Reader’s links, January 6, 2018

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

About Eeyore

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

125 Replies to “Reader’s links, January 6, 2018”

  1. The Bergoglio Mystery. Why the General of the Jesuits Didn’t Want Him Made Bishop

    A new book about Pope Francis is on the way, one that has already been making a stir, even before its scheduled release on February 26:

    > Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis is Misleading His Flock

    The title sounds decidedly critical. But not from prejudice. The author of the book, Philip Lawler, is one of the most authoritative and balanced Catholic writers in the United States. He was editor of “Catholic World Report,” the news magazine of Ignatius Press, the publishing house founded by the Jesuit Joseph Fessio, a disciple of Joseph Ratzinger. And today he directs “Catholic World News.” He was born and raised in Boston. He is married and the father of seven children.

    In the initial phase of Francis’s pontificate, Lawler did not fail to appreciate its novelties. But now, as it turns out, he has come to see in him the “lost shepherd” of a flock sent out to wander.

    And he has developed this critical judgment on Jorge Mario Bergogio as pope in part through a careful reexamination of Bergoglio as a Jesuit and bishop in Argentina.

    Which is exactly what has been done by other biographers of the current pope, both for and against him: to reconstruct his Argentine journey, in order to obtain from this a better understanding of his activity as pope.

    One striking example of this revisitation of Bergoglio’s Argentine phase is in the most recently published book about him: “The Dictator Pope,” released as an e-book in Italian and in English at the end of last autumn by an anonymous author, likely a native English speaker, who conceals himself under the pseudonym of Marcantonio Colonna.

    One of the passages of “The Dictator Pope” that has raised the biggest uproar is the one in which the author lifts the veil on the judgment on Bergoglio written in 1991 by the superior general of the Society of Jesus, Peter Hans Kolvenbach (1928-2016) of the Netherlands, in the course of the secret consultations for and against the appointment of Bergoglio as auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires.

    The pseudonymous Marcantonio Colonna writes:

    “The text of the report has never been made public, but the following account is given by a priest who had access to it before it disappeared from the Jesuit archive: Father Kolvenbach accused Bergoglio of a series of defects, ranging from habitual use of vulgar language to deviousness, disobedience concealed under a mask of humility, and lack of psychological balance; with a view to his suitability as a future bishop, the report pointed out that he had been a divisive figure as Provincial of his own order.”

    Too little and too vague. Beyond doubt, however, is the existence of a judgment on Bergoglio that the Vatican authorities requested from Kolvenbach in view of his appointment as bishop.

    Just as beyond doubt is the severe friction that existed between the ordinary Jesuit at the time and his superiors of the Society of Jesus, both in Argentina and in Rome.

    Abundant, solid, and concurrent information on this friction is provided by other biographies of Bergoglio, not suspect of preconceived hostilities, because they were written by authors very close to him or were even reviewed by him in the course of their composition.

    This latter is the case, in particular, with the volume “Aquel Francisco,” written by the Argentines Javier Cámara and Sebastián Pfaffen with the pope’s supervision, dedicated precisely to the years of Bergoglio’s greatest isolation within the society of Jesus.

    It does not cover up the fact that Jesuits who were opposed to him went so far as to circulate the rumor that Bergoglio had been sent into exile in Córdoba “because he was sick, crazy.”

    But it is completely silent on the judgment against his appointment as bishop written by Jesuit general Kolvenbach, whose name does not appear even once in the more than 300 pages of the book.

    Nor is there any news of the Kolvenbach report in what is so far the most exhaustive and “friendly” biography of Bergoglio, written by Austen Ivereigh of England:

    > The Great Reformer. Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope

    But on the origin and context of that negative judgment of Kolvenbach, the information given by Ivereigh/Bergoglio is extensive and valuable. And it deserves to be reprised here.

    Bergoglio himself referred to this friction with his Argentine confreres in the interview he granted to “La Civiltà Cattolica” and to other magazines of the Society of Jesus shortly after his election as pope:

    “My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative. But I have never been a right-winger.”

    In Argentina, in effect, the campaign against Bergoglio was led by the Jesuits of the Center for Research and Social Action, CIAS, made up “mostly,” Ivereigh notes, of “older, academic, upper-class” progressives irritated over the success of this Jesuit “from a lower-middle-class background, and not even a doctorate in theology,” who “privileged popular religiosity while neglecting the research centers”: a type of religiosity “very close to the people, to the poor,” but in their judgment “more Peronist than modern.”

