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.
If this report is true then all bets are off. The “nuclear” option–that of attacking the Dollar–comes as a surprise even though we know it is inevitable. It shows that Brussels sees America as more of an enemy than it does Islamic fanatics.
It may also bring about their demise, because this will create open currency warfare. Overt currency wars will only serve to bring back gold sooner rather than later. Then, without Keynesian mechanics to deficit-finance their tyranny, the EU will collapse.
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/dollar-collapse-coming-eu-to-ditch-the-us-dollar-in-payments-for-iranian-oil_05162018
Attacking the dollar would be a disaster for the nations doing the attacking, while the US would suffer so would every other nation on earth and those with totalitarian governments would suffer the worst. The US with someone like Trump in office would be damaged but survive the EU, China and the other socialist government would end up collapsing as their Keynesian dreams collapse around their ears.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-14/ultrasonic-attacks-can-trigger-alexa-siri-hidden-commands-raise-serious-security
AI fun and games.
AI’ing your home is(unless you are a computer near genius) is effectively handed over control of it to the manufacturer of that system. Give it a while and it will record both speech and images without you being aware and then an entrepreneurial employee will sell the passwords and combinations etc. Shades of Fahrenheit 451/1984 or any totalitarian scifi story
That is about the sum of the situation.
“That is about the sum of the situation.”
Which is exactly what I’ve been shouting from the rooftops for years.
This latest revelation of home AIs being triggered by ultrasonic emissions is VERY BAD NEWS, in that most legacy movement-detection systems all rely upon the same echo-location methods that bats use. So, how are we supposed to deal with a household AI that starts recording everything when your intrusion alert system decides to glitch?
This is like issuing every novice driver an M1 Abrams Tank instead of a Ford Escort. No way are modern homeowners, even those of moderate intelligence, prepared to control or moderate the activities of this insanely intrusive device.
Install CCTVs in your bedroom, record a few weeks of footage and then review it at your leisure. Is that anything you’d want available on the Internet or to any Social Media outlet?
Face the question squarely…
Whatever happened to the muslim criminal disguised as police officer who shot that Australian woman?
He plead self defense against the pajama clad, unarmed woman. As a side note the Republicans are trying to have the numerous Somalian Daycare’s investigated as the millions and millions the state pays for this seems to end up funding the terrorists in Somalia. I thought these mothers stayed home with their children while they are awaiting the birth of the next bundle of joy…………you just can’t make this stuff up………..moronic polititicans…………..why aren’t the Democrats screaming about this ? Wake up Minnesotans…………this is an invasion……….obviously you don’t care about your kids and grandkids………they are here to take over!
Many people in Minnesota are descendents from Sweden, enough said?
Not so…the US descendants of swedes have always been good soldiers in the armed forces. I think that you mix the leftopacifist Sweden with the USA. Different environment and different view of life, Sweden has had far too few wars to fight and has lost its gonads. It was neutral in both wars but made a lot of money supplying Germany with iron ore. Like Switzerland it profited while others died to ensure their safety.
Good people, I’m sorry for them.
It is a fact that Somalis have taken over formerly Scandinavian Minnesota. The citizens didn’t ask for it, they didn’t deserve it. It’s been a disaster, of course.
It’s these “refugee resettlement” agencies that claim affiliation with various churches. In Minnesota it was done under cover of the Lutheran Church.
“In Minnesota it was done under cover of the Lutheran Church.”
Two words: War Crimes
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270197/great-somali-welfare-rip-lloyd-billingsley
Thank you
I believe they finally charged him
“I believe they finally charged him”
How many volts? Enquiring minds want to know!
As the old poster goes:
TEXAS —
Where death penalty arguments typically deal with matters of voltage.
Croatia Warns 60,000 Migrants Ready to Break Through into European Union (breitbart, May 17, 2018)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/17/croatia-warns-60000-migrants-ready-break-through-european-union/
“The Croatian government has sounded an alarm to the rest of the European Union claiming that the Balkan migrant route may reopen in the very near future with 60,000 migrants ready to cross into the political bloc.
The Croatian Interior Ministry has warned that migrants may be gearing up to try a new route through the Balkan states going through Greece to Albania, then Montenegro, Bosnia and into Croatia.
The ministry then called on the European Union (EU) to provide assistance in reinforcing the common external border to prevent a potential humanitarian crisis, Il Giornale reports.
“If they find a weakness here, they will be in trouble,” an anonymous source from the Interior Ministry said. The 60,000 migrant estimate comes from Slovenian police who estimate there to be that many migrants currently between Greece and Albania looking for a safe route to enter the European Union.
In the first four months of 2018, there has been a significant increase in migrants attempting to cross the Croatian border with Slovenia. 1,266 migrants have attempted the crossing during that time period, up 280 per cent from last year…”
This group doesn’t have as many current or ex soldiers as the previous groups.
“This group doesn’t have as many current or ex soldiers as the previous groups”
Who cares?!? They’re still enough to help break the spine of EU sob sisters.
EU Commission: ‘Europe Will Never Be a Fortress’, Mass Migration ‘Here to Stay’ (breitbart, May 17, 2018)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/17/eu-fortress-mass-migration-stay/
“Europe is set to absorb massive waves of migration “for the decades to come”, the EU Commission has declared, vowing the continent will “never become a fortress”.
Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, EU migration chief Dimitris Avramopoulos stressed that the European Commission would oppose any plans to build a fence on the Greek-Turkish border.
“We are against building fences, on the contrary, we are in favour of building bridges with neighbouring countries,” he said, after news that more than 6,100 people have entered Greece illegally over the Turkey land border so far this year — a nine-fold increase from the same period in 2017.
“The EU will never be a fortress. Migration will stay not only in Europe and the world for the decades to come, and we have to be well prepared. No country can manage this situation alone,” he told a news conference.
Discussing plans for a common EU policy which would see asylum seekers spread across the bloc, Avramopoulos said that no corner of the continent will be allowed to escape third world migration, insisting that “solidarity has to be maintained and be upheld by all member states”…”
That is rather like saying: “all hand grenades explode”. 99.9% only do so if you allow it. Just love the refusal to accept responsibility. Death sentence for him would be too kind.
“The EU will never be a fortress” > Not with turkey still in Europe.
Civilizations die by suicide, the socialist politicians are the ones providing the poison to kill Western Civilization.
Abraham Lincoln’s 1838 Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois
We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal inheritors of these [Founding Fathers’] fundamental blessings. We toiled not in the acquirement or establishment of them—they are a legacy bequeathed us, by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic, but now lamented and departed race of ancestors. Their’s was the task (and nobly they performed it) to possess themselves, and through themselves, us, of this goodly land; and to uprear upon its hills and its valleys, a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; ’tis ours only, to transmit these, the former, unprofaned by the foot of an invader; the latter, undecayed by the lapse of time, and untorn by usurpation—to the latest generation that fate shall permit the world to know. This task of gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species in general, all imperatively require us faithfully to perform.
