Reader’s links for Dec. 13, 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

101 Replies to “Reader’s links for Dec. 13, 2018”

    • …When it comes to tracking the fate of migrants, Asia is the blackest of black holes…

      In crowded Asia, life has always been cheap. Especially the lives of women.

      Some examples:

      Runaway son, a shining jewel; runaway daughter, tarnished.

      No wise man takes responsibility for an eighteen-year-old daughter.

      Daughters are water on the floor.

      Only Vietnam has any decent track record on the rights of Asian women. Vietnamese women have always been able to inherit wealth, own property, run businesses, vote, and serve in the military. Among Vietnam’s greatest war heroes are the Trung sisters who turned back a Chinese invasion.

      That said, I’d still not want to be a woman in today’s Vietnam.

  1. Italian anti-terror prosecutor: “lone wolves” latest threat (abcnews, Dec 13, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-italy-arrests-somalian-terror-charges-59797220

    “Italy’s top anti-terrorism prosecutor says recent terror arrests in Italy have been aimed at containing individuals who might be preparing to carry out an attack alone.

    Federico Cafiero De Raho was quoted by the news agency ANSA on Thursday as saying that the new phase of terrorism deriving from Islamic State militants is worrying “because we no longer have a structure that is directly governed and directed by a center of international terrorism, but we have lone wolves.”

    Cafiero De Raho said the new threat are individuals who are often self-trained and become affiliated on the internet. He said only extensive monitoring can combat such individuals, adding that recent arrests in Italy aimed at preventing attacks like the one at the Strasbourg Christmas market this week that killed three people.

    Earlier Thursday, anti-terrorism agents arrested a Somalian citizen on terrorism-related charges in the southern city of Bari, saying they believed the suspect was planning to leave Italy “imminently.” He was held on suspicion of terrorism association and instigation to commit acts of terror, ANSA reported.

    Authorities did not name the suspect publicly or reveal details about his alleged actions that led to the arrest.

    Bari has been identified as a transit point for extremists. One of the men who opened fire at a Paris concert venue, killing 90 people, traveled between Bari and Greece on a ferry in the months before the Nov. 13, 2015 attack in Paris.”

    • Italian anti-terror prosecutor: “lone wolves” latest threat

      This entire “lone wolf” meme exceeded its Best By date many years ago. Jihadism doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There is the common thread of Islam running through a vastly disproportionate percentage of global terrorism.

      It only serves terrorist ends if one refuses to acknowledge this blindingly obvious interrelationship between so-called “lone wolves” who share—again, to an inordinately lopsided degree—a cultish love of death, be it that of innocent others or even their own selves.

      The “lone wolf” jihadist meme is more stale than those big tins of holiday mail order popcorn. Will someone please put it out of our misery?

  2. WATCH: Nancy Pelosi is Willing to Keep US ‘Government Closed Forever’ Before She’ll Fund Border Wall

    Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) declared that she will not negotiate border wall funding and will instead keep the “government closed forever.”

    Asked by a reporter if having government shutdown will impede the Democratic Party agenda when she takes the gavel in January, Pelosi declared that “it’s just what we have to do.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/12/watch-nancy-pelosi-is-willing-to-keep-us-government-closed-forever-before-shell-fund-border-wall/?omhide=true

    She is placing political power over national security.

  3. Suspected jihadists kill 42 in Mali’s nomadic Tuareg camps (abcnews, Dec 13, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/suspected-jihadists-kill-42-malis-nomadic-tuareg-camps-59803300

    “Suspected jihadists on motorcycles have killed at least 42 people during a series of attacks on Tuareg nomadic camps in Mali, local leaders said Thursday.

    Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg self-defense official, said the attacks took place Tuesday and Wednesday in the sprawling West African nation’s eastern Menaka region. The victims, who included children as young as eight, were members of his group known as MSA, which has been fighting militants with ties to the Islamic State group who are active in the region.

    This week’s violence risks setting off a new cycle of intercommunal clashes in the Menaka region, where 100 civilians have already been killed this year. In September, similar motorcycle gangs attacked a nomadic community near Mali’s border with Niger, killing at least 12 civilians.

    Meanwhile, Malian authorities said Thursday they had arrested four men accused of planning attacks before the end of the year in several major West African capitals. Malian intelligence services said the men “were preparing to carry out attacks on certain sensitive targets” in the cities of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Bamako in Mali and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

    The statement implicated the men in March attacks in Ouagadougou and said their group had become “a recruitment operation” for Islamic-inspired militants.

    The intelligence services also said a preliminary investigation “proved that the four terrorists also participated in the kidnapping of Colombian nun Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez” who was abducted in February 2017.”

  4. Suspected Terrorist Leading Migrant Group Demanding Entry Into US

    A suspect in a 1987 bombing that wounded six American soldiers in Honduras is leading a group of migrants demanding entry into the United States.

    Alfonso Guerrero Ulloa organized a march of approximately 100 migrants to the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, Mexico, on Tuesday, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Ulloa delivered a letter to the consulate on behalf of the migrants, asking for either entry into the U.S. or a payment of $50,000 per person.

