Contributor’s links post for April 3, 2019

Daily Links Post graphic

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We muse use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

126 Replies to “Contributor’s links post for April 3, 2019”

  1. China’s Secret Invasion of the US | General Robert Spalding | Trump China | China Uncensored
    20,322 views

    • Some of this video was not in the China Unscripted video I posted yesterday.

      • He ends on an optimistic note.
        I’m not so sure that countries will make the right decision, no matter how awake they are to the fundamentals.

    • As usual—it’s not just watching all sixteen felony charges being dropped like a live grenade—but maintaining any pretense of innocence that is, in reality, far more offensive. It’s like having someone that you thought was a close friend publicly barb you with a deeply cutting remark and then (realizing their cover is blown tremendous gaffe, try to shrug it off with, “Hey! I was just kidding”, hør$ê$hït.

      The betrayal—be it of friendship or, in this case, Rule of Law—involved with staging a serious false flag attack against all Caucasians “hate crime”, IS UTTERLY DWARFED by the insolence of expecting average Americans to meekly gulp down this lie-of-a-camel whole even as Smollett’s clan of deviants continue to throttle on pronoun gnats.

      This isn’t “Through the Looking Glass” anymore: It’s the Emperor’s New Clothes!

  2. French military doctor killed by explosive device in Mali’s Gourma (thedefensepost, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/04/03/france-military-doctor-killed-mali-gourma-operation-barkhane/

    “A military doctor was killed by an explosive device in the vast Gourma region of Mali near the border with Burkina Faso, the French military said.

    At around 11 a.m. local time (GMT) on Tuesday, April 2, an Operation Barkhane armored vehicle operating as part of a group was struck by an explosive device, the General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a release.

    President Emmanuel Macron said in statement that the armored vehicle was struck by an “improvised explosive device” during an operation against “armed terrorist groups.”…”

  3. “They’re No Longer Crypto-Fascists. They’re Out of the Closet.” Sebastian Gorka

    • Yemen’s Houthis Target UN Employees (aawsat, Apr 3, 2019)
      https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1662651/yemen%E2%80%99s-houthis-target-un-employees

      “Yemen’s Houthi militias have once again targeted United Nations employees tasked with reinforcing a truce in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

      Waddah Aldbish, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led Arab coalition, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the insurgents opened fire on 89 employees of the World Food Program (WFP) and others to deny them access to the Red Sea Mills in the port.

      He said armed Houthis surrounded the UN convoy and threatened to target employees and to confiscate their equipment and vehicles. The militias then forced the employees to return to where they came from…”

  4. Western Reports Warn of Possible Terrorists’ Infiltration From Syria to Lebanon (aawsat, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1662761/western-reports-warn-possible-terrorists-infiltration-syria-lebanon

    “Lebanon has received alarming reports from Western intelligence agencies and some European embassies in Beirut, warning of the danger of infiltration of terrorists from Syria into Lebanese territory in the coming weeks and months.

    “Western apparatuses and embassies have built their conclusions on unstable military and security conditions in Syria and renewed sporadic rounds of violence, making the security very bad and the economic situation worse than at the climax of the war,” well-informed Lebanese security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

    Part of the western information received in Lebanon was drawn from the situation of al-Hol refugee camp in north-eastern Syria, near the Iraqi border, which is under the control of the Kurdish forces, supported by the International Coalition Forces.

    According to data, the camp hosts 76,000 people, all of whom are women and children under the age of 15, including 10,000 with foreign nationalities. Most of them are Europeans from Sweden, France and Britain, as well as a few hundred Australian nationals. They receive food and medical assistance from the International Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent.

    “There are suspicions that there are dozens of Lebanese, including women and children of ISIS fighters, who are still holed up in some areas and are moving between the Syrian and Iraqi territories,” the sources said, citing the available information.

    According to details obtained by the Lebanese security and judicial services, “the countries that have citizens in the camp are following up the situation of their nationals through their embassies in Lebanon. These embassies have explicitly warned of the escape of dozens of its militants into Lebanon across the uncontrolled border, or through mafias. They are transferred to the Palestinian camps” inside Lebanon.

    “The danger is that European countries and Australia have deprived those citizens of their nationality and waived their legal rights so as not to bear the risk of being repatriated,” the sources noted.

