Contributor’s links post for April 21, 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

69 Replies to “Contributor’s links post for April 21, 2019”

  1. The burning down of historic buildings and churches has a long tradition among the enemies of the Occident. For example in Gelsenkirchen, Germany+++
    Yes, the haters of the Occident like to set fire to it. Unglorious destruction of cultural assets also in Gelsenkirchen,Germany in 1995. For example the Gothic vicarage of Schloss Lüttinghof (photo below). I could not believe it when I read in the newspaper about a fire exercise at the place where only one house stood, the old vicarage built in 1516. Thereupon I rode my bike to the Gelsenkirchen district of Hassel and sadly it was true. The historically valuable building was burned down in the context of a fire exercise!
    Read more:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-burning-down-of-historic-buildings.html

    • The historically valuable building was burned down in the context of a fire exercise!

      A legacy of centuries exchanged for glittering Postmodernist baubles.

      New lamps for old! Pave paradise!

  2. Failed Attack on Saudi Police Station Kills At Least Four – Reports (sputniknews, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201904211074321757-saudi-arabia-police-attack/

    “At least four militants have been killed while attempting to attack a police station to the north of Saudi Arabia’s capital, Al Arabiya TV channel reports.

    The attack took place in the area of Zulfi, which is located about 250 km to the north of the capital Riyadh, Al Arabiya specified.

    According to Al Arabiya TV, the suspects were inside a car when they tried to crash through the main entrance of the General Directorate of Investigation’s Centre in Riyadh.

    However, they were intercepted by security personnel and their vehicle was prevented from gaining access to the compound.

    The sides then exchanged fire, which resulted in the death of the attackers, the source added…”

  3. London BLOODBATH: Knife fight leaves man in life-threatening condition, one arrest (express, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1116888/London-stabbing-knife-fight-tower-hamlets-osborn-street-knife-crime-met-police

    “A KNIFE fight in Tower Hamlets, London last night left one man in his 20s in a life-threatening condition with multiple stab wounds.

    A man in his 50s, who suffered non life-threatening stab wounds, has been arrested on suspicion attempted murder. Police were called at 7:19pm to reports of a fight between the two men on Osborn Street, E1. Metropolitan Police officers attended the scene, along with the London Ambulance Service.

    The men were taken to separate hospitals.

    Officers from Tower Hamlets are investigating the incident.

    The incident took place near Brick Lane in Shoreditch.

    A normally bustling part of London on a Saturday night famous for its curry houses and late night bars is deserted…”

  4. Munich, Germany: A dark-skinned man barges in at Easter service screaming “Allahu Akbar.” — Numerous injured churchgoers (VIDEO)+++
    Strongly drunken man, dark-skinned and with a beard, enters St. Paul’s Church in Munich at the Theresienwiese during the Croatian Mass (Easter blessing), with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, lights a firecracker and throws it into the middle of the church and shouts “Allahu Akbar”, everyone panics and throws the baskets where the Easter meal was in, runs out and screams. Children and adults were injured. The police and their squad came and arrested the man. They are shocking pictures that must be spread and not hidden. There were some injured. Many children in a state of shock. Merkur Online reports that 24 people were injured.
    Read more:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/04/munich-germany-dark-skinned-man-barges.html

  5. In light of these bombings today in Sri Lanka it is truly amazing that the French authorities have so quickly and confidently ruled out Islamic terrorism as the motive for the Notre Dame fire. It really is as obtuse as ruling the Luftwaffe out on a bombing in the middle of the Battle of Britain. Like, maybe it isn’t the Muslims and maybe the cat knocked over an oil lamp but the smart money should be all over the radical Muslims, obviously…

    • No “radical” muslims, only muslims. The myth of the moderate muslim kindly ignores the facts that they support, shelter and subsidize jihadists. Anyone who follows the dictates of the criminal warlord is an enemy or a potential enemy. That is not paranoia, it is truth. I have met so many people who say that they have good muslim friends so I ask them have you met the spouse, the family? have you been to their home? Have they invited you to a wedding , birthday etc.? The answer is usually >90% “NO!”. Those who follow islam are no different to “good” non Nazi Germans living in Germany in WW2 and should really always be regarded as acceptable collateral in a war which as far as they are concerned , it is.

  6. Almost 100 students at top universities requested to change gender on records, first figures show (telegraph, Apr 20, 2019)
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/20/almost-100-students-top-universities-requested-change-gender/

    “Almost 100 students at the UK’s top universities have requested to change their gender on official records, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal, as universities are accused of “disturbing” failures to protect trans students from abuse.

    Between 2016 and 2018, 86 students at Russell Group Universities asked to formally change their gender on the student record. Those studying at the University of Oxford submitted the highest number of all applications with 24 requests.

