Contributor’s Links post for February 25, 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

153 Replies to “Contributor’s Links post for February 25, 2019”

  1. UN says emergency decree will impact peace in Sudan’s Darfur (abcnews, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/emergency-decree-impact-peace-sudans-darfur-61301234

    “The U.N. assistant secretary-general for Africa says Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s declaration of a countrywide state of emergency and replacement of all governors will affect peace efforts in Darfur — but it’s too soon to assess the impact, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for Africa said Monday.

    Bintou Keita told the Security Council that “some rebel groups have demonstrated a stiffening of their position” since al-Bashir’s announcement Friday of the yearlong emergency, amid protests calling for his resignation.

    “The Darfur peace process had come to a standstill — once again — in the context of the ongoing demonstrations against the economic and political conditions in Sudan,” she said.

    Last July, the Security Council voted to dramatically cut the United Nations-African Union military force in the vast western Darfur region in response to reduced fighting and improved security conditions, with a target of ending the mission on June 30, 2020.

    The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of discrimination. The government in Khartoum was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing them on civilian populations — a charge it denies. The conflict has forced close to 2 million people to flee their homes and killed thousands…”

  2. US airstrike in Somalia kills 35 al-Shabab extremists (abcnews, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-airstrike-somalia-kills-35-al-shabab-extremists-61303493

    “The United States military says it has killed 35 fighters from the al-Shabab extremist group with an airstrike in central Somalia, not far from the Ethiopian border.

    In a statement Monday, the U.S. military command for the African continent said the airstrike took place on Sunday about 23 miles (37 kilometers) east of Beledweyne in the Hiran region and targeted the fighters as they were traveling in a rural area.

    The U.S. has dramatically increased airstrikes against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, the deadliest extremist group in Africa, since President Donald Trump took office.

    Authorities and experts acknowledge that it will take more than airstrikes to defeat the extremist group, which continues to hold large parts of rural central and southern Somalia and carry out deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.”

    • US airstrike in Somalia kills 35 al-Shabab extremists

      There’s a most savory thermodynamic formula in this:

      X (molar al-Shabab) + Y (TC) + Z (O2) -> El Kebab + C

      En Français alors ici X eze mass of Somali jihadist scum, plus change en Y coefficient thermal avec Z oxydant ambiant abondant et la violà! Votre brochettes s’il vous plaît.

    • In 2012, Venezuelans lost the right to own arms….

      As he was earnestly hemming his way out to sea, the famous Socialist-sailor-scribbler bid a fond Farewell to …

      [hook extends from wings]

      Gackkk!

  3. Mount Royal University (MRU) in Calgary, Alberta recently announced the opening of a new facility on campus: two ablution stations for Muslim students to perform “wudu”, a pre-prayer cleansing ritual.

    A handful of Canadian universities already have ablution stations available, and little fanfare was involved in their installation.

    However, MRU held an entire event to “celebrate” the new washing stations, and gushed about how Muslim students will no longer have to feel “awkward and uncomfortable” as they get water on the floor while washing their feet in hand sinks.

    The cost of installing the ablution stations was $115,000.

    https://www.thepostmillennial.com/shepherd-is-it-a-human-rights-violation-for-muslim-students-to-not-have-special-foot-washing-stations-on-campus/

    • Mount Royal University (MRU) in Calgary, Alberta recently announced the opening of a new facility on campus: two ablution stations for Muslim students to perform “wudu”, a pre-prayer cleansing ritual.

      You remind me of a man.
      What man?
      Of a man with the power.
      What power?
      The power of wudu.
      Who do?
      You do! Do what?

      Uh, we could fake ’em out ’bout the sex,
      Those Mohammedans with the hex.
      Save us from their halal curse,
      It’s gonna get bad, yeah, it’s gonna get worse.

      Uh, hocus pocus alakazaam,
      Save us from Mohammedans,
      With hairy face and heavy vest,
      They blow up, baby, ackbar they shriek.

    • The washing stands are a welcome addition to public bathrooms for the non-Muslims who feel awkward with the signs that say “Sinks for hand-washing only.” I would be happy to donate money to provide foot-washing sinks.

  4. UCLA students are happy to send conservative/Trump supporting students into re-education camps…this should worry us in a serious way:

  5. Cheshire Police: Man rejected for job for being white and straight tribunal finds
    The job applicant’s lawyer says positive action is an “important tool” to encourage diversity but it should be “applied lawfully”.

    A man was denied his dream job in the police “simply because he was a white, heterosexual male”, his lawyers said after Cheshire Police was found guilty of discrimination.

    https://news.sky.com/story/cheshire-police-man-rejected-for-job-for-being-white-and-straight-tribunal-finds-11645525

  6. A British teenager claims he has been suspended from university for describing halal slaughter as “inhumane” and saying immigrants should not be allowed to use the National Health Service (NHS) for free, and cannot return unless he signs a conduct agreement and undertakes diversity training.
    UKIP activist Sebastian Walsh, 19, was critical of “Islamisation”, halal slaughter, and the treatment of women by sharia courts in class discussions at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) — and reported to the university authorities by his tutors and suspended as a result, according to MailOnline.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/23/free-speech-student-suspended-from-university-for-calling-halal-slaughter-inhumane/

    • More roadkill on the sharia highway.

