Contributor’s links post for March 20, 2019

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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

151 Replies to “Contributor’s links post for March 20, 2019”

  2. New Zealand terror attack: Australia-Turkey row ERUPTS as Morrison attacks Erdogan threats (express, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1102555/new-zealand-terror-attack-mosque-christchurch-erdogan-turkey-australia

    “THE Australian Prime Minister today indicated he was considering breaking ties with Turkey following President Erdogan’s threats against Australians after the Christchurch massacre.

    Scott Morrison said he would consider “all options” in reviewing ties with the country. He went on to label Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments as “reckless” and “highly offensive”. Mr Erdogan said any terrorists would be returned “in caskets” if they attempted an attack on Turkey.

    He said the attack was part of an assault on Turkey and Islam.

    The Turkish leader warned anti-Muslims Australians, suggesting they would suffer the same fate as soldiers at Gallipoli, a vicious WW1 battle.

    Mr Morrison said at a press conference: “Remarks have been made by the Turkish President Erdogan that I consider highly offensive to Australians, and highly reckless in this very sensitive environment.”

    Mr Erdogan aired his comments with video clips of the attack while campaigning for local elections.

    The blurry footage of the attacker was shown repeatedly on large screens throughout the rally.

    He also referenced the attacker’s manifesto and claimed it was aimed at preventing Turks from entering Europe.

    He said: “They are testing us from 16,500km away, from New Zealand, with the messages they are giving from there. This isn’t an individual act, this is organised.”

    Referring to sections of the “manifesto”, he added: “What does it say? That we shouldn’t go west of the Bosphorus, meaning Europe.

    “Otherwise he would come to Istanbul, kill us all, drive us out of our land.

    “We have been here for 1,000 years and will be here until the apocalypse, God willing.”

    New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Mr Erdogan’s speech could put the lines of New Zealand nationals abroad at risk.

    He added: “Anything of that nature that misrepresents this country – given that the suspect was a non-New Zealand citizen – imperils the future and safety of the New Zealand people and our people abroad and it’s totally unfair.

    “We had a long dialogue on the need for any other country, or Turkey for that matter, to ensure that our country, New Zealand, was not misrepresented.””

    • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said the country will pause for two minutes of silence on Friday, followed by the Muslim call to prayer which will be broadcast across the nation.

      Ardern told reporters on Wednesday, “There is a desire among New Zealanders to mark the week that has past since the terrorist attack. Two acknowledge this there will be a two-minute silence on Friday.”

      “We will also broadcast nationally via TVNZ and Radio New Zealand the call to prayer,” she said.

      http://caldronpool.com/muslim-call-to-prayer-will-be-broadcast-across-new-zealand-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-orders/

      • “New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said the country will pause for two minutes of silence on Friday, followed by the Muslim call to prayer which will be broadcast across the nation.”

        Howzabout this stupid cow holding “two minutes of silence” every time a mass murder is committed by Islamic terrorists? Both of her damned islands would freeze in time.

        Why, yes. As a matter of fact I’ve had my fill of all this Western sackcloth and ashes being lavished upon those who incite this cavalcade of perverted Islamic filth (of which the Christchurch reprisal was an implicit component of jihad strategy). Ardern is squandering hard-earned Kiwi dollars on polishing her halo and deserves an eternity of pitchforks up hers for it.

        PS: How do you “broadcast” two minutes of silence? Isn’t that like poking holes in deep space? For the nonce, we’ll ignore how airing the adhan immediately thereafter is a frank (as in: roll over and show your belly) declaration of surrender. Some might call it treason.

  3. PATRIOTS SHOULD VOTE DOWN THERESA MAY’S DEAL – IT IS THE WORST FOR THE COUNTRY OF ALL THE ALTERNATIVES
    The threat of an Article 50 extension is causing anxiety for some sincere and committed Brexiteers. Some say they should back Theresa May’s deal to “get Brexit over the line”. But the deal won’t deliver Brexit. Worse than that, it’ll lock us in to not delivering Brexit for many years to come. The Brexit process will not be “over”, or “done and dusted” by signing the deal. But if the deal is rejected the most likely outcome is that we get out on 29 March with the referendum objectives achieved of taking back control of our laws, our borders, our trade and our money. Martin Howe
    https://lawyersforbritain.org/patriots-should-vote-down-theresa-mays-deal-it-is-the-worst-for-the-country-of-all-the-alternatives

  4. BRITAIN’S WAR ON CHRISTIANITY: Part I
    ? “Christian street preachers should be free to share the gospel, even where it means challenging the beliefs of others.” Christian Concern, in a petition to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid
    ? In recent years, dozens of Christians — clergy and non-clergy — in Britain have been arrested or fired from their jobs due to their faith. Much of the harassment is based on three sections of two British laws that are vague and open to subjective interpretations.
    ? At an appeal hearing at Bristol Crown Court, attorney Michael Phillips emphasized the importance of freedom of speech, even in cases where the speaker does not necessarily hold the views being expressed. Another attorney, Paul Diamond, argued that there is no right not to be exposed to contrary ideas. He added that should passers-by not wish to hear the preaching, they are able to walk away. Soeren Kern
    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13913/britain-war-on-christianity

  6. THE LEFT HYPES MOSQUE MASSACRE BUT IGNORES THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS KILLED BY MUSLIMS
    video – 4 minutes 11 seconds
    Last week, a man walked into a mosque and killed 49 Muslims during prayer. Also last week, 69 Nigerian Christians were killed by Islamic militants while a Jewish man was murdered in a Palestinian terror attack. But how many of you heard a peep of the latter? Brittany Hughes

  7. THERE WILL BE NO OPPOSITION: AFTER SHOOTING – NEW ZEALAND WILL FURTHER OUTLAW GUNS
    Of course, none of this will matter to people who believe in legislation without cogitation. When the wolves in shepherds’ clothing want control and the sheep want a sense of security, illusory though it may be, misguided passion will do just fine. Selwyn Duke
    https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/item/31777-there-will-be-no-opposition-after-shooting-new-zealand-will-further-outlaw-guns

  8. AMERICA’S PEDIATRICIAN REVEALS SHOCKING AUTISM DISCOVERY
    video – 31 minutes 7 seconds
    [Check out Comment below video by Mark Sibley, M.D – “I was wrong….I hurt my patients by forcing (ordering and bullying) vaccines on my patients back in medical school…I am so sorry”…]

  10. SERBIA: VUCIC SAYS ‘NO’ TO NATO: WE HAVE OUR OWN ARMY – WILL DEFEND OUR OWN COUNTRY
    The western campaign to unseat Vucic cannot be accomplished through popular elections. We always and everywhere say that we do not want to join NATO, and we are saying this openly …”… The politician added that the Serbs want to defend their independence and freedom with the help of their own army. In February, Serbia re-instituted its long abandoned selective service requirements for young men. The aim here is to build up Serbia’s reserve forces, knowing that NATO countries and allies surround the lone-star state on all sides. “I believe in the strength of the Serbian army, and we experienced too many of hardships 20 years ago just to forget about it today. Our duty is to forgive, but we can never forget, ” stressed the Serbian leader. Joaquin Flores
    https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/03/vucic-says-no-to-nato-we-have-our-own-army-will-defend-our-own-country/
    +
    https://russia-insider.com/en/history/remembering-natos-ruthless-bombing-campaign-serbia/ri4853

  11. ANOTHER 10 CHRISTIANS KILLED IN KADUNA STATE AS CARNAGE CONTINUES IN NIGERIA – SOURCES SAY
    Muslim Fulani attacks on Saturday follow a month that saw 130 people slain. “We were all asleep in our various homes when at about 4 a.m. [Saturday], we heard gunshots everywhere in my village”… “Our communities are helpless and are pleading that all persons of conscience should speak out”… “The security agencies have so far recovered nine corpses, including children”… “While the victims were buried in a mass grave and the injured yet to recover,” Waziri said in the press statement, “Ungwan Barde village was attacked again on Sunday, March 10. Seventeen people were killed and dozens of houses burned.” The next day, Inkirimi and Dogonnoma villages in Maro were attacked, killing 52 people and wounding dozens, he said. Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.
    https://morningstarnews.org/2019/03/another-10-christians-killed-in-kaduna-state-as-carnage-continues-in-nigeria-sources-say/

  12. ISLAMIC MILITANTS KILL 6 CHRISTIANS IN CONGO – 470 FAMILIES FLEE VIOLENCE
    Six Christians, including a 9-year-old child, were reportedly killed in a recent attack in a predominantly Christian village in the northeast Democratic Republic of Congo. Open Doors USA, a Christian persecution watchdog nonprofit active in 60 countries, reports that nearly 500 families fled from their homes when rebel forces attacked the largely Christian village of Kalau near the city of Beni in DRC’s North Kivu province. Samuel Smith
    https://www.christianpost.com/news/islamic-militants-kill-6-christians-in-congo-470-families-flee-violence-report.html

  13. PROTECTED PAEDOPHILES – DANGERS OF 5G – WHY THE MEDIA ARE SO TERRIFIED OF ANTI-CORRUPTION IRELAND
    video – 69 minutes
    Gemma O’Doherty talks with Rikki Louise Anderson, a Danish mum and activist.

