Reader’s links for January 30, 2018

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About Eeyore

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

124 Replies to “Reader’s links for January 30, 2018”

  1. Right-wing activists invite infiltrators to leftists’ homes

    Illegal immigrants in Tel Aviv ‘invited’ to actress Sarah Silverman’s sister’s home as right-wing activists distribute ‘invitation
    Dr. Michael Ben-Ari and Baruch Marzel arrived in southern Tel Aviv today and distributed leaflets to infiltrators in Tigrinya, the language spoken by natives of Eritrea and parts of Ethiopia.

    The leaflets contain addresses and phone numbers of left-wing activists and Meretz MKs who have backed the demand by some infiltrators to be given legal status in Israel. Marzel and Ben-Ari encouraged infiltrators to avail themselves of the leftist activists’ “hospitality” personally by providing the activists’ personal contact information in mock invitations.

    “This is the address where to go,” Marzel directs a puzzled infiltrator he approached. “A very good place to live, nice house. Free meals, free everything; you can do anything. Mrs. Silverman (Reform Rabbi Susan Silverman, sister of actress Sarah Silverman) and Member of Knesset Ilan Gilon in Ashdod – they’re ready to take you, you can live in a very good place for free with the family, with your friends, you could go there, live there anytime you want.”
    Marzel explained to Arutz Sheva that “I think my offer to Ilan Gilon is very tempting, and the offer of so-called Rabbanit Silverman, whose husband became a billionaire in Africa and sends her with the money he makes in Africa to speak ill of [Israel] as if they’re Nazis and behaving improperly. So I suggest that the Arabs and the infiltrators go and live with them. They will receive them well, give them free meals; sure, Mr. Silverman has lots of money, after all.”

    Dr. Ben-Ari explained the flyer’s content: “The flyers offer infiltrators a comfortable place to live: ‘We invite you to come to us, and when they deport you, you will find with us a warm home; with us you’ll find free food,’ etc.

    “This week I saw Yoel Marshak regurgitating the words ‘the kibbutzim, the kibbutzim, the kibbutzim’,” referring to a meeting held last Friday between former members of the kibbutz movement and infiltrator leaders. The aim of the gathering was to formulate a systematized plan to aid African infiltrators as April approaches, when the Hulot facility will be closed and infiltrators are to be returned to Africa or imprisoned.

    “You can search on Google,” Ben-Ari continues. “Years ago the kibbutzim said they’d accept infiltrators. The kibbutzim haven’t taken in one single infiltrator, but now that we have personal invitations from Ilan Gilon and from Mrs. Silverman, we’re providing the infiltrators with the address so they truly can have a place – or maybe just to expose their hypocrisy…”…….
    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/241302

  2. 12 activities off-limits for non-Saudis (saudigazette, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/527249/SAUDI-ARABIA/12-activities-off-limits-for-non-Saudis

    “Minister of Labor and Social Development Dr. Ali Al-Ghafees issued a ministerial decision early Monday restricting work in outlets of 12 activities and occupations to Saudis starting from the beginning of the next Hijri year.

    The 12 work areas banned for expats are: watch shops, optical stores, medical equipment stores, electrical and electronics shops, outlets selling car spare part, building material shops, outlets selling all types of carpets, automobile and mobike shops, shops selling home furniture and ready-made office material, sale outlets of ready-made garments, children clothes and men’s supplies, household utensils shops and pastry shops.

    Ministry spokesman Khaled Aba Al-Khail said the decision does not affect the memorandums of understanding signed with various regional governorates to restrict jobs to Saudis. He also said that the shop feminization will continue as planned. The third phase of the feminization of women accessory shops began last October.

    It targets shops selling ladies perfumes, shoes, bags, stockings and ready-made garments.

    Kiosks selling women accessories will also be fully feminized in addition to sections in malls and supermarkets which sell clothes and other women accessories. The phase also includes independent small shops which sell wedding dresses, abayas, garments, child-care and other accessories.

    Pharmacies in malls which sell cosmetics and make-up accessories will also be feminized.”

  3. Turkish Warplanes Reportedly Hit Targets in Iraq Amid Afrin Op (sputniknews, Jan 30, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801301061178287-turkish-warplanes-iraq-targets-afrin-kurds/

    “Baghdad has yet to comment on the information. The reported strikes take place days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Ankara aims to clear its borders from terrorists up until Iraq.

    According to Anadolu news agency, Turkish jets hit eight targets in northern Iraq, destroying shelters, hideouts and arsenals, belonging to militants, who were allegedly preparing to attack border posts.

    The airstrikes, that have yet to be commented on by Baghdad, have reportedly been carried out in Iraqi Zap, Avasin, Basyan, and Hakurk regions…”

  4. Turkish foreign minister slams European Parliament official over ‘PKK remarks’ (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-foreign-minister-slams-european-parliament-official-over-pkk-remarks-126489

    “Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu on Jan. 29 lashed out at the European Parliament’s Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri over her recent remarks about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) “not being a threat.”

    “They have appointed one PKK sympathizer lady for a country of 80 million. I only say ‘lady’ out of courtesy. I told her about the situation for two hours,” Çavu?o?lu said in a TV program on the state-run channel TRT.

    “She didn’t write down anything I said, but put down everything the PKK said in her report. We should not take a rapporteur like this seriously,” he added.

    In an interview with a news portal published on Jan. 28, Piri said: “For us, the PKK and its variations are not a threat. There are no attacks of the PKK in the Netherlands, Belgium or France.”…”

  5. 649 militants ‘neutralized’ in Turkey’s ongoing operation in Syria’s Afrin: Turkish military (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/649-militants-neutralized-in-turkeys-ongoing-operation-in-syrias-afrin-turkish-military-126485

    “Some 649 militants have been “neutralized” since the beginning of Turkey’s “Operation Olive Branch” in Syria’s northwestern district of Afrin, the Turkish Armed Forces announced on Jan. 30.

    “Neutralized” is a term used by the Turkish military and officials to indicate militants were either killed, wounded or captured.

    “Some 649 targets of the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party], KCK [Kurdistan Communities Union], PYD/YPG [Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party/People’s Protection Units], and ISIL [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] terror organizations have been destroyed,” the army said in its statement.

    The military said it was taking the utmost care during the operation to not harm any civilians.

