Reader’s Links, April 8, 2018

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In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

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

98 Replies to “Reader’s Links, April 8, 2018”

  1. The Broader Truth
    (‘Lies from the Guardian’ and other Post Modernist NuMarxist Narratives).

    Melanie Phillips with her talk “The World Turned Upside Down” presented at the Bennett Jones Law Offices hosted by the Speakers Action Group.
    https://youtu.be/te01MtCJP0w

  2. Almost ‘Invasion’: Turkey Lashes Out at French Troops’ Deployment to Syria (sputniknews, Apr 8, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201804081063337647-almost-invasion-french-deployment-syria/

    “Turkey which has itself sent troops to northern Syria to fight against Kurdish militias has said that France’s military buildup in the region is “illegitimate” and “illegal.”

    “If France takes any steps regarding its military presence in northern Syria, this would be an illegitimate step that would go against international law and in fact, it would be an invasion,” Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said Saturday.

    The statement comes a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused France of supporting terrorists by “hosting them” at the Elysee Palace, referring to a delegation of Syrian Kurdish militia welcomed by the French authorities…”

  3. SAS REVENGE: Elite force avenging death of hero with RELENTLESS strikes on ISIS jihadis (express, Apr 8, 2018)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/942997/ISIS-news-SAS-elite-force-avenge-death-air-strikes-isis-jihadis

    “THE SAS is avenging the death of a comrade killed by the Islamic State by bombing jihadis with “relentless” revenge strikes.

    Members of the elite unit and their US Delta Force partners bombed factories where Sergeant Matt Tonroe, 33, from Manchester, and another soldier were killed hours after their deaths in a search and destroy mission.

    According to the Daily Star Sunday, a joint British and US task force has killed a dozen terrorists in a sequence of night raids in Manbji, northern Syria.

    Up to two terrorists were shot dead by SAS snipers in one operation and six in a drone strike on an ISIS bomb factory.

    The SAS soldiers were in no mood to take prisoners, a source said last night.

    The same source added that every SAS soldier had specifically asked to be deployed to the exact area Sgt Tonroe was murdered to take revenge…”

  4. Disturbing new form of British rap called Drill is blamed for surge in gang killings (dailymail, Apr 8, 2018)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5589927/Disturbing-new-form-British-rap-called-Drill-blamed-surge-gang-killings.html

    “A disturbing new form of British rap music called Drill has been blamed for the surge in gang killings.

    The slick videos feature masked gang members displaying weapons, rapping about recent stabbings, taking drugs and making threats to their rivals.

    One of the scene’s most popular rappers is Headie One, from Tottenham, who has been jailed twice and has 246,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

    His lyrics include: ‘Score these points [getting points for killings] still get round there, sawn-off joints [sawn off guns]

    ‘Hold it steady, got both elbows locked I’m poised. Splash [shoot] man’s face, I ain’t lying too.’

    YouTube videos about some of the most notorious rappers include titles such as ‘5 UK Drill rappers that got stabbed/shot’, ‘Top 5 UK Drill rappers who are doing life in prison’ and ‘UK Drill rappers getting released from prison next year’.

    A report by criminologist Craig Pinkney, called Gangs, Drill Music and the Mediatisation of Crime, said: ‘With Drill music, viewers are making judgments based on whether the artist is projecting true content, and whether this can be verified.

    ‘If an artist professes to be a gang member who has committed a series of stabbings and shootings, the talent of such an individual will be tainted if the claim cannot be supported.’”

    • Gangs in the escalating knife war on London streets are awarding POINTS for stabbings with bigger crimes leading to higher scores (dailymail, Apr 8, 2018)
      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5589895/Gangs-escalating-knife-war-London-streets-awarding-points-stabbings.html

      “Children as young as nine are playing a sick game called ‘Scores’ where they win points for stabbing people and committing crime, according to a former gang member.

      The competition between rival gangs bidding to outdo each other by boasting of their gruesome handiwork on social media is believed to be a major factor fuelling the recent explosion in urban violence, particularly in London.

      ‘The bigger the crime the higher the points, the more and more you do something the more and more rep [reputation] you get, the more you get ranked up,’ said Chris Preddie, a former gang member who has been awarded the OBE for his work with young offenders.

      He compared the system of gaining kudos to moving up through ranks in the military, adding: ‘If you’re a kid and you go up the ranks you become a leader. Now he’s controlling 15-20 kids, telling them what to do.’

      An informal ‘tariff’ of crimes goes from low-level items such as invading a rival gang’s territory to stabbing someone and ultimately up to murder.

      In a sadistic twist, more points are awarded if the knife is inserted all the way up to the hilt or if the victim is stabbed in the face or another area where a scar will be visible.

      Mr Preddie said gang members send bragging messages on Snapchat or other social media to each other with videos of the violent acts accompanied by coded emojis signifying the particular crime.

      ‘It’s for everything you can think of from petty theft to phone-snatching to gang-related incidents,’ he said.

      ‘You don’t see the scores but you see them posing with the knives and with the big money… that’s part of the points system. It’s a systemised culture.’

      Mr Preddie, 30, also blamed ‘Drill’ music for glamorising the violence.

      The variant of gangster rap features masked performers rapping about drugs, shootings and stabbings.

      He said social media had transformed gang culture beyond recognition since his own youth…”

      • Bring back the Boy Scouts!
        They earned merit badges for good deeds and skills proficiency. Satisfies a similar urge, why not?