  16. ‘Strong Signal’: Islamists Set to Hold Prayer Near Danish Parl’t (sputniknews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201903201073390769-denmark-hizb-ut-tahrir-prayer/

    “Hizb ut-Tahrir*, which is seeking to establish an Islamic regime and has been classified as a terrorist organisation in Russia and many Arab countries, intends to commemorate the Christchurch shooting victims by a Friday prayer near the Danish parliament. This step was decried by right-wing politicians and even triggered a counter-demonstration.

    This Friday, the Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir will hold a prayer in memory of the 50 victims of the Christchurch attack at Christiansborg Palace Square, which contains the Danish parliament Folketinget, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of State, the newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported.

    The organisation’s website invites all Muslims to gather at Christiansborg Palace Square on Friday at 12:30.

    “As Muslims, we are all horrified over the massacre in Christchurch, where 50 Muslims were murdered in two mosques and over 100 wounded only because they confess to Islam. It is our Islamic duty to stand together in support of the martyrs and the sanctity of the blood of Muslims” the invitation to the event said.

    According to the announcement, Hizb ut-Tahrir received the authorities’ approval to hold the event. This was also confirmed by the Copenhagen City Council.

    “This will send a strong signal to the politicians, who are directly responsible for the spread of hatred in society. Standing in front of the castle with the thick walls sends a strong signal”, Hizb ut-Tahrir member Taimullah Abu-Laban was quoted as saying by the newspaper Avisen.

    This made the right-wing Danish People’s Party see read. Speaker of parliament Pia Kjærsgaard intends to inquire about the details of the event.

    “The castle square is neither a church, nor a mosque or a synagogue”, she told Avisen.

    Danish People’s Party foreign spokesman Martin Henriksen (DF) argued that the police should stop the event.

    At the same time, Islam-critical party Stram Kurs (“Hard Line”) reported a counter-event at the same time and same place.

    The Danish police reportedly took note of both announcements, and are busy making an assessment whether the events constitute a risk to public order.

    Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamist organisation that aims to enforce an Islamic way of life through Sharia law. The organisation is opposed to democratic governance and encourages fellow Muslims not to participate in politics or cast votes in elections. While banned in the majority of Arab countries (with only a few exceptions), as well as in Russia, Germany and China, the organisation remains active in vast parts of Europe, including Scandinavia. Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Scandinavian headquarters is in Denmark, with smaller branches existing in Norway and Sweden. Its membership in Scandinavia remains undisclosed. Denmark has been looking into banning the group on several occasions.

    Stram Kurs self-identifies as “ethno-nationalist”; the members describe themselves as libertarians and Danish patriots. The party was founded in 2017 by Rasmus Paludan and has risen to prominence through Quran burnings, which the party itself describes as “Bacon a-la Quran”.

    ?* Hizb ut-Tahrir is an extremist organisation banned in Russia”

    • ‘Strong Signal’: Islamists Set to Hold Prayer Near Danish Parl’t

      Has anyone besides myself paused to consider the ridiculousness of these protesting Muslims sheltering in Western countries to get away from their murderous tyrants and fellow believers? All of whom then just as quickly endeavor to turn these civilized havens into the same exact hellholes they were fleeing from. It renders their public demonstrations into military sorties that merit nothing other than being treated as such.

      If these sacks of shite want to protest something, why not agitate about reforming their own filthy scum buckets of Islamic sewage that they pretend to call home?

      At some point, as it has already, this sort of unappreciated “clustering up” will draw the very undesirable notice of those who specifically seek large groups upon whom to lavish their unwanted attentions.

      Europeans would be fools not to learn years worth of lessons taught them about Christmas markets and other public gatherings. These open-air expressions of Islamic domination, with their poorly-concealed threats of violence, will continue until Muslims become painfully aware of how the scimitar cuts both ways.

      Cluster up and get cluster £ü¢kêd.

  17. French Sugar Giant Accused of ‘Complicity’ in Daesh Weapons-Making (sputniknews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201903201073389935-french-sugar-giant-accused-complicity-daesh/

    “The world’s second largest sugar maker, French company Tereos, has flatly denied the accusations that it has been delivering an artificial sweetener to Syria that could be used to make rocket propellants when mixed with potassium nitrate.

    Several business partners of French sugar giant Tereos filed a complaint on Tuesday, accusing the company of supplying sorbitol to Syria that was allegedly used by Daesh* terrorists to manufacture weapons, AFP reported, citing the plaintiffs’ lawyer.

    According to documents from the anti-terror prosecutor’s office, the complaint was filed for “acts of terrorism and complicity in acts of terrorism”, although Tereos has vehemently denied the accusations.

    When mixed with certain substances, sorbitol can be used as fuel for homemade unguided rocket shells.

    The plaintiffs have claimed that the sugar giant had vowed to halt deliveries to conflict zones after Conflict Armament Research, an EU-mandated UK-based NGO, discovered dozens of the company’s sorbitol-laden bags in a Daesh warehouse after the liberation of Mosul, Iraq in 2016.

    According to AFP, after the NGO confronted Tereos over its findings, the company acknowledged that some 45 tonnes of French-produced sorbitol had disappeared in Turkey in May 2015 and resurfaced a year later in Daesh basements in Syria.

    After the information was made public in December 2017, Tereos officially assured the public that it had “suspended its sorbitol supplies to so-called high-risk areas” shortly after the Mosul discovery.

    However, the plaintiffs alleged that an internal company probe has shown that two more large deliveries were made to Syria in February and July 2017.

    “Despite Tereos’ awareness of the use of sorbitol as a weapon of war, the company knowingly continued to supply this raw material to a terrorist group”, the plaintiff wrote in the documents.

    Commenting on the claims, Tereos told AFP that its sales to Syria had been “legal”:

    “We stopped them when we discovered that the product was being misused”, the company said.

    Another French Firm Accused of Complicity With Daesh

    Tereos is not the first French company to have been accused of aiding Daesh: the multinational French-Swiss cement maker, LaFargeHolcim, has been under investigation since June 2016 for paying off the terrorist group in Syria.

    In June 2017, the company was indicted for “financing a terrorist enterprise” and “complicity in crimes against humanity”. The payments were allegedly made to keep the plant in Jalabiya running, while the country plunged into a civil war…”

  18. Birmingham Schools Cancel LGBT Equality Classes Due Muslim Parent Protests (sputniknews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201903201073395886-lgbt-classes-birmingham-school/

    “Ofsted deemed the lessons “age-appropriate”, but some parents claimed the classes were inappropriate for young children, as the pro-LGBT message contradicts Islam.

    Four more schools in Birmingham — Leigh Primary School, Alston Primary School, Marlborough Junior and Infants School and Wyndcliff Primary School — have stopped lessons on LGBT rights following complaints from parents. Leigh Trust, the multi-academy educational organisation behind the schools, said it was suspending the No Outsiders program until an agreement with parents was reached.

    The project was created and piloted at Parkfield in 2014 by assistant head teacher Andrew Moffat, who was given an MBE for services to equality and diversity in education in 2017. Under its auspices, books telling stories about same-sex relationships and marriages — including Mommy, Mama and Me and King & King — are also available in the schools’ libraries.

    ?In a letter, the Trust said it was stopping the lessons until after Ramadan, which finishes in June.

