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.
(Sorry it is late today everybody. Sometimes I forget to make it)
Maduro looking to restructure Venezuelan government
Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro is looking to restructure his government as his people continue to lose faith in leadership.
The country’s vice president tweeted Sunday, stating that Maduro has asked his cabinet to review their roles as he reanalyzes the government’s methods and functions.
This comes as Maduro continues to face mounting calls to resign, allowing self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido to take over.
https://www.oann.com/maduro-looking-to-restructure-venezuelan-government/
CBC – Yellow-vest protesters set fires, smash stores in Paris
DAILY MAIL – France’s Prime Minister sacks Paris police chief and bans Yellow Vest protests on Champs Elysees in wake of the latest wave of violence
French Prime Minister has banned Yellow Vest protests on the Champs Elysees
President Emmanuel Macron had to cut his skiing holiday short this weekend
The Yellow Vests began weekly protests across France four months ago
The movement escalated into a broader revolt against the Paris establishment
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6821507/French-police-use-resort-chemical-weapon-Yellow-Vest-protesters.html
Video posted online allegedly shows the debilitating substance – a highly concentrated tear gas – coming out of French police’s armed cars close to the Champs Elysees in Paris
Macron is on a SKIING HOLIDAY?!! Says it all!!!!! lol
President Trump faces ‘Islamophobia’ claims over New Zealand shooting
Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney calling out Chris Wallace’s deceptive attempt to link the New Zealand shooter with President Trump.
https://twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/status/1107319081059803137
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Because… Trump!
My dog lost a nail today… And that actually happened.
Trump!
Tell her to be more careful opening car doors.
Turkish Radio & Television – TRT – US politics divided over the New Zealand terror attacks
the left eats their own. To attack a pregnant Chelsea Clinton is really very rich.
Turkish Radio & Television – TRT – Did the anti-Muslim rhetoric among Australian politicians fuel the New Zealand terror attacks?
Turkish Radio & Television – TRT – The rise of white supremacy is not a new phenomenon
Turkish Radio & Television – TRT – Is Australian racism responsible for the Christchurch terrorist attack?
Turkish Radio & Television – TRT – New Zealand Terror Attack: Funeral prayers offered outside Hagia Sophia
CBC – Trump downplays threat of white nationalism following New Zealand massacre
U.S. President Donald Trump was asked whether he thinks white nationalism is a growing problem around the world after a manifesto said to be linked to the accused New Zealand mosque shooter called Trump a “symbol of renewed white identity.”
In liberal democracies, should minorities have a claim to different rights? (newstatesman, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.newstatesman.com/world/2019/03/liberal-democracies-should-minorities-have-claim-different-rights
“In the US and Canada, indigenous peoples protest against the construction of pipelines across their land; in Australia, they protest the celebration of Australia Day. Yet across the world something unites these communities: universally higher rates of unemployment and incarceration, and lower levels of educational achievement and life expectancy.
Their lack of individual and communal wellbeing is a direct consequence of the loss of responsibility for their own communities, and led the UN General Assembly to pass a resolution declaring the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. These include rights to practise and to maintain cultural and spiritual traditions, rights to traditional land and resources, a right “not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture”, and a right to self-determination. Crucially, the latter does not mean a right to independent statehood, but rather a right to self-government in the context of the postcolonial state.
Despite being presented as “a standard of achievement to be pursued,” these rights only acquire the force of law when individual countries take them up as legislation. Unfortunately, figuring out how indigenous rights fit within the legal frameworks of liberal democracies remains an ongoing struggle.
Liberalism is committed to protecting the freedom of all citizens to pursue a good life, as well as insisting on the equal moral worth of all individuals, their values, and their preferences, provided they do not involve harm to others. So, the problem of squaring indigenous rights with liberalism involves finding a justification for the distinctive rights of a minority cultural group in a way that addresses their situation but does not produce inequality or injustice for other groups.
One influential liberal response to this problem stems from the idea that liberalism protects the freedom of individuals to choose their version of the good life, which implies the need to ensure “a secure cultural context from which individuals can make their choices.” In short, granting indigenous communities special rights protects the ability of indigenous individuals to make their own choices. Another liberal response suggests that claims to equal moral worth and freedom from harm imply that people should not be disadvantaged as a result of circumstances over which they had no control. And since the colonisation and subsequent marginalisation of indigenous peoples is a clear disadvantage, there is justification for measures to protect the integrity of their minority cultures.
These “liberal-culturalist” arguments justify minority cultural rights, but only so far as they help maintain equality of access to cultural membership. The case for minority group rights becomes dependent on empirical questions about whether or not the distinct cultures of the groups in question have survived, or whether they do provide culturally distinct contexts of choice. Yet many indigenous peoples live in liberal democracies established on colonised lands; the process of decolonisation that formalised the independence of former European colonies in the 1950s and 1960s effectively passed them by. Claims about the integrity of minority cultures are difficult to establish in postcolonial contexts where the corrosive effects of assimilation policies have undermined the bases of indigenous cultures.
“Liberal-culturalist” arguments are also vulnerable to objections from indigenous peoples, since they justify rights to land, water, or self-determination only so far as these will ensure equality of access to cultural membership. However, this may not fit with the extent of historical claims by indigenous peoples. And in the end, it may amount to little more than cultural accommodation within the postcolonial state.
Another approach to the problem of indigenous rights begins with the actual histories of colonisation and assimilation of indigenous peoples: in particular, with treaty making. Treaties were an important instrument of European colonisation that provided a basis in law for indigenous peoples’ rights to land and other resources. Although they were often ignored for long periods, the existence of treaties has in some cases helped restore of a relationship based on mutual respect and negotiation between indigenous and settler communities.
Treaty making existed in many parts of the world prior to the arrival of Europeans. As a result, it provides what James Tully has called an “intercultural middle ground” that could sustain non-hierarchical relations between indigenous peoples and colonial communities. Tully argues that treaty making provides the basis for a constitutional relationship that would give inalienable rights to indigenous citizens within postcolonial, liberal democratic states. The principles of treaty making include the mutual recognition of parties to an agreement, the principle of consent, and a principle of continuity that commits the parties to the continuation of their respective political and cultural identities, unless they explicitly agree to amend them.
The idea of a treaty relationship has strong appeal to indigenous peoples. However, governments have been reluctant to endorse this idea and are often dismissive of attempts to alter existing constitutional structures. Why should they enter into a relationship with indigenous peoples based on the principles of recognition, consent, and continuity? And what resources does the liberal legal framework have that would justify the kinds of rights implied in such a relationship?
