Reader’s Links for September 6, 2018

Daily Links Post graphic

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

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

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

About Eeyore

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

123 Replies to “Reader’s Links for September 6, 2018”

  1. UK – NORTHERN IRELAND – BELFAST – Jolene Bunting mocked Famine and insulted Islam, watchdog is told

    BELFAST – An independent councillor who made light of the Famine damaged the reputation of Belfast city council, a hearing of Northern Ireland’s local government watchdog was told yesterday.

    The local government commissioner for standards is looking into 14 complaints against Jolene Bunting about disparaging comments she made on Islam at council meeting

    […]Ms Bunting also endorsed anti-Muslim comments by Jayda Fransen, of the far-right group Britain First, at the Northern Ireland Against Terrorism rally at Belfast City Hall on August 6 last year. Fransen, who was jailed in England in March for religiously-aggravated harassment […]

    =====================================================
    Jolene Bunting accused of causing ‘reputational damage to Belfast City Council’

    The conduct of independent councillor Jolene Bunting has caused “a level of reputational damage to Belfast City Council”, a hearing by Northern Ireland’s local government watchdog has been told.

    The claim was made in a statement given by the council’s chief executive, Suzanne Wylie.

    The Local Government Commissioner for Standards is looking into 14 complaints about Ms Bunting’s behaviour.

    On Tuesday, acting commissioner Ian Gordon chaired an interim hearing at the Resolution Centre in Belfast.

    It follows an interim report by deputy commissioner Paul McFadden, which recommends that it is in the public interest for Ms Bunting to be suspended for six months.

    Counsel for the deputy commissioner outlined to the hearing areas of the councillor’s code of conduct to which the complaints against Ms Bunting relate.

    These include an onus to represent the whole community, to promote good relations and act as a positive example.

    He outlined details of the complaints.

    These included Ms Bunting’s endorsement of comments made by Britain First frontwoman Jayda Fransen during the Northern Ireland Against Terrorism rally at Belfast City Hall on August 6 2017.

    Ms Fransen made a number of remarks about the Muslim faith, for which she is facing criminal charges.

    The complaints against Ms Bunting also include a video during which she and Ms Fransen speak to the camera while standing in front of the Belfast Islamic Centre, comments she made about Islam at council meetings, and a frog meme which was perceived by some to be sectarian.

    In Ms Wylie’s statement to the commissioner, she raised two matters.

    The first was that a number of councillors had approached her with concerns over the frog meme which Ms Bunting had tweeted.

    The second was an incident during which Ms Fransen filmed a video for her supporters while sitting in the Lord Mayor’s chair in Belfast City Hall dressed in councillor’s robes.

    The hearing was told that no permission had been sought for the visit.

    In her statement, Ms Wylie said it was unacceptable for the council chamber to be used in this way.

    She added that Ms Bunting’s conduct has “caused a level of reputational damage to Belfast City Council”.

    Ms Wylie also expressed concern that Ms Bunting could go on to cause “serious reputational damage” to the council.

    It is unusual for an interim hearing to take place as part of the process, and occurred in this case because of the number of complaints against Ms Bunting.

    A number of members of Britain First, including leader Paul Golding, watched proceedings from the public gallery.

    Ms Bunting had previously been associated with the far-right group, but earlier this year there was a falling-out.

    The investigations into the complaints is continuing, with the full hearing set to take place at a later date.

    Potential penalties include disqualification as a councillor.

    The interim hearing is set to resume on Tuesday afternoon.

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jolene-bunting-mocked-famine-and-insulted-islam-watchdog-is-told-9pxvn79q3
    ============================================

    video – AUGUST 2017

  2. Anger as Italy arrests Tunisian fishermen ‘rescuing migrants’ (BBC, Sep 6, 2018)
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45439513

    “Italy has been urged to release six Tunisian fishermen who were arrested at sea on suspicion of smuggling migrants.

    Supporters of the fishermen, from the south-east coastal town of Zarzis, say their colleagues were simply aiding a boat in distress.

    The boat, carrying 14 people, was trying to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa last week.

    One of the arrested fishermen is Chamseddine Bourassine, president of the Association of Fishermen in Zarzis.

    He is a local legend in the town, reports the BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tunis.

    A small protest was held outside the Italian embassy in the Tunisian capital, calling for the men’s release.

