Reader’s links, January 5th, 2018

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About Eeyore

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

125 Replies to “Reader’s links, January 5th, 2018”

  1. Journalist Describes How Fusion GPS Smeared Him as a ‘Pedophile,’ ‘Extortionist’ and ‘Drug Trafficker

    The shady, liberal opposition research firm behind the discredited anti-Trump dossier uses smear tactics and intimidation to discredit people who go against its clients, a London-based Venezuelan journalist told Fox News Thursday.

    In congressional testimony as well, Alek Boyd said Fusion GPS labeled him a “pedophile,” “extortionist” and “drug trafficker” after he criticized Derwick Associates, one of its clients.

    “I believe that Fusion GPS’s business is to do basically whatever the paymasters tell them to do,” Boyd said in his first American TV interview. “They are particularly good at spreading misinformation, disinformation and smears.”

    The journalist’s testimony comes as a federal judge denied the firm’s request to quash a congressional subpoena for their bank records.

    Boyd said Fusion, which describes itself as a “strategic intelligence” outfit, targeted him after he reported on Derwick Associates, a crooked power company with close ties to the Venezuelan government. Derwick Associates allegedly sold faulty electric plants in Venezuela, and skimmed nearly a billion dollars from corrupt contracts with the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

    https://pjmedia.com/trending/journalist-describes-fusion-gps-smeared-pedophile-extortionist-drug-trafficker/?utm_source=PJMCoffeeBreak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=January2018

  2. Richard: This news isn’t surprising to anyone who pays close attention to what is happening in modern politics. We are living in a time when the old Roman question of “Who will watch the watchers?” is proving to be very important. So is the Thomas Jefferson statement that we need a revolution every 20 to 40 years. We saw this tactic first used against President Trump, but the charges were made too early and by people who weren’t really believable. Next came the charges against Judge Moore and they were made at the right time, enough to get the stories spread but not enough time to disprove them. This is the politics of personal destruction becoming a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of the Dems. I don’t know how many of the Republicans running in 2018 have been targeted but given this article and the previous one about fusion GPS I am willing to bet it will be a lot of people.

    Fasten your seat belt, it is going to be a very rough ride.

    Media Matters Funding Sexual Assault Witch Hunt on Republicans

    Before the presidential election, one of Media Matters’ attack dogs spent $200,000 funding an effort to bring down Donald Trump with sexual assault charges. It failed, but if the progressive political and media watchdog keeps to its game plan to impeach the president, this won’t be the end of such efforts.

    As reported by Kenneth Vogel in The New York Times, political partisans are “raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to support abusers who come forward with charges against President Trump and members of Congress.”

    One of those partisans is American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, which gave Lisa Bloom, attorney and daughter of activist lawyer Gloria Allred, $200,000 to fund Trump’s accusers. The organization was founded by Media Matters’ David Brock and says it will possibly create an ongoing fund “to encourage victims to bring forward similar claims against Republican politicians,” Vogel reported.

    https://pjmedia.com/trending/media-matters-funding-sexual-assault-witch-hunt-republicans/?utm_source=PJMCoffeeBreak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=January2018

  3. To Put It Charitably, California’s Tax Idea Is Nuts

    Steven Greenhut
    Print Friendly and PDF

    The latest notion by the Trump Resistance: Turn state tax bill into a charitable contribution to get around Republican tax law.

    Sacramento

    I’ve routinely slammed California’s Democratic leaders for their plodding lack of creativity in dealing with the state’s many crises. Pick a problem (infrastructure, poverty, housing, etc.) and they have the same basic solution: Raise taxes, expand a bureaucracy, and give the government more power and money to “do something.” It would never dawn on them that the biggest problems are in the areas where they’ve intervened the most.

    But it’s time to give credit where it’s due. Their latest ploy to derail the recently passed Republican tax law may be indicative of the leadership’s unhealthy obsession with the Trump administration, but it does display a remarkable level of creative policymaking. It’s bad news, but it must have taken some real thought to concoct the scheme. The idea is to rename state tax payments as “charitable contributions” to get around new limits on state tax deductions.

    Spectator readers know about the many advantages of the GOP tax bill, which lowers tax rates and is likely to give the economy a boost. They also know about its disadvantages. Namely, it will increase the federal deficit given that no one — from either party — ever tries to cut federal spending. For those of us living in high-tax states, it also has the disadvantage of capping our state and local tax deduction at $10,000 rather than an unlimited amount. The average deduction was $22,000, reflective of the highly progressive nature of the state’s tax system.

    https://spectator.org/to-put-it-charitably-californias-tax-idea-is-nuts/?utm_source=American+Spectator+Emails&utm_campaign=033079e181-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_797a38d487-033079e181-104523669

  4. The Trump Collusion Conspiracy Theory Falls Apart
    Here’s what you get for 7 months and $7 million.
    January 5, 2018
    Daniel Greenfield

    Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate Russian collusion back in May. A new year is upon us.

