Contributor’s Links post for February 6th, 2019

Daily Links Post graphic

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.

About Eeyore

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

130 Replies to “Contributor’s Links post for February 6th, 2019”

  1. Taliban official says US promised to withdraw troops in Afghanistan by April (abcnews, Feb 6, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/taliban-official-us-promised-withdraw-troops-afghanistan-april/story?id=60884193

    “A Taliban official on Wednesday said the United States has promised to withdraw half of its troops from Afghanistan by April, a claim the U.S. State Department immediately disputed.

    The official, Abdul Salam Hanafi, made the comments in Moscow where he was part of a Taliban delegation attending peace talks with senior Afghan political figures. Afghanistan government officials did not attend the delegation.

    “The Americans have agreed to us that half of American forces will start leaving from beginning of February till end of April,” Hanafi told reporters Wednesday, saying the promise had been made during breakthrough talks with U.S. negotiators in Qatar’s capital Doha last month, which he had taken part in.

    A State Department spokesperson though disputed that, telling ABC News, “We have not agreed to any timeline for a possible drawdown of troops and are not going to get into any other specific details of diplomatic conversations.”…”

    • Taliban: Half of US troops to leave Afghanistan by May 1 (abcnews, Feb 6, 2019)
      https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/taliban-half-us-troops-leave-afghanistan-60884343

      “The U.S. has promised to withdraw half of its troops from Afghanistan by the end of April, a Taliban official said Wednesday, but the U.S. military said it has received no orders to begin packing up.

      Taliban official Abdul Salam Hanafi, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting in Moscow between the Taliban and other prominent Afghan figures, said that U.S. officials promised the pullout will begin this month.

      “The Americans told us that from the beginning of February to the end of April, half of the troops from Afghanistan will be withdrawn,” he said.

      Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Rob Manning said, however, the U.S. military had received no orders to begin withdrawing.

      “Peace talks with the Taliban continue, but (the Defense Department) has not received a directive to change the force structure in Afghanistan,” he said.

      Hanafi said the U.S. and the Taliban will each create a technical committee that “will work on a timetable for the withdrawal of remaining troops.”

      The Pentagon has reportedly prepared plans to withdraw half its 14,000 troops by the summer.

      Efforts to find a negotiated end to Afghanistan’s longest war have accelerated in recent months since the appointment last September of Zalmay Khalilzad as Washington’s peace envoy. He has held several meetings with the Taliban.

      Talks have mostly focused on a U.S. troop withdrawal and guarantees from the Taliban that Afghanistan would not again be used as a safe haven for terrorists to attack other countries, according to both Khalilzad and Taliban officials.

      In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. has been holding constructive talks with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban.

      “As we make progress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our troop presence and focus on counter-terrorism,” he said.”

    • Obama started playing games with the inflation numbers to try and make people think the economy was good. Working from memory I would say that during the 8 years of obama a minimum of 5 maybe 6 had double digit inflation. Part of that inflation was probably deliberate to make more people dependent on the government.

  2. DAILY MAIL _ GERMANY _FLENSBURG – Afghan migrant is jailed for life for murdering 17-year-old ex-girlfriend who had refused to convert to Islam in Germany – where he had lied about his age to claim asylum as a minor

    Ahmad S. killed girlfriend Mireille in Flensburg, Germany back in March last year
    He was said to heave stabbed her 14 times after she ended their relationship
    The court heard he arrived in Germany in 2015 claiming he was 18 to get asylum
    But the court found that he was actually an adult and could be up to 29 years old

    An Afghan migrant has been jailed for life in Germany after murdering his girlfriend because she refused to convert to Islam.

    The asylum seeker, identified as Ahmad S. due to German privacy laws, was found guilty of stabbing 17-year-old girlfriend Mireille 14 times at her flat in Schleswig-Holstein in March last year because she ended their relationship.

    The court heard how Ahmad S turned out to be 11 years older than he claimed, after he arrived in Germany seeking asylum as a minor in 2015 – arguing he was just 18.

    According to the court, the Afghan migrant was jealous that she found a new boyfriend and hated that he could no longer control every aspect of her life.

    Ahmad S. denied the murder in court and claimed that someone else must have committed the act.

    He was found guilty on murder charges by the district court of Flensburg in the northernmost German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

    He arrived in Germany in 2015 as unaccompanied minor refugee and filed for asylum – which was rejected.

    Ahmad S. claimed that he is currently 18 years old, but the court had doubts and ordered an age test.