How, then, shall we perform it? At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
Report: Ecuador Spent Millions on Spy Operation for Julian Assange (breitbart, May 17, 2018)
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/05/17/report-ecuador-spent-millions-on-spy-operation-for-julian-assange/
“Ecuador spent millions on a spy operation to protect and bolster Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in their London embassy, a report revealed Wednesday.
In an exclusive report, the Guardian revealed that the government of Ecuador had spent at least $5 million on intelligence operations as he received visitors ranging from Nigel Farage to individuals linked with Russia.
The intelligence program, which came to be known as “Operation Hotel,” cost Ecuador an average of $66,000 a month in a spending program that was reportedly personally approved by former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa and foreign minister Ricardo Patiño.
Part of the operation involved write-ups about all his activity, which included his interactions with embassy staff, his guests, and his mood swings. One source revealed that at one point, the Australian government managed to breach the embassy’s network and intercept his communications.
Concerned that British security forces might end up storming the embassy and arresting him, Ecuadorian officials reportedly devised a plan to help him escape by smuggling him out through a diplomatic vehicle.
The embassy also installed a 24-hour security system with two employees always working shifts, while Correa even considered developing a “media strategy” to mark the “second anniversary of his diplomatic asylum” to improve his public image amid allegations of rape.
However, Assange’s treatment has worsened considerably over the past year under the new government of Lenin Moreno, who last year succeeded Corea as the Ecuadorian president.
Following a lawsuit from the Democratic National Committee against him for his role in the 2016 presidential election, where he leaked thousands of DNC documents that damaged Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Assange has also had his internet revoked and is no longer allowed any visitation.
In January, the Ecuadorian foreign minister said that Assange’s continued stay in the embassy had become “untenable.” Yet should Assange be ejected from the embassy, he faces arrest by British authorities on charges of espionage and possible extradition to the United States.
In February, Assange was granted Ecuadorian citizenship in an unsuccessful attempt to register him as a diplomat, thus providing him with immunity that would prevent him from being detained.
On Wednesday, Assange’s organization Wikileaks also pointed out that the British government had spent an estimated $30 million surveilling Assange, equivalent to 100 full-time salary-equivalent positions per year.”
“On Wednesday, Assange’s organization Wikileaks also pointed out that the British government had spent an estimated $30 million surveilling Assange, equivalent to 100 full-time salary-equivalent positions per year.”
Anything to avoid the truth.
Labour ‘Dissuades’ White Candidates from By-Election Shortlist, Three Promote Radical Imam (breitbart, May 17, 2018)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/17/claim-labour-bans-white-men-by-election-shortlist-three-work-radical-imam/
“A UKIP Parliamentary candidate has slammed Labour for discriminatory behaviour after sources said white people and men were deliberately pushed out of their candidate shortlist for the Lewisham East by-election, before announcing an “all BAME [black and minority ethnic] women” list.
Open discrimination along racial lines in UK politics is not specifically permitted, but according to left-wing blog Labour List, who reported ahead of the shortlist’s announcement, three white people — Tom Copley, Joe Dromey, and Kevin Bonavia — were “dissuaded from entering the race in anticipation of an all-BME shortlist or expect to be knocked out for that reason”.
The website claimed an all-female, non-white list was “expected” in response to “a distinct lack of BME candidates” in previous elections, and highlights calls from activists for more non-white MPs and even for white people to be banned, as men already are, in some Labour shortlists…”
If Labour were to win, it would be the cue for the canaries to take flight.
German Minister Tasks Supreme Audit Institution to Check Migration Agency (sputniknews, May 17, 2018)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201805171064536579-germany-migration-agency/
“German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced on Thursday that he tasked the Supreme Audit Institution to examine the Federal Office for Migrants and Refugees (BAMF) and German Interior Ministry amid the bribes scandal.
“I have tasked the Supreme Audit Institution to check [the migration agency]. The SAI is undoubtedly an independent institution and has accepted the task… The examination will also concern the Interior Ministry,” Seehofer told the parliament as aired by the Die Welt broadcaster.
In April, a scandal erupted in Germany after it was revealed that a former official of BAMF’s Bremen regional office and his four other colleagues took bribes in exchange for granting around 1,200 refugees with asylum although they did not fulfill the criteria…”
‘Something Special’: Denmark Seeks to Further Tighten Citizenship Law (sputniknews, May 17, 2018)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201805171064536251-denmark-citizenship-immigration/
“While an average citizenship request takes progressively more time to process, the Danish government is poised to make it still harder to obtain Danish citizenship. The previous tightening has resulted in a drop in the number of Muslim citizens.
A new package of amendments has been designed to tighten citizenship requirements in Denmark, Danish Radio reported.
Introducing tougher financial and legal requirements, Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Støjberg said becoming a Danish citizen was “something special” and explained that the tougher rules are intended to make Danish citizenship “something to strive for.”
“The government only wants to grant citizenship to foreigners who have been here for many years and who have clearly shown that they both can and will respect Danish society and our Danish values,” Støjberg said.
Støjberg stressed that people who have committed a serious crime in Denmark should of course automatically forfeit the right to become Danish citizens…”
‘Touching’: Norway Mulls Giving Away ‘Extra’ Christian Holidays to Muslims (sputniknews, May 17, 2018)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201805171064536062-norway-christianity-islam/
“Following complaints from Norwegian priests who have argued that there are too many Christian holidays, the Christian Student Union has proposed “donating” holidays deemed superfluous to Muslims. While representatives of the Muslim community have found this idea “touching,” the Christian People’s Party is against a change in Norwegian calendar…”
IDIOTS!
Don’t complement them.
It’s more sinister than stupid.
The Norwegian priests are serving the umma. They’re damned, serving Lucifer instead of Jesus. They probably would’ve gone for Hitler in days gone by.
“It’s more sinister than stupid.”
Thank you, dear yucki. This is a meme that desperately needs to prevail throughout Western Civilization.
“It’s the EVIL, stupid!”
That said, we are in a “sinister” age of sociopolitical, financial, and cultural barbarism that defies all norms of human existence or compassion.
May humanity earn some scintilla of Olympian mercy in the future because it sure as hell isn’t doing much of that right now…
ISIS in World Cup threat to behead Ronaldo and Messi ‘your blood will fill the ground’ (express, May 17, 2018)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/961127/world-cup-2018-ISIS-terror-threat-lionel-messi-Cristiano-ronaldo
“ISIS has threatened to behead football stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronald in its latest sick terror threat against next month’s Fifa World Cup in Russia.
The extremists are distributing warped propaganda containing pledges to attack fans and players with guns, knives and vehicles.
Argentina’s Messi and Portugal’s Ronaldo have become the latest targets in an image circulated by ISIS…”
See elsewhere. It’s too perfect. Let Putin and Islam fight. This will be so ugly, it’ll be pretty. Few other self-constructed and self-inflicted problems deserve more international coverage.