    The warm May temperatures have been replaced by a deep freeze and snow is falling in Tallahassee. But after blowing through around $7 million and putting on an exciting show of surprise raids, gag orders, leaks and the varying pleas and indictments; Mueller still hasn’t produced a single collusion indictment.

    It’s much easier to pick Manafort’s lock than to prove Hillary Clinton’s conspiracy theory.

    What Mueller did was harass a bunch of already shady characters into pleading guilty on minor charges, some, like lying to the FBI, created by his own investigation. All he had to do was get his team of Obama and Clinton supporters in front of Obama and Clinton judges who would rubber stamp anything.

    And the grand jury allegedly looked like a “Bernie Sanders” or “Black Lives Matter” rally with some participants wearing left-wing shirts. There wasn’t a single white male among the 20 jurors. That’s a convenient way to screen out likely Trump supporters and bring in likely Trump opponents.

    Blatantly rigging it to a low bar is an admission by Mueller and his team that their case is too weak for prime time. Even now Manafort is suing the DOJ. His lawsuit may go nowhere, but the odds are good that Mueller’s tactics and evidence won’t stand up to serious scrutiny. That’s what happened with key Mueller team member Andrew Weissmann’s assault on Arthur Andersen. It’s also been happening to Preet Bharara’s more recent takedowns of top New York political figures. This is how political prosecutors score fast headlines and fame. It’s not how they win enduring victories in a court of law.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268928/trump-collusion-conspiracy-theory-falls-apart-daniel-greenfield

  5. Ellison Embraces Antifa Violence Against Trump
    Muslim Brotherhood Congressman goes all-in against the administration.
    January 5, 2018
    Matthew Vadum

    The Democratic National Committee’s deputy chairman essentially endorsed the violent anarchists and communists of the subversive Antifa movement during a stop at a bookstore this week.

    It is not every day that a top official of one of America’s two major political parties throws his lot in with an umbrella group that openly sides with our enemies in North Korea and seeks the violent overthrow of the United States government. It is a sign of just how radical Democrats became in the Obama era. Nowadays those who urge the extinguishing of American democracy and the murder of police officers are considered legitimate activists.

    Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is part of this. Ellison is an admirer of convicted cop killer and leftist folk hero Mumia Abu Jamal as well as a former co-chairman of the Communist-linked Congressional Progressive Caucus.

    Ellison, an in-your-face Muslim sympathetic to jihad, implicitly expressed support for the use of violence against President Trump in a tweet as he posed for a selfie with the cover of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, by Mark Bray.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268934/ellison-embraces-antifa-violence-against-trump-matthew-vadum

    • Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is part of this. Ellison is an admirer of convicted cop killer and leftist folk hero Mumia Abu Jamal as well as a former co-chairman of the Communist-linked Congressional Progressive Caucus.

      Ellison, an in-your-face Muslim sympathetic to jihad, implicitly expressed support for the use of violence against President Trump in a tweet as he posed for a selfie with the cover of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, by Mark Bray.

      Why this sack of $h!te hasn’t been convicted for violating his oath of office defies all credulity. Ellison is an enemy of the West. Full Stop.

      • I don’t think any US Politician has ever been charged with violating their oath of office, much less convicted. This is a can of worms very few if any politicians have wanted to open.

  6. SPAIN – Three wise men ‘drag’ through Madrid’s Epiphany parade

    Drag queens and people dressed in animal costumes participated on a float at the Epiphany parade in Madrid on Friday, commemorating their own version of the ‘Three wise men’.

    SOT, Dnoe Lamiss, hip hop singer (Spanish): “For all that fuss we are all in animal costumes like me, this is the official disguise of this chariot for freedom and equality from minute zero.”
    SOT, Roma Calderon, cabaret dancer (Spanish): “We are very happy to take part on this float of diversity and equality.”
    SOT, Amapola Lopez, drag queen known as ‘La Prohibia’ (Spanish): “I hate it with all my strength, yes, but nobody is appreciating that although I do not like it, I am here working to give a very important message, Rajoy did not like it either, the military parade seemed like a pain in the ass and there it was, right?”