    The figures provide the first indication of the numbers within the trans student population and mark a growing awareness of trans people and issues in the UK.

    However Freedom of Information data from all 24 Russell Group institutions also revealed that even more students – 89 – sought help with university services regarding gender transitioning and gender questioning. Almost half of them – 39 – were studying at the University of Warwick.

    Charities and campaigners have applauded the increasing recognition of trans minorities on campuses, but described the cases where eight students had complain of discrimination as “disturbing”. They said that The Sunday Telegraph data emphasises how “there’s more to do to help trans students” and called on UK universities to show “more visible support and leadership”.

    In contrast, some academic experts said that the process of recording results by gender will be rendered “meaningless” as increasing numbers opt to change their gender on record.

    The data shows that students at Oxford made the most requests to change their gender on the record, followed by 15 at Queen’s University Belfast, 14 at the University of Warwick and 10 at the University of Leeds. Meanwhile after Warwick, students in Bristol were most likely to seek help for trans issues – with 37 accessing student services within three years, followed by ten in York and three in Liverpool.

    However all the figures are likely to be higher as some universities offered values such as ‘less than 10’ so as not to identify individuals. Furthermore, far more students identify as trans than just those who requested to change their gender on the student record.

    There were also eight complaints of discrimination over the same three-year-period. These included two studying at the University of Glasgow, a further two at the University of Newcastle, and one student at Southampton, Bristol, York and the London School of Economics, respectively.

    This comes amid fears of that such provision is becoming less of a priority for universities as the National Union of Students recently announced that it is scrapping its Trans officer role due to funding cuts.

    Last summer, Britain’s first officer for transgender students, Jess Bradley, an environemental sciences graduate from the universities of Manchester and Bradford, was suspended over allegations that she posted explicit photographs on an online blog.

    Dr Jane Hamlin, president of the Beaumont Society, the national transgender support group, said: “It is disturbing that there have been a number of complaints about gender or transgender discrimination, because such discrimination is illegal.

    “There is clearly a need for support for trans students and the counsellors who try to help them. It would seem extremely unfortunate of the NUS to decide not to keep its trans officer role. Perhaps university staff and students are not aware that this role exists and have not been using this valuable resource as effectively as they might.

    “Occasionally individual universities do contact the Beaumont Society for information or advice about how they can help an individual student and we help if we can.”…..”

    • Must be Brainwash and Political Acts.
      German Press reported-nearly nobody changed his Passport to “Divers”-i think Germany has a lot more people than this Uni.

      • Agreed. The poor little sods don’t know whether to sit or stand. Must be terrifying having to work that one out. I think that the left is really going to pay through the nose when all of those idiots brainwashed into breasts and external genitalia removal suddenly realize that they always were male and want revenge.

  7. Swedish Greens Euro Candidate Demands EU Take ‘Climate Refugees’ (breitbart, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/04/21/swedish-greens-euro-candidate-demands-eu-take-climate-refugees/

    “Swedish Green Party candidate for the European Parliament Pär Holmgren has demanded the European Union do more to distribute so-called climate refugees from Africa and the Middle East.

    Holmgren, who is running to become an MEP next month and is second on the party list, has said he wants to make climate change his focal issue if he wins a seat.

    “Everything that has to do with ecological sustainability and social sustainability is connected. If we do not succeed in this transition to a sustainable society, where the climate issue and biodiversity and other issues are important, then there will be even greater stress on our societies,” Holmgren said in an interview with Europa Portalen.

    Holmgren believes responding to climate change also involves welcoming migrants from the Middle East and parts of Africa that he claims could become uninhabitable.

    According to the green politician, the European Union should be doing more to not only distribute migrants from regions affected by climate change but also combat poverty…”

    • I always bristled at the “dumb blonde” comment although it was usually aimed at someone else but I wonder if that cliché had its origins in Sweden? If you go by the incessant rank diarrhoea that their feminist leftists & greens pour out unto the MSM on a daily basis, you really have to think it likely. Is there ANY idiotic, irrational, trendy, insane proposition that these stark raving fugwits (apologies to James Jones) have missed?

    • If Africa can double its population from 1.1 to 2.2 in a decade ,I would say that they do not share the “terror” of “climate change”.if the situation were that bad they would have stopped breeding and would have no time to hack and mutilate one another.

  8. Swedish Social Justice Group Credited with Tripling Hate Crime Convictions (breitbart, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/04/21/swedish-social-justice-group-credit-tripling-hate-crime-convictions/

    “The work of a Swedish online social justice group is being touted as the reason for the country seeing over 450 hate crime prosecutions in 2018.

