Reader’s Links, May 5, 2018

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

About Eeyore

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

116 Replies to “Reader’s Links, May 5, 2018”

  1. New US Ambassador to Berlin Pushes German Companies to Stop Trade With Iran (sputniknews, May 5, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201805051064170903-us-ambassador-germany-trade-iran/

    “The call by the ambassador comes amid ongoing discussions of the Iran nuclear deal between the US, who wants to either change or to scrap it, and European countries, who want to continue their business with Tehran.

    Richard Grenell, the newly appointed US Ambassador to Germany, has called on all German companies to stop trade with Iran during an interview on Fox News. He justified the move explaining that it would “not be right” to have any business with a state that “sponsors terrorism.”

    “They spend billions of dollars to spread terrorism around the world. Why would a country want to do business with them? So I think it is going to be incumbent on me to explain to German businesses that they do not want to do business inside of Iran,” he said.

    Grenell also slammed the country for its alleged violation of human rights, “destabilizing” Syria and sponsoring Bashar al-Assad…”

  2. Two French Special Forces’ Officers Injured in Clashes With Migrants – Reports (sputniknews, May 5, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201805051064170609-french-police-calais-migrants-clashed-injured/

    “An attack occurred on the evening of May 4 in the industrial zone of Calais, near to where the former “jungle” migrant camp was located and next to the port road bypass, where a charitable organization distributes food to migrants with the permission of the authorities, according to BFMTV television channel.

    Two officers of the French police special forces (Compagnie républicaine de sécurité, CRS) were slightly injured in Calais as a result of an attack by about 50 migrants armed with clubs and stones, BFMTV reported.

    Earlier in the day, police special forces officers carried out an operation to demolish two illegal migrant camps in the area.

    Facing aggression, law enforcement officers working on the spot were forced to call for reinforcements. Tear gas was used against the instigators of the riots, but none of the migrants were detained.

    Previously, Calais was home to Europe’s largest migrant camp, the Calais “jungle.” Despite the demolition of the camp in November 2016, migrants continue to arrive at the region in their pursuit of getting to the UK.”

  3. Trump Highlights Deadly Knife Crime Epidemic in Khan’s London: ‘It’s Like a War Zone’ (breitbart, May 5, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/05/trump-highlights-london-knife-crime-epidemic-like-warzone/

    “U.S. President Donald Trump highlighted reports of London looking like a “war zone” amidst surging knife crime, as he defended U.S. gun rights at the National Rifle Association (NRA) conference.

    President Trump had sarcastically asked whether liberals want to ban vans, trucks, and other vehicles which have been used to carry out deadly terror attacks before turning to London, where a deadly crime wave has seen soaring rates of knife and gun crime under mayor Sadiq Khan.

    Speaking at the event in Dallas, Texas, he said: “I recently read a story that, in London, which has unbelievably tough gun laws, a once very prestigious hospital, right in the middle, is like a war zone for horrible stabbing wounds.

    “Yes, that’s right, they don’t have guns, they have knives, and instead there’s blood all over the floors of this hospital. They say it’s as bad a military war zone hospital. Knives, knives, knives… London hasn’t been used to that; they’re getting used to it, pretty tough.”…”

  4. Greek Islanders Protest EU, One-Third of Population Now Migrants (breitbart, May 5, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/05/greek-islanders-protest-eu-attack-police-bus/

    “An angry mob on the Greek Island of Lesbos has attempted to overturn a police bus after protests against European Union (EU) migration policies and the arrival of the Greek prime minister turned ugly.

    The policies have left around 10,000 to 15,000 migrants stranded on the tiny island, overwhelming locals. The unrest follows a general strike on Thursday that brought the entire island to a standstill.

    The island has a population of around 86,000, and local leaders claim a third of the population is now asylum seekers. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrived this week to stiff protests.

    “How can he [Tsipras] talk about growth, when we are facing this huge migrant problem?” Demitris Karagiannis, President of the Lesbos Agricultural Association, told Euro News…”

  5. Upper-Middle Class, Alt-Left Antifa Rioters Face Charges (breitbart, May 5, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/05/upper-middle-class-french-far-left-antifa-may-day-rioters-face-charges/

    “Six of the 200 alt-left Antifa extremists arrested on May 1st in Paris were presented before a court this week, with several of the alleged rioters coming from upper-middle class backgrounds.

    Around 1,200 masked, alt-left Antifa militants took part in the rioting in Paris earlier this month, which saw several shops heavily vandalised and police officers attacked with firebombs.

    Six of the 200 or so extremists arrested were brought to a Paris court this week on charges related to the rioting, allowing the public to see the backgrounds of the people who attempt to remain anonymous through their black bloc tactics, Franceinfo reports.

    Several of the arrested extremists have been revealed to have privileged backgrounds, including one 29-year-old who earns as much as 4,200 euros per month as a consultant, and another who is the son of a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, the country’s largest governmental research organisation.

    A young woman was also among the alt-left extremists, and admitted to lying about her identity to the police who arrested her, claiming that her name was Anne and that she was from Sweden when her name was actually Andrea and she is French.

    The son of the researcher also admitted to giving a fake name to the police, and both were handed four weeks of pre-trial detention by the presiding judge as a result.

    The profile of alt-left Antifa extremists often counters the group’s “working class” claims and, more often than not, according to Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the majority are men who live with their parents and do not have girlfriends.

    Despite their often upper-middle-class origins, alt-left extremists have become more radical across Europe in recent months.

    In France, several Antifa members who travelled to northern Syria recently threatened to return to fight the French state, targetting government officials, police, and intelligence officers while posing in masks with automatic rifles.

    The group also said they would sabotage infrastructure in their war against the French state, in response to a series of evictions of alt-left activists occupying universities and other buildings.

    In Germany, Antifa extremists injured hundreds of police at last year’s Hamburg G20 summit, and two members of the group were found in possession of a mobile bomb factory and chemicals used to make explosives recently.”

    • Six of the 200 alt-left Antifa extremists arrested on May 1st in Paris were presented before a court this week, with several of the alleged rioters coming from upper-middle class backgrounds.

      So, give them prison cells with lace curtains and soft lighting.

      • Most left wing revolutionaries come from upper middle class or lower upper class backgrounds, they are the ones with the free time to become radicalized. The lower classes are busy earning a living don’t have time to listen to the radical left, this is why most of the radical left look down on the lower classes, they have rejected the left and thus are beyond the pale.

        • I just love how we now have a 21st century equivalent of the Pale of Calais which is certainly beyond in its current meaning.

  6. Spanish police bust hashish smuggling gang, arrest 14 (abcnews, May 5, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/spanish-police-bust-hashish-smuggling-gang-arrest-14-54955947

    “Spanish police say they have arrested 14 suspected drug smugglers and confiscated 3,700 kilos of hashish in a drug bust in southern Spain.

    Police said Saturday they also confiscated three speedboats, a fishing boat and a yacht they suspected the gang used to smuggle the drugs from Morocco to the Cadiz region of Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar…”

  7. UAE deploys troops to Yemeni island, imperiling alliance (abcnews, May 5, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uae-deploys-troops-yemeni-island-jeopardizing-alliance-54955945

    “Yemen’s alliance with the UAE may be coming to an end after the latter deployed forces to a Yemeni island, recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site, without prior consultation with Yemen’s exiled government, a senior Yemeni official said Saturday.

    The UAE is a major pillar in a Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, under the banner of restoring the authority of self-exiled Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

    The Emiratis, however, have carved out a zone of influence in southern Yemen over the past two years, setting up prisons and militias.

    “The government is considering sending a letter to the United Nations demanding the dismissal of the Emiratis from the Yemeni intervention,” the official told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the press. It was the Yemeni government that initially called on the U.N. to allow the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in Yemen in March 2015.

