Reader’s Links for December 4, 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

131 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 4, 2018”

  1. China agrees $9 billion currency swap with Argentina

    China and Argentina signed a $9 billion currency swap deal to boost the crisis-stricken South American country’s foreign currency reserves, its central bank announced Sunday.

    Struggling to recover after a currency crisis earlier this year, Latin America’s third largest economy sought the help of the International Monetary Fund — which approved a $56 billion loan package.

    Now, this latest agreement will “contribute to greater financial stability and also facilitate trade” between China and Argentina, according to the bank’s statement.

    NR: Another debt trap is sprung.

  2. The migrant caravan is ruining Tijuana’s tourist industry

    Tour operators and medical and dental offices in the Mexican border city of Tijuana are reporting a slowdown in business since a caravan of Central American migrants arrived.

    Tourists and visitors have been canceling planned trips to the Mexican state of Baja California since the border crossing shut down briefly a week ago, and according to tour-friendly business owners, many fear getting trapped in Mexico should the crossing close again, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Sunday.

    Antonio Gamboa, who owns a well-known food truck park, said business has slumped 30 percent.

    “It’s very disappointing because everything is normal in Tijuana, and it’s a very isolated area where the migrants are,” he said.

    After being the supremely lucrative departure tunnel gate for countless thousands of those same “migrants”, methinks the merry lot in Tijuana town doth protest too much.

    There are times when circumstances compel you to laugh and point. This is most definitely one of those times.

  3. With the jihadis gone, booze is back in Iraq’s Mosul (japantimes, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/12/04/world/jihadis-gone-booze-back-iraqs-mosul/#.XAYmN2hKhQI

    “Rows of yellow-labeled whiskey bottles sit alongside imported French wines, while cans of Korean beer chill in the fridge: With Iraq’s Mosul free of jihadis, the booze is back.

    The city spent three years under the iron-fisted rule of the Islamic State group, which punished those caught drinking alcohol with public lashings or worse.

    But more than a year since Iraqi forces ousted the jihadis from Mosul, liquor stores are flourishing…”

    • Where can they dovetail in peace once the debt leg breaks?

      An unmarked mass grave? We all know that any of them who remain ambulatory will do nothing but cause trouble for those who had the intestinal fortitude to remove their kith and kin from the equation.

  4. Germany: Muslim members of Merkel party CDU insult other members by telling them ” islamophobic rat”.+++
    It is clear to everyone that Islamization does not stop at the former Christian party CDU. But how impudent the strategists of political Islam are in the meantime is astonishing. The WerteUnion ( a Merkel critical grouping within the CDU) has published this Twitter post on Facebook – and it has to be said that there is quite a rough language in the Bremen CDU:
    Read more:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2018/12/germany-muslim-members-of-merkel-party.html

  5. Germany: CDU politician is overthrown after blood sausage tweet+++
    The blood sausage dispute is not coming to an end. At the Islam conference at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, blood sausage was served as a snack. Blood sausage consists of pork, which is “unclean” for Muslims. The ministry defended its choice of food, but at the same time expressed its regret if some participants felt offended. This seems to have been the case with non-participants as well: Bremen CDU politician Mehmet Ünal raged on Twitter against Blutwurst and its defenders. He even called his Hamburg party colleague Ali Ertan Toprak an “Islamophobic rat”. And he railed: “Keep eating pig!”Toprak, a CDU politician of Turkish origin, had previously criticised the course of the sausage debate: “Anyone who is upset about blood sausage at the Islam Conference but keeps quiet about the fact that people have to live under police protection in Germany because of their criticism of Islamism is not only a liar but in reality rejects everything that constitutes this country.
    Read more:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2018/12/germany-cdu-politician-is-overthrown.html

  6. French student unrest gathers momentum

    PARIS, Dec 4 (Reuters) – French student protests intensified on Tuesday, with various incidents around the country of demonstrators setting buildings on fire, and of violent clashes with police.

    Over the course of this week, students have gradually started to get involved in the so-called “yellow vests” protests against President Emmanuel Macron.

    Local authorities told Reuters that part of the Saint-Exupery high school in Blagnac, near Toulouse in southwest France, had been set on fire on Tuesday.

    There were also clashes in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and the city of Orleans, while schools were blocked in Creteil and Versailles near Paris.

    Earlier on Tuesday, France’s prime minister suspended planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests, in the first major U-turn by President Emmanuel Macron’s administration after 18 months in office. (Reporting by Paris Newsroom; Writing by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by John Irish)

    http://news.trust.org/item/20181204135718-mg8jt

      • People whom I know in France told me that majority of the students riots were near or in immigrant banlieues. Although,if one considers history it seems that in France student riots may now be called “French tradition”

        • … majority of the students riots were near or in immigrant banlieues.

          That still leaves the more important question unanswered. Are the students of migrant or indigenous French background?

          Once that is known, some perspective will become available.

    • France: Several arrested in aftermath of student protests near Paris

      Seven teenagers were reportedly arrested close to Jean-Pierre Timbaud high school in Aubervilliers in the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis on Tuesday, as nation-wide student protests saw 100 high schools fully or partially blockaded around France.

      Students who were condemning changes to college and school systems, have reportedly followed the example of the ‘Yellow Vest’ protests, which began in the last couple of weeks.

  7. Macron makes U-turn on fuel-tax increases in face of ‘yellow vest’ protests

    PARIS (Reuters) – France’s prime minister on Tuesday suspended planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests, the first major U-turn by President Emmanuel Macron’s administration after 18 months in office.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-protests/macron-makes-u-turn-on-fuel-tax-increases-in-face-of-yellow-vest-protests-idUSKBN1O30MX

    Richard: Macron blinked and the Yellow Vests (or part of them) are demanding more, The protesters smell weakness and are pushing for more and more, if the government resists civil war, if they don’t total collapse.

    • euronews -French PM gives statement on fuel taxes suspension

      France will suspend fuel tax increases for six-months. The proposed hike in fuel taxes sparked weeks of demonstrations by the ‘gilets jaunes’ (yellow vests) movement.

      The u-turn, announced by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday afternoon, follows a weekend of violent protests in Paris that led to hundreds of arrests and almost 100 people injured.

      Until now, French President Emmanuel Macron has been reluctant to suspend the price hikes, tweeting on Saturday that the protests were “nothing to do with the peaceful expression of legitimate anger”.

    • Emmanuel Macron conspué au Puy-en-Velay, après une visite à la préfecture incendiée

      […]En sortant, le président de la République a voulu ouvrir la vitre pour saluer les gens autour de lui, mais il a été rapidement conspué et hué, certains criant “Tous pourris” et “Macron démission”.