    According to the Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office, 459 prosecutions for hate speech were brought against individuals last year and in northern Sweden, there has been a tripling in the number of convictions since 2016, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.

    SVT claims the rise in the number of prosecutions is down to the activity of the online social justice group Näthatsgranskaren, which the broadcaster also credited last year for a rise in prosecutions.

    Tomas Åberg, the group’s project manager, commented on the rise in prosecutions saying, “We started in 2017 and have worked out a good method for making real and complete submissions. The police get good material to work with and it has led to considerably more convictions.”

    “The tone of social media, both in terms of heated language against ethnic groups, abuses, unlawful threats, and incitement, just becomes coarser and coarser. This means that not everyone can participate in the democratic conversation on social media and that is a major democracy problem,” he added.

    Åberg, a former police officer, and Näthatsgranskaren have not been without their own controversies, however.

    Åberg admitted that many of the prosecutions have involved elderly people including a case in which a 7o-year-old man was fined 700 euros for saying Somalian migrants “are the laziest people in this world.”

    The prosecution came after Näthatsgranskaren had reported his comments on Facebook.

    Earlier this year another elderly man, a 91-year-old, was convicted for hate speech over comments made online about Muslims.

    While some are critical of the work of the group, others, like Malmö prosecutor Ingela Sörgård, support them. “The police do not have resources,” Sörgård said, “So it is of course good that they exist.””

    • This is not about “hate,”whatever that is,this is to silence a population complaining about their replacement in their own country.they attack the elderly simply because WE remember what it was like to live in a balanced ,orderly ,peaceful society,where law was even handed ,and murder was a rarity.

  9. Mexico warns of ‘deep concern’ over armed groups on U.S. border

    MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico said on Saturday it had “deep concern” about armed groups that intimidate and extort migrants on the border, shortly after the ACLU and Democratic senators called for a probe into such citizen efforts to block migrants from crossing.

    “These types of practices can drive human rights abuses of people who migrate or request asylum or refuge in the United States,” Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement, referring to “militia groups” in New Mexico.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-mexico-border/mexico-warns-of-deep-concern-over-armed-groups-on-u-s-border-idUSKCN1RW0N6

  10. Second Amendment ‘sanctuary county’ movement expands as organizers take aim at new gun laws

    It was no accident Effingham County’s resolution to protect the rights of gun owners stole an important word from the very people the resolution was intended to provoke, supporters of the country’s sanctuary cities movement.

    Effingham County State’s Attorney Bryan Kibler last month told a raucous crowd the origin story behind the “Second Amendment sanctuary county” movement, which began in Effingham and now includes 64 of the state’s 102 counties, counties in three other states, and nine more states in which counties are eyeing similar nonbinding measures. And as state legislators, emboldened by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, look at more gun-control measures, counties are looking at more ways to resist them.

    https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-second-amendment-sanctuary-county-movement-illinois-20190416-story.html

  11. Driver cases out, then deliberately runs down, two young boys on suburban sidewalk
    By Ben Bowles April 21, 2019

    If you Google the name Oghaleoghene Atuno, your search will come up empty. That is a curious development in light of the fact the 21-year-old Atuno is in police custody, having been charged with the attempted murder of two boys, ages 11 and 12, in Aurora, Colo. earlier this month.

    The fact that Atuno is black and his victims are white, coupled with security video that shows Atuno circling the cul-de-sac before slamming into the boys and driving off, suggests the possibility of a hate crime enhancement. Yet except for local media, the story has gone largely untouched. None of the three major networks has reported the crime, and neither have The New York Times or Washington Post.

    According to Denver CBS affiliate KCNC (h/t Chris Menahan, DC Dirty Laundry), the incident took place on Apr. 5. Footage from area security cameras show a vehicle that matched the description of one owned by Atuno’s mother circling the cul-de-sac several times before accelerating and striking the boys who were on the sidewalk. One of the two boys was seriously injured, suffering a skull fracture.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/04/21/driver-circles-then-deliberately-runs-down-two-young-boys-on-suburban-sidewalk/

  12. If you’re talking about ‘obstruction,’ you’re still doing it wrong
    By J.E. Dyer April 20, 2019

    In some ways, it is stunning how the grand narrative of Russiagate continues to rule hearts and minds.

    Even commentators who fully “get” that there was never any reason to suspect Trump or his campaign team of “colluding” with Russia still speak as if that were a valid proposition, and as if all our discourse must be governed by it as the central premise.

    They are wrong, and it is dangerous, to keep doing so. It misses the point in a way that could destroy our nation’s future.