    “The only ones being targeted are terrorists, and any shelters, pits, weapons, vehicles, and equipment that belong to them,” it said…”

    • I’m not sure how much to believe. But while everybody’s lying, the geography is constant and serves up clues.
      ……
      Background
      Turk Side:

      NATO never paid attention to the Sultan’s routine displays of virility for his feral subjects. He used to amass troops in fancy dress along the Iraqi border. They’d do war-dances for outsize TV crews, produce some dead ”enemies”, celebrate a few “martyrs’, then pack up and go home.

      So take everything with a grain of salt.

      Kurd Side:
      The Barzani clan leading the Syrian and northern Iraqi Kurds – our allies the PYK/YPG – made a major political blunder in September. Hyping a ‘Kurdistan Referendum’ did nothing but turn everybody against them: Russia, the U.S., and their own Kurdish counterparts further to the south, in Iraq and Iran. And it gave Turk-Face a pretext for yet another humongous temper-tantrum.

      Getting beat-up by a bully somewhat dissipates the sour taste left by the idiot referendum.
      ……….
      The Kurds are highly unlikely to retain Afrin. That’s a strategic mountain pass that provides access via three rivers to the Mediterranean. Too big a bite for the kids; the Russians would slap them down if the Turks couldn’t. Such adventures definitely do not suit the MAGA agenda.

      But with Manbij, a couple hundred miles to the east in Iraq, our guys stand a better chance. The stakes are high: if they hold it, they control the Euphrates. That means physical leverage, far superior to the goodwill they generate for their courage, loyalty, and protection of minorities throughout the region.
      ………

      Now about this “Operation Olive Branch” – the Turk’s name for the current incursion into Syria and Iraq. (‘Olive branch’…a symbol for bayonet?)

      Everybody’s speculating, no one knows how much damage the crazy man’s inflicted on a once formidable army. If he were to go all out against the Kurds, there’s a good chance they’d beat him bloody. Humiliation = YUGE !!

      So I’m betting he won’t.
      I also bet the Kurds pull back from Afrin ANYWAY. Get credit for forbearance from Uncles Vlad and Sam, and maybe dig in at Manbij. We’ll have small numbers of troops nearby to wave the Stars-&-Stripes and cheer.

      I hope.
      ……..
      Michael Rubin:
      Could the Kurds beat Turkey in Syria?

      http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/could-the-kurds-beat-turkey-in-syria/article/2646726
      ……….
      Spengler takes a different angle:
      Tin-Pot Turkish Dictator humiliates US

      https://pjmedia.com/spengler/tin-pot-turkish-dictator-humiliates-united-states/

      • Caroline Glick has a fascinating theory:
        The U.S. Is Quietly Sidelining a Turkey in Decline

        http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2018/01/25/caroline-glick-us-playing-lose-win-turkey/
        …….
        Not gonna happen, but Michael Totten is good reading:
        Time to Kick Turkey Out of NATO?

        The People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Rojava, the quasi-independent Kurdish region in northeastern Syria along the Turkish border, along with the multiethnic Syrian Democratic Forces which the YPG dominates, are the only armed groups indigenous to Syria that are willing and able to take on ISIS and win, and they’re the only significant armed faction in Syria that isn’t ideologically hostile to the West. In October 2017, they finally liberated Raqqa, the “capital” of the ISIS “caliphate,” while the Russian and Syrian militaries were busy pounding rebels instead. The Turks would rather have the Assad regime – and by extension Russia, Iran and Hizbullah – rule over the Syrian Kurds whom they consider terrorists.

        The West is having a hard time processing the fact that Turkey is increasingly hostile. It started when Ankara denied the use of its territory, including Incirlik Air Base, during the war against Saddam Hussein. Later, Erdogan helped Iran transfer weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon and implicitly sided with ISIS in Syria because he didn’t want an independent Kurdish region to rise up in Syria as it had in Iraq. Now he’s threatening to destroy the only competent Western-friendly militia in all of Syria.

        http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/michael-j-totten/time-kick-turkey-out-nato

      • This is what J.E. Dyer has been saying, the Kurds will pull back to a position they can hold. She hasn’t been saying they could punch out Turkey but she has implied that it would be a nasty fight.

        One big advantage they have is the damage that Erodgan has done to the Trukish Army with his purges.

        • One big advantage they have is the damage that Erodgan has done to the Turkish Army with his purges.

          Erdogan’s entire “coup” related blood-letting comes in a close second. How many subscribers to Attaturk’s secularism were thrown under the wheels as part of that little charade?

          Let’s not even discuss how much of the EU citizenry now sees this wannabe pasha for the tantrum-prone tyrant that he is.

          • How many subscribers to Attaturk’s secularism were thrown under the wheels as part of that little charade?

            Most of their best people.

  6. Over 1,200 undocumented migrants captured in Turkey’s northwest (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/over-1-200-undocumented-migrants-captured-in-turkeys-northwest-126492

    “Turkish security forces have rounded up over 1,200 undocumented migrants in the northwestern province of Edirne bordering Greece and Bulgaria, a security source said on Jan. 30.

    A total of 1,240 migrants were held for attempting to illegally reach Europe after three days of raids carried out by gendarmerie and border units in the villages of Bosnaköy, Yenikad?n, Orhaniye and the districts of Meriç, Enez, Uzunköprü and ?psala, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

    Most of the migrants were from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria, Afghanistan, India, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

    Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.

    Among migrants held in the course of 2017 in Turkey, Pakistan took the lead with 15,000 nationals, while Afghanistan came second with 12,000 and Syria took third place with 10,000 migrants, who were illegally seeking a safe haven in Europe.”

  7. Al Houthis gun down own commander (gulfnews, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/al-houthis-gun-down-own-commander-1.2165116

    “The Iran-backed Al Houthi militias killed one of their field commanders for rejecting orders to advance towards the Al Heis front, which is now under siege by the Forces in Support of Legitimacy in Yemen’s west coast.

    Abu Yehia Masha’li, who was in charge of Al Qanawis Directorate, Al Hudaida Governorate, was gunned down by the militias, and died instantly. “

  8. Pentagon blocks release of key data on Afghan war: watchdog (reuters, Jan 30, 2018)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-usa-oversight/pentagon-blocks-release-of-key-data-on-afghan-war-watchdog-idUSKBN1FJ0GZ

    “The Pentagon has restricted the release of critical information on the progress being made in the war in Afghanistan, a move that will limit transparency, the U.S. government’s top watchdog on Afghanistan said on Monday.

