Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.
This is the new Samizdat. We muse use it while we can.
Egypt approves death penalty for drug dealers (memo, Jan 31, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190131-egypt-approves-death-penalty-for-drug-dealers/
“Egypt’s cabinet has approved a draft law that would see drug dealers sentenced to death, Al-Masry Al-Youm has reported.
The law, which was presented to the cabinet yesterday, was part of a broader bill to combat the spread of narcotics in the country and drugs trafficking.
The draft amendment states that anyone who “brought or exported synthetic substances with an anaesthetic effect, or harmful to mind, body, or psychological and neurological condition shall be punished by death”, adding that those who possessed drugs for the purpose of trafficking could face life imprisonment and a maximum fine of $28,000.
It stipulates a further fine of $11,300 for those found possessing drugs for individual usage as well as a prison sentence of at least one year.
The move comes a week after British tourist Laura Plummer was released early from an Egyptian prison on a presidential pardon, after being convicted on charges of drug trafficking. Sentenced to three years, in October 2017 she brought 290 tramadol painkillers in her luggage, allegedly for her partner who suffers from chronic pain following a car accident.
Drug addiction remains a serious problem in Egypt, estimated to be at twice global rates, with approximately ten per cent of the country, over nine million people, using narcotics…”
Lebanon: Suicide case every 60 hours, suicide attempt every 6 hours (memo, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190201-lebanon-suicide-case-every-60-hours-suicide-attempt-every-6-hours/
“Suicides cases in Lebanon increased in 2018 to 200, compared to 143 in 2017, bringing the number of suicide cases between 2009 and 2018 to 1,393, with one suicide every 60 hours, i.e. every two days and a half, and a suicide attempt every 6 hours, according to statistics of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces.
Suicide is a source of great concern in different societies. It is a critical phenomenon that needs to be addressed, as many pro-suicide groups promote a form of rebellion against life by seeking death and escaping from reality to the desired fantasy achieved through committing suicide. But, the situation is linked to several factors.
Therapist Rebecca Espanyoli said that the most prominent reason for suicide, “according to the latest studies, is depression …. This is the most recurrent reason for people to commit suicide.” Espanyoli indicated that “sometimes suicide can be caused by mental illnesses. As such, the patient becomes sceptical about his reality, which leads him to try to put an end to his life.”
“The use of drugs and alcohol is another reason behind the phenomenon. When some people get drunk, they may try to put an end to their lives. For some people, the decision to commit suicide is based on logical reasons, including being affected by a chronic illness, pain or difficult living conditions,” she added.
Anadolu Agency quoted Dr. Michael Khoury saying that “about 10 per cent of those who attempt suicide do not usually exceed the age of 18, while 58 per cent are between the ages of 18 and 34,” explaining that “Lebanese men are more likely to succeed in taking their lives than women. Thus, for every fully-achieved suicides committed by three Lebanese men, only two Lebanese women manage to end their lives.”
In recent months, this phenomenon has spread dramatically among children and adolescents after the proliferation of online games, such as Blue Whale and Mariam. These applications are mysterious virtual games that incite suicide.
Studies have also shown that the rate of suicide attempts in Lebanon has reached 2 per cent of the total number of Lebanese citizens (more than six million people), which is close to the rate of suicide attempts recorded in 17 countries, which is 2.7 per cent.”
““Lebanese men are more likely to succeed in taking their lives than women.”
Thank goodness for small mercies.
Facebook removes hundreds of accounts tied to Iran (memo, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190201-facebook-removes-hundreds-of-accounts-tied-to-iran/
“Facebook said Thursday it had removed 783 accounts that were part of a campaign of “coordinated, inauthentic behaviour” tied to Iran, Anadolu reports.
“The Page administrators and account owners typically represented themselves as locals, often using fake accounts, and posted news stories on current events,” Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy at Facebook, said in a statement.
The announcement comes as the company builds on previous investigations into fake accounts originating in Iran that have been circulating content on its social network.
The majority of the activity was centred in the Middle East and South Asia, in addition to other countries such as Albania and South Africa. But the accounts also targeted the US
Almost simultaneously, Twitter published its 2018 Midterm Elections report, which stated that the social media company had suspended networks of different accounts that were engaging in disinformation campaigns across the globe.
Twitter said it had confirmed that the accounts identified as Russian were actually from there, but it was unable to link them to the Russian Internet Research Agency, which is accused of playing a role in the interference of the 2016 US presidential election.
Roughly 2 million election-related tweets came from these “malicious” Russian accounts last year, it noted.
Twitter added that it had removed accounts linked to Iran and Venezuela as well.
“As part of our ongoing review, we found limited operations that have the potential to be connected to sources within Iran, Venezuela and Russia,” it said in a statement.”
Must stop those anti -regime fascists every time and keep their masters happy.
Really curious as to how big the fallout will be on FB about the spying on 13 yr olds?
Facebook takes down hundreds of Indonesian accounts linked to fake news syndicate (reuters, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-indonesia/facebook-takes-down-hundreds-of-indonesian-accounts-linked-to-fake-news-syndicate-idUSKCN1PQ3JS
“Facebook Inc has removed hundreds of Indonesian accounts, pages and groups from its social network after discovering they were linked to an online group accused of spreading hate speech and fake news.
Indonesian police uncovered the existence of the group, called Saracen, in 2016 and arrested three of its members on suspicion of being part of a syndicate being paid to spread incendiary material online through social media.
“These accounts and pages were actively working to conceal what they were doing and were linked to the Saracen Group, an online syndicate in Indonesia,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of Cybersecurity Policy, said on Friday.
“They have using deceptive messaging and… networks of concealed pages and accounts to drive often divisive narratives over key issues of public debates in Indonesia,” Gleicher told Reuters in an interview.
The world’s largest social network has been under pressure from regulators around the globe to fight spread of misinformation on its platform. In January, it announced two new regional operations centers focused on monitoring election-related content in its Dublin and Singapore offices.
Indonesia is currently in the run-up to a presidential election set to take place in April, with internet watchdogs flagging the impact of fake news as a concern.
Indonesia is estimated to be Facebook’s third largest markets, with over a 100 million users.
Indonesia’s police cyber crime unit has previously told Reuters that Saracen was posting material involving religious and ethnic issues, as well as fake news and posts that defamed government officials…”
Asia Bibi free to leave country, says Pakistan government (gulfnews, Jan 31, 2019)
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/asia-bibi-free-to-leave-country-says-pakistan-government-1.61793889
She’s already here, in Canada. She arrived this morning. I figure the moment she steps outside of her new home, she’ll have to wear a niqab.
Asia Bibi reunites with family in Canada: reports (DW, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.dw.com/en/asia-bibi-reunites-with-family-in-canada-reports/a-47324563
“The lawyer of the Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy, said Bibi and her husband had arrived in Canada. He did not disclose the exact time of her departure and how she had left Pakistan, citing security reasons.
Asia Bibi, the Christian woman who spent eight years on death row on blasphemy charges in Pakistan, has arrived in Canada with her husband, German media reported Friday, quoting her lawyer.
“She is united with her family”, Bibi’s lawyer Saif-ul-Malook told the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. DW was not able to immediately confirm the development.