    It was not enough to placate them that Bergoglio, in 1979, ended his term as provincial of the Argentine Jesuits. His leadership over a substantial portion of the Society was by no means diminished. On the contrary, Ivereigh writes, “he had more influence by the end of his time of rector than he had had as a provincial.”

    But precisely for this reason his opponents became more and more antagonistic. The criticisms of the CIAS and of others made their way to Rome, to the curia generalizia of the Society of Jesus, where the assistant for Latin America, José Fernández Castañeda, was also hostile to Bergoglio, and evidently they convinced the new superior general, Kolvenbach. Who in fact, in 1986, at the time of choosing the new head of the Argentine province, appointed none other than the candidate of the CIAS, Víctor Zorzín, who immediately took as his right-hand man “one of Bergoglio’s fiercest critics,” Ignacio García-Mata, who succeeded him.

    After this came a purge that Ivereigh compares with the “clash between the Peronists and anti-Peronists” of Argentina in the 1950’s, with the difference that now “the ‘gorilas’ [fanatical anti-Peronists] were in the CIAS, and the ‘pueblo’ was with Bergoglio and the others.” In short: “a cleansing, in which everything associated with the deposed regime was reversed.”

    And Bergoglio? In May of that same year of 1986, in agreement with the new provincial, Zorzín, he migrated to Germany, officially for a doctorate on Romano Guardini. But in December of the same year he was already on his way back home, to the rejoicing of his still numerous followers. Who in fact succeeded in electing none other than him as procurator of the Argentine province for a summit at the curia generalizia of Rome in September of 1987.

    The next year it was Kolvenbach who went to Argentina, for a meeting with the provincials of the continent. But he avoided meeting Bergoglio, in spite of the fact that he was staying very near by. Ivereigh writes: “Over the next two years, the province increasingly polarized and turned in on itself” and Bergoglio “was increasingly blamed for stirring this up.” He cites the minutes of the meetings of the provincial consultors: “In every one of them we spoke about him. It was a constant worry, what we were going to do with this man.”

    In 1990 they exiled Bergoglio to Córdoba, no longer with any position, and they sent his closest confreres abroad. But soon after came the miracle. The archbishop of Buenos Aires, Antonio Quarracino, asked Rome for none other than Bergoglio as his auxiliary bishop. And he got him.

    Ivereigh does not mention this. But it is here, in the secret consultations that precede the appointment of every new bishop, that Jesuit superior general Kolvenbach set down in writing his negative judgment on the appointment of Bergoglio. He was not heeded. But there is one episode immediately after the consecration of Bergoglio as bishop, in the summer of 1992, that shows how bitter the discord between the two remains.

    While waiting for his new residence to be prepared, Bergoglio was accommodated at the house of the Jesuit curia of Buenos Aires, where in the meantime his archenemy García-Mata had become provincial.

    Ivereigh writes:

    “But it wasn’t an easy relationship. Bergoglio blamed García-Mata for defaming him in a report the provincial had written to Rome – the report was secret, but one of the consultors had informed Bergoglio – while García-Mata felt threatened by Bergoglio’s popularity among the younger Jesuits.”

    The weeks went by and Bergoglio was for García-Mata an ever more “interfering” presence. Until on July 31, the feast of Saint Ignatius, the provincial hinted that he should leave. “But I’m very comfortable here,” Bergoglio answered.

    Ivereigh continues:

    “If he wanted him out, said Bergoglio, he should inform him formally. So García-Mata wrote to Father Kolvenbach, who backed the provincial, who left the general’s letter in Bergoglio’s room. García-Mata received a written response in return, in which Bergoglio gave the date of his departure.”

    Against this background one can understand why from them on, during his many trips to Rome, Bergoglio never set foot in the curia generalizia of the Jesuits, staying instead at the clerical residence on Via della Scrofa, nor did he ever speak with Kolvenbach.

    In order to be reconciled with the Society of Jesus, in short, the first Jesuit pope in history had to do nothing less than precisely that, be elected pope.

    But today we know about the preceding conflict almost exclusively from his point of view, mediated by his biographer friends.

    The point of view of the others, starting with the judgment of his general from a quarter of a century ago, is still to a large extent unknown to us.

    http://magister.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2018/01/05/the-bergoglio-mystery-why-the-general-of-the-jesuits-didnt-want-him-made-bishop/

  2. FBI Officer: ‘Every Single Memo Comey Leaked Was Classified’

    Recently retired and active duty FBI agents have said they consider Comey to be a dirty cop…

    As James Comey trots around the country on his book-selling tour, tweeting bible quotes and nature scenes, a less serene series of events is playing out in Washington D.C. which suggests the former FBI Director may be in trouble over the memos he leaked to Columbia law professor Daniel Richman, allegedly detailing conversations between Comey and President Trump.