    “For years, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, has published a quarterly report that includes unclassified data on the amount of territory controlled or influenced by the Taliban and the government.

    In a report published late on Monday, SIGAR said, however, it was told not to release that information. The military also classified, for the first time since 2009, the actual and authorized total troop numbers and attrition rate for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, or ANDSF.

    “The implication is that I think the average American who reads our reports or reads your press accounts of it, has no meaningful ability to analyze how his money or her money is being spent on Afghanistan,” John Sopko, who leads the independent watchdog office, told Reuters in an interview.

    The Pentagon sought to deflect blame for the decision, the latest move to limit the amount of publicly available information about the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan – America’s longest.

    It said in a statement that the Department of Defense did not tell SIGAR to withhold the data, but rather it was the NATO-led Resolute Support coalition that made the determination.

    It added that the Pentagon did not have the authority to overrule the classification made by Resolute Support, which is led by U.S. General John Nicholson.

    “The Department continues to work with SIGAR, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, and NATO Resolute Support to resolve concerns about restrictions on information that was previously unclassified,” Lieutenant Colonel Michael Andrews said.

    Former officials and experts said that regardless of who restricted the information, it was particularly worrying because Afghan and U.S. officials had publicly set a benchmark it would now be difficult to measure.

    The top U.S. general in Afghanistan set a goal in November of driving back Taliban insurgents enough to control at least 80 percent of the country within two years.

    In its most recent report, SIGAR said that 43 percent of Afghanistan’s districts were either under Taliban control or being contested.

    Sopko said people would to jump to the conclusion that information was being withheld because progress was not being made, which may not be the case.

    A similar accusation was made during the Vietnam War, which later proved true.

    “In essence, you can ask me almost any question and I will have to say, it is classified or non-releasable, I mean you go down the list, it is just amazing,” Sopko said.

    He added that the Department of Defense did not give him any reasons for the move…”

    • U.S. military backtracks on blocking Afghan data (reuters, Jan 30, 2018)
      https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-afghanistan-oversight/u-s-military-backtracks-on-blocking-afghan-data-idUKKBN1FJ2A6

      “The U.S. military said on Tuesday that a decision to classify key data on the Afghan war was a “ human error in labeling” after a watchdog report criticized the move as limiting public accountability in the 16-year-old conflict.

      “It was NOT the intent of Resolute Support to withhold or classify information which was available in prior reports,” Captain Tom Gresback, a U.S. military spokesman for the Resolute Support coalition in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

      “A human error in labeling occurred… The data is not classified and there was no intent to withhold it unnecessarily,” Gresback added.”

  9. Suicide attack kills at least 11 at Yemen military checkpoint: officials (reuters, Jan 30, 2018)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-blast/suicide-attack-kills-at-least-11-at-yemen-military-checkpoint-officials-idUSKBN1FJ0QI?il=0

    “At least 11 people were killed on Tuesday in a suicide car bomb attack on a checkpoint in southeastern Yemen run by local forces backed by the United Arab Emirates, officials and residents said.

    Residents said gunmen opened fire on the checkpoint after a suicide bomber drove his booby-trapped car into the checkpoint northeast of Ataq, the capital of the province of Shabwa. They said at least 12 people were killed.”

  10. US lifts ban on refugees from 11 countries (alalam, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://en.alalam.ir/news/3326181

    “The United States announced Monday it was lifting its ban on refugees from 11 “high-risk” countries, but said those seeking to enter the US would come under much tougher scrutiny than in the past.

    AFP– Applicants from 11 countries, unnamed but understood to include 10 Muslim-majority nations plus North Korea, will face tougher “risk-based” assessments to be accepted.

    “It’s critically important that we know who is entering the United States,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

    “These additional security measures will make it harder for bad actors to exploit our refugee program, and they will ensure we take a more risk-based approach to protecting the homeland.”

    The 11 countries, hit with a ban in October in the Trump administration’s revised refugee policy, have not been identified officially.

    But refugee groups say they comprise Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

    – Not a ‘Muslim ban’ –

    Speaking anonymously, a senior administration official told journalists that the policy of enhanced security assessments for the 11 countries was not designed to target Muslims.

    “Our admissions have nothing to do with religion,” the official said, adding that there is “nothing especially novel” about tougher screening for countries deemed to have a higher level of risk.

    Donald Trump has pursued a much tougher stance on immigrants and refugees from all countries since becoming president one year ago.

    His predecessor Barack Obama set refugee admission in fiscal 2017, which began on October 2016, at 110,000.

    When Trump took office a year ago, he slashed that to 53,000, a number that was cut again to a maximum of 45,000 in fiscal 2018.

    But refugee arrivals this year could come in significantly lower than that, due to the backlog from the 120-day halt and a slowdown in processing because of generally tougher applicant reviews.

    DHS would not explain what the tougher vetting measures for the 11 countries would include.”

  11. Qatar CRISIS: Trump’s ‘BIG PLAN’ for ‘PERMANENT’ military presence in Middle East deal (express, Jan 30, 2018)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/911726/qatar-middle-east-gulf-war-donald-trump-us-military-troops-Al-Udeid-air-base-russia-weapon

    “THOUSANDS of US troops could be sent to Qatar by the Trump administration as the two countries execute a “big plan” aimed at increasing an American military presence in the Middle East, the Qatari Defence Minister has announced.

    Qatar is already home to the US Air Force Central Command but the countries are said to be keen on expanding the Al Udeid military base to house more military personnel.

    Al Udeid is currently home to 11,000 people employed by the US armed forces and plays a crucial role in giving the US air power in the Middle East.

    Announcing the decision Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah said: “We have a big plan to expand Al Udeid to make it permanent.

    “Colleagues in the US Department of Defence are reluctant to mention the word permanent, but we are working from our side to make it permanent.

    “We are planning for a 2040 Vision in the military-to-military cooperation with the United States in all aspects whether it is in the Air Force, Navy or the land force.”

    The US and Qatar are long term allies in the region and have been working together since the 1990s in a bid to crack down on the financing of terrorism.