Bibi’s two daughters already live in Canada.
The lawyer did not disclose any further details about Bibi’s departure from Pakistan, citing security reasons. It was previously reported that Bibi could not leave her native country aboard a regular flight.
Bibi was arrested in June 2009 after her neighbors complained she had insulted Prophet Muhammad. A year later, she was sentenced to death despite strong opposition from human rights groups.
Threat from Islamists
The news comes just days after Pakistan’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal against its October decision to acquit her.
She had been living under the “protective custody” of Pakistani authorities since her release from prison in November.
Bibi’s acquittal on October 31 had led to violent protests by hard-line Islamists.
The Tehreek-e-Labbaik party, which petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse its earlier ruling, had called for new rallies after the top court this week rejected its petition.
But nationwide rallies the extremists had called for on Friday mostly fizzled out, barring some violence in the southern port city of Karachi.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Bibi’s lawyer Saif-ul-Malook was still in Pakistan. He had returned to the country shortly before the final Supreme Court hearing after spending months abroad due to death threats.
“I’m in my apartment, I’m not going to my office,” he told the newspaper.”
Pakistan to export donkeys to China to earn foreign exchange (gulfnews, Jan 31, 2019)
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-to-export-donkeys-to-china-to-earn-foreign-exchange-1.1548923443899
“Pakistan is expected to earn millions of dollars annually in foreign exchange by exporting donkeys, said a senior official at the livestock department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistan has the world’s third largest population of donkeys with more than 5 million animals, while China stands at number one.
In a bid to boost the country’s exports to earn much needed foreign exchange, the Live Stock Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has announced that it will develop donkey farms — the first of its kind in the country.
This follows the opening of the first donkey hospital in Lahore, which has the largest number of animals in the country.
According to reports, at least two donkey farms are being set up in Dera Ismail Khan and Mansehra with foreign partnership.
Chinese companies have shown interest in donkey farming in Pakistan. The government would want to sign an agreement with a company that is associated with the Chinese government, Geo TV reported.
Officials said foreign companies are ready to make a $3 billion investment in the commercial farming of donkeys…”
Pakistan to export donkeys to China to earn foreign exchange
Thereby decreasing the average IQ in both nations.*
* As with so many quips that I make, this snipe is only partially in jest. Anyone who ever has had the perverse pleasure of working with burros knows that their cute, furry visages belie disguise the craftiest of little devils.
Much smarter than horses (try riding a donkey off of a cliff sometime), these scheming equine Einsteins will challenge anyone who quails over escalating to the 2×4 stage. Mule’s may have a lock on stubborness, but donkeys rule the stall (literally) when it comes to plain old outright sideways cussedness.
Trucks? Trains? What are these alien technologies that you so casually speak of?
Few things better epitomize the cultural stagnancy of both countries than their continued reliance upon quadrupeds for routine transportation of goods and people. However pragmatic a solution, it stains all with an ineradicable taint of throwback regressiveness—just like countries that continue any unnecessary (e.g., other than tourism-related) reliance upon steam locomotives.
In a world increasingly bereft of coincidence, it fails to amaze that Communist China and Pakistan are streets ahead of all but sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to cannibalizing their indigenous populations. Pakistan’s name alone (i.e., “Land of the Pure”) gives it inarguable bragging rights about who sets the global standard for Islamic merrymaking.
Be that as it may, it’s a dead cert that none of this will harm Pakistan’s already well-established reputation as a world-class destination for getting a little ass.
You have been around burros haven’t you.
What you forgot to mention about mules is that they are the superior saddle mount to a horse. They will go further in a day then a horse with a smoother gait and on worse food and water. The big problem is that they {the entire species} can take a dislike to one person and go out of their way to kick and bite those people.
Turkey slams Med7 declaration, accuses group of siding with Greek Cyprus (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 31, 2019)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-slams-med7-declaration-accuses-group-of-siding-with-greek-cyprus-140909
“The Turkish Foreign Ministry has slammed a joint declaration adopted at the Fifth Summit of the Southern European Union Countries (Med7) held in Greek Cyprus on Jan. 29 with the participation of France, Italy, Spain, Malta, Portugal, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration.
The move “provide yet another example of the unfair and unconstructive attitude maintained by certain EU members, in the name of the so-called ‘Union solidarity’,” said a Foreign Ministry statement on Jan. 31.
“The commendation in the declaration of the so-called efforts by the Greek Cypriots regarding the settlement process in Cyprus and the expression of support for their unilateral hydrocarbon activities in the Eastern Mediterranean clearly display the continuation of the Greek Cypriot administration’s abuse of its EU membership,” it added.
“It should not be forgotten that the main reason for the failure of the Cyprus Conference in 2017 was the Greek Cypriot side’s intransigent mentality, considering themselves as the sole owner of the island and the Turkish Cypriots as a minority,” the ministry said, adding that there is no mention of the legitimate rights of the Turkish Cypriots on the natural resources of the island in the joint declaration “proves the persistence of this distorted mentality.”
Turkey remains committed to taking the necessary steps to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriots, said the statement.”
Turkey ‘disappointed’ with Japan for not accepting Turkish workers (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 31, 2019)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-disappointed-with-japan-for-not-accepting-turkish-workers-140922
“Turkey is “disappointed” over being among the countries whose workers would not be accepted by Japan under a new visa system, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said.
“It has caused disappointment that Turkey is among the countries whose workers would not be accepted by Japan,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy said in a written statement on Jan. 31.
“This situation does not reflect the spirit of rooted strategic partnership and amicable relations our countries have,” Aksoy added. “We believe that this decision will be revised and corrected as soon as possible,” he said.
He also stated that Turkey’s discomfort regarding this has been expressed to Japan’s ambassador to Ankara.
Japan’s parliament had passed a controversial draft bill in November 2018 for plans of attracting over 300,000 foreign workers over the course of the next five years…”
“Turkey is “disappointed” over being among the countries whose workers would not be accepted by Japan under a new visa system, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said.”
After all, just look at how well the introduction of Islamic culture worked out for Germany. More thorough enrichment can only be had deep in the core of fast breeder reactors.
61 percent of Turks do not read books: Survey (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 31, 2019)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/61-percent-of-turks-do-not-read-books-survey-140919
“The number of Turks who “do not read books at all” increased by 8.1 percentage points, reaching 60.9 percent, a recent poll made public on Jan. 30 showed.
Those reading “one day in a month or less” increased by 4.1 percentage points to reach 15.3 percent, said the poll conducted by Istanbul’s Kadir Has University, which carries out such surveys each year.
However, the number of books read in a year accrued by 0.4 percentage points and increased from 5.4 percent to 5.8 percent, said the survey conducted between Dec. 12, 2018 and Jan. 4 2019 through face-to-face interviews with 1,000 respondents.
The participants of the survey represent Turkey’s population aged 18 and over residing in the city centers of 26 cities, who answered questions on politics, economic developments, social relations and international issues.
When the respondents were asked how often they read newspapers, 57.5 percent of them said they do not read newspapers. In addition, the frequency of reading a newspaper also declined compared to 2017, reaching only 2.9 days in a week on average.
