 households; it will not be difficult for him to justify similar initiatives across Xinjiang to his bosses in Beijing,” HRW noted.

    Other Central Asian nations have also begun to monitor Muslim organizations with a much keener eye, in particular as in recent years a trickle of Central Asians have joined Daesh in Syria or Iraq, or perpetrated terrorist attacks in the group’s name around the world.

    Last week, human rights proponents sounded the alarm over China’s “physicals for all” program, which, critics allege, collects biodata on people in Xinjiang for surveillance and police purposes under the guise of a public health program. The provincial government plans to collect and store DNA, fingerprint, iris and blood type data when Uyghurs go to the doctor for a yearly checkup.

    Basically all 10 million Uyghurs living in China are treated as terror suspects, the AP investigation found, noting that Uyghurs who contact relatives abroad can face police questioning or time at a “vocational” center. Other political crimes worthy of detention include thinking extremist thought and studying or travelling abroad, according to the report.

    A Uyghur student returning from Egypt, where he studied and spoke of pursuing a Ph.D. in comparative religion, was whisked away by police in February 2016 and is now feared to have died in detention, the AP investigation noted.”

    • “China has been sending thousands or even tens of thousands of Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic minority group living primarily in the western province of Xinjiang, to detention camps for political crimes like having extremist thoughts, according to a new investigation.

      If Islam is involved, go ahead and cry me a flipping river!

      Clearly, China has a better understanding of the Islamic threat than most of the Western world, combined. I have long maintained that Western powers will likely be required to examine China’s response to Islamic predation for any useful clues about how to deal with restive Muslim populations.

      • The way things are going the Western Nations are about to learn of their mistake and hopefully will start working to correct their mistake.

  3. Obama Administration Obstructed Investigations into ‘Hezbollah’ Criminal Cell (aawsat, Dec 19, 2017)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1117626/obama-administration-obstructed-investigations-%E2%80%98hezbollah%E2%80%99-criminal-cell

    “The Obama administration obstructed a law enforcement campaign, targeting drug trafficking by the Iranian-backed “Hezbollah” group in its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, according to a POLITICO investigation.

    Based on documents and interviews with former and current high-ranking US officials, the American magazine explained how “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.

    The campaign was dubbed Project Cassandra and was launched in 2008.

    The magazine said that the Justice Department and the State Department declined requests to file criminal charges against major players such as “Hezbollah’s” high-profile envoy to Iran, a Lebanese bank that allegedly laundered billions in alleged drug profits, and a central player in a US-based cell of the Iranian paramilitary Quds force.

    “The US State Department rejected requests to lure high-value targets to countries where they could be arrested,” the magazine wrote.

    Eight years from 2008, agents used wiretaps, undercover operations and informants to map “Hezbollah’s” illicit networks, with the help of 30 US and foreign security agencies.

    “The agents traced the conspiracy, they believed, to the innermost circle of ‘Hezbollah’ and its state sponsors in Iran,” the magazine said.

    Evidence also showed that “Hezbollah” is linked to more than a $480 million laundering scheme.

    The money, allegedly laundered through the Lebanese Canadian Bank and two exchange houses, involved approximately 30 US car buyers.

    According to POLITICO, the Obama administration’s willingness to envision a new role for “Hezbollah” in the Middle East, combined with its desire for a negotiated settlement to Iran’s nuclear program, translated into a reluctance to move aggressively against the top “Hezbollah” operatives.”

  4. The Saudi-UAE media attack on Erdo?an (memo, Dec 19, 2017)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171219-the-saudi-uae-media-attack-on-erdogan/

    “Immediately after the end of the Special meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Summit on Jerusalem, which was called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, a number of Saudi and UAE media outlets began attacking Iran and Turkey in an unusual way.

    In an interview with Quds Press, the Secretary-General of the Turkish-Arab Institute for Strategic Studies in Turkey, Badr al-Din Habib Oglu, said: “The issue of Jerusalem has affected most of the Arab regimes, the Gulf regimes in particular, specifically Saudi Arabia.”

    He added that the attack makes it clear that the UAE and Saudi arabia are involved in the US-Israeli plan “which revolves around abandoning the Palestinian cause and selling Jerusalem in exchange for the strengthening Mohammed bin Salman’s rule and the imposition of a new vision in the region.”

    Oglu went on “the marginalisation of Turkey in the Islamic world and pressuring it through the media are part of a US-Zionist plan that is backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE … The reason for this attack is the that the Turkish position on the rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem, is strong and has helped to mobilise the protests on Palestinian, Arab and Islamic streets.”…”

  5. Bomb squad called as anti-terror police swoop (skynews, Dec 19, 2017)
    https://news.sky.com/story/bomb-squad-called-as-anti-terror-police-swoop-11177189

    “A police bomb squad has been called to a property in Chesterfield following early morning raids in which four men were arrested.

    Anti-terror police targeted three properties in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire as police moved to foil a planned terror attack in the UK, Sky News can confirm.

    Four men were detained and have been taken to a police station in West Yorkshire for questioning.

    The men arrested in Sheffield were aged 22, 36 and 41. A 31-year-old man was held in Chesterfield, where the bomb squad was also called as a safety precaution…”

  6. Saudi ‘intercepts Yemen rebel missile over Riyadh’ (telegraph, Dec 19, 2017)
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/19/saudi-intercepts-yemen-rebel-missile-riyadh/

    “Saudi air defences on Tuesday intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the Saudi capital Riyadh, Saudi-owned channel al-Arabiya reported in a news flash quoting a Saudi-led military coalition.

    Reuters reporters heard a blast in Riyadh on Tuesday and saw a plume of smoke rising above the Saudi capital.

    The plume of smoke appeared to be rising from the northeast of the capital.

    The coalition is battling the armed Houthi movement in neighbouring Yemen. The Houthis said earlier they had fired a missile towards Riyadh.

    More to follow…”

  7. German churches call for halting arms exports to Saudi Arabia (memo, Dec 19, 2017)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171219-german-churches-call-for-halting-arms-exports-to-saudi-arabia/

    “Churches in Germany have called on the government to halt all the arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

    During the Joint Conference for Church and Development, which was attended by Germany’s Protestant and Catholic churches, the religious community demanded a halt to arms exports citing Saudi Arabia’s military involvement in the Yemeni crisis.

    In 2013, the German government agreed to export some €1 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia from January 2014 to April 2017. The agreement included exporting patrol boats and components of the Tornado and Eurofighter fighter jets.

    The conference President, Martin Dostmann, criticised Saudi for blocking accessing to Yemen and hindering aid supplies to the war-torn country…”

  8. Letest on the train wreck, there was a slow order on that section of track, the trains weren’t suppose to be going more then 30 MPH. The train was going 80, The slow order and the swaying means that probably the either the track wasn’t level or was ought of alignment.