    • SKY NEWS – London murder spike not a ‘crisis

      The head of the Metropolitan Police Cressida Dick has told Sky News she is putting an extra 300 officers on the streets of London.

      It’s to tackle the recent rise in fatal shootings and stabbings in the capital.

      There have been more than 50 murders in London already this year and many of the victims have been teenagers.

      Sky’s Dermot Murnaghan asks Cressida Dick why London currently has a higher murder rate than New York and what is being done to tackle the violence.

  5. Pakistan tribesmen rally against security forces in Peshawar (abcnews, Apr 8, 2018)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistan-tribesmen-rally-security-forces-peshawar-54319931

    “Thousands of people from Pakistan’s tribes have rallied in the northwestern city of Peshawar demanding the release of scores of suspects being held by authorities on alleged links to militants.

    The participants chanted against security forces and carried portraits of relatives they claim went missing during military operations in recent years.

    An estimated 15,000 people attended Sunday’s rally organized by the Movement for Protection of Pashtuns group.

    In his speech, organizer Manzoor Pashteen said they are calling for the “right to live without fear.”

    The group has become active since January when police killed a 27-year-old aspiring model from the tribes, Naqeeb Ullah, in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

    The rally also called on authorities and the army to clear mines planted in their areas during their operations there.”

  6. Prominent art dealer, 67, dies and six firefighters are hurt as huge blaze engulfs 50th floor Trump Tower apartment which had NO sprinklers, as President tweets it was ‘well built’ but fails to mention victims

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5590101/Fire-breaks-50th-floor-Trump-Tower-Manhattan.html#ixzz5C5d6XeO4
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    A fire at Donald Trump’s New York skyscraper has killed one man and left four firefighters injured.

    Todd Brassner, 67, who was in apartment 50C on the 50th floor of Trump Tower, in Manhattan, died in hospital after the unit was engulfed by the blaze.

    Brassner was an art dealer who had purchased his 50th-floor unit in 1996. He was friends with Andy Warhol, and is mentioned multiple times in Warhol’s autobiography.

    The deceased tenant of the posh Trump Tower pad filed for bankruptcy in 2015. In the bankruptcy filing it says the apartment he lived is worth $2.5million.

    ‘The limited support of his family coupled with his medical problems caused the debtor to fall into arrears on his mortgage, credit card payments and line of credit payments,’ says the filing.

    Flames and thick black smoke were seen coming from windows of the building, where the president has a residence, on Saturday evening.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5590101/Fire-breaks-50th-floor-Trump-Tower-Manhattan.html#ixzz5C5dCC0Cy
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  7. Expert: Islam, Not Social Factors, Driving Radicalisation in France (breitbart, Apr 8, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/04/08/french-sociologist-says-islam-important-social-factors-radicalisation-process/

    “Sociologist Olivier Galland has slammed many of his fellow academics for having a myopic view of radicalisation in France, saying that the effect of Islam is more important than social factors like poverty.

    After the Bataclan attacks in 2015, Galland launched a survey of high school pupils on the subject of radicalism and found that Muslim students, in particular, were the most tolerant of violence committed in the name of religion Libération reports.

    The results of the study, which were published earlier this week, showed that Muslim pupils were often much more illiberal than their non-Muslim counterparts and Galland has claimed that it is the effect of the religion of Islam, rather than simply social factors that drive radicalisation among them.

    “We find a divergence and the existence of a cultural divide between young Muslims and their comrades. For them, religion dominates the secular world: this is what we have called ‘religious absolutism’,” Galland said.

    “This conception of religion is linked to cultural anti-liberalism, which we measured with several questions, including one on homosexuality: more young Muslims than others do not see it as a normal way of living one’s sexuality,” he added, but stressed: “This does not mean, of course, that all are ultra-radical or that they are potential terrorists.”

    According to Galland, the migrant-heavy suburbs of Paris contained the largest amounts of radicalism.

    “In some institutions, the proportion of ‘absolutists’ rises to more than 40 per cent. There is also a ‘segregation’ effect: when the rate of Muslim students is very high in a high school, they are more radical than elsewhere. But everywhere, Muslim students are more religiously radical than others,” he said.

    Galland also added that only 8 per cent of Christians in the survey advocated any form of religious violence, while the number of Muslim students was 20 per cent.

    The study falls in line with what other radical Islamic experts in France have warned, including top scholar Gilles Kepel, who has warned that Europe could be heading down the path to civil war because of the formation of radical Islamic parallel societies.

    In an interview with Breitbart London last year, Kepel described many Muslims as identifying only with their local neighbourhoods and Islam, describing such people as having, “their feet on the ground and their head to the skies.”

    According to the Terrorist Prevention and Radicalisation Reporting File (FSPRT) last year, there has been a 60 per cent increase in radicalisation in France since the Bataclan attacks.”

  8. At Last: Tory Housing Minister Admits Mass Migration Has Pushed House Prices Up 20 Per Cent (breitbart, Apr 8, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/04/08/housing-minister-admits-migration-pushed-house-prices-20-per-cent/

    “Mass migration has pushed up house prices by 20 per cent, the housing minister has confirmed, admitting the link between open borders and soaring property prices.