    While Richman told CNN “No memo was given to me that was marked ‘classified,’ and James Comey told Congressional investigators he tried to “write it in such a way that I don’t include anything that would trigger a classification,” it appears the FBI’s chief FOIA officer disagrees.

    While we previously reported that Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said four of the 7 Comey memos he reviewed were “marked classified” at the “Secret” or “Confidential” level – tonight we find out that every single Comey memo was classified at the time, per Judicial Watch director of investigations Chris Farrell – who has a signed declaration from the FBI’s chief FOIA officer to that effect:

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-05/fbi-chief-foia-officer-every-single-memo-comey-leaked-was-classified

  3. UK: Anti-Trump protest hits US Embassy in London

    Around 500 protesters gathered outside the US Embassy in London on Saturday, to protest against US President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    The protesters mainly came from the Midlands,

  4. NRA Readies Lawsuit Against California Ammunition Control

    The National Rifle Association is readying a lawsuit against California’s new ammunition controls and that suit focuses on the failure to meet “statutorily mandated” deadlines throughout the lead-up to the launch of the controls.

    Breitbart News reported that the ammunition controls went into effect January 1, 2018. They bar out-of-state ammunition purchases and require that all in-state purchases be made from a licensed dealer. This shrinks the supply, which will inevitably drive up price. Moreover, they require that any ammunition purchased online be sent to a licensed in-state dealer, who will then charge a processing fee for the ammo, thereby driving the price up even further.

    This is all a prelude to the state’s January 1, 2019, goal of instituting point-of-sale background checks for ammunition purchases. Those sales will also carry a fee, ubiquitously to cover the cost of the background check. But the fee will drive the price of ammo even higher.

    The NRA-ILA clams certain “statutorily mandated” deadlines were missed throughout the process of getting the ammunition controls in place, and argues that the controls must be halted because of this. According to the NRA-ILA, “The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposed ammunition vendor regulations after failing to meet the statutorily mandated deadline of July 1, 2017 and the effective date of January 1, 2018.”

    http://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment/2018/01/05/nra-readies-lawsuit-against-ammunition-control/

  5. If You Hate America, Why Not Go Back to Your Country?

    by Majid Rafizadeh
    January 6, 2018 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11642/islamist-immigrants-hate-america

    When I first arrived in America, I would ask every extremist and fundamentalist Muslim I met: “How has your life been since you came to the United States?”

    It was clear that their living standards were much better than back home. I knew well the lands they had come from, their economic standards and restrictions, their lifestyle, the social, and the religious, economic and political landscapes of the region.

    They were surely about to say how much their lives had improved, and how grateful they were to be in a new, less restricted environment. Instead, they expressed anger and even hatred of their new country and its culture. What they could not put into words, was clearly written across their faces: revulsion and disgust.

    It seemed they were comfortable disclosing their true feelings in Farsi or Arabic about the US, Americans, the West, Christians, and Jews. As we had all come from, grown up in, and worked in the same region, many of them mistakenly assumed that we both shared the same hate-filled views. Once they discovered that was not the situation, some even tried to reshape my views: as I was new to the country, I probably did not yet understand.

    • If any of these maggots are caught on record whinging about America they deserve immediate revocation of whatever visa or immigration documents and immediate deportation, along with their entire family.

      I am sick to death of these monumental ingrates bellyaching about the USA.

  6. U.S. freezes grant to UNRWA

    Diplomats say the United States administration froze a $125 million grant to UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”.

    The United States administration froze a $125 million grant to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN’s agency for “Palestinian refugees”, which was supposed to be delivered on January 1, Channel 10 News reported on Friday, citing three Western diplomats.

    The amount frozen is one-third of the annual funding the United States provides the organization, according to the report.

    The three diplomats, who asked to remain anonymous because of the political sensitivity of the issue, told Channel 10 the grant had been frozen until the end of the reexamination of U.S. aid to the Palestinians, which began in recent days. According to the diplomats, officials in the administration have informed UN officials in the past two days that President Donald Trump is considering cutting this amount completely and could even increase the cut to $180 million, which would be half the total U.S. funding for UNRWA.