    Sounds like the engineer stepped in deep dodo big time.

  9. Officials: Amtrak train was reportedly going 80 in a 30-mph zone

    The Amtrak train that derailed Monday morning on its inaugural trip through a faster railway route was supposed to slow dramatically before entering the curve where the crash occurred.

    The speed limit at the curve where the train crosses Interstate 5 is 30 miles per hour, said state transportation department spokeswoman Barbara LaBoe, while the speed limit on most of the track is 79 mph. She said speed-limit signs are posted two miles before the lowered speed zone and then just before the zone.

    “Engineers are trained to slow trains according to posted speeds,” she said.

    Daniel Konzelman, who was driving on I-5 south parallel to the train, said he was traveling at 60 mph or more and watched the train pass his vehicle about a half-mile before the crash. A website that monitors locations and speeds of Amtrak trains, transitdocs.com, reported that the train was going about 81 mph shortly before the derailment, The Associated Press reported.

    https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/curve-where-amtrak-train-derailed-in-washington-has-speed-limit-of-30-mph/

    • Richard: It is looking like an ordinary accident but here is J.E. Dyer’s article on the incident which lays out the anarchist history of attacks on trains.

      Anarchists tried to sabotage railway near site of Amtrak derailment earlier this year
      By J.E. Dyer December 19, 2017

      Well, this bears looking into. Howard Portnoy reported earlier Monday on the Amtrak train derailment near DuPont, WA which so far has taken three confirmed lives. Internet sleuths have since discovered information from earlier in 2017 about two distinct instances of attempted sabotage in nearby Olympia, WA: one in April 2017, and another period in November 2017.

      The site of the 18 December derailment is about 12 miles up Interstate 5 from Olympia. I would issue this caution at the outset: the actions of the self-styled anarchists have so far served to sabotage rail freight traffic, in an attempt to interfere with the fracking business. (Just quoting them, here.)

      So it’s not a slam-dunk that the same group or groups would have tried to sabotage an Amtrak passenger train. That said, see the general statement of intent below, from the April event.

      As to the credibility of the information: in the case of the November 2017 attempts, it is posted at the website of the “Puget Sound Anarchists,” and contains plenty of detail that comports with actual locations. (It includes a photo of a protesters’ tent city as well.)

      The April information was originally posted, also by the Puget Sound Anarchists, at the radical left site It’s Going Down (IGD). IGD is legitimate (extensively involved in the “J20” protests at Trump’s inauguration and the counter-protests against the Charlottesville KKK/white supremacists in August), and has been linked in the past to Antifa protests. The site is still up, but it looks like it’s being hammered by high traffic tonight, so I’m linking to an archived page above.

      https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/19/anarchists-tried-sabotage-railway-near-site-amtrak-derailment-earlier-year/

  10. Saudi ‘intercepts Yemen rebel missile over Riyadh’

    Yemen’s Houthi movement fired a ballistic missile towards the Saudi capital Riyadh targeting a meeting of Saudi leaders at a royal palace on Tuesday, its spokesman said.

    Mohammed Abdussalam said on Twitter that a Volcano 2-H ballistic missile was fired towards al-Yamama royal palace.

    Saudi air defences intercepted the missile, Saudi-owned channel al-Arabiya reported in a news flash quoting a Saudi-led military coalition.

    Reuters reporters heard a blast in Riyadh on Tuesday and saw a plume of smoke rising above the Saudi capital.

    The plume of smoke appeared to be rising from the northeast of the capital.

    The coalition is battling the armed Houthi movement in neighbouring Yemen. The Houthis said earlier they had fired a missile towards Riyadh.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/19/saudi-intercepts-yemen-rebel-missile-riyadh/

  11. PALACE ASSAULT Ballistic missile intercepted over Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh just seconds before it slammed into royal palace

    A military source said Saudi air defences intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the city

    A MISSILE fired at Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh was shot down moments before it hit a royal palace today.

    Saudi air defences intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the city, Saudi-owned channel al-Arabiya reported in a news flash quoting a Saudi-led military coalition official.

    A ballistic missile was launched at the Saudi capital, a Houthi spokesman said.

    Mohammed Abdussalam said on Twitter that a Volcano 2-H ballistic missile was fired towards al-Yamama royal palace.

    Bloomberg reporter Vivian Nereim tweeted: “Loud boom heard in central Riyadh – big enough that we felt it shake our tower.”

    The Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information tweeted: “Coalition forces confirm intercepting an Iranian-Houthi missile targeting south of Riyadh.

    “There are no reported casualties at this time.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5171696/yemen-rebels-ballistic-missile-saudi-arabia-riyadh/

  12. Incredible images reveal a futuristic vision inspired by Polynesian traditions for the world’s first floating nation planned for the Pacific Ocean by 2020

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5190277/Concept-images-reveal-worlds-floating-nation.html#ixzz51ibpHFE1
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    Stunning concept images for the world’s first first floating nation have been released as part of a project bankrolled by PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

    The plans will see the seabound city-state, complete with a handful of hotels, homes, offices, restaurants and more, built in the Pacific Ocean off the island of Tahiti in 2020.

    Now, a series of computer generated graphics reveal how it might look once complete, with a design that blends futuristic technology with Polynesian traditions.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5190277/Concept-images-reveal-worlds-floating-nation.html#ixzz51ibuiUJs
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  13. TAKE COVER Terrified US defence officials release survival video telling residents what to do if Pacific military base in Guam comes under attack from Kim Jong-un’s nukes

    The videos come weeks after North Korea successfully launched its most powerful missile, Hwasong-15, capable of hitting anywhere on Earth

    FRIGHTENED US defence officials have released two survival videos advising Guam residents on what they should do in the event of an attack.

    Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defense urged Pacific islanders to share the videos with their family and friends so locals can become “resilient”.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5169894/guam-survival-video-kim-jong-un-nuclear-attack/

    videos at site

    • FRIGHTENED US defence officials have released two survival videos advising Guam residents on what they should do in the event of an attack.

      Please pardon my abrasively rebellious attitude, but wouldn’t it be far better to ensure that NORTH KOREA (et al) is much more obliged desperate to make whatever extensive preparations are needed to survive an obliterating attack?

      “The best defense is a good offense” doesn’t even have any place in this discussion. It’s a matter of ensuring that hostile elements (like North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran) immediately realize that their continued corporeal existence relies upon them “sitting down and shutting the fü¢k up”.

      As in, YESTERDAY!