    Data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) drawn from Office of National Statistics (ONS) data shows that house prices have risen by a fifth over the past 25 years as a result of immigration, said Dominic Raab…”

  9. Trump threatens “Animal Assad,” Putin over alleged chemical attack in Syria

    Last Updated Apr 8, 2018 9:58 AM EDT

    President Trump has responded to reports of a suspected chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma, blaming Syrian President Bashar Assad and his international allies for the apparent attack that left dozens dead and hundreds injured. In some of his most critical comments directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin to date, Mr. Trump threatened that there’s a “big price … to pay” for those backing the Assad regime.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-chemical-attack-trump-threatens-bashar-animal-assad-putin-chemical-weapons-strike-2018-04-08/

    Richard: I can’t see any reason for the attack, Assad and Putin have nothing to gain by ordering/allowing a chemical attack and a lot to lose. The US was perhaps still is getting ready to pull our troops back to more defensible positions, why would Assad do something that might cause us to change our minds?

  10. Trump suggesting China will ‘take down’ its trade barriers

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is suggesting China will ease trade barriers “because it is the right thing to do” and Washington and Beijing can settle disputes that have rattled financial markets, consumers and businesses.

    A new Trump tweet doesn’t explain why he’s optimistic about resolving an escalating trade clash between the world’s two biggest economies.

    Trump says he and Chinese President Xi Jinping “will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade.”

    https://apnews.com/ab8520cf80764a0dbdff2dae1b3d7b11

  11. As U.S. and China trade tariff barbs, others scoop up U.S. soybeans
    Karl Plume

    4 Min Read

    CHICAGO (Reuters) – Escalating tensions between the United States and China have triggered a flurry of U.S. soybean purchases by European buyers, in one of the first signs that trade tariff threats lobbed between the world’s top two economies are disrupting global commodity trade flows.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-soybeans/as-u-s-and-china-trade-tariff-barbs-others-scoop-up-u-s-soybeans-idUSKBN1HF0FQ

    Richard: They are buying up the soybeans to resell to China, they will sell for more then they paid plus shipping but less then the tariffs would cost. The US farmers aren’t hurt and China ends up paying more for the beans.

  12. France, Saudi Arabia agree new defence contracts strategy (reuters, Apr 8, 2018)
    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-saudi-defence/france-saudi-arabia-agree-new-defence-contracts-strategy-idUKKBN1HF0DP?rpc=401&

    “France and Saudi Arabia have agreed a new intergovernmental accord to conclude weapons deals, a French defence ministry official said on Sunday.

    The agreement replaces a process that had been criticised by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the country’s defence minister. Sources said the prince, who is known as MBS, wanted to make a break from past processes.

    He arrived in Paris on Sunday for a three-day visit.

    “In conjunction with the Saudi authorities, France has initiated a new arms export strategy with Saudi Arabia, which until now has been managed by ODAS,” the official said, referring to the organisation that currently handles French defence interests in Saudi Arabia.

    “It will now be covered by an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries. The ODAS company will only provide for the termination of existing contracts.”

    The official did not elaborate.

    France, the world’s third-biggest arms exporter, counts Saudi Arabia among its biggest purchasers, and defence firms including Dassault and Thales have major contracts there.

    In recent years, Riyadh has bought French tanks, armoured vehicles, munitions and artillery and navy ships…”

  13. It’s CNN so it may not be true

    Secret, direct talks underway between US and North Korea

    Washington (CNN)The United States and North Korea have been holding secret, direct talks to prepare for a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, a sign that planning for the highly anticipated meeting is progressing, several administration officials familiar with the discussions tell CNN.
    Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo and a team at the CIA have been working through intelligence back-channels to make preparations for the summit, the officials said. American and North Korean intelligence officials have spoken several times and have even met in a third country, with a focus on nailing down a location for the talks.

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/07/politics/north-korea-us-talks/index.html

  14. Twitter CEO Shares And Raves About Article Calling For Dem Victory In Second ‘Civil War’

    Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey aroused controversy after labeling a Medium article “great” that claimed there’s no “bipartisan way forward” in the United States and that the country is engaged in a “fundamental conflict between two worldviews that must be resolved in short order.”

    Dorsey shared the Medium article on his personal Twitter account Thursday night, with the accompanying acclaim that it was a “great read.”

    http://dailycaller.com/2018/04/07/twitter-jack-dorsey-second-civil-war-trump/

  15. German special police raid homes of far-right movemen

    BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office says special forces have raided apartments across the country in connection with allegations that at least eight people were involved in creating a far-right terrorist organization.

    The prosecutor’s office said the raids took place Sunday morning and were targeting members of the far-right Reichsbuerger movement that does not accept the rules of today’s Germany, but identifies with the state system of the German Kaiserreich area from 1871-1918.

    Authorities searched homes in Berlin, Brandenburg and the eastern state of Thuringia on suspicions that the accused started forming an organization last year at the latest. Authorities were also investigating the killings of some people and say the group may have procured weapons to enforce their goals.

    The prosecutor’s statement said no one was detained during the raids.

    https://apnews.com/47fe9eba2ab14cc4977b5bf2822e43cb

  16. South Carolina lawmakers introduce bill to begin secession debate

    By Meg Kinnard – Associated Press – Sunday, April 8, 2018

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina debated seceding from the Union more than 150 years ago, one of the opening salvos of the Civil War. Now, the topic has come up again, amid a national debate over firearms and gun rights.

    A trio of state House Republicans on Thursday quietly introduced a bill that would allow lawmakers to debate seceding from the U.S. “if the federal government confiscates legally purchased firearms in this State.”

    Rep. Mike Pitts, the measure’s chief sponsor, acknowledged Friday in an interview with The Associated Press that the bill has no chance of passage this year but pledged to continue to raise the issue based on what he described as a defense of the Bill of Rights.