    Over the past few days, the UAE has deployed some 300 soldiers, along with tanks and artillery, to the island of Socotra.

    “The government had no idea whatsoever,” the official said.

    In Socotra, residents and activists said that the UAE is building a factory and a prison, recruiting the island’s residents, and creating a new militia. It has been buying land and clearing it for construction. Some residents and activists fear damage to the island’s environment, which has previously seen only limited development…”

  8. Indian-held Kashmir erupts in deadly violence, killing 7 (abcnews, May 5, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/rebels-indian-troops-clash-kashmirs-main-city-killed-54954534

    “Indian troops killed three suspected rebels during a gunbattle Saturday in the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, while police blamed insurgents for killing three other men during a day of violence and protests in the disputed region.

    Counterinsurgency police and paramilitary soldiers staged a morning raid on a cluster of homes in a densely populated neighborhood of Srinagar after getting a tip that militants were hiding there, police said. Troops asked the trapped militants to surrender but they instead started shooting and sparked a gunbattle, police said.

    As the militants and government troops exchanged gunfire, anti-India protests and clashes erupted in several places. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to reach the site of the standoff and threw rocks at troops in a bid to help the rebels escape…”

  9. Spy agency NSA triples collection of U.S. phone records: official report
    Dustin Volz

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. National Security Agency collected 534 million records of phone calls and text messages of Americans last year, more than triple gathered in 2016, a U.S. intelligence agency report released on Friday said.

    The sharp increase from 151 million occurred during the second full year of a new surveillance system established at the spy agency after U.S. lawmakers passed a law in 2015 that sought to limit its ability to collect such records in bulk.

    The spike in collection of call records coincided with an increase reported on Friday across other surveillance methods, raising questions from some privacy advocates who are concerned about potential government overreach and intrusion into the lives of U.S. citizens.

    The 2017 call records tally remained far less than an estimated billions of records collected per day under the NSA’s old bulk surveillance system, which was exposed by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.

    The records collected by the NSA include the numbers and time of a call or text message, but not their content.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-surveillance/spy-agency-nsa-collected-500-million-u-s-call-records-in-2017-a-sharp-rise-official-report-idUSKBN1I52FR

  10. Citi: U.S. To Become World’s Top Oil Exporter

    As global oil markets shift their attention from U.S. shale oil production back to a resurgent Saudi Arabia and Russia and geopolitical concerns bearing down on oil prices, Citigroup said last Wednesday that the U.S. is poised to surpass Saudi Arabia next year as the world’s largest exporter of crude and oil products.

    The U.S. exported a record 8.3 million barrels per day (bpd) last week of crude oil and petroleum products, the government also said Wednesday. Top crude oil exporter Saudi Arabia’s, for its part, exported 9.3 million bpd in January, while Russia exported 7.4 million bpd, the bank added.

    However, it should also be noted that the Citi projection is for both crude and finished (refined) petroleum products, not only crude oil. Saudi Arabia remains the world’s largest exporter of crude, though since January amid the OPEC/non-OPEC production cut agreement that figure has fallen. On April 10, the Saudi oil minister said that the kingdom planned to keep its crude oil shipments in May below 7 million bpd for the 12th consecutive month.

    Saudi Arabia has also trimmed its oil production more than 100 percent of the output cuts it agreed to under the January 2017 production deal. In March, Saudi crude production was at 9.91 million bpd, below the deal’s output target of 10.058 million bpd.

    https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Citi-US-To-Become-Worlds-Top-Oil-Exporter.html

  11. California now world’s fifth-largest economy, bigger than Britain

    The Golden State is getting even richer.

    California is now the world’s fifth-largest economy, according to data released Friday morning by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Its 2017 Gross State Product was $2.747 trillion, surpassing the United Kingdom’s $2.625 trillion Gross Domestic Product.

    The new ranking marks the highest point for California’s relative GSP since 2002. The state had slipped to the 10th-largest world economy in 2012, when its GSP was just $2.003 trillion.

    Texas was the U.S.’s next highest-producing state with a GSP of $1.696 trillion, followed by New York, Florida and Illinois. Vermont, Wyoming and Montana produced the least valuable goods and service in the U.S.

    Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article210466514.html#storylink=cpy

    • California is now the world’s fifth-largest economy…

      Which is why it will never be allowed to secede from the Continental USA.

      • Yes and it will bring in a civil war if they try.
        Did they include the porn movies, drug sales, prostitution etc. in that sum? IIRC didn’t Capone one year earn more than the city of Chicago or is that an urban myth?

        • Capone might have earned more in one year then all of Chicago, it sounds possible but we really don’t know what he earned. We have some ideas based on how much he spent but the true records were never found so we don’t know.

          A multi sided civil war is already being fought but most people don’t realise that one is occurring. As the left destroys more of the rule of law and and still looses more power and followers the more violent they will become. When (I will be optimistic here) we come close to indicting Hillary or the top tiered people in the Obama administration the more violent the left will become. Obama will have succeeded in fundamentally changing the United States, while I am sure the side supporting individual rights and liberty will end up winning it will be along time before we manage to rebuild civilization and restore the rule of law.

  12. L.A. Antifa Group Hangs Trump in Effigy, Calls for ‘Revolutionary Violence’ Against ‘the Capitalist State’

    An antifa group in Los Angeles celebrated May Day by holding a small march, hanging a Trump effigy, and advocating for “revolutionary violence” against the “capitalist state” in order to “create real political power.”

    “We must carry out military actions against the enemies of the people!” a member of the L.A. cell of the Red Guards said in a speech published on the group’s blog.

    https://pjmedia.com/trending/la-antifa-group-hangs-trump-in-effigy-calls-for-revolutionary-violence-against-the-capitalist-state/

    • We must carry out military actions against the enemies of the people!

      Projecting a bit, are we?

      • We call such “ratbags”. When it is their blood that flows I wonder how many will remain.

        • When it is their blood that flows I wonder how many will remain.

          Probably too many, but go ahead and color me cynical.

          • Enoujgh to cause a long and bloody civil war will remain, recognizing this fact isn’t being cynicalit is being realistic.

        • Depends on how well trained they are, a lot of the radical leftists from the 60s that are now teaching in our Universities were well trained by the KGB in terror tactics, living in the underground and working to raise a guerilla army. How well have they trained their followers?

      • Read the article some of that Cell are active in and were arrested in Kansas City Mo. that isn’t good. It will make the war longer.

  13. Chula Vista school mural depicts severed, speared Trump head

    A Chula Vista school mural that depicts the bloody, severed head of President Donald Trump on a spear sparked a controversy that prompted officials to cover it and issue a response distancing themselves from the work.

    The statement also said the artist will alter the painting.

    “We understand that there was a mural painted at the event this past weekend that does not align with our school’s philosophy of non-violence,” read the statement from MAAC Community Charter School director Tommy Ramirez. “We have been in communication with the artist — who has agreed to modify the artwork — to better align with the school’s philosophy.”

    The event Ramirez referred to was the annual Battlegroundz, a scholarship fundraiser held during the last weekend of April.

    During the fundraiser, students and invited artists paint murals that highlight urban art in an alley behind the school.

    Francia Baluca, marketing and communications manager for MAAC, the nonprofit that oversees the school, said officials were looking into questions raised about the mural, including whether anyone knew of its content before it was painted and when school officials first became aware of it.

    http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/sd-me-trump-mural-20180504-story.html

      • “Mural on California High School Depicts Aztec Warrior Spearing President Trump’s Decapitated, Bloody Head”
        by Cassandra Fairbanks – May 4, 2018

        Excerpt: Comment Section
        Tasha Tchin – It is probably a La Raza charter. Look for the Aztec Al Qaeda on YouTube. The video is under 10 minutes, but it will explain the mural. The Razistas carried a similar looking banner when they arrived to counter protest a group of patriots rallying for immigration enforcement at the Westwood federal building on July 4, 1996. There is video on that, too, but it is harder to find. Oh, the patriots got a real beat down from the Razistas until one of the park police got bloodied, too. This was in 1996, folks. We Californians have been warning you all in the other states since the 1970’s.