    “The said countries consider that women and children in al-Hol camp are no less dangerous than their parents because they have been indoctrinated with the ideology of extremist organizations,” they warned.

    In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Peter Germanos stressed that the military judiciary has taken advanced steps to prosecute those belonging to terrorist organizations, but pointed out that no data or information was available on whether those persons have committed terrorist crimes or crimes against humanity in Syria.

    “There are fears that some of these people are dangerous and had received mitigating sentences because of the lack of information about them,” he said.”

  5. Pro-Haftar fighters say they are preparing offensive on government-held western Libya (mee, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/pro-haftar-fighters-say-they-are-preparing-offensive-government-held-western-libya

    “Forces loyal to eastern Libya commander Khalifa Haftar are preparing to advance on the country’s west, which may include the capital Tripoli, a spokesman for Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) said.

    LNA spokesman Ahmed Mesmari said at a news conference on Wednesday that “preparations are on the point of being completed … to purge the west of terrorists and mercenaries”, AFP news agency reported.

    Mismari did not say directly whether Haftar’s forces would move on Tripoli, but he did say that he expects “the women of Tripoli to welcome the Libyan army like the women of Benghazi and Derna did”, referring to two eastern cities the LNA took by force.

    The deployment and rhetoric alarmed the internationally recognised Libyan government in Tripoli, whose prime minister, Fayez al-Serraj, has been negotiating a power-sharing deal with a parallel administration in the east that is allied to Haftar.

    The Tripoli government, which relies on a patchwork of armed groups with often changing loyalties, issued a general alert for its forces in response to the LNA spokesman’s comments on Wednesday.

    The announcements coincided with the arrival in Tripoli of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is on a regional tour to help avoid a confrontation between the rival Libyan camps.

    Guterres plans to help prepare a national conference in two weeks to stabilise the country, which has been in conflict since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, a UN spokesman said, as cited by Reuters.

    A resident in Ras Lanuf, an oil town located on the coastal road, told Reuters on Wednesday that tanks and military convoys were seen heading westwards in the direction of Sirte.

    A town in central Libya, Sirte is controlled by a force from the western city of Mistrata allied with the Tripoli administration.

    Misrata, a port city east of Tripoli, is home to powerful armed groups, which could at least partly match the firepower of LNA ground troops, analysts told Reuters.

    Haftar has turned into a major player in the North African country, enjoying the backing of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates…”

  6. MSF warns of sharp increase in cholera cases in Yemen (memo, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190403-msf-warns-of-sharp-increase-in-cholera-cases-in-yemen/

    “Doctors without Borders (MSF) yesterday warned of a “sharp increase” in the number of suspected cholera cases across Yemen.

    The international medical organisation posted on Twitter that its teams have noticed a sharp increase in the number of suspected cholera cases in several Yemeni provinces.

    “In Sanaa, we started supporting the cholera treatment center at Kuwait Hospital, which has 60 beds, and 145 patients were treated in less than 48 hours,” it added…”

  7. Al Jazeera condemns Egypt inclusion of its staff on ‘terror list’ (memo, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190403-al-jazeera-condemns-egypt-inclusion-of-its-staff-on-terror-list/

    “Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned the Egyptian authorities’ decision to include a number of its employees on a “terror list”.

    The Egyptian Court of Cassation rejected appeals filed by Al Jazeera employees against a decision issued by the Criminal Court in June 2018 to include more than 100 people on the terror list including journalists and media personnel.

    The network considered the “arbitrary decision” a new episode in a series of attacks by the Egyptian authorities against the network and its employees to prevent it from covering events in Egypt.

    The network also condemned the inclusion of journalists on the list.

    The network stressed that the decision is a direct attack against freedom of the press and expression and called on the Egyptian authorities to immediately stop their ongoing attacks on journalists and media workers.

    The Egyptian authorities have been targeting and arresting Al Jazeera journalists and correspondents since the 2013 military coup. Courts have sentenced many of them to jail terms or handed death sentences in absentia.”

  8. US has ‘no clear strategy’ in Syria: Turkish FM (memo, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190403-us-has-no-clear-strategy-in-syria-turkish-fm/

    “The United States does not seem to have a “clear strategy” for Syria with different positions coming from various parts of the government, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

    “Different positions, different statements are coming from institutions and departments here in the United States. State Department and Defense ministry, as well as the military on the ground, CENTCOM, and this and that. All different positions,” he said. “There is no clear strategy, this is the problem.”