Police chiefs consider arming officers patrolling rural areas with handguns for the first time to tackle terrorists (dailymail, May 17, 2018)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5738331/Police-chiefs-consider-arming-officers-patrolling-rural-areas-handguns-time.html
“Police chiefs are considering arming bobbies patrolling rural areas with handguns for the first time.
Britain’s armed policing lead, Simon Chesterman, suggested yesterday that ordinary uniformed officers could be given guns to solve a shortfall in specialist firearms officers in some remote rural and coastal areas.
The controversial proposal would overturn Britain’s long-standing tradition of routine unarmed policing.
It came as the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) announced yesterday that forces have been unable to meet the Government’s target to boost the number of armed police on the streets to protect the UK from terror.
In the wake of the Paris and Brussels terror atrocities, Theresa May, who was then the home secretary, pledged £143million to train an extra 1,000 firearms officers.
But two years on, forces are still 100 officers short of the target, despite increasing the number of counter-terrorism specialist firearms officers (CTSFO) by 70 per cent and putting 25 per cent more armed response vehicles (ARV) on the roads.
Yesterday Mr Chesterman, the NPCC’s lead on armed policing, said police chiefs are now having to consider ‘innovative ways to bridge the gap’ in armed police provision…”
Just a sneaky way to arm the police,because they can see big trouble coming from the English people,when they betray us over brexit,but when have they done anything else but lie and deceive us.
If they are local police living in the area that they were born in it is highly unlikely they will turn on their neighbors, if they are transferred to other areas and aren’t encouraged to make friends they may betray you.
Armed people tend to think for themselves, unarmed people know they have to rely on others not themselves thus they let others do just about everything for them.
Too many cops have gone dirty there. We’ve seen the grooming scandals, but I bet there are plenty of other spots of rot.
It’s too late for a gun to improve a dhimmi cop’s thinking. He’s sold out. I wouldn’t want political police armed, and it seems a disproportionate number of recent hires are political.
I can understand why you wouldn’t trust them. The record has been a scandal.
Cowards who’ve gone after thought-criminals but remained silent while observing travesties of justice don’t inspire much confidence.
Locals know who’s who.
All police need to be armed.
Tards that Paki mayor of London is hiring? Or the mayor of Birmingham?
The ones who arrested and charged the man for putting bacon on a door handle. Who was then given amounted to a death sentence?
“All police need to be armed.”
Perhaps only so long as they live directly within the communities that they patrol. If they are total outsiders, then mayhaps they might best be unarmed patrol assistants to accompany seasoned, locally-addressed, constabular citizens.
At least until these imports demonstrate a slight degree of familiarity and acquaintance–acceptance with the citizenry. Until then, no bang-sticks.
Tories accuse Labour of running up the white flag with pledge to scrap ‘hostile environment’ for migrants (dailymail, May 17, 2018)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5738167/Tories-accuse-Labour-running-white-flag-immigration.html
“The Tories accused Labour of running up the white flag on immigration last night, after it pledged to scrap controls on illegal immigration.
Diane Abbott said she would close two main detention centres, axe migration targets and force officials to prove suspects were in Britain without permission.
The shadow home secretary also vowed to scrap the requirement for bosses and landlords to carry out checks on a worker or tenant’s right to be in the country.
Miss Abbott said it was Jeremy Corbyn’s ambition to ‘reframe’ public debate on the issue. The Labour leader later tweeted his support for her speech.
Tories said the proposals would wreck efforts to deal with the estimated million illegals in Britain…”
Two 14-year-olds arrested by anti-terror police over alleged school massacre plot in North Yorkshire (telegraph, May 17, 2018)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/30/two-14-year-olds-arrested-terror-charges-peaceful-north-yorkshire/
“Two 14-year-old boys have been arrested in a counter-terror operation amid allegations they were plotting a Columbine style attack on their school.
The teenagers were detained in coordinated raids on their homes in the market town of Northallerton, North Yorkshire and were last night being questioned on suspicion of plotting a massacre.
They were being held on “suspicion of preparing for an act of terrorism” under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006, but it is understood police have not established links to any known terror organisations.
They were arrested on Saturday morning during coordinated raids at their family homes two miles apart and were taken to a police station in West Yorkshire for questioning…”
Iran signs oil deal with UK group as France’s Total exits (abcnews, May 17, 2018)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iran-signs-agreement-british-consortium-develop-oil-55227016
“Iranian state TV is reporting that the country has signed an agreement with a British consortium to develop an oil field, just as another major company, France’s Total, says it will withdraw from Iran because of the renewed U.S. sanctions.
The new agreement is the first between Iran and a company from a key Western ally of the United States since Washington last week announced it will pull out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and Western powers. The U.S. said it was reinstalling sanctions against Iran.
Managing Director of Pergas International Consortium Colin Rowley, and Bijan Alipour, managing director of National Iranian South Oil Co., signed a preliminary deed on the partnership in the presence of British Ambassador Rob Macaire in Tehran on Wednesday night.
The project, if the agreement turns into a contract, will require more than $1 billion to produce 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day during the next decade in the 55-year old Karanj oil filed. The oil field is located in the country’s oil-rich province and currently produces 120,000 barrels of crude per day.
The U.S. sanctions aim to limit companies from any country from dealing with Iran by prohibiting them from using American banks in their operations. Pergas seems to do little business in the U.S., potentially giving it more freedom to operate in Iran.
Its move contrasts with the decision by French oil and gas producer Total to not continue a multi-billion dollar project in Iran unless it is granted a waiver by U.S. authorities…”
Missing Files Motivated the Leak of Michael Cohen’s Financial Records
A law-enforcement official released the documents after finding that additional suspicious transactions did not appear in a government database.
Last week, several news outlets obtained financial records showing that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, had used a shell company to receive payments from various firms with business before the Trump Administration. In the days since, there has been much speculation about who leaked the confidential documents, and the Treasury Department’s inspector general has launched a probe to find the source. That source, a law-enforcement official, is speaking publicly for the first time, to The New Yorker, to explain the motivation: the official had grown alarmed after being unable to find two important reports on Cohen’s financial activity in a government database. The official, worried that the information was being withheld from law enforcement, released the remaining documents.
The payments to Cohen that have emerged in the past week come primarily from a single document, a “suspicious-activity report” filed by First Republic Bank, where Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/missing-files-motivated-the-leak-of-michael-cohens-financial-records
German government to toughen migrant family reunion rules (abcnews, May 17, 2018)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/german-government-toughen-migrant-family-reunion-rules-55228927
“Germany’s governing parties have agreed to toughen rules on family reunions for some asylum-seekers, ruling out such reunions for former extremists who have given up their beliefs.
The Cabinet last week approved legislation allowing up to 1,000 people per month granted protection short of asylum to apply for relatives to join them. Family reunions for people with that status, including many Syrians, were suspended over two years ago.