        When they came for California, I did nothing. I was not a Californian …
        http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/05/mural-on-california-high-school-depicts-aztec-warrior-spearing-president-trumps-decapitated-bloody-head/

        “Antonio Villariagosa and the Aztec Al-Qeada”
        The Watchdog – May 4, 2007

        • “Attack on America – Radicals Attack Patriot Group (1996)”
          Patriot Fire – Published on January 30, 2014

  14. Trump administration to send 57,000 Hondurans in the United States home

    The Trump administration said Friday that it is ending special immigration protections for about 57,000 Hondurans, adding them to hundreds of thousands of immigrants from other countries battered by violence and natural disasters who are losing permission to be in the United States.

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s widely anticipated decision not to renew temporary protected status for Hondurans means an estimated 428,000 people from several countries face rolling deadlines beginning late this year to leave or obtain legal residency in other ways.

    Hondurans will have until Jan. 5, 2020, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/unrest-conflicts-war/defense/u.s.-department-of-homeland-security-ORGOV0000136-topic.html

    • The Trump administration said Friday that it is ending special immigration protections for about 57,000 Hondurans, adding them to hundreds of thousands of immigrants from other countries battered by violence and natural disasters who are losing permission to be in the United States.

      SPECIAL MEMO: Go back and rebuild your own countries.

  15. Kerry is quietly seeking to salvage Iran deal he helped craft

    WASHINGTON — John Kerry’s bid to save one of his most significant accomplishments as secretary of state took him to New York on a Sunday afternoon two weeks ago, where, more than a year after he left office, he engaged in some unusual shadow diplomacy with a top-ranking Iranian official.

    He sat down at the United Nations with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss ways of preserving the pact limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons program. It was the second time in about two months that the two had met to strategize over salvaging a deal they spent years negotiating during the Obama administration, according to a person briefed on the meetings.

    https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/05/04/kerry-quietly-seeking-salvage-iran-deal-helped-craft/2fTkGON7xvaNbO0YbHECUL/story.html

    • Kerry is quietly seeking to salvage Iran deal he helped craft

      P’raps the SOB ought to spend some time “seeking to salvage” his own personal reputation.

      • Personally I hope the SOB is never allowed back in the US, when he isn’t useful the Iranians will do us a favor and kill him.

  16. President Trump at NRA Convention: Gun Rights Originate from God Not Government

    President Donald Trump took the podium at the NRA convention on May 4 amid massive applause, thanked NRA leadership and the “American patriots of the NRA,” then launched into a speech reaffirming that our natural rights originate in God.

    Trump said, “The people of his hall have never taken our freedom for granted, ever, and you’ve never stopped fighting for our constitution.” He talked of NRA members’ commitment to fight for “our sacred rights, given to us by God.”

    http://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment/2018/05/04/president-trump-nra-convention/

    • The right to keep and bear arms may not be God-given, but it sure as hell is inalienable. I hope this clears things up.

        • A fine history teacher of mine made this crucial distinction:

          Liberties are granted.

          Freedoms are inherent.

          I’ll put it this way, the Second Amendment isn’t about “liberties”.

  17. 2,000 French police on streets for anti-Macron protest

    PARIS (AP) — Paris police are deploying in large numbers and activists are calling for calm as the French capital prepares for a mass protest on the anniversary of President Emmanuel Macron’s inauguration.

    Authorities are pledging to avoid a repeat of violence and damage that scarred May Day protests in Paris earlier this week.

    A judicial official said Saturday that seven people were charged in that unrest, which saw protesters torch cars and vandalize a McDonald’s restaurant and other stores. Authorities blamed masked anarchists who disrupted a peaceful workers march.

    Paris authorities have ordered 2,000 police officers onto the streets Saturday.

    Organizers of the march, the far left party Defiant France, warned troublemakers to stay away. The party is angry at Macron’s reforms such as abolishing some worker protections and increasing police powers.

    https://apnews.com/401ffab61948415d8e32480b9207aae7/2,000-French-police-on-streets-for-anti-Macron-protest

  18. Federal judge throws BS flag on Mueller’s Manafort prosecution: ‘C’mon man!’
    By J.E. Dyer May 4, 2018

    You know it’s been a banner week when it starts with some very interesting air strikes by Israel on Iranian targets in Syria, segues through a that-explains-a-lot Mossad Raid on Tehran from January, seems to freeze-frame on Trump and Giuliani doing an Abbott & Costello routine about Stormy Daniels (LOL; haven’t folks figured out yet that Trump uses this stuff to distract the media?), and culminates in a U.S. district court judge throwing the BS flag on the Mueller team and its prosecution of Paul Manafort.

    Oddly enough, I was just writing about that last topic. We ordinary citizens have endured long enough watching the Russiagate legal roller derby upend the rule of law with seeming impunity. It’s encouraging to finally see a judge take note of the problem and do something about it.

    Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia did something about it this week. In a hearing for Manafort, who is challenging the 18-count indictment lodged by the Mueller team, Ellis went beyond rebuking the Mueller prosecution for seeming to overstep its bounds. He ordered Mueller to seek and produce an unredacted copy of the “scope memo” from 2017 that is supposed to have outlined the limits of his prosecutorial goals and powers.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/05/04/federal-judge-throws-bs-flag-on-muellers-manafort-prosecution-cmon-man/

    • Mueller and company may be in trouble and how the react to the Judaical Order may cause the entire Russia investigation to fall apart.

  19. Obama Energy Dept’s secure space cost 28 times what Pruitt’s EPA spent
    By LU Staff May 5, 2018

    The Energy Department spent $1.2 million on a secure communications room during the Obama administration, illustrating just how much it costs to provide government officials with a secure line of communications, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

    The secure room, or SCIF, was built near former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s office so the agency head could quickly convene or join classified talks, two sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation. Moniz’s $1.2 million SCIF, however, never made news or attracted Congress’ attention.

    That’s not to say the Energy Department did anything wrong in building the costly SCIF. Both sources were clear the SCIF, though expensive, was necessary for the department to carry out its mission, which often involves classified communications about nuclear security.

    The $43,000 Environmental Protection Agency officials spent on Administrator Scott Pruitt’s secure phone booth, or SCIF, however, has become part of a political push to remove him from office, despite costing 28 times less than Moniz’s SCIF.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/05/05/obama-energy-depts-secure-space-cost-28-times-what-pruitts-epa-spent/

    • That’s not to say the Energy Department did anything wrong in building the costly SCIF. Both sources were clear the SCIF, though expensive, was necessary for the department to carry out its mission, which often involves classified communications about nuclear security.

      Just rack up this cost to the Silent Jihad™. With the IoT (Internet of Things), SCIFs will become as common as executive washrooms.

      • You got that right, eventually they will become common enough to be a prestige thing, you aren’t really very powerful unless you have on next to your office.

  20. Rick Perry notifies Congress: GAO’s changed definition of ‘office furnishings’ is basis for innuendo about Trump officials’ spending
    By LU Staff May 4, 2018

    Energy Secretary Rick Perry notified Congress he spent just under $10,000 to refurbish his and his deputy’s office, according to letters sent to lawmakers Friday evening, which by The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained.

    Perry spent $4,652 reupholstering furniture and painting his office, while Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette spent $4,993 doing much of the same to his office. Perry sent the letters to Congress out of an abundance of caution.