      Le cortège présidentiel a été poursuivi, et la garde rapprochée du président a dû sortir d’un véhicule pour protéger le cortège.

      https://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/transports/gilets-jaunes/emmanuel-macron-en-deplacement-a-la-prefecture-de-haute-loire-incendiee-samedi-lors-de-la-mobilisation-des-gilets-jaunes_3084641.html

      ======================================================
      twitter @romainjeanticou

      J’ai entendu une gamine de 8 ans max crier « Enculé Macron ! » au passage du cortège présidentiel… Comment peut-il encore espérer s’en sortir avec un bon vieux coup de « dialogue social » ?

      https://twitter.com/romainjeanticou/status/1070006119337201664

      ======================================================
      « On va l’attraper, ce fils de pute. » Certains se sont mis sur la route, simplement pour gêner son passage, d’autres ont essayé de taper sur la voiture.

      https://twitter.com/romainjeanticou/status/1070003213007548416

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

      • Why Macron is loathed by many in France

        If Micron is so loathed, why did these French fools voters elect him in the first place?!? Could they honestly not tell that he is a elitist tranzi?

        Borderless Globalists like Micron imperil everyone but themselves. That needs to change, STAT!

        • from what I heard,a lot of French middle class people don’t vote. They do not see the politicians who will be interested in their problems. The politicians, according to these people, care for the establishment, the wealthy people and for the poor/migrants, the people of the middle class are left with no one who can represent them. And the whole “yellow vest” movement came from these people.
          also the the telegraph is wrong. Yellow vests people are not rioting, the rioters come later, last Saturday and Sunday. There were two kinds of rioters, 1/leftists black block people who came just for rioting and 2/hooligans who really came not for protest or for riot but to steal things.

    • France: Yellow Vests block oil refineries in Donges and Saint-Nazaire

      Yellow Vest protesters blocked a road leading in and out of an oil refinery in Donges and Saint-Nazaire, in the west of the country close to Nantes on Tuesday, prompting an intervention by the police.

      The blockade in Donges reportedly lasted for about an hour, causing a halt of oil tankers, before police officers removed the protesters from the middle of the road.

      The ‘Yellow Vest’ protests were called in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of fuel tax hikes but have since evolved into an expression of general anger at high costs of living, poverty and inequality in France.

  8. Not Enough: Yellow Vests to Reject Temporary Suspension of Fuel Tax Rises in France

    Representatives from the Yellow Vest movement have said that a temporary suspension of a further tax increase by the government does not go far enough, maintaining the taxes should be cut altogether.

    The government of Emmanuel Macron will announce Tuesday morning a moratorium on the increase of the fuel tax, slated for January 1st, according to government sources speaking to franceinfo and confirmed by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

    The freeze on taxes is believed to last several months, with Prime Minister Édouard Philippe also set to announce other measures in an attempt to appease protesters.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/04/not-enough-yellow-vests-reject-temporary-suspension-fuel-tax-rises-france/

  9. UN climate chief has solution to ‘urgent’ climate threat: ‘We require deep transformations of our economies and societies’

    UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa: ‘This reality is telling us that we need to do much more…The impacts of climate change are increasingly hard to ignore.” She was joined by former UN climate summit presidents: ‘We require deep transformations of our economies and societies.’

    ‘Failure to act will be catastrophic’ – “A failure to act now risks pushing us beyond a point of no return with catastrophic consequences for life as we know it,” said Amjad Abdulla, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, of the UN talks.

    A Clexit (climate exit from UN) building thanks to President Trump!? “[UN climate summit in] Katowice may show us if there will be any domino effect” following the US withdrawal, said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a main architect of the Paris deal. Brazil’s strongman president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, for one, has promised to follow the American lead during his campaign.

    http://www.climatedepot.com/2018/12/03/un-climate-chief-has-solution-to-urgent-climate-threat-we-require-deep-transformations-of-our-economies-and-societies/

    • UN climate chief has solution to ‘urgent’ climate threat: ‘We require deep transformations of our economies and societies’

      As in:

      “Let the UN run everything. We know so much better than you ignoramuses.”

  10. If the public see police under attack they should ‘do something physical’ to help, Cressida Dick says (telegraph, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/04/public-should-get-involved-do-something-physical-see-police/

    “The public should be “getting involved” and “do something physical” if they see a police officer being attacked, according to the Met Police’s commissioner.

    Cressida Dick said the recent trend of people filming attacks on police and mockingly posting the footage online was “absolutely awful”.

    She said: “Officers getting assaulted and people thinking that’s funny and putting it on the internet – I think that’s disgusting.”…”

    • Cressida Dick said the recent trend of people filming attacks on police and mockingly posting the footage online was “absolutely awful”.

      She said: “Officers getting assaulted and people thinking that’s funny and putting it on the internet – I think that’s disgusting.”

      Well all-righty then. Perhaps Ms. Dick has begun to purchase a clue get an idea of how outraged the public feels about selective legal enforcement by politically obedient officers of the law. It’s just that activism or blogging about selective enforcement can get you fired, jailed or worse.

      Just ask Kevin Crehan. (RIP)

    • First they disarm the pubic, then they arrest them if they defend themselves, now they want them to help the police when they are attacked!! Does this woman have two working brain cells?

      • Does this woman have two working brain cells?

        Possibly, but if so, they’re probably separated by quite a great distance.

  11. Inside Calais camp raided by armed police: Migrants say crackdown is forcing them across the Channel (telegraph, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/04/inside-calais-camp-raided-armed-police-migrants-say-crackdown/

    “French police stormed a migrant camp in Calais on Sunday in a crackdown that the inhabitants say is forcing them to risk their lives and try to cross the Channel by boat.

    The raid was carried out by more than 50 police, some armed with assault rifles and tear gas grenade launchers, who forced dozens of people to drop their belongings and leave the wasteland some have called their home for months.

    One Iranian man clashed with an officer in riot gear and was pushed to the ground as his tent was being taken away and loaded into the back of a large pick-up truck.

    Afterwards, sat beside an extinguished campfire and shivering in the rain, he said: “I’ve had enough. I don’t have a choice anymore. I must try by boat. To die at sea is better than living here.”

    At least three people were taken into custody, including an Iranian who posted videos online about his displeasure at the treatment by French police.

    Friends of the man said that they thought it was retribution and were angry that the police appeared to be targeting migrants instead of smugglers…”

    • Inside Calais camp raided by armed police: Migrants say crackdown is forcing them across the Channel

      Let me get this straight. The presence of this “migrant” is entirely voluntary yet, magically somehow, some editor allowed the word “forcing” to get wedged into this reportage? Put plainly: Nobody is “forcing” anyone to do anything. Once that dangling, loose thread is pulled upon, these issues really begin to unravel.

      The self-imposed suffering and misery of these too-frequently parasitic, socioeconomic millstones, fails to evoke any sympathetic feelings.

    • no-one is forcing you violent vicious parasites to risk your lives in a dingy trying to illegally enter my country,especially at this time of year when the channel is very dangerous,always you blame every-one else for your own selfishness,and stupidity,you are too bone idle to fix your own country so you want to live off us for free.

      • This is a tactic they took from leftists. The idea that as victims, they have no responsibility for the consequences of their own actions even to themselves, but we who have nothing to do with them, somehow do.

        It takes a little getting used to the thought that islam and the left are identical in every important way, but they are.

        • It takes a little getting used to the thought that islam and the left are identical in every important way, but they are.