A way forward can be found in parallels between the conditions of a treaty relationship and the principles of legitimate government in liberal societies. John Rawls calls for an “overlapping consensus” in liberal societies with diverse beliefs, which establishes constitutional ground rules among citizens. In fact, Rawls argues that legitimate government under conditions of cultural and moral diversity will be achieved only on the basis of constitutional principles that all citizens can accept.
We can apply Rawls’s approach to a situation in which a state aspires to move beyond its colonial history. Indigenous citizens of such states who wish to live in accordance with their distinctive traditions and culture could demand that the principle of self-determination also be applied to them.
Liberalism is supposed to protect the freedom of all citizens to choose their own version of the good life. So agreeing on constitutional ground rules that make room for indigenous cultural rights is something that liberals should be comfortable endorsing. Agreement on such ground rules would secure the distinctive political status of indigenous peoples and ensure their voices form part of the public debate in genuinely postcolonial states.
Paul Patton is Scientia professor of philosophy at the University of New South Wales. He is the author of Deleuzian Concepts: Philosophy, Colonization, Politics.
This article is part of the Agora series, a collaboration between the New Statesman and Aaron James Wendland. Aaron is assistant professor of philosophy at the Higher School of Economics and the co-editor of Wittgenstein and Heidegger and Heidegger on Technology. He tweets @ajwendland.”
Iran, China to use local currencies in financial transactions (mehrnews, Mar 18, 2019)
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/143522/Iran-China-to-use-local-currencies-in-financial-transactions
“The Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand made the remarks while in China’s capital Beijing on Monday. His visit aims at attending the 17th round of Iran-China Joint Economic Commission, which is slated for March 18-19, to explore the ways for boosting bilateral ties.
“We have several programs for developing economic relations between the two countries, which will be discussed in this meeting of the joint commission,” Dejpasand said.
“We must try to develop economic relations between the two countries in the fields of trade, investment and science and technology,” the minister added.
He added that “some of the joint projects which are being carried out between the two countries have encountered a few problems, and we are going to discuss and resolve these issues with various authorities in China.”
He also said the call for foreign investment in Iran will be one of the key issues in the talks, adding “there are various investments being carried out by the Chinese in [Iran’s] Arvand, Tehran and Ray regions, and we are planning to expand these investments.”
According to the economy minister, “we are trying to attract the Chinese side’s investment in the agricultural field, including in the areas of greenhouse and fisheries.”
Dejpasand further noted that the Iranian ‘establishment’ is willing to establish a strategic relationship with China, and that they will be consulting on long-term cooperation on the trip.
He also pointed out that a high-ranking Iranian delegation will be attending the Chinese Conference of One Belt One Road, which will be held later this year in April.”
Iran, China to use local currencies in financial transactions
Ooooh! Two millstones for the price of one!
Islamophobia is on rise in Spain: Report (aa, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/islamophobia-is-on-rise-in-spain-report/1421871
“There is an increase in religious discrimination and hate crimes in Spain, according to a report issued by the country’s Interior Ministry.
“We have observed an increase, even though not at an alarming level, in Islamophobia and attacks against Muslims, and in religious hate in conversations on social media,” Miguel Angel Aguilar, a coordinator for services dealing with hate and discrimination crimes in Barcelona, told local media, while referring to a report issued by the Ministry of Interior.
The report said that there is a 120 percent increase in hate crimes in 2017 with a total of 103 incidents compared to the previous year in Spain.
Aguilar also said that 39 out of 41 cases related to religious hate crimes in 2017 were about Islamophobia.
According to the report, most of the religious hate crimes, which is mostly Islamophobic cases, were committed in Catalonia region, which hosts most of the total 2 million Muslim population in the country and has 317 mosques.
It said the rate of Islamophobic crimes and attacks alone in Catalonia increased 307 percent in 2017 compared to 2016.
The report also highlighted that most of the hateful remarks on religions are shared on the Internet.
Another report on Islamophobia in media, which is prepared with the initiatives of some foundations and universities in Spain and issued last week, said Islamophobia in the media is an “unquestionable reality.”
Stating that they started works on Islamophobic remarks in Spanish media in 2017, Pedro Rojo, president of Fanar Foundation, said: “Around 65 percent of all articles in newspapers in 2017 are Islamophobic.”
Rojo also said they could say “for the first time” that most of the Spanish media were Islamophobic.
Experts warned of further increase in religious hate crimes with the rise of far-right political groups in the country.”
Well Duh.
Richard: Read the entire article and follow her advice, if we are to save our freedom, cultures and nations we need to know the true facts, not the BS lies the Propaganda Media spews out for our consumption.
After New Zealand, media show why it’s essential for public to see attackers’ names, histories, manifestos
By J.E. Dyer March 17, 2019
There wasn’t much of a chorus on this point after the appalling attack on the mosques in New Zealand on Friday. But a few high-profile pundits did make it: the assertion that we need to embargo these killers’ names, faces, writings, backgrounds and so forth from publication, so that they can’t attain the gratification of notoriety.
I’m all for denying terrorists gratification. But there’s something that matters more, and that’s the public knowing the truth.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/03/17/after-new-zealand-media-show-why-its-essential-for-public-to-see-attackers-names-histories-manifestos/
Richard: The article is about how we need to know the real facts about the killers not the lies of the Propaganda Media. The media has its own agenda and isn’t shy about pushing it no matter how much they have to twist the facts to fit their agenda.
The problem for them is that the more they twist the facts away from reality the more the start making the people they are vilifying seem attractive to the people wo are oppressed by the Government and the invaders. I have seen this occurring among the high schools kids as they listen to the Propaganda Media calling the people who are supporting individual freedom Nazi’s the kids start thinking that the Nazi’s were the good guys in WWII.
It’s becoming politically incorrect to denounce pedophilia
By Michael Dorstewitz March 18, 2019
It’s past time for Americans to stop for a moment and take a look back to where we’ve been and project ahead where we’re going.
A mere decade ago Barack Obama claimed to be opposed to same-sex marriage. That didn’t last long, and we’re now at the point where pedophilia is being proposed as a sexual preference rather than an aberration.
The latest example of bringing the illness into the mainstream as an acceptable practice is Disney Studio’s decision to rehire James Gunn to direct its upcoming film, “Guardians of the Galaxy 3.”