    The Environmental Protection Agency violated federal law by building a $43,000 secure phone booth, or SCIF, and not notifying Congress,The Government Accountability Office (GAO) ruled on April 16. Effectively, GAO redefined a SCIF as office furnishings and improvements, expanding its previous interpretation of federal laws.

    “In the interest of transparency, this letter serves to inform you of the recent renovations and the Department’s concerns related to the GAO’s opinion,” Perry wrote to Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican and chair of the subcommittee overseeing Energy Department funding.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/05/04/rick-perry-notifies-congress-gaos-changed-definition-of-office-furnishings-is-basis-for-innuendo-about-trump-officials-spending/

  21. BBC – What happened to Dubai’s Princess Latifa?

    Sheikha Latifa, the daughter of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has not been seen since March 2018.

    It’s claimed she was snatched while trying to escape the country with the help of a former French spy and a Finnish martial arts instructor.

    • It’s claimed she was snatched…

      Isn’t that redundant?

  22. BBC – Iraq’s War on Meth

    Iraq’s oil-rich southern province, Basra, has become a breeding ground for drugs and criminals, While the rest of Iraq was battling the so-called Islamic State group.

    • Remember to thank North Korea for the global proliferation of methamphetamines.

      “Ice”, the smokeable form of meth, known in the Philippines as “shabu”, has proven to be the scourge of all Southeast Asia (and well beyond). Without the Kim dynasty, this drug epidemic would have nowhere near its current (devastating) proportions.

      It isn’t just nuclear weapons that can destroy this world (although they will do it a lot faster).

    • Karl Marx’s hometown unveils giant bronze statue on philosopher’s 200th birthday

      Too bad the Soviet Union can’t implode all over again to truly celebrate Marx’s bicentennial. That’s about the only meaningful takeaway available from this perennially popular political dog’s breakfast.

      Then again, Communist China imploding …

  23. CBS – U.S. freezes funding for Syria’s “White Helmets”

    Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom. At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria.

    “Our meetings in March were very positive. There were even remarks from senior officials about long-term commitments even into 2020. There were no suggestions whatsoever about stopping support,” Raed Saleh, the group’s leader, told CBS News.

    Now they are not getting any U.S funding as the State Department says the support is “under active review.” The U.S had accounted for about a third of the group’s overall funding.

    “This is a very worrisome development,” said an official from the White Helmets. “Ultimately, this will negatively impact the humanitarian workers ability to save lives.”

    The White Helmets, formally known as the Syrian Civil Defense, are a group of 3,000 volunteer rescuers that have saved thousands of lives since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. A makeshift 911, they have run into the collapsing buildings to pull children, men and women out of danger’s way. They say they have saved more than 70,000 lives.

    Having not received U.S. funding in recent weeks, White Helmets are questioning what this means for the future. They have received no formal declaration from the U.S. government that the monetary assistance has come to a full halt, but the group’s people on the ground in Syria report that their funds have been cut off.

    The group has an “emergency plan” if the funding is halted for one or two months — but they are worried about the long-term freeze.

    “If this is a long-term or permanent halt, it would have a serious impact on our ability to provide the same intensity and quality of services that we currently provide to civilians,” said Saleh.

    An internal State Department document said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from the administration to green light funding for the White Helmets in Syria by April 15th or the department would initiate “shut-down procedures on a rolling basis.” That document also said that the department needed to be notified by April 6th that it could continue programs that focus on removing land mines, restoring essential services and providing food to moderate forces and their families or those programs would also have to be shut down.

    However, U.S. government officials are not talking on the record about the date of the actual funding cutoff for each program, which is leading to confusion.

    State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has previously called the White Helmets “selfless men” and asked journalists to watch a documentary about their work. But the State Department did not respond to a CBS News inquiry earlier this week about which programs are still receiving funding, and the date for when certain programs will lose their funding.

    President Trump put a freeze on the $200 million in U.S. funding for recovery efforts in Syria in late March. This freeze means that U.S. support for the White Helmets is not the only project in jeopardy. There are also many other stabilization efforts that are backed by the U.S. — including the clearing of explosive devices, bringing back electricity, rebuilding schools, and getting water running — that may end soon.

    U.S. officials are working to see if there is a way to adjust existing funding to cover the costs for these projects. They are also trying to get other countries, such as Germany, to cover some of the costs. Earlier this year, at the Brussels for the donor conference for Syria, German Foreign Minister Maas pledged more than $1.1 billion to help people in need in Syria. But as of now, Germany has not officially committed to stepping in beyond this initial commitment.

    Observers are also increasingly concerned about Syria’s young people, who are more prone to radicalization if they don’t get the security and support that they need. As a result of the fighting in the country, thousands of schools have been destroyed. The handful of schools that opened their doors again have received simple necessities like chairs, tables and blackboards from the U.S. — but in most schools children are still sitting on the ground, and teachers are extremely hard to come by.

    “The amount of U.S. support is very limited but it is better than nothing, so if that will stop, that will be a disaster. After ISIS they started to open the schools and if money stops, that will be done,” said a senior member of the Deir ez-Zor city council. “Without education the people only have ISIS ideas.”

    This week, the State Department said it would continue to defend its partners on the ground in Syria when they announced the final operations to liberate ISIS strongholds in the country.

    “The fighting will be difficult, but we and our partners will prevail. We will defend United States, Coalition, and partner forces if attacked. The days of ISIS controlling territory and terrorizing the people of Syria are coming to an end,” wrote State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert. She did not write anything about the stabilization projects.

    Meanwhile, much of Syria that has been cleared of ISIS control — such as Raqqa, its self-proclaimed capital — is still in ruins and almost impossible to live in.

    “Raqqa is like a sick person in an emergency room. So the money or treatment should come faster than the routine way. He is not a normal sick person,” Abdullah al-Arian, a lawyer in Raqqa advising the governing Civil Council.

    “The passion and power the U.S. put in to liberate Raqqa does not at all equal the passion to rebuild Raqqa. It is very much different, much less, much more slow,” says al-Arian. “They give us very beautiful words and promises but not much else.”

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-freezes-funding-for-syrias-white-helmets/

    • VICE News – Trump just pulled funding for Syrian “White Helmets” rescue group

      […]the group had a positive relationship with the U.S., which has provided the group about $33 million in funds since 2013. But now, at the president’s request, the State Department has pulled funding.

      […]Though their work has largely gained them international recognition as brave rescue workers, they’ve come under attack from a propaganda campaign pushed by Russian state media to discredit their work.

      The Russians have been trying to tie the group to the al-Qaida Islamic extremist group and claiming there’s an ulterior motive behind their mission. The Russians support the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad, who’s accused of using chemical weapons against his own people.

      […]The first three results for a “White Helmets” search on YouTube are videos posted by RT, Russia’s state news agency. One of them is this clip, with the headline “How impartial are Syria’s White Helmets?” which links the group to ISIS.

      https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/xw7edn/trump-just-pulled-funding-for-syrian-white-helmets-rescue-group

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

      RT -How impartial are Syria’s White Helmets?

      The White Helmets are an organization that operates in rebel-controlled parts of Syria. They have been the principal source for mainstream western media outlets covering the war, including the Douma ‘chemical attack’ in April. Can a group heavily funded by the UK and the United States be truly impartial? RT’S America Dan Cohen reports.

    • al jazeera – White Helmets vows to continue despite ‘US funding freeze’

      Search-and-rescue group White Helments says work ‘will not be halted’ amid US administration ‘review’ of its funding.

      […]Saleh told Al Jazeera that while the US had decided to freeze so-called “stabilisation projects” in Syria, “the Syrian Civil Defence had not been informed that it would no longer receive funds”.