    Forensic expert Sabine Gumpert testified at the start of the trial that Ahmad S. was at least 21 years old and that her examination strongly suggested he could even be 29 years old.

    As a result, the court sentenced Ahmad S. according to adult law instead of juvenile law, which in Germany is customary for those under the age of 21 and would have barred the judges from putting him away for life.

    In recent years, a growing number of Afghan migrants have been caught lying about their age when they first entered Germany in the hope of securing a better chance of asylum.

    The most high-profile case was Hussein Khavari who was jailed for life for the rape and murder of 19-year-old student Maria Ladenburger, the daughter of a high-ranking EU official.

    Khavari claimed that he was a minor but an expert found him to be ‘at least’ 22. His father later gave evidence testifying that his son was actually 33, allowing the courts to finally sentence him as an adult.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6673297/Failed-Afghan-asylum-seeker-stabbed-girlfriend-death-jailed-life-Germany.html

  3. One Daniel Haqiqatjou explains why “far-right extremists” are converting to islam. “White sharia”, hadn’t heard that before:

    https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=1594438427441540&story_fbid=2381503532068355

    “The far-right is definitely sympathetic to Islamic values, as I have written before. So much of the right wing consists of people who are sick and tired of the leftist cultural project that pushes feminism, homosexuality, and cross-dressing on society and labels whoever does not embrace that filth with smiles and rainbow pins as a fascist. People are tired of this garbage.

    In terms of online white supremacist culture, you even have the most hardcore neo-Nazi’s calling for “White Sharia.” This might seem counter intuitive, but it makes perfect sense. The Sharia is the antidote to so many of modernity’s social ills: debased sexual promiscuity, the collapse of marriage, the annihilation of the family institution, the erosion of gender roles, the disappearance of male authority, etc. These white supremacists correctly identify the Sharia as the cure for this cancer.”

  4. China’s Threat to Human Rights

    BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,083, February 6, 2018

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: China is leading a charge to undermine accepted concepts of human rights accountability and justice around the world. This effort, backed by autocrats, has turned human rights into an underrated yet crucial battleground in the shaping of a new world order.

    Beijing is engaged in a concerted bid to undermine accepted standards of human rights around the world. Its maneuvers include an unprecedented crackdown on Turkic Muslims in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, an accelerated rollout of restrictions elsewhere in the country, and the export of key elements of a Chinese model of a 21st century Orwellian surveillance state.

    The Chinese effort, as highlighted in the just-published, 674-page World Report 2019 from Human Rights Watch, is multipronged.

    It involves proposals to alter the principles on which the UN Human Rights Council operates in ways that would enable repressive, autocratic regimes.

    To achieve its goal, Beijing is flexing its financial muscle and using its infrastructure- and energy-driven Belt and Road Initiative to economically entice countries that are financially strapped, desperate for investment, and/or on the defensive because of human rights abuses.

    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/china-human-rights-threat/

  5. netherlands – Amsterdam shooting: Man shot dead in shootout with police outside Dutch central bank

    DUTCH police have shot and killed a man after a fierce exchange of gunfire in central Amsterdam.

    Witnesses said they heard around 20 shots being fired before seeing the man motionless on the ground.

    A bystander was also injured in the shootout.

    Officers had been responding to reports of a man with a gun close to the country’s central bank.

    Police said the suspect “came at the agents with the weapon” before they opened fire.

    The man died of his injuries at the scene despite efforts by officers to treat him.

    The shooting took place on a street behind the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).

    Police are keeping all options open regarding the suspect’s motive, according to De Telegraaf.

    The Dutch newspaper reported a DNB spokesperson as saying the incident did not immediately appear to have anything to do with the bank but that police were investigating.

    Photos published by local TV station AT5 show ambulances at the scene and a police cordon in place.

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1083573/amsterdam-shooting-latest-netherlands-police-dnb-bank

  6. DEMSKKK.CON
    As Hillary Clinton’s mentor Robert Byrd confirms, Democrat outrage over Klan connections is a new development.
    February 6, 2019
    Lloyd Billingsley

    Virginia governor Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurologist, had barely finished publicly touting infanticide last week when a page from his 1984 medical school yearbook suddenly went viral. The page showed a photo of a man in blackface standing beside a man in a Ku Klux Klan robe. The Virginia Democrat acknowledged he was one of the men but didn’t say which. Northam then denied that he was in the photo but acknowledged he once darkened his face to look like Michael Jackson. Northam apologized for his actions and Democrats were divided about how to respond.