    Cavusoglu comments came at a NATO event hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.

    He said he did not know what the American policy is in Syria…”

  9. Dozens die in Burkina as Sahel conflict spirals (reuters, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-burkina-security/dozens-die-in-burkina-as-sahel-conflict-spirals-idUSKCN1RF2H5

    “More than 60 civilians have been killed in tit-for-tat clashes between communities in northern Burkina Faso in recent days, the government said on Wednesday, the latest in a bout of inter-communal violence afflicting West Africa’s Sahel region.

    Burkina and neighboring Mali have seen a spike in ethnic clashes fueled by Islamist militants as they seek to extend their influence over the Sahel, an arid region between Africa’s northern Sahara desert and its southern savannas.

    Islamist attacks have risen in recent months, and the violence has reignited long-standing tensions between communities as certain groups are blamed for collaborating with the jihadists.

    New violence arose near the town of Arbinda in Burkina’s Soum province on Sunday night, when a religious leader and six of his family members were killed by unidentified armed men, the ruling Movement of People for Progress (MPP) party said in a statement on Wednesday.

    “On the morning of April 1st, reprisal acts were reported in the Arbinda Department. They were directed against a community following the assassination of a religious leader,” said MPP spokesman Bindi Ouoba.

    The MPP statement said a royal family was also attacked in neighboring Boulgou province on Sunday night, leaving at least nine dead.

    Territorial Administration Minister Simeon Sawadogo said on state TV late on Wednesday that 62 people died in the Arbinda attack.

    “Thirty deaths were the result of inter-communal conflicts, and 32 people were killed by terrorists,” said Sawadogo, adding that militants had taken nine hostages.

    Deteriorating security prompted the government to declare a state of emergency in several northern provinces bordering Mali in December, which was extended by six months after jihadists attacked civilians in Soum.

    Burkina Faso, which had previously been known for its stability in a troubled region, has suffered 499 deaths from attacks on civilians between November 2018 and March 23 – a more than 7,000 percent jump from the same period a year earlier.”

  10. Revealed: Many CNN analysts’ ties with Qatari regime (saudigazette, Apr 3, 2019)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/562624/World/America/Revealed-Many-CNN-analysts-ties-with-Qatari-regime

    “Several of the so-called national security experts at CNN have direct links to Qatar, according to media reports.

    At least four CNN regulars, two of whom are full-time employees, were identified as Qatar-tied propagandists.

    A CNN regular who was prominently featured in the network’s anti-Saudi Arabia documentary, Ali Soufan is the executive director of the Qatar International Academy for Security Studies (QIASS), which is based in Doha and funded by the Qatari regime. According to the Wall Street Journal, Soufan has a “personal relationship” with the top leadership of Qatar.

    CNN regular Mehdi Hasan is a longtime presenter for Al Jazeera.

    “Mr. Hasan works for Al Jazeera, the Qatari-owned media enterprise that advances the interests of the state and its royal family. When he speaks, he’s no less a government spokesman than Kellyanne Conway or Sarah Sanders,” explained David Reaboi of the Security Studies Group in a Washington Times column last week.

    Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst, is a board member of the International Center for Sport Security (ICSS), a front group controlled by Qatar.

    Unlike the other individuals on this list, lead CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen does not appear to have a direct link to a Qatari state institution. However, Bergen, a regular visitor to Doha pushes blatant pro-Qatar agitprop when it comes to Middle East affairs. — Agencies”

  11. UN slams Brunei’s ‘Islamic laws’ against homosexuality as violation of human rights (ahram, Apr 3, 2019)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/329399/World/International/UN-slams-Bruneis-Islamic-laws-against-homosexualit.aspx

    “Brunei is violating human rights by implementing Islamic laws that would allow death by stoning for adultery and homosexuality, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

    Brunei, a Muslim-majority former British protectorate with a population of around 400,000, on Wednesday began implementing Sharia laws, which punish sodomy, adultery and rape with the death penalty – including by stoning, and theft with amputation.