      According to their website, the White Helmets have been directly funded by Mayday Rescue, a UK-based company, and Chemonics, a US government contractor that also works in Rwanda, Honduras and the Maldives and specialises in international development and management.

      “The Syrian Civil Defence recently signed contracts with Turkish and Qatari organisations to carry out new projects,” Saleh added.

      “They have still to be announced.”

      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/syria-white-helmets-vow-continue-funding-freeze-180504125808678.html
      =================================================

  24. Terror in Netherlands: Muslim terrorist shot and neutralized after stabbing 3 while shouting allahu akbar

    BREAKING – NETHERLANDS: Muslim terrorist shot and neutralized after stabbing multiple people in central The Hague. Details to follow.
    Three people have been stabbed in western Dutch city of The Hague, according to local authorities. The Muslim terrorist, who was described as being in a “confused” state, was arrested after being shot in the leg by police at the scene.

    The terror attack happened at the Johanna Westerdijkplein in the center of the city at around 3.30pm local time. Police issued a statement on Twitter confirming the Muslim terrorist had been known to them.

    One witness told De Telegraaf that the terrorist entered a cafe and struck the first victim before attacking two others while shouting allahu akbar.

    https://btnews.online/2018/05/05/terror-in-netherlands-muslim-terrorist-shot-and-neutralized-after-stabbing-3-while-shouting-allahu-akbar/

    • Muslim terrorist shot and neutralized after stabbing multiple people in central The Hague

      Properly applied, lead can out-perform steel in remarkable ways.

    • “Mass immigration propaganda targeting Irish school children from Trócaire” orlared – Published on December 5, 2017

      • “Kevin Sharkey: Irish people should be prioritised in Ireland & open borders need to close” orlared – Published on November 20, 2017

        • “Kevin Sharkey: The Irish government has a responsibility to its own people first” orlared – Published on February 5, 2018

  25. “Marx & China: Globalists’ Model For A NWO”
    David Knight & Alex Newman – May 4, 2018

  26. Awash with Migrants, Even Sweden’s Social Democrats Propose Cutting Numbers in Half (breitbart, May 5, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/05/awash-with-migrants-swedish-social-democrats-propose-cutting-numbers-in-half/

    “Swedish immigration minister Helene Fritzon said Friday that current immigration levels in the Scandinavian country are nearly “double” what the country can handle and released a proposal to cut them drastically in the future.

    At a press conference announcing a change in party policy for the Social Democrats, Ms. Fritzon said that Sweden should be accepting closer to 14,000 or 15,000 asylum seekers each year, far fewer than the 27,000 who entered the country in 2017.

    “Even if the number of asylum seekers has dropped significantly in Sweden, it is significantly higher than our population share in Europe,” she said. “Not quite double, but close to it.”

    Sweden, with a population under 10 million, has taken in approximately 350,000 asylum-seekers in the last four years, and many citizens believe that Sweden has borne a disproportionate share of the burden in comparison with the other EU countries.

    “It became particularly clear in the autumn of 2015 that the Swedish migration policy was not sustainable,” Fritzon said.

    Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, who announced the new migration policy alongside the immigration minister in preparation for upcoming elections, said that the country’s share in welcoming migrants and refugees to Europe “must correspond to Sweden’s population size.”

    Sweden will hold elections this September, and the ruling Social Democrats are hustling to get their house in order in a bid to staying in power come the fall…”

  27. USA – MASS – Police report describes footage of woman slashing Hadley bus passengers’ throats

    HADLEY – After the woman charged with slashing two passengers and the driver of a Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus was handcuffed and read her rights, she apologized.

    “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” Brietta Brown said, according to the arrest report. “Please apologize to them for me, will they survive? I hope Allah will forgive me.”

    The arrest report, written by Hadley Police Officer Thomas Chabot, also describes surveillance video from the bus, which was heading east on Route 9 when the attack occurred.

    The video shows Brown sitting calmly after boarding the bus. She was seated on the passenger side of the bus behind the victims, who were sitting together. “At no point in time was there any interaction between them prior to the attack,” Chabot wrote.

    Brown could be seen on the footage removing the knife from her pocket and unsheathing it. She then grabbed a female “her by the head … and made a left to right slice to the victim’s neck.”

    She then attacked the male after he stood up reacting to the assault. She “made multiple slashing motions” and cut him at least once, according to Chabot’s report.

    Witnesses told police “with some variance that Brown looked like she was about to say hi to the two indented victims when she grabbed each by the head and sliced at their throats.”

    Police said passengers and the bus driver intervened and subdued Brown.

    “In the scuffle as she was being subdued she also cut the bus driver’s hand with the knife as he attempted to control her,” Chabot wrote.

    The driver suffered chest pains following the incident. He and the other victims were taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

    Afterward, while Brown was in Chabot’s cruiser, “she began praying to ALLAH, (and) after arriving at the station she continued to pray and would not break her concentration to speak with any officers.”

    Brown would not speak to police during the booking process or “acknowledge our presence and would not answer any of our questions, and would not stop praying.” Officers placed her in a cell until she would comply.

    Her behavior became more erratic, Chabot wrote. “She began to drink toilet water, and asked multiple officers to shoot her in the head and referred to herself in the third person.”

    Officers ultimately called the Amherst Fire Department to take her to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton for a mental health evaluation.

    On Thursday, Brown’s 26th birthday, she was arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court on two counts of attempted murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and disturbing the peace. She is scheduled to return May 9 for a dangerousness hearing.

    Brown, who authorities said lives in Northampton, will also be evaluated to determine if she is competent to stand trial. That examination will be conducted at the Hampshire County Jail and House of Corrections, where she is being held without the right to bail, according to court documents.

    http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/05/woma_charged_in_slashing_attac.html
    ==================================================
    WOMAN SEEKS ALLAH’S FORGIVENESS FOR SLASHING BUS PASSENGERS’ THROATS

    Police report: She was praying and ‘would not break her concentration to speak with officers’

    “I hope Allah will forgive me,” said Brietta Brown, shortly after she was handcuffed for allegedly slashing the throats of two passengers and attacking the driver of a transit bus.

    The report comes from MassLive, which explained the attack happened on a Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus at Hadley.

    Shortly after being cuffed and read her rights, she apologized, the report said..

    “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Please apologize to them for me, will they survive? I hope Allah will forgive me.”

    MassLive said Hadley Police Officer Thomas Chabot’s report cites surveillance video from the bus.

    Brown was sitting quietly after boarding, behind other passengers, when all of a sudden she took out a knife, unsheathed it, and grabbed a woman “and made a left to right slice to the victim’s neck.”

    Then, the report said, she made “multiple slashing motions” at a man and cut him at least once, Chabot reported.

    When the bus driver intervened to subdue her, “she also cut the bus driver’s hand with the knife as he attempted to control her,” Chabot wrote.

    The victims were treated at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

    Chabot, once he had placed the suspect in his cruiser, reported what happened next.

    “She began praying to ALLAH, (and) after arriving at the station she continued to pray and would not break her concentration to speak with any officers,” he wrote on the report.

    Things got strange after that.

    “Brown would not speak to police during the booking process or ‘acknowledge our presence and would not answer any of our questions, and would not stop praying.’ Officers placed her in a cell until she would comply. Her behavior became more erratic, Chabot wrote. ‘She began to drink toilet water, and asked multiple officers to shoot her in the head and referred to herself in the third person,’” MassLive said.

    She was being evaluated for a mental health condition, but also faced two counts of attempted murder, assault and battery and disturbing the peace.

    http://www.wnd.com/2018/05/woman-seeks-allahs-forgiveness-for-slashing-bus-passengers-throats/

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

    • allah will praise her not forgive her but I so hope that a few others (? in gaol)can show her that it is not that easy to do a muslim slime out.
      ” I don’t know what came over me” is almost a sura going by how often we hear it from muslims in the west and yet there are many fools who so want to believe this lie. Imagine if I did this to muslims and said that.