  7. FBI Launches New Clinton Foundation Inquiry
    January 5, 2018
    Daniel Greenfield

    In some ways this is probably a more productive inquiry than Hillary’s email abuses because of the immunity agreements handed out to so many of her associates on the email investigation. There’s plenty of material and it’s an area where there was an ongoing investigation but without the Comey coverup.

    The Justice Department has launched a new inquiry into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged in any pay-to-play politics or other illegal activities while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of State, law enforcement officials and a witness tells The Hill.

    FBI agents from Little Rock, Ark., where the foundation was started, have taken the lead in the investigation and have interviewed at least one witness in the last month, and law enforcement officials said additional activities are expected in the coming weeks.

    The officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the probe is examining whether the Clintons promised or performed any policy favors in return for largesse to their charitable efforts or whether donors made commitments of donations in hopes of securing government outcomes.

    The probe may also examine whether any tax-exempt assets were converted for personal or political use and whether the foundation complied with applicable tax laws, the officials said.

    Proving favor trading will be tricky. It’s not something anyone is likely to admit to. The FBI would need to flip a high ranking Clinton associate to get a foot in the door. Or a top Clinton donor. And I don’t know how good the odds of that are. We know the Clinton Foundation violated certain tax laws. And the personal and political conversion issue is potentially very explosive because the Clinton Foundation was interchangeable with the Clintons and Hillary’s campaign. And there were plenty of obvious abuses there.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/268937/fbi-launches-new-clinton-foundation-inquiry-daniel-greenfield

  8. Socialist Country That Doesn’t Believe in Inflation to Hit 200,000% Inflation
    January 5, 2018
    Daniel Greenfield

    You may not believe in inflation, but inflation believes in you.

    Venezuelans already facing unprecedented hardships will suffer even more difficult times in 2018 as hyperinflation could easily spike past the 30,000 percent mark, economists have warned.

    That’s the conservative estimate.

    The South American country’s economy officially entered a period of hyperinflation at the close of 2017, with an accumulation of problems that drove inflation to 3,000 percent for the year.

    The economist said that given current conditions, a conservative estimate for inflation at the end of 2018 would be 30,000 percent — but that 100,000 or even 200,000 percent cannot be ruled out.

    “Given the current trend, that rate [of 30,000 percent] is in fact very optimistic,” he added.

    Fortunately the lefty sociologist who serves as Venezuela’s finance minister doesn’t believe in inflation.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/268935/socialist-country-doesnt-believe-inflation-hit-daniel-greenfield

    • Fortunately the lefty sociologist who serves as Venezuela’s finance minister doesn’t believe in inflation.

      Maybe he’ll believe in high velocity, swift onset lead poisoning.

  9. Iranian Theocracy on the Brink?
    The Islamic Republic alienates its own base.
    January 5, 2018
    Joseph Klein

    After several days of protests in Iran that have spread throughout the country, costing at least 21 lives, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards is claiming victory over the “sedition” after the Revolutionary Guards intervened. It is not clear yet whether his claim of victory is premature. The situation remains fluid, but the regime appears concerned enough by the extent of the unrest that it tried to show support for its leaders through organized pro-government rallies broadcast on national television.

    True to form, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday blamed Iran’s “enemies” for the protests. “All those who are against the Islamic Republic — those who have money, those who have the politics, those who have the weapons, those who have the intelligence — they have all joined forces in order to create problems for the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution,” he charged.

    However, Khamenei and his henchmen doeth protest too much. Whether or not they prevail in the short term, as they probably will since there have been no known significant defections of security or military personnel to the anti-government demonstrators’ side, the regime’s leaders are certainly aware of the deep currents of discontent in the country that are causing serious fissures in the regime’s conservative base of support.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268920/iranian-theocracy-brink-joseph-klein

  10. Prof Caught Preaching Violent Overthrow Of American Democracy
    A professor, students and videotape.

    What I have frequently referred to as the Academic-Industrial-Complex (AIC) really is an organ of sorts of what I call the Racism-Industrial-Complex (RIC).

    One of the more recent illustrations of this point is Albert Ponce, a professor of political science at Diablo Valley College. One of Ponce’s lectures was recently video recorded by one of his students. The student released it to The Red Elephants—an on-line organization that has launched a campaign encouraging students to record their “Marxist professors—who in turn shared it with the campus watchdog publication, Campus Reform.

    Ponce is captured on video assuring his students that since America’s is a system of “white supremacy,” the flag “is not really representative of everybody [.]”

    “We are taught to get up and to pledge allegiance to the flag every single day.” However, the “flag is not really representative of everybody who is standing up in that room. Maybe that’s the way it should be taught. All those who this flag represents stand up, and maybe 50 percent of this room, you remain seated because this is not for you” (emphasis added).