The legislation bars reunions for migrants who have committed serious crimes or are deemed to pose a risk of extremist violence. But it foresaw an exception for people who can convincingly prove they have given up their extremist beliefs, drawing criticism from within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc.
Merkel’s bloc said Thursday the governing coalition has agreed to drop the exemption.”
“Germany’s governing parties have agreed to toughen rules on family reunions for some asylum-seekers, ruling out such reunions for former extremists who have given up their beliefs.”
And these sub-morons sincerely think that this will help matters …?!?
Too little, too late, from mouth-breathing idiots who wouldn’t know their @ss from a hot rock … unless, of course, that hot rock was being thrown through the plate-glass window of an expensive boulevard storefront.
Mueller Issues Grand Jury Subpoenas to Trump Adviser’s Social Media Consultant
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued two subpoenas to a social media expert who worked for longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
The subpoenas were delivered late last week to lawyers representing Jason Sullivan, a social media and Twitter specialist Stone hired to work for an independent political action committee he set up to support Trump, Knut Johnson, a lawyer for Sullivan, told Reuters on Tuesday.
The subpoenas suggest that Mueller, who is probing Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is focusing in part on Stone and whether he might have had advance knowledge of material allegedly hacked by Russian intelligence and sent to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who published it.
https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2018-05-16/mueller-issues-grand-jury-subpoenas-to-trump-advisers-social-media-consultant
Bosnia says it will stop illegal migrant entry amid increase (abcnews, May 17, 2018)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bosnia-stop-illegal-migrant-entry-amid-increase-55228751
“Bosnia says it wants to stop the illegal entry of migrants as the Balkan country struggles with a growing influx of people trying to reach Western Europe.
Denis Zvizdic, the head of Bosnia’s Council of Ministers, or the country’s government, says police patrols will increase along the borders with Serbia and Montenegro.
Zvizdic also vowed Thursday that “we will stop the flow of migrants in any part of the territory that is not an official border crossing.”
Authorities in northwestern Velika Kladusa, dismantled an improvised migrant tent settlement this week and moved dozens of people to another location.
Migrants have recently turned to Bosnia to avoid more heavy guarded routes and borders in other Balkan countries. Hundreds have been camping outdoors in Sarajevo, the capital, and other towns.”
With Iraqi forces in control, Danes to pull out commandos (abcnews, May 17, 2018)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraqi-forces-control-danes-pull-commandos-55228459
“Denmark says it is pulling back its special forces troops that are part of an international coalition fighting the Islamic State group now that formerly IS-controlled areas of Iraq have now been recaptured by Iraqi forces.
Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen says: “We have now reached a point where we can start the pull back of our special forces” that were in Iraq as advisers and trainers, among others, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.
Samuelsen said Thursday: “It is important to stress that the fight against IS isn’t over yet,” adding Denmark would continue its contribution in the fight against IS with a radar facility and ground staff.”
“Samuelsen said Thursday: “It is important to stress that the fight against IS isn’t over yet,” adding Denmark would continue its contribution in the fight against IS with a radar facility and ground staff.”
Try getting anything done without some Viking studs on the ground.
Divisions deepen as Mueller probe hits one year
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Google+
Divisions deepen as Mueller probe hits one year
© Greg Nash
Partisan divisions over the federal investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election deepened Wednesday as new developments rippled across Capitol Hill.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) started the day with the release of more than 2,000 pages of transcripts of interviews with Donald Trump Jr. and other participants in a controversial 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer — a move that Democrats said signals an effort to prematurely end the committee’s investigation.
The Senate Intelligence Committee said it agrees with the intelligence community’s assessment (ICA) in 2016 that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an interference campaign in the U.S. election to help President Trump — breaking from its counterpart in the House.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/388078-divisions-deepen-as-mueller-probe-hits-one-year
Pakistan army kills militant wanted for slaying 100 Shiites (abcnews, May 17, 2018)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistan-army-kills-militant-wanted-slaying-100-shiites-55225864
“Pakistani troops acting on intelligence raided a militant hideout near the southwestern city of Quetta, triggering a shootout in which an intelligence officer and a notorious militant wanted for over 100 deaths of minority Shiites were killed along with two other suspects, officials said Thursday.
In a statement, the military said Wednesday’s raid was carried out in Killi Almas village in the troubled Baluchistan province.
It said three militants were killed in the shootout and they included Salman Badeni, a provincial commander of the sectarian Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group. Suhail Abid, a senior officer from military intelligence was also “martyred” during the intense firefight, the military said.
The raid came weeks after Shiites sought protection from the army, saying they had lost thousands of people in militant attacks in recent years. Sunni extremists view Shiites as apostates and they have carried out scores of attacks in Quetta and elsewhere targeting Hazara Shiite Muslims.
Also on Thursday, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck a security convoy in the northwestern town of Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, wounding at least 14 troops and passers-by, according to local police chief Mushtaq Khan.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Police said officers were transporting the wounded to hospitals.”
Pakistan army kills militant wanted for slaying 100 Shiites
Without wishing to be toooo cynical here, who does this news squib really serve?
The Shiites, of whom fewer global terrorists are getting killed? Oh joy!
Or the Sunnis, who are getting quasi-positive PR, as in; not so much bounty-hunting (for a change), and pretending to be the good guys when no one expects it?
Again, am I being just too fü¢king cynical? I won’t hate you for saying, “Yes”. But I might have to whine, piss, moan, and whinge like a spoilt brat rather than ever deny that 99.99999% of this Islamic crapulence isn’t just that … namely, Islamic.
Mueller’s team of Dem donors under fire from Trump as probe hits one-year mark
The long and winding special counsel Russia investigation that President Trump has routinely decried as a “witch hunt” hit the one-year mark on Thursday – giving Trump’s legal team an opening to renew criticism of the probe’s focus and its investigators.
“Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History…and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction,” Trump tweeted Thursday.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/17/muellers-team-dem-donors-under-fire-from-trump-as-probe-hits-one-year-mark.html
Cambridge Analytica shared data with Russia: whistleblower
Political consulting group Cambridge Analytica used Russian researchers and shared data with companies linked to Russian intelligence, a whistleblower told a congressional hearing on interference in the 2016 US election Wednesday.
Christopher Wylie, who leaked information on the British-based firm’s hijacking of data on millions of Facebook users, told a Senate panel he believes Russian intelligence services had access to data harvested by the consultancy.
Wylie told the panel that Russian-American researcher Aleksandr Kogan, who created an application to harvest Facebook user profile data, was working at the same time on Russian-funded projects, including “behavioral research.”
“This means that in addition to Facebook data being accessed in Russia, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that CA may have been an intelligence target of Russian security services…(and) that Russian security services may have been notified of the existence of CA’s Facebook data,” Wylie said in his written testimony.
Wylie added that Cambridge Analytica “used Russian researchers to gather its data, (and) openly shared information on ‘rumor campaigns’ and ‘attitudinal inoculation'” with companies and executives linked to the Russian intelligence agency FSB.