      • The thing is, North Korea is ALWAYS on a war footing. Its how he keeps his people compliant. At this stage he needs a damn attack on NORK just for credibility, as after all, thats the single most important reason people give him fealty. That and a double dollop of fear of course.

        Also the guy is a megalomaniac. He would happily sacrifice a large fraction of his population for a brief moment of the illusion of a moral high hand. Something the damn Western Left would love to assist him with anyway.

  14. ISIS claims it has hacked the US Army and State Department and is sending assassins to employees’ homes in gruesome new propaganda video which declares: ‘Muslims will return to being masters of the world’

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5192827/ISIS-claims-hacked-Army-State-Department.html#ixzz51iduRjFf
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    ISIS has claimed it has hacked the US Army and State Department and is sending assassins to employees’ homes in a gruesome new propaganda video.

    The video released by ISIS hacking group Islamic Ghosts of the Caliphate also declares: ‘Muslims will return to being masters of the world and kings of the earth.’

    It starts with disturbing images of maimed or killed Syrian and Iraqi children while a voice says in Arabic: ‘The Islamic State did not start the war against you and you will pay a great price as your sons will return to you as amputees or in coffins.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5192827/ISIS-claims-hacked-Army-State-Department.html#ixzz51ie1Ipj2
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    Richard: This is probably bull but everyone that would be on that list has to take precautions.

    • ISIS has claimed it has hacked the US Army and State Department and is sending assassins to employees’ homes in a gruesome new propaganda video.

      Hey! Go ahead and use death threats to polarize this world’s most powerful military forces against your “cause”. What could possibly go wrong?

      With ISIS having “telegraphed” their intentions, would anyone blame American troops for “accidentally” ensuring that no enemy prisoners are taken?

      One more time, the West is confronted with combatants who have no compunction about battlefield deaths (theirs or ours). For those who are clueless, look up “kamikazes“. As in, you killed them first or they killed you.

      What difference is there between these suicidal Japanese killers with respect to Islamic terrorists? With all due respect, at least the Japanese Kamikaze pilots wore uniforms, unlike so many of Islam’s “freedom fighters” (yes, those are sneer quotes).

      American soldiers also volunteered for suicide missions, so there is some sort of accounting to be had. But all the same, Western militaries have never relied upon, nor demanded, that their troops be “single-use” soldiers (in uniform or not), unlike so many of Islam’s jihadi ranks (or is that “rank jihadis”?).

      To continue the Japan – Islam comparison; whatever afterlife rewards involved were pretty much identical and their vicious mayhem remains indistinguishable. Pacific Theater gunners blasted these Japanese “suicide” attackers out of the air with unwavering determination.

      Why is it that modern Western troops should demonstrate the slightest hesitation (to do the same) when encountering ISIS (or other Islamic terrorist) combatants?!?

      Old saying:

      Them dandelions are just like Kamikazes. You can’t keep them out and they just keep coming in…”

      It’s time to make sure there aren’t any dandelions on the Western lawn.

      Why on earth would a single non-Islamic soldier feel obligated to respect any rules of engagement (when outside of command observation) if doing so merely led to greater risk of individual or group survival?

      Any general who expects even the most low-level ground troops to tolerate (out of uniform) bomb-vest attacks and other such violations of the Geneva Conventions invites, understandable, MUTINY.

      I’ll stop now…

      • In WWII one of the first if not the first Medal of Honor was given to a pilot who dived his plane down the smoke stack of a Japanese warship.

  15. LEGAL ANALYSIS: Why Mueller’s Seizure of TrLEGAL ANALYSIS: Why Mueller’s Seizure of Transition Emails Likely Violated the Lawansition Emails Likely Violated the Law

    submit to reddit

    According to published reports, Special Counsel Robert Mueller engaged in a mass seizure of all emails of the Trump transition team without even a warrant or a subpoena. In my opinion, a mass seizure – as is alleged here against Mueller – cannot conform to either Fourth Amendment standards or attorney-client privilege protections. The questions boils down to this: was there a reason for the individuals communicating by email, including with their lawyers, to believe their communications were private or privileged? Or, did the individuals forever waive or “implicitly consent” to any future search or seizure of their emails?

    The Supreme Court in 2010 “counsels caution” before too soon defining “the existence, and extent, of privacy expectations enjoyed by employees when using employer-provided communication devices” until popular use of the technology used was better developed socially. (City of Ontario, Cal. V. Quon, 560 U.S. 746 (2010). In other words, do most people expect privacy in that use of technology to communicate, or do they assume it is equivalent to talking in an open office where anyone from the public can walk by? The court made clear a government search was not reasonable if not “justified at its inception” or “excessively intrusive” or “not reasonably related to the objectives of the search.”

    https://lawandcrime.com/legal-analysis/legal-analysis-heres-why-muellers-seizure-of-transition-emails-likely-violated-the-law/

  16. Pastor Calls Vandalism At Hayward Church A ‘Hate Crime’

    HAYWARD (KPIX 5) — A disturbing scene was recently found outside a church in Hayward where statues of children were found beheaded.

    For 60 years those who attend St. Bede’s Catholic Church in Hayward have passed by a group of statues out front depicting Mary’s appearance to the children of Fatima.

    http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/12/17/pastor-calls-vandalism-at-hayward-church-a-hate-crime/

    • For 60 years those who attend St. Bede’s Catholic Church in Hayward have passed by a group of statues out front depicting Mary’s appearance to the children of Fatima.

      Yet, suddenly, several decades of quiet, peaceful observance have somehow merited a degree of disrespectful, disfiguring vandalism that most Liberals will (nonetheless) dismiss as, “an appropriate rejection of overbearing Judaeo-Christian values”.

      The beheadings are all I need to know about when it comes to who’s to blame.

      Mucking Fuslims.

  17. University teaches white employees how to overcome the ‘discomfort’ of being white

    University of Michigan training session used ‘Privileged Identity Exploration Model’

    A two-day professional development conference held recently at the University of Michigan included a training session that aimed to help white employees deal with their “whiteness” so they could become better equipped to fight for social justice causes, according to organizers.

    Participants who took part in the “Conversations on Whiteness” session, held December 5 during the university’s Student Life Professional Development Conference, were taught to “recognize the difficulties they face when talking about social justice issues related to their White identity, explore this discomfort, and devise ways to work through it,” the university’s website states.

    The goal was to help participants in “unpacking Whiteness” to support students and staff with issues and efforts “related to identity and social justice,” the website added.

    http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/40145/

  18. A Federal Ban on Making
    Lethal Viruses Is Lifted

    The N.I.H. will create expert panels to assess controversial
    research into creating pathogens that easily infect humans.