    Last year American military and Qatari armed forces carried out military exercises in a show of co-operation between the two countries’ armed forces.

    Donald Trump is keen on increasing the presence of US military in the region as fears of a Gulf War rage on and is working with Qatar to improve their defence facilities in the Middle East…”

  12. Indian Muslim cleric says women watching soccer un-Islamic (abcnews, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/indian-muslim-cleric-women-watching-soccer-islamic-52698551

    “A senior cleric at an influential Islamic seminary in northern India has issued a religious decree saying that Muslim women should not watch men playing soccer.

    Mufti Athar Kasmi said that watching men “playing with bare knees” violated the tenets of Islam and was forbidden for women. Kasmi is cleric at Darul Uloom, Asia’s largest Sunni Muslim seminary in the northern town of Deoband.

    The cleric also lashed out at the men who allow their wives to watch football even on television.

    “Do you have no shame? Do you not fear God? You let her watch these kinds of things,” he said in his sermon Friday…”

    • People like Mufti Athar Kasmi are among the ones that need to go first.

      Unfortunately, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of far more suitable candidates than this squirming, puritanical little Muslim larva.

  13. My Labour Party no longer exists: Councillor quits after 20 years with devastating attack on Corbyn and his hard-Left supporters (dailymail, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://dailym.ai/2GvKcj2

    “A Labour councillor has quit the party after almost 20 years with a furious attack on the direction it has taken under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

    Nora Mulready, 35, was an activist in Haringey, north London, where the council could become the first to be taken over by hard-Left Momentum supporters.

    In a resignation letter posted online, Miss Mulready accused them of ‘moral deterioration’, exploitation and keeping people in positions of deprivation.

    She said they were trying to ‘manufacture anger and hatred as fuel for their desired class war’. The party she had joined in childhood had ‘gone – suffused with the hard Left at every possible level’.

    She concluded: ‘These politics are immoral, are destructive, cause great harm to the poorest, and great harm to society, and they now dominate the Labour party.’…”

  14. I thought I saw the old man’s eyes welling up, but wasn’t sure.

    “It’s time to go, that’s all. Lately, lately I get these images in my head. And dreams so vivid. Like it was yesterday. Especially seeing the little Jewish ones wearing the star.”

    I remembered him telling me another time that he’d pretty much lost all his German, which I thought a little odd–losing your mother tongue completely.

    “I’ve been working since I was eleven,” he went on. “–You know, the schools were closed. And we were starving. My oldest brother was in two concentration camps.”

    I remembered he once said he had put himself through school painting houses after he arrived after the war. Now he was retiring.

    “It’s been so long. Some of my clients I’ve been with over fifty years. And what little I know about accounting, well, I owe to Irving. I was more like Irving. Jack was a plodder He was very honest but not creative. Irving could come up with these, these things.” His recollection of the firm he had started with stayed close to him even though it had been so many years before.. He referred to it often in his stories.

    It always went like this. The year-end financial review stretched out with the anecdotes. Part of me hoped he didnt charge me for the whole time, but then part of me didn’t really care. There was value in listening even though he jumped around. He was a legend. It was important to listen hard, I’d learned. Sometimes he said profound things without any punctuation to set them apart. If you didn’t pay attention it sailed right on by. Sometimes it was advice on taxation matters which could not be said directly for ethical reasons. He was all about honesty. His career was built on it. The biggest secrets–I call them secrets because that’s kind of what they are–always come dressed like nothing. Like the time I wanted to take some investment metals out of the company. I didn’t understand what he was saying at first, talking about my feelings. “…You feel better having your metals closer…it makes you feel safer to have them closer…”

    He was building a little credible narrative for both us and for the tax man. Very subtle but good enough for the ethics of the matter. I realized I had to repeat the words myself. He watched me as his cryptic instruction took hold and I got the drift. Only then did he move on. And without a blink. That’s how he rolled.

    “My son was over from England with his family,” he continued. “That was a lovely visit. –Was it you I was telling? We went a few places. He needed the break.” He turned to my secretary for courtesy. “–He’s head chaplain at a big prison. Every prisoner who comes in he has to interview.”

    He was very religious and very proud of his son. I was going to say something but didn’t want to interrupt.

    “Was it you I was telling? He interviewed this man who’d been brought in. They were talking. No one else had picked up on it. But the man was breaking in. He’d committed a crime to get in. He was a recruiter for–”

    His cell phone rang. It was his wife. He told her he’d be home at the usual time. After he hung up he started about how she hated cruise liners because they’re too big, so a retirement boat trip wasn’t in the cards. I was curious about what he’d been talking about before the phone rang but let it go. We had to get through the statement anyway. But I think i understood.

    Maybe it was time for him to go because he’d forgotten what he was talking about before the call. Clearly, though, the vivid dreams he mentioned were the remains of a day. Maybe some bones aren’t buried dead or deep enough for our own good.

    • We’re almost at the end of that generation. The ones who are left are all drifting off, leaving us…. Leaving some of us marked, for better or worse.

      For worse: I carry their anger. Too much vicarious exposure. They carried vacancies that were my rightful legacy. Not particularly healthy, but that’s the way it is.

      For better?
      Internal Darwin alert system, hardwired for a reason.
      But then, how often do you hear car alarms going off and ignore them? I do, all the time.

      Seems we should come up with an amplifier of some sort. These walking wounded have done all they could. Now it’s up to us.

      • Too much vicarious exposure. They carried vacancies that were my rightful legacy.

        Jaysus gel, go write a flipping book (or three)!

        I’ll not squawk about how many people have insisted that I do the same and simply ask that you start scribbling right away.

        You have so much to say, yucki. ‘Nuff said…

    • My oldest brother was in two concentration camps.”

      At the same time!

      In Nazi death camp, showers take you!

      [/Yakov Smirnoff]

      Apologies in advance but, just like with Mel Brooks, sometimes a little ridicule or comic relief is necessary.

      PS: Great story, Johnnyu . Keep ’em coming!