    U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “believes that human rights are to be upheld in relation to every person everywhere without any kind of discrimination,” said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

    “The legislation approved is in clear violation with the principles expressed,” he said. “So long as people face criminalization, bias and violence based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics, we must redouble our efforts to end these violations.”

    “Everyone is entitled to live free and equal in dignity and rights,” Dujarric said.

    Brunei has defended its right to implement the laws, elements of which were first adopted in 2014 and which have been rolled out in phases since then.

    Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, 72, is the world’s second-longest reigning monarch and is prime minister of the oil-rich country. He ranks as one of the world’s wealthiest people.

    Oscar-winning actor George Clooney has called for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by The Brunei Investment Company, such as the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Dorchester in London and the Plaza Athenee in Paris.

    The United States on Tuesday criticized Brunei’s decision to implement the laws and urged it to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture.”

  12. UN adopts resolution against violence based on religion, beliefs (tribune, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1942744/1-un-adopts-resolution-violence-based-religion-beliefs/

    “The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday adopted a resolution strongly condemning continuing violence and acts of terrorism targeting individuals, including persons belonging to religious minorities, based on or in the name of religion or belief.

    The resolution, titled ‘Combating terrorism and other acts of violence based on religion or belief’, was presented by Turkey and co-sponsored by countries including Pakistan.

    By the terms of the resolution, the UNGA condemned “in the strongest terms the heinous, cowardly terrorist attack aimed at Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand”.
    The assembly also urged all states to protect and promote freedom of religion and belief and to foster a domestic environment of religious tolerance, peace and respect.

    Introducing the resolution, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu said the international community must stand up against the spiral of hate. “Islamophobia and racism go hand in hand,” he said.

    Rejecting the actions of reckless politicians who “use distorted historical narratives and toxic conspiracy theories to equate Islam with terrorism”, he quoted the poet Rumi who said, “Listen with ears of tolerance, see with eyes of compassion, speak the language of love.”

    Pakistan’s representative, Maleeha Lodhi, said increasing anti-Islam sentiments were threatening global peace. She asserted that Pakistan has and will always support efforts to bring nations and religions closer.

    Noting that nine victims of the Christchurch attack hailed from Pakistan, Ambassador Lodhi said profiling and stigmatising people from one country leads to drastic consequences.

    Speaking in explanation of position before the vote, the representative of New Zealand welcomed the focus of the text on strengthened international efforts on a global dialogue to foster a culture of tolerance, diversity and peace.

    “New Zealand is humbled by the outpouring of support from the international community and particularly grateful to the global Muslim community who stood with us during these dark days,” he said.

    Canada’s delegate recalled the attack in a Quebec City mosque two years ago and said that when violence like this occurs, whether in mosques, churches, synagogues or on the streets, it must be called what it is: neo?Nazism, white supremacism, Islamophobia, and anti?Semitism.

    The representative of Israel said the negotiation process on the resolution could have been more inclusive and transparent and condemned acts of violence against any person based on belief or religion.

    The European Union’s delegate said that “attacks on places of worship are attacks on all of us who value diversity”, adding that sensitive issues require careful consideration and the deliberations on the draft were “somewhat compressed”.

    The representative of Saudi Arabia noted that terrorist elements are spreading their message through electronic and social media, while the representative of Malaysia said lack of knowledge about other communities is contributing to the growing xenophobia.

    Iran’s delegate said that measures such as a Muslim travel ban and the use of the term “Islamic terrorism” are ways of encouraging Islamophobia, while the representative of Kazakhstan called for dialogue between civilizations.”

    • So you are going to stop killing Christians?thought not,this only applies to mozlems to give them a free hand to destroy our civilisation,when do we hear you condemn Islamic atrocities,?

  13. Australian senator censured for racist remarks (aa, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/australian-senator-censured-for-racist-remarks/1441349

    “Australia’s Senate on Wednesday formally censured a senator widely condemned for remarks blaming Muslim immigration for last month’s deadly New Zealand terror attacks.

    Senators officially censured independent Queensland Senator Fraser Anning for his Islamophobic, racist remarks in a session led by Labor Senator for South Australia Penny Wong and Mathias Cormann, the ruling Coalition’s deputy leader in the Senate.

    The censure motion was supported across the aisle, with only one senator in the 76-seat body voting against, and three abstaining.

    Wong called Anning’s statements “shameful and pathetic.”