          A major identicality being the willingness to psychologically project upon sociopolitical opponents. As in:

          1.): Squealing about Degenerate America™ whilst sitting about in an unfurnished, mud-floor, grass roofed, wattle and daub hut in your hyper-corrupt, Third World nation.

          2.): Playing the Race Card™ at every opportunity despite how little integration there is in your own native communities—much less where you settle in host countries. This knits with the Left’s “soft racism of lowered expectations” in countless ways.

          3.): Blaming the victim is a time-honored trait of both parties. How often does the ageless excuse, “She was asking for it!” continue to echo in modern day Europe? Even American courtrooms are not immune to this shopworn trope of (sometimes professional) victimology, particularly amongst activist judges.

          4.): In one of the most disturbing new trends—mirrored throughout “modern” and traditional Islam—within many Western cultures, Liberals are dropping any pretense about concern for other (Caucasian) lives and resorting to immediate violence. Driven by displaced rages of self-loathing and endless frustration with an world that refuses to cooperate with their Magical Thinking™, they spasmodically lash out at anything more stable that ostensibly blocks their (imaginary) path.

          5.): Never has the Heckler’s Veto been taken to such heights as it has in recent times. It makes Speaker’s Corner look like a dainty Emily Post tea party. Similarly, Islam’s constant terrorist violence—along with its lawfare that’s intended to legally shout down all criticism of itself—merely sets the pace for Leftists.

          6.): Both are in a race to the bottom whilst they elbow and jostle each other jockeying for that prized and privileged position as Cock on the Dunghill™. Crowing in victory from atop the rubble of Western Civilization has become an obsessive fantasy for these ravening loons.

          There’s a half-dozen congruencies, just off the top-of-my-head. As already has been noted above, the bizarre amalgam being formed as violent 14th century anti-Enlightenment barbarity intersects with the barren, Atheist, genderless, trans-human, Postmodern mindset should be putting the remaining Civilized world on notice that an Existential Threat is lurking in our midst.

          Trevor Loudon mentioned this in Eeyore’s recent interview of him and Amy Mek. There has been forming (at least since Arafat’s PLO era) a nexus of Islam and Communism—as in: Socialism, Leftism, Progressivism, Liberalism, Postmodernism, New Age (rhymes with “sewage”), and a host of other anti-American “isms” that all lead to the same Soviet-style tyranny—whose danger is only magnified by the enthusiastic, useful idiots that daily step forward from Liberal ranks.

          This nexus should be setting off klaxons all across the non-Islamic world. Liberals merit only the shortest notice to halt such anti-Constitutional meddling. Their undermining of Classical Western Enlightenment Values—especially via demographic displacement by Muslims and illegal aliens—is intolerable and, should they refuse to cease such abject treachery, deserve some sort of monitoring.

  12. Migration Expert Explains Spike in Non-EU Immigration to UK Ahead of Brexit (sputniknews, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201812041070376320-migration-uk-brexit/

    “Recent data from the Office for National Statistics shows that a net 248,000 non-EU citizens arrived in the UK during the last year, which is the highest number since 2004, and a 40% increase in comparison to the year before.

    Bill Ravotti, author of the V4 Report, a blog devoted to reporting on immigration news in Europe and countering the EU’s and Angela Merkel’s migration policies, explained to Sputnik the reason behind the spike in non-EU immigration to the UK. Ravotti noted that as more and more EU citizens leave Britain ahead of the upcoming Brexit, migrants from outside the European bloc are continuing to arrive, due to the established multicultural policy of the British government.

    “This is not surprising to me considering the multicult environment that was promoted by previous governments in the past. We are talking decades here. Although many […] tend to focus on the problems associated with mass migration in France, Belgium and Germany, the UK also continues to struggle with multiculturalism and the integration of recent immigrants”, he said.

    Ravotti pointed out that immigrants often reject the host country’s culture and instead bring their own culture and preserve it. This has resulted in a high number of so-called “citizen jihadists”.

    “The second generation of immigrants (not all) tend to reject the dominant culture. In 2016, it was found that Britain was home to the third largest number of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq…or ‘citizen jihadists’, trailing only France and Germany”, Ravotti explained.

    The V4 Report editor noted that Islam is now the fastest growing and youngest religious denomination in the country with number of adherents increasing 10 times quicker than any other denomination in the UK.

    Ravotti strongly believes that the non-EU migration trend is unlikely to change after Brexit, with the latter affecting only migration from the bloc. He added that it is possible that it might never change.

    “Once multicult societies are established, the cycle is very hard to break, especially considering the low birth rates of the natives. The UK will need more than Brexit to reverse this trend. Quite frankly, at this point, it may be too late”, he said.”

    • Britain was home to the third largest number of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq…or ‘citizen jihadists’, trailing only France and Germany…

      _Russia_ has to be near the top of that list.
      Of course nobody there is revealing real numbers, if known.

      • Of course nobody there is revealing real numbers, if known.

        T’isn’t odd how, even as Communist China morphs into its uniquely Sinological take on Free Market Capitalism (whilst furnishing a soupçon of unprecedented transparency), Mother Russia secretively and not-so-slowly swirls down the porcelain drain as she whores herself to Mafiya oligarchs.

          • They are returning to the pre 1917 type of government and economy.

            Russia’s got more wannabe Czars than all of America’s “War on (insert cause du jour) >here<", combined. Even with an Evil Overlord™ like Putin comfortably ensconced in the seat of power, there still remains—much as with Islam’s own sectarian butchery—continual self-attrition from within Russia’s too-numerous Mafiya crime clans.

            Any nostalgia for the Imperial Court is a screen for ersatz Monarchical fantasies of forelock tugging serfs, arbitrary wealth confiscations, and pogroms of infinite variety and savagery.

  13. Aiding and abetting criminals is itself a crime — even when the crime is illegal border crossing
    By Ben Bowles December 3, 2018

    It’s a crime OK, though you wouldn’t know it from recent developments along the southern border. As noted here, on Saturday Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal helped five migrants across the border. According to the report, the five had initially been denied entry, but Jayapal wrote in a tweet, “I was able to successfully assist 5 asylum seekers — 2 unaccompanied minors, a mother and her 9 year old child, and a young man with a serious medical condition — into the United States.”

    In a second tweet she claims that she was “able to intervene and ensure that they could simply present themselves for asylum in the United States.” It’s not at all clear what she means by this since having credentials that show you’re a member of the U.S. Congress carries no weight if you show up at the border with a bunch of migrants. Nor is it obvious that she escorted the five migrants in through a port of entry, in which case she was abetting a crime, not to mention cutting in front of the others waiting their turn in Tijuana.

    Speaking of which, some thirty migrants in Tijuana got tired of waiting and set off in search of a way to skirt the border barriers, BuzzFeed reports.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/12/03/aiding-and-abetting-criminals-is-itself-a-crime-even-when-the-crime-is-illegal-border-crossing/

  14. Europe on the edge
    By J.E. Dyer December 4, 2018

    Something is happening in Western Europe that in some ways seems too big to describe. Readers will be aware of the situation in France, where popular discontent about President Emanuel Macron’s policies has reached a critical point and street demonstrations are turning violent.