    As CNN reported, “Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner refrained from calling on him to resign,” but freshman Virginia Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria called for Northam to step down. Sen. Kamala Harris, a candidate for president, declare “the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government” and called for Northam to step aside. So did former vice president Joe Biden, who said “Northam has lost all moral authority.” As the career of another prominent Democrat shows, this type of outrage is a new development.

    West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, a mentor to Hillary Clinton, served in the U.S. Senate for a record 51 years, and as Senate majority leader from 1977-1981 and 1987-1989. Before election to the Senate in 1958, Byrd served six years in Congress. And before that, he served as a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272781/demskkkcon-lloyd-billingsley

  7. Sweden’s Fallacious Feminism
    How Foreign Ministry hypocrites submit to Islam and betray women.
    February 6, 2019
    Bruce Bawer

    If you ever want to get a good hearty dose of global-elite received opinion on any imaginable topic, head straight for the website of the magazine Foreign Policy. With recent articles bearing the bylines of Davos-type luminaries like Fareed Zakaria (CNN’s serial plagiarist and reliable purveyor of the blindingly obvious), Christine Lagarde (doyenne of the International Monetary Fund), and any number of Council on Foreign Relations hotshots, FP – whose annual list of “Top 100 Global Thinkers” is routinely topped by the likes of Angela Merkel, Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, and both Bill and Hillary Clinton – isn’t a place to seek out original thoughts or fresh ideas, but is, rather, the #1 go-to spot for strident asseverations of current left-liberal orthodoxy.

    Case in point: a January 30 article by Rachel Vogelstein and Alexandra Bro (both of the CFR) entitled “Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy, Long May It Reign.” Noting the recent return to office of Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, Vogelstein and Bro advised that “Lofven should ensure that one of Sweden’s most contentious governing strategies remains firmly in place: its feminist foreign policy.” What is meant by “feminist foreign policy,” they explained, is that Sweden places “the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights at the center of its diplomatic agenda.” As an example, they cited Sweden’s insistence “on women’s participation in critical Security Council debates” and, ultimately, its success at “ensuring gender parity among those providing input” into such UN deliberations.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272756/swedens-fallacious-feminism-bruce-bawer

  8. The 10 Most Destructive Americans of My 8 Decades
    And the “just-missed-the-list” of dishonorable mentions.

    America has undergone enormous change during the nearly eight decades of my life. Today, America is a bitterly divided, poorly educated and morally fragile society with so-called mainstream politicians pushing cynical identity politics, socialism and open borders. The president of the United States is threatened with impeachment because the other side doesn’t like him. The once reasonably unbiased American media has evolved into a hysterical left wing mob. How could the stable and reasonably cohesive America of the 1950s have reached this point in just one lifetime? Who are the main culprits? Here’s my list of the 10 most destructive Americans of the last 80 years.

    10) Mark Felt – Deputy director of the FBI, aka “Deep Throat” during the Watergate scandal. This was the first public instance of a senior FBI officially directly interfering in America’s political affairs. Forerunner of James Comey, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and Andrew McCabe.

    9) Bill Ayers– Represents the deep and ongoing leftist ideological damage to our education system. An unrepentant American terrorist who evaded punishment, he devoted his career to radicalizing American education and pushing leftist causes. Ghost wrote Obama’s book, “Dreams of My Father.”

    8) Teddy Kennedy – Most folks remember Teddy as the guy who left Mary Joe Kopechne to die in his car at Chappaquiddick. The real damage came after he avoided punishment for her death and became a major Democrat force in the US Senate, pushing through transformative liberal policies in health care and education. The real damage was the 1965 Hart-Cellar immigration bill he pushed hard for that changed the quota system to increase the flow of third world people without skills into the US and essentially ended large-scale immigration

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272780/10-most-destructive-americans-my-8-decades-frank-hawkins

  9. G5 Sahel leaders again call for UN assistance to fund Joint Force (thedefensepost, Feb 6, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/02/06/g5-sahel-joint-force-leaders-call-un-funding/

    “Five nations waging a battle against militants in Africa’s Sahel region again asked for United Nations funding and other aid to help tackle the cross-border jihadist insurgency which claimed more lives even as officials met.

    Leaders of the G5 Sahel – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger – gathered in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou on Tuesday, Wednesday 5, seeking to beef up the battle against jihadists who have killed hundreds of civilians and security personnel and inflicted crippling economic damage.

    In the latest incidents in northern Burkina Faso, five security personnel were killed in what the army called a “terrorist” attack at Oursi add link to other unpublished story on Tuesday, a day after an attack in Yatenta province left left 14 civilians dead.