  15. ‘Scotland’s not ready for a brown, Muslim Paki’ Anas Sarwar says he lost support because his wife wears a hijab

    “Sarwar told the Record: “What I am hoping to do by talking about this is to call out these incidents so we hold ourselves to a higher standard and we start talking about racism and Islamophobia in the same way we do about other forms of prejudice.”

    https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/scotlands-not-ready-brown-muslim-11930373

    • Scotland’s not ready for a brown, Muslim Paki’ Anas Sarwar says he lost support because his wife wears a hijab

      NOWHERE in the fecking world’s “ready for” any piece of shite (like Anas Sarwar) that insists upon his wife wearing the hijab. Especially in a country that imposes no such demand. Go back to your Islamic paradise where her attire will earn you all the political brownie points imaginable.

      This is the sort of infiltrating predator that needs to be squashed like the filthy cockroach that he is (hijabed wife included).

  16. Houthis Reportedly Fire Ballistic Missile at Riyadh Airport (sputniknews, Jan 30, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801301061181876-houthis-ballistic-missile-riyadh-airport/

    “Riyadh has yet to comment on the claims. The reported attack comes just 10 days after the Saudi military intercepted a Houthi missile fired from Yemen.

    Yemeni Houthis’ agency Saba, controlled by the rebels, has announced the launch of the Burkan H-2 ballistic missile launch toward Riyadh airport.

    The missile has allegedly reached its target. Saudi Arabian officials have yet to comment on the information.

    The alleged attack comes just 10 days after the Saudi military intercepted a Houthi missile fired from Yemen, targeting civilian areas of the southwestern Saudi province of Najran on January 20…”

  17. Syria targets Turkish military convoy with artillery fire: Reports (presstv, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/30/550664/Syria-Turkey-Aleppo-YPG-PKK-SDF-United-States

    “Media reports have surfaced suggesting the Syrian army has targeted a Turkish military convoy traveling in the Arab country’s northwest with artillery fire.

    The sources, including Russia Today Arabic, reported the incident on Tuesday.

    One said the convoy, which comprised around 100 military vehicles, including 15 tanks, was heading towards the al-Eis area in the southern suburbs of the city of Aleppo to set up positions there.

    The area overlooks the Syrian army’s positions in the strategic al-Hadher area, lending intelligence superiority to any party in its control.

    RT Arabic said the convoy came under more than 30 mortar rounds…”

  18. Religious Hate Speech at German Elementary Schools

    At an elementary school in New Ulm, Germany, Principal Beate Altmann discovers some of her children are learning to hate others based on their religious beliefs from their local mosque.

    Ms. Altman is a principal of a school in the city centre where 228 children come from 26 nations and 9 out 10 student are immigrants. Following the tragedy of the terror attack at the Christmas market in Berlin (2016), teachers decided to discuss the events in the classroom following the Christmas holidays.

    Some of the students voiced their opinions that Christian deserved to die. While others said that they could not draw crosses because this would cause them to lose their Islam “power”, adding Christians are pigs (correction) Christians should be killed and Jews have the same value as swine.

    After hearing this from her colleagues, she decided to take action – she went to the police, contacted the school board and other responsible agencies (social services) and then went public with the situation.

    The reporter asks, why do you think these children say such things? The particular children in question visited a certain mosque near the school and they told the teachers they learned these ideas there during quran lessons.

    Police spoke to the parents of the children and to the Imam of the mosque in question without any substantial results. The reporter asks: “What do you expect from these migrant children and their parents?” Teacher: “I expect that if they continue to live here in Germany, that they respect our laws, values and civil responsibilities and that they recognise and accept these things as we do – especially the fundamental law/constitution of the Republic of Germany.

    She has received dozens of email/letters since going public with the story from other school with the same conditions, but write they were unable to say anything out of fear of backlash, as it is an explosive topic.

  19. EU rebels’ fury at federal Brussels: Visegrad Four blast post-Brexit EU ’unity project’ (express, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://bit.ly/2DMXQR8

    “The four nations, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, have raised concerns over Brussels plans to bring in a transnational MEP voting post-Brexit which the rebels claim will wrestle more control from member states.

    “Democratic legitimacy of the EU legislative process” can only be boosted through “the democratic control by national parliaments”, the group said in a statement…”

  20. Sharp Increase of Sexual Assaults in Berlin´s Public Transportation (Report)

    The number of sexual assaults has doubled in Berlin’s public transport since 2016 with 295 cases reported to police having occurred in busses, street cars/trams and subways.

    The explanation for the strong increase is being attributed to changes in criminal laws regarding sexual offences back in November of 2016, which now includes verbal abuse as a sexual offence.

  21. Hijab selling non-gelatine “veggie” gummy candies:

    I think the title to the video has a double meaning, but I leave that to native speakers to better translate. Something like, “I pay attention”/”Watch out” ?

  22. “The leader of Haringey council quit today and blasted “sexism” and “bullying” by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn.

    After almost a decade in charge, Claire Kober revealed she will step down at the local elections in May after her ruling Labour group was ripped apart by activists belonging to the Corbynite group Momentum.

    The centrist politician said she was “disillusioned” by the brutal campaign to scupper a flagship housing scheme which was personally opposed by Mr Corbyn.”

    “Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), caused further controversy when it said the council should abandon the Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV).

    Ms Kober rounded on the NEC for its “legally dubious” and “democratically unsound” intervention. She lamented the “febrile state” of Haringey Labour politics where, she claimed, “reality and facts” commanded less attention than “misinformation”.”
    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/haringey-council-leader-claire-kober-quits-in-storm-over-corbynista-bullying-a3753066.html

  23. House Panel Votes to Release Memo Alleging FBI Anti-Trump Abuses

    President Donald Trump will review a classified Republican memo that alleges bias and counterintelligence abuses in government surveillance of people surrounding him before releasing it publicly, a White House aide said Tuesday.

    The memo has passed from a House committee to the White House for review, which is required because the document is based on classified information. Trump has as many as five days to review the document for national security concerns, but it won’t be mentioned as part of his State of the Union speech to Congress Tuesday, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News.

    “It’s up to the president,” Conway told CNN in a separate interview regarding the timing of its release. “We want it to be a deliberative process and we respect the process, the transparency and accountability. But can’t really comment on the substance of the memo.”

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/republicans-push-to-release-memo-alleging-fbi-anti-trump-abuses

  24. Two DACA recipients arrested on suspicion of human smuggling

    A man who was in the United States under the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program, and another man whose DACA protections had expired, were arrested on suspicion of human smuggling in two separate incidents last week, federal officials said Monday.