Some 81.4 percent of the respondents said they never go to the theater. The frequency of those going to the theater in a month also decreased from last year’s 1.3 days to 0.9 days. The number of those “who do not go to the cinema at all” decreased from 37.6 to 35.3 percent, and the frequency of going to the cinema decreased from 1.5 days to 0.9 days in a month…”
25-year-old kills self after being denied asylum (ansa, Jan 31, 2019)
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/01/31/25-year-old-kills-self-after-being-denied-asylum_d8a21d59-1614-4833-b51b-6cc849d904ac.html
“A 25-year-old Nigerian man, Prince Jerry, committed suicide on January 28 by jumping under a train in Tortona after his request for a residency permit for humanitarian reasons was rejected, Monsignor Giacomo Martino, the head of association Migrantes, said on Thursday.
Martino, who is in charge of the association that helps migrants in the port-city, made the announcement in a chat group with his parishioners.
The message was subsequently shared on social media Wednesday night and published by local newspapers on Thursday.
Jerry’s funeral will be held Friday morning at the Chiesa dell’Annunziata in Genoa.”
“A 25-year-old Nigerian man, Prince Jerry, committed suicide on January 28 by jumping under a train in Tortona after his request for a residency permit for humanitarian reasons was rejected, Monsignor Giacomo Martino, the head of association Migrantes, said on Thursday.”
Hell, head to Nürnberg, Jerry. There’s blokes that’ll save you the trouble and push you under the train for free!
Woman attacks bus ticket inspector (ansa, Jan 31, 2019)
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/01/31/woman-attacks-bus-ticket-inspector_c4ec477d-eb73-46b5-8d43-47afdab0c562.html
“A Nigerian woman without a bus ticket on Thursday attacked an inspector on a bus in Padua, breaking his finger and causing two dislocations, local sources said.”
““A Nigerian woman without a bus ticket on Thursday attacked an inspector on a bus in Padua, breaking his finger and causing two dislocations, local sources said.””
Nothing that a haymaker or three can’t cure. The inspector’s hand still may have sustained some sort of injury but that guy would be smiling through the pain right now.
“haymaker”?
Dictionary: A person involved in making hay.
Country dialect for a roundhouse swing, it looks somewhat like the move made when you are using a mowing scythe like the Grim Reaper carries. Once you get into the rhythm it doesn’t take as much muscle as most people think.
Historical note, the mowing scythe was sued to cut the wheat and the flail (the medieval weapon) was used to seperate the seeds (the Wheat) from the stalk (the chaff). The head of the scythe could be modified into a pole arm and the flail could be used as a weapon with no modification. Think the nun-chucks that that Bruce Lee used.
EU must end returns to Libya, NGOs say (DW, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-must-end-returns-to-libya-ngos-say/a-47319405
“Dozens of NGOs have called on the EU to end the controversial policy, saying it undermines the bloc’s values. Despite several attempts, EU leaders have made little progress on a bloc-wide solution to irregular migration.
More than 50 major organizations on Friday accused European Union leaders of having “allowed themselves to become complicit in the tragedy unfolding before their eyes” in the Mediterranean, saying more than 5,300 people have died over the past two years.
While German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in 2015, other EU leaders have taken more controversial approaches, including blocking migrant rescue ships from docking.
Organizations called on the EU to:
“Support search and rescue operations.”
“Adopt timely and predictable disembarkation arrangements.”
“End returns to Libya.”
EU values on the line
Citing the humanitarian tragedy unfolding on Europe’s southern borders, the NGOs urged EU government to take decisive action in favor of the bloc’s values.
“The rights to seek asylum and the principle of non-refoulement are repeated in the Treaties of the European Union, which also declares that the Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights,” the letter said.
Libya in disarray
More than 1 million migrants have entered the EU since the height of the migration crisis in 2015. Despite several attempts, European leaders have failed to hammer out a bloc-wide solution to irregular migration and curb migrants from making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean.
The EU has also come under increased criticism for allowing migrants captured off the coast of Libya to be returned to the North African country, where many are sold into slavery. Up to 700,000 migrants are trapped in detention camps in Libya, according to African Union figures.”
Europe sets up Iran trade mechanism to bypass US sanctions (france24, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.france24.com/en/20190201-europe-eu-sets-iran-trade-mechanism-bypass-usa-sanctions-instex
“Britain, France and Germany on Thursday launched a trade mechanism to bypass US sanctions on Iran, drawing praise from Tehran — and a warning from Washington.
Brussels hopes the long-awaited special payment system will help save the Iran nuclear deal by allowing Tehran to keep trading with EU companies despite Washington reimposing sanctions after President Donald Trump abruptly quit the accord last year.
The three countries — the European signatories to the 2015 deal that curbed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief — launched the device, which has been in preparation for months, at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Bucharest.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif welcomed the news as a “long overdue first step”.
“We remain ready for constructive engagement with Europe on equal footing & with mutual respect,” he added in a tweet.
But US officials dismissed the idea that the new entity would have any impact on efforts to exert economic pressure on Tehran, and fired a fresh warning at anyone thinking of trading with the Islamic republic.
While the new institution, called INSTEX — short for Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges — is a project of the three governments, it will receive the formal endorsement of all 28 EU members.
The company was registered in Paris on Tuesday with an initial 3,000 euros in capital and a supervisory board with members from France and Germany, and chaired by a Briton.
“INSTEX will support legitimate European trade with Iran, focusing initially on the sectors most essential to the Iranian population — such as pharmaceutical, medical devices and agri-food goods,” the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and France — Jeremy Hunt, Heiko Maas and Jean-Yves Le Drian — said in a joint statement.
In the longer term, INSTEX aims to be open to third countries wanting to trade with Iran, the statement said — an ambition unlikely to please Washington.
Hunt said the move was “a clear, practical demonstration” of Europe’s commitment to continuing the nuclear deal, but insisted it “does not in any way preclude us from addressing Iran’s hostile and destabilising activities”.
Europe has toughened its tone on Iran’s ballistic missile programme, human rights record and interference in Middle East conflicts.
‘First step’
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi welcomed the move but said that to be of any value it must allow trading of sanctioned goods.
EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, who has led the bloc’s efforts to save the nuclear deal, said INSTEX was “essential for the continued full implementation of the nuclear deal”.
INSTEX is not yet operational and needs Iran to set up a parallel structure of its own, a French government source told AFP — something which may take some time to complete.
While it is aimed at small and medium sized companies, the French source said it would send an important message to Iran about Europe’s commitment to keep the nuclear deal alive.
“We have to try to reduce the effects of Trump’s decision,” the source said.
“It is not a primarily commercial move but a strategic one.”
For some in the EU, INSTEX represents the start of a European fightback against Washington’s swingeing extra-territorial sanctions — which are enabled by the dollar’s role as the world’s dominant reserve currency.
Transatlantic discord
Washington has warned the EU against trying to sidestep its sanctions on Tehran, while the Europeans — along with the deal’s other signatories Russia and China — say Iran has not broken its side of the nuclear accord and should be allowed to trade.
The UN atomic agency has certified Iran’s compliance with its obligations 13 times and even the head of the CIA said this week that Tehran was abiding by the accord — drawing a furious response from Trump.