He was let go last summer when some 10,000 old social media posts surfaced in which he joked about rape and pedophilia.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/03/18/its-becoming-politically-incorrect-to-denounce-pedophilia/
“There will come a day that we will see far more radical extremists and terrorists coming out of Europe because of lack of decision-making, trying to be politically correct, or assuming that they know the Middle East, and that they know Islam, and they know the others far better than we do,” he said, speaking in English. “And, I’m sorry, but that’s pure ignorance.”
And it’s not just terrorism they’re bringing to our shores — it’s the possibility of ignoring something that should be horrifying and distasteful to everyone.
Richard: The left is working hard to mainstream all perversions so they can destroy Western Civilization and Culture.
Civilization is for the most part on life support, our Culture is under attack and has been damaged but portions are still capable of being saved if we will fight to save them. To preserve our culture we have to win the culture war and preserve as much of the Art of the world as we can. The books and movies will be the easist to save but the painting and statues are the works that are going to be hard to preserve.
europravda – New Zealand shooter posted his manifesto online
Rosie Wright and the Cube team investigated his online presence on anonymous chat boards, like ?chan and discussed the emerging political implications.
Only just emerging…, the woman is a blithering idiot…, does she even know what Enoch Powell’s speech was all about?
Probably not.
Turkish Radio & Television – TRT – Inside Brenton Tarrant’s manifesto
State Department ends five-year tourist visa for Cubans
The United States will reduce the B2 tourist visa validity for Cuban nationals to three months with a single entry from five years of multiple trips, the State Department announced.
Let’s give Socialist Cuba a few swats with the cane, sugar.
DAILY MAIL – Mosque shooter SACKS his lawyer and plans to represent himself in court – sparking fears he could use murder trial to spread his vile anti-Muslim views
Brenton Tarrant fired his court-appointed lawyer Richard Peters on Saturday
Mr Peters said Tarrant plans to represent himself during his trial
He said Tarrant appears lucid and is not mentally unstable
Mr Peters warned the court would not allow Tarrant to turn his trial into a circus
Tarrant is currently facing one charge of murder but more will follow
[…]The shock decision has raised concerns Tarrant will use what will be a high-profile murder trial as a platform to spread hate and vile anti-Muslim rhetoric.
[…]‘The court is not going to be very sympathetic to him if he wants to use the trial to express his own views.’
[…]He did not apply for bail or for his name to be suppressed, and is expected to front the High Court on April 5.
[…]He faces a life in prison if convicted and is already a ‘marked man’ behind bars, the NZ Herald reported.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6820395/Mosque-shooter-SACKS-lawyer-reveals-plans-represent-court.html
jihad watch – Canada: Man under fire for “Islamophobic” 2-year-old video with 475 views that links Islam to violence
This is more of the effort to exploit the New Zealand massacre to shut down all criticism of Islam and all opposition to jihad terror.
Darrell Furgason’s video would have passed largely unnoticed, but now Leftists and Islamic supremacists are moving in for the kill, aiming to quash all dissent, no matter how muted and small-scale it is. Islamic jihad terrorists link Islam to violence to all the time, but “Islamophobia” propagandists such as Todd Green, who calls Furgason’s video “racist” and claims it veers close to white supremacism (what race is Islam and jihad terror again? I keep forgetting) never notes that, and claims that the evil lies only with those who notice that link.
This is a tactic that has been used a thousand times before, and no one in the establishment media ever stops to ponder why the fault lies with people such as Darrell Furgason and not with Islamic jihadists who cite the texts and teachings of Islam to justify jihad violence and make recruits among peaceful Muslims.
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“Chilliwack school trustee defends video linking Islam to violence,” by Ash Kelly and Taran Parmar, City News 1130, March 17, 2019:
https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/03/17/chilliwack-school-trustee-defends-video-linking-islam-to-violence/
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CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) – An almost two-year-old video featuring a Chilliwack school trustee is being called racist and Islamophobic after resurfacing in the wake of New Zealand’s terrorist attack that left 50 people — the majority of them Muslims — dead.
In the over 20 minute long video titled “Allah & Yahweh: The Same God?” trustee Darrell Furgason links Islam to violence and says Muslims need to be “freed” from their religion. He also pits Christianity against Islam and says the two religions could never co-exist.
“In Islam there’s no real democracy, restricted freedom, limited rights. Christianity can produce a healthy democracy if the righteous are in authority,” Furgason says in part of the video.
“Heaven for a Muslim involves sex and alcohol where supposedly you get 72 virgins. Some say you can even write a list and bring 72 of your relatives into heaven with you if you blow yourself up.”
Islamophobia expert Todd H. Green says the video is racist and Islamophobic, adding it promotes the inaccurate idea that Muslim extremism is a mainstream issue.
“In terms of ‘they are a threat to us, they hold nothing in common with us,’ the video does not get into the overt white supremacy that you find in people like Anders Breivik or the New Zealand perpetrator but it’s moving in that direction,” Green told NEWS 1130.
“Islamophobia is racism. It is deliberately casting Muslims as against us with the understanding that us is oftentimes either Christian or, in many cases, white.”
Green adds “othering” religions and races can lead to violence.
When contacted by NEWS 1130, Furgason claims he was only explaining the differences between the religions and their deities.
“There are Jihadist groups that are being monitored in Canada right now. There are no Christian terror groups being monitored. I think you should look that up,” he told a NEWS 1130 reporter.
“Muslims can be peaceful. I have no problem with that, but Islam as a political ideology cannot be peaceful. Now am I saying Muslims can’t be peaceful? I repeat myself, no. There are peaceful Muslims and hopefully we have some.”…
Furgason condemned the attack in New Zealand and said he doesn’t condone violence against Muslims. He repeatedly asserted that he does not believe Christian or white terrorism is an issue anywhere in the world….
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2019/03/canada-man-under-fire-for-islamophobic-2-year-old-video-with-475-views-that-links-islam-to-violence
OTTAWA – Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick retiring
OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – Michael Wernick has announced his retirement, saying “recent events” have led him to conclude he can no longer serve as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet.
In an open letter to Justin Trudeau he says recent events show him there is no path for a “relationship of mutual trust” if the Conservatives or NDP form the next government.
“Furthermore, it is essential that during the writ period the Clerk be seen by all political parties as an impartial arbiter of whether serious foreign interference has occurred,” Wernick wrote. ” It is essential that Canadians continue to see their world leading public service as non-partisan and there to provide excellent services to Canadians and the governments they elect.”