The hearing is part of a broad inquiry on both sides of the Atlantic over the misuse of Facebook data by the consulting firm working on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
https://www.afp.com/en/news/205/cambridge-analytica-shared-data-russia-whistleblower-doc-1515r31
Unapologetic Trump Jr.: Not troubled that I met with Russian
WASHINGTON (AP) — Questioned intently by a Senate committee, President Donald Trump’s son struck a firmly unapologetic tone, deflected many queries and said he didn’t think there was anything wrong with meeting a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in hopes of election-season dirt on Hillary Clinton, according to transcripts released Wednesday.
Donald Trump Jr., speaking in a closed-door interview last year with the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he did not give much thought to the idea that the June 9, 2016 meeting was part of a Russian government effort to help his father in the presidential race.
https://apnews.com/e3e8b1a897c74417be2e3f6dba08f069
Giuliani says Mueller ‘has all the facts … and he has nothing’ on Trump
President Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Wednesday night that Special Counsel Robert Mueller should wrap up his investigation into alleged collusion with Russia by the Trump campaign, saying that Mueller “has nothing.”
“It’s been a year, he’s gotten more than 1.4 million documents, he’s interviewed 28 witnesses, and he has nothing,” Giuliani said, “which is why he wants to bring the president into an interview.”
Giuliani spoke to Ingraham the same day he said that Mueller told Trump’s legal team he would follow Justice Department guidelines and not indict the sitting president.
“They have only exculpatory information about us,” he said. “I’ve been through the documents. So it’s about time to get the darn thing over with. It’s about time to say, ‘Enough. We’ve tortured this president enough.’
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/16/giuliani-says-mueller-has-all-facts-and-has-nothing-on-trump.htmlv
Richard: This is the KIm and Xi we know and loath.
Buying time? North Korea threat to cancel U.S. summit calculated to hide nukes, intel officials say
North Korea’s abrupt threat this week to pull out of the upcoming summit with President Trump was highly calculated, according to intelligence officials who say Pyongyang wanted to harden its negotiating position against a quick “Libya-style” surrender of its nuclear programs sought by the Trump White House and buy time to hide its nuclear weapons.
While U.S. officials say they believe Pyongyang’s threat — conveyed so far only via state-controlled media — was also driven by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s need to show his domestic audience he won’t “roll over” to Mr. Trump, the development raised fresh questions about the scope of Pyongyang’s nuclear operations and Mr. Kim’s willingness to abandon them.
While great uncertainty swirls around the extent of North Korea’s nuclear infrastructure, U.S. officials and private analysts say Pyongyang’s history of dragging out talks and inking agreements they have no intention of implementing is well known.
“The North Koreans have this belief they can somehow outsmart the U.S.,” said Anthony Ruggiero, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who is close with the Trump administration and has past experience negotiating with Pyongyang.
“They may be attempting to sanitize their facilities right now while also trying to buy more time for that,” he said.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/16/north-korea-summit-threat-uses-hide-nuclear-weapon/
““They may be attempting to sanitize their facilities right now while also trying to buy more time for that,” he said.”
Yet another rare glimpse of reality from one of the few sane people left on earth.
Israel says Hamas curbed Gaza protests after Egyptian warning
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinian protests on the Gaza-Israel border have dropped off over the past two days, amid reports that Egyptian officials intervened to restore calm after dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire.
Gaza’s dominant Islamist Hamas movement denied that it was under pressure from neighboring Egypt to scale back the six-week-old demonstrations, and said they would continue, although fewer Palestinians were now gathering in protest tents.
Gaza medics said two Palestinians were shot dead during Tuesday’s demonstrations along the 51 km (32 mile) border. On Monday, 60 were killed in a far greater turnout on the day that the United States relocated its Israel embassy to Jerusalem.
The bloodiest day for Palestinians in years has created a diplomatic crisis. The Palestinian Authority, which says Washington has abandoned its role as neutral arbiter in the 70-year-old conflict, withdrew its envoy from Washington. Turkey and Israel expelled each other’s ambassadors.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/israel-says-hamas-curbed-gaza-protests-egyptian-warning-110752259.html
Egypt rebukes Hamas leader over deaths in Gaza border ?riots
• Ismail Haniyeh is summoned urgently to Cairo by Egypt’s intelligence chief, told to halt riot campaign on Israel-Gaza border
• Official: Haniyeh “told, in no uncertain terms, that the blood of the dead was on his hands” and “history won’t forgive Hamas.”
http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/05/16/egypt-rebukes-hamas-leader-over-deaths-in-gaza-border-%E2%80%8Eriots/
……
Saudi Arabia and Egypt furious over Qatar, Iran meddling in effort to defuse Gaza violence
• Egypt reads Hamas leader the riot act for causing Pals’ senseless death
• Qatari mediation role negligible as it increasingly represents Iranian interests, Egyptian official says
• Hamas leader: We will continue nonviolent popular resistance.
http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/05/17/egypt-furious-over-qatar-iran-meddling-in-effort-to-defuse-gaza-violence/
……
It’s that MB connection with Hamas that Egypt can’t tolerate. Iran’s meddling drives the Saudis mad.
Haniyeh and Nasrallah. Two names that were written on sand dacades ago. Why they’ve yet to be erased is beyond me.
Lib writers say Dems should give up on white Republicans: ‘They’re just too dumb’
By LU Staff May 16, 2018
Democrats should stop trying to win over white Republican voters, say several prominent liberal writers.
That was the point of a column Washington Post writer Paul Waldman wrote on Tuesday, which liberal journalists approvingly circulated on social media, adding their agreement.
Waldman, who previously worked for left-wing group Media Matters, blamed Fox News and conservative media for the fact blue-collar Trump voters don’t vote Democrat.
“In the endless search for the magic key that Democrats can use to unlock the hearts of white people who vote Republican, the hot new candidate is ‘respect,’” Waldman snarked. “If only they cast off their snooty liberal elitism and show respect to people who voted for [President] Donald Trump, Democrats can win them over and take back Congress and the White House.”
The problem isn’t Democrats, according to Waldman — it’s that Trump voters are too uninformed to vote for Democrats.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/05/16/liberal-commentator-say-dems-should-give-up-on-winning-over-white-republicans-theyre-just-too-dumb/
Lib writers say Dems should give up on white Republicans…
Yes, please. Go away. Leave people alone instead of spewing lies, filth, and your usual sewage-passing-for-truth.
These midterm elections will be among some of the most telling in modern American history. The existing levels of polarization and Leftist violence will combine (in a binary-nerve-gas-kind-of-way) to create an unprecedented miasma of electioneering-related, poisonous fulminations that will be nothing short of spectacular to watch (neon-colored, Himalayan-salted, popcorn optional).
Either this upcoming electoral cycle illuminates moronic American politics with an actinic glare or we’re all well and truly fü¢ked.