Joseph Giordono-Scholz, spokesman for the US embassy in Berlin, insisted INSTEX would not undermine America’s economic campaign against Tehran.
“Entities that continue to engage in sanctionable activity involving Iran risk severe consequences that could include losing access to the US financial system and the ability to do business with the United States or US companies,” he said.
A number of major international companies have already pulled out of Iran in the face of dire warnings that the US will vigorously pursue any company breaching the sanctions regime.
The launch of INSTEX comes with EU countries growing increasingly concerned about Tehran’s ballistic missile programme, as well as its human rights record, its interference in Middle East conflicts and recent attempted attacks against opposition groups in Europe.”
Uber driver, 32, who caused the death of a British man, 30, after he opened the cab’s door into a path of an oncoming bus escapes jail (dailymail, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6656197/Uber-driver-32-caused-death-British-man-30-escapes-jail.html
“An Uber driver who accelerated while a passenger was getting out at a Sydney intersection, causing him to fall and be hit by a bus, has avoided a prison sentence.
Nazrul Islam, 32, was found guilty by magistrate Mary Ryan in late 2018 of negligent driving occasioning the death of Englishman Samuel Thomas in June 2017.
The 30-year-old was ‘half-in and half-out’ of the car when he was caught off balance by Islam driving off after the traffic lights changed to green.
Mr Thomas fell under an adjacent bus and was struck at the intersection of Elizabeth and Bathurst streets about 3am.
In Downing Centre Local Court on Friday, Ms Ryan convicted Islam and placed him on a 10-month corrections order involving at least 200 hours of community service.
Islam previously denied responsibility for Mr Thomas’ death, but in Downing Centre Local Court last November, Ms Ryan found he ‘did not keep a proper lookout’…”
Finnish City Bans Asylum Seekers From Schools Amid Grooming Gang Scandal (sputniknews, Feb 1, 2019)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201902011072022584-finland-grooming-gang-scandal/
“Parental concerns and security considerations are the reasons behind the ban on asylum seekers visiting schools in a Finnish city, where Finland’s biggest sexual assault scandal is unravelling.
The city of Oulu has temporarily banned asylum seeker and refugee visits to schools and day care centres as investigations into sexual abuse of minors continue, national Finnish broadcaster Yle reported.
The city’s ban of the integrational visits organised by the Red Cross and other charitable groups is based on an ongoing investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of underage girls by a number of asylum seekers and refugees in Oulu.
Mika Penttilä, the city’s Head of Education and Cultural Services, cited parental concerns and security reasons as the driving force behind the decision.
“We have agreed with the organisers that no such visits will take place at the moment. People have approached us about these visits to find out whether they pose a security risk”, Penttilä told Yle.
However, despite its temporary nature and Oulu auhorities’ pledge to conduct fact-based discussions on the security risks posed by asylum seeker visits, the ban has raised many questions.
Mikko Lehtonen, a professor of media culture at Tampere University, called stopping the visits ill-considered.
“The city wants to look decisive. However the message that they are now sending may create more problems and not solve any”, Lehtonen said. “If I were a member of a migrant group, this ban would send me the message that the so-called native culture does not want me to be part of theirs”.
Lehtonen said that viewing all asylum seekers as a separate but homogeneous group was disconcerting and “borderline racist”.
Non-Discrimination Ombudsman Kirsi Pimiä said decision-makers should weigh the relevance and proportion of such decisions and actions. Pimiä ventured that associating an individual’s negative traits with the group they represent was tantamount to prejudice. However, Oulu’s decision was not ruled discriminatory because visiting schools or day care centres is not a universal right for asylum seekers.
Tampere-based entrepreneur and consultant Rajkumar Sabanadesan, who came to Finland as an asylum seeker, said he considered Oulu’s decision outright stupid. He stressed that migrant problems can only be solved by integrating them with the majority population, and the ban was going in “exactly the same direction”.
Meanwhile, the Oulu police are investigating five new cases of suspected sexual offences against minors. All the alleged victims are girls under the age of 15, the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet reported.
Earlier this month, the refugee organisaiton Vuolle Setlementti, which has been working to integrate immigrants and counter social margnalisation since 1918, reported that it recieves threatening messages “almost every day”, Hufvudstadsbladet reported.
Since last year, the Oulu police have been investigating over a dozen of sexual assault cases involving girls as young as ten and foreign men, all of who had come to Finland as asylum seekers and refugees, some from the Middle East. The number of the investigations has been rising since the police urged the public not to hesitate in reporting any further cases.”
World War 3: TERRIFYING moment Russian and US warplanes CLASH over Baltic sea (express, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1080795/world-war-3-russia-US-russian-jet-us-f-15-NATO-clash-video-baltic-sea
ISIS RETURNS? Terror group could RETAKE territory within months warns US military report (express, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1080927/ISIS-Islamic-State-terrorist-group-Syria-Iraq-territory-US-terror
“TERROR group ISIS could start retaking territory in Syria and Iraq over the next six to 12 months, according to two US military officials who have seen a draft Pentagon report.
ISIS have suffered serious reverses recently losing their capital Raqqa in late 2017. The group has continued fighting using insurgent tactics. In December President Trump claimed ISIS had been defeated in Syria.
He commented: “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”
Trump announced the withdrawal of US ground forces from Syria, though aerial bombing will continue.
The leaked document is a draft of a quarterly Pentagon report on the campaign against ISIS, which is due to be released next week.
It warns the group could retake ungoverned parts of Syria within a matter of months, and is determined to recreate its physical caliphate.
ISIS shot to prominence in 2014 with a series of advances which saw them capture Mosul, Iraq’s third city, and reach the outskirts of Baghdad.
After taking Mosul they executed thousands of Iraqi security personnel, and forced women from the Yazidi religious minority into sexual slavery.
The group was gradually pushed back by Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by western special forces and air power.
The US is currently in the process of withdrawing land forces from Syria, who should be out by mid-Spring.
However speaking to Fox News Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned the group still poses a risk.
He said: “We need to continue to do all that we can to make sure that there’s not a resurgence of ISIS or that all the other variants of that terror regime continue to be under pressure.”
On Tuesday, during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said ISIS “still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria”.
He added the group had reverted to its “guerrilla warfare roots”.
ISIS continues to have affiliates active around the world.
It claimed responsibility for a Philippines Cathedral bombing which killed twenty people on January 27.”
It must be written in a secret commie manual somewhere where you condemn a person for going against an orthodoxy even before it is the orthodoxy in order to make the false narrative sound more true like an orthodoxy. Here’s a pro-Lifer who also (GASP!) may be a climate change denier! Two strikes for this guy. I bet they’ll find out next that doesn’t like jihabs.
https://ottawasun.com/news/local-news/transit-chair-accuses-colleague-of-creating-climate-of-fear-over-commissioner-comments/wcm/d9bc4648-e33d-4b18-a56d-e01b69bc1f47
Libtard having an hysterical tantrum about a customer wearing MAGA hat. Super funny.
That’s the chimp-out!
The Dems in NYC and Virginia should call their new abortion laws, The Gosnell Law or maybe the Snip it law.