    But it’s more than that. There’s a sort of uncanny alignment going on, and at a time that could hardly be more crucial. The impending event that makes it so crucial is getting very little coverage in the Western media. Few in the West, outside of those who are despised for speaking unfashionably of their opposition to “globalism,” even understand its significance.

    The event is the 12 December signing of the UN Global Compact on Migration, now just eight days away. The U.S. will not be signing the compact, and other nations that stayed in the negotiations for it to the end are now starting to rethink it. But dozens of nations, including those of Western Europe, remain committed.

    The substance of the migration compact is recognizing migration as a “human right.” The implication of that is profound, although people who articulate the implication are routinely disparaged and ridiculed. But the implication is inescapable. If migration is a “human right,” then it overrides the protection of national borders, and the idea of sovereign nationhood itself.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/12/04/europe-on-the-edge/

  15. UK Property Developer Accused of Islamophobia for Editing Out Mosque (sputniknews, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/viral/201812041070379176-uk-developer-mosque-edit/

    “Reacting to the apparent photo trickery, local Muslims accused the developer of “trying to pretend” the Mosque doesn’t exist as they fear it may deter would-be customers.

    A property developer has drawn criticism for seemingly “airbrushing” a mosque and the Islamic Cultural Society out of promotional material for its new-build high-end apartments in Hornsey, North London.

    The firm, Fairview News Homes, apparently edited out the mosque’s dome and minaret, and added a string of trees to cover the rest of the building.

    The new-build flats will cost upwards of £395,000 ($500,000), and the developer said it uses computer-generated images “to create a visual representation” of how the development will look upon completion.

    Local Muslims and worshippers blasted the property developer, accusing it of Islamophobia and describing the move as “unacceptable.”

    “They are pretending it doesn’t exist. It’s unacceptable,” Shakil Ahmad, a local butcher, told The Sun on Tuesday.

    Another local, 57-year-old Siraj Din, said “Maybe they worry people will be scared off if they see these flashy homes are next to a mosque. But this mosque should be portrayed as it is, in this photo it just looks like a warehouse.”

    However, a mosque spokesperson rubbished claims of Islamophobia, explaining that Fairview News Homes had also airbrushed and edited other nearby buildings to make their properties look more desirable, suggesting locals are simply overreacting.

    “They have photoshopped all buildings in close proximity, including the mosque. When we first saw the photo, we were concerned the mosque had been hidden but quickly realised it was a marketing tool.”

    Netizens reacted on social media, with one user calling for the development to be boycotted, while others insisted the story is not newsworthy….

    Property developer accused of Islamophobia for ‘airbrushing mosque out of flats promo’
    A PROPERTY developer has been accused of Islamophobia after a mosque was allegedly airbrushed out of its marketing photos. Its dome and minaret appear to have been edited out while a row of trees s…

    thesun(.)co(.)uk

    Javier Huante
    @FlipGiggityFlop
    And what about Christanphobia why did your prime minister deny Asia Bibi asylum. That is very much a phobia and if this continues your country will suffer God’s wrath for not standing up for a Christian.”

    • … local Muslims accused the developer of “trying to pretend” the Mosque doesn’t exist as they fear it may deter would-be customers.

      Is it clear yet that Islam is, even in the best of times, an unwelcome neighbor? Eff knows what apartment dwellers next door to the mosque and “Islamic Cultural Society” will have to endure in the way of round-the-clock calls to prayer, the usual lawfare, endless police complaints about people farting sideways within less than the regulation country mile from the mosque, and everything else that comes of trying to live with skinless people in a sandpaper world.

  16. BBC – Article 50: Law officer says UK can cancel Brexit

    The UK should be able to unilaterally cancel its withdrawal from the EU, according to a top European law officer.

    The non-binding opinion was delivered by the European Court of Justice’s advocate general.

    A group of Scottish politicians has asked the court whether the UK can call off Brexit without the consent of other member states.

    The Court of Justice (ECJ) will deliver its final ruling at a later date.

    The advice from advocate general Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona comes as the House of Commons begins five days of debates on Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal, with a vote due to be held next Tuesday.

    In a written statement, the ECJ said Mr Campos Sanchez-Bordona’s opinion was that if a country decided to leave the EU, it should also have the power to change its mind during the two-year exit process specified in Article 50 of the EU treaty.

    And it should be able to do so without needing the consent of the other 27 member states – contrary to what the EU itself has argued.

    While the advocate general’s opinions are not binding, the court tends to follow them in the majority of its final rulings.

    The anti-Brexit politicians and campaigners who have brought the case hope it will give MPs an extra option when considering whether to approve Mrs May’s draft deal or not, because it could keep alive the prospect of calling off Brexit – potentially through another referendum.

    The ECJ statement said the advocate general had proposed that the Court of Justice should “declare that Article 50 allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU”.

    It added: “That possibility continues to exist until such time as the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded.”

    The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March next year, but the deal negotiated with the EU has to be backed by a majority MPs if it is to come into force.

    Welcoming the advocate general’s opinion, SNP MEP Alyn Smith, one of those who brought the case, said it showed that “we now have a roadmap out of the Brexit shambles”.

    He said parliament was not necessarily facing a choice between accepting Mrs May’s deal or leaving the EU with no deal, and that “there are other options, and we can stop the clock.”

    Who has brought the case?

    A cross-party group of politicians and campaigners including Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer, MEP Alyn Smith and MP Joanna Cherry of the SNP, and Labour MEPs David Martin and Catherine Stihler brought the case together with lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project.

    They initially took it to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, which ultimately agreed to pass it to the ECJ.

    Two attempts by the UK government to appeal against the referral to the European court were rejected, and the case was opposed by the government and the EU institutions in a hearing before all 27 ECJ judges last week.

    Can the UK parliament block Brexit?

    Hubert Legal, the chief lawyer for the European Council, argued that allowing unilateral withdrawal could create “endless uncertainty” by allowing countries to announce they are leaving the EU in an attempt to secure better membership terms, before cancelling their withdrawal.

    The UK government’s lawyers argued that the case was purely hypothetical as “the UK does not intend to revoke its notification”, and ECJ judges should therefore refuse to rule on it.

    They added that the politicians behind the case wanted to use it as “political ammunition to be used in, and to pressure, the UK parliament”.

    Analysis by Clive Coleman, BBC legal correspondent
    The advocate general’s opinion that the UK has the right to unilaterally withdraw Article 50 notification of its intention to leave the EU flies in the face of what the UK government and the EU want.

    Although the Advocate General’s opinion is non-binding, the ECJ follow his opinions in the majority of cases.

    The whole issue of revocation remains hypothetical at present because the government has made it clear there is no possibility of seeking to revoke the notice to leave the EU.

    However, the statement raises the question of how the UK might revoke notification.

    It would almost certainly need to be done by an act of parliament. If it was done by ministers alone using prerogative powers it would frustrate the will of parliament as expressed in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

    It should be noted that the statement and the case concerns revocation of notice to leave, and not a delay or extension of the two-year period provided for under Article 50.