    One of those present was Mohamed Murad, 22, who is also from Zarzis and was on the boat in distress. He told our correspondent that the engine stopped working, and they were “floating in the middle of the sea and there were children with us crying… it was a situation you couldn’t even imagine”.

    He said Mr Bourassine and his fellow fishermen found them, and gave them something to eat.

    After failing to persuade the migrants to return to Tunisia, the fisherman then said he would try to contact the Italian authorities, with no luck.

    “So he tugged us a little further where the Italian coastguard can find us, and it was at a time when our boat would have only lasted for a short time and capsized and we would have died… then the Italian coastguard came and took us.”

    Mr Bourassine, he said, should not be in prison, “he should be honoured” for preventing the deaths of 14 people.

    The Italian coastguard doubts the story given, saying it has no record of an SOS call being made to the Italian coastguard either by the fishermen or the migrants.

    The men now stand accused of aiding illegal migrants and could face a 15-year sentence if convicted.”

  3. CHEMNITZ – Rainer Wendt zur Rolle der Polizei bei den Ausschreitungen in Chemnitz am 05.09.18

  4. Savannah, GA — A rather shocking, but not surprising report this week out of Georgia reveals the unsettling state of America’s election and voting system. Voters in Georgia are now reporting that after they confirm their votes, they watch on the screen as their ballots mysteriously switch to the opposite candidate.

    Later this month, a federal judge will hear the case against the Georgia government for their utter failure at maintaining sound election processes and their lack of maintaining a paper ballot record as well.

    According to WSAV, the Secretary of State, Brian Kemp is facing a federal lawsuit because he’s reluctant to make the change before the upcoming November 6 election. While Kemp says he does agree the system needs updating, he’s fighting to delay it citing confusion and cost.

    https://dcdirtylaundry.com/georgia-voters-in-mid-term-elections-report-watching-their-votes-mysteriously-switched/

  5. GERMANY -CHEMNITZ – D.u.n.j.a H.a.y.a.l.i

    BILD – RIESEN-ZOFF BEI DUNJA HAYALI

    AfD-Sprecher attackiert Göring-Eckhardt

    Es wird immer schlimmer: Gewalt auf den Straßen, Hassparolen an den Mikrofonen, die Polizei im Ausnahmezustand, die Politik tief im Parteienzank. Dunja Hayali fragt: „Wie geht es weiter nach Chemnitz?“

    https://www.bild.de/politik/talk-kritik/talk-kritk/dunja-hayali-afd-sprecher-meuthen-attackiert-katrin-goering-eckardt-57091626.bild.html

    Meuthen und Göring-Eckardt über Chemnitz – Streitgespräch bei Dunja Hayali vom 05.09.2018 | ZDF

  6. Just because you have the right to your opinion doesn’t mean you should always share them with the world.

    Apparently David Booth isn’t about that life.

    Instead, the former NHL forward decided late Wednesday night to send the following tweet to his almost 60,000 Twitter followers:

    David Booth
    ?
    @D_Booth7
    “Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything” does this mean you can fly a plane into a building? How can so many people @Nike be this ignorant as to the logical fallacy this entails. This is absolute absurd. I really don’t understand. Why would u support this?

    11:56 PM – Sep 5, 2018
    311
    703 people are talking about this

    https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/former-nhl-player-david-booth-rips-colin-kaepernick-nike-ad-155249536.html

    • Exactly. Fly a plane into a building. Or put a explosive vest on you and detonate in metro somewhere in Europe.
      This is instruction. Not only a tweet.

  7. Things are heating up in the USA: The New York Times OpEd piece just brought us closer to open civil war

  8. Late last month, Ramin Parsa, a Christian pastor who fled Iran as a religious refugee, was arrested for privately sharing his faith testimony in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. He fled persecution in Iran and Turkey, only to find persecution in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

    “I came to the U.S. as a political and religious — as a Christian — refugee. They oppressed me for my faith in Iran. I was stabbed in Iran,” Parsa told PJ Media in an interview on Tuesday. Then last week, he was arrested for a private conversation about his faith, handcuffed to a metal chair for four hours without water, and later charged with trespassing.