    “The powerpoint was written four years ago in line with Prevent duty at that time. No Outsiders is all about tolerance, accepting difference and respect, which are all key aspects of community cohesion and our fundamental British values,” a spokesperson for Parkfield Community School said.

    Mother Fatima Shah, who has taken her 10-year-old daughter out of Parkfield school, told BirminghamLive the program was “inappropriate, totally wrong”.

    “Children are being told it’s OK to be gay yet 98 per cent of children at this school are Muslim. It’s a Muslim community,” she said.

    Shah isn’t alone — hundreds of Muslim children have been kept away from the schools since the start of March, while teachers — including Moffat, who is gay — have been accused of using pupils as guinea pigs in a perverse social experiment.

    The scandal has split the local Labour party, which dominates the city — Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Ladywood, has urged educational authorities to understand parents’ grievances “in the context of religious backgrounds”, while fellow Labour activists have denounced her defence of “bigotry”.”

    • Birmingham Schools Cancel LGBT Equality Classes Due Muslim Parent Protests

      HIDDEN MESSAGE: The protests of Britons about this mean SHIT.

  19. Czech President Lambasts Turkey as “Daesh’s De-Facto Ally” (sputniknews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201903201073392263-czech-president-turkey-daesh-ally/

    “The Czech president’s remarks come a few days after Turkey announced a joint operation with Iran against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Ankara considers a terrorist organisation.

    During a trip to the Karlovy Vary region on Tuesday, Czech President Milos Zeman claimed he considered Turkey a “de facto ally” of Daesh*, the CTK news agency reported.

    “Why [do the Turks] attack the Kurds? Because they are de facto allies of the Islamic State [Daesh]”, the president said, answering a question from one of the meeting’s participants. “This means that it’s Turkey – despite the fact that it is a NATO member and seeks to join the European Union, which it is unlikely to be accepted – that has served as a mediator in logistics operations for the Islamic State [Daesh] supplies when [this terrorist organisation] occupied a significant part of Syria and Iraq. This, for example, included oil exports [from the territory seized by terrorists] and the like”.

    The Czech president has accused his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of pursuing a policy of Islamising his country.

    “This is no longer the secular state of [Kemal] Ataturk, but a state that professes Islamic ideology, and as follows logically, that it [the state] stands close to the Islamic radicals”, Zeman alleged.

    Erdogan has yet to comment on the accusations, but Ankara has repeatedly accused the West of backing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara views as a terrorist organisation, and sponsoring Daesh…”

  20. Swedish Shia Muslims Express Fear over Returning Islamic State Fighters (breitbart, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/03/20/swedish-shia-muslims-express-fear-returning-islamic-state-fighters/

    “Members of the Swedish Shia Muslim community in the city of Örebro say they concerned for their safety if Islamic State militants return home.

    The Ahl Al-Bait Cultural Centre in the Oxhagen district of Örebro say they have been forced to hire guards at their building due to the potential threats from Sunni Islamic State extremists who see them as an enemy, broadcaster SVT reports.

    Omran Hashem, the chairman of the cultural centre, said that many Shia in Sweden are threatened by Sunni extremists saying that groups like Islamic State and al-Qaeda “threaten us in our home countries and now also here.”

    Mr Hashem also relayed a personal story from several years ago saying that following his anti-Islamic State comments in local media a man has threatened him.

    “He said, ‘you don’t know me but we know you because you have said a little about us. It will come one day when we get power in all of Sweden and then you will regret it’,” Hashem said.

    Speaking on the subject of returning fighters he said, “When they come back and know that there is a Shia mosque here, of course, we are afraid of it. They might come in and hurt someone.”

    “We have had a lot of problems with terrorist groups in my home country and came here to live in peace, but how can we feel secure when we can be neighbours to murderers?” he added.

    The fears may not be unfounded, as in the last several years there have been attacks on Shia buildings with Sunni radicals suspected to be involved in both Malmö in 2016 and in Järfälla in 2017.

    While others, such as populist Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson, have called for Sweden to ban Islamic State members from coming back to Sweden, Prime Minister Stefan Lovfen has said the country will not strip radicals of citizenship.

    Worrying reports have also revealed that returning Islamic State fighters may be recruiting in underground mosques in Malmö and a number have been either suspected or convicted of serious crimes since returning to Sweden.”

  22. The Latest: Italian minister explains refusal of migrants (abcnews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-italian-minister-explains-refusal-migrants-61806349

    “Italy’s hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has given an emotional defense of his decision last summer to refuse to allow migrants aboard an Italian coast guard ship to disembark in a Sicilian port.

    Salvini spoke in the Senate ahead of a vote on whether to lift his immunity as a lawmaker to face possible kidnapping charges for refusing to admit some 177 migrants rescued at sea and transferred to the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti last August.

    Salvini said his refusal to let the migrants make landfall was necessary to force Italy’s European partners to accept the burdens of migrant arrivals, which had disproportionately fallen on Italy as a primary destination of for humanitarian ships rescuing migrants from smugglers’ boats off Libya. Within days, European partners agreed to accept the migrants.”

  23. Greek police suspect racist motive in attack on Afghan teens (abcnews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/greek-police-suspect-racist-motive-attack-afghan-teens-61805347

    “Greek police say they are investigating a possible racist motive in a violent attack by hooded men on a group of teenage Afghan asylum-seekers in the northern town of Konitsa.

    A police statement Wednesday said the racist violence department is trying to identify the assailants.

    The nine migrants were attacked “without provocation” by five men with clubs while playing in an open-air basketball court on Sunday, police said.

    The youths, aged 14-18, live in a center for unaccompanied minors in Konitsa, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) northwest of Athens.

    The police statement said two of the victims were treated overnight in a hospital after the attack, one for light injuries and the other for shock.

    Greece is a major entry point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe.”

  24. Taliban kill 6 paramilitary troops in southwestern Pakistan (abcnews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/taliban-kill-paramilitary-troops-southwestern-pakistan-61803203

    “Pakistani authorities say militants overran a remote security outpost in southwestern Baluchistan province, killing six members of the paramilitary forces.

    The Pakistani Taliban — known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — claimed responsibility for the attack in Ziarat district early on Wednesday morning, saying in an Urdu-language statement that it was revenge for the deaths earlier of their comrades at the hands of the paramilitary Baluchistan Levies Force.

    Qadir Baksh Pirkani, Ziarat district deputy commissioner, said the assault began in the early morning hours and that an investigation into the killing is underway.

    Several insurgent groups operate in Baluchistan, including the Pakistani Taliban, a secessionist Baluchistan group and members of an Islamic State affiliate, which is based across the border in Afghanistan.”

  25. North Macedonia: 7 plead guilty to joining, fighting for IS (abcnews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/north-macedonia-plead-guilty-joining-fighting-61806081

    “Officials in North Macedonia say seven of the country’s nationals have pleaded guilty to joining the Islamic State group and fighting with it in Syria and Iraq.

    The North Macedonian prosecutor’s office said late Tuesday the men on trial in a Skopje criminal court were arrested last August in Syria by members of the international coalition fighting IS.

    They were subsequently handed over to North Macedonian law enforcement agencies.

    All were charged with membership of an extremist group, while one also allegedly recruited for IS.

    If convicted, they face up to five years in jail.

    The prosecutor’s office said verdicts will be announced on Thursday.

    North Macedonian authorities say more than 130 of the country’s nationals have joined IS. The predominantly Orthodox Christian Balkan state has a large Muslim minority.”

  30. I Worked for Senator McCain and President Trump is Totally Right.” Boris Epshteyn AMERICA First

  31. Tom Fitton: Lisa Page Testimony is ‘EVIDENCE OF A CRIME’ against President Trump

  33. Devout Catholic ‘who used wrong pronoun to describe transgender girl’ to be interviewed by police

    When Caroline Farrow, a Catholic commentator, and transgender rights campaigner Susie Green, agreed to take part in a television debate about a controversial Girl Guides policy, producers would have expected differences of opinion.

    But while the conversation on screen was certainly heated, it was what happened off-air when the pair continued the debate on Twitter that resulted in a six-month-long police investigation.