Awan lawyer exploited civil deposition to find out what witness told FBI; probed about ‘radical Islamic activities’
A lawyer for Abid Awan — one of the three brothers who the House Inspector General found made “unauthorized access” to congressional servers before the election — used a deposition in an unrelated civil case to ask a witness to reveal what she told FBI agents, to ascertain if they asked about “radical Islamic activities,” and inquire about a grand jury.
Attorney Jim Bacon also asked the witness to try to find out details of the investigation from officials and asked whether they had offered to put her into a witness protection program. The deposition was given as part of a lawsuit regarding the Awans’ deceased father’s $50,000 life insurance policy.
Bacon asked the witness — the Awans’ stepmother, Samina Gilani — who from Capitol Hill was gathering information about the alleged hack on Congress, according to a transcript of the deposition, which was conducted in Bacon’s office.
“Come clean. That’s the best,” Bacon told her, calling it “important.”
Gilani testified that the oldest Awan brother, Imran, was wiretapping her.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/05/16/awan-lawyer-exploited-civil-deposition-to-find-out-what-witness-told-fbi-probed-about-radical-islamic-activities/
Awan lawyer exploited civil deposition to find out what witness told FBI; probed about ‘radical Islamic activities’
Yet another pluperfect example of our Constitutional Rights being weaponized against us. Legal Discovery is a critical process that helps to assure fair trails by law throughout the American States. If defense attorneys had zero prior knowledge of witness accounts and other previously-gathered evidence, how could they mount any sort of useful counter-argument?
As has been the case in other previous abuses of this vital legal process, crucial testimony and other imperative, confidential information is leaked out in ways that have often resulted in the deaths of witnesses or destruction of critical evidence.
Why am I so numbingly unsurprised at these OOOs (Otherwise Outrageous Outcomes)? This Out Of Office (OOO) sh!t just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Gunman opens fire at Illinois high school, but ‘good guy with gun’ steps in
By Ben Bowles May 17, 2018
This is Parkland in the Bizarro World. Like Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High, Dixon High School, in Dixon, Ill., had an armed resource officer on the premises as a safeguard against armed invaders. Unlike Stoneman Douglas, the “good guy with a gun” did his job in this case.
SaukValley, a local online newspaper, has the details:
This is Parkland in the Bizarro World. Like Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High, Dixon High School, in Dixon, Ill., had an armed resource officer on the premises as a safeguard against armed invaders. Unlike Stoneman Douglas, the “good guy with a gun” did his job in this case.
SaukValley, a local online newspaper, has the details:
Sheister Musk. Told ya so.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-17/tesla-will-need-over-10-billion-2020-goldman
The complainant seeks compensation in the amount of $50,000 for “immense harm to my dignity,” according to the complaint filed through the tribunal.
The complainant indicates in the application that she contacted Mad Wax in Windsor in March to inquire about getting her legs waxed. She says she also asked whether Transgender women were welcome for waxing services. After a conversation with the employee, she was told the manager would follow up.
PHOTOS
Mad Wax in Windsor
Max Wax, a business specializing in body hair removal. (CTV Windsor)
When the manager, Jason Carruthers returned her call, the complainant alleges he advised that Mad Wax does not provide waxing services to men and that his ‘waxer’ is a Muslim woman who is not comfortable waxing male parts. Carruthers also indicated no other staffwere available to perform the request.
The complainant claims to have offered to educate the manager on his duty to accommodate, then sought waxing services elsewhere.
https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/human-rights-application-launched-against-windsor-body-waxing-business-by-transgender-woman-1.3925911
Molenbeek mayor threatens legal action against Katie Hopkins
Molenbeek mayor Françoise Schepmans (photo) has threatened legal action for defamation against the British newspaper pundit Katie Hopkins over a report Hopkins made for the tabloid news channel Rebel News in which she described Molenbeek as the “jihad capital” of Europe.
In the report, Hopkins, who is not a journalist, interviews Schepmans over the fact that the mayor had been given a list of names of people to watch in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015. The list included the name, among others, of Salah Abdeslam, who was later found to have taken part in the attacks, as well as those in March 2016 which hit Zaventem and Brussels.
Schepmans explains that the local police in Molenbeek do not have the power to arrest anyone simply on suspicion of extremist activity, without more solid evidence. Hopkins later ends her report by breaking down in tears, claiming that Schepmans is shirking her responsibility.
Later, Hopkins appeared as a guest on the Fox News show of another pundit, Tucker Carlson, in which she claims Molenbeek is the “jihad capital” of Europe. She also tells the audience that police and politicians in Molenbeek turn a blind eye to radicalist activity in order to garner votes from a population she claims is 85% Muslim (the true figure is closer to 40%).
Schepmans’ complaint was triggered by a further claim by Hopkins suggesting that an explosion and fire at a warehouse in neighbouring Koekelberg might have been linked to jihad. Schepmans tweeted that the claim was “absolutely false” and accused Hopkins of “scandalous working methods”. The municipal council is due to meet on Friday, when the proposal regarding a complaint to the public prosecutor will be considered.
Katie Hopkins first came to public notice as a contestant on the reality show The Apprentice in the UK, when her abrasive personality and unfiltered opinions took her to the final, only for her to decide not to continue. She has since made a career out of peddling controversial opinions in the tabloid press and online.
http://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/11341/molenbeek-mayor-threatens-legal-action-against-katie-hopkins
“in order to garner votes” IMO that is the beginning of the end for democracy which has always been fallible to such political dishonesty and human greed. Europe direly needs backbone and order and an authoritarian leader, not ashamed to do what is necessary may well be a godsend even if for only a decade or two. However. should she or he not appear, it will finish up authoritarian and totalitarian permanently. When I read 1984 as a 12yo never did I think that in my lifetime it would be possible although the behaviour of the left currently mimics Animal Farm far better. Stakhanovites anyone? Poor old Dobbin! Just another prole fed lies who believed in the system.
France: Tear gas used as 2,000 police remove eco-activists from forest
Police used tear gas to disperse eco activists from a forest in Notre-Dame-des-Landes on Thursday which was once planned to be turned into an airport.
More than 2,000 police officers forcibly removed around 200 protesters from the Zone to Defend (ZAD) site.
Tensions erupted when police officers used tear gas against activists who were trying to protect their installations.
ZAD activist said this action is destroying the residence of people who moved their lives and their projects in Notre-Dame des Landes in pursue of a life based on eco-farming and agricultural projects.
The eco-activists came together in 2008 to protest against a proposed airport in Nantes. After the plan was abandoned around 200 activists remained at the site and refused to leave despite eviction orders and threats from the authorities.
more IDIOTS! And this from a former Green *blushes*
It is a pity that they can not do the same in paris.
more IDIOTS! And this from a former Green *blushes*
Dear Michelle,
There is absolutely no reason (to “blush” or) for experiencing any internal conflict when sorting out your political and environmental conservatism.
They both involve justifiable and reasonable Conservation of priceless and irreplaceable goals.
Be it rational human accords like, oh, let’s say, The American Constitution, or earlier renderings like the Magna Charta Libertatum.