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268931/prof-caught-preaching-violent-overthrow-american-jack-kerwick

    • Can anyone watch this and not think there is going to be a violent revolution in the near future?

  11. Macron Criticizes U.S. & Israel For Siding With Iranian Protesters
    France demonstrates yet again why it is — and will always be — a third-rate power.
    January 5, 2018
    Ari Lieberman

    On Thursday, French president Emmanuel Macron criticized the United States and Israel for encouraging anti-regime protests in Iran claiming, inter alia, that such talk would lead the world closer to war. “The official line pursued by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia, who are our allies in many ways, is almost one that would lead us to war,” Macron told reporters.

    Unlike his predecessor, who capitulated to the whims and dictates of the mullahs, President Donald Trump voiced strong support for the protesters and leveled harsh criticism against the oppressive theocratic regime. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Europe’s tepid reaction to the rapidly unfolding events throughout Iran and issued encouragement to the protesters, referring to them as “heroic” and “brave.”

    With his pusillanimous comments, Macron demonstrates yet again why France is, and will always be a third rate power. Few nations in the world today pose more of a threat to world peace than the Islamic Republic of Iran. But France, steeped in the craven mindset of 1938 Munich is either unwilling or unable to recognize the clear and present danger posed by this malevolent regime.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268933/macron-criticizes-us-israel-siding-iranian-ari-lieberman

  12. Muslim Migrants’ Jew-Hatred
    The question of granting asylum and vetting anti-Semitic attitudes.
    January 5, 2018
    Joseph Puder

    There was no genius behind the prediction that the influx of Muslim migrants into Europe would cause a sharp rise in anti-Semitism, and anti-Israel propaganda. The Muslim immigrant anti-Semites from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, didn’t need President Donald Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as an excuse to express their hate for Jews and Israel. They have been honed on Jew-hatred in their own mosques, through President Erdogan’s demagoguery, and through the Arab media.

    The Washington Post reported (December 20, 2017) that, “A recent survey commissioned by AJC Berlin found ‘widespread anti-Semitism’ among refugees. Officials have also expressed concerns over the influence of the Turkish government on the almost 2 million German Turks, even though many of them have lived here for decades, especially after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the recognition of Jerusalem a “red line” for the Muslim world and threatened to cut ties with Israel.”

    Thousands of recently arrived immigrants from the Arab and Muslim world protested in Berlin, Germany. Ironically, the anti-Trump turned anti-Semitic protest took place 100-yards from the city’s “somber Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe.” The demonstrators burned Israeli flags while chanting anti-Semitic slogans and threatening violence against Israelis. The German authorities chose not to interfere. In this reporter’s mind, it conjured a scene from the late 1930’s of brown-shirted Nazis protesting in front of Jewish stores in Berlin, threatening violence and harassing Jews or would be customers, while the local police stood by, doing nothing.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268881/muslim-migrants-jew-hatred-joseph-puder

  13. California Prosecutes Man For Criticizing Islam
    By
    Adam Campbell –
    Jan 5, 2018

    California is prosecuting a man for criticizing Islam.

    Mark Feigin, 41, found himself smacked with harassment charges directly from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra—after he criticized Islam on the Facebook page of the Islamic Center of Southern California.

    On September 17 and September 25, Feigin posted:

    “THE MORE MUSLIMS WE ALLOW IN AMERICA THE MORE TERROR WE WILL SEE”

    “THE TERROR HIKE…SOUNDS LIKE FUN.” (Written in response to a hiking event that the Islamic Center was hosting.)

    http://libertynewsnow.com/california-prosecutes-man-criticizing-islam/article8516

  14. RT – Is US hostility towards Iran driven by Netanyahu and Israel lobby?

    Is it fair to accuse Iran of terrorism when the United States is currently bombing seven countries, operating torture sites, and has killed more than 20 million people since WWII, Robert Fantina, journalist and author of the book “Empire, Racism, and Genocide: A History of US Foreign Policy,” tells RT America’s Manila Chan.

  15. There is a ‘serious chain of plots in US,’ Erdo?an says on Turkish banker verdict (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 5, 2017)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/there-is-serious-chain-of-plots-in-us-erdogan-says-over-turkish-banker-verdict-125263

    “President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said on Jan. 5 that there is a “serious chain of plots in the United States” after a New York court found Hakan Atilla, the former deputy chief executive officer of state lender Halkbank, guilty of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions.

    “There are not only legal plots but also economic ones in this process,” Erdo?an told reporters at a press conference before his departure for France.

    Atilla was found guilty on Jan. 3 by a jury in New York on five charges related to conspiracy and bank fraud related to violating sanctions on Iran. He was acquitted of money laundering.