    By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.DEC. 19, 2017

    Federal officials on Tuesday ended a moratorium imposed three years ago on funding research that alters germs to make them more lethal.

    Such work can now proceed, said Dr. Francis S. Collins, the head of the National Institutes of Health, but only if a scientific panel decides that the benefits justify the risks.

    Some scientists are eager to pursue these studies because they may show, for example, how a bird flu could mutate to more easily infect humans, or could yield clues to making a better vaccine.

    Critics say these researchers risk creating a monster germ that could escape the lab and seed a pandemic.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/health/lethal-viruses-nih.html

  19. French Mayors Panic As Migrants Overwhelm Cities, Beg Macron For Help

    Mayors from seven major French cities overwhelmed by the flow of migrants, have written a joint letter to Paris published in LeMonde on Saturday, begging the government to step in and help.

    According to the letter, the cities of Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Rennes, Toulousa and Nantes are taking in “several thousand” refugees per month, which the mayors say is causing a social emergency as they are “backed up against a wall” and “completely saturated” by a seemingly endless flood of asylum seekers.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-18/french-mayors-panic-migrants-overwhelm-cities-publish-joint-letter-begging-macron-he

  20. Trudeau vs. Singh Is Next Battle for Hearts of Canada’s Left
    By Josh Wingrove

    Justin Trudeau swept to power in Canada as a fresh face pledging to tax the rich and help the masses. Now a rival has picked up his playbook.

    Halfway through his mandate, Trudeau’s two main challengers are in place for the 2019 election, each younger than he is. To the political right is Conservative Andrew Scheer, Trudeau’s closest competitor in popular support and number of current lawmakers. But it’s the man on the left who could determine the fate of Trudeau’s Liberals.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-19/trudeau-versus-singh-is-next-battle-for-hearts-of-canada-s-left

  21. Japan to Purchase U.S. Land Based Missile Combat Systems

    December 19, 2017
    OAN Newsroom

    Japanese officials move to buy military equipment from the U.S. after a recent pitch from President Trump.

    The country’s defense ministry approved the purchase of missile combat systems Tuesday as part of an effort to help defend against North Korean aggression.

    Reports suggest the cabinet members could spend up to two billion dollars on Aegis Ashore systems as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe continues to strengthen Japan’s military.

    This comes after President Trump said the Asian nation would be able to shoot Pyongyang’s missiles out of the sky with U.S. weaponry after a meeting with Abe back in November.

    Officials expect the systems to be operational by 2023.

    http://www.oann.com/japan-to-purchase-u-s-land-based-missile-combat-systems/

  22. Japan, South Korea urge China to do more to halt North Korea’s weapons programs

    TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. allies Japan and South Korea urged China to do more to get North Korea to end its nuclear and missile programmes, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said on Tuesday amid a tense standoff between North Korea and the United States.

    Reclusive North Korea has boasted of developing a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching the mainland United States in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and international condemnation, including from its lone major ally, China.

    “We agreed that it is necessary to ask China to play even more of a role,” Kono said after talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

    Kono said China was implementing Security Council resolutions on North Korea but said it could do more, including adding “pressure” on Pyongyang.

    North Korea has regularly threatened to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea and has fired missiles over Japan in recent tests. China routinely says it is meeting its Security Council obligations on North Korea and urges “all sides” in the dispute to pursue dialogue.

    http://www.oann.com/japan-south-korea-urge-china-to-do-more-to-pressure-north-korea/

  23. Richard: The ship was on sea trails, things like this are always found on new ships during the sea trails.

    Britain’s new 3 billion pound warship has a leak

    LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s biggest ever warship, the new 3.1 billion pound ($4.2 billion) aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, has a leak and needs repairs, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Tuesday.

    The 65,000-tonne ship, hailed as Britain’s most advanced military vessel and which was only officially commissioned by the Queen two weeks ago, has an issue with a shaft seal which was identified during sea trials, the MoD said.

    “This is scheduled for repair while she is alongside at Portsmouth,” a Royal Navy spokesman said. “It does not prevent her from sailing again and her sea trials program will not be affected.”

    The Sun newspaper reported that the 280-metre (920-foot) warship, the nation’s future flagship vessel, was letting in 200 liters of water every hour and the fix would cost millions of pounds.

    http://www.oann.com/britains-new-3-billion-pound-warship-has-a-leak/

  24. Multi-stage cyber attacks net North Korea millions in virtual currencies: researchers

    SINGAPORE/SEOUL (Reuters) – A series of recent cyber attacks has netted North Korean hackers millions of dollars in virtual currencies like bitcoin, with more attacks expected as international sanctions drive the country to seek new sources of cash, researchers say.

    North Korea’s government-backed hackers have been blamed for a rising number of cyber attacks, including the so-called WannaCry cyber attack that crippled hospitals, banks and other companies across the globe this year.

    Analysts say the explosive growth in the value of bitcoin makes it and other “cryptocurrencies” an attractive target for North Korea, which has become increasingly isolated under international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

    Bitcoin was trading at over $19,104 per bitcoin at one point on Tuesday, up from less than $1,000 at the beginning of 2017, according to Coinmarketcap.com.

    http://www.oann.com/multi-stage-cyber-attacks-net-north-korea-millions-in-virtual-currencies-researchers/

  25. Minneapolis may phase out psych testing for cops after too many minorities screened out
    By LU Staff December 18, 2017

    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.

    The July police shooting of Justine Damond triggered the city to scrutinize its psychological standards for police, with many claiming they’d become lax.

    Psychiatrist Thomas Gratzer has run psych testing for the Minneapolis police for the past five years, and in that time, he has eliminated four of the five tests used to determine whether a candidate is fit to be an officer, APM reported Thursday. Now, Gratzer may get the axe not for gutting his standard, but for screening out too many minorities.

    Mohamed Noor, the officer who shot Damond, is Somali and was one of 200 cops approved by Gratzer’s standards over the past five years, which were already far below the national standard.

    Minneapolis used a more standard five-test procedure up until 2012, and according to a 2004 federal study, those tests worked. The study found that the officers flagged as concerning by the tests were three times more likely to engage in misconduct, APM reported.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/18/minneapolis-may-phase-psychological-testing-police-many-minorities-screened/

  26. Richard: They got the propaganda for the Alabama election and now Franken is going to back out of resigning, not that he ever had any intention in resigning. Look for the rehabilitation to start soon so they can try and run him for President. Don’t laugh there were a lot of Dems crying because his scandals were going to prevent a run for President.

    Wondering when Al Franken will finally leave? Maybe never
    By Howard Portnoy December 18, 2017

    It is eleven days now since Sen. Al Franken ?
    6%
    (D-SNL) officially announced he was resigning … eventually.