    “There is a difference between freedom of speech and hate speech,” she said. “The former is a feature of our democracy. The latter is an attack on democracy.”

    “We have to be uncompromising in our rejection of racism, prejudice, discrimination, and hate speech, and we must call it out wherever we see it,” she added.

    Cormann said: “It is very important that the Parliament is unified in its condemnation of these appalling comments that have been made.”

    “Senator Anning’s comments were ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place,” he added.

    Victims blamed

    At least 50 Muslim worshippers were massacred, with as many injured, in an alleged white supremacist terror attack by an Australian-born man on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15.

    In the massacre’s aftermath, Anning tweeted: “Does anyone still dispute the link between Muslim immigration and violence?”

    Despite outrage at his tweet, he later added: “The real cause of the bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.”

    Birmingham said Anning had acted in a way that “would potentially fuel more acts of terrorism and violence.”

    “You have failed the test of character I would expect of anybody who is elected to this place,” he told Anning.

    Some 1.4 million people have signed a petition calling for Anning’s removal from the Senate, a sanction that requires a higher bar than the censure vote”

    • In the name of “free speech”we must silence you for telling the truth.with all of these administrations around the world working in concert to suppress the will of the people,the nwo is already here.

  14. Another baby dies after home circumcision (ansa, Apr 3, 2019)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/04/03/another-baby-dies-after-home-circumcision_e9393b24-adf6-4e90-a81e-6390105735e5.html

    “A baby died in Genoa on Tuesday after being circumcised at home, sources said on Wednesday.

    The child’s Nigerian mother and grandmother have been arrested and taken to the police headquarters in the northern city for questioning, as well as an African man who carried out the operation, whom they considered a ‘witch doctor’, the sources said. The father is said to be outside the country.

    The mother, 25, is said to have called the emergency services but the child was dead when they arrived. Investigators say the alleged witch doctor carried out the circumcision and they tracked him down after checking the phone records of the mother and grandmother. It is the third such case in recent months in Italy.

    Last month a five-month-old baby died in Bologna’s Sant’Orsola hospital following a botched circumcision, allegedly by his parents of Ghanaian origin.

    Another small child died in December due to an illegal circumcision performed at Monterotondo, near Rome.

    Yassine Lafram, the head of Bologna’s Islamic community, has condemned the practice of subjecting children to illegal circumcisions.

    “We learn of the terrible news of the death of a five-month baby following an illegal circumcision with dismay,” said Lafram after the second of the case.
    “It’s a death that could certainly have been avoided and pains us deeply.

    “We firmly condemn these irresponsible gestures and we hope that they never happen again”.”

  15. Sea Eye rescues 64 migrants off Libya (ansamed, Apr 3, 2019)
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2019/04/03/sea-eye-rescues-64-migrants-off-libya_95e83168-77b5-4c9c-a7f8-ad300407785c.html

    “The German migrant rescue NGO ship Sea Eye on Wednesday rescued 64 migrants off Libya, the NGO said.

    ”They’re all safe aboard our ship,” it said. The alert went out Wednesday morning when the migrants phoned the Alarm Phone service saying their boat was in trouble off Zuwarah.

    The migrants reportedly include 10 women and six children.

    The rescue operation was completed on Wednesday afternoon and the ONG posted to Facebook a brief video of the migrants, first on a rubber dinghy and then aboard the Alan Kurdi vessel. Some kneel down to give thanks while others are covered in blankets.
    Several children can be seen in the video, including a baby.

    ”Alan Kurdi has successfully completed the operation, rescuing 64 people”, Alarm Phone said on Twitter. ”This case shows the importance of the civilian fleet’s direct intervention” off Libya After a phone call at 10 am, the phone service received a second call from the boat, in which migrants said they needed medical treatment.

    ”We received their GPS position” but ”the authorities we called could not be reached” the NGO also said. Indications on the dinghy’s position – said Alarm Phone – were sent via email both to the Libyan coast guard and the Alan Kurdi, which was in the area searching for a boat with 50 people on board that is believed to have disappeared two days ago and has not been found yet. “Ship flying German flag, German NGO, German owner and captain from Hamburg. It intervened in Libyan waters and is asking for a safe port. Ok, let it go to Hamburg,” said Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini.”