    That period can be extended, but only with the agreement of all of the other 27 EU states. Whereas extension of the Article 50 period could become a political necessity, revocation of Article 50 remains something of an academic point at present. However, that would change if there was a second referendum in which the British people voted to remain in the EU.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-46428579

    BREXIT – Theresa May has the power to unilaterally reverse Brexit says EU’s law chief

    • Luxembourg: UK can halt Brexit without EU’s consent, says ECJ Legal Advisor

      The United Kingdom can unilaterally revoke its withdrawal from the European Union, according to a legal opinion announced by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg City on Tuesday.

      Advocate general Maneul Campos Sanchez-Bordona rejected the contention that Article 50 of the EU Treaty only allows the possibility of revocation following a unanimous decision of the EU Council.

      The statement would mean that the UK could stop Brexit without the 27 member states’ consent, even if UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal is voted down next week.

  17. First J.E. hat tips Vladtepesblog for a video embedded in the article.

    After that read the article, she is saying a lot about what is happening and touches on some of the implications of what is going to happen. She lightly touches on the way various groups are resorting/reverting to group idendities that are thousands of years old. I think she is seeing what I do when I talk about the way many (maybe most) European Nations are going to split into smaller nations. This will give the locals a better grasp of identity to use to fight tine invaders but at the same time the splintering of the European nations will weaken the fight against the invaders by splintering the chains of command and the ability to acquire money to buy the weapons needed to fight the war. Thisi s one of the reasons the war is going to lost so long.

  18. Don’t say ‘bring home the bacon’ any more. It offends [your protected class here]
    By Ben Bowles December 4, 2018

    For people who preach inclusivity, the Left sure spends a lot of time looking to exclude people and things that offend them. We’ve long heard from PETA and the vegan lobby that we should exclude bacon from our diets, if not for our own personal health then for the health of the planet and its many life forms.

    But it’s not just the act of eating bacon that vegetarians deplore. It’s the word itself. From the Independent:

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/12/04/dont-say-bring-home-the-bacon-any-more-it-offends-your-protected-class-here/

  19. Italy: Around 2,000 Migrants Expected To Leave Every Month Under Tougher Rules (breitbart, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/04/around-2000-migrants-expected-leave-italy-per-month-new-migration-decree-rules/

    “Around 2,000 migrants are expected to leave Italy per month as humanitarian residency permits expire, following the passage of the migration and security decree drafted by populist Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

    The new migrant and security decree, which is set to come into effect in January 2019, scraps the humanitarian residency permit. Those currently living in Italy with the humanitarian permits will not be able to renew them and face deportation instead, Il Giornale reports.

    The law will also affect those currently in the waiting process for the residency permit as they will find themselves labelled as illegal migrants and will be given two weeks’ notice to leave the country.

    Of the total number of asylum seekers who have requested asylum with the Protection System for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (SPRAR), around 33 per cent have requested or obtained humanitarian residency permits that were previously renewable on a two-year basis.

    By the end of 2020, an estimated 32,000 migrants are believed to be affected by the changes and see their residency revoked…”

  20. The Latest: At least 14 migrants die off Libya’s coast (abcnews, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-14-migrants-die-off-libyas-coast-59595738

    “A Libyan official says at least 14 migrants have died off the North African nation’s coast while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

    Col. Hisham Aldwaini, spokesman for Misrata’s security forces, says a wooden boat was found off the Libyan port city with two bodies on board. He said that 12 other bodies were thrown into the sea.

    Aldwaini said that 10 migrants were rescued from the boat, which was adrift at sea for days without food or water.

    Chaos and lawlessness since a popular uprising turned into civil war in 2011 have turned Libya into a major transit point for migrants from the Middle East and Africa seeking to reach Europe.”

  21. Afghan president orders probe into abuse of female athletes (abcnews, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-president-orders-probe-abuse-female-athletes-59592286

    “Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday ordered an investigation after the Guardian reported that members of the national women’s soccer team were sexually and physically abused by men from the country’s football federation.

    The report in the British newspaper on Friday cited senior figures associated with the team as saying the abuse took place at the federation’s headquarters in Kabul and at a training camp in Jordan last February.

    The Guardian also cited Khalida Popal, a former head of women’s soccer in the Afghanistan Football Federation who was forced to flee the country in 2016 and seek asylum in Denmark, as saying that her own investigation uncovered physical and sexual abuse, death threats and rape.

    Ghani described the report as “shocking to all Afghans,” the presidential palace said. On Monday night, he met with officials from the Afghan National Olympic Committee, sportsmen and sportswomen, and pledged authorities would “conduct a thorough investigation into this.”

    Attorney General Farid Hamedi promised a transparent probe…”

  22. Somali journalist badly hurt in car bomb blast, police say (abcnews, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/somali-journalist-wounded-hurt-car-bomb-blast-police-59596146

    “A Somali police officer says a journalist has been seriously wounded in a car bomb blast in Mogadishu.

    Capt. Mohamed Hussein says Ismail Sheikh Khalif, also a media rights activist, was hurt Tuesday when the bomb concealed in his car was detonated remotely in Waberi district.

    A former radio colleague says Khalif has substantial blood loss and is being treated at a local hospital. The colleague spoke on condition of anonymity for safety concerns.

    There is no immediate claim of responsibility.

    Somalia is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists says 59 have been killed since 1992, soon after civil war erupted in the Horn of Africa nation.

    Somali journalists frequently receive threats but police rarely investigate them or adequately protect reporters.”

  23. Turkey: Kurdish politician’s conviction over speech upheld (abcnews, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-kurdish-politicians-conviction-speech-upheld-59599124

    “A Turkish appeals court has upheld the terror propaganda conviction of the former head of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party.

    Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said Tuesday the appeals court unanimously voted to finalize a September verdict against Selahattin Demirtas. The former co-chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for a 2013 speech that the court deemed was in support of outlawed Kurdish militants.

    Last month, the European Court of Human Rights said Turkey violated Demirtas’ rights to a speedy trial and free elections and ordered Turkey to free him after more than two years in pre-trial detention. A Turkish court rejected his application for his release.

    Former legislator Sirri Sureyya Onder’s conviction on the same charge and three-year prison sentence were also upheld.”

  24. Germany: Art collective offers cash for info on far-right protesters in Chemnitz

    Activists launched a campaign on Monday to identify people who took part in the far-right protests that rocked the eastern German city of Chemnitz in September and August this year. Members of the Centre for Political Beauty (Zentrum fur politische Schonheit) art collective responsible for the initiative, dubbed SOKO Chemnitz (Special commission Chemnitz), staged a press conference in Berlin to announce its opening, while footage shot in Chemnitz shows the office they have established in the city.

    The collective has pooled together video footage and photos of people who they allege participated in the protests and are calling for residents to help identify them. The group are offering financial rewards for those who do so, with the stated aim of informing the employers of those identified.

    An office was rented in Chemnitz where people could inform and receive cash in person. The glass facade of the building was plastered with ‘wanted posters’ of the alleged participants, but these have since been removed by the police, with the lease also being reportedly immediately terminated on the grounds that it had not been put to the contractually agreed use.