    Mrs Farrow, a mother of five with strong religious views, allegedly used the wrong pronoun when referring to Ms Green’s transgender daughter.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/19/devout-catholic-interviewed-police-trans-twitter-row/

  34. Italy: Driver abducts schoolchildren, sets bus ablaze

    A bus driver in northern Italy abducted 51 schoolchildren and their chaperones Wednesday and took them on an hour-long drive, then set the vehicle on fire when he was stopped by a Carabinieri blockade, officials said.

    Officers broke the glass in the back door of the bus and got all the passengers to safety without serious injury before the flames destroyed the vehicle. As he was apprehended, the driver said he was protesting migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, Commander Luca De Marchis said.

    De Marchis told Sky24 TV that the driver, an Italian citizen of Senegalese origin in his 40s, threatened the passengers, telling them that “no one would survive” as he commandeered the bus carrying two middle-school classes in Cremona province, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Milan.

    An adult called an emergency operator, while one of the students called a parent, and they alerted authorities, who set up roadblocks. The bus was intercepted on the outskirts of Milan by three Carabinieri vehicles, which were able to force it into the guard rail, De Marchis said.

    “While two officers kept the driver busy — he took a lighter and threatened to set fire to the vehicle with a gasoline canister on board — the others forced open the back door,” De Marchis said. While the evacuation was underway, the driver started the blaze.

    De Marchis credited the officers’ “swiftness and courage,” for getting out all the children and their teachers “with no tragic consequences.”

    Some of the passengers were treated at a hospital, mostly for cuts and scratches related to the evacuation, he said.

    The driver, who lived in Cremona and was married with two children, was being treated for burns.

    Sky TG24 said that the driver had worked for the bus company for 15 years without any employment-related issues. De Marchis said he had previous convictions, but he did not specify their nature other than to say they were not serious crimes.

    Video showed firefighters dousing the bus that had been completely gutted by flames, leaving only the charred metal frame.

    https://montrealgazette.com/pmn/news-pmn/italy-driver-of-bus-full-of-children-sets-it-on-fire/wcm/fd4354d8-4697-4a89-94bd-da6378367f1b

    ===========================================================
    RT – Senegalese man sets Italian school bus on fire with children on board (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

    The driver of a school bus filled with children has been arrested by Italian police for setting fire to the vehicle near Milan. The Senegalese man reportedly called for an end to “deaths in the Mediterranean” during the incident.

    Miraculously all 51 schoolboys managed to escape the fire without injuries, although 12 children and two adults were sent to hospital for smoke inhalation, according to RaiNews24.

    The 46-year-old Senegal-born driver reportedly spilled gasoline down the aisle of the bus while shouting that he wants to stop deaths in the Mediterranean Sea before igniting the blaze.

    “I want to end it, the deaths in the Mediterranean must be stopped,” he said according to the Italian news outlet.

    The children were students of Vailati middle school in the Italian city of Cremona, and raised the alarm by calling their parents after the driver announced that he wanted to kill himself.

    The Carabinieri, Italy’s national police service, stopped the vehicle by erecting a series of checkpoints that the driver attempted to break through.

    The man eventually lost control of the vehicle and attempted to set the bus alight before the military rescued the students by breaking the windows.

    Footage of the blaze show firefighters at the scene and the remains of the completely burned vehicle on the side of a busy road. The driver was reportedly known to police and has been arrested for the arson attack.

    www(dot)rt(dot)com/news/454296-senegalese-man-italian-school-bus-fire/

    ==================================================
    Italy: Driver abducts schoolchildren, sets bus ablaze

    MILAN — A bus driver in northern Italy abducted 51 schoolchildren and their chaperones Wednesday and took them on an hour-long drive, then set the vehicle on fire when he was stopped by a Carabinieri blockade, officials said.

    Officers broke the glass in the back door of the bus and got all the passengers to safety without serious injury before the flames destroyed the vehicle. As he was apprehended, the driver said he was protesting migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, Commander Luca De Marchis said.

    De Marchis told Sky24 TV that the driver, an Italian citizen of Senegalese origin in his 40s, threatened the passengers, telling them that “no one would survive” as he commandeered the bus carrying two middle-school classes in Cremona province, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Milan.

    An adult called an emergency operator, while one of the students called a parent, and they alerted authorities, who set up roadblocks. The bus was intercepted on the outskirts of Milan by three Carabinieri vehicles, which were able to force it into the guard rail, De Marchis said.

    “While two officers kept the driver busy — he took a lighter and threatened to set fire to the vehicle with a gasoline canister on board — the others forced open the back door,” De Marchis said. While the evacuation was underway, the driver started the blaze.

    https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/italy-driver-of-bus-full-of-children-sets-it-on-fire

    ======================================================
    Senegal-Born Man Tries to Set Bus With Children Ablaze Near Milan – Reports

    Local police have already arrested the bus driver responsible for the arson. All passengers made it out without injuries, but several of them have been sent to hospital due to inhaling smoke from the fire.

    An Italian bus driver of Senegalese origin attempted to set a bus with 51 people, mostly children and their parents, on fire in Milan on 20 March, RaiNews24 reported. The man changed the bus’s course, which was taking school children home in Crema after outdoor activities, then announced that he wanted to kill himself to “stop deaths in the Mediterranean Sea” and proceeded to threaten passengers with a knife, the online media outlet reported.

    One of the children reportedly managed to call their parents, who in turn called emergency services and the police. The latter set up roadblocks, which the driver tried to ram, but eventually lost control of the bus and had to stop, according to RaiNews24. After this, the bus driver allegedly poured gasoline inside the bus and ignited it. However, police managed to rescue the passengers through the windows and the back door.

    The 47-year-old bus driver, Ousseynou Sy, [ = Muslim ] who already had a criminal record, has been arrested. According to the medics cited by RaiNews24, none of the passengers sustained injuries, but 12 children and 2 adults were taken to the hospital with symptoms of smoke poisoning.

    Although Ousseynou Sy hasn’t fully clarified his statements about “deaths in the Mediterranean Sea”, he was apparently referring to the multitude of cases of migrants from Africa and the Middle East drowning while trying to illegally reach Europe by boat.

    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201903201073399962-senegal-origin-man-bus-attack-italy-milan/

    • “Precedenti per abusi sessuali su minori”. Chi è l’attentatore senegalese

      Ousseynou Sy dirotta il mezzo, su cui viaggiano 51 bambini, e gli dà fuoco urlando “Lo faccio per i migranti”. Aveva precedenti per guida in stato di ebbrezza e violenza sessuale

      “Perché una persona con simili precedenti guidava un pullman per il trasporto di ragazzini?”. Non appena la notizia è arrivata al Viminale, Matteo Salvini si è messo subito al lavoro per “vederci chiaro”.

      Perché, quanto successo questa mattina sulla strada provinciale 415 che collega Pantigliate a San Donato Milanese, in provincia di Milano, ha dell’incredibile. Il conducente di un autobus delle autolinee padane, un senegalese con precedenti per guida in stato di ebbrezza e violenza sessuale, ha dirottato il mezzo, sul quale viaggiavano 51 bambini e diversi insegnanti, e infine gli ha dato fuoco minacciando di togliersi la vita.

      “Lo faccio per i migranti, basta morti nel Mediterraneo”. Sono riecheggiate queste parole quando Ousseynou Sy, dopo aver legato i giovani con alcune fascette da elettricista, ha iniziato a spargere del combustibile, molto probabilmente benzina, sui sedili e nel corridoio dell’autobus “Le persone in Africa – ha urlato – muoiono per colpa di Di Maio e Salvini”. Avrebbe dovuto riportare in classe gli studenti della scuola media Vailati di Crema, dopo essere stati in palestra, e invece ha impugnato un coltello e ha dirottato il mezzo puntando dritto verso l’aeroporto di Milano. “Andiamo a Linate – ha detto agli ostaggi – qui non scende più nessuno”. E ancora: “Da qui non esce vivo nessuno”. Le prime telefonate per lanciare l’allarme sono arrivate dai passeggeri che hanno contatto il numero unico 112. “Aiuto – ha urlato uno dei ragazzini – dice che vuole dare fuoco a tutto”. Questa telefonata ha consentito ai carabinieri di intervenire prontamente ed evitare una vera e propria strage.