    The cutting in the UN funding to UNRWA is a U.S. sanction against the organization, which has come under strong criticized from both the United States and Israel, as well as against the Palestinian Arabs, in an attempt to pressure them to renew peace talks with Israel.

    News of the freezing of the grant came as a meeting took place in the White House discussing the cutting of aid to the Palestinian Authority and to UNRWA.

    The meeting followed Trump’s tweets earlier this week in which he expressed doubt over the usefulness of American aid to the Palestinians, given their refusal to resume peace talks with Israel.

    The United States is the largest single donor to UNRWA, providing approximately a fourth of the organization’s budget.

    Reports in Israel on Thursday indicated that the Israeli Foreign Ministry is opposed to Trump’s planned cut in the aid to UNRWA, but on Friday Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett said that cutting aid to UNRWA is the correct move.

    For years, UNRWA has been a target for criticism in light of Hamas’s activity in its educational institutions and the use of its facilities by Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations in Gaza.

    UNRWA was documented storing Hamas rockets and weapons “designed to kill Israeli citizens” in its schools, a fact which the UNRWA chief admitted himself.

    In addition, the organization has actively taken part in inciting anti-Semitic violence.

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/240315

  7. Austria: Vienna demo voices solidarity with Iran anti-gov. protesters

    Around 200 people held a solidarity protest with the Iranian anti-government demonstrators in Vienna on Saturday.

    People were eager to draw attention from the likes of Austria and its European neighbours to the current Iranian crisis.

    Protesters held holding placards, depicting spoiled portraits of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reading: “Dictator.”

    • UK: ‘No Islam in power!’ -London protest slams Iranian government

      Around 250 people staged a demonstration in front of the Iranian Embassy in London in solidarity with countrywide anti-government protests on Saturday.

      People held placards reading “Stop murder and executions in Iran”, “If you don’t let us dream, we won’t let you sleep” and “No to theocracy. Yes to democracy.”

      “We want to get rid of Islam in power and we don’t want any factions of new governments,” said Thalia, one of the protesters.

      Gittan, another demonstrator agreed saying, “This regime has been killing people for the past 39 years and I’m not surprised so it’s been happening for 39 years and now the whole world is watching it.”

  8. Orthodox Christmas in Israel – Far from festive: Protesting Palestinians attack Greek Patriarch for selling land to Israelis

  9. Chinese murdering dissidents for their organs for transplant.

    China’s Shocking Military Secret REVEALED

  10. Pakistan: Afghans concerned over 30-day repatriation ultimatum

    Afghan refugees expressed concern after they were given 30 days to leave Pakistan, speaking at a refugee settlement on the outskirts of Quetta on Saturday.

    Around 1.6 million Afghans are set to be affected by the Pakistani authority’s decision.

  11. Ben Stein: ‘California is Flirting with Civil War’

    Economist and actor Ben Stein said California is flirting with “civil war” against the rest of the United States over its refusal to enforce federal immigration policies.

    Stein reacted to comments Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan made on “Your World” earlier in the week, in which Homan said citizens will die and Gov. Jerry Brown (D-Calif.) is likely violating federal law by enacting a “sanctuary state” policy.

    “I think that this is essentially a rebellion by the state of California,” Stein said.

    http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/01/06/ben-stein-sanctuary-state-california-may-start-civil-war-court-over-immigration

  12. Lily Allen: Grooming Gang Victims Would Have Been Raped ‘By Somebody Else’ if Muslim Abusers Were Absent (breitbart, Jan 6, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/01/06/lily-allen-apologises-after-saying-grooming-gang-victims-would-be-raped-by-somebody-else/

    “Pop singer Lily Allen has claimed Muslim grooming gang victims could have been “raped or abused by somebody else at some point” if the gangs were not active in the UK.

    Ms. Allen also claimed that there is a certain “type” of rapist who attacks their stepdaughter and is 100 per cent “British white” during a discussion about Muslim rape gangs and immigration on Twitter…”

    • “Pop singer Lily Allen has claimed Muslim grooming gang victims could have been “raped or abused by somebody else at some point” if the gangs were not active in the UK.

      Here’s an idea, why doesn’t the brave Lily Allen offer to trade places with a grooming gang victim? Instead of mere virtue signalling, she can put her money where her (insert orifice name >here<) is.

  13. More than 200 migrants storm Morocco-Spain border at Melilla (alaraby, Jan 6, 2018)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/1/6/over-200-migrants-storm-morocco-spain-border-at-melilla

    “More than 200 African migrants stormed over the highly fortified border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Saturday, officials said, leaving some of them and a police officer injured.