More shocking Libtard legislation. Can’t call it a totalitarian tip toe any more. More totalitarian triple jump.
Khan’s London: No Prison for Teenager Who Left Former U.S. Ambassador with ‘Horrific Injuries’ (breitbart, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/01/khans-london-no-prison-for-teenager-who-left-former-u-s-ambassador-with-horrific-injuries/
“A teenager who knocked a 74-year-old former British ambassador to the United States unconscious on the London Underground and left him with “horrific injuries” has been let off with a 12-month referral order and a £500 compensation charge.
Uxbridge Youth Court heard that the 17-year-old, whose identity has been protected, ran up behind Sir Christopher Meyer and shoved him in the back on the Victoria station platform in London, knocking him unconscious and causing his glasses to break and inflict facial injuries when he hit the ground.
Witnesses say the attack was launched after the pensioner “nudged past” the teenager at the train doors following a verbal altercation.
“The injuries in this case were quite clearly horrific,” remarked sentencing judge Deborah Wright.
“The assault has had a profound impact upon [Sir Christopher] both physically and emotionally.
“The victim has injuries which have left him with scarring. He does not know whether or not he will suffer permanent disfigurement.”
Wright acknowledged that the crime clearly passed the threshold for a custodial term, but that the attacker’s supposed good character and remorse allowed her to issue an alternative sentence.
“You have been very fortunate today,” she told him as she handed down the referral order.
“This was a momentary lapse of judgment by the defendant, clearly a loss of temper,” defence lawyer Brad Lawlor had claimed.
“He has shown himself to be an educated, driven young man keen to rehabilitate himself and make right his actions.”
In a victim impact statement, Sir Christopher said the attack had been “deeply distressing” and required him to cancel a number of engagements and business meetings, including a BBC interview.
“The injuries I suffered may well leave permanent disfigurement. There is also a lasting emotional impact,” he added.
British Transport Police statistics recently revealed that violent crime on the London Underground has risen by at least 43 percent over the last three years, with weapons offences up by an even more remarkable 125 percent.”
Sea-Watch Migrant Ferry Detained in Salvini’s Italy (breitbart, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/01/sea-watch-migrant-ferry-impounded-in-salvinis-italy/
“The Italian Coast Guard says that the ship operated by the German NGO Sea-Watch will not be allowed to leave port due to safety violations.
The Coast Guard said in a statement Friday that a series of violations were discovered during an inspection of the ship, and that the Sea-Watch 3 can leave only when resolved. The problems were not specified.
The ship was permitted to disembark 47 migrants picked up on January 19th off Libya after other European nations agreed to take some in.
The stand-off was another in a series since Italy’s populist government adopted a policy of not allowing NGO ships to bring migrants to Italy’s shores, in a bid to force EU partners to share the burden of arrivals.”
UK: Man Jailed After Raping 11-Year-Old Girl in Car (breitbart, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/01/man-jailed-rape-11-girl-car/
“Shamol Miah has been given a short prison sentence after he drove a “very young and vulnerable” girl to a secluded area in his car, and raped her.
Nottingham Crown Court heard the 33-year-old approached his victim, who was aged just 11, in the centre of Mansfield in May last year, and swapped mobile phone numbers with the girl.
Later that evening the pair exchanged messages in which Miah organised to pick her up from her house at 0400, when he drove her to an isolated area and raped her in his car, before dropping her off in the Nottinghamshire market town’s centre.
Detectives were able to track down the girl’s attacker, who had told her his name was ‘Adam’, after looking at DNA evidence, CCTV recordings and phone records, according to a police press release.
Miah was given a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and put on the Sex Offenders register for as well as being handed an eight-year prison term, of which the Mansfield resident will likely serve just four behind bars due to the British system typically releasing criminals on licence automatically at the halfway point of their sentence.
At sentencing this week Miah, who pleaded guilty to raping a child under the age of 13, was given a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and put on the sex offenders register for life…”
Had this been before a different judge, maybe 18 months would have been the sentence.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/01/05/judges-two-to-tango-draws-criticism-in-md/9507ec44-f610-439d-83dd-a6a8270c2029/
A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge said yesterday “it takes two to tango” when he noted that an 11-year-old girl who was sexually molested by a 23-year-old man was “not free of fault” because she had invited the man into her bedroom. The judge immediately came under criticism for his remarks.
New vocabulary words for our teenagers and us.
https://airtable.com/shrQnjtVJ5oSm2PRw
Emerging Artists Internship
This Spring 2019, ARTLAB seeks teen artists—especially girls, femmes and non-binary folk—for the Emerging Artists Internship. Emerging Artists is an in-depth, educational experience for teen artists ready to take their skills to the next level. With exclusive access to technology, Museum events and exhibitions, participants develop as professional artists and leaders. The internship concludes with the esteemed opportunity to showcase at the Hirshhorn Museum.
Austria: More Than Half of Suspects in Murders of Women in 2017 Were Foreigners (breitbart, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/01/31/austria-more-than-half-suspects-murders-women-2017-were-foreigners/
“More than half of the suspects involved in murders where women were the victims have foreign backgrounds, according to Austrian Family Minister Juliane Bogner-Strauss.
Ms Bogner-Strauss said that in 2017 Austria had seen 203 suspects involved in the murders of women and of those, 126 were foreigners. Among the foreigners were 62 asylum seekers — over a quarter of all suspects, Kleine Zeitung reports.
“You have to take appropriate action,” Bogner-Strauss said and added that she wanted to support economic development for women to help them gain independence from violent households saying, “Patriarchal structures have not yet died out in Austria.”
The Austrian family minister also defended the government’s move to reform the amount for child payments for foreigners working in Austria but with children living overseas saying, “The cost of living in Eastern Europe and the average wages there are much lower.”
The new policy sees the amount paid to the percent based on the cost of living in the country where the child resides, meaning less money for children living in countries like Hungary and Romania than children living in Austria.
The policy, which came into effect this year, was slammed by European Social Affairs Commissioner Marianne Thyssen who said earlier this week, “When mobile workers contribute to a social security system in the same way as local workers, they must receive identical benefits, even when their children live abroad.”
The mention of murders of women comes after several high-profile cases in which young women have been murdered in recent weeks by asylum seekers including 16-year-old Michelle F. who was killed in Steyr by an Afghan asylum seeker in December, and 16-year-old Manuela K. whose body was found under a pile of leaves by her mother in Wiener Neustadt earlier this month.
Last year it was revealed that in the Austrian capital of Vienna more than half of the suspects in all crimes were from foreign backgrounds.”
Quarter of Swedish School Pupils From Foreign Backgrounds (breitbart, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/01/one-quarter-of-swedish-students-come-foreign-backgrounds/
“Around one in four students in Swedish schools now come from a foreign background as schools across the country are becoming more and more segregated, according to a new report.
The new report claims that while the school system across Sweden has seen a growth in the number of foreign-background students, it has also seen segregation to the point where in one municipality there exists a school with students who are 90 percent from foreign backgrounds and another in which they are only four percent, SVT reports.