      L’operazione per fermare il sequestratore, che da almeno quindici anni lavora alla società Autoguidovie, è stata difficile e pericolosa. I militari hanno formato un posto di blocco che Ousseynou Sy ha sbalzato speronandolo con estrema violenza . Lo scuolabus ha, quindi, zigzagato in mezzo al traffico della provinciale trascinando per almeno un’ottantina di metri la macchina dei carabinieri. “Ho visto i ragazzini abbracciarsi tra loro e piangere, ho visto le fiamme alte e il fumo denso”, racconta Franco Lucente, capogruppo di Fratelli d’Italia in Regione Lombardia, che si trovava a pochi metri dall’incendio propro mentre il 47enne aveva appiccato il fuoco nell’autobus. “Uno scenario apocalittico – continua – l’unico sollievo è che gli studenti siano tutti sani e salvi”.

      Portato in caserma a San Donato, Ousseynou Sy è indagato per strage e sequestro di persona. Adesso che la tragedia è scampata, agli inquirenti e alla politica toccherà capire come sia possibile che uno scuolabus venisse affidato a uno con precedenti per violenza sessuale sui minori e guida in stato di ebrezza. Anche se i servizi segriti non hanno mai riscontrato tendenze eversive o legami con ambienti terroristici, la sua fedina penale avrebbe comunque dovuto accendere più di un campanello di allarme. “Il Comune di Crema si è schierato pubblicamente contro il decreto Sicurezza, ma la foga a favore dei clandestini gli ha fatto sfuggire i problemi reali”, denunciano i sottosegretari all’Interno, Stefano Candiani e Nicola Molteni, chiedendo ora “un rigoroso accertamento delle responsabilità per un affidamento così gravemente superficiale”.

      http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/milano/precedenti-abusi-sessuali-chi-senegalese-che-ha-incendiato-1665999.html

    • A bus driver transporting schoolchildren stopped his vehicle on a highway near Milan on Wednesday before telling passengers to get off and setting the vehicle on fire, Italian authorities said.

      Footage shows firefighters at work near the burnt remains of the schoolbus – which had been transporting 51 middle-school students – in the town of San Donato Milanese, on the outskirts of Milan. 12 students and two adults have reportedly been taken to hospital over inhalation concerns.

    • the telegraph – Bus full of children in Italy set alight by angry driver ‘in retaliation’ for migrant drownings in Mediterranean

      An Italian bus driver of Senegalese descent was arrested on Wednesday after hijacking his own vehicle and setting it on fire, allegedly threatening to kill more than 50 children on board whose hands he had bound.

      The 47-year-old man said he was acting in revenge for the thousands of migrants, many of them African, who have drowned in the Mediterranean in recent years while trying to reach Europe from Libya.

      “No one will survive,” he said, according to police.

      “He shouted ‘Stop the deaths at sea, I’ll carry out a massacre’,” said Marco Palmieri, a police spokesman.

      The man, named as Ousseynou Sy, was driving 51 children from their middle school near the city of Cremona to a sporting event when he started making threats, brandishing a knife.

      In an ordeal that lasted around 40 minutes, he started driving towards nearby Milan.

      He rammed the bus into cars on a busy highway before it came to a stop at a roadblock set up by police.

      He then doused it in petrol and set it on fire.

      Police smashed the windows of the vehicle to allow the children to escape.

      Television footage showed thick black smoke and flames billowing from the bus, which was reduced to a burnt-out hulk.

      “It was a miracle, it could have been a massacre,” said Francesco Greco, a prosecutor from Milan. “The carabinieri (police) were exceptional in blocking the bus and getting all the children out. They broke the windows and managed to get all 51 kids out.”

      One of the children told reporters that the driver had threatened to pour petrol on them and set them alight.

      “He handcuffed us and threatened us. He said that if we moved he would pour out the petrol and set fire to it.

      “He kept saying that people in Africa are dying and the fault is Di Maio and Salvini’s” – a reference to Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, the leaders of the two parties that make up the populist coalition.

      Mobile phone footage taken by passing motorists showed dozens of children screaming in panic as they ran away from the vehicle.

      At least 12 children were taken to hospital for bruises, smoke inhalation or because they were suffering from shock.

      Police said the suspect had a criminal record, with convictions for sexual molestation and driving while drunk. He obtained Italian citizenship in 2004.

      Mr Salvini, the interior minister and head of the anti-immigration League party, asked why a person with a criminal record was allowed to drive a school bus.

      Interior minister officials said they were studying the possibility of revoking the driver’s Italian citizenship.

      The driver is likely to face charges of kidnapping, attempted mass murder, causing a fire and resisting arrest.

      Prosecutors said he could also be charged with terrorism offences.

      Thousands of migrants, many of them West Africans, have drowned in the Mediterranean in recent years.

      So far this year, the death toll is 282, but that comes after a dramatic reduction in the number of migrant boats setting out from Libya.

      The traffic has slowed considerably after the EU beefed up the Libyan Coast Guard – which has been accused of human rights abuses – and Italy’s populist government decreed last summer that it was closing its ports to NGO vessels that rescue asylum seekers.

      Last year, nearly 2,300 migrants and refugees died, according to the UN.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/20/bus-full-children-set-alight-angry-driver-retaliation-migrant/

    • Benzina, coltello e fascette: il folle piano di Ousseynou Sy

      L’autista del bus aveva comprato 10 litri di benzina e delle fascette da elettricista. Così il lupo solitario aveva pianificato tutto

      Aveva pianificato tutto. Aveva comprato due tanniche con 10 litri di benzina, delle fascette da elettricista.

      E soprattutto aveva postato su Youtube un video per dire basta ai troppi naufragi delle carrette del mare. “Non ce la faccio più a vedere i bambini morire mangiati dai pescecani e le donne incinte affogare”, si sente nel messaggio destinato a amici e parenti in Italia e in Senegal. Per il 47enne senegalese Ousseynou Sy, padre di due figlie, diventato cittadino italiano nel 2004 dopo aver sposato una ragazza di Crema da cui poi si era separato, l'”Africa doveva rialzarsi” e i suoi connazionali non dovevano più partire per l’Europa, da punire per le sue “politiche criminali sulla migrazione”.

      Così ha progettato il suo folle piano. Ha deciso di dirottare lo scuolabus con cui accompagnava 51 studenti, due professori e una bidella, dalla palestra alla scuola media Vailati di Crema e ha cercato di raggiungere Linate, da dove “avrebbe voluto prendere un aereo per tornare in Senegal”, hanno spiegato il capo del pool antiterrorismo Alberto Nobili e il pm Luca Poniz che in serata hanno interrogato Sy per un paio d’ore. Pesanti le accuse a suo carico: strage, sequestro di persona con l’aggravante del terrorismo, non perchè Sy, che “è un cane sciolto” , abbia aderito all’Isis o altre organizzazioni jihadiste, ma per “l’entità del suo gesto”. L’autista, che stando ai racconti dei ragazzi era armato di coltello e anche di pistola (non ancora trovata), ha cosparso i sedili e le cappelliere di benzina e poi si è diretto verso Milano.

      “Se non fossero intervenuti i carabinieri, non si sarebbe fatto male nessuno”, ha tentato di giustificarsi il 47enne, che ha alle spalle dei precedenti del 2004 e del 2006 per guida in stato di ebbrezza ed è stato condannato in via definitiva nel 2018 ad un anno per violenza sessuale, davanti ai magistrati. I carabinieri che sono intervenuti per bloccare lo scuolabus, invece, hanno parlato di una situazione che sarebbe potuta degenerare da un momento all’altro. “Se i bambini, i due insegnanti e la bidella sono salvi lo dobbiamo al coraggio e all’organizzazione dell’Arma e al personale della stazione di San Donato Milanese”, ha detto il procuratore di Milano Francesco Greco.