    “These things might happen in other countries, oppressive dictatorships, but not in America,” the pastor said.

    https://pjmedia.com/faith/ex-muslim-christian-pastor-refugee-from-iran-arrested-for-sharing-his-testimony-in-minnesota/

    • Please go to ThirdRailTalk.com for the details and audio with Pastor Parsa. As an ex-muslim he was answering questions from two Somalian women why he converted and a third Somalian woman told security he was harrassing them to which they denied this was the case. This is what happens when you are fearful of other points of view and prevent critical thought. Our civilization was built on critical thought, the Golden Rule (found in the Bible) and the soverignty of the individual which are loathed in Islam. Islam has NO place here because it is primarily a political system intent on supremecy. They have no intention of assimilation but of dominance establishing sharia on our dime. The moronic polititicans of my state Minnesota refuse to learn what Islam truly is while they drown in political correctness pandoring for votes. They are full of pride and ignorance. Our destruction is well under way while they bow and comply to this evil ideology masked as a religion. Who else but an evil genius could create this system but the father of lies. We the people need to wake up, get informed and send them all home!

  9. Turkish Radio and Television – TRT – The far-right’s myth of South African ‘white genocide’

    Donald Trump has tweeted about the persecution of white farmers in South Africa, but there’s just no reliable data to suggest white farmers are targeted any more than anyone else in the country.

    Why has the far-right in North America and Europe taken up a cause based on conspiracy so far beyond their borders?

  10. Lawmakers opened an investigation into a second U.S.-based environmental group over its ties to the Chinese government
    Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee asked the World Resources Institute to turn over documents
    “WRI leadership regularly interacts with senior Chinese government and Communist party officials and provides public support for Chinese environmental programs,” lawmakers wrote
    Congressional Republicans have opened an investigation into a second U.S.-based environmental group over its ties to the Chinese government.

    https://www.conservativedailynews.com/2018/09/foreign-agents-congress-investigates-a-second-us-environmental-group-over-chinese-ties/

  11. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Thursday released emails from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time as a White House counsel, escalating a heated fight over his documents.

    Booker released approximately 12 pages of emails tied to discussions Kavanaugh had on racial inequality including one email thread titled “racial profiling.”

    The documents are marked “committee confidential,” meaning they were not supposed to be discussed or released publicly.

    The move comes after Booker said during a heated debate on Kavanaugh’s third day before the Judiciary Committee that he would release the email thread.

    “I am right now, before your process is finished, I am going to release the email about racial profiling, and I understand the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate,” Booker said at the hearing.

    Booker acknowledged that he would be “knowingly violating the rules.”

    But according to a spokesman for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Booker was not breaking any confidentiality rules.

    “Restrictions were waived before 4:00 AM this morning and made ready for release,” the spokesman said in an email.

    http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/405345-booker-releases-confidential-kavanaugh-documents

  12. Opinion: The surprising reasons why Trump’s trade wars will boost U.S. jobs — and stocks

    What if President Donald Trump’s trade war leads to less protectionism and more global prosperity? What if Trump’s deregulation of business unchains the animal spirits of businesses, especially smaller ones that arguably have been more stymied by regulations than large ones? What if jobs actually do come back to the U.S.?

    What if the pace of technological innovation is increasing, disrupting business models in ways that keep a lid on inflation and finally boost productivity? What if the growth of distressed asset funds has created a shock absorber in the capital markets, reducing the severity of credit crunches? What if baby-boomers downsize while millennials remain minimalists?

    I can go on, but we have enough to work with in this list of “what ifs.” So let’s explore the implications of these mostly bullish possibilities:

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-surprising-reasons-why-trumps-trade-wars-will-boost-us-jobs-and-stocks-2018-09-04

  13. The British Labour Party’s New Definition of Anti-Semitism

    by Denis MacEoin
    September 6, 2018 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12965/labour-party-antisemitism
    Send
    Print
    Share

    Britain’s Labour Party, which remains the chief opposition to the current Conservative government, has struggled to throw off a reputation for condoning anti-Semitism and harbouring large numbers of anti-Semites in its ranks. Revelation after revelation of anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist, and anti-Israel utterances, resolutions, and internal investigations have brought the party into serious disrepute and given the media and their political opponents endless opportunities justifiably to label the party with charges of racism. Anti-racism is, quite rightly, a value presumably respected by most people. Writing in British Future in April, Sunder Katwala says he spoke to an anti-racism rally for his local Labour group:

  14. Migrants’ desperate dash to catch lorries to the UK (skynews, Sep 6, 2018)
    https://news.sky.com/story/migrants-desperate-dash-to-catch-lorries-to-the-uk-11491961

    “The problems and the tensions with migration at the French port of Calais are well-established.