    It was never clear why he needed to include the phrase “in the coming weeks” in the statement he read on the Senate floor. Some Democrats speculated that he needed time to close out his office and transition to his replacement, who was named the following week, but that explanation never passed the smell test. Plenty of pols before him have stepped down in the wake of scandals, and the vast majority of those have made their resignation “effective immediately.”

    I was toying with the idea of creating a “Franken Senate Seat Death Watch” here at LU, perhaps even including readers in an office pool of sorts. But today, Politico reports that “four senators are urging … Franken to reconsider resigning, including two who issued statements calling for the resignation two weeks ago and said they now feel remorse over what they feel was a rush to judgment.”

    Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who urged Franken not to step down to begin with — at least not before he went through an Ethics Committee investigation — said the Minnesota senator was railroaded by fellow Democrats.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/12/18/wondering-al-franken-will-finally-leave-maybe-never/

  27. Twitter suspends white nationalists as new rules take effect

    witter Inc. suspended the accounts of several well-known white nationalists Monday after putting into place new rules on what it sees as abusive content.

    The account of far-right group Britain First, which regularly posts inflammatory videos purporting to show Muslims engaged in acts of violence, was among the first to go dark. The individual accounts of two of its leaders, Jayda Fransen and Paul Golding, were also suspended.

    President Trump caused a stir last month when he retweeted a post by Fransen, drawing criticism from British Prime Minister Theresa May. Fransen and Golding were arrested in Belfast last week, accused of stirring up hatred.

    Twitter said it would not comment on individual accounts. The San Francisco company has emphasized that it takes into account many factors before making any enforcement decision, including the context of the post, cultural and political considerations and the severity of the violation.

    Twitter’s actions drew praise from civil rights groups.

    Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, commended Twitter “for taking these significant steps to tackle hate on their platform.” The group Muslim Advocates, which had called for the removal of Britain First’s account, applauded Twitter for “updating its policies and taking steps today to remove violent and hateful accounts from its platform.”

    Twitter’s guidelines — announced a month ago and put into force this week — address hateful images or symbols, including those attached to user profiles.

    Monitors at the company are to weigh hateful imagery in the same way they do graphic violence and adult content.

    If a user wants to post symbols or images that might be considered hateful, the post must be marked “sensitive media.” Other users would then see a warning that would allow them to decide whether to view the post.

    Twitter is also prohibiting users from abusing or threatening others through their profiles or usernames. And it now bans accounts affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their causes.”

    The account for Jared Taylor, who heads the New Century Foundation, was among those suspended, along with his organization’s flagship online publication, American Renaissance.

    Taylor said he immediately appealed the suspension but swiftly received a reply from Twitter informing him that his account would not be restored, which he interpreted to mean he had been permanently banned.

    He said Twitter determined that his account was “affiliated with a violent extremist group.”

    “Of all the preposterous things they could have said about me or American Renaissance, I can’t think of anything more preposterous,” Taylor said.

    New Century Foundation has been recognized as a charity by the IRS, a decision that has drawn criticism from civil rights advocates. Taylor has said his group raises money for the benefit of the “white race.”

    Brad Griffin, who blogs under the name Hunter Wallace on the website Occidental Dissent, said in blog post that he was also suspended, along with League of the South president Michael Hill, the Traditionalist Worker Party and others.

    The white nationalist Richard Spencer, whose account was not suspended, tweeted that he had lost more than 100 followers in the last 24 hours and that he didn’t “see any systematic method to the #TwitterPurge.”

    There appeared to be some inconsistencies. Twitter let David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, keep the message “It’s Ok To Be White” as his header, even though the same phrase was hidden by the “sensitive material” warning on his pinned tweet.

    The social media company is continuing to work out internal monitoring tools and it is revamping the appeals process for banned or suspended accounts. But it will begin accepting reports from users, who can note profiles, or users, that they consider to be in violation of Twitter policy. Previously, users could report only individual posts they deemed offensive.

    Now being targeted are “logos, symbols, or images whose purpose is to promote hostility and malice against others based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin,” the company said.

    There is no specific list of banned symbols or images. Rather, the company will review complaints individually to consider the context of the post or profile, including cultural and political considerations.

    It is also broadening existing policies intended to reduce threatening content, and those policies will now cover imagery that glorifies or celebrates violent acts. That content will be removed and repeat offenders will be banned, it said. Beginning Monday, the company said it will ban accounts affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their causes.”

    Meanwhile, Twitter has provided more leeway for itself after it was criticized for strict rules that resulted in account suspensions.

    There was a backlash against Twitter after it suspended the account of actress Rose McGowan, who opened a public campaign concerning sexual harassment and abuse that specifically named Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Twitter eventually reinstated McGowan’s account and said that it had been suspended because of a tweet that violated its rules on privacy.

    “In our efforts to be more aggressive here, we may make some mistakes and are working on a robust appeals process,” Twitter said in its blog post.

    http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-twitter-white-nationalists-20171218-story.html

    • UK – MPs accuse Twitter and YouTube of spreading far-Right hate

      Social media giants were today accused of profiting from hate crime as MPs rounded on them in Parliament.

      One senior MP said the firms were also “inciting violence” and condemned Twitter for allowing messages calling for the death or maiming of his colleagues to remain online.

      Other examples of incendiary posts highlighted during a stormy appearance by executives from Google, Twitter and Facebook before the Commons home affairs committee included anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic posts and propaganda by a banned far-Right extremist group.

      One of the most tense exchanges came when committee member Tim Loughton denounced Twitter for allowing a succession of “kill a Tory” messages on its site.

      In response to executive Sinead McSweeney’s claim that such material was simply a manifestation of a wider problem in society, the Conservative MP said: “It’s about not providing a platform — whatever the ills of society you want to blame it on — for placing stuff that incites people to kill, harm, maim, incite violence against people, because of their political beliefs in this case.

      “Frankly, saying ‘This is a problem with society’ — you can do something about it. You are profiting from the fact that people use your platforms and you are profiting I’m afraid from the fact that people are using your platforms to further the ills of society and you’re allowing them to do it and doing very little, proactively to prevent them.”

      On Twitter, the MPs highlighted posts including one calling for a “cull” of Muslims and another which used an offensive term for a Jewish person before suggesting they should be killed. They also cited posts supporting the hanging of MPs Jess Phillips and Anna Soubry.

      One post on Facebook suggested Mecca should be destroyed, while on YouTube, which is owned by Google, a video apparently portraying Muslims was followed by comments making references to concentration camps.

      The hearing followed previous heavy criticism of the firms by the committee and its chairwoman Yvette Cooper. The three companies insisted today that they were working hard to take down inappropriate content.