      “I carabinieri hanno compiuto un’operazione che vediamo nei film con le squadre speciali – ha aggiunto – sono riusciti a bloccare il bus e hanno deciso di intervenire” prima che ci fosse una strage. A chiedere aiuto è stato uno studente, che è riuscito a liberarsi dalle fascette con cui gli insegnanti, su ordine di Sy, gli avevano bloccato i polsi e le caviglie ai sedili del bus. I bambini nelle file più vicine all’autista erano stati legati stretti, mentre quelli in fondo meno. E proprio uno di loro ha preso il cellulare e avvisato i genitori, che hanno a loro volta avvertito i carabinieri. Le ricerche del mezzo dirottato sono scattate immediatamente: lo scuolabus è stato individuato poco lontano da San Donato. L’autista ha speronato diverse auto dei carabinieri, ha sbandato per un centinaio di metri procedendo a zig zag sulla Paullese e poi ha tamponato un’auto con bordo un bambino di 4 anni e si è praticamente fermato contro le barriere Jersey di cemento. Alcuni carabinieri sono riusciti a sfondare il vetro posteriore e a fare uscire i bambini, mentre due militari distraevano il 4

      http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/benzina-coltello-e-fascette-folle-piano-ousseynou-sy-1666227.html

    • la repubblica – Chi è Ousseynou Sy, una storia di abusi nel passato dell’autista. Ma nessuno sospettava di lui

      Studenti e insegnanti conoscevano da tempo l’uomo di origini senegalesi. I dirigenti dell’azienda: “Mai dato segnali di squilibrio”

      Ousseynou Sy, 46 anni, l’autista di origine senegalese che ha sequestrato e incendiato lo scuolabus a San Donato Milanese ha precedenti penali per abusi su minore e guida in stato di ebbrezza. E’ nato in Francia e risiede a Crema da tempo. Era sposato con una donna italiana – ed è grazie a lei che nel 2004 ha avuto la cittadinanza italiana – da cui ha poi divorziato, da questo matrimonio ha avuto due figli che oggi hanno 12 e 18 anni.

      “Ousseynou, nostro collaboratore almeno dal 2002, dal 2004 era in servizio a tempo pieno – dichiarano da Autoguidovie – Negli anni non ha mai dato segnali di squilibrio, né avevamo mai ricevuto reclami sulla sua condotta come autista. A livello di compartimento aziendale, Crema e zone limitrofe, non eravamo a conoscenza dei suoi precedenti penali”. Dalle prime indagini il precedente per guida in stato di ebbrezza risale al 2007: l’uomo era stato trovato ubriaco alla guida di un’auto a Brescia. L’uomo, secondo quanto è stato ricostruito, aveva cominciato una quindicina di anni fa a lavorare ad Autoguide. Prima come addetto alle pulizie poi, in considerazione del suo buon comportamento sul lavoro, era diventato conducente dei mezzi. La condanna per abusi sessuali su un minore, invece, sarebbe diventata definitiva lo scorso anno: pena sospesa di un anno.

      I colleghi ricordano la sospensione della patente ma lo descrivono come una persona cordiale, mai sopra le righe, anche se “aveva avuto dei problemi familiari pesanti” per via della separazione dalla ex moglie alla quale erano stati affidati i figli. “Ogni tanto i figli venivano a causa sua”, racconta una vicina la quale riferisce che in città Sy era chiamato Paolo. “Abita qui da cinque anni – prosegue la donna -, mai avuto un problema, anzi, era un gran lavoratore. Tutte le mattine si svegliava prestissimo per andare al lavoro”.

      Nessuno tra coloro che lo conoscono avrebbe potuto immaginare un gesto come quello di stamattina: il sequestro dell’autobus, le minacce ai bambini, il progetto di portare il mezzo fino a Linate. Infine l’incendio del pullman.

      Questa mattina Ousseynou Sy era “tranquillissimo” quando è entrato nel bar della stazione di Crema. A riferirlo è il barista che ha raccontato che Sy gli ha semplicemente detto: “Porto i ragazzi in palestra e torno”. I suoi colleghi autisti che partono con i loro autobus dal piazzale antistante la stazione si dicono “costernati”. “L’ho visto martedì – racconta uno di loro – mi ha salutato come al solito e mi ha chiesto come stavo. E’ inimmaginabile che abbia fatto una cosa del genere”.

      https://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2019/03/20/news/incendio_autobus_paullese_milano_scuolabus_autista-222088279/

  35. What is really behind Dems’ desire to end Electoral College and pack SCOTUS?
    By Howard Portnoy March 20, 2019

    If you thought the goal of fundamentally transforming the United States of America began and ended with Barack Obama, think again. The leading Democratic contenders for the White House in 2020 have all outlined plans that would help the liberal wing of their party realize Obama’s dream of converting the nation into a European-style socialist democracy replete with universal health care, endless entitlements, free college, and jobs for everyone.

    In order to achieve this utopia, the party first sees a need to dismantle the Electoral College, reconfigure the makeup of the Supreme Court, and beef up their voter enrollment efforts.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/03/20/what-really-fuels-dems-desire-to-end-electoral-college-and-pack-scotus/

    Richard: The author makes one mistake in his article, he assumes that the Dems are planning on keeping the electoral system running once they seize permanent power. They won’t, they will elect a President for life and then set things up so the Dem Party bigwigs will choose his/her successor.

  36. Court docs: Mueller was investigating Michael Cohen while Cohen was the president’s lawyer
    By J.E. Dyer March 19, 2019

    An AP report on Tuesday, based on just-released court documents that were previously under seal, indicates that Robert Mueller was investigating Michael Cohen by July 2017. As AP points out, that was nine months before the federal raid on Cohen’s home and office.

    More importantly, July 2017 was while Cohen was still serving as President Trump’s personal attorney. It isn’t clear how much or what kind of business Cohen was doing for Trump in 2017 and early 2018.

    But Trump still referred to Cohen as his lawyer as late as 5 April 2018. The federal raid on Cohen’s home and office was executed on 9 April 2018. Presumably, he left Trump’s service on or shortly after that date. Rudy Giuliani said a month later that Cohen was no longer Trump’s lawyer. The Politico report at the link, citing Giuliani’s statement that Cohen no longer represented Trump, was published on 11 May 2018.

    Although we had reason to draw some conclusions about this last year (e.g., that the investigation must have started at some point before the April 2018 raids), the extent of what it involved, in terms of time and scope, is eye-opening when the details come out.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/03/19/court-docs-mueller-was-investigating-michael-cohen-while-cohen-was-trumps-lawyer/

    • Richard: She make a very good case for the appointment of another Special Prosecutor to investigate the Mueller investigation. There is a lot of evidence that Mueller and his people were involved in numerous violations of US Code and FBI regulations during their attempted soft coup against the duly elected President of the United States.

      Yes I know the Utah Federal Prosecutor has brought in his own investigators and is rumored to be getting ready to unseal a lot of indictments against current and former members of the Department of Justice. Hopefully this will include members of Obama’s White House but I am not holding my breath.

  37. Hollywood celebrities donate to Christchurch appeal

    The devastating terror attack in Christchurch has prompted the manager of U2 and Madonna to set up a GoFundMe page to help the victims of the mosque shootings.

    A-list celebrities including Madonna, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Josh Brolin have donated thousands to a fundraiser for the Kiwi terror attack victims.

    The GoFundMe page has reached US$88,000 ($130,000) of its US$100,000 goal after being set up by Guy Oseary, the manager for Madonna and the band U2, who pledged US$18,000 ($26,000).

    Actor Stiller, filmmaker Judd Apatow and actor Ashton Kutcher each pledged US$1000 ($1460).

    Other donations came from Madonna, who pledged US$10,000 ($14,600), and comedian Rock gave US$5000 ($7300).

    Directors Judd Apatow and Ava DuVernay, author Tiffanie DeBartolo and Hollywood star Josh Brolin and family also donated.

    Oseary wrote on the page: “I read the frightening details and could barely find the strength to watch a short clip of the disturbing footage. My heart breaks for the victims and for their families…

    “We will work with GoFundMe to ensure all funds are transferred to an organisation providing support to the families and community.

    “We will provide additional information about the distribution of funds as soon as it becomes available and are actively researching the best organisations in New Zealand to receive what is raised.”

    Meanwhile, more than $7 million has now been raised online in New Zealand for victims of the terror attack.

    About 70,000 donors flocked to one Givalittle page alone, raising more than $5.5 million for the victims and families of Friday’s attack in which a gunman killed 50 people at two Christchurch mosques and injured many others.

    The page started by the non-profit Victim Support group set a new Givealittle record by raising $3.5m within its first 24 hours.

    A separate LaunchGood fundraising page managed by the NZ Islamic Information Centre had also collected more than $2m.