    But in a sleepy Normandy fishing port four hours to the west, Sky News has found the tensions and strains have spread.

    The town of Ouistreham is now a growing focus for young African men and boys trying to reach the UK.

    It’s 10am and, while locals shop at the fish market and sip coffee at the town’s cafes, scores of young men are dashing after trucks heading to the port right in plain sight of everyone…”

  15. CDC Investigating After Multiple Passengers Fall Ill On Separate International Flights Coming Into Philadelphia International Airport

    HILADELPHIA (CBS) — Multiple passengers fell ill on separate international flights coming into Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday.

    Officials say 12 passengers arriving at the airport on American Airlines flights from Paris and Munich experienced flu-like symptoms. Multiple ambulances were dispatched to the airport.

    All 250 passengers and crew on the flights were held for a medical review and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was notified to investigate.

    The CDC, Philadelphia Health Department and the Philadelphia Fire Department personnel performed medical evaluations on the passengers.

    The passengers who did not fall ill are in the process of being released.

    It’s not yet known what caused the people to become sick.

    No one was transported.

    https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/09/06/philadelphia-international-airport-cdc-investigating-multiple-passengers-sick-international-flights/

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

    Newsweek :

    https://www.newsweek.com/philadelphia-airport-flights-sick-passengers-cdc-paris-germany-1110019

  16. The Laramie office of the Albany County Republican Party was vandalized, with an item of furniture inside of the office being set on fire. The damage was discovered early this morning on September 6th, and was believed to have been caused late on the night of September 5th.
    Ben McKay, Chairman of the Albany County Republican Party said that the damage appears to be minimal, and is definitely not as bad as it could have been.
    “One of our executive committee members was called by our landlord. Luckily the fire didn’t spread, luckily no one was injured,” McKay said. “Everyone’s safe and it was localized to our building and didn’t damage the historic structures down there.”

    http://laramielive.com/albany-county-republican-party-office-vandalized-set-on-fire/

  17. Iran Admits: Regime ‘Worked Closely’ With Soros

    A new report from Israel National News alleges Iran’s authoritarian regime has a powerful, secret ally – George Soros and his network of Open Society Foundations. (Israel National News)
    Read more at http://americanactionnews.com/articles/iran-admits-regime-worked-closely-with-soros#MXo9UbPorDMOg2Sy.99

    Iran admits: Regime working with Soros organization

    Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif says government working ‘closely’ with George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif said Sunday that the Iranian government has worked closely with billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) organization.

    Zarif made the remarks in response to questions raised in the Iranian parliament. According to Zarif, the activity began before he entered his current position, and he boasted that he had succeeded in “keeping the activity organized.”

    OSF has funded a number of far-left organizations in Israel which seek to change the policy of Israel’s government.

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251472

  18. Spain restores free healthcare for illegal migrants (gulfnews, Sep 6, 2018)
    https://gulfnews.com/news/europe/spain/spain-restores-free-healthcare-for-illegal-migrants-1.2275507

    “Spain’s parliament approved on Thursday a draft law tabled by the country’s new Socialist government which restores free healthcare for undocumented migrants, a right removed in 2012 by the former conservative administration.

    While the Socialists have a minority of just 84 seats in the 350-seat assembly, the measure introduced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez shortly after he came to power in June passed with 177 votes in favour and 133 against.

    It grants undocumented migrants access to public health “under the same conditions as people who have Spanish nationality.”

    Sanchez’s conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy withdrew the right to public healthcare for undocumented migrants in 2012 as part of a programme of spending cuts as Spain grappled with a financial crisis.

    Several regional governments responded by giving undocumented migrants access to healthcare and Rajoy’s government in 2015 reinstated access to emergency healthcare.

    “Health does not know borders, identity papers, or work permits,” Health Minister Carmen Monton told lawmakers before the measure was voted on…”

  19. Study: Islam is the World’s Fastest Growing Religion (moroccoworldnews, Sep 6, 2018)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/09/253125/study-islam-christianity-judaism-religion/

    “Islam is broadening its influence everywhere as it is speedily growing across the globe.

    According to a Pew Research Center study published in April 2017, out of the 7.6 billion people on the earth, 84 percent belong to an organized religion.

    The study was based on numbers from 2015.

    While Christianity forms the largest religious group, with 31.2 percent of the world population, Islam is growing more than twice as fast as the overall world population between 2015 and 2060, according to the study.