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/8/south-carolina-secession-bill-introduced-over-gun-/

  17. Brains: 1, 2, and 3
    All subconsciously
    As children are cursed if they see
    Must fight-flight, freeze or Agree.

    Games: L-G-B-T
    Earth-Mothers they each had to be
    Souls with no reality
    Enslaved by Conformity.

    Claims: Vagina-Mufti
    Stud-bull superiority
    Musselmas denounced on the knee
    Death-cults inside the Dhimmi.

    Shames: Identity
    Never to say your sorry
    Each call to their Holy Mary
    Playing with Sexuality.

    Blames: History
    Remove the masculine tree
    Heavenly Femininity
    The peace for Tranquility.
    https://vladtepesblog.com/2018/04/06/gang-rape-in-the-centre-of-prague-video-of-intervening-services-detaining-6-algerians/#comment-408083

    • Profound and memorable. Like jump-rope chants encode wisdom for the ages:

      Ring around the rosie,
      A pocket full of posies.
      Ashes, ashes,
      We all fall down!

      A fragment from the great mortality of the Black Death. Inflamed skin circles the buboes (lymph nodes), swelling near the groin, the “achoo” (sneezes from pneumonic mutation), all drop dead.

  18. German Police Detain Man Suspected of Planning Attack in Berlin – Reports (sputniknews, Apr 8, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201804081063340764-german-police-detain-attack-berlinturkey/

    “A total of four people were detained in Germany on Sunday; they were associated with Tunisian man Anis Amri, who rammed a vehicle into people at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016, killing 12 people and injuring dozens others.

    One of those detained is suspected of planning knife attacks against passers-by at Sunday’s Berlin half-marathon, according to Die Welt newspaper. The motive behind the planned attack was revenge.

    The suspect was reportedly planning to kill spectators and participants at the sporting event on Sunday with the knives.

    According to the report, the main suspect “belonged to the inner circle” of Anis Amri, a failed asylum seeker who directed his car into the crowd at Christmas market in Berlin in 2016. The police have seized two knives from him, with which he planned to use in the attack…”

    • euronews -Six arrests in Berlin after foiling an alleged knife attack at half marathon

    • Germany: Berlin police search 6 people amid ‘indications of possible attack’

      Police searched six people, aged between 18 and 21 years, in Berlin on Sunday amid “indications of a possible attack,” Berlin Police spokesperson Thomas Neuendorf said.

  19. The balance sheet is in: Trump needs to pull out of Iran nuclear ‘deal’
    By Jeff Dunetz April 7, 2018

    Sometime between now and May 12th, President Trump will decide whether or not to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the P5+1 deal, and officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

    Foreign policy experts on the left are begging the President to stay in the JCPOA. They say it is working. But the truth is that, thanks to the lack of inspections codified in the deal, there is no way to know whether or not Iran is actually complying with the agreement.

    While I have no knowledge what the president or his advisers are thinking, I do know that the lack of real inspections is just one of the items America was misled about by former President Obama, former Secretary of State Kerry, and their cronies, when trying to sell the JCPOA to America. Parts of the deal were hidden from the public, and the Obama administration lied to America about other parts. Heck, the administration admitted it: in a New York Times Magazine piece, Ben Rhodes explained how he led the administration’s efforts to misrepresent the truth in order “to sell” the JCPOA to the press.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/04/07/balance-sheet-trump-needs-pull-iran-nuclear-deal/

  20. Jaish al-Islam to leave Douma in return for releasing prisoners (reuters, Apr 8, 2018)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-ghouta-negotiati/jaish-al-islam-to-leave-douma-in-return-for-releasing-prisoners-idUSKBN1HF09Z?il=0

    “An agreement has been reached to release all prisoners held by Syrian rebels controlling the eastern Ghouta city of Douma in return for the fighters’ leaving the city, Syrian state television reported on Sunday, citing an official source.

    According to the agreement, Jaish al-Islam fighters will leave Douma for the northern city of Jarablus, near the borders with Turkey, within 48 hours, the source added.

    There was no immediate comment from Jaish al-Islam, which control the city…”

    • They’re letting this al-Queda affiliate survive as the Turk’s ‘boots -on the -ground’ who will continue to bedevil the Gulf States.
      – – Gulf individuals, some in royal families, send them money. It’s the Mideast: they play both sides, turn on a dime.

  21. Saudi exchange counting on foreign funds to aid Aramco IPO, chief says (reuters, Apr 8, 2018)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-aramco-ipo-exchange/saudi-exchange-counting-on-foreign-funds-to-aid-aramco-ipo-chief-says-idUSKBN1HF0MY?il=0

    “Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange expects an influx of foreign funds to smooth the listing of national oil firm Saudi Aramco, despite concern among some analysts about whether the market can absorb the huge offer, the exchange’s chief executive said on Sunday.

    “Foreign investors are putting in more money — every day we have improved liquidity capacity,” Khalid al-Hussan said in an interview.

    The government has said it plans to sell about 5 percent of Aramco, hoping to raise some $100 billion or more in what is likely to be the world’s biggest initial public offer. Officials have said that in addition to Riyadh, Aramco may list on one or more foreign markets such as New York, London and Hong Kong.