    Elsewhere, New Zealand’s banking industry donated a further $1m to a new fund set up at the request of Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12213962

  38. New Zealand’s Rugby ‘Crusaders’ Mull Name Change After Mosque Massacre (sputniknews, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/sport/201903201073402332-new-zealand-massacre-rugby/

    “The debates around the Christchurch rugby team’s name and emblem, which hark back to the medieval wars for the Holy Land against Muslims, flared up after a shooting rampage in two local mosques that claimed the lives of at least 50 people.

    The non-international professional rugby union team “Crusaders”, based in Christchurch, has responded to concerns raised over its name and symbols following the mosque massacre in their hometown in New Zealand. They said that they should have a conversation about their brand, which refers to ancient wars where Christian armies sought to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslim rule, and promised to take on board all of the feedback. However, they noted that “the time for that is not right now” when “emotions are very raw”.

    “There is the need for this community to wrap our support around those who are most affected by Friday’s events, and that is the immediate focus for the Crusaders team. At an appropriate time, we will thoroughly consider the issues that have been raised and our response to that. That will include conversations with a range of people, including our Muslim community”, the team’s statement reads.

    Although, they expressed their understanding for concerns over their name, the “Crusaders” noted that it is “a reflection of the crusading spirit of this community” for them.

    “What we stand for is the opposite of what happened in Christchurch on Friday; our crusade is one for peace, unity, inclusiveness and community spirit”, they said, adding that they are united with the community “in standing in support of our Muslim brothers and sisters”.

    The club, whose emblem is a knight wearing a cross on his chest and swaying a sword above his head, is one of the most decorated teams in the country, as it has won nine champion titles of the prestigious competition Super Rugby, featuring players from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Japan. Discussions on the matter have included high-profile speakers such as New Zealand’s Sports Minister Grant Robertson, who said that such conversations were appropriate.

    “I’m aware of the conversations that they’re now having with, in particular, the Muslim community in Christchurch. The Crusaders is a well-established name and brand, but I think it is a responsible action to undertake those conversations now”, he said, as cited by Al-Jazeera.

    While the minister remained tight-lipped about his personal opinion, netizens were more outspoken on the matter. Many insisted that the name and branding should become history…”

  39. MEMRI – Canadian Cleric Responds to NZ Massacre: Governments, Law Enforcement, Media Are Responsible

    On March 15, Canadian cleric Younus Kathrada delivered a sermon in which he responded to the mosque shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand.

    He said that candlelight vigils have pagan origins and may not be attended by Muslims.

    On March 17, Kathrada delivered a lecture titled “New Zealand Shootings – Where Do We Go from Here”.

    He said that Western governments, law enforcement, and media are to blame for the massacre because they fuel the fires of Islamophobia.

    He criticized Western governments for shedding blood overseas and “expect[ing] that not to come back at them,” and he added that he is not justifying terrorism.

    He also accused law enforcement of being involved in “entrapping” Muslims and said that the Muslim community should not trust them, because it is like “asking a wolf to look over your sheep.”

    He also said that police officials who come to holiday meals at mosques probably come to spy on the mosque members.

    He added: “Stop [trying to recruit spies] – you are pathetic. You’re making us targets and we’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.”

    Both videos were uploaded to Muslim Youth Victoria’s YouTube channel. For more about Sheikh Kathrada, see MEMRI TV Clips No. 6906 and No. 6950, as well as MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 7851.

  41. DAILY MAIL – New Zealand police go after social media users who shared footage of mosque shooting as second person appears in court charged with distributing the video

    Alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant shared the horrific footage of the shootings, including graphic video of the very moment worshippers were gunned down

    Two people have been charged in New Zealand with sharing ‘objectionable’ material of the mass shootings last Friday, in which 50 people were killed

    Facebook did not say if it would share posters’ identities with law enforcement

    —————————————————————————–

    Police in New Zealand have said they are ‘actively investigating’ social media users who posted footage of the Christchurch massacre, after two people were charged there for allegedly sharing the Facebook live stream.

    Alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant posted the horrific footage of the shootings – including the very moment that worshippers were gunned down – last Friday on his Facebook page last Friday.

    The social media giant says it has removed some 1.5million videos of the attack, in which 50 people died, but is facing fresh scrutiny over the content which is distributed on its platform.

    New Zealand police said in a statement: ‘Police are actively investigating the sharing and dissemination of the video.

    ‘For operational reasons, we are unable to go into specific details regarding our investigation.’

    Facebook refused to specify if they would identify users who shared the video.

    The firm’s vice president Chris Sonderby said: ‘We have been working directly with the New Zealand Police to respond to the attack and support their investigation.

    ‘We removed the attacker’s video within minutes of their outreach to us, and in the aftermath, we have been providing an on-the-ground resource for law enforcement authorities.

    ‘We will continue to support them in every way we can.’

    The first user report on the original video came in 29 minutes after the video started, and 12 minutes after the live broadcast ended, Facebook said.

    Other shares that are visually similar to that video are detected and automatically removed from Facebook and Instagram, the social network said.

    MailOnline has approached Twitter and YouTube to ask if they will share users’ identities with law enforcement.

    Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said it would look at any files passed to it by police, in line with usual practice.

    The Metropolitan Police has said that spreading footage of the attack ‘may result in a criminal investigation’.

    In the latest case to go to court in New Zealand, businessman Philip Neville Arps allegedly copied the live-stream of the mass killings and distributed it on Saturday.

    He was charged with two counts of violating New Zealand’s 1993 Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act by distributing an ‘objectionable publication’.

    The 44-year-old appeared in court in Christchurch today.

    Dressed scruffily in grey tracksuit trousers, a dirty blue T-shirt and striped socks but no shoes, Arps listened intently while District Judge Stephen O’Driscoll told him he was not required to enter a plea.

    Police prosecutor Bronwen Blackmore said Arps had distributed ‘a live-stream of the murder of multiple victims at the Deans Avenue Mosque, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the publication is objectionable’.

    The married father-of-six, who was arrested in a police raid at his Christchurch home on Tuesday, was refused bail.

    Tattooed Arps glowered as he stood in the dock while his photograph was being taken at the start of the hearing.

    Arps was the second person prosecuted, after a teenager faced the same charges for allegedly posting the footage.

    Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian, has been charged with murder and appeared at court on Saturday. He was remanded until April 5.

    In addition to the live stream he outlined his anti-immigrant motives in a manifesto posted online.

    In the live stream, a man inside a mosque appears to say: ‘Welcome brother,’ as a gunman approaches.

    Of those killed in the massacre, 42 died at the Masjid Al Noor mosque on Deans Avenue in central Christchurch, seven were killed at the suburban Linwood Masjid Mosque, and one person died at Christchurch Hospital.

    A number of improvised explosive devices found on a vehicle after the shootings were defused by police.

    British security sources said there were no apparent UK links to the attack.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6831119/New-Zealand-police-social-media-users-shared-shooting-footage.html

    • New Zealand police go after social media users who shared footage of mosque shooting as second person appears in court charged with distributing the video

      Why is it that the Social Media giants all are totally exculpated when people use their platforms exactly in the manner for which they were intended?

      It isn’t any fault of the user community that they’ve decided their TOS (Terms of Service) must be rewritten every fifteen seconds to appease shifting political winds.

      Whenever anyone gets hauled into court over this sort of codswallop, Goebble and Wastebook belong right along side them as co-defendants. Maybe that might get their minds right.

    • What is really upsetting the libs over the lower court appointment is that those seats have been vacant for a long time, Obama could have appointed people to fi8ll them and didn’t think filling those seats was important.

  43. Twelve French Churches Attacked, Vandalized in One Week (breitbart, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2019/03/20/twelve-french-churches-attacked-vandalized-in-one-week/

    “A dozen Catholic churches have been desecrated across France over the period of one week in an egregious case of anti-Christian vandalism.

    The recent spate of church profanations has puzzled both police and ecclesiastical leaders, who have mostly remained silent as the violations have spread up and down France.

    Last Sunday, marauders set fire to the church of Saint-Sulpice — one of Paris’ largest and most important churches — shortly after the twelve-o’clock Mass.

    Police have concluded that the fire was the result of arson and are now looking for possible suspects. The restoration of the church from the damage caused by the fire will reportedly cost several hundred million euros.