    Islam is predicted to outpace Christianity as the globe’s largest religious group in the second half of this century.

    Pew’s study forecasted an increase of the world’s population by 32 percent in the coming decades.

    However, the number of Muslims is expected to grow by 70 percent: from 1.8 billion in 2015 to an estimated 3 billion in 2060.

    Muslims made up 24.1 percent of the world’s population in 2015.

    The number of Muslims is set to grow because of the “fact that Muslims have the youngest median age (24 in 2015) of all major religious groups, more than seven years younger than the median age of non-muslims (32),” the study finds.

    More than 1/3 of Muslims are in Africa and the Middle East

    The study shows that more than a third of those who identify as Muslims live in Africa and the Middle East. The two regions are also predicted to have the highest increases in numbers of Muslims.

    “But even within these high-growth regions – as well as others – Muslims are projected to grow faster than members of other groups,” the study said.

    The increase in the number of Muslims in the world was projected because of the growing population in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with a younger median age and higher fertility levels in the region.

    Pew’s findings also forecast an increase in the number of Muslims across the world, except in Latin America and the Caribbean due to the small number of Muslims who live there.

    According to Pew, the number of Muslims in India is growing faster and will reach 19.4 percent by 2060.

    Other religions, like Judaism and Hinduism are also set to grow by 15 percent and 27 percent, respectively, between 2015 and 2026.

    Despite losing its influence compared to Islam, Christianity will also see an increase of 34 percent, owing to the number of Christians in sub-Saharan countries in Africa.

    Religion-phobia still a struggle

    Despite Islam’s remarkable influence in the world, extremism and radicalization linked to the religion have impacted views of Muslims.

    Muslims living in non-Muslim-majority countries are subjected to oppression due to their religion.

    A 2017 study by the center, which used FBI statistics, showed that assaults on Muslims in the US have “easily surpassed” the previous modern peak of attacks on Muslims in 2001.

    The research showed that there were 127 reported violent crimes in 2016 compared to 91 in 2015 and 93 in 2001.

    Hate crimes not only target Muslims, but also Jews. Pew said that hate crimes targeting Jews in the US increased in 2016 to 684.”

  20. Morocco’s BCIJ Dismantles New Terror Cell (moroccoworldnews, Sep 6, 2018)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/09/253105/morocco-bcij-agadir-tetouan-terror-cell/

    “Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) has dismantled a three-member terror cell operating in Tetouan and Agadir.

    Police arrested the suspects for their alleged ties with ISIS today.

    The three suspects are all in their mid-twenties, aged 25 and 26.

    A statement from the Ministry of Interior announced that during the arrest, police seized knives, electronic devices, a military uniform, and extremist notes and plans to incite people to violence.

    The statement added that the three-member cell was planning to undermine security and stability in the country through explosive devices and toxic substances.

    The suspects will be put in jail depending on the results of the investigation under the supervision of the prosecutor.

    Dozens arrested earlier this year

    Throughout the year, BCIJ carried out several operations dismantling terror cells with alleged links to ISIS.

    Authorities conducted the latest operation in July, arresting seven pro-ISIS extremists operating between Zaouiat Cheikh (central Morocco), Oulad Teima (near Agadir), and Marrakech.

    The suspects were also promoting propaganda for ISIS through campaigns praising terror acts.

    In another BCIJ operation, police arrested four suspects on July 2 in four Moroccan cities.

    On May 14, BCIJ also arrested four ISIS suspects in Fez, Casablanca, Kenitra (near Rabat), and Driouch (in northern Morocco).

    The operation was the second to occur in May, as a security cooperation between Spain and Morocco resulted in the arrest of a five-member terror cell in northern Morocco and Spain.

    BCIJ also dismantled a cell in the cities of Oued Zem ( near Khouribga in central Morocco) and Tangier in March.

    On February 21, the BCIJ dismantled a terror cell made up of six extremist supporters of ISIS in Tangier, including one member of the Polisario Front.

    BCIJ’s ‘anticipatory philosophy’

    In response to terror threats, especially after Marrakech’s terror attack in 2011, Morocco modernized and upgraded its security system to fight radicalization and organized crime.

    The country’s efforts were welcomed in several reports from the US State Department…”

  21. BREAKING: Russia WARNING – Putin preparing to ATTACK area in Syria occupied by US troops (express, Sep 7, 2018)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1014203/Syria-Russia-Putin-US-Idlib-military-troops-news-latest

    “RUSSIA has sent two stark warnings to the US this week, claiming it is prepared to attack an area where dozens of US troops are currently located, US defence officials have revealed.