Trudeau says he’ll be replaced at the top of the federal public service by Ian Shugart, currently the deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould has accused him of pressuring her and making “veiled threats,” allegations which Wernick has denied.
https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/03/18/clerk-of-the-privy-council-michael-wernick-retiring/
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A tremendous Canadian public servant:’ Freeland on Michael Wernick’s retirement
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has “tremendous respect” for Michael Wernick.
The clerk of the Privy Council announced his resignation in a statement Monday.
Wernick has come under fire for his role in the SNC-Lavalin affair.
The Dan Bongino Show
Ep. 938 The Whole Case was a Sham
https://bongino.com/ep-938-the-whole-case-was-a-sham/
Beto Highlight from Kennel Club Speech
Late Sen. McCain’s Role in Spygate Scandal Revealed
New Zealand shooting: Canada’s Justin Trudeau, party leaders call for change after attacks
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his condolences and support on behalf of Canada on Monday to New Zealand in the wake of a deadly attack on two mosques on Friday and said things must change in how they approach attacks like in Christchurch.
New Zealand shooting: Trudeau says ‘toxic’ hate groups exist in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “toxic” hate groups such as neo-Nazis, anti-immigrant hatred and white nationalists exist and Canada and create hardships for new Canadians who were trying to flee violence in their home countries.
https://globalnews.ca/video/5069193/new-zealand-shooting-trudeau-says-toxic-hate-groups-exist-in-canada
World Against Racism March 16th London
PIC
https://66.media.tumblr.com/942c52008661c17faa4a4ef75109577c/tumblr_pojz1ivLeH1rv2b2oo1_1280.jpg
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Anti Racism day, London, UK</b<
….. Islamophobia is the dominant , is the main form of racism ….
Bomb Attacks Kill 5 Burkina Troops, Police (voanews, mar 18, 2019)
https://www.voanews.com/a/bomb-attacks-kill-5-burkina-troops-police/4835760.html
“Five members of the security forces were killed in roadside bomb attacks in eastern Burkina Faso at the weekend, officials said on Monday.
A policeman and a soldier were killed on Saturday when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kompienga, a security official said.
Late Sunday, three soldiers were killed in the same area by the same technique, another official said.
A third person who was in the vehicle was injured and taken to hospital, the official said.
The attacks bear the hallmarks of jihadist groups whose insurgency in the Sahel spilled over into Burkina Faso four years ago.
More than 300 people have been killed, typically in hit-and-run raids, and the capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times.
Attacks using IEDs began in August 2018 and have claimed more than 60 lives, according to a toll compiled by AFP.
The armed forces began an anti-terror operation, named Otapuana (“Lightning”), in the center and east of the country earlier this month.
It aims at “neutralizing terrorists and destroying hiding places in forests in the region,” according to the authorities.
Since January 1, a state of emergency has been in force in 14 of the country’s 45 provinces.”
Germany: Trial begins for Mulsim stabbing suspect that sparked far-right Chemnitz riots
The trial against Syrian refugee Alaa S., accused of murder, started at the Higher Regional Court in Dresden on Monday.
Alaa S. has been accused of stabbing to death Daniel H., which triggered large-scale anti-immigrant demonstrations and leftist counter-protests between the rival groups, with several ending in violence, as well as racist assaults on migrants by the nationalists.
The trial is being held in Dresden rather than Chemnitz for security reason.
Turkish Prez Showing Christchurch Footage at Rallies, NZ Fears He Is Endangering Kiwis (breitbart, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/03/18/turkish-prez-showing-christchurch-footage-at-rallies-nz-fears-he-is-endangering-kiwis/
“Turkey’s Islamist president Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has been inflaming his supporters by showing footage of the suspected far-right terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, at political rallies — a move which potentially “imperils the future and safety of the New Zealand people and our people abroad”, according to the Pacific country’s foreign minister…”
‘Zombie Company’ Apocalypse Looms in China | China Economy and Trade
HAPPENING NOW: JW Puts Under Oath Bengahzi/Clinton Email Scandal Witnesses
Richard: Pay attention to this one, the left is getting desperate and are working hard to scare people into giving up their Constitutional Rights.
Swalwell Smear of NRA is a Sign of Things to Come
Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2019/03/swalwell-smear-of-nra-is-a-sign-of-things-to-come/#ixzz5iYuy0AzW
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook
California – -(AmmoLand.com)- Last week, Representative Eric Swalwell, who has in the past proposed an Australia-style “buyback” of certain firearms and who threatened to nuke gun owners who wouldn’t turn in their guns, claimed on Twitter that the NRA threatened Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Well, that was a lie and one that was quickly shot down in the wake of his tweet.
But Swalwell’s doubled down on his smears and lies, claiming the NRA is taking Russian money. I guess he’s decided that if he tweets lies that are outrageous enough often enough that they will be seen as the truth. In any case, Second Amendment supporters need to view this increasingly escalating pattern with a great deal of concern.
The Bogus Lawsuit against Remington
Two kinds of opportunism are at play against the gun manufacturer: financial and political.
Rule No. 1 of tort law: The bad guy is the one with the most money to pay you.
On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza murdered 26 people, 20 of them schoolchildren ages six and seven.
Lanza killed himself, too. Can’t sue him.
Lanza had a history of mental illness — a long one. He’d been treated under the New Hampshire “Birth to Three” program and later by the Yale Child Study Center. But it would be hard to make a case against those institutions, which enjoy a great deal more sympathy than gun manufacturers do. The schools couldn’t handle Lanza, either, and he was left to the care of his mother, Nancy, who seems to have been a bit of an oddball herself and an enabler. But he murdered her, too, so she’s not around to sue.
Manchin Opposes Dem. Bill Prohibiting Transgender Discrimination
One More Profile of Beto, Because America Needs It
Poll: 50 Percent Say Mueller Investigation Is ‘Witch Hunt’
The Connecticut Supreme Court Just Placed the Firearms Industry under Legal Threat
Stop Politicizing the Christchurch Killings
Newark to Test Universal-Basic-Income Program
Beto Campaign Raises $6.1 Million on First Day, Beating Dem. Rivals
Democrats Aren’t Rushing to Defend Chelsea Clinton
Kirsten Gillibrand Officially Announces 2020 White House Run
This Day in Liberal Judicial Activism—March 18
Why Did Ben Sasse Vote to Uphold the National Emergency?