    Many private analysts think the $100 billion target is too ambitious, but even a $50 billion IPO could strain the Saudi market, which has a capitalization of about $500 billion — especially if the burden is not shared with a foreign exchange…”

  22. U.S., Afghan forces expand air strikes on Taliban drug labs (reuters, Apr 8, 2018)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-drugs/u-s-afghan-forces-expand-air-strikes-on-taliban-drug-labs-idUSKBN1HF0HQ?il=0

    “American and Afghan forces have expanded their air strikes against drug labs into western Afghanistan, aiming to choke Taliban revenue.

    Air strikes in Afghanistan, the world’s main heroin source, also threaten civilians, however, and may not be an effective blow to the Taliban militant group, an expert on the country’s drug industry said.

    The campaign targeting Afghan drug labs began as opium production jumped 87 percent last year to a record high in Afghanistan. The Taliban, which U.S. officials say controls the drug trade, has made large territorial gains since a U.S. troop reduction of recent years.

    American and Afghan forces responded with a dramatic increase in air power since early 2017, with the number of weapons released tripling in the first two months of 2018 compared with a year earlier.

    U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) and Afghan forces conducted strikes on 11 Taliban drug production facilities in the western provinces of Farah and Nimroz this week, U.S. Forces said on Saturday. The strikes are the first in western Afghanistan and aim to reduce the Taliban’s main revenue flow, the U.S. statement said.

    “By cutting off the Taliban’s economic lifelines, we also reduce their ability to continue these terrorist activities,” said Major-General James Hecker.

    Drug processing and taxation generate $200 million annually for the Taliban, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan estimates.

    The drug lab campaign began in November, and has now included 75 strikes, especially in Helmand, the main poppy-growing province. The poppy’s fluid, opium, is processed into heroin.

    However, David Mansfield, an authority on Afghanistan’s opium industry, says bombing labs has a negligible effect on Taliban revenues, because heroin profits and taxes are not as large as U.S. Forces estimate and the simple labs can be quickly rebuilt.

    Calling strikes on drug labs “the theatre of counter-narcotics,” Mansfield said the risk of civilian deaths may be greater than potential benefits of curbing Taliban revenues.

    “There has been little account of the number of casualties attributed to the bombing of drugs labs,” he said in an email to Reuters. “And in contrast to the narrative of USFOR-A, those that work in labs are not seen as Taliban but as civilians” by rural Afghans.

    U.S. Forces-Afghanistan could not be reached for response to Mansfield’s critique.

    Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi denied that the militancy depends on drug revenue, adding that when it previously formed a government it banned narcotics. He blamed U.S.-led foreign forces for Afghanistan’s growth in poppy cultivation, alleging that U.S. commanders promoted it.”

  23. NYT – Dozens Suffocate in Syria as Government Is Accused of Chemical Attack

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/08/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-attack-ghouta.html

    ==============================================

    CNN – Trump blames Putin, Obama for ‘Animal Assad,’ tweets ‘big price’ after reports of Syrian chemical attack

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/08/politics/donald-trump-syria-assad/index.html

    ==============================================

    MoA – Syria – Timelines Of ‘Gas Attacks’ Follow A Similar Scheme

    http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/timelines-of-gas-attacks-in-syria-follow-a-similar-scheme.html

    ==============================================

      • I can skip all of these, thanks, Martin.
        The bull set ablaze filled my quota.
        Seems the Moorish mentality lives on in a part of Christendom that was occupied for so long.

        • ....I always thought that the bull set ablaze was pre-Christian ... and even prior to the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula ... but I'm not sure.... I'll have to check ... maybe something to do with the Indo-European cult of Mithra

    • zero hedge – Trump Threatens Putin, “Animal Assad” Over Syrian “Chemical Attack”; Russia Warns Of “Grave” Response If US Launches Strike

      […]The US also said yet again that Russia is “ultimately bearing responsibility” for all chemical incidents in Syria, regardless of who carried them out, after rebel sources accused Damascus of gassing dozens in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma. In other words, even if the “chemical attack” was carried out by US-backed “rebels”, or better yet “ISIS”, it’s Putin’s fault.

      “The regime’s history of using chemical weapons against its own people is not in dispute,” said the US State Department, indicating, however, that it was relying on “reports,” being unable to confirm the incident. “Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the brutal targeting of countless Syrians with chemical weapons.”

      As for Russia, its Defense Ministry immediately denied and dismissed as false reports that the Syrian government had carried out a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma: “We strongly refute this information,” Major General Yury Yevtushenko, head of the Reconciliation Center in Syria, said in a statement on Sunday. “We declare our readiness, after Douma is liberated from the militants, to immediately send Russian radiation, chemical and biological protection specialists to collect data that will confirm the fabricated nature of these allegations,” he stated.

      Yevtushenko said that “a number of Western countries” are trying to prevent the resumption of an operation aimed at driving militants from the city of Douma.

      “For this purpose, the use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces – one of the most widespread claims in the West – is being used,” he added.

      And, knowing where this is all headed, Russia’s Foreign Ministry says in statement on website that reports of chemical weapons attack in rebel-held town of Douma are fabricated, and any military operations against Syria on false pretenses may lead to “gravest consequences,”

      The Russians added that “The goal of such reports is to aid terrorists and justify possible military strikes from outside Syria.”