The statistics in the report come from the Swedish National Agency for Education and show schools such as the Sunnadal School in Karlskrona have a student population of entirely migrant background children, in Borlänge several schools have foreign-background populations of over 80 percent, and in Linköping several schools have an over 90 percent foreign-background student body.
One result of the segregation, according to the report, has been a difference in school performance between heavily migrant-background schools and other schools.
“We have an increased concentration of pupils based on social background and migration background, and we see that we have increased disparities in school results,” Peter Fredriksson, director general of education, said.
In some heavily migrant populated areas, such as the “vulnerable” Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, results in some schools are far below the average. At schools in both Rinkeby and Hjulsta students were found to be underperforming to the extent that half of the students were not able to pass into high school.
Amin Ahmed, the father of one of the students at one of the schools said that he and other parents had considered moving their children to different schools in order to improve their education.
Another major issue in Swedish schools has been the increase in violence, with the Swedish Work Environment Authority claiming in October that the reports of incidents of threats, robberies, and physical violence had increased by 129 percent from 2012 to 2017.”
‘Never, Ever, Ever’: Muslim Leaders Reject Call to Denounce ‘Violent’ Koran (breitbart, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2019/02/01/never-ever-ever-muslim-leaders-reject-call-to-denounce-violent-koran/
“An Australian judge who said Muslim leaders should publicly denounce “belligerent” verses of the Koran has been warned not to offer Islamic scriptural guidance.
Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed said Muslim leaders would “never, ever, ever” disavow verses of the Koran while president of the Australian Muslim Women’s Association Silma Ihram said that it was not appropriate for a judge to delve into religious scripture interpretations.
Both spoke the day after Justice Desmond Fagan said lethal messages derived from “hostile passages” of the Koran were not effectively countered by suggestions from “various quarters” that the verses had been “cherry picked” or that Islam was an “interpretive religion” of peace.
“The incitements to violence which terrorists quote from the Koran cannot just be ignored by the many believers who desire harmonious coexistence. Those verses are not ignored by terrorists,” Justice Fagan said in Sydney while delivering his judgement in the NSW Supreme Court in a case involving two convicted jihadis.
SBS News reports Dr Mohamed pointed out “only two Koran verses talk about pre-emptive fighting” while Ms Ihram said that when the Koran is translated from Arabic to English, “meaning and context is lost.”
“The English translation does not convey the depths of meaning that the Koran actually holds for those relevant verses,” she said. “There are very few verses in the Koran that can be twisted for violent purposes, there are a lot more in other scriptures.
“That is why we are working as much as we can to educate Muslims on interpreting the Koran.”
Dr Rateb Jneid, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president, cautined that a judge shouldn’t be drawing conclusions on a religious text.
“A judge’s role is to deal with the individual before the court and not the religion as a whole,” he said in a statement. “A judge in such circumstances is unlikely to have sufficient material before them to draw any conclusions about the religious position on such texts beyond what the individual in question may or may not believe.”
This is not the first time Islamic texts and their interpretation have publicly collided in Australia.
As Breitbart News reported, last year Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called out “radical, violent, extremist Islam that opposes our very way of life” the day after an Islamic State-inspired jihadist carried out a terror attack in Melbourne.
He said while he supported religious freedom, religious extremism must be called out.
“Radical, violent, extremist Islam that opposes our very way of life,” the premier said. “Religious extremism takes many forms around the world and no religion is immune from it.
“But here in Australia, we would be kidding ourselves if we did not call out the fact that the greatest threat of religious extremism in this country is the radical and dangerous ideology of extremists.”
The Australian National Imams Council responded immediately, calling the attack a national tragedy before adding it was “outraged” by the prime minister’s linking Islam to any radical or dangerous jihadi ideology.”
The Australian National Imams Council responded immediately, calling the attack a national tragedy before adding it was “outraged” by the prime minister’s linking Islam to any radical or dangerous jihadi ideology.”
This fails miserably at the “So what?” test. Since time immemorial, there always have been those who are “outraged” by the truth. Admittedly, despite hardly having invented it, Muslims do take poutrage to an entirely different level. All the same, last I checked, basic human rights still do not include any guarantee against being offended, or feeling “outraged” for that matter.
Whatever affront arose from having Islam associated with terrorism is a hallmark of clinical psychosis, cognitive dissonance, or both—but at least one. Regardless, the Australian National Imams Council needs to calm down, take a seat, relax, and pour themselves a tall, cool, foamy, refreshing glass of STFU.
Turkish employee of US Consulate to go on trial in March (abcnews, Feb 1, 2019)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-employee-us-consulate-trial-march-60775231
“A Turkish employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul is set to go on trial in March on charges of espionage and attempting to overthrow the Turkish government, a court decided Friday.
A court ruled to keep Metin Topuz, a translator and fixer for the Drug Enforcement Agency, in pretrial detention until trial hearings scheduled for March 26-28, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Topuz has been in custody since October 2017.
The court accepted a 78-page indictment alleging Topuz had “very intense contacts” with police officers who led a 2013 corruption investigation involving top government officials and their families. The indictment called him a “terror criminal.”…”
Pakistan protests over acquitted Christian woman fizzle out (abcnews, Feb 1, 2019)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistan-protests-acquitted-christian-woman-fizzle-60775659
“Pakistani police have fired tear gas and wielded batons to disperse a rally by Islamic radicals in the southern port city of Karachi against the acquittal of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.
But despite the Karachi violence, nationwide rallies the extremists had called for on Friday against Aasia Bibi’s freedom mostly fizzled.
Bibi had spent eight years on death row on charges of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik party, which petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse its Oct. 31 acquittal of Bibi, had called for new rallies after the top court this week threw out its petition.
It had also urged businesses and transport operators to strike but the call was ignored.
There were scatterings of small rallies against Bibi in northwestern Pakistan and the capital, Islamabad.”
Iran starts marking 40th anniversary of Islamic Revolution (abcnews, Feb 1, 2019)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iran-starts-marking-40th-anniversary-islamic-revolution-60773016
“Iran on Friday kicked off days-long celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah, overturned 2,500 years of monarchical rule and brought hard-line Shiite clerics to power.
The climactic events that year in Iran — where footage of revolutionaries in the streets gave way to black-and-white images of blindfolded American hostages in the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis months later — not only changed Iran’s history but also helped shape today’s Middle East.
The anniversary festivities start every year on Feb. 1 — the day Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned home from France after 14 years in exile, to become the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Across Iran, sirens rang out from trains and boats and church bells chimed at 9:33 a.m. Friday — the exact time Khomeini’s chartered Air France Boeing 747 touched down 40 years ago at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
The 10-day anniversary festivities, known as the “Ten Days of Dawn,” conclude on Feb. 11, the date Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s government collapsed after brief clashes between some army units and revolutionary gunmen, following nationwide protests.
As part of the celebrations, many Tehran buildings, mostly of government institutions and offices, dawned on Friday draped in the colors of Iran’s green-white-and-red flag while multi-colored lights decorated the main streets.
In memory of Khomeini’s homecoming, car drivers turned on their headlights and honked in celebration as helicopters dropped clusters of flowers along the 21-mile route from the airport to the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran where Khomeini made his first speech back home and where his tomb stands today.