This Day in Liberal Judicial Activism—March 17
David Brooks Forgets to Oppose Some Suicides
Jefferson, Adams, and the Hope of Liberal Education
Berrigan Agonistes
Politics & Policy
The Bogus Lawsuit against Remington
By Kevin D. Williamson
March 17, 2019 6:00 AM
Bushmaster Firearms rifle found at Sandy Hook Elementary School, pictured in an evidence photo released by the Connecticut State Police, December 27, 2013. (Connecticut State Police/Handout via Reuters)
Two kinds of opportunism are at play against the gun manufacturer: financial and political.
Rule No. 1 of tort law: The bad guy is the one with the most money to pay you.
On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza murdered 26 people, 20 of them schoolchildren ages six and seven.
Lanza killed himself, too. Can’t sue him.
Lanza had a history of mental illness — a long one. He’d been treated under the New Hampshire “Birth to Three” program and later by the Yale Child Study Center. But it would be hard to make a case against those institutions, which enjoy a great deal more sympathy than gun manufacturers do. The schools couldn’t handle Lanza, either, and he was left to the care of his mother, Nancy, who seems to have been a bit of an oddball herself and an enabler. But he murdered her, too, so she’s not around to sue.
Nancy Lanza liked guns, and had a few, which is how Adam Lanza armed himself with the semiautomatic Bushmaster rifle he used in the massacre.
Bushmaster was a firearms maker founded in Maine in 1976. It changed owners a couple of times and ended up as part of the Freedom Group, a firearms conglomerate owned by Cerberus Capital, a private-equity firm, at the time of the massacre. Freedom ended up becoming the Remington Outdoor Company as part of a bankruptcy reorganization completed last year. Cerberus announced it was unloading its firearms businesses after Sandy Hook (under pressure from institutional investors, notably the California teachers’ retirement fund), but that proved easier said than done. Cerberus ended up largely ceding control of the debt-ridden company to creditors, Franklin Templeton and JPMorgan Chase prominent among them. In July 2018, Remington rejected a $500 million buyout. It gets complicated, but the lawsuit against the thing called “Remington” is in effect a lawsuit against the deep-pocketed financiers associated with it.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/03/remington-lawsuit-sandy-hook-massacre/
Teen Vogue Writer: “F*ck Chelsea Clinton” – She Should’ve “Shut Her F*cking Mouth” About Ilhan Omar
Teen Vogue Writer: “F*ck Chelsea Clinton” – She Should’ve “Shut Her F*cking Mouth” About Ilhan Omar
Cristina Laila by Cristina Laila March 18, 2019 234 Comments
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Muslim student confronts Chelsea Clinton
A Teen Vogue writer unleashed on Chelsea Clinton over her ‘Islamophobic’ remarks on Muslima Congresswoman Ilhan Omar following the New Zealand mosque shooting.
Last month, Chelsea Clinton, whose husband Marc Mezvinsky is Jewish, condemned Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic tweets.
“We should expect all elected officials, regardless of party, and all public figures to not traffic in anti-Semitism.” Chelsea Clinton said in a tweet.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/03/teen-vogue-writer-fck-chelsea-clinton-she-shouldve-shut-her-fcking-mouth-about-ilhan-omar/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20March%2018,%202019%20at%2003:06:06%20PM
Retired Army General, Former Fox Analyst, Boycotting Network After Pirro Suspension
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Retired Army Major General Paul E. Vallely, formerly Fox News’ Senior Military Analyst, announced Sunday that he plans to boycott Fox News over the suspension of Judge Jeanine Pirro.
“As of today, and because of my friend, Jeanine Pirro [sic] situation, I am boycotting Fox News,” Vallely said on his personal Facebook page.
Vallely is also the military security committee chairman for the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C. He is a decorated Vietnam War veteran.
https://bigleaguepolitics.com/retired-army-general-former-fox-analyst-boycotting-network-after-pirro-suspension/
The ‘cowboy way’ is the latest target of political correctness
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The ‘cowboy way’ is the latest target of political correctness
GOPUSA StaffRobert Knight, Washington Times Posted On 11:40 am March 18, 2019
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In 1949, as part of its “Riders in the Sky” promotion, a film studio released Gene Autry’s 10-sentence Cowboy Code.
The code resurfaced in 2007 in a biography of the movie star by Holly George-Warren, a prolific chronicler of America’s popular culture.
The reason it’s included below is because cowboys are being thrown under the horse, along with “farting cows.” They’re the latest targets of the political correctness that seeks to replace American grit with a nihilistic creed of wimpery.
Actually, it started years ago, when leftists thought they had delivered a roundhouse punch against Ronald Reagan, and later, George W. Bush, by deriding them as “cowboys.” That made the two men rugged icons to many Americans.
The same cultural vandals made another stupid mistake by dismissively dubbing Mr. Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative “Star Wars.” They actually thought that linking the high-tech missile defense system to one of the most popular movie franchises of all time would help kill it.
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=66649?omhide=true
Flag Waving California Trump Supporter Gets Pelted In The Head With A Can “Full Of Bong Water” [VIDEO]
https://www.facebook.com/FrontlineUSA/videos/578671589280795/
Any one old enough to remember a western world without Islam, please raise your hand…
Keep voting and give others a reason to vote.
US intelligence turncoat gets 15 years for selling secrets to China
A former U.S. intelligence officer has pleaded guilty to spying on behalf of China and agreed to a 15-year prison sentence, federal officials announced Friday.
Chinese agents recruited Ron Rockwell Hansen in early 2014 and paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hanson then spent two years trying to recruit a co-conspirator to provide details about military readiness in a particular region, but that case officer reported the issue and cooperated in a sting to end the espionage.
“This case drives home the troubling reality of insider threats and that current and former clearance holders will be targeted by our adversaries,” Eric Barnhart, the FBI special agent in charge of the case, said when Hansen was arrested last year. “The FBI will aggressively investigate individuals who put our national security at risk.”
With the defense of Ilhan Omar, will Democrats change their 2020 party platform on Israel?
The guilty plea takes place amid widespread concerns about Chinese espionage against the United States, including conventional operations such as the recruitment of potential sources and the use of “non-traditional” collectors who work throughout American society. A new federal law bans the use of Chinese telecommunications systems by the U.S. government, as lawmakers worry that such companies and even academic programs could give Chinese spy services a competitive edge.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/us-intelligence-turncoat-gets-15-years-for-selling-secrets-to-china
How Trump Should Counter Putin in Ukraine and Venezuela
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: If Nicolás Maduro is removed from office in Venezuela, Putin might act as he did when a popular revolution overthrew Yanukovych in Ukraine in 2014. At that time, he launched a surprise invasion of Crimea. This time, he may launch a surprise naval and land attack on Mariupol, set up a land bridge from Crimea to Russia, and continue intensifying his attempt to strangle Ukraine’s economy in order to subjugate that country to Russia. Trump must take immediate preemptive measures to prevent this by increasing naval aid to Kiev.