  28. “Turkey: Erdo?an’s World of Terrorists Includes Everyone but Terrorists”
    by Burak Bekdil – May 3, 2018
    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12241/turkey-erdogan-terrorists

    Rewind:
    “KREMLIN PUPPETS AND HOW THEY WORK”
    by J.R. Nyquist – October 19, 2000

    Excerpt:

    According to the former head of Romanian intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ion
    Mihai Pacepa, one of the highest ranking communist defectors of all
    time, Rahman al-Qudwa became an important political ally of the
    communist bloc following the death of Egypt’s president, Gamal Abdul
    Nasser, in 1970. Gen. Pacepa’s account of Rahman’s intimate relations
    with the communist bloc is related in a book entitled “Red Horizons.”
    As it happens, Pacepa tells us that the communists trusted Rahman
    because he was a voracious homosexual. This alone made him a workable
    Kremlin puppet, because once the Romanian intelligence services had
    taped Rahman’s sex sessions with men and boys, he was completely in
    their hands. Afterwards, Rahman’s friendship for the communist bloc
    would be permanent — if he valued his growing popularity in the Arab
    world.

    Rahman al-Qudwa is better known as Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the
    PLO since 1968 and the president of the Palestinian Authority — which
    is now at war with Israel. According to Gen. Pacepa’s account,
    communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ordered his people to bring Arafat
    over to Romania. In late 1970 the chief of Romanian intelligence in
    Egypt, Gen. Constantine Munteanu, arrived in Bucharest with Arafat in
    tow. Munteanu had gathered an extensive file on Arafat, which
    characterized the PLO leader as “so much cleverness, blood, and filth
    all together in one man.” Pacepa says that this was Munteanu’s
    “standard definition of Arafat.”

    Given Gen. Munteanu’s extensive file, Arafat could not exactly refuse
    the communist’s “friendly” overtures. There is little question that
    Arafat is fanatically devoted to destroying Israel, and would sell his
    soul to the devil to gain his devilish ends. Therefore, a compact
    between Arafat and the Soviet Union via communist Romania was not
    something that violated any sacred Islamic rule in Arafat’s heart.
    Arafat is no Moslem. His fanaticism is completely secular. But since
    he operates within the Islamic world, he must sometimes appear as a
    would-be Muslim liberator.
    http://www.wnd.com/2000/10/6491/

  29. ENI committed to Cyprus despite Turkish threats

    Italian energy giant ENI said on Wednesday it was committed to exploring for natural gas offshore Cyprus despite efforts by Turkey to block drilling earlier this year.

    “Until now we have invested about 700 million euros in Cyprus so that means we have a strong engagement and commitment toward the country,” ENI CEO Claudio Descalzi told reporters after meeting Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

    He said the company was committed to exploring all the blocks offshore Cyprus it had a licence for.

    In February, a drillship contracted by ENI to explore off the Mediterranean island, abandoned mission, after Turkish warships blocked its path to its target in Block 3 of Cyprus’ Economic Exclusive Zone.

    We have to try, try, try again until you succeed…I don’t want to leave my 700 million”

    When asked about ENI’s next steps, Descalzi said: “Block 3 is there, it’s not moving. It’s there, there is no problem.”

    When put to him that Turkey might block ENI again, the executive responded: “We have to try, try, try again until you succeed…I don’t want to leave my 700 million.”

    Cypriot Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis said ENI “is one of our most important partners in Cyprus’ EEZ. All you need to see is the number of licenses (to drill) they hold.”

    He added: “It is an important partner in the Eastern Mediterranean in general, due to its activities in Egypt and very soon in Lebanon, we certainly have a clear picture.”

    Lakkotrypis said ENI’s next drill offshore Cyprus “was a topic of continued discussion”.

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned foreign energy companies not to “overstep the mark” in the Mediterranean after Turkey’s warships blocked the Italian drilling vessel on February 9.

    The standoff over exploiting energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean has further complicated stalled efforts to reunify Cyprus following the collapse of UN-brokered peace talks last year.

    Brussels has also censured Turkey for its behaviour towards Nicosia’s energy search.

    Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern third of the island in response to a Greek military junta-sponsored coup.

    Calypso Field

    Results of exploratory drills in ENI’s Calypso field have confirmed the presence of formations similar to that of the nearby giant Zohr gas field in Egypt.

    The Italian company estimates the well could hold around 6 to 8 trillion cubic feet of gas.

    Talking about the Calypso find Lakkotrypis said: “I think we will be able to have a complete picture in the coming period”.

    He suggested confirmatory drilling might be needed.

    “Now we have the initial estimates, drilling has been successful, but others need to be done to get an accurate conclusion.”

    Nicosia is also in discussion with Cairo to build a direct submarine natural gas pipeline from Cyprus to an LNG plant in Egypt,

    “There is a continuous discussion with colleagues in Egypt on the issue of the pipeline that is being addressed to the European Commission for its comments,” said Lakkotrypis.

    US energy giant ExxonMobil – with Qatar Petroleum – is scheduled conduct drilling off Cyprus in the second half of 2018.

    http://english.cyprustimes.com/2018/04/25/eni-committed-to-cyprus-despite-turkish-threats/

    ======================================================
    MILAN – MAY 05 2018 –

    Anti-ENI protest

    • Italy: Protesters in Milan denounce Italian oil conglomerate Eni

      Milan witnessed a heavy police presence on Saturday, as a reported 200 protesters took to the streets of the Italian city to rally against the alleged international exploitation of Italian multinational oil and gas company Eni.

      Protesters carried banners denouncing the Rome-based company, with one in particular depicting a headless Eni logo dog with an inscription saying, “attack the masters and their wars.”

      Many protesters carried Palestinian flags to protest against Eni’s role in exploiting Israeli natural gas reserves in what protesters say is occupied Palestinian land and coast.

      • Of course they were not subsidized by the Turks and not organized by the toxic left.

  30. Five dead in explosion in Gaza Strip

    Gaza City, Palestinian Territories – Five people were killed in an explosion in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday in what was thought to be an accidental blast, residents and the health ministry said.

    Gaza’s health ministry confirmed five people were killed and three others wounded in what residents said appeared to be an accidental explosion in the Az-Zawayda area of the central Gaza Strip.

    The blast comes after weeks of deadly protests and clashes along the border between Gaza and Israel, but there was no indication the explosion was the result of an Israeli strike.

    An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was not aware of the incident.

    Authorities in Gaza, run by Islamist movement Hamas, had not provided any further details on the blast.

    Some explosions in the past in the Gaza Strip have resulted from the accidental detonation of explosive materials belonging to militant groups.

    https://www.news24.com/World/News/five-dead-in-explosion-in-gaza-strip-20180505

    ==========================================
    Six members of Hamas military wing killed in Gaza explosion

    Gaza media say explosion was an accident, while Hamas blames Israel

    Six people were killed in an unexplained explosion in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday, health officials said, with Hamas’s military wing saying they were members of its forces.

    Gaza’s health ministry confirmed six people were killed, updating the figure from an initial five, and three others wounded in what residents said appeared to be an accidental explosion in the Az-Zawayda area of the central Gaza Strip.

    Gaza media reported the explosion was a “work accident,” meaning the militants were killed when explosives they were dealing with went off, the Associated Press reported.

    Still, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Gaza’s Islamist rulers, said the fatalities were members of their group and blamed Israel for the explosion without providing details or proof.