      However, Ms Cooper said it was hard to believe that enough was being done, with posts reported months ago remaining online. She said no action had been taken against anti-Semitic tweets shown to representatives of Twitter at a previous hearing.

      These included abuse directed at Labour MP Luciana Berger, who has been a high-profile target of online trolling, which has already been flagged to the platform twice. Addressing Twitter’s Ms McSweeney, Ms Cooper said: “I’m kind of wondering what we have to do. We raised a clearly vile anti-Semitic tweet with your organisation … and everybody accepted … that it was unacceptable. But it is still there on the platform. What is it that we have got to do to get you to take it down?”

      Ms McSweeney, the tech firm’s vice-president for public policy and communications in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said she did not know why the tweets remained. “I will come back to you with an answer,” she added.

      Ms Cooper said her office had also reported violent tweets including threats against Theresa May and racist abuse towards shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, which had not been taken down. She disputed Ms McSweeney’s suggestion that offensive tweets would normally be removed from the site within two days of being reported.

      Ms Cooper said: “People’s experience is reporting a whole series of things and just getting no response at all, and including victims of serious abuse and hate crime, also reporting them and getting no response at all.”

      Yesterday, Twitter suspended a number of accounts, including that of Britain First’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen.

      Dr Nicklas Lundblad, from Google, which owns YouTube, said that it was “disappointing” that inappropriate material was appearing and admitted one item attacking an MP that was presented to him by Ms Cooper appeared to be a clear breach of its guidelines.

      Dr Lundblad said <Google was seeking to find ways to use “machinery” that could identify and remove hate speech but was “not quite there” yet. He said YouTube was also seeking to stop people existing in a “bubble of hate” by halting the recommendation of similar videos alongside those that they were watching.

      Speaking to the Standard before the hearing, Ms Cooper told the Standard: “Twitter is promoting far-Right extremists who are Islamophobic and who are encouraging not just abuse but what is effectively death threats and attacks on the London Mayor just for being Muslim. Now first of all, when they are providing a platform for extremists to use to promote abuse, to promote extremism, to promote Islamophobia that is not an excuse. So I challenge that in the first place. But second it’s clear when this happens that actually they are not neutral. They are promoting far-Right extremism.

      “Their algorithm — the way their system works — promotes far-Right extremism. And that’s partly because all these social media companies are all looking for ways to draw you in and for the clickbait. And so their algorithms are promoting the things that encourage the clicking.”

      A source at Twitter said: “There appears to be a big misconception about how our algorithm works. We have a chronological timeline — there is no push feature. You can choose to have a setting which shows you Tweets you may have missed while you are away, based on who you follow — but the idea that extremist content would be pushed into users’ timelines is not correct.”

      The source said 95 per cent of terrorist material was removed proactively through its in-house technology.

      Ms Cooper said she had pursued YouTube for showing videos by banned far-Right group National Action, adding: “[YouTube] said they would take it down because it’s clearly an illegal organisation, and it’s a horrible propaganda nationalist extremist march.

      “They took it down, but I then found it again a couple of months later. You find it on different channels. Different people are putting up the same video.” Ms Cooper said YouTube had the technology to stop copyrighted material appearing but seemed unwilling to use it for hate material.

      Susan Wojcicki, chief executive of YouTube, which is owned by Google, announced this month that it was expanding its workforce to have 10,000 people moderating the site for content that could violate its policies. She said it was also continuing to develop technology to automatically flag problematic content for removal. Facebook did not respond to request for comment.

      At today’s hearing, Ms Cooper said that despite the criticisms she welcomed a “significant change in attitude” by the three firms and the additional monitoring staff. But she added: “In the end this is about the kind of extremism that can destroy lives. You are some of the richest companies in the world and we need you to do more.”

      https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/mps-accuse-twitter-and-youtube-of-spreading-farright-hate-a3723011.html

    • Yvette Cooper on Twitter suspending Britain First leaders’ accounts | BBC Daily Politics 19/12/2017

  28. Germany: Merkel attends memorial inauguration on anniversary of Christmas market attack

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller took part in the inauguration of a memorial to commemorate the victims of the December 2016 terrorist attack, in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, on Tuesday.

    • Merkel participates in inauguration of Christmas market attack memorial

      ( 52 min )

      A total of 12 people were killed and 70 injured when Anis Amri seized a truck and drove it into the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market on December 19, 2016. Amri was later shot dead during a police raid in Italy.

    • Germany: Husband of Xmas market attack victim says authorities ‘incompetent’

      The husband of Nada Cizmarova who was killed in the 2016 vehicle ramming attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz Christmas Market branded German authorities “incompetent” on Monday over his wife’s death.

    • Italy: Mother of Berlin Xmas attack victim speaks of pain one year on

      The mother of one of the victims of the Berlin Christmas market truck ramming spoke on Monday of the pain of visiting the city on the first anniversary of the attack.

    • Merkel to meet bereaved a year after Christmas market attack

      A year after an Islamic jihadist ploughed a truck into a Christmas market crowd, killing 12, Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Monday with the victims’ families for the first time.

    • Germany: Anti-Islam rallies in Berlin Xmas market attack anniversary

      Two anti-Islam rallies took place on the first anniversary of the vehicle-ramming attack at Breitscheidplatz’ Christmas market in Berlin on Tuesday.

  29. DAILY MAIL – UK – ‘Christmas terror plot foiled’: Bomb squad is called in after police arrest four men in raids on homes and offices over ‘Islamist-related’ plans to unleash festive carnage

    Counter terrorism officers and MI5 have carried out ‘Islamist related’ raids
    Trio aged 22, 36, 41, arrested in Sheffield and man, 31, arrested in Chesterfield
    Follows chilling warnings from ISIS threatening to attack festive events in the UK

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5193643/Four-men-arrested-suspicion-terror-attacks.html

  30. CBC – Montreal couple cleared of terror charges, man guilty of explosives-related offence

    Sabrine Djermane, 21, and boyfriend El Mahdi Jamali, 20, were arrested in spring 2015

    A young Montreal couple accused of planning to leave Canada to go fight with ISIS has been found not guilty of all terrorism-related offences. The man on trial was found guilty of an explosives-related offence.

    Sabrine Djermane, 21, and El Mahdi Jamali, 20, each faced several charges, including:

    Attempting to leave Canada to commit a terrorist act.
    Possession of an explosive substance.
    Committing an act under the direction of, or for the profit of, a terrorist organization.

    Djermane was cleared of all charges. Jamali was found guilty on a reduced charge related to explosives.

    ?When they were arrested in the spring of 2015, Djermane and Jamali were 19 and 18, respectively, and were living together and attending Collège de Maisonneuve.