… Just so that you know, this dyed-in-the-wool Capitalist refuses to see another single primeval Redwood or Sequoia cut or felled in my lifetime. Visit Avenue of the Giants or the Hall of Mosses (Ho River Rainforest) to enter an almost alien, prehistoric world that you will never forget.
The amount of harvestable, second–growth, lumber in this state and the Northwest Pacific regional quadrant is simply phenomenal. It merely requires far more responsible husbandry and monitoring.
What could possibly go wrong?!?
DAILY MAIL – Man, 22, has his eyes gouged out with a spoon by his father and brothers because he wanted to marry a girl of his choice in Pakistan
Abdul Baqi, 22, had told his family he wanted to marry his girlfriend
His father and brothers punished him by gouging out his eyes with a spoon
His other siblings took him to hospital, but his eyesight could not be saved
A man had his eyes gouged out with a spoon in a horrific attack by his father and brothers – because he wanted to marry a girl of his choice.
Abdul Baqi, 22, from Nasirabad village in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, had asked his family to take an engagement proposal to his girlfriend.
But the request enraged his 70-year-old father Dost Muhammmad and four brothers – Abdul Ghani, Abdul Sattar, Abdul Rehman and Abdul Karim – who then held him in a room and gouged his eyes of their sockets.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5735165/Man-22-eyes-gouged-spoon-family-wanting-marry-girlfriend.html
ahh, the religion of peace.
“ahh, the religion of peace.”
… ahh, the excision of peeps.
There, fixed that.
A police officer was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man she was trying to arrest on suspicion of attempted rape, South Yorkshire Police said.
The officer and a colleague were also hit with a wooden sign after they were called to investigate an incident in Scotland Street, Sheffield, on Friday.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted rape, assault, sexual assault, and criminal damage.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-43933664
‘A very critical clash of cultures’: Plea deal over honour killing threats saves Syrian couple from deportation
The threats were spoken in Arabic, and only came to light when Bayan Ayoub, 25, told her Canadian boyfriend, who encouraged her to go to police
A Syrian refugee couple who threatened their adult daughter with an honour killing for dating a Canadian man have made a plea deal with New Brunswick prosecutors that will save them from possible deportation back to their war-ravaged homeland.
Ahmad Ayoub, 52, and his wife Faten, 48, were freed this week after 72 days in jail, after pleading guilty to uttering threats as a summary conviction offence, and being sentenced to time served.
If they had been convicted of the more serious indictable offence of uttering threats, for which a trial was scheduled in the summer, they would have faced a sentence in the range of six months to a year, up to a maximum of two years.
More importantly, they would have faced the possibility of also being sent back to Syria, from which they escaped through Jordan, eventually settling in Fredericton in 2016, sponsored by the federal government.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/canada/a-very-critical-clash-of-cultures-plea-deal-over-honour-killing-threats-saves-syrian-couple-from-deportation/wcm/c35f2880-8db2-4d09-a5e9-db212f4b2c4d
New video purportedly shows UN influence in Gaza clashes
What would happen if everyone in these sort of videos (who were facially recognized) had all familial visa applications indefinitely suspended and their own passports IQF—Individually-Quick-Frozen—like fine Maine lobster tails? (Champagne-and-shallot–laced-beurre blanc, mignonette-based sauce, optional, of course.)
EU moves to block US sanctions on Iran
EU to activate law that bans European companies from complying with US sanctions against Iran.
The European Commission will launch the process of activating a law that bans European companies and courts from complying with US sanctions against Iran, after Washington pulled out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal.
Jean Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, said on Thursday the commission has a “duty to protect European companies” from American sanctions.
“We now need to act and this is why we are launching the process to activate the ‘blocking statute’ from 1996. We will do that tomorrow [Friday] morning at 10:30,” he told a news conference in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, after a meeting of EU leaders.
The EU wants to salvage the nuclear deal and its blocking statute is the most powerful tool at its immediate disposal, as it means EU companies won’t have to comply with US sanctions.
It also does not recognise any court rulings that enforce American penalties.
Juncker’s announcement comes after US President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the international deal with Iran, which placed limits on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia were signatories of the 2015 pact and have opposed the US pullout.
But companies around the world now face a difficult choice as Washington has threatened to punish firms that violate US sanctions by dealing with Iran.
The European Commission’s blocking statute is seen by European governments more as a political weapon than a regulation, because its rules are vague and difficult to enforce, serving mainly as a warning to the US.
Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from Sofia, said the law was “outdated”, which may limit its impact.
“The 1996 law was used to defend European businesses from US penalties for dealing with Cuba. But the US Congress has passed new laws that make the EU statute outdated,” he said.
The row over the Cuba embargo was settled politically, so the effectiveness of the blocking regulation was never put to the test.
The international reach of the US financial system and the US presence of many European companies also raise questions about the statute’s effectiveness.
Juncker said the European Commission has decided to allow the European Investment Bank to facilitate European companies’ investment in Iran for the first time. That could allow more euro-dominated loans to Iran.
Russia and China also moved on Thursday to extend their economic influence in Iran.
In the Kazakh capital, Astana, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union trade bloc signed an interim trade deal with Iran that lowers tariffs on hundreds of goods.
The bloc, which also comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, plans to begin three years of talks with Iran that aim to create a free trade zone.
Meanwhile, Bijan Zangeneh, Iran’s oil minister, said that Chinese state-owned oil company CNPC was ready to replace Total on a major gas field project in Iran if the French energy giant pulls out.
Total had warned on Wednesday that it will pull out of the multi-billion dollar project to develop the vast South Pars gas field, which started in July 2017, unless it is granted a waiver by US authorities.
Danish shipping giant Maersk Tankers also said Thursday it would cease its activities in Iran, while German insurer Allianz has also announced it plans to wind down its business deals there.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/eu-moves-block-sanctions-iran-180517134848253.html
EU to launch moves to block US sanctions on Iran Friday: Juncker
The EU will on Friday begin moves to block the effect of US sanctions on Iran in the bloc, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said, as part of efforts to preserve the nuclear deal with Tehran.
“We will begin the ‘blocking statute’ process, which aims to neutralise the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions in the EU. We must do it and we will do it tomorrow morning at 10:30,” Juncker said at a summit in Sofia on Thursday.
The European Union is trying to find ways to keep Iran in the 2015 accord by safeguarding the economic benefits Tehran gained in return for giving up its nuclear programme, after US President Donald Trump abruptly pulled out of the deal.
The “blocking statute” is a 1996 regulation originally created to get around Washington’s trade embargo on Cuba.
It prohibits EU companies and courts from complying with specific foreign sanctions laws and says no foreign court judgments based on these laws have any effect in the EU.
But the row with the United States over the Cuba embargo was settled politically, so the effectiveness of the blocking regulation has never been put to the test.