    The incident occurred during a “complex security and intelligence operation”, Qassam said in a statement, calling it a “serious and large security incident” and blaming the “Zionist enemy”.

    An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was not aware of the incident.

    The blast comes after weeks of deadly protests and clashes along the border between Gaza and Israel, but there was no indication the explosion was the result of an Israeli strike.

    Some explosions in the past in the Gaza Strip have resulted from the accidental detonation of explosive materials belonging to militant groups.

    http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/six-members-hamas-military-wing-killed-gaza-explosion-954035403

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

    • “Accidental blast”?? Only in Gaza is that phrase part of normal speech and no one even thinks about it.

      • Correctamundo. “Work accident” is the preferred terminology.

  31. In a case that has triggered public outrage, a top Finnish court has upheld a ruling that sex between an asylum seeker and a 10-year-old girl didn’t constitute rape. Critics are calling for harsher sentences for child abuse.
    Finland’s Supreme Court rejected a request from the prosecution to appeal a three-year jail term for a 23-year-old man on Thursday. Finnish media identify him as Juusuf Muhamed Abbudin, an asylum seeker, but don’t reveal his country of origin.

    Read more
    © Saeed KhanFrench man on trial for having sex with 11yo ‘not a predator’ because victim ‘not a child’ – lawyers
    The man was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse, although the prosecution had sought a harsher sentence on charges of aggravated rape. However, the court left the original verdict unchanged.

    https://www.rt.com/news/425925-finland-sex-migrant-10yo/

  32. Earlier today MoreThanTheCurve.com published an article on a disturbance that recently took place during Mass at Saint Matthew Parish. After posting the article, we received a tip that there was a similar incident at a West Conshohocken church the week prior.

    We contacted BlueStone Church and received a message back from John Stange, who led the service the evening of the disturbance. He recorded the entire service, so there is audio. He also wrote about it on his blog.

    The audio (we have it cued to just before the shouting):

    https://morethanthecurve.com/similar-incident-west-conshohocken-man-church-service/?

      • SIG Sauer P938 is WTG IMO and I just wish that I had carried it when I was “overseas”. BUT! That experience taught me a good lesson.

          • This was meant as a concealable weapon choice.. the 1911 (check to see why it was made along with the 30.06…to kill muslims ) is too heavy, too much recoil and in a world war/post apocalyptic world the ammunition would be hard to obtain. It has far better stopping power than a 9mm (and hence the necessity for a “double tap” in that calibre) and we did dally it for a while but 9mm, like 5.56 has to be the WTG for the future( I was not happy with that but reality bites). If stopping power is what you want use (and make your own ammunition) 357magnum or even Clint’s 44 magnum cannon(or make your own 45 ammo). Yes, I learnt all of this the hard way.

  33. Syrian refugees sue landlord and feds over housing complaints
    Posted by Ann Corcoran on May 5, 2018

    It is Saturday and, in recent weeks, I’ve made this my day to try to catch up on your e-mails and take care of other bits of maintenance here at RRW, but when I saw this story from New Jersey I just had to post it!

    Screenshot (433)
    Syrian ‘refugee’ safe in New Jersey had to shell out $200 of his own money to fix the heating in his US government funded apartment. Imagine that!

    Syrian temporary ‘refugees’ say their government funded housing is dirty and bug-infested and so they hired a lawyer to fight for their ‘rights’ to better government funded housing in Paterson, NJ.

    You will see that the story is about Syrians apparently granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Those would be people who got in to the US on their own somehow and miraculously were able to sign up for TPS.

    These are apparently not refugees selected and screened through the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program.

    https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2018/05/05/syrian-refugees-sue-landlord-and-feds-over-housing-complaints/

    • My father said that when he was a child only Mad magazine would carry a story like that so incredibly naïve were they all then.

    • Israel detects unusual activity at Iran uranium enrichment plant

      Total crap. There is nothing “unusual” about this Iranian behavior. All of it is perfectly consistent with their prior pursuit of nuclear weapons.

  34. Mueller forced to delay court case alleging Russian interference after two lawyers call his bluff

    FBI special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking to delay the first court hearing in a criminal case alleging Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Mueller has brought charges against three Russian companies and 13 Russians for the alleged interference.

    The delay comes after two attorneys representing one of the Russian entities began challenging Mueller’s evidence in the case.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/05/05/mueller-forced-to-delay-court-case-alleging-russian-interference-after-two-lawyers-call-his-bluff?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM%202018-05-05&utm_term=TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM%20-%20last%20270%20days

  35. CBC – Government should look at bringing Rohingya refugees to Canada, minister says

    Nearly 1 million people displaced following ethnic cleansing in Myanmar

    Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada needs to look into bringing Rohingya refugees here to reunify families.

    “We can just imagine if it were our brothers, sisters, uncles, who were in these dire straits, we would be desperate to bring them to join us in Canada,” she told reporters on Saturday.

    “I think that is an issue we need to be looking at.”

    While she said the majority of people she spoke to while visiting the refugee camps in Bangladesh expressed a desire to return to their homes in Myanmar, many Rohingya in Canada have told her they want their family members to be able to come here.

    Freeland is in Bangladesh on a four-day tour focused on the Rohingya refugee crisis.

    She said the trip has left her “more convinced than ever of the necessity of a comprehensive, international response to this tragedy.”

    ?The camps are home to nearly 900,000 minority Muslim Rohingyas who have fled a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign in Rakhine State in neighbouring Myanmar, also known as Burma.

    There were two overwhelming themes to what she was told by people living in the camps, she said,”A desire for justice and accountability,” and “a really strong desire to go home.”

    Though she spoke of the importance of families being reunited in Canada, she said most of the refugees are simply looking for safety in their home region.

    “This is very clear to me that this is a group of people who want to go home,” she said.

    Freeland also spoke of the importance of establishing accountability for the human rights violations occurring in Myanmar and developing an international response to the crisis.

    Canada will work to establish a clear pathway toward accountability, she said.

    However, details on what Canada’s contributions would be are still scarce.

    Special envoy recommends welcoming refugees

    Recommendations were made weeks ago by Bob Rae, Canada’s special envoy to Myanmar. In his final report, he suggested Canada should ramp up humanitarian aid, development efforts and show a willingness to welcome refugees.

    Rae’s 17 recommendations included the advice that Canada should develop a multi-year funding plan beginning this year for a response that focuses on humanitarian assistance, education and supporting infrastructure.

    He estimates the annual costs of such a plan, including additional staff at headquarters and abroad, to be about $150 million for the next four years.

    The government takes the report seriously, Freeland said — and more details on how the government has adopted Rae’s advice will be released in the near future.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rohingya-bangladesh-freeland-refugees-1.4650190

  36. Kansas legislature passes bill allowing adoption agencies to refuse gay couples

    (AFP) – Kansas lawmakers moved Friday to make their state the latest in the US that allows faith-based adoption agencies to deny their services to same-sex couples.

    The Republican-dominated state legislature approved the contentious bill overnight, giving legal cover to groups that cite their religious beliefs in refusing to place children with gay and lesbian parents.

    The state’s Republican governor promised to sign the measure into law.

    Opponents, which included child welfare advocates, claimed the bill codifies discrimination, but proponents said it would encourage more adoption agencies with religious ties to operate in the state.

    https://www.libertyheadlines.com/kansas-legislature-passes-bill-allowing-adoption-agencies-to-refuse-gay-couples/

  37. CBC – MONTREAL – Swastika spotted in Parc-Ex prompts community protest

    Demonstration comes days after a Nazi flag was spotted at corner of Jean-Talon and Hutchison streets

    Just days after a Nazi flag was spotted flying in their neighbourhood, Parc-Extension community members and anti-racist advocates are holding a demonstration to condemn this “act of hatred.”