      Russia is correct, and it is now just a matter of time before Trump unveils his next grand diversion from the chaos at home and the trade war with China, by launching another 50 or so Tomahawks at some venue deep inside Syria, in a carbon copy repeat of what happened exactly one year ago.

      https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-08/trump-threatens-assad-putin-over-syrian-chemical-attack-russia-warns-gravest

  24. “Terrorism” Turkish Style

    by Uzay Bulut
    April 8, 2018 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12124/terrorism-turkish-style

    On March 19, a group of students at Istanbul’s Bo?aziçi University, Turkey’s leading institute of higher education, demonstrated against an event on campus. The event against which they were demonstrating, organized by the Society for Islamic Research, was to champion the Turkish soldiers who had participated in the Afrin invasion. While the pro-government students distributed Turkish delight sweets, the counter-demonstrators unfolded a banner reading: “Invasions and massacres are not [to be celebrated] with delights.”

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded by having the anti-war students arrested for spreading “terrorist” propaganda. On April 3, a Turkish court jailed nine of them and freed the other six, pending their trial.

    To protest what they called a “disturbing trend of criminalizing political speech and dissent in Turkey,” over 1,800 renowned academics from around the world, among them Nobel and Pulitzer Prize laureates, signed an “Open Letter of Support for Students Arrested at Bo?aziçi University”. The letter reads, in part:

  25. Syria: The Putin-Erdogan Summit Was a Missed Opportunity

    by Amir Taheri
    April 8, 2018 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12135/putin-erdogan-summit

    Earlier this week Russian President Vladimir Putin, still beaming from his re-election victory, tried to heighten his global profile with a much-advertised “summit” with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    At the tactical level, Putin and Erdogan need each other.

    Erdogan gives Putin, who is asserting himself as the arbiter of Syria’s future, an “Islamic” cover to counter claims that Russia, having bombed large parts of Syria into rubble and killed tens of thousands of civilians, is now at war with Islam. It is no accident that Kremlin’s recent “advice” to Muslim preachers in mosques across the Russian federation includes the claims that Putin’s moves in Syria are backed by Erdogan.

    • This one is well worth reading according to the author Putin and Ergogan are working to cut Iran off at the knees and keep them out of Syria and if possible Iraq. This power play/alliance gives Putin cover with the Moslems in Russia (he is spreading a lot of stories about his alliance with Erodan) and it gives Erdogan cover for his break with NATO and the US. This gives a reason for Iran to be making friends with China and (if the report is correct) for Russia stopping the “The New Silk Road” before it got to Iran and Europe. It also would explain why China was so eager to get control of the Greek Port giving China the beginnings of a Naval port in the Med.

      He also points out how Trump would be making a mistake pulling out of the Middle East, the tweet talked about pulling our troops our of Syria, not out of the Middle East. The things said in the article make it more important to pull our troops and if possible our allies out of Syria and start building defense against Turkish and Syrian attacks on Kurdistan backed by the Russian Mercs.

      It is going to be an interesting summer, scary but interesting.

    • Israel’s Intelligence Ministry Eyes Iran

      “Right now, our number one goal is to prevent Iran from basing itself militarily in Syria,” the director of Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence, Chagai Tzuriel, said during the recent German Marshall Forum in Brussels. If the U.S. doesn’t find a way to keep Iran from building military bases in Syria, Israel may well have to be the “other people” Trump referred to who will have to “take care of it.”

      “If they start building air, sea and ground bases for them and Shi’ite militias, a forward base like they built in Lebanon with Hizbullah, we have made clear we will not accept the situation,” Tzuriel said. “We have presented it as a red line.” This is on top of the previous red lines: no transfer of advanced weapons to Syria; no violation of sovereignty of Israeli territory in the Golan Heights; and no manufacture of chemical weapons.

      Tzuriel noted that “The Russians, having had a very formidable achievement in Syria, are not interested in destabilizing their achievement. They understand that if the Iranian proxy presence in Syria is a source of friction and tension and a potential flashpoint, they can also be a constructive player and can play a limiting and restraining role vis-a-vis Iran and Hizbullah.”

      https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/middle-east/israels-intel-ministry-one-eye-tehran-future
      ……….
      And Putin knows Israel WILL take out their boy, if push comes to shove.

      • That is probably why they are shifting support to Erdogan and away from Iran. Iran is starting to look like a liability so Putin is shifting to a new puppet.

        I am not sure what this shift means for Europe.

  26. CBC -Andrew Scheer on trade, Rebel Media and bots

    Andrew Scheer, leader of the opposition, speaks with the CBC’s Wendy Mesley about free trade, his past relationship with Rebel Media and social media bots in Canadian politics.

  27. Hungary’s anti-migrant PM Viktor Orban wins election

    Hungary’s anti-migrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban has won a third term, according to election office data.

    Mr Orban’s ruling Fidesz party is projected to win 134 seats, which would give it a two-thirds majority in the Hungarian parliament.

    Some 74.6% of the votes have been counted.

    Mr Orban has been accused of fuelling xenophobia but has also been praised for keeping the country’s budget deficit under control, reducing unemployment and debt and growing the economy.

    https://news.sky.com/story/hungarys-anti-migrant-pm-viktor-orban-wins-election-11323486

    The Latest: Ruling party takes big lead in Hungary election

    Early election results in Hungary give Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing populist Fidesz party with a large lead.

    Preliminary results from the National Election Office have Fidesz winning Sunday’s parliamentary election with 49.5 percent of the vote.

    If the result stands, Fidesz would hold 134 of the 199 seats in the national parliament and regain its super majority there.

    With 69.1 percent of the votes counted, the right-wing nationalist Jobbik Party was coming in second with 19.9 percent of the votes and 27 seats.

    The alliance of the left-wing Socialist and Dialogue parties had 11.8 percent, meaning it would have 19 deputies in parliament.