    “It may seem like a lot of money to you,” Ulloa told the Union-Tribune. “But it is a small sum compared to everything the United States has stolen from Honduras.”

    Ulloa has lived in Mexico since 1987 after fleeing Honduras in the wake of a bombing that wounded six soldiers. Ulloa was suspected of planting a bomb in a Chinese restaurant, but received asylum from Mexico, whose government described the suspected terrorist as a “freedom fighter.”

    An appropriations bill passed by Congress in December 1987 included Congress’s findings that “the bomb was directed at American soldiers and did in fact wound American soldiers and an American contractor.” The report noted that Ulloa was a suspect in the bombing.

    Ulloa has posted on Facebook about his role in organizing the migrants in Mexico, which he is open about, and the accusations against him from 1987, which he denies.

    https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/12/honduras-migrant-bombing-suspect/

    • Climate Depot
      http://www.climatedepot.com/

      “Paris fuel tax riots cast “darkness” on Poland Climate Change event | Sheila Gunn Reid”
      Rebel Media – Published on December 13, 2018

      Sheila Gunn Reid of The Rebel.Media reports: Climate skeptics from CFACT and Climate Depot held an event in Gliwice, Poland on Wednesday night. After the event I spoke with Marc Morano to get his expert opinion on how the UN’s 24th Conference is going so far.

  5. Germany’s terrorism watch list: What you need to know (DW, Dec 13, 2018)
    https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-terrorism-watch-list-what-you-need-to-know/a-46728126

    “The suspected Strasbourg attacker was named on a French high-security watch list. German authorities, in turn, keep tabs on hundreds of potential terrorists — who are they and what are authorities doing about them?

    What is a ‘potential terrorist’?

    A potential terrorist (referred to in German as “Gefährder,” lit. “endangerer”) is someone who could pose a threat to public safety as certain “facts justify the assumption that he or she may commit a severe crime.” Such assumptions are primarily based on insights generated by Germany’s intelligence services or police state security departments.

    Individuals who pose a potential threat may not be jailed unless they are convicted of an actual crime. German security and criminal law stipulates that a person may only be jailed for his or her criminal deeds, not for harboring certain beliefs or posing a potential threat.

    Being a member of a terrorist organization, meanwhile, counts as a crime. As does “preparing or helping commit a serious crime that threatens the state.”

    How many people are considered potential terrorists?

    The French high-security “Fiche-S” watch list names about 26,000 individuals (not all of them Islamist extremists) who pose a potential threat to the state. It is much easier to end up on the French watch list than on the German equivalent, which applies stricter criteria.

    According to a report by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, police and intelligence services regard 774 radical Islamists as potential terrorists. Of these, 450 individuals currently reside in Germany. The others have left the country.

    German authorities are also keeping an eye on potential terrorists without Islamist tendencies. In early 2018, the Federal Criminal Police Office reported that it knew of 26 far-right extremists and of two far-left radicals who could pose a danger to public safety.

    The number of potential Islamist terrorists, meanwhile, has risen sharply in recent years. In 2010, authorities counted only 127 Muslim extremists as posing a potential threat.

    What kind of potential Islamist terrorists are there?

    The latest report by Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution published in summer 2018 identified three distinct groups of potential Islamist terrorists: On the one hand, lone actors who self-radicalize and very small groups of extremists. On the other hand, persons who return from Jihadist-controlled regions in the world. And finally, so-called “hit squads” that are dispatched by terrorist networks like the “Islamic State” (IS) to carry out elaborate attacks.

    Lone actors who self-radicalize and small groups of extremists are the hardest to detect and monitor. The attack by a Palestinian man in Hamburg in the summer of 2017 makes this clear. The man, whose asylum application had been rejected, stabbed a person in a Hamburg supermarket and injured several others. Despite not belonging to any terrorist organization, he later proclaimed his attack had been a “contribution to global jihad.”

    In contrast, authorities also have some information about individuals who left Germany to wage jihad abroad, and then returned. More than 960 individuals are known to have traveled to IS-controlled regions since mid-2013. Of these, over 300 have returned to Germany. Authorities are especially concerned about individuals who received military training and gained combat experience abroad.

    How large is the Islamist scene?

    German authorities are also keeping an eye on certain “relevant individuals” who are close to potential Islamist terrorists and who may abet them commit attacks by providing logistical support, for instance.

    A 2017 report by Germany’s domestic intelligence service noted that there are 25,810 “potentially Islamist individuals” in Germany. Of these, 10,800 belong to Salafist organizations.

    The Salafi scene is seen as instrumental to recruiting fighters who wage jihad abroad. Almost all of those who left Germany to fight elsewhere had ties to the Salafist scene.

    In an effort to weaken the scene, German authorities in 2016 banned the Salafist group “Die wahre Religion” (“The true religion”), which made headlines for distributing the Koran on German streets, among other things.

    Could refugees pose a threat?