    At the close of a one-day meeting, the five leaders in a statement renewed their “concern” over the situation, and called for “closer cooperation between the G5 Sahel and the United Nations.”

    This should include assistance to the G5 Sahel joint military force under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which can authorize measures to help a country “which finds itself confronted with special economic problems” arising from “prevention and enforcement measures” aimed at safeguarding peace, they said.

    Chapter 7 empowers the Security Council to “determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression” and to take military action to “restore international peace and security.”

    The president of summit host Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, also asked for “redoubling efforts to accelerate the strengthening of the joint force.”

    Mahamadou Issoufou, president of Niger, told reporters there was a need to find “a permanent mechanism to finance” the Joint Force under the U.N. Charter’s Chapter 7.

    The G5, he added, “reaffirmed its determination and its willingness to continue the fight against terrorism with all means necessary: militarily, economically – because poverty is the fertile ground in which terrorism thrives – and also ideologically.”

    In their joint statement, the heads of state said a military force can never be the only solution, and urged the international community “to support the G5 Sahel’s efforts” to secure and develop the region.

    The five countries are among the world’s poorest. Donors pledged €2.4 billion for around 40 development program for the G5 Sahel Priority Investment Programme for 2019-2021 at a December conference…”

  10. Tunisian Authorities Detain 4 Suspects in Religious School Case (aawsat, Feb 6, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1578651/tunisian-authorities-detain-4-suspects-religious-school-case

    “An investigative judge at the Sidi Bouzid primary court in Tunis sentenced four suspects to prison in the case of the religious school near al-Riqab town.

    The Quran-teaching school was shut down after its administrators were accused of being involved in “promoting extremism and human trafficking.”

    The arrest included the owner of the school, who was charged of human trafficking and having an unregistered marriage. The judiciary also issued an arrest warrant for the woman he married, as well one of this illegal institution’s workers for assaulting a child under the age of 16.

    The school was allegedly founded as a shelter for some children and adults who were mistreated and economically abused, but authorities issued an order to shut it down in 2015.

    Recent security and judicial investigations revealed that the bank account of the school owner includes at least $630,000.

    Tunisian security sources pointed out that a number of supervisors of this school belong to the so-called “Dawa w Tabligh” movement.

    In the same context, the National Committee against Trafficking in Persons (NCTIP), a government body, described the “horrifying” conditions children of the religious school were subject to…”

  11. IAEA Supports Egypt’s Nuclear Project (aawsat, Feb 6, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1579191/iaea-supports-egypt%E2%80%99s-nuclear-project

    “Egypt has received wide support from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Chief Yukiya Amano on its peaceful nuclear project, which it has been developing in cooperation with Russia.

    Egyptian officials said Amano, who is currently in Cairo for a visit, was keen to affirm the Agency’s full support for Egypt in this regard in light with its commitment to international security and safety standards.

    Egypt is embarking on the construction of a huge nuclear plant in the northern region of Dabaa with a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts. Construction of the plant is expected to start in 2020, with commissioning anticipated to begin in 2026…”

  12. Saudi Arabia Launches First Communications Satellite (aawsat, Feb 6, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1578721/saudi-arabia-launches-first-communications-satellite

    “Saudi Arabia successfully launched on Tuesday the first Saudi satellite for communications (SGS-1).

    Represented by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the satellite was launched from the Guiana Space Center on an Ariane 5 rocket.

    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, had signed the final piece that was placed on the satellite with the words “above the clouds.”

    The satellite was created in collaboration with Lockheed Martin.

    Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and Chairman of the KACST board of directors, Khalid al-Falih stressed that this spectacular national achievement was a result of the great support provided by Custodian the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the Crown Prince.

    The launch is part of Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to localize strategic technologies in the Kingdom, increase local content and enable Saudi youths to work with advanced state-of-the-art technologies in the field of satellite development and manufacturing.

    Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin International, Richard Edwards, lauded his company’s strategic partnership with Riyadh, saying: “The successful launch is a first step in our unique partnership with KACST and Saudi Arabia, which is established on innovation, science, technology and human resources development”.

    The satellite aims to employ advanced Ka-band capabilities to enable space communications at ultra-fast speeds, as part of the national strategic plan to fulfill the Kingdom’s domestic requirements, provide high-specification communications services specifically custom-made for the government sector and, at a commercial level, exporting these services to the MENA region, Europe, Africa and Central Asia.

    The satellite also aims to improve local capabilities and human resources and creating job opportunities in the space industry.