    A total of 209 people from sub-Saharan Africa seeking to reach Europe scaled the fence on Saturday afternoon, the central government’s representative office in Melilla said in a statement.

    The police officer who was injured was “attacked by an immigrant with one of the hooks they use to clamber up the fence” as he tried to stop them, the statement said, adding the implement cut his earlobe.

    In order to get across the treacherously high fences, migrants often use hooks and shoes studded with nails.

    Four of the migrants, meanwhile, were sent to hospital for minor injuries, it added.

    Mobile phone footage broadcast by Spanish media showed a group of migrants running through the streets of the city.

    They have since been taken to a migrant detention centre…”

  14. Brannon Howse – Audio – January 3 & 4, 2018
    Exposing The Plans By Hamas To Destroy America Part 1 & 2.
    https://www.worldviewweekend.com/profile/brannon-howse

    “Hamas Is Here: New Center Monograph Documents The Jihadist Network Inside The United States”

    “Hamas, Cair and the Muslim Brotherhood”
    by Ilana Freedman
    https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2018/01/03/hamas-is-here-new-center-monograph-documents-the-jihadist-network-inside-the-united-states/

  15. 01/06 episode: Appoint Klayman Special Counsel! Sham Justice Investigation! Sessions Must Resign!

  16. An 81-year-old woman died after waiting almost 4 hours for an ambulance – it’s yet another indication of how crisis stricken and overstretched the National Health Service really is.

    The Essex woman was found deceased in her property by paramedics who arrived 3 hours and 45 minutes after she made the initial call.

    Sandy Brown, the deputy chief executive at East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS), said: “We have very publicly expressed how stretched the ambulance service is and the pressures our staff and the NHS as a whole have been under the past few days…”

    https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/01/uk-81-year-old-woman-dies-after-waiting-nearly-4-hours-for-an-ambulance/

    And what broke the UKs NHS?

    As Britain’s Health Care System Nears Collapse One Brave Doctor Speaks Out About the Real Reason: Migrants Gaming the System

    https://hopkinsworld.com/as-britains-health-care-system-nears-collapse-one-brave-doctor-speaks-out-about-the-real-reason-migrants-gaming-the-system/

    • And what broke the UK’s NHS?

      As Britain’s Health Care System Nears Collapse One Brave Doctor Speaks Out About the Real Reason: Migrants Gaming the System

      Ummmm … no.

      It’s the treasonous bastards that allowed Britain to be flooded with millions of parasitic, non-assimilating, career criminals.

      “Migrants Gaming the System”, is just a side effect. [GASP!]

  17. This is for Yucki:

    Russian General talking to his Officers:
    Our next war will be against the Chinese.

    An Officer responds:
    How will we win? There are a billion Chinese.

    The General says:
    Just look at the Jews. They defeated 200 million Arabs with only 3 million Jews.

    The Officer says:
    Yeah, but do we have enough Jews?

    • Thank-you, Babs!
      Never enough, every one is a precious bonus. Good news, then:

      Nearing nine million: Israel in numbers on eve of 2018

      Central Bureau of Statistics publishes statistics in honor of 2017 drawing to a close: Israel has population of 8,793,000; 27,000 have made Aliyah in 2017, mostly from Europe; population grew by 165,000, with 180,000 births and 44,000 deaths.
      https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5064330,00.html
      …….
      Before the weekend I saw your note about Israel – something to the effect of Israel managing the whole neighborhood, keeping the place orderly.

      Thing is, Israelis don’t even want to police the Israeli Arabs. They have to, of course, they need a defensible depth. But it’s miserable knowing what your kid’s gonna face on a border that’s a 45-minute drive from home.

      I remember watching the Six Day War from the floor, visiting somebody’s television. Fear you could cut like a knife. Then suddenly we were chasing whole armies out of Eretz!

      I asked a question so naive, it entered family folklore eternity.
      – – The last verse of the Passover seder is, “Next year in Jerusalem!”
      So as the Egyptians were running, even leaving their shoes behind, I asked, “Next year in _Cairo_?!”
      – – Everybody yelled and laughed at me at the same time:
      “No! Who’d want to rule over all those ARABS? They HATE us!
      You don’t want to live with people you need to RULE!”

      ……….So I became the ‘Imperialist’. Whatever it meant, it was wrong. Not in the commie sense, more early libertarian.