    • Just ring us and we will come and collect you,give you a eussr credit card,a house,and all the trimmings,then you can rob,rape and extort more of our money,then we will fly in the witch doctor of your choice,and get whitey to wipe your arse.

  16. Swiss support for gun ownership faces crucial test (thelocal, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.thelocal.ch/20190403/swiss-love-of-guns-to-be-tested-in-upcoming-referendum

    “Switzerland, where gun culture has deep roots, has managed to avoid the charged national debates over firearm ownership that have consumed other countries.

    But in a state where compulsory military service means many are comfortable around weapons, voters might, in a May referendum, push back against gun reforms demanded by the European Union.

    And there is evidence that the Swiss broadly support a citizen’s right to own weapons – and are acquiring guns at an accelerated pace.

    In the eastern city of Lucerne last week, at one of the country’s largest arms trade fairs, vendors boasted of surging sales including a fresh appetite for weapons among the elderly.

    This apparent pro-gun outlook may partly be driven by the lack of horrific mass shootings such as last month’s massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand. Lawmakers there are well on the way to restricting access to military-style semi-automatic weapons.

    But Switzerland – which has the world’s 16th highest rate of gun ownership according to a 2018 report by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey – is now being forced to confront tensions between its traditions and a demand from the EU to toughen its gun laws.

    While the country is not a member of the EU, it belongs to the visa-free Schengen travel region and must therefore comply with various rules applied by the bloc.

    Brussels called on the Swiss government to amend its gun laws to make them compatible with EU restrictions tightened following the 2015 Paris attacks.

    Swiss lawmakers approved reforms that the EU has deemed sufficient.

    But that prompted a fierce pushback by members of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the measures next month.

    ‘Old people’ arming’

    At the Lucerne fair 56-year-old Barbara Kottler, browsing the rows of weapons on offer, dismissed the notion that legal gun sales posed a public security threat.

    “People who shoot for sport are very peaceful,” she told the AFP news agency. “Those who cause problems are people who acquire the weapons illegally.”

    Legally buying a weapon in Switzerland is not particularly complicated.

    All citizens without a criminal record can own a firearm, a right that also applies to most foreign nationals living in the country.

    Policeman Josef Rust, who heads the weapons registration office in Lucerne, told AFP that heightened demand for gun permits was “massive all across Switzerland”.

    Until 2006, he said, Lucerne canton issued about 500 licenses annually. Now, the annual average is above 2,000.

    “We have requests from very old people who want to protect themselves. They connect it with immigration, with the terrorist danger or growing crime,” Rust said.

    “It is certainly not a positive evolution that very old people equip themselves with weapons, but we cannot prevent it: if someone wishes to do so and meets the criteria, we must grant the license.”

    Jean-Paul Schild, owner of Schild Waffen gun shop, said he had seen rising purchases among women, who are not content to just own a weapon but also want to “master it”.

    Five years ago, Schild Waffen offered shooting classes twice a month. Now, he said, they have them every week, with increased demand partly driven by more female clients.

    Brussels versus tradition

    One reason why the EU-mandated reforms have touched a nerve is because Swiss gun culture is tied to strong traditions of national defence service.

    Most Swiss men undergo obligatory military service, consisting of three weeks of service each year between the ages of 18 and 30. They are allowed to keep their assigned weapon when they are done.

    Markus Thommen, a weapons collector from Zurich, told AFP that his “first contact” with a weapon was at home with his father, who showed him how to clean it.

    “We knew that guns were not used to attack, but to defend the country, or maybe the family,” the 61-year-old said.

    The EU laws, aimed at fighting terrorism, restrict certain types of guns, such as semi-automatic weapons and firearms with high-capacity magazines.

    The Swiss government has said that after securing compromises from Brussels it adopted a reform package that both addresses EU concerns and safeguards national traditions.

    But, in keeping with the party tradition, the SVP has mounted an emotive campaign to defeat the reforms next month.

    “The EU directive amounts to disarming Swiss households,” SVP lawmaker Werner Salzmann was quoted as saying by public broadcaster RTS.

    The government has countered that if voters reject the measures, Switzerland risks being booted out of the Schengen region, a potentially disastrous outcome for travel and tourism. “

  17. ‘Sweden needs to do more to convict rapists’: Amnesty report (thelocal, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.thelocal.se/20190403/sweden-needs-to-do-more-convict-rapists-amnesty-report

    “The human rights group Amnesty International has called on Sweden to do more to bring rapists to justice after a new report highlighted the fact that less than five percent of reported rapes currently lead to a conviction.