    The protest, , began outside of Parc Metro Station at 5 p.m., just across the street from where the flag was seen atop a Hutchison Street building on Wednesday.

    About 50 people gathered, some holding a banner that condemned racism and hatred.

    For Parc-Ex resident Monir Hossain, the flag represents a resurgence of white supremacists and Nazis.

    “We think that basically they are showing their muscle to us,” Hossain said. “I think that it’s hate, basically.”

    He added that Parc-Extension is an immigrant neighbourhood, so to him, the flag represented hate against the immigrants he says are “building Canada together.”

    Protesters are calling for the owners of the building to reveal the name of the person living there, who they say is “using the building to promote hatred,” the Facebook event reads.

    “This is a festive, family-friendly and determined demonstration in opposition to racism and fascism,” organizers wrote on Facebook.

    The event also follows reports that one of North America’s leading neo-Nazi propagandists, known online as “Zeiger,” is an IT consultant living in Montreal’s Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie borough.

    Zeiger was described recently as the “primary publicist” of a radical U.S. group that’s been linked to the murders of five people.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/nazi-flag-parc-ex-1.4650337

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

    Montreal Gazette – Condo owners denounce Nazi flag-waver, but decline to identify him

    Residents of a condo building in Parc-Ex where a man was spotted waving a Nazi flag on Tuesday say they denounce the act.

    The board of directors of co-owners of a condominium in Parc-Extension say they cannot publicly identify a man who waved a Nazi flag from the roof of their building earlier this week.

    The man was spotted and photographed waving a flag bearing a swastika, the emblem of the German Nazi party, from atop the building on Hutchison St. on Tuesday by participants in a May Day march. The participants tried to enter the condo building to confront the man, but were stopped by police.

    The photo was posted on a community Facebook page called Parc-Ex Action Squad, and subsequent comments on that page indicate residents of the building are concerned and angered one of their neighbours may be a neo-Nazi. Some comments say the roof of the building is secure, and only accessible by residents.

    A group calling itself Park Extension in Solidarity Against Racism & Fascism has called on anti-fascists to join a march to the building on Saturday at 5 p.m.

    They are demanding the condo board reveal the identity of the flag-waver.

    “We are holding this peaceful protest to remind everyone that there is no place for such a racist act as this in Parc Extension, which is one of the most diverse, multicultural communities in Montreal, if not Canada,” said Samiha Hossain, a spokesperson for the group.

    “The second reason is that we want to know the identity of this person. … A lot of people in that Facebook (post) that went viral said ‘I’m very scared. We don’t know that person. I do not feel safe.’… If we know this person we can be aware of who they are and at anti-racist events that person cannot participate.”

    She said anti-racist groups are concerned about fascists infiltrating their events and causing trouble.

    The condo board released a statement Saturday a few hours before the protest to denounce the actions of the flag-waver, and to plead for calm.

    “Following this sad and deplorable incident of a hateful nature that our building was host to, we reiterate our absolute disapproval of this gesture and condemn it without reserve,” said the statement provided to the Montreal Gazette by the Syndicat de la copropriété Condos de la gare, phase 1.

    The statement goes on to say the board is forbidden by law to reveal details of the police investigation into the incident.

    The board says it consulted several authorities on hate crimes, including the Centre of Prevention of Radicalization leading to Violence and the Hate Crimes unit of the Montreal police service, on the case.

    “There is no bad will on our part, not the slightest intention to hide a Nazi. As citizens, we must respect the law and collaborate with police services,” it said, adding the board is doing all it can to cooperate with police.

    It goes on to say residents of the condo denounce the flag-waver, but consider they have now become victims of intolerance and hate, as they are being “unjustly associated with fascist sympathizers.”

    The mayor of Villeray–Saint-Michel-Parc–Extension waded into the heated debate in the comments on the Facebook post.

    “I am not in the habit of intervening in these pages, but I must do so to denounce this fascist gesture in the heart of Parc-Extension,” Giuliana Fumagalli wrote.

    “The board (of the condo) has advised the police at Station 31 and we are awaiting follow-up. An action like this is despicable and I denounce it thoroughly.”

    In Canada, it is not illegal to display a Nazi flag, however law-enforcement agencies have the power to intervene if such flags are used to communicate hatred in a public place.

    Montreal police spokesperson Constable Caroline Chevrefils said the incident was investigated by the SPVM’s Hate Crimes Unit, and no charges have been laid.

    “Just showing a flag is not a criminal act,” she said. “He didn’t do or say anything that’s why that person was not arrested.”

    The flag-waver “didn’t say anything hateful and he didn’t (commit) any criminal act or mention anything hateful toward some people,” Chevrefils said.

    http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/condo-owners-denounce-nazi-flag-waver-but-decline-to-identify-him

  38. Infamous anti-Trump FBI agent who worked under Comey has just resigned

    One of the infamous FBI agents whose texts were released and aroused suspicion of a “deep state” conspiracy orchestrated against President Trump resigned Friday.

    Anti-Trump texts

    The New York Times reported that Page resigned from the FBI Friday, as did James A. Baker, a confidante of James Comey.

    Lisa Page was an advisor to James Comey during his time as the FBI director, and served under Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/05/04/infamous-anti-trump-fbi-agent-who-worked-under-comey-has-just-resigned?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TheBlaze%20Daily%20AM%202018-05-05&utm_term=TheBlaze%20Daily%20AM%20-%20last%20270%20days

  39. DAILY MAIL – Uber driver ‘who ploughed into 11 people outside the Natural History Museum used a fake PASSPORT to get his private hire licence’

    Uber driver Juma Ali Omar allegedly mounted the pavement in South Kensington
    Omar, 47, is accused of injuring 11 people outside the Natural History Museum
    He has been charged with dangerous driving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court
    He is also alleged to have used false documents in to get a private hire licence

    An Uber driver was allegedly using false documents in order to work when he ‘ploughed into a group of people outside the Natural History museum’, leaving 11 injured.

    Juma Ali Omar allegedly mounted the busy pavement at around 2.20pm in the London tourist hotspot, colliding with two cars and then striking pedestrians.

    The 47-year-old, who was working at the time of the collision, was charged with dangerous driving and having a fake passport, driving licence and private taxi hire licence.

    Eleven people suffered non-life threatening injuries in the collision, involving the Black Toyota Prius, in South Kensington, west London, on October 7 last year.

    Nigerian-born Omar was previously charged with dangerous driving, using a motor vehicle without third party insurance and driving without a licence.

    At Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, another charge of possessing a false passport, driving license and a Public Carriage Office licence to prove his identify in order to get a private hire licence was added to the rap sheet.

    Omar appeared in the dock wearing a blue pinstripe suit and white shirt and was accompanied by his family who sat in the public gallery.

    He did not enter any pleas to the four charges and spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, address and nationality.

    Deputy District Judge Margaret Dodd released him on bail ahead of his next court date.

    She said: ‘I understand from the documents that the manner of the driving is under dispute.

    ‘These matters cannot be dealt with by this court so it will be sent to crown court.

    ‘I grant you bail but you must attend court when you are asked.’

    Omar, of Barking, east London, will next appear at Isleworth Crown Court on June 1 to enter his pleas.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5690931/Uber-driver-accused-ploughing-11-people-outside-Natural-History-Museum-appears-court.html

    • The 47-year-old, who was working at the time of the collision, was charged with dangerous driving and having a fake passport, driving licence and private taxi hire licence.

      Yoohoo, Uber, some serious vetting might be smart.

      • That like the granting of bail, just makes them laugh even more at how pathetic is the west.

  40. Judge Jeanine: Mueller’s war on Trump was put on display

    Judge Ellis took no prisoners in addressing the motivation, intent and underlying authority of the so-called special counsel.