    While the SOKO Chemnitz website, where people can upload information about suspects, is still up at this time, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have reportedly requested that the state of Saxony, where Chemnitz is located, force the website to taken down.

    The Commissioner for Data Protection in Berlin is also reportedly set to investigate the website on the grounds that it may violate German privacy laws.

    The Centre for Political Beauty gained fame last year after erecting a replica of the Berlin Holocaust Memorial in front of the house of an AfD party politician, after he referred to the original as a “monument of shame” in a speech.

    • The collective has pooled together video footage and photos of people who they allege participated in the protests and are calling for residents to help identify them. The group are offering financial rewards for those who do so, with the stated aim of informing the employers of those identified.

      This malicious doxing needs to be turned ’round with those seeking to inform employers about off-hour activities of their employees having their names and addresses of being published. Enough out-of-work people may begin to show a special collective interest in this so-called “Centre for Political Beauty (Zentrum fur politische Schonheit) art collective” and its useful idiots.

      Suffering is not an exclusive domain of the politically incorrect.

  25. Israel begins op to destroy Hezbollah tunnels

    The Israeli Defence Army launches an operation along the border with Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah tunnels it claims to have detected, a move likely to raise tensions with the Iran-backed group.

  26. Muslim Migrants Terrorize a Sleepy German College Town
    One Syrian rapist, 29 crimes.
    December 4, 2018
    Daniel Greenfield

    That’s how many crimes one single Syrian migrant had allegedly committed since entering Germany four years ago. He had already been wanted for drug trafficking and had been investigated for a rape last year. And then he struck again, this time in a case that has once again torn apart a sleepy college town.

    Freiburg is a German city of 226,000 people. Foreigners make up 36,800 or 16% of the population. Of the foreigners in Freiburg, whose name means fortified city of free people, 18,750 or 8.5% are men.

    Even though foreigners are only a small percentage of the population, they commit 42% of the crimes.

    These days, Freiburg is mainly known as a college town. One site describes it as the “sunniest and warmest city in Germany” with a “progressive mindset” and “a remarkable commitment to the environment”. The University of Freiburg’s 30,000 college students make the area a magnet for parties, clubs and eateries catering to the booming student population. And for those who prey on the students.

    The medieval cobblestone streets of Freiburg bulging with bars aimed at college students had come to host a very different population as a mass of Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others claiming to be refugees poured into Germany. Facilities catering to refugees quickly popped up all over the sleepy college town.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272123/muslim-migrants-terrorize-sleepy-german-college-daniel-greenfield

  27. Crock the Vote
    Grand theft election in California.
    December 4, 2018
    Lloyd Billingsley

    Back on election night, Republicans were heading for victories in California. Three weeks later, Paul Ryan lamented, “we lost every close race.” For the outgoing House Speaker, it “defies logic,” and quite possibly election law as well.

    This year California legalized “ballot harvesting,” which empowers a third party to collect ballots and deliver them to election officials. The more than 250,000 election day vote-by-mail drop-offs were also the result of ballot harvesting. And the Election Integrity Project California found discrepancies in the totals of poll and mail ballots cited by the state and four counties in southern California.

    “It shouldn’t ‘defy logic’ that elections officials are meticulous in counting every eligible ballot,” California secretary of state Alex Padilla told reporters. “California works to ensure every ballot is counted properly and every ballot is accounted for. In the most populous state in the nation — and the state with the largest number of registered voters — this takes time.”

    According to Padilla, “in California, we believe in an inclusive and accessible democracy,” and

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272112/crock-vote-lloyd-billingsley

  28. Political Turmoil Grips Sweden
    The high stakes if new elections are called.
    December 4, 2018
    Joseph Puder

    Political turmoil is gripping Sweden. Since the September 9th, 2018 elections in which the Swedish Democrats (the nationalists), an anti-immigrant party took 17.5% of the vote, gaining 62 seats in the 349 seat Swedish parliament or Riksdag, no new government has been formed. Nevertheless, the Swedish Democrats (SD) have become the king-makers.

    The leftist Social-Democrats, although the largest vote getter with 100 seats, do not have enough partners to form a coalition government. On the center-right, Ulf Kristersson, 54, leader of the Moderate party (70 seats), cannot form a government with his opposition partners without having at least the silent support of the Swedish Democrats. The Center (31 seats), and Liberal (20 seats) parties, however, will not accept a situation in which the Swedish Democrats are silently backing the government. That leaves Kristersson with only his 70 seats in addition to the Christian Democrats 22 seats, to form a minority government of 92, and even with the Swedish Democrats backing, it would garner only 154 seats, less than the 175 seat majority. Similarly, the Social Democrats cannot form a coalition government with the Left party (28 seats) and the Greens (16 seats). Their total is even smaller with 144 seats. The third scenario is a coalition of the Moderate Party plus the Center party for a total of 143 seats, not enough to form a functional government.

    Jimmie Akesson, 39, the new leader of the right-wing Swedish Democrats party, has reformed the image of the party. He has imposed a zero-tolerance on open expression of racism and xenophobia by its members. He also changed the party symbol, a flaming torch, into a friendly blue and yellow flower (blue and yellow are the colors of the Swedish flag). The Swedish Democrats under Akesson have captured 17.5% of the vote, or 62 seats in the Riksdag, up from 49 seats in 2014. The SD party gained the highest number of seats (13), whereas the Social Democrats lost 13. The SD party has capitalized on the limitless immigration policy that has characterized the Lofven government.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272105/political-turmoil-grips-sweden-joseph-puder

  29. Indonesia attack: Gunmen kill 24 construction workers in Papua (BBC, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46446719

    “At least 24 construction workers have been killed by gunmen in Indonesia’s eastern province of Papua, officials said.

    A soldier was also shot dead when a team of police and security forces were sent to investigate Sunday’s killings, authorities added.

    The workers had been building a road and bridges in the remote and mountainous Nduga region.

    Police have blamed the deaths on separatist fighters.

    Insurgents calling for independence have been active in Papua for decades…”

      • That depends on how ready they are for the real fighting, if they are ready for war they will send “security personal” to protect the Chinese workers.

        • Security personnel have been protecting Chinese tour groups in France since things started getting hairy there, 2016 or so. Chinese media lavishes a great deal of attention on turmoil in the West.

          Got quite a bit of publicity: the French, allowing armed foreigners! But those tourist yuan were too good to pass up.

  30. Burundi: Inside the secret killing house (BBC, video, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-46428073/burundi-inside-the-secret-killing-house

    “Burundi’s security services are running secret torture and detention sites to silence dissent, former government intelligence agents have told BBC Africa Eye.

    Using cutting-edge reconstruction techniques, BBC Africa Eye examines one house in particular, which was filmed in a video posted on social media in 2016.

    A red liquid, which looked like blood, was seen pouring from its gutter. We ask if Burundi’s repression of opponents has now gone underground?