    According to the report Time for Change: Justice for Rape Survivors in the Nordics, only 236 of the 5,236 rapes reported in Sweden in in 2017 led to a conviction, or just 4.5 percent.

    This compares to the 78 convictions for 1,504 reported rapes in Norway in 2016 (5 percent), 94 convictions for 890 reported rapes in Denmark (10 percent), and 209 convictions for 1,245 reported rapes in Finland (16 percent).

    Katarina Bergehed, one of the report’s lead authors, told The Local that Amnesty had decided to release the report because of the new sexual consent law Sweden’s parliament voted in last year.

    “This was a necessary and really important step but it is far from enough, and if we leave the judicial system unaddressed then the potential of the new law will be wasted,” she said.

    The report found that Swedish police often waited a long time before carrying out questioning, while DNA analyses could take as long as nine months to deliver, making it hard for prosecutors to push forward cases. This problem had been problem identified years ago, but had yet to be resolved.

    “In summary, the picture is that these crimes are not prioritized sufficiently,” Bergehed said. “Investigations are often just put on the shelf, and this hampers the ability to press charges.”

    She said that the police often failed to follow their own policies for rape investigations.

    “The authorities worked out the best practice many years ago, with very detailed instructions, but their own monitoring shows that in parts of Sweden it’s not used fully or even at all.”

    In particular, police often waited too long to question identified suspects, meaning investigators could miss out on potentially crucial information.

    “Too often they are not heard at the beginning or even heard at all, which is of course a serious flaw,” she said.

    Ulf Johansson, chief of the police in Stockholm, told Swedish state broadcaster SR that he welcomed the report’s findings. “We need to be self-critical, and as an organization we need to do more,” he said.

    Sweden’s Home Affairs minister Mikael Damberg, welcomed the criticism.

    “This is something which has been developing for a long time, and which has moved gradually in the wrong direction, which is why it is good that Amnesty has come out with this report,” he said. “This is a real priority from the point of view of Sweden’s government.””

  18. Attacks against Muslims and mosques in Germany decreasing (thelocal, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.thelocal.de/20190403/attacks-against-muslims-and-mosques-in-germany-decreasing-study

    “A new study shows a drop in ‘hate crime’ incidents in Germany against Muslims and mosques in 2018.

    The number of injuries increased however, indicating a decrease in prevalence but a spike in severity.

    In total, 813 Islamophobic and anti-Muslim crimes were recorded last year, down from 950 in 2017.

    The official figures however showed that injuries as a result of the attacks had risen, with 54 reported in 2018 — an increase on 32 from the previous year.

    The numbers were released by the German parliament in response to a request by Die Linke (The Left) political party and reported in the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.

    Progress in integration or a mirage?

    Critics of the figures have argued that the decrease does not illustrate the successful integration of refugees or a diminution in overall anti-Muslim sentiment. Instead, they argue that there is a large number of incidents which continue to go unreported.

    Die Linke’s Ulla Jelpke, who put through the request, told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that anti-Muslim sentiment manifests itself in many ways.

    “The statistics are only the tip of the iceberg, as many everyday abuses, insults and other forms of discrimination against Muslims are not recorded at all,” Jelpke said.

    Far-right extremists or a more mainstream trend?

    Authorities assume that the vast majority of the attacks are carried out by far-right extremists rather than members of the mainstream German community.

    The findings listed a number of different ways in which anti-Muslim sentiment had been expressed, including verbal or written threats, Nazi-themed graffiti and property damage.

    Due to the way in which crimes of this nature are recorded, it is difficult to get a complete idea of the prevalence of xenophobic sentiment and the ideology of the perpetrators.

    A similar body for Muslims in Germany

    The Chairman of the Central Council of Muslims, Aiman ??Mazyek, has suggested that the decrease does not indicate a growing acceptance of Muslims in Germany.

    Instead, Mazyek argues that as fewer refugees come to the country, Muslims are less visible targets for xenophobes and right-wing extremists.

    He has called for the German government to create a representative body or commission which deals with crimes against Muslims, much like has been done recently to tackle anti-Semitism.