Its value may lie more as a bargaining chip with Washington than its legal effectiveness, and last week an EU source acknowledged that the “political symbolic effect is potentially bigger than the economic effect”.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/299702/World/Region/EU-to-launch-moves-to-block-US-sanctions-on-Iran-F.aspx
EU’s Juncker: Europe Must Replace US as Leader After Trump Quits Iran Deal
[…]”At this point, we have to replace the United States, which as an international actor has lost vigor, and because of it, in the long term, influence,” the EU chief said, suggesting that Europe should take over the US’ role as global leader.
[…]
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201805101064314245-juncker-eu-replace-us-iran-deal/
MUSLIM CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR COMES UNHINGED OVER SHARIA
Says to GOP opponent: ‘You may not hate Muslims, but Muslims definitely hate you!’
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270165/muslim-candidate-governor-comes-unhinged-over-leo-hohmann
“Unhinged” Ohh so polite and so typical of the frail & fragile muslim male ego.
WINDSOR ONT – Transgender woman files human rights complaint against Windsor spa
The owner of a local waxing spa is mounting a public campaign to clear the name of his business after he was served a human rights complaint for denying service to a transgender woman.
Jason Carruthers, the president of Mad Wax on Walker Road, said he was surprised at the legal move since he had explained to the complainant that the spa did not offer Brazilian wax services on male body parts.
“I have no male wax staff,” Carruthers said Friday. “We are not able to provide that service.”
A local transgender woman claims she was denied services based on her gender identity and gender expression and is seeking $50,000 for “immense harm to my dignity.”
The complainant, who has asked to remain anonymous, said she called the spa March 17, 2018, to inquire about services for a transgender woman.
Following a conversation with an employee, she asked to speak with the owner. Carruthers said he called her back and explained that the female employee working that day was a practising Muslim who refrains from physical contact with males outside of her family.
He further explained the only staff member he had who did male waxing was off on a sick leave and there was no one else.
Carruthers said he decided to go public with the issue because of a derogatory video about his business that was posted online and threats from the complainant to create “a media circus.”
He said his business has no policy against serving transgender clients.
“I once again reiterate and state my position and the position of Mad Wax Windsor Inc. that all clients, regardless of sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, are welcome,” he said in a statement. “However, we also welcome and support all of our staff members and respect their religious beliefs and feelings of safety and dignity in regards to the right to perform waxing services on males or male genitals.”
He said it was clear from his conversation with the complainant that the services sought were for a Brazilian wax and not leg waxing as has been suggested since.
Carruthers said 98 per cent of the spa’s clientele is female and all of his staff are female. The spa has done waxing on the arms and backs of male clients in the past.
“When we’ve been asked about a male Brazilian wax in the past we tell them we’re not able to provide that service and they move on,” Carruthers said. ”It’s never been a issue.”
The complainant referred questions to her Toronto lawyer, Megan Evans Maxwell.
“There’s not much I can say right now because the matter is before the tribunal,” Maxwell said.
Carruthers’ lawyer, Ray Colautti, said the next step is for the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to arrange a meeting between both parties with a mediator. If the issue can’t be resolved it would move on to an official tribunal hearing.
http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/transgender-woman-files-human-rights-complaint-against-windsor-spa
Left on Left cannibalism. What’s not to like? Throw them all under the bus and get it over with.
Jack Buckby’s Very Special Ramadan Message
euronews – US Senate intelligence committee confirms Russia interfered in presidential election
Typical leftist mouthpieces.
FBI and DOJ in turmoil over handling of Clinton emails
DOJ Inspector General submits draft report on FBI’s handling of Clinton email probe; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Washington.
This has interesting potential.
“Against President Trump | America’s Rising Judicial Tyranny”
Stefan Molyneux – Published on May 16, 2018
“Minnesota Somalis: You’re old and we are taking over”
Ann Corcoran – May 13, 2018
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2018/05/13/minnesota-somalis-youre-old-and-we-are-taking-over/
“Democrat-run city building 6-foot fence around migrant housing complex to keep ‘intruders’ out” Leo Hohmann – May 8, 2018
https://leohohmann.com/2018/05/08/democrat-run-city-building-6-foot-fence-around-migrant-housing-complex-to-keep-intruders-out/
“WATCH: TGP’s Lucian Wintrich Discusses The Immigration Crisis And His New Art Film On InfoWars’ War Room With Owen Shroyer”
Gateway Pundit – May 17, 2018
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/05/watch-tgps-lucian-wintrich-discusses-the-immigration-crisis-and-his-new-art-film-on-infowars-war-room-with-owen-shroyer/
“WAR ROOM (2nd HOUR) Wed – 5/16/18 • Lucian Wintrich, Brandon Tatum, News • Alex Jones Infowars”
Owen Shroyer – Published on May 16, 2018
“Democrat-run city building 6-foot fence around migrant housing complex to keep ‘intruders’ out”
But, “The Wall”, to ‘keep intruders out’, is cruelty personified.
This barrier in Minneapolis (“Mini-hopeless”), however, is much more humane…
Minnesota Somalis: You’re old and we are taking over
Is that a whiff of Elder Abuse™, I detect?!?
Where’s the outcry and incendiary outrage at such a clear-cut threat against a senior population in America’s heartland?
Oh, wait. It’s just a gaggle of superannuated, obsolete, farm equipment that were imported for No Specific Reason™, save creating Mendicant Voter Plantations™ and unparalleled drains upon this nation’s already brittle heath-care system.
What could possibly go wrong?!?
BREITBART – Masters of the Universe: Leaked Video Shows Google’s Vision of ‘Total Data Collection’
http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/05/17/masters-of-the-universe-leaked-video-shows-googles-vision-of-total-data-collection/
============================================
GOOGLE’S SELFISH LEDGER IS AN UNSETTLING VISION OF SILICON VALLEY SOCIAL ENGINEERING
This internal video from 2016 shows a Google concept for how total data collection could reshape society
https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/17/17344250/google-x-selfish-ledger-video-data-privacy
First off, well worth nine minutes of your time. Google’s ambitions are terrifying.
Secondly, speaking as a scientific person, all of these identifications and mappings of human personality have been part of a psycho-psychiatric goal cherished by countless investigators for decades.
That this quantitative and empirical work should be emerging from the Yawning Gates of Hell™ (i.e., MS and Google … in that order) is the stuff of absolute nightmares.
May 17, 2018: Ep. 722 The Whole Scandal Comes Crashing Down
https://www.bongino.com/may-17-2018-ep-722-the-whole-scandal-comes-crashing-down/
BOMBSHELL: FBI Used Secret Program To Gather Information On Trump Campaign, No Judge Needed, Report Says
A report released by The New York Times on Wednesday revealed that the FBI, under Director James Comey’s leadership, used a secret program that does not require the approval of a judge to gather phone records and “other documents” on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
The report also revealed that a government informant met several times with Trump campaign officials, which validates a March 8, 2018 report from The Washington Post. The New York Times reports:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/30740/bombshell-fbi-used-secret-warrantless-program-spy-ryan-saavedra