    The government has always denied any human rights violations, and declined to comment for this report…”

  31. FARAGE QUITS Nigel Farage sensationally quits Ukip over fears Tommy Robinson is turning party into BNP

    Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has announced he is quitting the party

    THREE time leader Nigel Farage has sensationally QUIT as a member of Ukip tonight.

    Ukip’s most famous face has torn up his membership card after 25 years in disgust at the party’s “obsession” with far-right thug Tommy Robinson.

    The 54-year-old claimed the party under anti-Islam leader Gerard Batten was “turning a blind eye to extremist politics”.

    Speaking on his radio show on LBC, the anti-Brussels stalwart said: “I don’t recognise the party as that I helped to found all those years ago.

    “I think the brand is tarnished. It cannot capitalise on the opportunities being presented to it.

    “So with a very great reluctance, I have as of now, cancelled my membership of UKIP.”

    He said there was a “huge space” for a Brexit party in British politics but claimed it “won’t be filled by Ukip”.

    It comes as Mr Farage warned Ukip would become the new British National Party and destroy Brexit if they march through London with the English Defence League founder next week.

    He predicted “absolutely calamitous” scenes of drunken thugs brawling outside Downing Street will be used to discredit leaving the EU “for years to come”.

    Ukip’s leader Gerard Batten has already hired Mr Robinson as an adviser on “Muslim rape gangs”.

    And he has vowed to march with him in Whitehall just two days before the crucial Commons vote on Brexit on December 11.

    Mr Farage added: “I’m afraid over the course of the last few months under this leader, Gerard Batten, a lot has changed. “He seems to be obsessed with the religion of Islam and also obsessed with this figure Tommy Robinson.

    “All of it’s been dragging Ukip away from being an electoral party to a party of street activism… and turning a blind eye to extremist politics.”

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/7899373/nigel-farage-quit-ukip-fears-party-turns-bnp/

      • PTrump is great on business, he’s got good instincts on foreign affairs, but doesn’t have control over his administration. His appointments, with the exception of those related to finance, have been DISMAL.

        The CIA is DEEPEST of DeepState. PT appointed the current chair, just as he appointed Hair-Spray Wray as head of FBI.

        This Lindsey Graham – he’s _S W A M P_.
        He pushed “JV-team ISIS”. And the Iran Deal.

        He celebrated the MB’s Arab Spring and voted to KILL aid to Egypt when the people dumped Morsi for el-Sisi.

        Muh “Principles” drove this Swamp King to STARVE Egyptians who couldn’t live under a Brotherhood regime. The Bros. who couldn’t kill Christians fast enough.

        Now he’s shoulder-to-shoulder with the Turk, the single worst persecutor of journalists in the world.

        So that a more MB-friendly replacement for MbS will be found. It will cause the Kingdom to lose “face”. It will be irrevocably weakened.

        Disaster for the region.

  32. Iran Deploys Fleet to Gulf of Aden as Rouhani Threatens to Block Hormuz Strait (sputniknews, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201812041070382737-iran-gulf-blockade/

    “Tehran earlier warned Washington against limiting its energy exports, vowing to otherwise close the exit from the Persian Gulf. Considering that a significant part of the world’s oil exports goes through the strait at the Gulf’s mouth, such a blockade could strongly affect the global energy market.

    The Iranian Students’ News Agency reported, citing Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, that Iran has deployed 58 fleets to the northern Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, situated just outside of the Persian Gulf — the source to a major part of the world’s oil exports.

    In an address to the people of Semnan Province on 4 December, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated threats to prevent all oil exports from the Persian Gulf in the event the US curbs Tehran’s own exports.

    “If someday, the United States decides to block Iran’s oil [exports], no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf,” Rouhani said.

    The Iranian president also vowed that ultimately the US won’t be able to halt Tehran’s oil trade and promised that the country will emerge victorious from the confrontation with Washington…”

    • In an address to the people of Semnan Province on 4 December, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated threats to prevent all oil exports from the Persian Gulf in the event the US curbs Tehran’s own exports.

      Will no brave Persian rid us of this turbulent mullah?

      I wonder how many hours would be required for US military forces to scupper the entire Iranian navy?

      • The last I heard it would take a little over 24 hours for the US to massively down grade the entire Iranian military and naval assets.

        • The last I heard it would take a little over 24 hours for the US to massively down grade the entire Iranian military and naval assets.

          What a difference a day makes!

    • Please blockade the Strait !!
      You know you want to… come on, little Twisty… you’re such a big strong fella…

      please!! please!! please!! please!!

  33. Full Details of Kidnapped Dubai Princess’ Daring Escape Plan REVEALED (sputniknews, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/201812041070383397-dubai-princess-kidnap-spy/

    “Former French spy Herve Jaubert, who helped Princess Latifa of Dubai organize her escape from the United Arab Emirates, has revealed the pair spent seven years planning her extraction – a daring ruse that would end in cataclysmic failure.

    Interviewed for BBC documentary Escape From Dubai, Jaubert — a former Navy officer who fled Dubai himself after getting into hot water with authorities — said Latifa contacted him in 2011 after hearing about his escape, and asked for help planning her own.

    In the program, he shares messages the Princess sent him prior to her departure, in which she said she’d “rather die” than return to the UAE, due to how strictly her father Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum controlled her life.

    “I’ve been mistreated and oppressed all my life. Women are treated like subhumans. My father can’t continue to do what he’s been doing to us all,” she wrote in one email.

    She also claimed her older sister, who tried to flee the family while on holiday in Sussex, England, was captured two months later in Cambridge and spirited back to the UAE where she was imprisoned and drugged to stop her from protesting — ever since, she’s been escorted everywhere by a team of nurses.

    Jaubert at first didn’t believe the story, thinking it may be a ploy to get him to return to the country, but she eventually persuaded him of her credentials and the pair swapped messages every two or three days over the following years. Latifa also recorded a video prior to her escape detailing her reasons for fleeing the UAE which was distributed among media outlets for publication in the event of her disappearance or death.

    Great Escape
    In 2014, the conspiracy took concrete form when Latifa met Tiina Jauhiainen who came to the Sheikh’s palace to teach her Brazilian martial art capoeira — the pair quickly became friends, and pledged to escape together. Jauhiainen would fly to meet Jaubert repeatedly, although the trio would not be united in full until the day of escape, when the Princess went for breakfast with her capoeira instruction — a routine they’d maintained for years prior in order to not attract attention on the big day itself.

    They then changed clothes, jumped into a car and drove to Oman and then to the coast, where using both jetskis and dinghies they reached Jaubert’s yacht in the Indian Ocean.

    Once on board the yacht they set sail for Goa, India, where Latifa planned to claim political asylum before moving to the US. On the boat, she told Jaubert she’d rather be killed on the boat than return to Dubai. However, on March 4, a mere 30 miles from the Indian coast, their yacht was invaded by armed men who blindfolded and bound Jaubert and Jauhiainen, and seized Latifa.

    All three were returned to the UAE, where Jaubert and Jauhiainen were beaten, threatened with execution, starved, dehydrated and interrogated for up to 20 hours a day for almost two weeks before finally being released. At one point they were forced to read ‘confessions’ written by the Emirati authorities, which were video-recorded, and forced to sign documents in Arabic which they could not understand.