Iranian officials — including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani — on Wednesday paid homage to Khomeini’s tomb “to renew allegiance” to the late leader.
At a ceremony at Khomeini’s tomb Friday, Ahmad Jannati, head of a constitutional watchdog that vets nominees for presidential and parliamentary elections, slammed what he described as U.S. psychological warfare against Iran in the form of “cruel sanctions.”
“The enemies today have targeted the economy” to make Iranians feel pessimistic about Islam, said Jannati, a hard-line cleric.
Last year, the Trump administration pulled America out of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that curbed Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting of economic sanctions. The U.S. in November re-imposed its sanctions on Iran.
Germany, France and Britain — which have worked to preserve the nuclear deal — announced on Thursday they have established a new system so their companies can continue trading with Iran without incurring U.S. penalties for doing so.
Also Friday, Iranian state TV broadcast archive footage of Khomeini’s return and the daily mass demonstrations across Iran in support to his revolution.
Khomeini was accompanied on the flight home by dozens of journalists, a few of his associates and only one family member, his younger son Ahmad.
The plane was only half full, to keep room for extra fuel in case of immediate return to Paris if the plane couldn’t land in Tehran. Supporters of the shah’s regime had closed the airport the week before and Khomeini’s allies in Tehran feared possible threats against his life.
State TV also Friday broadcast footage showing various Iranian achievements over the years and a video animation with anti-U.S. propaganda. State media reported that similar celebrations were taking place in cities and towns across the county.”
Iran: ‘Ten-Day Dawn’ celebrated in Tehran ahead of Islamic Revolution’s 40th anniv.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on Friday, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which ended the monarchical rule of the House of Pahlavi.
The ceremony celebrates the day Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, returned from exile in France on February 1, 1979.
The chairman of Iran’s influential Assembly of Experts, which has the power to select and dismiss the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati spoke at the ceremony.
Indonesian teens publicly flogged for cuddling (cnn, Feb 1, 2019)
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/01/asia/indonesia-teens-publicly-flogged-for-cuddling-intl/index.html
“Two 18-year-olds were publicly flogged Thursday in the conservative Indonesian state of Aceh for displaying affection.
The college student and her boyfriend each received 17 lashes for publicly cuddling, which is a violation of the state’s strict interpretation of Sharia law, according to a government spokesman.
The punishments were administered in front of a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.
Video of the event shows a masked individual striking the two teenagers, one after the other, across the upper back in front of a crowd, members of which were taking cellphone videos.
A 35-year-old man was also whipped 20 times, as part of his punishment for being “intimate” with a woman in a grocery store which she owned.
The 40-year-old woman involved in the incident avoided the caning — for now — after medical professionals deemed her unfit to undergo physical punishment. That part of her sentence has been postponed.
The man and two teenagers had all served 98-day jail sentences ahead of the corporal punishment…”
Venezuela in Crisis: Former WH Official Explains Trump’s Strategy – Robert Wasinger
The Moment This Muslim Man F**ked Up
“Fetal Anomalies” and “Women’s Health” 5 Lies Pro Aborts Tell to Defend Late Term Abortions
*The suspect is a 45-year-old man of Iranian nationality known to the police for violent and fraudulent crimes*
We read this kind of thing again and again and again. This instance relates to Germany. What really gets to me, ever more and more, is that this man, despite being a violent fraudster IS STILL IN GERMANY. There are flights, every day, between Germany and Teheran. For God’s sake, Gemany, use your common sense and just put him on one of them. He’s proved himself unsuitable, what are we waiting for?
Germany, do you think you DESERVE what’s coming to you?
Daesh Could Reclaim Syrian Areas Abandoned by US in a Year – Report (sputniknews, Feb 1, 2019)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201902011072033468-daesh-syria-us-withdrawal/
“The US announced its withdrawal from Syria in 2018 with President Donald Trump suggesting that other states in the region will clear out the remains of the terrorist organisation.
Daesh* could reclaim some of its territories within 6 to 12 months after the US concludes its presence in Syria, NBC News reported, citing an obtained draft Pentagon paper. The paper, which is scheduled to be released next week, reportedly says that without the US military pressure on the terrorist organisation, it will soon start working to reinstating the caliphate in a “physical” form. The terror group is mainly resorting to guerrilla warfare tactics at present.
The Department of Defence and the National Security Council haven’t commented on the NBC report…”
“Lou Dobbs Tonight 1/31/19 | Breaking Fox News January 31, 2019”
Dana Perino – Published on January 31, 2019
The mother of a three-year-old girl has become the first person to be found guilty of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK.
The woman was convicted after the Old Bailey heard she tried to “shut up” accusers with witchcraft.
https://news.sky.com/story/mother-becomes-first-person-to-be-found-guilty-of-female-genital-mutilation-in-uk-11624880
The mother of a three-year-old girl has become the first person in the UK to be found guilty of female genital mutilation (FGM).
The 37-year-old woman from Uganda was convicted following a trial at the Old Bailey.
Her 34-year-old partner was acquitted by the jury.
Spells and curses intended to deter police and social workers from investigating were found at the woman’s home, the trial heard.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-47094707
U.S. cuts off all aid to Palestinian security forces
The U.S. government has ceased all security assistance to the Palestinian Authority for training and equipment starting today, a U.S. embassy official told me.
Why it matters: The move comes as the new anti-terrorism clarification law (ATCA) came into effect today. The official said the U.S. Security Coordinator and his team will continue to conduct a security cooperation-only mission.
Show less
Between the lines: U.S. aid to Palestinian security forces was supposed to be $60 million for 2019.
An Israeli security official tells me Israel and the Trump administration are still trying to find a solution that will allow the renewal of U.S. aid to the Palestinian security forces.
The official added: “The cessation of U.S. security assistance will harm the ability of Palestinian security forces to function & could harm security coordination with Israel and create tensions on the ground.”
Background: The Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) would force foreign organizations to be subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts if they accept certain forms of assistance from the U.S. government. It was signed by Trump last October with the intention of ensuring the Palestinian Authority pays compensation to terror victims who won civil suits against the PLO in U.S. courts.
https://www.axios.com/us-security-assistance-palestinian-authority-dfb2e6b0-5b94-4da8-be69-55fc83f89953.html
“Trump announces end to historic government shutdown”
6abc Action News – January 25, 2019
The Ingraham Angle – January 31, 2019
Sex Trafficking Crisis on the Southern Border – 20:41
“Rape Trees, Dead Migrants and the Consequences of an Open Border”
by Brandon Darby and Bob Price – April 25, 2016
https://www.breitbart.com/border/2016/04/25/rape-trees-dead-migrants-consequences-open-border/
Rape Tree
FOX San Antonio – Published on July 22, 2014
Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby – Breitbart
https://www.breitbart.com/author/ortiz-darby/
“Mexican President AMLO: ‘No More War’ on Drugs” by Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby – January 31, 2019
https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/01/31/mexican-president-amlo-no-more-war-on-drugs/
A Canadian Jewish organization has been stripped of its charity status following a government audit that found it had provided support to “foreign armed forces,” according to documents obtained by Global News.
The Beth Oloth Charitable Organization, based in Toronto, had been a registered charity since 1980 and was one of richest in Canada, with more than $60-million in revenues in 2017.