      When the remains build up enough to become speed bumps, maybe then someone will notice.

  7. ‘The greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War’: Conrad Black on how American institutions plotted and schemed in the 2016 election – then blamed Russia

    The most immense and dangerous public scandal in American history is finally cracking open like a ripe pomegranate. The broad swath of the Trump-hating media that has participated in what has amounted to an unconstitutional attempt to overthrow the government are reduced to reporting the events and revelations of the scandal in which they have been complicit, in a po-faced ho-hum manner to impart to the misinformed public that this is as routine as stock market fluctuations or the burning of an American flag in Tehran.

    For more than two years, the United States and the world have had two competing narratives: that an elected president of the United States was a Russian agent whom the Kremlin helped elect; and its rival narrative that senior officials of the Justice Department, FBI, CIA, and other national intelligence organizations had repeatedly lied under oath, misinformed federal officials, and meddled in partisan political matters illegally and unconstitutionally and had effectively tried to influence the outcome of a presidential election, and then undo its result by falsely propagating the first narrative. It is now obvious and indisputable that the second narrative is the correct one.

    The authors, accomplices, and dupes of this attempted overthrow of constitutional government are now well along in reciting their misconduct without embarrassment or remorse because—in fired FBI Director James Comey’s formulation—a “higher duty” than the oath they swore to uphold the Constitution compelled them. Or—in fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s words—“the threat” was too great. Nevermind that the nature of “the threat” was that the people might elect someone he and Comey disapproved of as president, and that that person might actually serve his term, as elected.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-6737685/The-greatest-constitutional-crisis-Civil-War-writes-Conrad-Black.html

  8. Home » News
    Iranian instability grows
    GOPUSA StaffWashington Times Posted On 11:30 am February 25, 2019

    When Iran not long ago accused the United States of an attack on elite Iranian forces in Iran’s southeastern province of Baluchistan, the lie revealed just how severe some of the regime’s problems have become. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected as “outrageous” Iranian claims that the United States and its regional allies were responsible for a suicide bombing that killed 27 members of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

    A Sunni Muslim separatist group called Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice,” claimed responsibility for the Feb. 13 attack. It was regarded as one more indication of growing instability throughout Iran. In one sense the Americans were in fact responsible. American sanctions are cutting into Iranian oil exports and crippling what is left of Iran’s economy.

    Despite this trouble at home, Iran and its proxies continue to plot violence abroad and not just in the Middle East. German intelligence officials accused Iran of trying to acquire nuclear materials in 2016 after a ban on this was to have gone into effect. Last summer, an Iranian attempt to bomb the meeting of an opposition group near Paris was foiled by the French. In October, Denmark recalled its ambassador to Tehran after another Iranian assassination attempt was prevented in Copenhagen. In January, Germany banned the Iranian airline Mahan Air because it was transporting arms and ferrying fighters to Syria. These are all countries that want better relations with Iran, and have made efforts to steer a course independent of the course of the Trump administration.

    http://www.gopusa.com/?p=65630?omhide=true

  9. Despite this trouble at home, Iran and its proxies continue to plot violence abroad and not just in the Middle East. German intelligence officials accused Iran of trying to acquire nuclear materials in 2016 after a ban on this was to have gone into effect. Last summer, an Iranian attempt to bomb the meeting of an opposition group near Paris was foiled by the French. In October, Denmark recalled its ambassador to Tehran after another Iranian assassination attempt was prevented in Copenhagen. In January, Germany banned the Iranian airline Mahan Air because it was transporting arms and ferrying fighters to Syria.

    Ho hum, Muslim bidness as usual.

    These are all countries that want better relations with Iran, and have made efforts to steer a course independent of the course of the Trump administration.

    What’s that old saying about repeating the same experiment over and over again and expecting different results?

  10. The Militarization of Xi Jinping’s China
    “Recovering” Areas They Never Have Ruled

    by Gordon G. Chang
    February 25, 2019 at 6:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13794/china-militarization

    “Be ready for battle.” That’s how the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong newspaper that increasingly reflects the Communist Party line, summarized Xi Jinping’s first order this year to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Xi, in his own words, which were broadcasted nationwide, demanded this: “prepare for a comprehensive military struggle from a new starting point.”

    China’s bold leader has been threatening neighbors and the United States with frequency during the last several months. “Xi is not just toying with war,” Victor Mair of the University of Pennsylvania wrote on the Fanell Red Star Rising listserve this month. “He’s daring himself to actually start one. He’s in a dangerous frame of mind.”

    Dangerous indeed. From Washington to New Delhi, policymakers wonder whether China will begin history’s next great conflict. Beijing of course wants to “win without fighting,” but the actions Xi Jinping are taking could lead to fighting nonetheless. One particularly disturbing development in this regard is the Chinese military gaining power in Beijing’s political circles.

    The PLA, as the Chinese military is known, is arming fast, and that development is triggering alarm. Beijing has always claimed its military is for defensive purposes only, but no country threatens territory under China’s control. The buildup, therefore, looks like preparation for aggression. Much of the equipment the People’s Liberation Army is acquiring — aircraft carriers, amphibious troop carriers, and stealth bombers — is for the projection of power, not homeland defense.