Russian president Vladimir Putin appears to be counting on a lack of American resolve regarding Venezuela. If Washington abdicates its role in Venezuela, Russia will eventually build intelligence facilities there. Moscow is already providing Nicaragua with “sophisticated weaponry,” including “T-72 tanks, war boats, warplanes, and powerful bombs.”
America is facing two dangerous crises. In Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, the illegitimate winner of a reportedly sham election, has, through his socialist policies, created a catastrophe. The struggle between his challenger, Juan Guaidó, and himself is reaching a crescendo. Millions of Venezuelans, suffering under Maduro’s radical regime, have been flooding neighboring Brazil and Colombia. Yet, with the help of President Putin, Maduro is clinging to power, just as Fidel Castro did in the early 1960s with the aid of Nikita Khrushchev.
https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/trump-putin-ukraine-venezuela/
Trump Vetoes Congressional Effort to Kill the Border Emergency
The president throws down the gauntlet against leftists, NeverTrumpers, and weak-kneed Republicans.
March 18, 2019
Matthew Vadum
After Congress voted to overturn President Trump’s emergency declaration to divert federal funds to build a wall on the nation’s porous border with Mexico, the president issued the first-ever veto of his administration to keep the declaration intact.
The veto is Trump’s effort to defend the emergency he declared Feb. 15 under the National Emergencies Act of 1976.
Trump invoked the act as Congress gave final approval to a $333 billion omnibus spending bill. The legislation provides $1.375 billion for 55 miles of border barriers in Texas, well below the $5.7 billion Trump sought for a border wall and the $25 billion he originally said was needed. The emergency declaration moves around $6.7 billion in funding that was previously appropriated for other projects, largely for military construction. In his new fiscal 2020 budgetary blueprint provided to Congress March 11, the president is seeking another $8.6 billion to build the border wall.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273183/trump-vetoes-congressional-effort-kill-border-matthew-vadum
Iraq Sentences Belgian Man to Death For ISIS Membership (aawsat, Mar 18, 2019)
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1639666/iraq-sentences-belgian-man-death-isis-membership
“Iraq sentenced a Belgian man to death by hanging on Monday for being part of the ISIS militant group, one of dozens of foreign nationals facing the death penalty in Iraq.
Bilal al-Marchohi, 23, was given the death penalty for belonging to and conducting operations on behalf of the group.
During an hour of proceedings at Iraq’s Central Criminal Court, the judge read out portions of Marchohi’s signed confession and showed a video and photographs that he said proved his membership in the group.
The images from a phone found in his possession at the time of arrest showed Marchohi carrying a gun and making a hand gesture affiliated with the militants. Several pictures showed him cradling his infant son.
Marchohi repeatedly denied all allegations against him in open court, including that he was a member of ISIS in Iraq at any time.
“I shouldn’t be prosecuted in Iraq,” Marchohi said. “I should be prosecuted in Belgium, I am a Belgian citizen.”
During the proceedings, judge Jumaa Saidi told the court that the photographs were clear evidence that Marchohi was a member of ISIS…”
Robert Spencer: So Long, Everybody
If I’m shut out of all platforms over the next few days, you’ll know why.
March 18, 2019
Robert Spencer
My friends, it could be time for me to be saying goodbye. Leftist and Islamic groups have been trying for years to silence all criticism of jihad terror and Sharia oppression of women and others, and in the New Zealand massacre they see the best chance in a long time to move in for the kill. I (along with other foes of jihad terror) could be banned from everything and rendered a non-person, a la Alex Jones, any day now.
This is no exaggeration. Meeting in Istanbul, the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has called on non-Muslim countries to ban “Islamophobia,” which means criticism of Islam, including analysis of the motivating ideology fueling jihad terror. IUMS President Ahmed al-Raisouni said Friday: “IUMS calls on non-Muslim countries to ban the spread of hatred against Islam and Muslims.”
Since analysis of the motivating ideology behind jihad terror is routinely smeared as “hatred of Islam and Muslims,” this will likely outlaw all such analysis and make opposition to jihad terror effectively impossible.
And these bans are very likely coming. In America, they won’t take the form of actual laws forbidding criticism of Islam (although remember that Tom Perez, the current head of the Democratic National Committee, refused to rule out the implementation of such laws a few years ago, when he was Assistant Attorney General in the Obama administration). They’re more likely to take the form of a complete deplatforming. We will be able to speak, but no one will be able to hear us, as we won’t be allowed on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the rest.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273177/robert-spencer-so-long-everybody-robert-spencer
California Drug Legalization Leads to Political Corruption
March 18, 2019
Daniel Greenfield
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I’m shocked. Shocked.
California is going full narcosocialist and there’s a price to pay for that. The price is deeper corruption and criminality.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/273194/california-drug-legalization-leads-political-daniel-greenfield
Assad prevents Syrians in Lebanon from returning home (memo, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190318-assad-prevents-syrians-in-lebanon-from-returning-home/
“Syrian refugees in Lebanon will not be able to return home as long as the Bashar al-Assad regime rejects taking them back, veteran Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt said Monday, reports Anadolu Agency.
Jumblatt, president of the Progressive Socialist Party, said the refugees are afraid to go back home out of fear of being tortured by the regime.
“It is impossible for the masses [of refugees] to return home while the Syrian regime refuses to receive them,” he added.
The regime has accepted less than 20 per cent of the refugees who have attempted to return to Syria, said Richard Kouyoumjian, Lebanon’s minister of social affairs.
Damascus is the decision-maker for the refugees’ return, not Lebanon, he said.
Mireille Girard, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) representative in Lebanon, said more international aid is needed to alleviate the burden of countries that are hosting Syrian refugees.
Lebanese officials have been calling on Syrian refugees to voluntarily return home since last year. The authorities say the refugees are putting pressure on the country’s scarce resources and the international community has failed to support the refugees.
The UNHCR puts the total number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon at 997,000…”
UN: Turkey’s Istanbul has population higher than 131 countries (memo, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190318-un-turkeys-istanbul-has-population-higher-than-131-countries/
“The population of Turkey’s biggest city of Istanbul is more than that of 131 countries in the world, according to the United Nations Population Fund.