    Additionally, both were forced to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements stipulating they’d never discuss any of the events that had occurred. They were also apparently warned Sheikh Mohammed was “a very powerful man and he can get you anywhere in the world”.

    Detained in Dubai
    Radha Stirling, chief executive of NGO Detained in Dubai, was also contacted by Latifa prior to her escape — the Princess told the charity head she’d been beaten, tortured, detained in solitary confinement, threatened, and drugged upon the orders of her father for three years following an escape attempt at the age of 16.

    She also alleged her freedom was severely restricted, with all her movements controlled by her father, who she also claimed had perpetrated or ordered the commission of several other crimes, including the murder of his own sister-in-law.

    On March 4, Stirling received a frantic call from Latifa saying their ship was being boarded amidst gunfire, and pleading for help. Communication ceased at this point, and the NGO hasn’t heard from her since.

    “At present, the whereabouts of Latifa remain unknown. We don’t know if she’s alive or dead. She is still classified as missing. The UAE and India broke a host of laws when they attacked Hervé’s American registered yacht in international waters and abducted all on board with excessive force. In addition to these actions, Latifa’s allegations against Sheikh Mohammed are grave and warrant a full investigation. We will be pursuing these matters legally in multiple jurisdictions in the coming weeks,” Stirling said.

    Similarly, Amnesty International considers this incident to have “possibly entailed multiple violations of international human rights law” by both India and the UAE, including arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearance. The leading human rights organization has called on the UAE to immediately disclose Latifa’s whereabouts.

    “If she is deprived of her liberty, she should have contact with lawyers and loved ones and access to all fair trial guarantees. If she is only held for having tried to flee the country or for any other reason incompatible with human rights standards, she should be immediately and unconditionally released and her right to freedom of movement, including travel abroad, should be respected. The UAE should act to ensure Dubai respects the human rights of its citizens and all those under its jurisdiction. Amnesty International also calls on India to investigate the incident and the role of its security forces, including the allegations of beatings which could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, and ensure those responsible are held to account,” the group said in a statement.”

  34. Belgian Govt’s Right-Wing Coalition Partner Will Not Back UN Migration Pact (breitbart, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/04/belgian-govts-right-wing-coalition-partner-will-not-back-un-migration-pact/

    “Belgium’s centre-right coalition government is fighting for its survival after the largest partner party said it would not back a global U.N.-backed migration pact.

    Prime Minister Charles Michel said at United Nations headquarters in September that he would go to Marrakech, Morocco, next week to sign the document, but over the past week the right-wing N-VA party has said it will not back a government that supports the document.

    The government parties said late Monday they would continue looking for a compromise but options were slimming down. Parliamentarians will be assessing comments from experts early Tuesday before negotiations continue.

    Several EU nations have already pulled out of signing the nonbinding accord seeking to make global migration smoother.”

  35. DAILY MAIL – UK [ Muslim ] Father-of-four, 42, is left fighting for life after thugs cut off both his EARS in horrific assault that put him in coma

    Sajed Choudry, 42, was attacked on the street where he lives in Blackburn

    He also suffered a collapsed lung and a bleed on the brain and is on life-support

    Sajed’s son Ahsan, 24, had half his hand cut off in the violent attack last Tuesday

    Three [ Muslim ] men and a 13-year-old boy have been charged with attempted murder

    […]Sadaqat Ali, 36, of Blackburn, Rafaqat Ali, 38, of Blackburn, Fazal Ilhai, 62, and a 13-year-old boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – have all been charged with two counts of attempted murder.

    They are due to appear before Preston Crown Court on Monday December 17.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6459021/Father-four-42-fighting-life-having-EARS-cut-horrific-assault.html

  36. RT- Denmark to ship unwanted refugees to remote island

    Located in the freezing Baltic Sea, the island is currently home to animal research laboratories and crematoria.

    • Located in the freezing Baltic Sea, the island is currently home to animal research laboratories and crematoria.

      I smell trouble. Denmark produces some of Europe’s finest dairy and pork, as in P.O.R.K. Government programs in Denmark and across the world routinely support “animal research laboratories” as part of incentivizing agricultural productivity.

      If there are any pigs (i.e., P.O.R.K.) being kept, dissected or cremated anywhere on Lindholm—even on the most uninhabited and remotest part of the entire island—you just gotta know that there’ll be hysterical Islamic pyrotechnics and, given enough legal latitude, endless lawfare with disruptive courtroom antics, not to mention strident demands for extravagant compensation.

      Other than that, what else could possibly go wrong?

  37. Judicial Watch sues for FBI-Clinton law firm meeting docs

    Judicial Watch files lawsuit to obtain records of meetings with Clinton-DNC law firm that paid for anti-Trump dossier; Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton reacts.

  38. Political Divisions in Germany Have Implications for the Middle East

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The decline of bipartisan political centrism in Germany portends significant changes, not only for the country itself but for other countries as well. While the right-wing Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party is still far from dominating the German electorate, its increasing public support will force whatever will ultimately be the party in power to act more favorably towards the right, in comparison to the more leftist policies of departing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. And with German political discourse centered around regional issues of the Middle East due to Berlin’s intricate involvement in such conflicts, the political trends of the country are likely to have a significant impact on the future of that region.

    Announced in the wake of a Bavarian regional election that saw immense losses for the centrist German bloc, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s planned resignation in 2021 marks the conclusion of a unique era of bipartisanship in Germany. The rapid rise of the right-wing Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party, coupled with the persistence of staunch left-wing parties like the Social Democratic Party (SPD), has fostered a heavily divided political atmosphere in Germany. The common ground established by the centrist Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) nationally has largely been abandoned in favor of a “winner take all” mentality.

    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/germany-politics-middle-east/

  39. “The Level of Treason from the Press in France is Astounding” Yellow Vest Interview | Jack Buckby

  40. The tentative ties between the Allied Democratic Forces and ISIS (thedefensepost, Dec 4, 2018)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2018/12/04/tentative-ties-allied-democratic-forces-isis-dr-congo/

    “While Islamic State has suffered heavy losses over the past few years, statements from leaders such as U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi of its defeat were, predictably, incorrect. The jihadist group has shifted to a deadly insurgency in Iraq, continues to hold off Syrian Democratic Forces operations around Hajjin, and its affiliates around the world continue to carry out attacks and attract foreign fighters.

    Yet the group’s oft-cited statement – baqiya wa tatamadad – calls for remaining and expanding, not just surviving.

    In the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo an old insurgency may have a new trajectory, giving rise to the possibility of ISIS expanding its global conflict there.

    Late last month, the U.S. Department of State shut the American embassy in Kinshasa for several days due to a “terrorist threat.” Although the nature of the threat was not specified, Reuters on Monday reported that reported diplomatic sources as saying the closure was due to the arrest of Tanzanian nationals linked to a Ugandan-led Islamist group. Other organizations, including Voice of America and CNN, reported U.S. officials as saying the threat came from an ISIS-affiliated group.

    The embassy was set to reopen on Tuesday, December 4…”