    After the verdict, Turkish officials lashed out at the U.S. and said Ankara “does not recognize” the court decision.

    “If you pay attention you realize that this ruling was full of contradictions. On the one hand it acquits him of money laundering but on the other hand he indirectly pleaded guilty of money laundering,” Erdo?an said.

    “If this is the U.S.’s understanding of justice then I pity the world. America has to revise and strengthen its justice understanding. There cannot be such justice and they should not dare to give lessons to the world,” he added.

    Reiterating Ankara’s anger over Washington’s apparent foot-dragging over Turkey’s demand for the extradition of Pennsylvania-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, accused of being the mastermind of the July 2016 coup attempt, Erdo?an accused the U.S. of allowing Gülen to “live like a pasha” in its territories.

    He said “over 100 boxes of documents and evidence” showing Gülen’s link with the coup attempt have been submitted to U.S. judicial institutions.

    “They won’t respect or take into account any judicial verdicts [given by Turkish courts]. Is this how you deal with the issue? If so then bilateral accords on legal affairs lose their validity,” the president added, referring to an agreement between Turkey and the U.S. on judicial cooperation regulating the extradition of each other’s citizens charged with certain crimes.

    PM: Not a court but a theater

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m echoed Erdo?an’s remarks on the Atilla guilty verdict, stating that it was “a political case rather than a legal one.”

    “It was a theater-like case that did not comply with universal legal norms. It was full of fake evidence and witnesses who themselves are criminals … We watched a play whose ending was already known [during the performance],” Y?ld?r?m said.

    He also vowed that Turkey “will not leave such attacks against its rights and interests unanswered,” adding that the ruling “has no value in the eyes of the Turkish people and state.””

  16. First racist political party founded in Turkey in 2017, Turks presented as ‘superior race’ (hurryietdailynews, Jan 5, 2017)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/first-racist-political-party-founded-in-turkey-in-2017-turks-presented-as-superior-race-125310

    “The Ötüken Union Party – Turkey’s first openly racist political party to run for parliament – was founded on Dec. 20, online publisher Duvar reported on Jan. 5, citing the yearly political party list released by the Supreme Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office.

    Ötüken is a legendary capital city in both Turkic mythology and Tengrism, a shamanistic central Asian religion that once prevailed over Turkic states. The party’s mission entails pushing for Turkic values in governance.

    Although the party has yet to upload their party constitution onto their website, their program says the party will serve as a platform where Turkish nationals may come together.

    In order to be considered a Turkish national, you need to have Turkish parents and Turkish as your mother tongue, according to the party. Alternatively, you should be so “awakened” that you have simply become aware of your innate “Turkishness” as any natural Turk.

    The party, which bases its policies on race, has singled out Turks as a superior race, vowing to shut down vocational high-schools, bring back the death penalty, stop the refugee influx and cancel the citizenships of those who have migrated to Turkey from abroad.

    The party has also announced plans to have Turkish-only soldiers and police officers, and to ban marriage to foreign citizens under their rule.

    Upon the possibility that Ötüken comes to power alone, the party would only allow “pro-Turkish lawmakers” in the political arena and in public offices, according to the report.

    The education system would also be cleared of cults and networks, with Turkic languages offered as second language courses in schools under Ötüken’s hypothetical rule.

    Ötüken’s statement said the party would remove religion classes from elementary schools.

    According to the party constitution, the concept of nationality is the same as race.

    “Our holy mission is to raise our race to a higher point. The goal of the Turkish race is to have authority over the entire world,” the program said.

    The party also said the union of blood weighs heavier than the union of belief.

    Of the current 88 active political parties, Ötüken was one of four political parties founded in Turkey in 2017, according to the official list.

    The party’s founding chairman will be M. Hakan Semerci, according to their social media page.”

  17. ‘Muhammed’ Is Third Most Popular Baby Name in Austria in 2017 (breitbart, Jan 5, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/01/05/muhammed-is-third-most-popular-baby-name-in-austria-in-2017/

    “Europe’s growing Muslim population is revealing itself in surprising ways, with “Muhammed” coming in third place in most popular male baby names in Austria for 2017.

    The Austrian daily Kronen Zeitung announced the statistics on 2017 male baby names Friday, with “Muhammed” moving up into third place, just behind the traditional boys’ names of “Alexander” and “Maximilian.”

    For statistical purposes, the different spellings of the same name were grouped together, so Muhamed, Muhammet, Mohamad, Muhammad and Muhammad were all considered the same name, as were Elias, Elijah and Eliyas…”