    Russia says there are already militants in an area, which is protected by the US military.

    Officials claimed the US-led anti-ISIS coalition base at Al Tanf could be a risk.

    Al-Tanf is a military base located 24km to the west from the al-Tanf border crossing between Syria and Iraq in Homs Governorate.

    Given its location, the base constitutes a strategic point for the US, but Iran and Russia are competing for influence in the area…”

  22. Brazil presidential candidate injured in knife attack

    A presidential election candidate has been attacked with a knife while campaigning in Brazil.

    Right-wing front runner Jair Bolsonaro was attacked with a knife on Thursday – but escaped with just minor injuries, his son said.

    Images shared on social media and television showed Mr Bolsonaro being carried on the shoulders of his supporters before a man lunged at his stomach.

    “Thank God it was barely superficial and he’s fine,” Flavio Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter about the incident in Minas Gerais state, in the country’s southeast.

    The apparent attacker was detained by several of Mr Bolsonaro’s supporters before the video cuts out.

    Mr Bolsonaro, a 63-year-old former army captain, was taken to a nearby hospital in the town of Juiz de Fora, police said.

    With jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ruled out of the 7 October election, the latest polls from the Ibope Institute put Mr Bolsonaro in a clear lead with 22% compared to 12% each for environmentalist Marina Silva and center-left runner Ciro Gomes.

    One of his campaign pledges has been to legalize the carrying of weapons in order to combat rising violent crime.

    Despite being a long-serving member of Congress, he has successfully presented himself as an outsider, untouched by the corruption scandals engulfing so much of the political elite.

    Yet he’s also courted controversy with comments about homosexuals, women and victims under the 1964-85 military dictatorship.

    Sometimes described as Brazil’s Donald Trump, he has a huge social media following of 8.5 million people.

    https://www.rte.ie/news/2018/0906/992134-brazil-election-attack/

    Brazilian candidate stabbed, gets to hospital ‘almost dead’

    RIO DE JANEIRO — Jair Bolsonaro, a leading Brazilian presidential candidate whose heated rhetoric has electrified some voters and angered others in a deeply polarized electorate, was stabbed during a campaign event Thursday and was undergoing surgery.

    Officials and his son said the far-right candidate was in stable condition, though the son also said Bolsonaro suffered severe blood loss and arrived at the hospital “almost dead.”

    Numerous videos on social media showed Bolsonaro, who has promised to crack down on crime in Latin America’s largest nation, being stabbed with a knife to the lower part of his stomach. At the moment of the attack, Bolsonaro was on the shoulders of a supporter, looking out at the crowd and giving a thumbs up with his left hand.

    After the attack, he is seen flinching and then goes out of view. Other videos show supporters carrying him to a car and hitting a man who was apparently the attacker.

    Police spokesman Flavio Santiago confirmed to The Associated Press that his attacker had been arrested.

    Bolsonaro was taken to a hospital in the city he was campaigning, Juiz de Fora, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) north of Rio de Janeiro, and was in good condition, Santiago said.

    Santiago said the attacker was identified as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira. He said the suspect was beaten badly by Bolsonaro supporters after the attack. The man was arrested in 2013 for another assault, police said.

    Luis Boudens, president of the National Federation of Federal Police, told AP that the assailant appeared to be mentally disturbed.

    “Our agents there said the attacker said he was ‘on a mission from God,’” Boudens reported. “Their impression is that they were not dealing with a mentally stable person. He didn’t expect to be arrested so quickly; agents reacted in seconds.”

    In a statement, the hospital said Bolsonaro was in surgery but did not elaborate.

    Bolsonaro’s son, Flavio Bolsonaro, initially posted on Twitter that the injury was superficial and his father was fine. However, an hour later he posted another tweet saying the wound was “worse than we thought.”

    Flavio said the puncture had hit parts of his father’s liver, lung and intestines and he lost a lot of blood.

    He arrived at the hospital “almost dead,” Flavio wrote. “His condition now seems stabilized. Please pray.”

    A statement from federal police said the candidate had bodyguards. In the videos, Bolsonaro does not appear to be wearing a protective vest. Such measures are rare for candidates in Brazil.