With a population of 15 million residents, Istanbul is more crowded than 131 countries, including Belgium (11.5 million people), Greece (11.1 million people), Austria (8.8 million people), Switzerland (8.5 million people) and Bulgaria (7 million people).
In 2018, Turkey’s population grew to more than 82 million with 18.4 per cent living in Istanbul, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat).
The city’s population has grown by 907,257 people over the past five years.”
Venezuela Gov Denied “Universal Health Care” to Political Opponents
March 18, 2019
Daniel Greenfield
The death panels are real. And they’re spectacular.
There’s plenty more. All of it vile. And all of it inevitable in a welfare state going bankrupt
whose government is wildly unpopular. That’s how socialism always ends up.
Medicare-for-All is really Medicaid-for-Party-Members.
The story comes from the New York Times. That almost makes up for the time that the New York Times urged other countries not to accept Cuban doctors who defect. Seemingly having forgotten that, the Times now runs a good piece about Cuban doctors so disgusted with their slavery that they are defecting.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/273193/venezuela-gov-denied-universal-health-care-daniel-greenfield
U.S.-backed force says it has taken positions in Islamic State Syria camp (reuters, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria/u-s-backed-force-says-it-has-taken-positions-in-islamic-state-syria-camp-idUSKCN1QZ0JB
“U.S.-backed fighters said they had taken positions in Islamic State’s last enclave in eastern Syria and air strikes pounded the tiny patch of land beside the Euphrates River early on Monday, a Reuters journalist said…”
Australia PM to Give Places of Worship $39 Million for Security (moroccoworldnews, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/268335/australia-grants-39-million/
“In the wake of a terrorist attack on two New Zealand mosques on March 15, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the government will give AUD 55 million (US $39 million) in grants to step up security measures at mosques, synagogues, churches, temples, and religious schools.
The funds would help end what Morrison called “mindless tribalism.”
He tweeted, “We’ll deliver $55 million for grants that will prioritise safety enhancements at religious schools and places of worship, such as CCTV cameras, lighting, fencing, bollards, alarms, and security systems.”
The grants are part of the Australian government’s Safer Communities Fund project for communities at risk of extremism and terror…”
Study of locations for new LNG terminals ordered (dawn, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.dawn.com/news/1470329/study-of-locations-for-new-lng-terminals-ordered
“ISLAMABAD: As competition among private investors increases, the government has ordered a scientific examination of all feasible locations for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and processing terminals, including the possibility of expansion and dredging of the main channel that has been facing acute traffic congestion.
This comes at a time the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government is grappling with a delay in induction of third LNG terminal to minimise the increasing gas shortages next winter and beyond. The delay has been caused by a last minute cancellation of bidding for the third terminal under mysterious circumstances during the tenure of the previous government.
At least five major international and local firms are lobbying for permission by the government to set up next terminal in the private sector. Some of them are: Shell, Engro, ExxonMobil, Energas, Gasport, Trifugura, Mitsubishi and Global….”
Pakistan needs faster reforms, deep-rooted economic transformation: World Bank (tribune, Mar 18, 2019)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1931899/1-pakistan-needs-faster-reforms-deep-rooted-economic-transformation-world-bank/
“Pakistan urgently needs to invest more and better in its people if they are to be richer, better educated, and healthier when the country turns 100 years old in 2047, says a new report by the World Bank.
Launched on Monday at the Human Capital Summit in Islamabad, the report, Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future, urges Pakistan to overcome its boom-bust cycles through a deep-rooted economic transformation.
It recommends the essential reforms Pakistan needs now to accelerate and sustain growth. This means increasing and improving human capital investment, boosting productivity, promoting social and environmental sustainability, ensuring good governance, and leveraging its location to connect more with neighbours and the world beyond, says the report.
“There are steps Pakistan can take today to boost its economic performance and thereby ensure a better future for its people,” says Hartwig Schafer, World Bank Vice President for South Asia.
“These steps are ones that other countries have taken to open up their business sectors to competition and innovation and laying the foundations for growth, investment, and good jobs.”
The forward-looking report argues that Pakistan’s greatest asset is its people – a young population of 208 million. This large population can transform into a demographic dividend that drives economic growth.
To achieve that, the World Bank recommends that Pakistan must act fast and strategically to: (i) manage population growth and improve maternal health, (ii) improve early childhood development, focusing on nutrition and health, and (iii) boost spending on education and skills for all.
“Because the next generation is meeting only 40 per cent of its potential, it means that Pakistan is foregoing much of its economic growth, but this can change if women’s potential is unlocked,” says Annette Dixon, World Bank Vice President for Human Development.
“When women and girls are empowered to make their own decisions, they stay in school longer, they start families a little later, have fewer children, contribute more to the economy, and invest more in their children. It’s a virtuous circle that’s good for families and good for the whole country.”…”
MoD confirms Taliban militants have captured 58 border security forces (khaama, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.khaama.com/mod-confirms-taliban-militants-have-captured-58-border-security-forces-03519/
“The Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan has confirmed that the Taliban militants have captured 58 border security forces in northwestern Badghis province.
According to a statement released by Ministry of Defense, all 58 border security forces soldiers who had crossed into Turkmenistan, have safely returned home.
The statement further added that the families of the soldiers who were forced to flee to Turkmenistan have also returned home.
At least 58 soldiers of border security forces are still in custody of Taliban militants, the Ministry of Defense said, adding that operations are underway for the release of detained soldier.
“All 58 border security soldiers (BSS) returned home from Turkmenistan. Afghan families, who were forced by Taliban to emigrate to Turkmenistan, returned home safe. Unfortunately, 58 BSS are captured by the enemies. Search Ops will continue until we release them,” the statement said.
The provincial council officials had earlier said that 50 border forces soldiers have surrendered to Taliban in Bala Morghab district while more than 60 others have taken refuge in Turkmenistan after coordinated Taliban attacks.”
North Carolina County Passes Resolution Declaring That They Are Now a ‘Gun Sanctuary County’
Officials in Cherokee County, North Carolina, have passed a resolution declaring that they are now a “Gun Sanctuary County.”
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners’ resolution is similar to a sanctuary city declaration — but asserts that they will not accept federal or state funds to be used to “infringe on the right by the people to keep and bear arms as described.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/03/north-carolina-county-passes-resolution-declaring-that-they-are-now-a-gun-sanctuary-county/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20March%2018,%202019%20at%2011:06:06%20AM
Richard: Pay attention to how the counties in all portions of the United States are standing up and saying they won’t enforce laws that violate the Federal and State Constitutions. We the people are getting upset and are telling the elitists to back off and leave us alone.