    Germany’s domestic intelligence service has said IS is deliberately using refugee migration routes to smuggle attackers into Europe. It also reported that IS is trying to recruit refugees in Germany to commit terrorist attacks. So far, Germany has seen four attacks perpetrated by asylum-seekers: one in Berlin, one in Hamburg, one in Ansbach, and one in Würzburg.

    How do German authorities deal with potential terrorists?

    German security agencies assess each potential terrorist individually. Measures taken depend in this assessment, though German police do not readily share information about their actions. It is clear, however, that authorities can opt to tell individuals that they are being monitored, that they can deploy high-tech surveillance methods, and even order someone to be placed under 24-hour surveillance by police forces.

    When police forces approach potential terrorists to tell them they are being monitored, they underscore the gravity of the situation. Ordering around-the-clock surveillance, meanwhile, requires substantial manpower. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution says constantly monitoring an individual requires between 25 and 30 police officers. Which is why this measure is deployed only in rare cases.”

    • German jails ill-equipped to handle inmate radicalization (DW, Dec 13, 2018)
      https://www.dw.com/en/german-jails-ill-equipped-to-handle-inmate-radicalization/a-46730800

      “Many European Islamist terrorists have a criminal background and were radicalized in jail. The head of Germany’s prison officer union, René Müller, says German prisons need more resources to tackle the problem.

      The petty criminal suspected of having committed Tuesday’s Strasbourg terror attack, Cherif Chekatt, may have also been radicalized in jail — perhaps when he was incarcerated in Germany. If that proves to be the case, he would be one of several Islamist terrorists in Europe with a criminal background who have been radicalized while in jail. Among them was Anis Amri, who perpetrated the terrorist attack on a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016. DW spoke with René Müller, who heads Germany’s prison officer union (BSBD), about the growing problem.

      DW: Mr Müller, it seems that matters only get worse once petty criminals are in jail. What is your experience in this regard?

      René Müller: It is not unusual for some of our inmates to sympathize with a brand of radical Islam. They are easy prey for those who are out to radicalize prisoners.

      Do German jails have sufficient financial means and staff to tackle the danger of Islamist radicalization?

      Not at all! Our staff has been overwhelmed by the drastic rise of inmates in German jails over the past two, three years. We are lacking 2,000 officers to handle all necessary tasks. Which include detecting when someone shows signs of radicalization and identifying extremist inmates. Our officers try to keep an eye out for this, but we do not have enough staff to monitor everything. It can happen that things go undetected.

      The number of officers is not only an issue. Expertise is, too. Have your colleagues received appropriate training?

      Germany’s federal states have responded to the threat of radicalization in jail by devising new approaches.

      What does that mean?

      That means my colleagues have been told what to pay attention to and whom to inform when they detect any radicalization. That is just the broad approach. Of course, measures were also taken to train prison staff. But because we are so short-staffed, not enough training is provided. Normally, prison staff should be made aware of the danger of radicalization during their vocational training. But we are not managing that currently. I assume that training will be provided when more people are hired.

      What are early warning signs that an inmate may be radicalizing?

      One indicating that this is happening is when someone’s well-equipped cell, say with a Playstation and certain magazines, becomes increasingly spartan and bare. And when the only thing left is a Koran. You may notice the inmate changing his psychical appearance by growing a beard. Or that a petty criminal is spending his free time with known Islamist inmates. Which we then monitor closely. None of this proves an ongoing radicalization but it does make you more alert. Especially when an inmate starts reciting the Koran or saying Allah demands this or that. That should set alarm bells ringing.

      Herr Müller, about two years ago, researchers from King’s College London studied the biographies of 79 Jihadists from Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands. At least one third of them became radicalized in jail. This seems to be a European problem. So we should also try to find a European solution. Is there international cooperation in this context?

      No, not to my knowledge. I mean, Germany’s federal states do not even properly cooperate with each other. There are attempts at international cooperation, but not enough is being done.

      What is the biggest problem?

      Germany’s federal states should regularly share what they know about a prisoner’s radicalization and how he is changing. If an inmate becomes radicalized in a Bavarian jail, is released and then jailed soon after in Schleswig-Holstein or Lower Saxony, those prison officers will know nothing about his background — unless Germany’s domestic security agency has raised the alarm. A potential terrorist will therefore not be continuously monitored. Imagine that on a European scale. If our domestic security agency does not monitor such individuals, and if there is no such information sharing across German states, how is this supposed to work in Europe? A solution to this problem is urgently needed.”

      • German jails ill-equipped to handle inmate radicalization

        And how many honorable German people have paid for this malaign incompetence with their very lives?

  6. “The John Moore Radio Show: Wednesday, 12 December, 2018”
    John Moore – Published on December 12, 2018
    Every Wednesday – Hour 2 – Guest: Jeff Nyquist @ 48:52.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA5N73Sy3Ck

    “Lou Dobbs Tonight 12/13/18 [FULL] | Fox Business December 13, 2018”
    The Five – Published on December 13, 2018