    The DACA program gave unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children two-year renewable permits protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work.

    http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/sd-me-daca-smuggling-20180129-story.html

  25. Agents stop semitrailer with 76 immigrants inside in Texas

    LAREDO, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a semitrailer driver is in custody after he was found to be transporting 76 immigrants in Texas.

    The U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement Monday that the immigrants were discovered Friday at a checkpoint on U.S. 83, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Laredo in South Texas. The semitrailer stopped in the checkpoint’s primary lane where the driver, a U.S. citizen, was questioned about his immigration status.

    His rig was kept for further inspection, and agents found the immigrants inside the trailer.

    The immigrants are from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Thirteen were unaccompanied minors. The Border Patrol says all of them are in good health.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/agents-stop-semitrailer-76-immigrants-inside-texas-024346073.html

  26. The Robot Delivery Vans Are Here
    A secretive startup has unveiled its new grocery-getter, one of many automakers that are leaving people out of the equation.

    The future of driverless driving looks like a giant toaster with a funny hat.

    That’s an approximation of a new autonomous vehicle unveiled Tuesday by Nuro, a Silicon Valley startup that’s been cryptic about its business plan since it launched about 18 months ago. Nuro’s shiny, minimalist appliance on wheels doesn’t have doors or windows to speak of, because it will be carrying packages—not people.

    As every major automaker and dozens of tech companies race to replace drivers in Uber cars and taxi fleets, Nuro is ignoring humans altogether and steering for Amazon.com Inc., United Parcel Service Inc. and any retailer looking to build its e-commerce business. “We realized we could make it possible to deliver anything, anytime, anywhere,” said co-founder Dave Ferguson. “We like to call it a local teleportation service.”

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-30/nuro-has-built-a-robot-van-to-deliver-your-stuff

  27. The Germany in which we live well and happy: homeless people sleep in the post office (Video)

    The German Federal Government welcomes millions of strangers against our will, while our country itself sinks into poverty. Stop it! First our own people! The “refugee crisis” has clearly shown one thing: there would always have been enough money for all our compatriots to live in prosperity.

    https://vk.com/video293984114_456239057

  28. After killing of rebel cop, Maduro’s grip on Venezuela’s military may be loosening

    The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, hated by much of the country’s population and sanctioned by a growing number of countries, is facing problems keeping the police and military happy as food shortages and hyperinflation start to hit their barracks.

    Recent meetings and internal documents of the Venezuelan armed forces point to concern in the Maduro regime as troops grow more demoralized and commanders report an increase in the number of insubordination cases and desertions.

    In addition to the signs of unrest among the Army and National Guard units, the government also faces a tense relationship with the investigative police agency known by its initials in Spanish, CICPC, after the recent public execution of rebel policeman Oscar Perez, who was killed by security forces in an assault broadcast live through social media.

    “There is unrest, and there’s a lack of discipline. The soldiers are demoralized,” said Gen. Herbert Garcia Plaza, a former Maduro cabinet minister, in a phone call from Washington. “Military installations have declared a state of alert, which is not normal [at this time] because there are not even street protests now. It seems like they think the enemy is inside.”

    Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article196828514.html#storylink=cpy

  29. Venezuelans ‘loot to eat’ amid economic tailspin

    PUERTO CABELLO, Venezuela (AP) — The cab of Carlos Del Pino’s big rig gave him a nerve-rattling front-row seat to a surge in mob attacks on Venezuela’s neighborhood markets, cattle ranches and food delivery trucks like his.

    Shortly after pulling away from the docks at Puerto Cabello, the country’s biggest port, he witnessed 20 people swarm a truck ahead of him and in a frenzy fill up their sacks with the corn it was carrying to a food-processing plant. The driver was held at gunpoint.

    “It fills you with terror,” Del Pino said.

    https://apnews.com/e6af78e0506748d490a646dfb115772e/Venezuelans-'loot-to-eat'-amid-economic-tailspin

    • “Venezuela holds the world’s largest oil reserves and was once among Latin America’s wealthiest nations. But after nearly two decades of socialist rule and mismanagement of the state-run oil company, it is being battered by the worst economic crisis in its history.”

      Says it all.

        • All you neglected to mention are the routine and massive Communist abuses of human rights.

          Other than that, please carry on…

  30. Three new counts of murder after skeletal remains found in planters at home related to Toronto landscaper Bruce McArthur
    ‘We do believe there are more (victims) and I have no idea how many more there are going to be,’ said Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga

    A man who describes himself as a shy and helpless romantic at heart, a former mall Santa Claus, is now an accused serial killer who, Toronto police allege, buried the skeletal remains of his victims’ dismembered bodies in the bottom of outdoor planters and flower pots.

    Parts of more human bodies may be hidden in planters or gardens at homes throughout Toronto. No one knows exactly which ones.

    In an investigation unlike any before seen in the history of the nation’s largest city, police have charged 66-year-old freelance landscaper Bruce McArthur with five-counts of first-degree murder, most of the victims men who had been reported missing from Toronto’s gay village area.

    The remains of at least three people were recovered from large planters at a midtown Toronto property linked to McArthur and where he may have previously landscaped.

    http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/bruce-mcarthur-charged-with-3-new-counts-of-murder-related-to-men-missing-in-toronto-gay-village

    • A man who describes himself as a shy and helpless romantic at heart, a former mall Santa Claus, is now an accused serial killer who, Toronto police allege, buried the skeletal remains of his victims’ dismembered bodies in the bottom of outdoor planters and flower pots.

      Hoe, hoe, hoe!

  31. Exclusive: Tests link Syrian government stockpile to largest sarin attack – sources

    THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The Syrian government’s chemical weapons stockpile has been linked for the first time by laboratory tests to the largest sarin nerve agent attack of the civil war, diplomats and scientists told Reuters, supporting Western claims that government forces under President Bashar al-Assad were behind the atrocity.

    Laboratories working for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons compared samples taken by a U.N. mission in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta after the Aug. 21, 2013 attack, when hundreds of civilians died of sarin gas poisoning, to chemicals handed over by Damascus for destruction in 2014.