Remember the American Revolution was started when the British Government tried to seize privately owned firearms. On Concord Green Issac Davis fired the shot heard round the world. His descendants (physical and spiritual) are alive and well in all states and all branches of the US military. They are reluctantly deciding that they aren’t going to stop the attempted take over of the US at the ballot boxes and are giving the wanna be Tyrants fair warning that the Tree of Liberty will be watered with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants (more from the latter then the former) its natural fertilizer.
Generations of Americans fought and died so their decedents (us) can have liberty, we the people are now showing that we are not willing to let freedom die but will fight and die to ensure that our descendants enjoy the freedom given to us by the Founding Fathers.
The conditions are ripe for another civil war so choose your side, unless the wanna be tyrants back off we will fight. We will fight with the skill that the US Government spent a lot of money teaching large numbers of us. I say again, Choose Your Side you must support either freedom of slavery. I choose freedom and am ready to see how many wanna be tyrants I can take to the grave when they kill an old man with a bad back.
Keep you musket clean, your power dry and watch your back.
Turkey urges world to stop using ‘provocative language’ (hurriyetdailynews, Mar 18, 2019)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-urges-world-to-stop-using-provocative-language-141966
“Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on March 18 has called on the world to stop promoting “provocative language” after March 15’s terrorist attacks at two mosques in New Zealand.
“We have to start using different language. Entire world has to stop promoting some type of provocative language,” Oktay told reporters along with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu.
Oktay and Çavu?o?lu are paying a visit to Christchurch to emphasize Turkey’s common resolve against Islamophobia and xenophobia and to highlight the country’s solidarity with New Zealand amid terror attacks.
At least 50 people were killed when a terrorist opened fire on worshippers during Friday prayers at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch.
Oktay said terror and terrorists have “no religion, no race, and no geography.”
Çavu?o?lu, for his part, said an emergency meeting of the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will convene on March 22 in wake of terror attacks in New Zealand.
“Here [during the meeting], we will form a commission to follow the decisions that we have taken now. We will take this issue to all platforms, including the UN. We will not let it go,” he said.
Çavu?o?lu added Muslims both in New Zealand and in the world are “extremely uncomfortable” with growing Islamophobia and racism.
Oktay and Cavu?o?lu visited the injured, including three Turks, at the hospital.”
Turkey blasts Europe’s ‘silence’ on NZ terror attacks (aa, Mar 18, 2019)
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkey-blasts-europes-silence-on-nz-terror-attacks/1422016
“Turkey’s president on Monday blasted European countries for being silent in the face of last week’s terror attacks on two mosques in New Zealand, killing or injuring some 100 people.
Europe is silent on this issue, and the Western media is insidious, said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in a televised interview.
At least 50 people were killed when a terrorist opened fire on worshippers during Friday prayers last week at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
About as many were injured, with several still in critical condition.
Turkish-EU ties
Commenting on Turkish-EU relations, Erdogan said the EU cannot halt Turkey’s accession negotiations because they need Turkey.
Erdogan’s remarks came after the European Parliament last week passed a non-binding report urging the suspension of Turkey’s EU accession process.
Ankara slammed the report for bias, inaccuracy, and prejudice.
Turkey applied for EU membership in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005.
But negotiations stalled in 2007 due to the objections of the Greek Cypriot administration on the divided island of Cyprus as well as opposition from Germany and France.
Defeating terror corridor in northern Syria
Speaking on a potential terrorist corridor in northern Syria, Erdogan said if Turkey had not carried out operations in Afrin and Jarabulus, its southern borders would be occupied by PYD/YPG terrorists, referring to Turkey’s successful Operation Olive Branch in Syria.
Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch last January to remove PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children. The PYD/YPG is its Syrian branch.”
“Dangerous Nuclear Schemes”
by Peter Huessy
March 18, 2019 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13909/dangerous-nuclear-schemes
Modernization of the US strategic nuclear deterrent, often referred to by those who oppose it as “dangerous nuclear schemes,” will require multiple decades to complete. To sustain such an effort, a bipartisan consensus needs to continue annually, regardless of who controls Congress or the presidency.
To succeed at its best, a nuclear modernization effort should be combined with a measurable, but verifiable arms control agenda; either the continuation of existing arms control treaties, expanded arms control efforts, or both.
Russia’s violations of the INF treaty, including Russia’s deployment of upwards of 100 illegal missiles, led to the INF treaty (unfortunately) becoming defunct. Such violations by Russia obviously make pursuing further or other arms control initiatives extremely difficult.
There are, therefore, growing concerns that with the anticipated demise of the INF treaty, the continuation and extension of the 2010 New START treaty may be adversely affected as well.
Should the 2010 New START treaty not be extended, there will cease to be any arms control limits on the deployment of US and Russian nuclear weapons after February 5, 2021, when New START expires.
ISIS kills Italian fighter Orsetti in Syria (ansa, mar 18, 2019)
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/03/18/isis-kills-italian-fighter-orsetti-in-syria_92af076c-8270-4291-b542-93da544df93f.html
NGO rescues migrant boat with 50 aboard (ansa, Mar 18, 2019)
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/03/18/ngo-rescues-migrant-boat-with-50-aboard_f81127e7-3c40-44b6-897a-3987c7c97355.html
“An Italian migrant-rescue NGO on Monday rescued a migrant boat with 50 migrants aboard off Libya.
The NGO, Mediterranea Saving Humans, said “the Mare Ionio (ship) came across a dinghy in trouble, which was sinking, with about 50 people on board.
“The so-called Libyan Coast Guard arrived later, and it is heading towards us”.
It added that it was setting course for Italy despite Interior Minister Matteo Salvini having closed Italian ports to migrant rescue NGOs.
The interior ministry said a directive to “definitively stop the NGOs’ illegal activities” was in the pipeline.”
35 probed for migrant ‘slavery’ ring (ansa, Mar 18, 2019)
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/03/18/35-probed-for-migrant-slavery-ring_e07a873e-782f-439f-aad5-15cc601c02a1.html
“Thirty-five people were placed under investigating Monday for allegedly “enslaving” migrants were who forced to pay 5-12,0000 euros to get stay permits and were allegedly exploited in farm labour.
The gang, which allegedly earned over six million euros since 2012, was based in Salerno and had offshoots in Matera and Pistoia, police said.
Some 27 people were placed under house arrest and eight were ordered to report regularly to police.”