    • The article above is important, China is moving to acquire more terrority for the first time in many centuries. They are moving in the open and are working to get enough military power that no one will oppose them

      Yes their economy is tanking, but most if not all Keynesian’s think massive government spending will cause their economy to recover. While they want to win by making everyone else afraid of them they are willing to use force and then loot the captured nations to get treasure to help their economy. Also Foreign Adventures are a time honored way to get a nations population mind off their economic woes.

      We are watching the perfect storm for a major war develop, and we are doing this during the time that a significant portion of the US population is actively supporting the political system used in China.

      Keep your muskets clean, your powder dry and watch y our back.

      • Yes their economy is tanking, but most if not all Keynesians think massive government spending will cause their economy to recover.

        In the high finance sectors, this is known as, “Spending your way out of a recession.”

        • In the real world it is called turning a recession into a depression and extending it for years.

  11. Preventing the Next Bio-Terror Attack
    How Kenya has become an epicenter of biowarfare prevention.
    February 25, 2019
    Stephen Brown

    There are perhaps few weapons in existence that could cause more confusion, sickness and death in a society, undermining its very foundations, than biological ones used by terrorists. (One only has to remember the fear caused by only a small number of ‘anthrax letters’ in the weeks after 9/11.)

    “Biological weapons are unique in their invisibility and their delayed effect,” wrote Stefan Riedel, a doctor, in an article on biological warfare.

    A biowarfare attack would not only cause “death in a large number of victims and a paralyzing uncertainty,” Riedel also claims: “It’s goal is disruption of social and economic activity, the breakdown of government authority, and impairment of military responses.”

    It is for these reasons, among others, that the United States is helping construct a safe storage facility, through its Defence Threat Reduction Agency, for Kenya’s Medical Research Institute in Kisumu City. America is paying 90 per cent of the costs.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272890/preventing-next-bio-terror-attack-stephen-brown

  12. John Kerry, Other Disgraced Dem Officials Who Lied About Libya and Syria, Deny Border Emergency
    February 25, 2019
    Daniel Greenfield

    A group of mostly disgraced government officials issued a letter falsely denying the fact that there is an emergency on the border. And the validity of President Trump’s emergency declaration.

    These disgraced officials, many of whom have been caught lying about illegal wars in Libya and Syria, falsely claim that there is no security emergency at the border.

    Some of these officials have been complicit in falsely claiming that there was imminent genocide in Libya, and that we were arming moderates in Syria. Others had previously been complicit in lies involving the bombing of parts of the former Yugoslavia under Bill Clinton.

    Some have also lied about Iran’s nuclear program and its presence in Iraq.

    The list of officials includes

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/272982/john-kerry-other-disgraced-dem-officials-who-lied-daniel-greenfield

  13. ISIS Beheads 50 Yazidi Sex Slaves as Parting Gift

    Fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on the frontlines in the Syrian village of Baghuz, ISIS last holdout in Syria (Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

    In a final act of depravity, fleeing ISIS beheaded 50 Yazidi sex slaves, dumping their heads into trash bins for coalition soldiers to find.

    ISIS fighters were besieged in their last stronghold – a small area in Baghuz located in eastern Syria. One hundred ISIS jihadis were killed in the final battle in which British Special Forces (SAS) fired 600 mortar bombs and tens of thousands of machine-gun rounds against the terror group.

    Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, a source said:

    https://clarionproject.org/isis-beheads-50-yazidi-sex-slaves-as-parting-gift/

    • Yet the media is saturated with human interest stories about jihadi tourists. Wealthy foreigners who came to colonize the locals, now demanding repatriation to the civilized West. Slouching and impatient, they leave devastation in their wake.

      300,000 Yazidis are living in tents without the attention of “humanitarian” NGOs. Conditions are primitive, appalling. There aren’t resources to identify the remains in these mass graves.

      But the children…!!

      Why should children of jihadis be privileged over the Yazidi and Christian children left orphaned by foreign adventurers? The time for reparations is NOW, don’t wait for the Yazidi version of “Anne Frank” commercial obscenities.

      Yes, by all means lift the burden from the hard-pressed Kurds. Take these brats, box-up the foreign nationals. Haven’t they done enough to the indigenous peoples? Where’s the support for their victims?

      • Meanwhile, back at the Zombie Thread ranch, we’ll head ’em off at the past…

        Why should children of jihadis be privileged over the Yazidi and Christian children left orphaned by foreign adventurers? The time for reparations is NOW, don’t wait for the Yazidi version of “Anne Frank” commercial obscenities.

        Dear yucki, just yesterday I was engaged in casual conversation by an Iraqi Christian who had overheard me talking about jihad with another shopper. Well, that morning I’d tied an onion to my belt which was the style at the time and, in the spirit of Basra, noted how almost a million Muslims killing each other could have been no Lipputian war if it was obstinately fought for six-and-thirty moons past over the blasphemous Big-endian offense by the mullahs of Blefuscu against a fundamental doctrine of our great Prophet Lustrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundecral (which is their Alcoran).

        Oh! Where was I? Ah, yes … He spoke of his wife and kids chain immigrating here through Europe after his years spent helping translate for US troops. I thanked him for assisting America and bade him welcome as we shook hands.

        Needless to say (then why say it?, this un-beturbaned Arab was mildly amazed at how emphatically I went on—yust a wee bit, I promise)—about travel bans and the urgency of immediately evacuating his fellow Christians and any Jews from all Muslim Middle East $h!thølés.