    As reported by The Local in January, a new federal reporting centre was developed to tackle anti-Semitism across Germany amid rising fears of xenophobia and hate crimes against Jewish people.

    One of the primary reasons for the creation of the centre was to more accurately collate information relating to attacks against Jewish people in Germany, whether or not these were criminal in nature.

    “(Appointing or creating) such a representative at a federal and state level is necessary than ever, because there is a latent anti-Muslim sentiment across Germany,” Mazyek said.

    He also called for police to be better trained to deal with these crimes.

    “It is necessary to train and sensitize the judiciary and police so that all of the (anti-Muslim) acts are properly recorded.””

    • What about the crimes committed against the germans ,the millions of rapes,murders,none of which seem to matter as long as mozlem feelings are not offended.one Australian nut job and we must surrender?

  19. Germany approves stripping dual national terrorist fighters of citizenship (DW, Apr 3, 2019)
    https://www.dw.com/en/germany-approves-stripping-dual-national-terrorist-fighters-of-citizenship/a-48177392

    “Germany’s cabinet has approved a change to the law allowing dual nationals to lose their citizenship if they fight for a foreign terrorist militia. The new law will not be applied retroactively.

    Germans with dual nationality who join foreign terrorist militias will lose their citizenship in the future, the cabinet decided on Wednesday.

    “Someone who goes abroad and actually participates in combat operations for a terrorist militia shows that they have turned their back on Germany and its basic values and turned to another foreign power in the form of a terrorist militia,” the federal government said in a statement.

    The change to the citizenship law will apply only to adults who have a second nationality. Minors are unaffected. It would also not be applied retroactively, which would violate German case law…”

    • That particular horse has already bolted,this is a free pass for mozlem terrorists,a clear signal that Europeans will not be protected no matter what barbarity is inflicted upon them.

    • A man pretending to be a woman can not be called a woman,if he wants to parade around pretending then he can not expect to be treated with any normal courtesy since he is mentally deranged.

  20. “EXTRAORDINARY speech: Gerard Batten slams Juncker, Barnier and the EU”
    UKIP Official Channel – Published on Apr 3, 2019

  21. “Alex Newman weekly !Live – #RussiaHoax Mueller Report”
    Make Poland Great Again
    Streamed live on March 28, 2019

  22. Videos: “War on Greenpeace Co-founder for Exposing Green Tyranny” by Liberty Sentinel Staff – 2 weeks ago
    https://libertysentinel.org/war-on-greenpeace-co-founder-for-exposing-green-tyranny

    “Patrick Moore – The Power of Truth”
    John Robson – Published on February 25, 2019

    Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore gives a keynote address to the Economic Education Association of Alberta’s 6th annual “Freedom School” conference, on “Things that Matter: An Agenda for Alberta”, about changing the world by speaking the truth – in this case about the science, policy and politics of man-made global warming.

    • Professor Willie Soon, Climated Realist
      10 Video Playlist
      Last updated on November 23, 2018
      https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7jnzBzBiNYDpYp8KORgRjO5tIsDsjyh-

      11th Video: “Climate Change Refuted Press Conference with Professor Willie Soon and Joe D’Aleo of WeatherBell”

      Camp Constitution hosted a press conference at the Massachusetts State House with Professor Willie Soon, and Joseph D’Aleo of WeatherBell Monday February 25, 2019.

      Dr. Soon earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science and his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s 9th International Conference on Climate Change, a gathering of many of the world’s top climate scientists and researchers who challenge the IPCC’s increasingly discredited claim that human activity is causing a global crisis that demands draconian global regulations under an increasingly powerful United Nations. Born in Malaysia, Dr. Soon immigrated to the US in 1980. In 2004, he received the Petr Beckmann Award for outstanding contributions to the defense of scientific truth

      Joseph D’Aleo was a co-founder and the first Director of Meteorology at the cable TV Weather Channel. He has over 45 years’ experience in professional meteorology. Mr. D’Aleo is now co-chief Meteorologist with Weatherbell Analytics LLC. He was previously Chief Meteorologist at Weather Services International Corporation and the WSI Intellicast.com website. He was a partner and chief meteorologist in a hedge fund trading energy and agriculture before joining WeatherBell at its start-up.