    (For a graphic on chemical attacks click http://tmsnrt.rs/2pKDWOY )

    The tests found “markers” in samples taken at Ghouta and at the sites of two other nerve agent attacks, in the towns of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib governorate on April 4, 2017 and Khan al-Assal, Aleppo, in March 2013, two people involved in the process said.

    http://www.oann.com/exclusive-tests-link-syrian-government-stockpile-to-largest-sarin-attack-sources/

    • Is anyone going to perform comparative tests against those toxins used by Saddam against the residents of Basra?

      Even a slight match would provide critical evidence that Iraq managed (as so many continue to suspect) to relocate its biological and chemical weapons in Syria after Turkey blocked America’s vital northern wing of a pincer movement.

      As in, a move that would have stranded all of this deadly bio-chemical materiel within Iraq’s borders and crippled so much of this (more recent) ongoing mayhem.

  32. CIA director expects Russia will try to target U.S. mid-term elections

    LONDON (Reuters) – CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Russia will target U.S. mid-term elections later this year as part of the Kremlin’s attempt to influence domestic politics across the West, and warned the world had to do more to push back against Chinese meddling.

    Russia has been accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the allegations, which Moscow denies, and whether there was any collusion involving President Donald Trump’s associates.

    In an interview with the BBC aired on Tuesday, U.S. intelligence chief Pompeo said Russia had a long history of information campaigns and said its threat would not go away.

    Asked if Russia would try to influence the mid-term elections, he said: “Of course. I have every expectation that they will continue to try and do that.

    “But I am confident that America will be able to have a free and fair election. That we’ll push back in a way that is sufficiently robust that the impact they have on our election won’t be great.”

    He also said the Chinese posed a threat of equal concern, and were “very active” with a world class cyber capability.

    http://www.oann.com/cia-director-expects-russia-will-try-to-target-u-s-mid-term-elections/

  33. What matters about Rod Rosenstein extending surveillance of Carter Page in 2017
    By J.E. Dyer January 30, 2018

    On a day chock-full of news about the FBI and the House’s FBI/FISA memo, the New York Times had an article that appears to contain information leaked from the memo – an article posted on Sunday 28 January, the same day FBI Director Christopher Wray reportedly reviewed the memo on Capitol Hill.

    The information itself is that shortly after his appointment as Deputy Attorney General on 26 April 2017, Rod Rosenstein approved a FISA application to extend FBI surveillance of Carter Page, the man who was linked to the Trump campaign as one of a volunteer group of foreign-policy advisers in 2016.

    That means the FBI and DOJ wanted to continue surveillance that had started before the November 2016 election. The extension request came months after Page had left the campaign (in September of 2016), and three months after Trump took office – with Page being unconnected to the Trump White House in any way.

    That is an interesting piece of information on its face. To put things in perspective, let us observe up front that the FBI had been rooting through Page’s communications since a date before the election in 2016, and yet had not found anything actionable relating to Page. Nevertheless, the FBI wanted to keep the surveillance authority going. We’ll think about that more in a moment.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/01/30/matters-rod-rosenstein-extending-surveillance-carter-page-2017/

    • Interesting, this info seems, I repeat seems to be a damning indictment of Rosenstein. This is also interesting in the way the leaks of info on the memo started coming out after the FBI was given access to the memo. I wonder if the House set a canary trap in the memo to discover which FBI agents are leaking info to the Propaganda media.

  34. Andrew McCabe’s strange meeting with Reince Priebus, and the leak that followed it
    By J.E. Dyer January 30, 2018

    Ed. – CNN says staff received a “hint” that McCabe’s abrupt departure is related to the upcoming Inspector General report on the FBI conduct in the Clinton investigation.]

    Top FBI official Andrew McCabe has been “removed” from his post as deputy director, Fox News is told, leaving the bureau after months of conflict-of-interest complaints from Republicans including President Trump.

    A source confirmed to Fox News that McCabe is taking “terminal leave” – effectively taking vacation until he reaches his planned retirement in a matter of weeks. As such, he will not be reporting to work at the FBI anymore. …

    McCabe has long been a controversial figure at the bureau.

    Republicans have questioned McCabe’s ties to the Democratic Party, considering his wife ran as a Democrat for a Virginia Senate seat in 2015 and got financial help from a group tied to Clinton family ally Terry McAuliffe.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/01/29/breaking-andrew-mccabe-removed-fbi-post-said-linked-upcoming-ig-report/

  35. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/29/fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe-is-stepping-down-from-bureau-fox-news-has-learned.html

    FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe ‘removed’ from the bureau

    Top FBI official Andrew McCabe has been “removed” from his post as deputy director, Fox News is told, leaving the bureau after months of conflict-of-interest complaints from Republicans including President Trump.

    A source confirmed to Fox News that McCabe is taking “terminal leave” – effectively taking vacation until he reaches his planned retirement in a matter of weeks. As such, he will not be reporting to work at the FBI anymore.

    The move was first reported by NBC News.

  36. Richard: If this man is correct the Dems were working with the Russians to get Hillary elected. This is very believable because they would want a blackmailable and bribeable President.

    Former CIA chief of station suspects dossier was a Russian disinformation effort
    By J.E. Dyer January 29, 2018

    This possibility is one I have also taken seriously. We are fortunate that Daniel Hoffman has gone to the trouble of making the case for it, in a “Commentary” posting at the Wall Street Journal.

    I will let readers peruse his post, for the most part; Hoffman offers three significant points about the opportunity the Kremlin would have seen, which is what I will cite here:

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/01/29/former-cia-chief-station-suspects-dossier-russian-disinformation-effort/

    • The Chinese know the horrors of Socialism, and come out against the Useful Idiots of Trudeau and his Communists manufacturing Class Warfare.

  37. Saudi Arabia says it has seized over $100 billion in corruption purge (reuters, Jan 30, 2018)
    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-arrests-corruption/saudi-arabia-says-it-has-seized-over-100-billion-in-corruption-purge-idUKKBN1FJ28K

    “Saudi Arabia’s government has arranged to seize more than $100 billion (70.84 billion pounds) through financial settlements with businessmen and officials detained in its crackdown on corruption, the attorney general said on Tuesday. The announcement appeared to represent a political victory for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who launched the purge last November and predicted at the time that it would net about $100 billion in settlements…”

  38. Somalia: 34,000 left homeless after army destroys camps (memo, Jan 30, 2018)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180130-somalia-34000-left-homeless-after-army-destroys-camps/

    “Somalia’s national army has demolished homeless shelters in the capital Mogadishu, Garowe Online reported today.