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-orban-election-hungarys-future-54316917

    • twitter @AlterIgoe

      Reports that Victor Orban’s Fidesz party is on the verge of claiming a supermajority after Hungary’s election today — a result that could have major consequences for the country’s NGO sector, as Orban has vowed “revenge” against them.

      Some of the NGO leaders I’ve spoken to have contingency plans that include relocating their offices out of Hungary or “disappearing” for a while.

      A proposed “Stop Soros” legislative package is considered an “existential” threat to some NGOs’ operations. A 2/3 supermajority for Fidesz would make this more likely to pass.

      https://twitter.com/AlterIgoe/status/983092088744169476

      =================================================

      • Some of the NGO leaders I’ve spoken to have contingency plans that include relocating their offices out of Hungary or “disappearing” for a while.

        This one is interesting, are they expecting police raids or are they planning on starting a “Direct Action” campaign against the new government?

      • Please let this be true!
        These are the very worst of a bad lot – they’re every shady, conspiracy-theory hobgoblin – existing in FACT, not fantasy.

  28. Mismanagement Leaves Iran’s Economy Vulnerable

    On March 29, the IMF released a report highlighting Iran’s economic vulnerabilities, at a time when the Iranian rial has been under sustained pressure. The IMF report discussed a host of grave dangers to Iran’s banks. Their capital-to-assets ratio continues to decline (currently 4.9%), while nonperforming loans continue to grow (11.4%), and “the cost-to-income ratio for banks in Iran is amongst the highest in the world.”

    The report also discussed the problem of maintaining a pension system in a country with a rapidly aging population. “The three largest [public] pension schemes (90% of the system) are insolvent.”

    In short, Iran’s economy is highly vulnerable to external shocks such as oil price drops or toughened international sanctions.

    http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/mismanagement-leaves-irans-economy-vulnerable

    • Tehran’s Financial Woes Will Test U.S. Policy Resolve

      Conclusion: Iran is facing in 2018 a constellation of political, economic, and environmental threats perhaps unseen since the Islamic Republic was formed almost forty years ago. The unrest that began last year has continued, at varying levels, and included protests by women seeking greater gender equality and labor unions upset by wage stagnation and inflation. Water shortages and earthquakes have taxed the capabilities of President Hassan Rouhani’s government. And Tehran is spending billions in its overseas military operations, particularly in Syria, where it has been fighting for 7 years to prop up President Bashar al-Assad’s regime….

      …[I]t’s unclear if John Bolton and Mike Pompeo will adhere to their hawkish stances and seek to exploit these divisions in Iran once in office. They could do this either by escalating a financial war on Iran or seeking to challenge Tehran on other fronts. President Trump, for his part, has yet to articulate a coherent vision on Iran policy…

      http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/vulnerable-iranian-economy-tests-u.s.-policy-resolve
      ………
      That vision-thing, gotta have a vision-thing…

      • Interesting, will their economy collapse or will various governments chicken out and save them?

    • The Return of Imperialism: The Islamic Republic of Iran

      EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Moscow and Beijing are pulling the world back into twentieth-century geopolitics, but Iran is pulling it even farther backward in time: to the Age of Imperialism. Many US allies, while quick to condemn imperialism in principle, are unfortunately eager to cast that principle aside for access to the Iranian market.

      https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/iran-imperialism/
      …..
      They can’t kiss the tyrants’ feet fast enough – France, Germany, the “humanitarian superpowers”. Postcolonial mea culpa notwithstanding, they’re prostrating themselves.

      But the cost becomes apparent in time. The refuse of their colonies is clogging the pores of Paris and London at this very moment.

      Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Ex. 34:7.

      • Like I said will their economy collapse or will several governments chicken out and save them? According to this the odds are Europe will save them.

        • Too much skin in this game for me to risk an opinion.
          I’ll suffice with keeping the powder dry, tending the kiddies, and praying to the Almighty.

  29. AUSTRALIA Frenchman Smail Ayad avoids trial as judge determines severe mental illness

    […]Four psychiatrists have assessed Ayad, who was initially charged with a raft of offences including two counts of murder.

    Criminal proceedings against him were dropped after the court hearing but he will be detained in a mental health facility.

    The court heard he will likely be repatriated to France.

    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/frenchman-smail-ayad-avoids-trial-as-judge-determines-severe-mental-illness/news-story/f6506742d3df379a09ed9a8a6dda3b81

    Smail Ayad avoids trial over killing British backpacker Mia Ayliffe-Chung

    A MENTALLY ill man who fatally stabbed two fellow backpackers at a north Queensland hostel has had criminal proceedings dropped.

    A MENTALLY ill Frenchman who fatally stabbed two other backpackers at a north Queensland hostel while under a delusion that people wanted to kill him won’t go to trial.

    […]Justice Dalton discontinued criminal proceedings against Ayad after finding he was suffering paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attack.

    Ayad, who had smoked up to four joints a day for years before the attack,

    http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/courts-law/smail-ayad-avoid-trial-over-killing-british-backpacker-mia-ayliffechung/news-story/d836d7852414ab9acb3a09b628c9acb2

  30. Deep State Caught Funneling Millions to Soros – Again

    Newly revealed documents show the Obama administration funneled $9 million in U.S. taxpayer funds into an effort by George Soros to rig a European government.

    The 32 pages of documents, uncovered by Judicial Watch, show the State Department in 2016 helped finance Soros’ “East-West Management Institute,” which bankrolls political activities by Albania’s Socialist government.