    During the three-month trial in a Montreal courtroom, prosecutor Lyne Décarie tried to convince the jury that Djermane and Jamali, who had plans to fly to Greece two weeks after the arrest, were planning to eventually go to Syria.

    Décarie pointed to evidence including a recipe for a pressure cooker bomb, which was found on the bedside table in the couple’s condo.

    The jury also heard how during their investigation, RCMP officers discovered a pressure cooker and a dollar-store bag full of ingredients required for that recipe, including matches, a clock, coffee filters and nails.

    Defence argued pair were planning a vacation

    The lawyers for Djermane and Jamali did not mount a defence.

    But during closing arguments, Jamali’s lawyer tried to convince the jury that there was no firm evidence that his client supported the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and nothing proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the couple had any kind of plan to go to Syria.

    Instead, he suggested the two were just planning to visit Athens, as tourists.

    The defence also suggested that if the pair had truly planned on making a bomb, they wouldn’t have left the recipe out like that, when they knew the RCMP had suspicions.

    The couple’s lawyers also argued that what the prosecution was trying to pass off as ingredients for bomb making were, in fact, nothing more than innocuous household objects.

    Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc David presided over the trial.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-couple-cleared-of-terror-charges-man-guilty-of-explosives-related-offence-1.4452720

  31. Austria launches new migrant policy: Benefits cut, phones seized and money taken (express, Dec 19, 2017)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/894327/austria-migrants-fpo-ovp-sebastian-kurz-eu

    “AUSTRIA has introduced a hardline new migrant policy following the swearing-in of its new coalition government.

    The Conservative People’s Party (OVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) both ran their campaign on an anti-migrant policies.

    And the new government has quickly rolled out a series of migrant rules for those arriving in the country.

    Phones will be seized upon entry, allowing border officials to analyse mobile data to determine migrants’ identities.

    Money will also be taken from migrants and put towards the cost of caring for people arriving in the country.

    And benefits will be stopped for some migrants who have not yet “paid into” the country.

    The changes were outlined in a 180-page document written by the OVP and FPO.

    The partnership promised to do “much better” to combat issues regarding migration but said “nobody had anything to fear”.

    On benefits, 31-year-old new Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said: “It will no longer happen for migrants who have never worked here a single day or paid anything into the social system to get thousands of euros in welfare.”…”

  32. BREAKING: One dead, two wounded in shelling attack on airport (express, Dec 19, 2017)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/894373/egypt-airport-shelling-attack-terror-army-north-sinai

    “AN officer has been killed and two others wounded following a shell attack on a military airport near Arish in Egypt’s North Sinai region.

    The attack is believed to have happened while the Ministers of Defense and Interior were visiting Arish, which is located close to the Gaza Strip.

    Neither minister is believed to have been injured in the attack.

    Those wounded in the attack are believed to be an officer and a soldier, according to security sources.

    A statement from an Egyptian army spokesman said a helicopter had been damaged during the attack, and that security forces had “dealt with the source of fire”…”

  33. Islamic Preacher Warns: Beardless Men Cause ‘Indecent Thoughts’ Because ‘They Look like Women’ (breitbart, Dec 19, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/12/19/turkish-preacher-warns-beardless-men-cause-indecent-thoughts-look-like-women/

    “Beardless men sow confusion in pious Muslim society because clean-shaven men sometimes “cannot be distinguished from women” and can cause “indecent thoughts”, according to a Turkish Islamic preacher.

    Speaking on the private religious station Fatih Medreseleri (Madrasahs) TV on Dec. 16, preacher Murat Bayaral blasted men who shave, saying they cause confusion for other men who might consider them to be feminine.

    His advice consists of the simple mantra: Grow a beard and be a man…”

  34. Alt-Left Extremists Post Police Photos Online, Threats, In Revenge For Police Action Against Them (breitbart, Dec 19, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/19/alt-left-extremists-post-police-photos-online-private-addresses/

    “German Antifa “left-wing extremist terrorists” have posted the photographs of 54 Berlin policemen online in an attempt to identify the officers and locate their private addresses.

    The photos were posted on a well-known left-extremist website alongside threats against the officers, who are believed to have been involved with the evacuation of illegal left-wing extremist squats located on Riga Street earlier this year, Die Welt reports.

    “We look forward to getting tips about where you live. In addition to participating in the eviction, they can be held responsible for the violence of the three weeks of siege,” the extremists wrote. The “siege” the extremists refer to is likely the riots that occurred as police attempted to evict the illegal squatters earlier this year…”

  35. UK to Spend £180 Million on Africa Aid, Helping Migrants ‘Return Home’ (breitbart, Dec 19, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/19/uk-spend-180-million-africa-aid-migrants-return-home/

    “The UK will spend £180 million of taxpayers’ money over five years in Africa in an effort to convince migrants to stay where they are, reintegrate, or “return home”.

    The International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt made the announcement on what has been called International Migrants Day, claiming the “UK aid will help tackle root causes driving people to migrate”.

    The package, targeting Libya, Sudan, and Tanzania, aims to help create jobs, improve education, and tackle poverty and modern-day slavery.

    Around £121 million will be spent over five years in Sudan “supporting at least 450,000 refugees, migrants and community members” by providing them with housing and food…”

  36. Trump accuser lobbied to be his makeup artist months before her sex assault allegations roiled campaign
    By John Solomon – 12/18/17 08:49 PM EST

    A New York cosmetics executive who publicly alleged Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s repeatedly solicited the future president to become his campaign makeup artist and to pitch her new product line in the months before her story roiled the 2016 presidential race, according to the woman and her contemporaneous emails.

    “Hi Donald, you are doing a tremendous job of shaking things up in the United States. I am definitely on Team Trump as so many others are,” Jill Harth wrote Trump in an Oct. 1, 2015, email sent to him through his New York company’s headquarters.

    “I can’t watch television without seeing you or hearing your name everywhere! It’s a good thing for sure but PLEASE let me do your makeup for a television interview, a debate, a photo session, anything!” Harth wrote.

    http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/365533-trump-accuser-lobbied-to-be-his-makeup-artist-months-before-her-sex

  37. Council of Europe: ‘Diversity and Mass Migration Have Always Been Integral Part of Continent’s History’ (breitbart, Dec 19, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/19/diversity-mass-migration-europe-history/

    ““Europe has always been a continent of diversity. Migration has always been an integral part of its history,” the Council of Europe has claimed in a statement marking International Migrants Day.

    The international body stated on Monday that mass migration from the third world is “Europe’s present and future opportunity”, but warned that EU nations are “facing several challenges”.