    The Saudi communications satellite, which will be operated and controlled by Saudi national personnel, has a multi-beam payload that provides a total throughput capacity of over 34 gigabits per second, as well as highly efficient solar panels that generate power with a total capacity exceeding 20 Kw.

    The satellite has a processing unit that is capable of altering the ascending and descending signal configurations, a distribution unit that can pass communications to users, bypassing ground stations. In addition, it carries a communication Ku-band payload dedicated to Halasat, one of Arabsat’s affiliate companies.

    The Saudi communications satellite employs hybrid (electric and chemical) propelling systems which has helped to reduce the satellite’s weight while increasing its life expectancy. It weighs 6.5 tons and has a life expectancy of over 20 years. It also uses advanced technologies enabling it to provide highly secured and anti-interference telecommunications.

    The SGS-1, which is the first satellite of its kind to be owned by the Kingdom, will offer multiple applications that include broadband telecommunications, highly secured communications, as well as communications dedicated for remote areas and disaster-stricken areas.”

    • From: Saudi Arabia launches 1st communications satellite

      With the use of advanced technologies, the satellite will be able to provide highly-secure communications services to the MENA region, Europe, Africa and Central Asia,” the news agency reported.

      The satellite was reportedly developed with the support of U.S. aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

      NR: I hope MbS proved to us his friendly intentions by painting each side of the satellite with a high contrast bullseye. It would be heartbreaking for Americans to find out Muslims were using more Western technology against us.

      To be sure that we two countries are such bosom buddies to where there’s no imaginable way Lockheed accidentally left the pod hangar bay doors unsecured while a team of NSA contractors were onsite for SOUP (Some Other Unspecified Project).

      After all, what possible use could Foggy Bottom have for untraceable, seamless SIGINT interceptions of, “highly-secure communications services to the MENA [Middle East–North Africa, AKA MME or Muslim Middle East] region, Europe, Africa and Central Asia”? As if they’d ever ask Blockheed (old WWII WAF slang) to do any such thing…

      PS: Did a presentation to a top KACST tech-alliance scout about blanket field service contracting and in-house tool training for domestic production of PV solar panels.

      The Magic Kingdom™ is really, really interested in selling every drop of oil and, instead, getting their electricity from nuclear energy or solar power. After all Riyadh gets plenty of sunlight and everyone keeps saying how silicon is made from sand…**

      ** Not true. Originally, high purity natural quartz was mined for wafer production until the Siemens process enabled cost efficient production of polysilicon from di- and trichlorosilane (HSiCl3) gases—both of which are very nasty and both of which I have used in researching epitaxial deposition of silicon.

  13. Bahrain Court Sentences 7 to Life on Terror Charges (aawsat, Feb 6, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1579401/bahrain-court-sentences-7-life-terror-charges

    “Bahrain’s High Criminal Court sentenced on Wednesday 12 suspects to prison over charges of forming and joining a terrorist group.

    They were accused of possessing explosives, fire arms and ammunition with the aim to commit a terror act, reported the Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

    The court sentenced seven suspects to life in jail and fined one of them BD500. It sentenced two suspects to ten years in jail and fined them with BD500. It also sentenced a female suspect to five years in prison and fined her BD500. The eleventh suspect was handed three years in prison and was fined BD500. The court also fined four suspects BD100, ruled to revoke the Bahraini citizenship of all the suspects, except one.

    Details of the case show that six suspects, at large abroad, were able to recruit many terrorist elements in Bahrain to carry out terrorist operations.

    Two suspects were recruited and tasked to make explosive devices. They were supplied with the needed materials.

    One of the two suspects received training in Iraq on making explosives and using fire arms. Another suspect was recruited and tasked to place an explosive device and detonate it near a police center, in Sitra, on May 19, 2018.

    The female suspect was also recruited and tasked to receive the remote control detonation device, which she handed over to another suspect to carry out the mission. Another suspect was also recruited and tasked to carry a bag containing explosive materials.

    The suspects can challenge the verdict before the Court of Appeals should legal reasons be provided.”

  14. VIDEO: Caravan Migrants Make a Dash for Unfenced Texas Border

    A small group of Central American caravan migrants jumped out of government-provided buses in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras and made a dash for Eagle Pass, Texas

    Video published by the Eagle Pass News Leader reveals the moment when a group of migrants purportedly from the caravan were turning themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents immediately after crossing the river.

    https://www.facebook.com/EPNewsLeader/videos/2281205148819468/

    https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/02/05/video-caravan-migrants-make-a-dash-for-unfenced-texas-border/

  15. Egyptian babies get blue ribbons as parents say ‘no’ to female genital mutilation (ahram, Feb 6, 2019)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/325084/Egypt/Politics-/Egyptian-babies-get-blue-ribbons-as-parents-say-no.aspx

    “Doctors at two Cairo hospitals will pin blue ribbon badges to the clothing of newborn baby girls on Wednesday as they launch a campaign to persuade parents in Egypt to “say no to female genital mutilation”.

    The country has the highest number of women affected by FGM in the world, with nearly nine in 10 having been cut, according to U.N. data.

    Parents will receive the badges – which resemble the Arabic word “no” and look like an upside down version of awareness ribbons for HIV/AIDS and breast cancer – after signing a pledge that they will not have their daughters cut.

    Activists hope more hospitals will join the campaign, which launches on International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.

    FGM was banned in Egypt in 2008 and criminalised in 2016, but the practice persists, with most procedures now carried out by health professionals.

    Many families see FGM as a religious obligation and a way to preserve their daughter’s virginity.

    “It is a wrong and ugly belief. We have to make clear that FGM (does not stop) sexual desire,” said pediatric doctor Amira Edris who works at one of the Cairo hospitals.

    “I have a veil on my head and I respect religious rules … but this is not a religious rule – it is a false belief,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    FGM, which commonly involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, is practised in a swathe of African countries and parts of Asia and the Middle East.

    It is often done by traditional cutters with unsterilised blades, but there is an increasing trend for FGM to be carried out by health professionals – particularly in Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria and Sudan.

    Global anti-FGM group 28 Too Many, which is working with the Egyptian hospitals, said the “medicalisation of FGM” was hindering efforts to end the practice.

    “By having the backing of hospitals in the campaign, we are showing that FGM is wrong, wherever it is carried out,” said 28 Too Many founder Ann-Marie Wilson.

    FGM can cause a host of serious health problems including infections and infertility.

    There has been mounting concern over the practice in Egypt following the deaths of several girls during botched procedures.

    Edris said she had been particularly affected by the death of a 7-year-old girl from FGM.

    “We couldn’t save her … she bled to death. I remember she started to hallucinate … and she knew she was going to die – this really traumatised me,” she said.

    Amel Fahmy, director of women’s advocacy group Tadwein which is backing the campaign, said doctors were ideally placed to spread awareness of FGM.

    “We can’t be shy about this. It’s time to talk about this as a harmful practice, and for doctors to tell parents you shouldn’t do this to your daughter,” she said.”

  16. Morocco’s BNPJ Arrests Iraqi Suspected of Financing Terror in Iraq, Syria (moroccoworldnews, Feb 6, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/02/265180/morocco-bnpj-iraq-syria/

    “The National Brigade of Judicial Police (BNPJ) arrested an Iraqi national residing in Morocco on Wednesday for alleged involvement in financing terrorists in the Syria and Iraq conflict zones.

    Morocco’s security services arrested the suspect, identified as A.M., in Casablanca.

    The suspect allegedly used couriers to send large sums of money from Morocco to jihadists.

    In January, Moroccan security services arrested a French-Algerian national wanted by France for financing terrorism.

    The French judicial police had put out an international arrest warrant for the dual national on April 22, 2016.

    The BNPJ carried out the arrest of the Iraqi in cooperation with Morocco’s General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST). Police put the Iraqi suspect in custody while the investigation is underway.”

    • “Fox amongst the hens” seems quaint and harmless when trying to describe Huawei’s diabolical (i.e., CCP doctrinally-compliant) strategy. Still, any blithe ignoramuses out there might wish to consider how “wolf in the fold” doesn’t even begin limning out whatever risks are involved.

      This farmyard metaphor is no accident [waves at “Animal Farm”]. Although hens and eggs are of worth, their value is diminutive compared to losing some sheep (Oh! The huge-mutton-tea!). In keeping with this pastoral theme, “like lambs to slaughter” only hints at the havoc awaiting those foolish enough to trust Beijing with anything more than a used ballpoint pen.

      With a most Darwinian biology, those nations sufficiently flat-lined to select Chicom Telecom Walla Walla Bing Bong will be selected to NOT participate in meaningful progress.

      A splendid example is Nigeria. The “419” Advance Fee Scam is so notorious that large corporations like General Electric and Westinghouse will not accept accept email originating from Nigeria. Neither will they accept any whose subject line contains the word “Nigeria” … Nor any with a body of text that contains the word “Nigeria”. This is how NOT to make progress.