    The funds, dispersed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, ended up in the bank accounts of the Institute’s “Justice For All” program, which sought to give Albania’s Socialist government total control over that nation’s judicial system.

    “The Obama administration quietly spent at least $9 million in U.S. taxpayers’ dollars in direct collusion with left-wing billionaire George Soros’ backing of a socialist government in Albania. It is particularly outrageous that the State Department allowed the Soros operation to help direct taxpayer funds to other groups,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “George Soros is a billionaire and he shouldn’t be receiving taxpayer support to advance his radical left agenda to undermine freedom here at home and abroad.”
    Read more at http://americanactionnews.com/articles/deep-state-caught-funneling-millions-to-soros-again#zQS7t4XdTkbQxmqq.99

    http://americanactionnews.com/articles/deep-state-caught-funneling-millions-to-soros-again

    • Remember what I said about making fun of the enemy, that was why during WWII Hollywood made so may cartoons making fun of the Nazi’s.

      • If only we were allowed to ridicule the Mohammadans! Laugh the niqab-witches out of town, the arse-lifters off the streets.

        The left muzzles us, makes alien, barbaric practices sacrosanct. It’s like spiking our best weapons – the bloodless ones.

        Or – should be bloodless. A serious response to the murder of Pim Fortuyn or any of the later victims might’ve inhibited the natives’ fondness for fatwa-enforcers. Like deporting every tard in a given radius.

        Instead, the authorities are going dhimmi in anticipation!

    • They’re freaking because Israeli social media is coming out in Arabic. The version in English is devastatingly funny, so clever I’ve become an addicted lurker.

      Please pardon me, dear yucki. Right now I’m sorta banging my brain-bone wondering why me (the devout Free Marketeer) didn’t think up something so obvious as a deconstructed Al-Jizz webpage.

      Many Hosea upon Mossad, if they’ve had the cortical endowment to launch this hilarious concept.

    • I doubt if things will build to the point where things will go nuclear, I doubt but it is possible.

      The big point in the video is that the attacks on Trump about Russian collusion makes it all but impossible for him to take time to verify just who used the chemical weapons. He is in a position where there are no good choices, the Dems have pushed things to the point where if he waits to find out who used the chemical weapons (if they were used) he will be removed from office and the next President will be forced to attack Assad. If he attacks Assad he runs the risk of killing Russians creating a potential WWIII scenario. The best will be a meaningless strike that destroys a few planes and buildings and kills no one.

      • Al-Nusra did it.
        I carry no torch for Assad or Putin, and the more Syrians kill each other, the less threat to Israel. May blot out the Putrid Persian, while they’re at it.

        But outright deceit, or the appearance of knee-jerk response to a caculated hoax on the part of our Potus is distasteful. (Those “poisoned by Putin” Skripals are recovering, by the way.)

        It may be politically expedient, but ugliness of this kind will come back to bite us.

  31. BREAKING: ‘AIRSTRIKE on Syria’ reports of fighter jets and missiles over Lebanon (express, Apr 9, 2018)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/943275/Syria-airstrike-USA-explosions-Lebanon-Assad-fighter-jets-T4-Tiyas-news-latest

    “REPORTS of explosions have been heard at Syria’s Tiyas Military Airbase amid reports of jets flying across Lebanon into Syria as well as unknown projectiles, it has been reported.

    Lebanon residents have reported hearing unidentified jets towards Syria.

    Speculation is rising of a foreign attack against the Syrian regime just a day after a chemical attack.

    But there are conflicting reports as it is reported the Pentagon said there is “no truth” to reports of a US attack.

    It happened roughly at 3.30am local time on Monday.

    Residents reported hearing loud booms and the sound of jets.

    There are reports that Syrian air defence has intercepted missiles.

    There are also reports that US warships from the Mediterranean are reportedly launching tomahawk missiles into Syria.

    Syrian state television has reportedly confirmed

    Reports are not confirmed so far, but video has emerged showing an unknown object flying across the sky in Lebanon.

    One Twitter user said: “We’re already under attack at this very moment!”

    Another said: “USA lauches widespread assault on SyAF infrastructure. Warships are now positioning to launch tomahawks in the second wave of attacks.”

    Lebanon residents have reported hearing unidentified jets towards Syria.

    Speculation is rising of a foreign attack against the Syrian regime just a day after a chemical attack.

    More to follow…”

    • Syrian Airbase in Homs Province Hit by Missile Attack – Reports (sputniknews, Apr 9, 2018)
      https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201804091063350117-syrian-airbase-rocket-attack/

      “A T-4 airbase in the Syrian province of Homs has been hit by a missile strike, local media reported.

      A Syrian T-4 airbase in the Homs province has been hit by rocket fire, according to SANA news.

      There is an unconfirmed footage circulating on social media which allegedly shows unidentified jets flying over Lebanon toward Syria.

      There was no immediate confirmation on the origin of the objects or whether they were airplanes or missiles.

      A Pentagon representative told Sputnik that the department is aware of the alleged missile strike, but did not confirm the reports.

      ?DETAILS TO FOLLOW”

  32. Mossad:
    1/3 of millennials say the Earth is flat. Our goal is 50%. Almost there agents. Add more Tide Pods.

    We just came back from the year 2034 and retrieved a UN resolution from the future. It turns out Abba Eban’s prophecy will come true after all.

    “If Algeria introduced a resolution that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.” (Abba Eban)
    https://twitter.com/TheMossadIL/status/983032354859094016