    “This episode is sad,” President Michel Temer told reporters in Brasilia. “We won’t have a rule of law if we have intolerance.”

    Bolsonaro, a former army captain, is second in the polls to jailed ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been barred from running but continues to appeal.

    Despite being a congressman since 1991, Bolsonaro is running as an outsider ready to upend the establishment by cracking down on corruption in politics and reducing crime, in part by giving police a more free hand to shoot and kill while on duty.

    While Bolsonaro has a strong following, he is also a deeply polarizing figure. He has been fined, and even faced charges, for derogatory statements toward women, blacks and gays.

    He speaks nostalgically about the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship and has promised to fill his government with current and former military leaders. His vice presidential running mate is a retired general.

    Earlier this week, Bolsonaro said during a campaign event that he would like to shoot corrupt members of the leftist Workers’ Party, which made da Silva its candidate. The comment prompted an immediate rebuke from the attorney general, who asked Bolsonaro to explain that comment.

    In a sign of how polarized Brazilian politics has become, people took to Twitter Thursday night to either to decry the stabbing and ask for prayers for Bolsonaro or to say that the candidate had brought it upon himself and even may have staged it.

    The top five trending topics in Brazil were related to the stabbing, and someone even created an account for the knife, whose tweets had been retweeted thousands of times just hours after the attack.

    Other presidential candidates quickly denounced the stabbing.

    “Politics is done through dialogue and by convincing, never with hate,” tweeted Gerado Alckmin, former governor of Sao Paulo who has focused negative ads on Bolsonaro.

    Fernando Haddad, who is expected to take da Silva’s place on the Workers’ Party ticket, called the attack “absurd and regrettable.”

    The attack comes at a time of increasingly heated rhetoric, and sometimes violence, related to campaigns and candidates.

    In March, while da Silva was on a campaign tour in southern Brazil before his imprisonment, gunshots hit buses in his caravan. No one was hurt, and da Silva, who is in jail on a corruption conviction, was not in the vehicles that were hit.

    Also in March, Marielle Franco, a black councilwoman in Rio de Janeiro, was shot to death along with her driver after attending an event on empowering black women.

    It wasn’t immediately clear how the attack on Bolsonaro might reshape a presidential race very much up in the air with the front-runner, da Silva, in jail. In many ways, the incident feeds Bolsonaro’s narrative that Brazil is in chaos and needs a strong hand to steady it.

    “It’s likely that Bolsonaro will use the attack to argue his opponents are desperate, that they had no other way to stop him,” said Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at Rio de Janeiro’s state university.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/brazilian-candidate-jair-bolsonaro-stabbed-during-event/2018/09/06/d4f13876-b20c-11e8-8b53-50116768e499_story.html

  23. TORONTO – Muslim shot himself with rifle in pants while getting take-out: Cops

    A 20-year-old man faces charges after allegedly shooting himself with a sawed-off rifle that was tucked in his pants earlier this week in Scarborough.

    Toronto Police say a man entered a restaurant near Markham Rd. and Painted Post Dr., north of Lawrence Ave. E., shortly before 4 p.m. Monday and placed an order for some take-out.

    “While inside the restaurant, the man accidentally shot himself with a gun he had hidden in his pants,” Det. Jeremy Hayes, of 43 Division, said in a statement released Thursday.

    He said the man took off in a vehicle and tossed the firearm.

    “He continued driving and was involved in a fail-to-remain collision near Brimorton Dr. and Scarborough Golf Club Rd.,” Hayes said, explaining the man abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot.

    A suspect was located inside a nearby housed soon after and taken into custody.

    With the help of a police dog, investigators conducted “an exhaustive search for the discarded firearm,” Hayes said, adding officers located a loaded A&B Arms Aero Survival sawed-off rifle in a wooded area of a nearby ravine the next day.

    Abdihakim Saeed, of Toronto, is charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is not authorized, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of firearm in a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm Knowing its serial number has been defaced, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, failure to remain at the scene of an accident and careless use of a firearm.

    https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/clumsy-gunman-man-allegedly-shot-himself-with-rifle-in-pants

  24. Grand Jury impaneled to probe fired FBI director Andrew McCabe: report

    DiGenova & Toensing’s Victoria Toensing on the report that prosecutors in Washington impaneled a grand jury to look into the case of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

  25. GOP members call on Trump to declassify FISA documents

    Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on the Democrats attacks against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and why he wants President Trump to declassify the Carter Page FISA documents.