      Similarly, any entities weapons-grade stupid enough to join Huawei’s wing of OBOR (One Belt One Road) might easily find themselves banished from the quasi-secure Internet of today. This prospect only highlights the widening breach in whatever little trust remains between Communist-aligned and non-Socialist bodies.

      A downside to this polarization would be driving those now-isolated network nodes deeper into the arms of their Debt Trappers. However, there comes a time when the chips must be allowed to fall where they may and devil take the hindmost. Any who disregard this had best have a long spoon to sup with Red China.

  17. Stop Islamization of Norway: Police Surrender to the Laws of the Invaders, Sharia Prosecutions Begin
    By Lars Thorsen – on February 5, 2019

    Two Islam critics are being charged with hate crime against Muslims. The two were arrested by the police during a demonstration last year.

    On January 8, 2019, the Oslo State Attorney’s Office brought charges against Lars Thorsen and Fanny Bråten, both members of the Islamic-critical organization Stopp Islamisering av Norge (SIAN). Both Thorsen and Bråten were arrested by the police when they handed out SIAN’s brochures during a demonstration in Oslo in 2018. (Resett, Google translation here)

    https://gellerreport.com/2019/02/norwegian-police-surrender.html/

  18. Helping the victims of FGM in Africa (DW, Feb 6, 2019)
    https://www.dw.com/en/helping-the-victims-of-fgm-in-africa/a-47383898

    “Many girls and women in Africa suffer from the effects of female genital mutilation (FGM), although it is banned in several countries. Doctors on the ground and in Germany provide medical and psychological help.

    Hadja Idrissa Bah does not want to be a victim. The nine-year-old from Guinea is determined to fight against the brutal mutilation of female sexual organs, a practice she is familar with from personal experience. Despite being officially banned, the horrific ritual is still widespread in the West African country. According to the UN children’s agency UNICEF, 97 percent of Guinea’s women have been cut. “In many communities, the labia are sewn together and then ripped apart on the wedding night,” Hadja told DW. “I am traumatized. Whenever anyone talks to me about FGM, I feel faint and scared – it is devouring me.”

    The vivacious child wears a bright yellow turban and a red and blue checked blouse. She has founded a club to educate other young girls about FGM with the aim of reducing the number of victims. She told DW about her own experience and the feeling of being betrayed by her parents. “They did not tell me where I was being taken – they pretended I was going on holiday. Then I had to face this thing.”

    Women regarded as unclean

    In many African countries, traditional beliefs regard girls and women as unclean when their sexual organs are fully developed. “Parents fear they won’t find a husband. Many women accept this way of thinking as normal,” says Mariatu Tamimum, a doctor in Sierra Leone who treats women suffering from the after-effects of FGM .

    All have had their external sexual organs partly or completely removed. This is often carried out without anaesthetic and with simple tools such as broken glass or razor blades. “In our women’s clinic in the town of Bo, we mainly operate fistulas caused by the mutilation. The birth canal is often closed. We open it, so that the women can give birth,” Tamimu told DW.

    “It’s all about men’s pleasure,” Tamimu says. “The clitoris is removed because there is a widespread belief that women would otherwise cheat on their husbands.” It has nothing to do with religion, she adds. Some women are able to live a more or less normal life after the repair operation and can become pregnant. But most suffer severe and lasting damage.

    Alternative rituals

    FGM is also banned in Kenya but is carried out in secret in many communities. Denge Lugayo works there with the Amref Health Organization which seeks to replace FGM with other coming of age rituals. He says it is important to actively involve the community in order to bring an end to the dangerous practice.

    His organization arranges alternative ceremonies. “We celebrate the transition of girls to women in villages in very traditional ways but without the cutting.” Educational work in schools is also important, teaching both girls and boys about the harmful effects of the practice, as well as finding other sources of income from the women who do the cutting. “If we want to abolish this barbarism, we must take account of these women and find other employment for them. For example, they can produce soap or sanitary pads,” Lugayo said.

    Berlin clinic helps FGM victims

    Raising awareness in Africa is necessary but not easy, Cornelia Strunz told DW. The surgeon has worked for four years at the Waldfriede hospital in Berlin to help victims of FGM. In the ‘Desert Flower Center’ she performs reconstructive surgery and provides holistic medical aid and advice. “Most women are migrants from Africa and speak here for the first time about what they have experienced. They have painful scars or the clitoris has been completely sewn up. Sexual intercourse is often not possible. Fisultas between the vagina and rectum are a common occurrence, ” she said.

    Many patients have lived in Germany for some time, others come from all over Europe for treatment, which is free, thanks to the Desert Flower Foundation, founded by supermodel, author and activist Waris Dirie who was subjected to FGM at the age of five in her homeland of Somalia. Her book “Desert Flower” brought her and the practice to international attention. “We can help many women lead a better life,” Strunz says.

    Her work and that of activists represents a glimmer of hope for the victims of FGM around the world.”

    • You tube of the same crime, when the man is running you see a man with a buzz cut that seems to have a badge of some kind on his shirt ignoring the fight

  19. FBI Investigating Threats to Shoot Washington Sheriffs Over I-1639 Non-Enforcement

    We’ve noted that a number of Washington State’s sheriffs have announced that they won’t be enforcing the gun control measures enacted under I-1639. That’s the constitutionally questionable ballot initiative that was approved in November which imposes an age limit on gun purchases, prohibits private gun sales, increases waiting periods and enacts a “safe storage” requirement

    https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2019/02/daniel-zimmerman/fbi-investigating-threats-to-shoot-washington-sheriffs-over-i-1639-enforcement/?utm_source=wideopen&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wideopen&utm_content=%5B%5Brssitem_title%5D%5Dv

  20. Dem Congresswoman Threatens Teenage Conservative, Says He Should ‘Learn Her Name’ and Be Afraid of Her

    Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez went after conservative teenager CJ Pearson on Tuesday, saying that he should “learn her name” and that he’s “right to be afraid of us” — referring to herself and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

    During the State of the Union address, Pearson, a 16-year-old political commentator, noted on Twitter that Ocasio-Cortez was talking through President Donald Trump’s “entire speech and the woman next to her keeps trying to look the other way.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/dem-congresswoman-threatens-teenage-conservative-says-he-should-learn-her-name-and-be-afraid-of-her/?omhide=true

    • This is how low the Dems have sunk, don’t worry the will sink much lower, They are sure to continue to oppose any and all efforts to restore peace and the rule of law to the US

  21. JUST IN: House Intel Chair Adam Schiff Announces Massive Investigation Into President Trump’s Finances and Russia

    President Trump rocked the House Tuesday night in an historical SOTU speech — according to a CBS poll, 76% of viewers approved of Trump’s SOTU speech and 72% approved of Trump’s immigration ideas.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/just-in-house-intel-chair-adam-schiff-announces-massive-investigation-into-president-trumps-finances-and-russia/?omhide=true

    • More BS from the Dems trying to use lies to try and destroy the man who is destroying the Marxist effort in the US.

    • CNN – New investigation announced into Trump’s finances

      House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced Wednesday a broad investigation his committee would undertake “beyond Russia” into whether President Donald Trump’s financial interests are driving his actions.

  22. the gateway pundit – Apple Gives Deep State Access To Roger Stone’s iCloud Account, After Refusing To Violate Privacy of San Bernardino Terrorists

    Three years after Apple refused to give the federal government access to the devices used by the San Bernadino terrorists who killed and injured dozens in a mass shooting event, the company has given the office of the Special Counsel complete access to Trump advisor Roger Stone’s iCloud account, reports Apple Insider.

    ============================================
    Roger Stone is a big Apple user —and that may be a problem for him, given that Apple has handed over data from his iCloud account in accordance with a warrant. That and more, in the latest Apple-related crime roundup.

    Mueller has evidence from Roger Stone’s iCloud account

    Following former Trump campaign advisor Roger Stone’s arrest last week, the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller said Thursday that it has obtained numerous electronic devices belonging to Stone, as well as access to his iCloud account. The evidence collected, per CNN, includes “multiple hard drives containing several terabytes of information consisting of, among other things, FBI case reports, search warrant applications and results (e.g., Apple iCloud accounts and email accounts).” Also included in the evidence are bank accounts and the hard drives of the devices themselves.

    Another former Trump adviser, Paul Manafort also had evidence from his iCloud account lead to major legal trouble in connection with the Mueller investigation. Stone and Manafort were business partners for a time in the ’80s.

    https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/02/03/apple-crime-blotter-roger-stones-icloud-a-siri-school-shooting-threat-and-find-my-iphone-solves-a-kidnapping

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    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/02/apple-gives-deep-state-access-to-roger-stones-personal-account-after-refusing-to-violate-privacy-of-san-bernardino-terrorists/

  23. ““Liar-in-Chief”: Rep. Ilhan Omar Slams Trump’s SOTU Remarks on Border, Venezuela, Israel & More”
    Democracy Now! – Published on February 6, 2019