    Challenges identified by the Council, which is considered Europe’s top human rights watchdog, include any public opposition to mass migration, along with countries “struggl[ing] to guarantee … human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

    “Anti-immigration political agendas swing election results while adding to the expansion of populism in Europe,” writes Tomáš Bo?ek, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Migration and Refugees.

    Complaining “the voices of those who portray migrants as a threat to public order, national identity and security are louder than others”, he argues that Europe must embrace the “economic, social and cultural development” that mass third world migration can bring to the continent.

    “We will be able to address these challenges only if the integration of migrants and refugees who will remain in Europe is successful”, says the statement, which bills integration as the solution to national security concerns…”

  38. UK to Increase Police Funding by $600 Mln in 2018 Amid Growing Terrorist Threat (sputniknews, Dec 19, 2017)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201712191060141580-uk-funding-terrorist-threat/

    “UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced on Tuesday a substantial 450-million pound ($600 million) increase in police funding across England and Wales as part of efforts to increase police capabilities to counter terrorism, according to a statement published on the UK government portal.

    “Counter-terrorism police funding will also increase by around £50 million ($67 million) to £757 million, a rise of 7%. This is in recognition of the changing threat from terrorism and to ensure counter-terrorism policing has the resources needed to respond and keep the public safe,” the statement read.

    According to the statement, the budgets of regional police units will increase by 270 million pounds ($360 million).

    “At a national level, £130 ($173 million) million extra will be provided for priorities such as special grants to help forces meet unexpected costs, for example, the £9.8 million given to Greater Manchester Police after the Manchester Arena attack, and national technology programmes designed to deliver greater productivity and mobile working,” the statement added…”

    • I like the Judge but he is wrong, any I repeat any act of war is grounds for a military attack in retaliation. You don’t make proportional attacks in retaliation you make attacks that costs them a lot of money and at times lives. The idea is to show them that attacking you is too expensive to contemplate. The laws of war say that retaliatory actions for the murer of prisoners can be you killing as many as ten times the number of your people. You have to make it expensive or they will continue attacking you.

      Having said that they have to have court proof that it was North Korea before they retaliate, given the way the Dems have politicized our intelligence agencies this will be difficult to do. Given what they did during the 2016 campaign and election we have reason to doubt everything they say.

  39. Is It Really about Jerusalem?

    by Bassam Tawil
    December 19, 2017 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11560/palestinians-jerusalem-israel

    The protests that have swept the West Bank, Gaza Strip and large parts of the Arab and Islamic world in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital show that most Arabs and Muslims still have not come to terms with Israel’s right to exist.

    The protests also provide further evidence that many Arabs and Muslims, including, of course, the Palestinians, continue to view the US as an enemy and “big Satan” because of its support for Israel. Trump’s announcement is just another excuse for Arabs and Muslims to vent their long-standing hatred for Israel and the US.

    For the Palestinians, Trump’s announcement simply provided the latest opportunity to step up their violent and rhetorical attacks and threats against Israel. As such, there is nothing new about the Palestinian protests that erupted after Trump’s announcement.

  40. The US Embassy Move to Jerusalem vs. The “Peace Process”

    by Denis MacEoin
    December 19, 2017 at 4:30 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11561/jerusalem-embassy-move-peace-process

    On December 6, US President Donald Trump fulfilled a promise that was made by Congress on November 28, 1995 in its Jerusalem Embassy Act — to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and to mark this by moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the ancient city. That move, according to the Act itself, was to “be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999”. Trump’s declaration that the US will now implement the Act has been a historical démarche. So why has it taken so long to act on this agreement?

    For more than two decades, this clear expression of the will of Congress had, in effect, been held in abeyance following an amendment (section 7) that introduced a waiver that allowed presidents to “suspend the limitation set forth in section 3(b) for a period of six months if he determines and reports to Congress in advance that such suspension if necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States”. Since then, every president who followed (including Trump, six months earlier) exercised this waiver.

    Over the years, implementation of the Act was caught up in increasingly complicated legal and diplomatic issues that made deferment appear judicious and necessary in the belief that stalling it might help the so-called “peace process” between Israel and the Palestinians: according to Time Magazine:

  41. Turkey Mania: “Jerusalem is Muslim”

    by Burak Bekdil
    December 19, 2017 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11553/turkey-jerusalem

    US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has unveiled multiple hypocrisies that sadly capture the minds of Islamist leaders and their willing choruses of jihadists.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey, not surprisingly, champions the global Islamist war on Trump’s move. In a latest show of “solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” Turkey spearheaded efforts at a summit of Islamic nations in Istanbul to declare “eastern Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine under occupation”.

    Erdogan’s argument is too weak and unconvincing from the beginning. He has simply chosen to attack Israel although what has newly entered the political equation on Jerusalem was a sovereign U.S. pronouncement. The pragmatist in Erdogan wanted to ignore that simply because the U.S. is too big to bite for him.

    Erdogan said of Jerusalem: “Al-Quds [Jerusalem] has been viewed as the prayer place of Muslims and Christians and, partially … as if it is the prayer place of Jews”. Partially? It is elementary history that Jerusalem’s pre-Islamic period of 3300-1000 BCE appeared in the book of Genesis — the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — when Erdogan’s ancestors were probably hunters in the steppe of Central Asia. The years 1000-732 BCE marked the period of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Simply put, Jerusalem’s Judaic history dates back to thousands of years before the birth of Islam. By rejecting Jerusalem’s Judaic history, in fact, Erdogan is ironically denying that his holy book, the Quran, recognizes the Land of Israel. The Quran does not say that the Israelites originated in Alaska.

  42. Twitter Blocks The Alt-Right, Allows Racist Death Threats To Ajit Pai
    Photo of Scott Greer
    Scott Greer

    Twitter began a massive purge of users on Monday the company claims violate its new terms of service.

    As predicted, nearly every account that was banned by Twitter was affiliated with the alt-right or far right.

    White nationalist Jared Taylor, his group American Renaissance, and Britain First leader Jayda Fransen, the woman who posted the “Islamophobic” videos famously retweeted by President Trump, were some of the entities that received the boot from Twitter.

    The standard by which Twitter decided which users were no longer welcome seemed remarkably arbitrary, as noted by a few observers like right-wing watcher Will Sommer.

    The entire alt-right wasn’t banned, only random accounts, some of whom appeared to go out of their way to conform to Twitter’s terms of service.

    While the standard for Twitter’s purge is unknown, it is pretty obvious the new rules aren’t being equally applied to any left-wing accounts.

    http://dailycaller.com/2017/12/18/twitter-blocks-the-alt-right-allows-racist-death-threats-to-ajit-pai/