    In Nimes (department of the Gard), near the border with Spain, the church of Notre-Dame des Enfants was desecrated in a particularly odious way, with vandals painting a cross with human excrement, looting the main altar and the tabernacle, and stealing the consecrated hosts, which were discovered later among piles of garbage.

    Likewise, the church of Notre-Dame in Dijon, in the east of the country, suffered the sacking of the high altar and the hosts were also taken from the tabernacle, scattered on the ground, and trampled.

    In Lavaur, in the southern department of the Tarn, the village church was assaulted by young men, who twisted one arm of a representation of the crucified Christ to make it appear that he was making an obscene gesture.

    In the peripheries of Paris, in the department of Yvelines, several churches have suffered profanations of varying importance, in Maisons-Laffitte and in Houilles.

    Although commentators have been reluctant to attach a particular religious or cultural origin to the profanations, they all share an evident anti-Christian character.

    In recent months, anti-Semitic gangs have desecrated Jewish cemeteries, signing their actions with swastikas. In the case of the desecration of Catholic churches, the vandalism has spoken for itself: ridicule of the figure of Christ on the cross and desecration of major altars.

    The Catholic hierarchy has kept silent about the episodes, limited themselves to highlighting that anti-Christian threat and expressing hope that politicians and police will get to the bottom of the crimes.

    Reports indicate that 80 percent of the desecration of places of worship in France concerns Christian churches and in the year 2018 this meant the profanation of an average of two Christian churches per day in France, even though these actions rarely make the headlines.

    In 2018, the Ministry of the Interior recorded 541 anti-Semitic acts, 100 anti-Muslim acts, and 1063 anti-Christian acts.”

  44. Sweden, Population 10.2 Million, Offers Asylum to China’s over 10 Million Uyhgur Muslims (breitbart, Mar 20, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/03/20/sweden-population-10-2-million-offers-asylum-china-10-million-uyhgur-muslims/

    “The Swedish government will be opening the doors to China’s persecuted Uyghur Muslims and allow them to claim asylum in the country.

    The decision was made this week by the Swedish Migration Board to ease up the regulations for Uyghur Muslims claiming asylum in Sweden saying that they, along with other persecuted Muslims, would be welcome, Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.

    Carl Bexelius, Deputy Legal Chief at the Migration Board, expanded on the reasons for the move saying, “What we have seen is that it is rather far-reaching state repression, where one can seize and detain persons without actual criminal charges. You are placed in what is described as retraining camp. This happens arbitrarily.”

    The move could have real consequences for Sweden, a country of 10.2 million people by 2018 estimates, due to the fact that the Uyghur population in China is estimated to be up to 11 million people, according to Chinese state statistics.

    Over the last year, the Chinese government has severely cracked down on Uyghur Muslims in its western Xinjiang region where up to a million people are believed to have been detained and sent to “re-education” camps across the region.

    In 2015, Sweden took in only a fraction of a million people, around 163,000 asylum claims, which amounted to a cost of around 600 billion Swedish kronor (£48.3 billion), or 14 times the annual defence budget.

    The costs of the recent migrants have put a strain on some municipalities forcing many to consider raising taxes in order to pay for social services and for the national government to even look into raising the retirement age to help cover new costs.

    The costs of housing, integration, and teaching new migrants Swedish, for those who actually attend the classes, is also complimented by the much higher unemployment rate among migrants than native Swedes.

    Should only half of the population currently in camps in China make their way to Sweden, it is highly unlikely that the country would be able to manage the numbers alone.

    Carl Bexelius at the Swedish Migration Board, however, said he does not think the new move will make more Chinese flee to Sweden saying, “We have relatively few asylum seekers from China and we made the decision not to expel these groups as early as September and we saw no increase then.””

  46. Will Saudi Arabia Leave the Seventh Century?

    by Judith Bergman
    March 20, 2019 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13930/saudi-arabia-seventh-century

    Eleven women are on trial in Saudi Arabia this week, charged with lobbying for women’s right to drive and for abolishing the system of male guardianship over women[1]. Under the male guardianship system, Saudi women are still treated as legal minors. They are assigned a male guardian, who has to approve their applying for a passport, travelling outside the country, studying abroad on a government scholarship, getting married, leaving prison, or even exiting a shelter for abuse victims, according to the BBC.

    The male guardianship system drew renewed international attention in January, when a young Saudi woman, Rahaf Mohammed, barricaded herself in a hotel room in Bangkok, and said that her family would have her imprisoned if she returned to Saudi Arabia. She eventually found asylum in Canada.

    The 11 women were arrested in May 2018, just one month before the Saudi regime finally granted its female citizens the right to ask their male guardian if they may apply for a driver’s license.

    The women have been imprisoned for 10 months without access to legal counsel, and only learned of the charges against them when they were recently brought before the Criminal Court of Riyadh.

  47. Turkey: Tens of Thousands Prosecuted for “Insulting” Erdo?an

    by Uzay Bulut
    March 20, 2019 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13863/turkey-insulting-erdogan
    The criminalization in Turkey of “insulting the president” reached a new low in early March, when a father and daughter in Ankara accused one another of engaging in the punishable offense, as part of an internal family feud.

    According to Istanbul Bilgi University professor of law, Yaman Akdeniz, since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s 2014 election, there have been 66,691 “insult investigations” launched, resulting in 12,305 trials thus far, and the “numbers are increasing.”

    Özgür Aktütün, chairman of the Sociology Alumni Association, told the independent Turkish daily BirGün that although Turkey has been “a society of informants” since the Ottoman Empire, “what is striking in recent times is the [rampant] use of [whistleblowing] on every issue.”

    “Insulting the president” is a crime according to Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, adopted in 1926. If convicted, violators face up to four years in prison — and longer, when the insult is public.

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) decries this practice. In October 2018, Benjamin Ward, HRW acting director for Europe and Central Asia said:

  48. Judge Jeanine and The Paradoxes of the Post-9/11 World
    Our surreal march down a suicidal road.
    March 20, 2019
    Bruce Bawer

    Last Saturday night, one of the guests on Greg Gutfeld’s evening show on Fox News was a former Marine staff sergeant, bomb technician Johnny “Joey” Jones, who lost his legs when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan in 2010. He brought to mind a young Jimmy Stewart: winsome, modest, good-spirited, and even able to crack jokes about his missing limbs. Watching him, I thought: here is a young man who was handicapped for life because, in the wake of 9/11, he was one of those courageous Americans who agreed to risk their lives in foreign lands fighting their nation’s enemy.

    But what is that enemy? The unofficial name given to the struggle by the White House under George W. Bush – the War on Terror – avoided answering that question. So, for that matter, did the official name, Operation Enduring Freedom. From the very beginning, in fact, the exact nature of the whole enterprise was swathed in a fog of euphemism and evasion. The men who flew those planes into the Twin Towers and Pentagon were devout Muslims, obeying their religion’s holy book by slaughtering infidels en masse. The Taliban leaders in Afghanistan were also devout Muslims, ruling that nation in strict accordance with sharia law. And yet days after 9/11, even as Bush was planning the Afghanistan campaign, he told the American people that “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace.”

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273214/judge-jeanine-and-paradoxes-post-911-world-bruce-bawer

  49. Chicago Cops Want Jussie Smollett Probe of Leftist State’s Attorney
    March 20, 2019
    Daniel Greenfield

    The fun is just getting started in the Jussie Smollett case.

    Not all that long ago the media was cheering Kim Foxx as brave and courageous, for breaking the glass and marketing herself as a survivor. She was supposed to implement pro-crime “reforms” in Chicago’s “broken justice system”.

    Now the breakage is going the other way.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/273222/chicago-cops-want-jussie-smollett-probe-leftist-daniel-greenfield

  50. House Dems Brought in a Soros Group to Fix Anti-Semitism, It Made Anti-Semitic Jokes
    March 20, 2019
    Daniel Greenfield

    How disastrous are the attempts to rein in leftist anti-Semitism in the Dem House?

    The Washington Post, in between providing space to Islamist anti-Semites, did a sympathetic piece on a session, largely focusing on Rep. Tlaib’s crocodile tears. Media pieces have had the same focus. But here’s what they chose not to dwell on.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/273223/house-dems-brought-soros-group-fix-anti-semitism-daniel-greenfield