    Between 29 December and 19 January, 3,000 shelters were destroyed by Somalia’s military and police forces using bulldozers and heavy machinery. Somalia’s internally displaced were not given adequate notification and are currently on foot without basic amenities.

    “The Somali government needs to take responsibility for the mass forced evictions of these vulnerable, marginalised communities in Mogadishu,” Laetitia Bader, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.

    “A thorough investigation should be followed by concrete steps to ensure that all evictions are lawful and that anyone displaced is provided for.”

    The Somalia government has a record of forcibly leaving internally displaced people without any redress.

    “If local and federal authorities need to move displaced people, they should first consult with these communities and put in place a plan that ensures people’s security and access basic assistance,” Bader continued.

    Last week, the UK’s international development secretary pledged to provide $29 million in humanitarian assistance to Somalia.

    Somalia has had a deteriorating humanitarian issue with some two million internally displaced people suffering from a drought amid conflict for more than a decade.”

  39. Americans who practice yoga ‘contribute to white supremacy’, claims Michigan State University professor (independent, Jan 30, 2018)
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-yoga-american-white-supremacy-michigan-state-university-shreena-gandhi-racism-professor-a8185206.html

    “White Americans who practice yoga are perpetuating the “continuation of white supremacy and colonialism”, a Michigan State University professor has claimed.

    Religious studies professor Shreena Gandhi argued yoga has “flourished” in the US from the “cultural void of white society, intimately mixed with white supremacy, capitalism, and globalisation”.

    She said the “misappropriation” of yoga did not constitute “life-threatening racism”, but urged “white people who practice yoga” to consider the history of the practice in the US and its supposed links with “larger forces of white supremacy”.

    She made the arguments in a report, titled “Yoga and the Roots of Cultural Appropriation”, co-authored with Lillie Wolff, an “antiracist white Jewish organiser, facilitator, and healer”.

    The authors wrote: “This modern day trend of cultural appropriation of yoga is a continuation of white supremacy and colonialism, maintaining the pattern of white people consuming the stuff of culture that is convenient and portable, while ignoring the well-being and liberation of Indian people.

    “While the (mis)appropriation of yoga may not be a life-threatening racism, it is a part of systemic racism nonetheless, and it is important to ask, what are the impetuses for this cultural ‘grabbing’?”

    Prof Gandhi said yoga is intimately tied to colonialism and was originally used as a tool to show the British that Indians “were not backwards or primitive”.

    She added: “It did not appear in the American spiritual landscape by coincidence; rather, its popularity was a direct consequence of a larger system of cultural appropriation that capitalism engenders and reifies.

    “When ‘Western’ yoga teachers train other practitioners to relate to yoga only on a physical level, without exploring the history, roots, complexity, and philosophy, they are perpetuating the re-colonisation of it by diluting its true depth and meaning.”

    But the authors did argue that practitioners can “reduce harm” by engaging with yoga in a “decolonising way”.

    She wrote: “They can be aware of the history, roots, and magnitude of the practice and give credit where credit is due. Humility, respect, and reverence go a long way.

    “Additionally, there is a responsibility to explore issues around access. The cost of Western yoga classes can be prohibitive for low to middle-income people. This often includes people of colour, including recent immigrants, such as Indian women to whom this practice rightfully belongs.””

  40. Memo Time
    Shock waves in the FBI’s – and Democrats’ – corridor.
    January 30, 2018
    Matthew Vadum

    Divided on partisan lines, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence voted yesterday to make public a memo asserting the FBI relied on the discredited Trump-Russia dossier to obtain court-ordered foreign-intelligence wiretaps against U.S. citizens, a breathtaking abuse of power.

    The document is already generating shock waves in Washington, even though few on Capitol Hill are said to have read it.

    The FBI admits the Left’s electoral collusion conspiracy theory is unsubstantiated but still refuses to distance itself from the discredited Russia propaganda dossier Democrats paid Fusion GPS to create to undermine President Trump’s candidacy. And congressional Democrats, long sympathetic to Russia, have suddenly been transformed into strong defenders of the nation’s national security apparatus, implying that criticism of the long-troubled FBI is somehow treasonous or unpatriotic. It is a vicious smear calculated to redirect Americans’ attention, but par for the course for the Left.

    Why anyone is even surprised at FBI corruption is unclear. Although the nation’s premier investigative agency is top-heavy with fine, ethical men and women, the FBI was born in corruption. Its founding director, J. Edgar Hoover, kept blackmail material on the powerful so he could stay in power for 50 years. The FBI needs a good housecleaning at the top.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/269173/memo-time-matthew-vadum

  41. Identity Politics and Our Racialized Government
    Census Bureau refuses to midwife yet another identity-grievance scam.
    January 30, 2018
    Bruce Thornton

    The Census Bureau recently has rejected changes to the census that Obama had proposed as a parting gift to the Democrats. As the party of identity politics, the progressives were going to be gifted a new bloc of clients––“MENAs,” people of “Middle Eastern and North African” descent. As the tribunes of “people of color,” the Dems were eager to add yet another member to their conga-line of identity grievance. But the Bureau’s decision to reject the classification should be just the first step to completely discarding identity categories predicated on superficial and reductive characteristics.

    First, our census rubrics like “black,” “Asian,” “white,” and the incoherent “Hispanic” are crude to the point of being meaningless. “Black” cannot express the incredible cultural, religious, social, and linguistic variety and diversity of the African continent and its diaspora. Neither does “Asian,” a geographical term equally as simplistic. “Hispanic” is a linguistic category even more hopelessly crude. So too with “white,” which lumps together under the rubric of superficial color a variety of cultures, mores, and classes. In fact, this impulse to label people by appearance is a leftover of “scientific racism,” the pseudo-scientific ideology of progressives in the first half of the 20th century that aimed to help Darwin out by excluding, sterilizing, and in Germany eliminating those deemed “inferior” and “unfit” because they weren’t “Anglo-Nordic,” that is northern European.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/269165/identity-politics-and-our-racialized-government-bruce-thornton