But federal regulators said some of its activities were not charitable under Canadian law, such as “increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the Israeli armed forces.”
The Canada Revenue Agency also identified a list of other problems such as funding projects in the occupied territories, which it said was contrary to Canada’s policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
https://globalnews.ca/news/4893430/canada-charity-jewish-group-foreig-armed-forces/
Yet another side-by-side comparison of selective censorship:
https://i.redd.it/tmuppralxtd21.jpg
“PODESTA COMES OUT OF HIDING! | TRUMP WILL KEEP HIS WORD ON THE WALL | MAGA = COAST 2 COAST WINNING!”
Black Conservative Patriot – Published on January 31, 2019
U.S. suspends compliance on weapons treaty with Russia, may withdraw in six months
Lesley Wroughton, Arshad Mohammed
3 MIN READ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will suspend compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia on Saturday and formally withdraw in six months if Moscow does not end its alleged violation of the pact, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nuclear-russia/u-s-suspends-compliance-on-weapons-treaty-with-russia-may-withdraw-in-six-months-idUSKCN1PQ4VW?utm_source=reddit.com
New legislation introduced by Oregon senators aims to punish Saudi Arabia following shocking allegations that the kingdom has whisked as many as five young men facing criminal charges ranging from rape to murder out of the country from that state alone.
Speaking publicly for the first time on Thursday, the parents of Fallon Smart, a 15-year-old victim of a hit and run by Saudi student Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah in 2016, said they were horrified to learn their daughter’s alleged assailant had disappeared two weeks before his trial with the help of the Saudi government. Noorah was charged with manslaughter, felony hit-and-run, and reckless driving in the teen’s death. He faced a minimum prison sentence of ten years.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/five-saudi-students-accused-of-rape-murder-hit-and-runs-have-fled-oregon-before-trial?ref=home
Today is World Hijab Day – and why some celebrate today as World NO Hijab Day:
William J. Federer: American Minute for February 1st:
Five dollars was all she was paid by the Atlantic Monthly Magazine for her poem, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” published FEBRUARY 1, 1862.
It became Lincoln’s favorite song and the Union’s theme song.
Her name was Julia Ward Howe, the daughter of a Wall Street banker and the wife of Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, director of a school for the blind in Boston, which grew into the famous Perkins Institute.
Julia and her husband entertained John Brown in their home and published the anti-slavery journal Commonwealth.
In 1861, Julia traveled to Washington, D.C., and saw the city teeming with military, horses galloping all around and innumerable campfires burning.
Julia Ward Howe wrote:
“I went to bed that night as usual, and slept, according to my wont, quite soundly. I awoke in the gray of the morning twilight;
and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind.
Having thought out all the stanzas, I said to myself, ‘I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them.’
So, with a sudden effort, I sprang out of bed, and found in the dimness an old stump of a pen which I remembered to have used the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.”
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He has loosed the fateful lighting of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
‘As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea;
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.”
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
So profound was Julia Ward Howe’s influence, that Theodore Roosevelt dedicated his book to her, Fear God and Take Your Own Part (NY: G.H. Doran Co., 1916, p. v.):
“This book is dedicated to the memory of Julia Ward Howe:
because in the vital matters fundamentally affecting the life of the Republic, she was as good a citizen of the Republic as Washington and Lincoln themselves.
She was in the highest sense a good wife and a good mother … At the same time she fulfilled her full duty to the commonwealth …
She preached that stern and lofty courage of soul which shrinks neither from war nor … suffering and hardship and danger …
She embodies that trait more essential than any other in the make-up of the men and women of this Republic — the valor of righteousness.”
After the Civil War, slavery was ended in the United States, but recent research reveals that there is actually more slavery today than at any time in history.
Slavery is called by different names, such as:
-generational indebtedness as in South Asia;
-forced labor in North Korean prison camps;
-exploited labor for mining and agriculture in South America and Africa;
-illicit drug production and trade;
-human-trafficking; and
-sex-slavery in cities across the world, including the United States, where the FBI has conducted stings during Super Bowl weekend.
Slavery is part of Islamic Sharia Law, with long histories of forced marriages, child brides, and slave markets.
Over the 1,400 years of Islamic expansion, an estimated 180 million Africans were sold in Muslim slave markets in:
North Africa:
Tangier (Morocco), Marrakesh (Morocco). Algiers (Algeria). Tripoli (Libya), Cairo (Egypt), Aswan (Egypt); Khartoum, (Sudan);
West Africa:
Aoudaghost (Mauritania), Timbuktu (Mali), Gao (Mali), Bilma (Niger), Kano (Nigeria);
Swahili Coast:
Bagamoyo (Tanzania), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Kilwa (Tanzania), Sofala (Beira, Mozambique), Mombasa (Kenya);
Horn of Africa:
Assab (Eritrea), Massawa (Eritrea), Nefasit (Eritrea), Tadjoura (Djibouti), Zeila (Somalia), Mogadishu (Somalia), Kismayo (Somalia);
Arabian Peninsula:
Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Zab?d (Yemen), Muscat (Oman), Aden (Yemen), Socotra (Indian Ocean);
http://amerisearch.net/
US imposes visa restrictions on Ghana over deportee row (BBC, Feb 1, 2019)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47089304
“The US has imposed visa restrictions on Ghana for refusing to accept the return of 7,000 Ghanaian nationals that it wants to deport.
The US embassy in Accra will limit the awarding of visas to certain applicants, such as the domestic staff of diplomats posted to America.
The sanctions could be expanded to include other categories if the issue was not resolved, US officials warned.
Last year, Ghana had questioned the deportees’ nationality and treatment.
But last September, the country’s ambassador to the US, Baffour Adjei-Bawuah, was quoted by local media as saying that an agreement had been reached to return the deportees.
The US accuses the 7,000 deportees of being guilty of immigration offences, including abusing the terms of their visas.
“Ghana has failed to live up to its obligations under international law to accept the return of its nationals ordered removed from the United States,” US Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said on a statement on Thursday.
Last year, the Ghanaian authorities said they had delayed the process so they could vet the deportees and confirm their nationalities.
They had also raised concerns about their inhumane treatment by US officials.
There were reports that some deportees were handcuffed and forced aboard a plane to Ghana but the US denied the reports, Ghana’s Citi Newsroom reports.
From Monday 4 February, no visas would be issued to domestic employees of Ghanaian diplomats in the US, the statement from the US embassy in Ghana said.
Government and parliamentary employees and their families were also to be targeted with restrictions such as limiting the number and length of visas granted.
But a lack of adjudication of a visa application did not mean a visa denial, it just meant it would remain pending until the restrictions were lifted, the embassy said.”
FRANCE – We will block all regions’: French prison guards leave jail, demand better pay
Employees of France’s prison system rallied outside Fleury-Merogis jail in a southern suburb of Paris on Thursday evening, demanding improved pay and conditions.
Protesters erected barricades and set wooden crates alight, while chanting against the French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet.
“Notice How Democrats are Never Indicted?” + comments
by William L. Gensert – February 1, 2019
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/02/notice_how_democrats_are_never_indicted.html