        Well, maybe not in those precise terms or in that exact way but I’m sure the point is taken, the elk is dead, the beast stops at Swindon, Chabrol stops at nothing, I’m having treatment and La Fontaine can get knotted.

        Be that as it may, ten silver cyber-dimes for anyone who has the album cover’s riotous backstory as shown in this following clip’s static image while we go on the beach with Mr. Neville Shunt…

        (T = 00:01:23)

  14. Italian right wins Sardinia vote, 5-Star fades

    ROME (Reuters) – A right-wing coalition has won a regional vote on the Italian island of Sardinia, in an outcome that could spell trouble ahead for the 5-Star Movement, part of the ruling coalition in Rome, as European Parliament elections loom in May.

    According to a projection after some 80 percent of the vote had been counted, Christian Solinas, the candidate from the rightwing bloc, had won around 48 percent in Sunday’s election for regional governor, well ahead of the incumbent center-left on 33 percent.

    The candidate for the populist 5-Star — which won 42.5 percent of the vote in Sardinia in the national election a year ago that catapulted it into government — won just 11 percent.

    The center-left candidate, Massimo Zedda, conceded defeat.

    The winner Solinas is a senator from the League, the far-right party that rules at the national level in coalition with 5-Star. In regional elections, the League fields candidates as part of an alliance with rightist and center-right parties.

    Sardinia is the sixth consecutive region or province to pass from the center-left to the right since the center-left Democratic Party (PD) was ousted from power at a national election in March, underscoring the PD’s ongoing crisis.

    It also highlights the declining fortunes of 5-Star, although the party, which has never won power in any of the country’s 20 regions and traditionally fares much better in national ballots, played down the importance of the result. It suffered a similar reversal this month in the region of Abruzzo.

    On Monday 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio, League leader Matteo Salvini and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte were all quick to rule out any repercussions on the government in Rome.

    “We must not over-emphasize a regional election,” Conte, who is non-partisan but closer to 5-Star, told reporters on the sidelines of a summit in Egypt. “I don’t believe the results could have any consequences for the national government.”

    Di Maio said: “Nothing changes for the government.”

    The 5-Star chief has said he will soon unveil plans to re-organize the party, including scrapping the policy of always running alone at local elections.

    These are normally won by broad coalitions including numerous so-called “civic lists” which represent local interest groups. In Sardinia there were so many of these that no single party won more than 13 percent of the vote.

    The national coalition in Rome has appeared increasingly fractured in recent weeks, with disagreements between the League and 5-Star bubbling up over a series of issues, including the construction of an Alpine tunnel and which side to support in Venezuela’s political crisis.

    May’s European Parliament election is widely seen as a test that could affect the balance of power in the government.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-politics-sardinia/italys-centre-right-leads-in-sardinia-vote-5-star-fades-idUSKCN1QE1ES
    ======================================================
    Italy: Right-right coalition wins elections in Sardinia

    The Salvini League takes root in Sardinia, the 5 stars collapse.

    After its brilliant victory two weeks ago in the Abruzzo region, the right-wing coalition (League, Forza Italia, Fratelli d’Italia …) won the regional election in Sardinia.

    Senator of the League, Christian Solinas, 42, beat the candidate of the 5-star Movement (M5S) with 48% of votes against 32.9% for the center-left candidate and 11.2% for the candidate of the center-left movement. M5S.

    These results clearly illustrate the rise of the League of Matteo Salvini and the growing difficulties of his ally of the 5-star movement in the government, Luigi Di Maio. In Sardinia, the Movement loses more than 30% of the vote in relation to the 2018 parliamentary elections. A failure that is much more bitter than that of the center-left coalition.

    ” No risk of government crisis ”

    Concretely, this vote confirms the growing success of the head of the League Matteo Salvini, strongman of the right-wing coalition that supported Christian Solinas. This election also illustrates the disillusionment of many voters of the 5-star movement who blame him for his political subordination to the very right-handed Salvini. The 5 stars also pay high prices, the approximations with which the majority has led Italy so far.

    The two vice presidents of the Council, Matteo Salvini and Luigi di Maio, however, ensure that there is ” no risk of government crisis “.
    This is despite the fact that the differences between the two populist groups in power are increasing day by day.

    http://www.tellerreport.com/news/–italy–right-right-coalition-wins-elections-in-sardinia-.Hy0Cvyz8E.html
    =============================================
    RISULTATI – ELEZIONI REGIONALI SARDEGNA

    https://elezioni.repubblica.it/2019/elezioni-regionali/sardegna

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

  15. Venezuela ex-spy chief reveals Maduro’s ties to Hezbollah, drugs

    This is no surprise. The hard left is aligned with the jihad force all over the world. Nicolas Maduro is a socialist; in the United States, the Muslim Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are aligned with the socialists Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. The left is determined to destroy the United States and doesn’t hesitate to enable the jihad in order to do it.

    https://gellerreport.com/2019/02/venezuela-maduro-hezbollah.html/

    Venezuela ex-spy chief reveals Maduro’s ties to Hezbollah, drugs
    Former Intel-Chief Hugo Carvajal denounces President Nicolás Maduro and openly spoke about corruption and ties to Hezbollah terrorist group.

    ormer head of Venezuela’s intelligence services Hugo Carvajal revealed powerful ties between the administration of President Nicolás Maduro and the Hezbollah terrorist group, as well as wide-spread corruption and drug activity, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

    The nefarious activities were directed by Maduro himself as well as Interior Minister Néstor Reverol and former vice-president Tareck El Aissami.

    https://www.jpost.com/OMG/Venezuela-ex-spy-chief-reveals-Maduros-ties-to-Hezbollah-drugs-581615

  16. https://www.facebook.com/StealthyFreedom/videos/2560081060885850/

    Iranians Attack Morality Police Attempting to Arrest Women for Not Wearing Hijabs

    by The Tower | February 20, 2019:

    A group of angry Iranians attacked the Islamic Republic’s so-called “morality police” in a Tehran suburb on February 15 when authorities detained two young women for not wearing the hijab, The Daily Telegraph reported.

    Officers fired warning shots at the group in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Protesters were seen tearing off the door of one of the police vehicles and preventing them from taking the women away.

    https://gellerreport.com/2019/02/iranians-attack-religious-police.html/

    • One of the better HITAT (Hit At?) offerings.

      Would anyone care to believe that I was writing and formulating a Cyber Death Penalty over fifteen years ago?

      My perspective was from the equation’s other end in that this concept sought to address and penalize those who intentionally crafted or knowingly disseminated digital viruses.

      It also was much more incremental, involving gradual restriction of online access at home and, eventually, the workplace with recidivism deterrence in the form of prolonged suspended sentences for initial offenders with threat of permanent record, Hard. Felony Time for violation of probation or reoffending.

      More than a few readers might be amused to know that arguments against my idea included explanations of how virus writers and their cyberspace haunts were some of the most fertile pastures for recruiting NSA über-geeks and CIA dark net black hats.

      My suggestion that regular official competitions, like those of Google, be held with instant disqualification, revocation of title, and immediate job loss if caught operating outside the TOS, fell on deaf ears.

      Micron’s draconian “one strike and you’re out” punishment for vaguely defined offending content or platform guideline violations totally reeks … of a leading-edge digital guillotine.

      Speaking of “edgy” policy-making suggestions, many more of this tyrannous sort and things might indeed get very “edgy”.

  17. Mali: France airstrike kills 15 in Mopti as EU training base in Koulikoro attacked (thedefensepost, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/02/25/mali-france-airstrike-kills-jnim-mopti-eutm-koulikoro-attacked/

    “French forces with Operation Barkhane, operating in support of the Malian armed forces, killed 15 suspected members of the militant Islamist group Katiba Macina in an aerial raid north of Mopti in central Mali, France’s defense ministry said on Monday.

    Barkhane forces operating from the French base in Niamey, Niger launched the strike from a Mirage 2000 supported by a Reaper drone, on Saturday, February 23, the Ministry of the Armed Forces said in a press release.

    “About 15 terrorists were taken out of action,” the release said. The strike follows a series of operations in the same area, around the town of Dialloube, in recent weeks.

    Katiba Macina is part of the umbrella Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s branch in Mali. JNIM was formed in 2017 by the merger of several smaller groups including Katiba Macina, the Sahara branch of AQIM, Ansar Dine and Al-Mourabitoun. Its leadership has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

    On Friday, French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly said that French forces killed JNIM deputy leader Yahya Abou El Hamame in an operation north of Timbuktu.

    International forces killed and wounded
    The strikes come after international forces with the European Union Training Mission in Mali came under attack by unknown assailants early on February 24. Attackers opened fire around 3 a.m. and tried to breach the south entrance of the Koulikoro Training Center near the southern town of Siby but were stopped before they could enter the base.

    Three Malian soldiers were wounded but are expected to survive. No EUTM personnel were injured, the mission said in a Sunday statement. Spanish soldiers with the Galicia VII brigade are currently deployed to the mission and stationed in Koulikoro…”

    • As a throw away item Chris mentioned this tech at the end.

      This is a double edged sword that is going to change the world, it opens the way for designer babies to be born without parents. It also provides a black market for the frozen embryos at that aren’t used by the parents, and for clones.

      Scientists grow lamb fetus inside artificial womb

    • Is this the future of technology or another dystopian nightmare?

      In a word: Yes. As in: Do you want cake or pie? … Yes.

      Incidentally, the artificial womb might also solve one of the most intractable schisms facing Western Civilization.

      This invention could land a major body-blow on Feminazis. These man-haters have shrieked for decades about “a woman’s right to choose”. What about a man’s right to choose?

      It will be a tremendous game-changer when paternity verified fathers can demand that a maternally unwanted child be removed from the womb and, instead of being aborted, be bought to term ex utero and assigned the dad’s legal custody.

      Let’s see how regretful mother’s like having to sue for visitation rights after initially rejecting natal involvement. How about child support for single fathers? See where this is going?

      Like any technology, an artificial womb can be (and most likely will be) used for medically or morally objectionable purposes—or both at the same time.

      However, imagine the multitudes of pro-choice, Leftist fence-sitters who are irrevocably polarized by the entire issue of abortion. There are many that might become much more Centrist (if not Classically Liberal) should this one monumental obstacle be removed from unity’s path.

      There’s much that’s encouraging about sparking the resurgent strength of a less fractured and not-quite-so demoralized West. A hemisphere that’s currently divided over this one single issue more than almost any other.

      It would be rather gratifying if Communist China’s dreams of human clone boot-camp factories proved instrumental to a rejuvenation of American exceptionalism (and Caucasian birth rates throughout the West).

      In fact, should I be so fortunate as to see such a thing become reality, several laughter-induced herniations might ensue

  18. Iraq: Ex-Nineveh governor calls for help to rid Mosul of Iran (memo, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190225-iraq-ex-nineveh-governor-calls-for-help-to-rid-mosul-of-iran/

    “Former Governor of Nineveh Province Atheel Al-Nujaifi has called on the international community to intervene and help rid the northern city of Mosul of the influence of Iranian-backed militias who seized the city from Daesh in 2017.

    “The conflict of regional interests in Iraq in general and the city of Mosul in particular has disturbed social peace in the city and turned its components against each other,” Al-Nujaifi said in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Online news site.

    “The American-Iranian conflict is raging and its arms have cost the city and its people dearly. All of our indicators confirm that we as political actors and civil society are unable to confront the influence of both Washington and Tehran. Therefore we need to involve the international community by internationalising the case of Mosul in order to impose the Iraqi vision adopted by the people of the city, which are not being taken into consideration,” he said.

    “Iranian-backed militias have controlled the city’s capabilities since its liberation from Daesh with the aim of achieving financial and political gains by exploiting the security imbalance and their influence in state institutions,” he added.”

  19. UNICEF: 8 Yemen children killed, injured every day (memo, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190225-unicef-8-yemen-children-killed-injured-every-day/

    “Around 1.2 million Yemeni children live in conflict zones in war-battered Yemen, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said today.

    The children “continue to live in 31 active conflict zones including Al-Hudaydah, Taiz, Hajjah and Saada – in areas witnessing heavy, war-related violence,” Geert Cappelaere UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.

    “Not enough has changed for children in Yemen since the Stockholm agreement on 13 December 2018,” the official said.

    On 13 December, Yemeni peace talks held in Sweden concluded with a ceasefire deal in Hudaydah between Houthis and the Yemeni government.

    “Every day since, eight children have been killed or injured. Most of the children killed were playing outdoors with their friends or were on their way to or from school,” Cappelaere said.”

  20. Germany wants to extend Saudi arms export halt despite UK-French pressure (memo, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190225-germany-wants-to-extend-saudi-arms-export-halt-despite-uk-french-pressure/

    “The Social Democrats, junior partners in Germany’s ruling coalition, want to extend a freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia beyond March 9, despite pressure by Britain and France not to do so and, the risk of costly compensation claims, reports Reuters.

    Rolf Muetzenich, SPD deputy leader in parliament, said his party would fight to maintain the halt in shipments of already approved weapons deals with Riyadh that Berlin imposed in November over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

    “We will push to continue the halt in arms exports to Saudi Arabia beyond the March 9 deadline, since the reasons for the imposition of the moratorium have not changed,” Muetzenich wrote in an essay published on Monday in the SPD newspaper Vorwaerts.

    The SPD and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives agreed in November to reject licences for future arms exports to Saudi Arabia, a major buyer and set a temporary moratorium on deliveries of previously approved kit that lasts till March 9.

    Last week, Merkel declined to say whether the freeze would be extended…”

  21. Turkey, Britain raise China’s treatment of Uighurs at UN rights forum (memo, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190225-turkey-britain-raise-chinas-treatment-of-uighurs-at-un-rights-forum/

    “Turkey and Britain voiced concern on Monday at China’s alleged mistreatment of Uighurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region, with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu calling on Beijing to protect freedom of religion and cultural identity.

    The issue came up as UN Human Rights Council opened its main annual session. Diplomats and activists say China has lobbied hard to avoid scrutiny over its policies in Xinjiang and other rights issues at the four-week meeting.

    Western countries are looking to Turkey and other members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to spotlight what rights groups call internment camps in Xinjiang, a remote western region of China. China says they are re-education and training facilities that have been highly successful in stopping attacks previously blamed on Islamist militants and separatists…”

  22. Germany Deported 14 Times More Maghrebi Migrants in 2018 than 2015 (moroccoworldnews, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/02/266633/germany-deport-maghrebi-migrants-in-2018/

    “Germany deported 1,873 rejected asylum-seekers to the Maghreb region in 2018, 35 percent more than in 2017. Germany deported 826 Moroccans (up from 634 in 2017), 678 Algerians (504 in 2017), and 369 Tunisians (251 in 2017).

    According to the Rheinische Post, which cited the German interior ministry, the number of immigrants Germany has deported to the Maghreb region grew nearly 14 times from 2015.

    In 2015, Chancellor Angela Merkel installed a new policy to keep German borders open to an influx of immigrants fleeing war and other hardships. The liberal migration policy received backlash especially after terrorist attacks.

    Since then, Germany has tried to negotiate to reduce migrant flows, especially of economic migrants as opposed to refugees.

    Germany’s new interior minister, Horst Seehofer, proposed plans to hold asylum seekers in centers for up to 18 months until the requests of the undocumented migrants are processed.

    The policy would give Germany the power to deny undocumented migrants at the borders.

    The German Federal Council, the Bundesrat, postponed a vote last week on a law to rank Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria as “Safe Countries of Origin” to speed up the process of deportation. The postponement came because of resistance from the green party in Germany.

    The law was already approved last month by the Bundestag, the German Parliament.

    According to Article 16a of the European Union’s Asylum Procedures Directive, “safe countries of origin” are countries “in which, on the basis of their laws, enforcement practices and general political conditions, it can be safely concluded that neither political persecution nor inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment exists.””

      • Jesus was a Muslim Palestinian born in a refugee camp.

        So, that explains all the straw (men) in the manger.

  23. OIC calls emergency meeting of Kashmir Contact Group tomorrow (tribune, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1917848/1-oic-calls-emergency-meeting-kashmir-contact-group-tomorrow/

    “On Pakistan’s request, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has summoned an emergency meeting of its Kashmir Contact Group to review actions taken by New Delhi in the aftermath of the February 14 Pulwama attack in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), Kashmir Media Service reported.

    The meeting will be held at the OIC General Secretariat at 11 am on Tuesday…”

  24. Armed forces fully prepared to respond to Indian aggression: ISPR (tribune, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1918062/1-armed-forces-fully-prepared-respond-indian-aggression-ispr/

    “Amid relentless sabre-rattling from New Delhi, the military has once again said that Pakistan’s armed forces are fully prepared for a befitting response to any Indian aggression or misadventure.

    The communique from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) was issued after a meeting between army chief General Qamar Bajwa and air chief Anwar Mujahid Khan at the Air Headquarters in Islamabad on Monday…”

  25. UN to resume Afghan refugee repatriation from March 1 (tribune, Feb 25, 2019)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1917813/1-un-resume-afghan-refugee-repatriation-march-1/

    “After a three-month winter break, the United Nations refugee authority (UNHCR) will be resuming its voluntary repatriation process for Afghan refugees living in Pakistan from next month.

    In this regard, Pakistan-based refugees who wish to return to Afghanistan voluntarily, have been directed to contact their nearest facilitation centre…”

  26. Over 96,000 refugee children missing in Europe since 2015: AKP deputy chair (hurriyetdailynews, Feb 25, 2019)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/over-96-000-refugee-children-missing-in-europe-since-2015-akp-deputy-chair-141466

    “The number of refugee children who have been missing in EU countries since 2015 is over 96,000, and their whereabouts remain unknown, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy chair for human rights Leyla ?ahin Usta has told reporters.

    “Just in Germany, there are 10,000 children missing. In 2016, the number of refugee children who traveled to Europe unaccompanied is over 63,000. These children’s whereabouts are unknown,” she said, basing the figures on a work carried out by the AKP called “Racism, migrant animosity, and children rights.”

    The number of children refugees who live in Europe unaccompanied is 170,000, and these children are being subjected to sexual assault, rape, human trafficking, violence, slavery and illicit human organ trading, the AKP deputy chair said.

    “There are around 1,000 children in France who are registered [officially] but whom we have not received news from,” she said.

    “Europe needs to take a step. If we cannot solve this, no matter how many security precautions we take, these children can emerge as members of terrorist organizations in the future,” she said.

    Usta also raised concerns over the “increasing tide of racism” around the world and said that Europe’s right-wing parties, with their “racist policies and discriminating discourses,” are on the rise.

    Extremist right-wing parties take up 29 percent of the votes in Switzerland, 26 percent in Australia and 21 percent in Denmark, she said.

    Usta stressed that Islamophobia in Europe has reached critical figures due to the “discriminating discourses of European politics.”

    “In the U.K., there were over 2,000 Islamophobic attacks in 2017,” she said, adding that this figure was 2,599 in the U.S., 950 in Germany and 664 in Poland.

    “Many European countries see migrants as threats. Some 78 percent of Austria, 68 percent of Norway and 66 percent of Hungary, Portugal and Belgium regard migrants as threats,” she added.”

  27. 440 women were killed in 2018 in Turkey: Women’s rights group (hurriyetdailynews, Feb 25, 2019)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/440-women-were-killed-in-2018-in-turkey-womens-rights-group-141464

    “A staggering 440 women were killed in Turkey in 2018, according to an organization that keeps a tally of femicides across the country.

    Of this number, 131 were logged as “shady deaths,” in which there is no blatant connection between the cause or reason and the death. But women’s rights groups have long blamed authorities for failing these women by ignoring circumstances and factors that may have led to the murders.

    Some 43 women were killed just in January of this year, a report by Kad?n Cinayetlerini Durduraca??z Platformu (We Will Stop Femicide Platform) stressed, adding that the bodies of seven out of the 43 women were found in lakes, streams or buried in the woods.

    The number of women killed in 2017 was 409, according to a previous report published by the same organization.

    “The forms of violence against women are changing. Shady deaths and femicides by unknown assailants are on the rise. Many incidents are being covered up. When [femicide] cases are identified as ‘suicide,’ it becomes exemplary for similar incidents,” Fidan Ataselim, secretary-general of the platform, has told daily Hürriyet.

    Ataselim underlined that the state’s agencies “need to side with women” and police officers need to meticulously collect and analyze evidence in women murder cases.

    “The more we bring shady deaths out into the open, the more the numbers will decline,” she said.

    “In our report, 10 out of 43 femicides are labeled as ‘shady killings’ [in January of this year], but this is only the figure we could have gathered [from news reports],” said Gülsüm Kav, the general representative of the platform, implying that the actual figure could be much higher.

    “Unless perpetrators and their motives are identified, unless deterrent penalties are given to suspects and killers, and unless precautionary measures are taken, violence will continue,” Kav said.

    “It is getting more difficult to identify the perpetrator in femicides, because cases are not being taken seriously,” said Leyla Süren, one of the lawyers of the platform. “In Turkey, if the victim is a woman, investigations are not being launched,” Süren said.

    The lawyer also stressed that when the Istanbul Convention, formally known as The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, was signed in 2011 violence against women had reached its lowest rates in recent years in Turkey. “Discourse has changed since, and since 2000 violence against women has increased by 1,400 percent,” she said…”

  28. First results from drilling in Mediterranean expected soon: Turkish Minister (hurriyetdailynews, Feb 25, 2019)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/first-results-from-drilling-in-mediterranean-expected-soon-turkish-minister-141473

    “Turkey is about to obtain results from drilling activities for resources carried out by the Fatih vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, Energy and National Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has said.

    “Within one to two weeks, we will reach 5,500 meters of depth, so that we will have the information on whether or not there is natural gas in the area,” he added.

    Sönmez added that a second vessel has arrived in the shipyard where it will receive some maintaining work.

    “Our drilling activities will continue with two vessels,” he added…”

  29. Top Vatican cleric Cardinal George Pell convicted of child sex crimes (DW, Feb 26, 2019)
    https://www.dw.com/en/top-vatican-cleric-cardinal-george-pell-convicted-of-child-sex-crimes/a-47688228

    “Cardinal George Pell, who helped elect popes and ran the Vatican’s finances, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two choirboys in the 1990s, Australian media have reported. Pell has maintained his innocence.

    Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s economy minister and a top adviser to Pope Francis, has been convicted of molesting two choirboys, an Australian court said Tuesday.

    An Australian court found Pell guilty on one count of sexual abuse and four counts of indecent assault of two 13-year-old boys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s…”

    • “122nd Washington’s Birthday Celebration held in U.S.-Mexico border city”
      New China TV – Published on February 25, 2019

  30. Grammar school jihadi from High Wycombe, 23, is FREED from detention in Syria after a court rules there is not enough evidence to prosecute him – even though he’d already admitted to joining ISIS (dailymail, Feb 26, 2019)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6745195/High-Wycombe-grammar-school-jihadi-23-FREED-detention-Syria.html

    “A former grammar school pupil who joined Islamic State has been freed from detention in Syria, it was revealed yesterday.

    Shabazz Suleman, 23, was handed over to a charity in Syria after a court ruled there was not enough evidence to sentence him. His whereabouts are now unknown.

    Suleman, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, was escaping IS territory in October 2017 when he was caught by the rebel Free Syrian Army. He was tried by a Syrian opposition-run court in the city of Jarablus, but despite admitting joining the terror group, he was found not guilty, an FSA spokesman said.

    Rebel commander Abu Sleiman told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Shabazz was with our guys that handled the Daesh (IS) file and then he went to court, he was released and handed over. That was about a month ago. He was given to the organisation he had worked for before.’

    He criticised the UK Government for taking ‘no interest’ in Suleman, pictured. It comes after jihadi bride Shamima Begum, 19, from Bethnal Green, east London, was stripped of her passport despite wanting to return to Britain with her newborn son.

    A former pupil at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, Suleman claimed he had volunteered with the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), a Turkish non-governmental organisation, before joining Islamic State in Syria in 2015. An IHH spokesman told the Telegraph yesterday that they were unaware of Suleman…”

  31. CBC – Trudeau government clears Wilson-Raybould to give SNC-Lavalin details

    The Trudeau government issued a broad waiver allowing former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to tell the Commons justice committee details of her conversations with government officials about the charges against SNC-Lavalin.

  32. the rebel – EXCLUSIVE: Marine Le Pen talks about the upcoming European Parliament election and more

    Janice Atkinson of The Rebel.media interviews Marine Le Pen, President of the Rassemblement Nationals, about her vision for France and Europe.

  33. the rebel – Tommy Robinson’s FULL speech at #Panodrama documentary premiere

    Before Tommy Robinson unveiled his documentary “Panodrama” about BBC’s bias and fake news, he spoke to the thousands of people who came to see it.

    • the rebel – Tommy Robinson tells Ezra Levant about NEW projects

      Right after the premier of his new documentary about BBC fake news, Tommy Robinson talked to Ezra Levant of TheRebel.media about his future plans.

    • the rebel – Ezra Levant: Tommy Robinson’s “Panodrama” doc is “powerful”

      Ezra Levant of TheRebel.media flew from Toronto to Manchester for the debut of Tommy Robinson’s documentary exposing the BBC’s fake news. Ezra talks about the massive crowd, and the reaction to Tommy’s movie.

    • the rebel -Ezra Levant tells Tommy Robinson fans: “YOU are the media!”

      Ezra Levant of TheRebel.media was invited to help unveil Tommy Robinson’s feature length documentary “Panodrama,” which exposes the bias and fake news at the BBC.

    • the rebel -Ezra Levant: Tommy Robinson fans travelled MILES to see his new movie

      Ezra Levant asked some of the thousands of ordinary people who travelled to Manchester to watch Tommy Robinson’s blockbuster new documentary about BBC fake news, “Panodrama.”