  26. Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor concerned psychiatrists and training officers about his fitness for duty long before he fatally shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond, new court records show.

    Revelations about Noor’s past were introduced by Hennepin County prosecutors on Wednesday in response to a motion by defense attorneys to dismiss the third-degree murder and manslaughter charges filed against him in Damond’s death.

    Noor was flagged by two psychiatrists during the pre-hiring evaluation in early 2015 after he exhibited an inability to handle the stress of regular police work and unwillingness to deal with people, according to the records.

    The report went on to say that Noor was more likely than other police candidates to become impatient with others over minor infractions, have trouble getting along with others, to be more demanding and have a limited social support network. They showed he “reported disliking people and being around them.” And yet, since Noor exhibited no signs of a major mental illness, chemical dependence or personality disorder, he was deemed “psychiatrically fit to work as a cadet police officer for the Minneapolis Police Department,” the filing said. Given the inconsistencies in the report, a civilian human resources employee followed up with the psychiatrist two weeks later, seeking clarification. The psychiatrist, Dr. Thomas Gratzer, stood by his recommendation.

    http://www.startribune.com/judge-rejects-motion-to-seal-medical-records-in-trial-for-officer-who-killed-justine-ruszczyk-damond/492518991/

  27. Moroccan judge holds first hearing in case of captive girl

    BENI MELLAL: Family members of a dozen young men suspected in the gang-rape, forcible tattooing and torture of a 17-year-old Moroccan girl allegedly held captive for two months have made a raucous noise outside the courtroom where an investigative judge held his first hearing in the case.

    The girl, identified only as Khadija and dressed in black, with black gloves covering hand tattoos, sat quietly before being summoned on Thursday into the first hearing in the case, behind closed doors.

    Twelve suspects were detained after Khadija was freed in mid-August. The case sparked a public outcry in a nation where violence against women is widespread but largely ignored.

    About 20 family members of the suspects, some holding pictures of King Mohammed VI, harassed Khadija’s lawyer. The sister of one suspect collapsed outside the courthouse.

    http://www.arabnews.com/node/1367891/middle-east

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

    Morocco: Screams, tears mark first hearing of teenage gang-rape

    A crowd of women raised their voices together in protest outside the court of Beni Mellal province on Thursday, as 12 men accused of kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old girl from Oulad Ayad town, appeared in court for their first hearing.

  28. Note: This is not new, but it is extremely relevant and worth bringing up at this point in thime:

    The Complete Richard Higgins Memo
    Circulating | May 2017 | Richard Higgins
    Posted on 8/10/2017, 11:17:47 PM by BRK

    Here is the entire memo…

    POTUS & POLITICAL WARFARE

    May 2017

    BACKGROUND. The Trump administration is suffering under withering information campaigns designed to first undermine, then de legitimize and ultimately remove the President. Possibly confusing these attacks with an elevated interplay of otherwise normal D.C. partisan infighting and adversarial media relations, the White House response to these campaigns reflects a political advocacy mindset that it is intensely reactive, severely under-inclusive and dangerously inadequate to the threat. If action is not taken to re-scope and respond to these hostile campaigns very soon, the administration risks implosion and subsequent early departure from the White House.

    This is not politics as usual but rather political warfare at an unprecedented level that is openly engaged in the direct targeting of a seated president through manipulation of the news cycle. It must be recognized on its own terms so that immediate action can be taken. At its core, these campaigns run on multiple lines of effort, serve as the non-violent line of effort of a wider movement, and execute political warfare agendas that reflect cultural Marxist outcomes. The campaigns operate through narratives. Because the hard left is aligned with lslamist organizations at local (ANTI FA working with Muslim Brotherhood doing business as MSA and CAIR), national (ACLU and BLM working with CAIR and MPAC) and international levels (OIC working with OSCEand the UN), recognition must given to the fact that they seamlessly interoperate at the narrative level as well. In candidate Trump, the opposition saw a threat to the “politically correct” enforcement narratives they’ve meticulously laid in over the past few decades. In President Trump, they see a latent threat to continue that effort to ruinous effect and their retaliatory response reflects this fear.

    INTRODUCTION. Responding to relentless personal assaults on his character, candidate Trump identified the players and the strategy:

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3576249/posts

  29. Again, not new, but topical as it demonstrates unequivocally that the USA has Sharia ‘no-go zones’: