Contributor’s Links post for March 13, 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

150 Replies to “Contributor’s Links post for March 13, 2019”

  1. GLOBE & MAIL – Liberals shut down SNC justice committee meeting, preventing vote on recalling Wilson-Raybould

    Liberal MPs used their majority on the House of Commons Justice committee to shut down an emergency meeting that was called Wednesday to consider hearing further testimony from former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould.

    To cries of “shame”, “despicable” and “cover-up”, five Liberal MPs voted against the three Conservatives and one NDP member to have Ms. Wilson-Raybould appear before the committee on Thursday.

    Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre decried the Liberals tactic, accusing the government MPs of “trying to silence the former attorney general.”

    The committee was in session for less than half an hour when Liberal MP Francois Drouin called for a vote to adjourn the committee.

    ‘This is a cover-up. What a shame,” Mr. Poilievre said while NDP Tracey Ramsey said she was “shocked at behavior” of the Liberal MPs.

    Wednesday’s meeting was held one week after the Liberal majority on the committee blocked an early effort by the opposition to immediately invite Ms. Wilson-Raybould to respond to testimony of the prime minister’s former principal secretary, Gerald Butts, and the Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick.

    Mr. Poilivere told MPs that it was necessary for Ms. Wilson-Rayybould to come back to the committee to complete her testimony.

    In an appearance before committee on Feb. 27, Ms. Wilson-Rabyould said she faced “consistent and sustained” political pressure from Mr. Trudeau and other senior officials to abandon the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin in favour of an-out-of-court settlement.

    But Ms. Wilson-Raybould said she was unable to talk about what transpired after she was demoted from attorney general and justice minister in January and what led to her resignation from cabinet last month.

    She has said she wants to come back to the committee to give additional testimony and wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to give her a waiver to talk the period of time between her demotion to Veterans Affairs in early January to her resignation on Feb. 11.

    “The prime minister granted her a limited waiver applying only to the period she was attorney general. However after she was removed from that position she witnessed events that were so egregious it warranted her resignation from cabinet altogether,” Mr. Poilievre said. ‘Canadians deserve to know what those event were. So far the Prime Minister has kept in place a partial gag order preventing them from finding out.”

    Mr. Poilievre said it is important that Ms. Wilson-Raybould have an opportunity to tell her “full story.”

    Last week, Mr. Butts and Mr. told the committee last week that he did not feel that Ms. Wilson-Raybould was subjected to inappropriate pressure to overrule federal prosecutions and settle with SNC-Lavalin out of court. Mr. Butts also denied that she was removed as justice minister because of her refusal to negotiate with the engineering company.

    Since The Globe and Mail reported von Feb 7 that the Prime Minister’s Office had put pressure on the former attorney general to override federal prosecutors, Ms. Wilson-Raybould has resigned from cabinet and Mr. Butts stepped down. Jane Philpott, one of Mr. Trudeau’s star minister, also resigned as Treasury Board President,

    Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion has also launched an inquiry and the Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has written to the RCMP to ask for a criminal investigation in possible obstruction of justice.

    Opposition MPs have warned the Liberals risk damaging Canada’s international reputation by refusing to allow Ms. Wilson-Raybould another opportunity to testify about political interference in the judicial process.

    The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned it is monitoring the Canadian government to ensure it lives up to its obligations under the Anti-Bribery Convention to safeguard judicial independence in the criminal prosecution of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin Group.

    “We are being watched internationally and we can’t have this charade of the Liberal committee trying to do damage control. The damage is being done to the Canadian reputation. It’s a bit bigger than the Liberal party,” NDP MP Charlie Angus said.

    The opposition parties also want the committee to call three of the prime minister’s top aides: chief of staff Katie Telford, Quebec adviser Mathieu Bouchard and senior adviser Elder Marques.

    Deputy Conservative Leader Lisa Raitt said the fact the OECD’s Working Group of Bribery in International Business Transaction has signaled concern about political interference in the SNC-Lavalin matter underlines how important it is for the justice committee to get to the bottom of the affair.

    On Monday, The agency in charge of overseeing bribery measures at the OECD expressed concerns about “allegations of political interference” in the fraud and corruption prosecution of the Quebec construction and engineering firm in relations to its business activities in Libya.

    Dargo Kos, who heads the OECD Working Group of Bribery, told The Globe and Mail that the decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin should be left to the director of public prosecution, Kathleen Roussel, and that potential job losses should not be a consideration in granting a deferred prosecution to the company.

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and officials, including Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick, have cited job losses and other economic consequences as the motive for pressing the former attorney general to order an out-of-court settlement with SNC-Lavalin.

    Ms. Wilson-Raybould rejected the calls to intervene and override Ms. Roussel throughout the fall of 2018. In early January, Ms. Wilson-Raybould was demoted to veteran affairs, which she believes was related to the SNV-Lavalin dispute.

    Montreal MP David Lametti took as justice minister and attorney-general. He has not ruled out granting a deferred prosecution to the SNC-Lavalin.

    “The fact that they keep musing that a deferred prosecution is still on the table would suggest Wilson-Raybould was moved because she wouldn’t put it on the table,” Mr. Angus said.

    The Anti-Bribery Convention, signed by Canada and 43 other countries, say that prosecutions and investigations “shall not be influenced by considerations of national economic interest, the potential effect upon relations with other states or the identity of the natural or legal persons involved.”

    At a news conference last week, Mr. Trudeau said he asked Ms. Wilson-Rabyould to reconsider her decision not to grant an deferred prosecution because of the “importance of protecting Canadian jobs and reiterated that this issue was one of significant national importance.”

    In testimony last week, Mr. Wernick said he interpreted “national economic interest” as not favouring one country over another in a prosecution but Mr. Kos rejected that argument, saying Article % of the convention “prohibits all countries to deal with [criminal] investigations based on political reasons or reasons of economic interests or the identity of the person involved.”

    In testimony last week, Mr. Wernick said he interpreted “national economic interest” as not favouring one country over another in a prosecution but Mr. Kos rejected that argument, saying Article % of the convention “prohibits all countries to deal with [criminal] investigations based on political reasons or reasons of economic interests or the identity of the person involved.”

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-liberal-mps-shut-down-snc-committee-before-vote-on-recalling-wilson/

    • CBC – ‘Coverup!’: Opposition erupts as Liberals shut down emergency meeting on SNC-Lavalin affair

      Opposition MPs wanted to press Liberals to call Jody Wilson-Raybould back to testify

      Opposition MPs issued angry claims of a “coverup” today after Liberals used their majority to shut down an emergency meeting of the committee probing the SNC-Lavalin affair.

      The meeting was requested by Conservative and NDP members to press the Liberals to recall Jody Wilson-Raybould to testify again, even though the Liberals already had defeated a similar motion.

      But less than 30 minutes after the meeting began, the Liberals voted to adjourn.

      “I have never been so disgusted by the conduct of my Liberal colleagues,” said Conservative MP Michael Cooper after the committee broke.

      “They have done the bidding of the PMO.”

      Opposition MPs were making another bid to bring the former attorney general back to testify before the committee today, warning that Canadians would see any attempt by the Liberals to block them as evidence of a “coverup.”

      Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre said it’s crucial for the committee to hear from Wilson-Raybould again, given major discrepancies between her version of events and last week’s testimony from Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s close friend and former principal secretary. He said Trudeau also must fully waive cabinet confidence and client-solicitor privilege so that she can give a complete account of what happened.

      “She says material events happened after she was removed as attorney general but before she resigned from cabinet. She said she wants to tell Canadians what happened,” Poilievre said.

      “The prime minister has the legal authority to allow her to do so. If he doesn’t, he’s got something to hide.”

      Prior to her Feb. 27 appearance before the committee, Wilson-Raybould had obtained a broad waiver from the Prime Minister’s Office that allowed her to disclose details of her conversations with government officials about the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal-based global engineering and construction company.

      But she told the committee that the waiver allowed her to speak only about her time as attorney general, leaving her constrained on what she could say about her time in the Veterans Affairs portfolio after she was replaced as justice minister and attorney general by David Lametti.

      She said she endured intense, sustained political pressure and veiled threats from officials in the PMO, the Privy Council Office and the finance minister’s office to overturn a decision by the director of the Public Prosecution Service to proceed with a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin instead of inviting the company to negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA).

      A DPA is a legal tool that allows a company to avoid a criminal trial by admitting wrongdoing, paying fines, giving up any money it earned in the commission of a crime and agreeing to be monitored for a period of time.

      Denying ‘inappropriate’ pressure
      Wilson-Raybould also testified that she told Trudeau she believed she was moved out of the justice portfolio because of the SNC-Lavalin matter.

      In his testimony before the committee on Mar. 6, Butts denied there was any inappropriate pressure imposed on Wilson-Raybould and said internal discussions on the SNC-Lavalin file were all above-board and part of normal government operations.

      Poilievre rejected repeated claims from the government that the issue boils down to a difference of “perspectives.”

      “Either she’s lying or Trudeau’s lying, and I believe her,” he said.

      Parliament is not sitting this week, but the SNC-Lavalin controversy is still raging. On Monday, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the international body that oversees a global anti-bribery convention, issued a statement saying it is monitoring the political situation unfolding in Canada and it is “concerned” by claims the prime minister and his staff exerted pressure on the attorney general to defer criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

      ‘Black eye’ for Canada
      Poilievre said the fact the OECD and renowned international news organizations are raising these concerns now is “a terrible black eye for Canada’s reputation.”

      It’s not clear if any of the Liberal committee members have changed their minds about whether Wilson-Raybould should be recalled to testify again, but they hold the committee majority and control its agenda.

      NDP MP Tracey Ramsey said Canadians are following the committee proceedings very closely. She also warned before the meeting that any attempt to block efforts to hear further testimony from Wilson-Raybould could backfire on the Liberals.

      “I think the Liberals controlling what’s happening at the justice committee just underscores the need for an independent public inquiry to get down to the bottom of what is really happening,” she told CBC News. “I believe that Canadians are watching the justice committee and are disappointed in a government that ran on transparency and openness and accountability, and at every turn is doing the opposite.”

      Heading into the committee hearing today, Ramsay said she hoped the meeting would be open and that the Liberal members wouldn’t try to move it behind closed doors.

      “If the Liberals do attempt to do that, they would be making a very serious mistake and underestimating how much Canadians are paying attention to what’s happening today,” he said.

      NDP demands inquiry
      The NDP has been pressing for a public inquiry, while the Conservatives have been demanding an RCMP investigation and Trudeau’s resignation.

      Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion also launched an investigation into potential violations of federal ethics rules in the SNC-Lavalin affair. On Tuesday, his office announced Dion is stepping away for a prolonged period for medical reasons, but insisted the work of his office will continue in his absence.

      Poilievre said earlier this week that if the Liberals use their majority to “shut down accountability,” the opposition will use every tool in the parliamentary toolkit to force the government to “end the coverup.”

      “There are a lot of things that become very difficult in all of the committees of Parliament, and in the House of Commons itself, if the opposition is united in a singular focus to get to the truth,” he said. “I also think there will be enormous public pressure if Trudeau decides that he’s just going to cover this whole thing up.”

      Wilson-Raybould issued a statement last week saying she’s willing give additional testimony, answer further questions and provide more clarity.

      “I will note, as I indicated at the time, my statement to the committee was not a complete account but only a detailed summary,” she said.

      Last week, Trudeau blamed a communication breakdown and an “erosion of trust” between the PMO and Wilson-Raybould for the SNC-Lavalin matter.

      https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justice-committee-wilson-raybould-trudeau-1.5052976

    • the rebel – Ottawa woman calls out “pathetic” PM over SNC-Lavalin scandal | David Menzies

  2. EXCLUSIVE: Transcripts of Lisa Page’s Closed-Door Testimonies Provide New Revelations in Spygate Scandal
    January 11, 2019 0:41, Last Updated: March 8, 2019 16:43

    Transcripts of two closed-door testimonies by Lisa Page, the former assistant general counsel at the FBI, have provided new insights into the actions of the FBI, Department of Justice (DOJ), and others—including CIA Director John Brennan—regarding their investigation of Donald Trump.

    Included in the transcripts provided to us is information suggesting Brennan was aware of the so-called Steele dossier in early August 2016, and that he included information regarding the dossier in a briefing given to then-Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

    Other key points in Page’s testimony before Congress:

    • The FBI appears to have considered investigating President Trump for obstruction of justice both before and after FBI Director James Comey was fired.

    • Page says the DOJ refused to pursue “gross-negligence” charges against Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server to send classified information.

    https://theepochtimes.com/transcripts-of-lisa-pages-closed-door-testimonies-provide-new-revelations_2763452.html/amp

  3. Center for Self Governance produced this brilliant documentary about the Bundy Standoff:

    • I realize that the director is opening with some emphatic tension but it still was mildly annoying to hear “First Amendment Zone” mentioned over and over again until—ten minutes into this sumptuous Investigative Buffet™—that one concerned citizen spoke up about how (all), “America is a First Amendment Zone”.*

      * Please give a moment’s silent reflection upon how Tienanmen Square was the exact same sort of “First Amendment Zone” … until it wasn’t.

      Thank you, Xan, and more, when I’m done watching. All the same, it seriously chaps my @ss to hear the slightest mention of any “First Amendment Zone” that covers a pebble less than 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 sq km).

      This insulting “First Amendment Zone” anti-Constitutional ßüll$hït sophistry is precisely why those dearly defended millions of square miles are a Second Amendment Zone. [Grrrr!]

      • And this is why the whole world envies the American’s their Second Amendment!!!

        Here in Canada, some politicians and bureauKrauts* who enforce ‘hate speech’ laws claim that Freedom of Speech ‘is an American concept and has no place in Canada’….

        We are so foocked!

        *where grew up, Kraut was a deragotary term for a fascist…

        • And this is why the whole world envies the American’s their Second Amendment!!!

          If they didn’t before Venezuela, they do now after Venezuela. That honeypot’s lack of a Second Amendment is the only reason why Maduro’s still stealing oxygen

      • Damn straignt, the entire US is a First and Second Amendment zone, and the sooner the leftist understand this the better.

  4. Former NYPD Commissioner Benard Kerik warned Wednesday that Americans will “never have faith” in the U.S. government until the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe is investigated for obstruction of justice.
    Kerik’s remarks came in response to transcripts showing former FBI legal counsel Lisa Page testified to Congress that the Department of Justice ordered the FBI not to charge Clinton with “gross negligence” for mishandling classified information.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/13/former-nypd-commissioner-calls-for-obstruction-investigation-into-clinton-email-probe/

    • Former NYPD Commissioner Benard Kerik warned Wednesday that Americans will “never have faith” in the U.S. government until the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe is investigated for obstruction of justice.

      Former NYPD Commissioner Benard Kerik warned Wednesday that Americans will “never regain faith” in the U.S. government until the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe is investigated for obstruction of justice.

      There, fixed that.

    • This entire affair is showing the people with working brain cells why the First and Second Amendment were written and why they were the first two Amendments ratified by the States.

      Things to do:

      1) Pray

      2) Buy more ammo.

      3) Go to the range more often.

  5. Amnesty International Denounces Rape of Yemeni Boys by Saudi-backed Militiamen

    According to an Amnesty International report, Yemeni boys have been raped inside mosques under militia rule.

    Rabat – Boys as young as eight have been raped in the war-torn Yemeni city of Ta’iz, said Amnesty International in a new report. The suspected perpetrators, who include Saudi-backed militiamen, have yet to be held accountable.

    Amnesty reported the rape of three boys and the sexual assault of a fourth in Ta’iz in the past eight months. The families of all four boys reported the cases to the Criminal Investigations Department, but authorities have yet to take action.

    In two of the four cases, families claim that the perpetrators were members of Islahi-backed militias.

    Al-Islah is a Yemeni Islamist party which acts in support of the Saudi-led Coalition and Yemeni government. The party controls large portions of local authorities in Ta’iz.

    Two civilian suspects have been detained and are awaiting trial but none of the militia-connected suspects in the other two cases have faced any consequences.

    The mother of the 8-year-old told Amnesty International that her son had been raped at the mosque on two occasions, in June and October 2018, by the son of a local Ishali imam and his friend. His mother says that the boy “now suffers from a sleeping disorder and is prone to uncontrollable crying and screaming.”

    According to his family, a 13-year-old was raped at the mosque by the same two men.

    Another boy says he was attacked by an Islahi-aligned militiaman who beat him, held him at gunpoint, and raped him.

    This 16-year-old boy’s mother described his return home after the assault: “He just sat there staring into space. He was unable to sit afterward to go to the bathroom for three days.”

    The fourth boy, a 12-year-old, was assaulted in July 2018 but managed to escape before he was raped. In his escape, the boy shot and killed his attacker, a member of the Islahi militia.

    Despite reporting the incident to the authorities, the family received no protection. Two days after the initial attack, militiamen belonging to the same group as the original man attacked the family of the boy in their home. Three members of the family were killed and one was injured.

    Amnesty International reported the likelihood that there are many more cases than the four which have been reported. Families are discouraged from reporting any attacks for fear of reprisals such as the one faced by the family of the 12-year-old. The unwillingness to report is strengthened by a pattern of impunity granted to many members of the militia.

    Background

    The city of Ta’iz has experienced intermittent clashes between Yemeni rebels and forces loyal to the Coalition and Yemeni government since 2015. In the four years of conflict, the violence has only intensified as militias have thrived in the chaos of the ongoing conflict. Ta’iz is widely considered a humanitarian disaster.

    Fighting in Yemen has left 6,800 civilians dead and more than 10,000 injured.

    According to the Yemen Data Project and Save the Children, there have been more than 18,000 air raids since the beginning of the war in 2015. This means that children born in Yemen as the conflict broke out have lived through an average of 14 air raids per day.

    In reference to the rape cases, Heba Morayef, the regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said that “The heartbreaking testimonies of these young survivors and their families expose how the ongoing conflict has rendered children vulnerable to being sexually exploited in a city plagued by weak security and institutions.”

    UN reports that sexual violence against boys and men during armed conflicts is common but underreported. Because of this underreporting, boys are left vulnerable without sufficient prevention and protection strategies.

    Save the Children spokesperson Bhanu Bhatnagar said that “Yemen is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a child today.”

    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/267875/amnesty-international-reports-the-rape-of-yemeni-boys-by-militiamen/

    • According to an Amnesty International report, Yemeni boys have been raped inside mosques under militia rule.

      What does “militia rule” have to do with anything? This is just Islamic bidness as usual.

      It obliges a person to wonder if there’s a single mosque which, at one time or another, hasn’t doubled as the town’s local proctology clinic.

  6. Lauren Southern reports on attacks on Christians, Atheists in refugee camp on Lesbos:

  7. DAILY MAIL – Iraqi asylum seeker denies raping girl, 14, but admits murdering her ‘after consensual sex’ in case that sparked anti-migrant protests across Germany, as trial begins

    Ali Bashar, 22, admitted today to killing Susanna Maria Feldman, 14, in May 2018
    Bashar denied raping the girl in woodland on the outskirts of Wiesbaden
    Ms Feldman’s battered corpse was discovered in a shallow grave by the railway
    The case sent shockwaves through Germany, prompting a response from Merkel

    […]To Germany’s far right, Bashar, who is also accused of twice raping an 11-year-old girl in a separate case, has become a symbol of the threat allegedly posed by a wave of mostly Middle Eastern newcomers.

    […]Before the trial, the anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD) party again blamed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s grand coalition or ‘GroKo’ government for Ms Feldman’s death.

    ‘The problem isn’t “the right” but the knife-man immigration caused by the GroKo that has caused ever more bloody crimes,’ the party wrote in a Facebook post.

    […]Bashar, along with his parents and five siblings, first arrived in Germany in 2015,

    […]Bashar and his family had left Germany for Arbil, northern Iraq.

    However, he was arrested by Kurdish security forces and, despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty between Baghdad and Berlin, taken back to Germany.

    […]Bashar also faces charges for a park robbery in which he allegedly beat, strangled and threatened a man with a knife to steal his watch, bag, phone and bank card.

    He faces a separate trial from March 19, accused of having twice raped an 11-year-old girl – once in April 2018 after locking her in his room, and again near a supermarket carpark the following month.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6799837/Iraqi-migrant-denies-raping-girl-14-admits-murdering-consensual-sex-Germany.html
    =============================================

  8. MEP Verhofstadt claims Farage aims to ‘destroy the European Union from within’ | Raw Politics

  9. BBC – UK MPs reject a no-deal Brexit

    MPs have voted by 312 to 308 to reject leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

    It is not a legally-binding decision – and it does not rule out the UK leaving the EU.

    But it means MPs could now get a vote on delaying Brexit.

    That vote would take place on Thursday, and if it is passed – and the EU agrees to it – the UK will not leave the EU as planned on 29 March.

    MPs are now voting on whether the PM’s Brexit plan should be scrapped in favour of a “managed no deal”.

    • UK: May announces vote to extend Brexit deadline in wake of no-deal rejection

      UK Prime Minister Theresa May laid out the options for Brexit in a speech following Parliament’s rejection of leaving the European Union without a deal in London on Wednesday.

      During her speech, she announced the government would call for a vote to extend article 50 on Thursday, which would back the deadline for the UK to leave the EU.

    • Nigel Farage begs EU to REJECT extension request – ‘You don’t want me coming back!’

    • 13.03.2019 – FARAGE DEMOLISH EU | VERHOFSTADT & EU FEEL PRESSURE OF WTO BREXIT

      + comments on the YT page

  10. UK: Tommy Robinson’s harassment suit against Cambridgeshire police continues

    Far-right activist Tommy Robinson was seen leaving the Peterborough County Court on Wednesday afternoon, as his trial against the Cambridgeshire Police that started on Tuesday continues.

    Robinson accused the police of harassing him, after officers removed him from a Cambridge pub claiming that he was with a group of ‘risk’ fans, in the presence of his children.

    Footage of the event that took place on August 2016 has been deleted, the court was told just before the lunch break.

  11. ‘ISIS is here’: Minorities face violence in notorious Greek refugee camp – new doc

    Terror group ISIS has penetrated a refugee camp in Greece – where it’s persecuting religious minorities.

    That’s the finding of a soon-to-be-released documentary ‘Borderless’ [by Lauren Southern]
    The film will be released in May.

    • Terror group ISIS has penetrated a refugee camp in Greece…

      The entire camp? Completely?!?

  12. MPs vote to reject no-deal Brexit

    Theresa May said there was a “clear majority” against a no-deal Brexit but the “legal default” was that the UK would leave without a deal on 29 March if no deal is reached.

    MPs will now get a vote on delaying Brexit, said the prime minister.

    That vote will take place on Thursday, and if it is passed – and the EU agrees to it – the UK will not leave the EU as planned on 29 March.

    Mrs May said there could be a short delay to implement a deal agreed in the next few days, or a longer delay if no agreement is reached.

    LIVE: MPs vote on no-deal Brexit
    The government tabled a motion to prevent the UK from exiting the EU on 29 March without a withdrawal agreement.

    But before MPs voted on that, they backed an amendment tabled by Labour’s Yvette Cooper rejecting a no-deal Brexit under any circumstances – by just four votes.

    This dramatic development led to the government ordering Conservative MPs to vote against its own motion.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47562995

  13. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) daughter is leading a national movement of students seeking to ditch class on Friday to participate in a worldwide climate change protest.
    Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, 16, of Minneapolis, is spearheading the nationwide youth climate strike protests across the U.S. in nearly 50 states and Washington, DC., along with co-organizers Alexandria Villasenor, 13, of New York, and Haven Coleman, 12, of Denver.

    Hirsi, who lists on Twitter page that she is the head of the Minnesota High School Democrats and several other left-wing youth-based organizations, said in a recent interview with Grist that she is looking to “change the conversation” on issues such as the Green New Deal by organizing the strike.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/13/ilhan-omars-daughter-leading-climate-change-school-walkouts-u-s/

  14. Clinton email server administrator getting deposed
    by Caitlin Yilek
    | March 13, 2019 03:46 PM

    Print this article
    The first of several former Obama administration officials and former aides to Hillary Clinton is set to be deposed Thursday after a judge ruled in January that they must answer questions under oath about the 2012 Benghazi terror attacks and the Clinton email scandal.

    U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the discovery after a lawsuit was brought by conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, which is seeking to uncover “whether the Benghazi scandal was one reason for keeping Mrs. Clinton’s email secret.”

    The conservative group announced Wednesday that Justin Cooper, a former Clinton Foundation adviser who played a role in setting up and administering the former secretary of state’s unauthorized private email server, will answer questions under oath and in-person on Thursday.

    Eight other dates for depositions of former Obama officials and Clinton aides were also announced, including Jake Sullivan, a former adviser and deputy chief of staff to Clinton, who will answer questions on April 16.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/clinton-email-server-administrator-getting-deposed

    • Clinton email server administrator getting deposed

      I’ll freely admit that it’s fun—there’s that darn schadenfreude again!—to watch the ants start scurrying about under the magnifying glass. There are few times in modern history where some of LB’s “disinfecting sunlight” could be more vital to national interests. Fortunately, there’s a cloudless patch of sky over the swamp right now…

      However worthy of impeachment; Nixon’s ward heeler street tactics were a political molehill compared to the Qomolangman peak of Hillary’s treason.

      [Enter Trump lugging a rally nasty looking high order Fresnel lens]

      NOTE: — In lieu of the usual humorous solar optics animation, what follows is both a brilliant work of art and a superb metaphor for how to simultaneously eradicate and painstakingly (for the pismire types) diagram the swamp’s Deep State ant colony. —

      (T = 00:02:45)

  15. STOCKHOLM, Sweden — The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC) is misleading humanity about climate change and sea levels, a leading expert on sea levels who served on the UN IPCC told The New American. In fact, it is more likely that sea levels will decline, not rise, explained Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner, the retired head of the paleogeophysics and geodynamics at Stockholm University. A new solar-driven cooling period is not far off, he said. But when Mörner tried to warn the UN IPCC that it was publishing false information that would inevitably be discredited, they simply ignored him. And so, dismayed, he resigned in disgust and decided to blow the whistle.

    Asked if coastal cities such as Miami would be flooding due to sea-level rise caused by alleged man-made global warming, Mörner was unequivocal: “Absolutely not.” “There is no rapid sea-level rise going on today, and there will not be,” he said, citing observable data. “On the contrary, if anything happens, the sea will go down a little.” The widely respected scientist, who has been tracking sea levels in various parts of the globe for some 50 years, blasted those who use incorrect “correction factors” in their data to make it appear that seas are rising worldwide. That is just wrong, he said.

    https://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/31472-un-ipcc-scientist-blows-whistle-on-un-climate-lies

  16. Lisa Page Claims DOJ Pressured FBI Not To Recommend Charges Against Hillary Clinton

    • Lisa Page admits being told to ‘go easy’ on Hillary Clinton

      Lisa Page said the Obama administration’s Justice Department advised the FBI not to pursue the gross negligence statute for Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information;

      chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports.

  17. CNN’s Begala Calls Ivanka and Jared ‘Cockroaches,’ President Trump a ‘Criminal’

    By Ryan Foley | March 13, 2019 5:08 PM EDT
    Tuesday’s The Lead ended with a discussion about a new book called Kushner, Inc. by Vicky Ward, which alleges that President Trump wanted his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner fired from their positions as senior advisors in his administration.

    Not surprisingly, CNN host Jake Tapper and his panel were interested in this work of palace intrigue. The segment took an unexpected turn when CNN political commentator Paul Begala called Mr. and Mrs. Kushner “cockroaches” and backhandedly referred to President Trump as a “criminal.”

    When asked by Tapper if the book was a sign that “loyalty is preeminent with the Trumps,” Begala responded: “I don’t think so. I think mediocrity is. And of course they survived. I mean, cockroaches are going to survive a nuclear war.” And after being pressed whether he was calling the Kushners cockroaches, Begala asserted that he was “talking about a separate class of species.”

    https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/ryan-foley/2019/03/13/cnns-begala-calls-ivanka-and-jared-cockroaches-president-trump

  18. President Donald Trump accused companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google of colluding with Democrats to censor his supporters online to their political advantage.
    “Actually it’s incredible that I won the election because you know it was so rigged against me,” he said. “It wasn’t Russians. Russia collusion was a delusion. But what there is, is there was collusion between the Democrats and these tech companies.”

    The president spoke about political bias in top Silicon Valley companies in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Monday.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/12/exclusive-donald-trump-accuses-tech-giants-of-colluding-with-democrats/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=daily&utm_content=links&utm_campaign=20190312

  19. China at UN delays bid to blacklist JeM leader Masood Azhar
    China tells UN Security Council it needs more time to examine the sanctions request against the Jaish-e-Muhammad leader.

    China has put on hold a request by Britain, France and the United States to add the leader of a Pakistan-based armed group behind a suicide attack in Kashmir to the UN terror blacklist.

    In a note sent to the UN Security Council, China on Wednesday said it needed more time to examine the sanctions request targeting Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) leader Masood Azhar, diplomats said.

    It was the third time that the UN Security Council was considering a request to put Azhar on the UN sanctions blacklist, which would subject him to a global travel ban and asset freeze.

    China has twice blocked attempts, in 2016 and 2017, to impose sanctions on the JeM leader.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/china-delays-bid-blacklist-jaish-muhammad-leader-190313182839966.html

  20. Niger says army killed 33 Boko Haram fighters in Lake Chad region (thedefensepost, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/03/13/niger-army-kills-33-boko-haram-lake-chad/

    “Niger said it had killed 33 Boko Haram “terrorists” and seized vehicles and weapons in an operation in the Lake Chad region.

    “Offensive actions carried out on Tuesday inflicted heavy losses on the enemy,” a defense ministry statement read on state television said on Wednesday, March 13.

    “Thirty-three terrorists [were] killed” while there were no losses on the army’s side, it said.

    A vehicle up-armored to be used as a suicide vehicle bomb was destroyed, while two other vehicles, two motorcycles, a 120-mm mortar, 10 AK-47 assault rifles, two 60mm shells and 3,736 rounds of all calibers were seized, it said.

    The operation began on Saturday, it said – a day after seven police and 38 militants were killed near Gueskerou in the southeastern region of Diffa, according to a government toll.

    Diffa borders Nigeria’s Borno state, birthplace of Boko Haram, and has suffered a string of cross-border raids and population displacement…”

  21. Tunisian Student Sentences to 4 Yrs in Prison for Communicating with ISIS (aawsat, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1632586/tunisian-student-sentences-4-yrs-prison-communicating-isis

    “Tunisian Court of First Instance issued a four-year prison sentence against a Tunisian university student who had been communicating via Telegram with a Syria- based ISIS leader, known as Abu al-Baraa.

    The indictment said he received lessons that incite attacks against Tunisian security forces. It added that the ISIS leader urged him to kill his father, who is a member of the security forces.

    Security investigations also revealed that the accused was asked to carry out a terrorist attack in the Tunisian capital as a “Lone Wolf”.

    He denied the accusations, claiming that the Telegram account did not belong to him. However, the court confronted him with messages he received from the leader and the latter’s insistence on carrying out a terrorist operation in Tunis…”

  22. World Bank: Arab countries lost $900bn in economic opportunities due to wars (memo, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190313-world-bank-arab-countries-lost-900bn-in-economic-opportunities-due-to-wars/

    “A senior Work Bank official said that wars that broke out between 2010 and 2018 in many Arab countries have caused at least $900 billion in lost economic opportunities.

    The World Bank Group’s senior vice president for the 2030 development agenda, Mahmoud Mohieldin did not name specific countries but referred to the Arab Spring of 2011 followed by wars in Yemen, Syria and Libya.

    According to the official, these countries witnessed armed conflicts that caused physical destruction and missed development opportunities that affected their economic development.”

  23. Georgia arrests two over alleged plan to sell radioactive uranium (gulfnews, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://gulfnews.com/world/europe/georgia-arrests-two-over-alleged-plan-to-sell-radioactive-uranium-1.1552499879647

    “Tbilisi: Georgia said on Wednesday it had arrested two men for allegedly trying to sell $2.8 million worth of radioactive uranium, the latest in a series of such seizures in the former Soviet republic.

    The state security service said the two were attempting to sell 40 grams (1.4 ounces) of uranium-238 isotope for $2.8 million (2.4 million euros).

    The suspects were arrested in the Black Sea resort of Kobuleti, investigator Savle Motiashvili told journalists.

    If convicted, they could face of up to 10 years in prison.

    While radioactive uranium-238 is not suitable for a nuclear weapon, it can be used to make a dirty bomb, a conventional explosive that contains radioactive material.

    The latest arrest highlighted concerns that extremists can get hold of unsecured radioactive materials in the former Soviet Union.

    Over the past decade, Georgia and neighbouring Armenia have reported numerous cases of their nationals trying to sell radioactive substances.”

  24. British police get 100 million pounds to tackle knife crime surge (gulfnews, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://gulfnews.com/world/europe/british-police-get-100-million-pounds-to-tackle-knife-crime-surge-1.1552489587617

    “Britain’s finance minister on Wednesday announced more money for police forces to tackle the knife crime “epidemic”, following a spate of teenage stabbing murders.

    An extra £100 million ($130 million, 115 million euros; Dh484 million) is being made available over the next year in England to cover the costs of police overtime spent tackling the issue, and to fund new Violent Crime Reduction Units.British police get #100m to tackle knife crime surge

    Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond made the announcement in his Spring Statement budget update in parliament.

    Stabbings have been in the spotlight following a string of fatal attacks in recent weeks…”

  25. Migration: Police Arrest 4 Moroccans Hiding in Truck in Ceuta (moroccoworldnews, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/267911/migration-police-moroccans-ceuta/

    “Police in Ceuta have arrested four Moroccans who were hiding inside of a truck heading to continental Spain by ferry.

    According to Ceuta Actualidad, Ceuta arrested and the migrants and returned them on Friday, March 8, to their country.

    The news outlet reported that one of the undocumented migrants had been arrested four times for alleged undocumented migration attempts.

    It is not the first time authorities have found migrants hiding inside trucks to cross from Spanish enclaves to enter continental Spain…”

  26. Police Arrest Dozens of South Asian Migrants near Rabat (moroccoworldnews, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/267914/police-arrest-dozens-south-asian-migrants-rabat/

    “The General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST) raided a house on Tuesday in the Massira II area in Temara, near Rabat, arresting at least 120 people allegedly planning to migrate irregularly, according to Moroccan newspaper Assabah.

    The arrested individuals are of Bengali, Pakistani, Burmese and other nationalities. Police seized documents, passports, money, and other belongings.

    Police also arrested facilitators of irregular migration. The public prosecution opened an investigation into the matter, said Assabah.

    The Moroccan leader of the group, who was also arrested, is a Rabat resident, reported Aswat News.

    The group was also active in drug trafficking, said news outlet Almaghrib Today. Weapons and forged banknotes were allegedly found in the group’s possession.

    “In the morning, they arrested someone. He led them to the others,” a local told Chouf TV. “They’ve been living here for a month … They had fancy cars, money.”

    Another local told the online television channel, “people were coming in and out [of the house.] They used to buy flatbread, medication, drugs … As a distraction, they used to go pray … We thought they were Muslims—they were speaking Arabic.”

    Morocco has been a transit country for migrants to Europe since the 1990s, according to Migration Policy. Many attempt to cross the Moroccan borders with Ceuta and Melilla to acquire refugee rights or find a way to cross the Mediterranean into mainland Europe.

    The police have made several arrests of undocumented migrants near the border with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

    Moroccan authorities transport some migrants back to major cities farther south, such as Casablanca, Rabat, or Agadir. Migrants often end up living in suburbs either to stay or to wait in the wings for the next opportunity to emigrate.

    Moroccan authorities thwarted 88,761 irregular migration attempts in 2018. Nearly 80 percent of the migrants (70,571) were foreigners, according to the National Observatory of Migration.

    The number represents a 37 percent increase from the previous year, according to a statement issued after a migration observatory meeting on Thursday.

    Despite the government’s attempts to integrate migrants, Human Rights Watch said that the government has not yet adopted the right to asylum.

    However, the NGO said that Morocco gave over 1,000 recognized refugees access to “essential public services, such as education and health, but not the right to work.””

  27. Report: A Growing Number of Terrorists in Spain are Moroccan-Born (moroccoworldnews, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/267906/terrorism-moroccans-isis-spain/

    “March 11 marked the anniversary of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, also known as 11-M, which Moroccan national Youssef Belhadj masterminded. The attacks killed 193, injured 2,000, and shocked the world.

    Fifteen years later, terrorism in Spain has evolved strikingly, according to a new report released Monday, March 11 by the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid. Individuals that Spain has identified as terrorists since 2012 are younger and more educated than their predecessors, the report said, and a rising number are Moroccan.

    Elcano’s report analyzed the profiles of 215 terrorists who died or were apprehended in Spain since the 11-M bombings. A turning point in Spanish terrorism surfaces from the data: Mid-2012, the year the conflict in Syria escalated into a civil war and global terrorism’s center of gravity shifted from Al Qaeda to ISIS. After that year, the annual average of terrorist detentions in Spain leapt from 23 in 2009-2011 to 60 in 2012-2018.

    The plurality of terrorists in Spain have Moroccan roots, and the number is growing. Nearly half of the terrorists Spain identified over the last seven years were born in Morocco, up 63 percent from the decade before. After Morocco, the most common country of origin for terrorists since 2012 was Spain itself, at 36 percent.

    Seven out of 10 of these Moroccan terrorists come from Morocco’s northern Rif region, where Elcano blames heightened poverty and poor state authority for breeding terrorist networks for years. In January, Moroccan authorities dismantled an ISIS cell in the region, arresting three suspects between the ages of 18 and 31.

    Of the Spanish nationals identified as terrorists since 2004, the majority (nearly 75 percent) of the individuals were born in Ceuta or Melilla, Spanish autonomous cities bordering the Rif region.

    Homegrown Spanish terrorism has also surged since 2012, the report found.

    Before 2012, the majority of Spanish residents found to be terrorists were first generation immigrants. Now, most Spanish residents plotting terrorist activity are second generation immigrants, born in the country and radicalized domestically.

    The report named cultural tensions and isolation of Muslim immigrant populations as driving forces behind homegrown terror. The phenomenon has haunted other European countries in recent years, prompting EU governments to reorient their anti-terror strategies towards home.

    Despite the rising numbers of Moroccan-born terrorists in Spain, the two nations have a strong track record on anti-terrorist cooperation. In September, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said their cooperation “is an example to follow for other countries,” as the globe struggles to confront terrorist movements at home and abroad.”

  28. 31 Al-Qaeda terrorists including 9 suicide bombers killed in Ghazni airstrikes (khaama, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://www.khaama.com/31-al-qaeda-terrorists-including-9-suicide-bombers-killed-in-ghazni-airstrikes-03477/

    “At least 31 terrorists of Al-Qaeda Network were killed during the airstrikes in southeastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan.

    The Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan in a statement said the airstrikes were carried out in the vicinity of Geru district of Ghazni, leaving at least 31 terrorists dead.

    The statement further added that 9 suicide bombers were also among those killed in the airstrikes.

    The airstrikes targeted a compound of Al-Qaeda Network in the Indian subcontinent which was led by Qari Arif, the Ministry of said, adding that the militants were targeted while they were attempting to transfer militants from the compound.

    The Ministry of defense also added that several vehicles were also destroyed during the airstrikes.”

  29. 93 irregular migrants held in Turkey (aa, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/93-irregular-migrants-held-in-turkey/1417541

    “At least 93 irregular migrants were held in Turkey, security sources reported Wednesday.

    In eastern Hatay province which borders Syria, security forces stopped a car upon suspicion and held 13 Syrian migrants who entered Turkey via illegal methods.

    Separately, in northwestern Kirklareli province, gendarmerie forces conducted an operation in which 18 migrants from Iraq and Afghanistan were held.

    Coast Guard command teams in Aydin province, in the Aegean region, held 26 migrants who were struggling to survive in a rubber boat.

    The migrants were composed of 21 Afghans, five Syrians. They were later sent to the provincial migration office.

    In central Kayseri province, security forces conducting a routine patrol on the highway stopped a bus in which 36 migrants, from Afghanistan and Pakistan, were present. They were sent to a migration office.”

  30. Over 20 Daesh-linked terror suspects arrested in Turkey (aa, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/over-20-daesh-linked-terror-suspects-arrested-in-turkey/1417038

    “Turkish police arrested 23 suspects in separate operations against the Daesh terrorist group on Wednesday, according to police sources.

    The police conducted anti-terror operations across three cities to arrest suspects, who were reportedly operating on behalf of Daesh, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

    At least 14 foreign national Daesh suspects — who entered the country illegally — were held by security forces in the capital Ankara.

    The suspects were reportedly operating for the terror group in Syria and Iraq.

    Separately, eight Daesh suspects were arrested in the Aegean province of Izmir.

    Also, police captured a woman — sought with a red Interpol notice — for her alleged link to the terror group in the northwestern Bursa province.

    More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the terror organization has targeted civilians in suicide bombs, rocket and gun attacks.

    Turkish security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to thwart Daesh activities.”

  31. Geneva: Muslim councillor ‘forced to sit out council meeting because of headscarf’ (thelocal, Mar 13, 2019)
    https://www.thelocal.ch/20190313/geneva-muslim-councillor-forced-to-sit-out-council-meeting-because-of-headscarf-secularism-law

    “In an early test for Geneva’s controversial new secularism law, a Muslim councillor on Tuesday chose to sit in the public gallery during a recent council meeting rather than obey the new legislation by removing her headscarf so that she could take part in the session.

    The move by Sabine Tiguemounine, a councillor with the Greens for the Geneva municipality of Meyrin, came just days after Geneva’s new cantonal secularism law came into force on March 9th.

    The law was adopted after 55 percent of voters in the canton backed its introduction in a referendum in February.

    Under the new law – which aims to more clearly define the limits of religion in the public sphere, but which has been criticised by Greens, feminist organisations, unions and Muslim groups – elected representatives in Geneva are banned from displaying religious symbols including headscarves when taking part in plenary council sessions or during other official acts when they are in public view.

    But as Geneva daily Tribune de Genève reported, Tiguemounine chose not to remove her headscarf for Tuesday’s council meeting which meant she could not vote during the session.

    The Greens have already lodged an appeal against the relevant article of the new law, but a decision on whether to suspend it while the matter is appealed won’t be taken until March 22nd.

    The head of the Greens in Meyrin, Maurice Amato, said the party respected the law and the institutions but was appealing the article in the new law because it violated the Swiss constitution. Under the Swiss constitution, the right to freedom of religion and conscience is guaranteed.

    Amato also said the fact that his colleague had been forced to sit out the council meeting was “in violation of the popular verdict” which had seen Tiguemounine voted into office in 2015.

    Meanwhile, in comments to state broadcaster RTS, Tiguemounine said it was absurd she had “the right to work behind in commissions behind closed doors out of public view but not the right to vote in a plenary assembly”.”

  32. Follow the Benjamins
    https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/11/ocasio-cortez-aipac-fundraise-nyt/ NYT RUNS A STORY ABOUT AIPAC ACTIVIST. TURNS OUT, HE’S NOT ASSOCIATED WITH AIPAC, BUT THAT DIDN’T STOP OCASIO-CORTEZ FROM USING IT TO FUNDRAISE

    https://nypost.com/2019/03/07/aoc-sends-fundraising-email-asking-for-money-to-defend-omar-tlaib/ “It’s official – AIPAC is coming after Alexandria, Ilhan and Rashida,” the email began, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Rashida, Ilhan and Alexandria have at times dared to question our foreign policy, and the influence of money in our political system. And now, lobbying groups across the board are working to punish them for it.”