    There is only a framework for something similar to “obstruction” if there was actually an “investigation” that sought to “determine” whether there had been some act or set of acts that constituted “collusion” during the 2016 election campaign.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/04/20/if-youre-talking-about-obstruction-youre-still-doing-it-wrong/

    Richard: As always read the entire article, she points out how the “Investigators” knew from the beginning of the “Investigation” that there was no “collusion” because the had been spyi8ng surveilling the Trump Campaign since before the won the nomination. She also talks about how the “investigation” couldn’t have been held by honest people because they knew from the beginning that nothing had happened.

    She then touches on the need for a different motive but doesn’t go into detail of what that motive was. She is doing this because she is trying to tone down the talk and hopefully avoid a civil war. She talks about how the “Investigation” has cast doubts on the 2016 election and casts a dark cloud over the future elections and thus the future of the Republic.

    In my opinion the latter point is why the Dems started the “Investigations” in the first place, they don’t want a Republic where the people have any rights or voice in how the government is run. They want a one political party nation with the power to unperson the people who don’t agree with them and if that doesn’t work to disappear them.

    Some of the Dems are smart enough to realize that the “Investigation” and the current pushing for another “Investigation” into obstruction of justice leading to impeachment is giving the 2020 and possibly many more elections to the Republicans. The problem for the Dems is that they have so inflamed their radical left base anyone who doesn’t support the “Orange Man Bad” theme for the foreseeable future will have a very hard time winning any primary and if they do will face radical left opposition in the election. This situation might look good to some people but in my opinion is a path tot the leftist violence we are seeing in Germany and in France. Remember the far left wants to take over the world to establish their socialist utopia, to do this they have to destabilize the western nations and destroy their confidence in their political system.

  13. CBC talk show invites convicted terrorist Omar Khadr on as Sunday night guest

    The Radio-Canada TV talk show “Tout le monde en parle” (Everyone’s talking about it) has scheduled convicted Al-Qaeda terrorist Omar Khadr on as a guest for their 8 PM Sunday program.

    “We have a hit for the last episode of this season!”, advertises the program’s Twitter account.

    Khadr, who was awarded $10.5 million by the Canadian government for having his rights violated as a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay was convicted of murdering U.S. Army Sergeant Christopher Speer with a grenade while fighting for Al-Qaeda.

    The Tout le monde website descibres Khadr as a “former child soldier” who was jailed for 10 years at Guantanamo bay.

    Khadr was recently released from his sentence and war crimes conviction by a Canadian court.

    https://www.thepostmillennial.com/cbc-talk-show-invites-convicted-terrorist-omar-khadr-on-as-sunday-night-guest/

    • And hid the payment,so that the victim could not get any damages from this wog.

  14. Report: Lord Ahmed of Rotherham Facing New Charge of Buggery Against Boy Under 11 (breitbart, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/04/21/uk-lord-ahmed-rotherham-charged-child-sex-offences/

    “Lord Ahmed of Rotherham has been charged with another alleged historic child sex offence at Sheffield Crown Court.

    A former Labour councillor and magistrate elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer by Tony Blair in the 1990s, Pakistan-born Nazir Ahmed had already been charged with two counts of attempting to rape a girl under 16 and one count of indecently assaulting a boy under 14, between 1971 and 1974, at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.

    An additional charge of buggery against a boy under 11 has been added to his charge sheet at the higher Sheffield Crown Court, the Rotherham Advertiser reports.

    Ahmed, of East Bawtry Road, Rotherham, has not entered any pleas during his hearings, but the BBC reports his lawyer, Haroon Shah, as saying he will be pleading not guilty to all of the charges against him.

    Ahmed’s brother Mohamed Farouq, 68, of Worrygoose Lane, Rotherham, is also facing charges, and has pleaded not guilty to four counts of indecently assaulting a boy under 14 between 1968 and 1972.

    Another brother, Mohammed Tariq, of Gerard Road, Rotherham, pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting a boy under 14 between 1970 and 1972.

    The trio have been granted unconditional bail ahead of a trial date, set several months from now on December 2nd.”

    • Thank god ,that he had no access to farm animals,though many of his co-religionists are happily married to goats and sheep,they could have done a bit of “livestock swapping”to keep his hands off small children.

  15. Schiff Says Congressional Democrats “May” Take Up Impeachment Proceedings Against Trump (VIDEO)

    Schiff Says Congressional Democrats “May” Take Up Impeachment Proceedings Against Trump (VIDEO)
    Cristina Laila by Cristina Laila April 21, 2019 162 Comments

    Share 33Tweet Email

    House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said on Sunday that Congressional Democrats “may” take up impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1119973019500388352

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/schiff-says-congressional-democrats-may-take-up-impeachment-proceedings-against-trump-video/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20April%2021,%202019%20at%2003:06:09%20PM

    • He is dodging the question by talking about how evil President Trump is but he doesn’t think there are enough votes for impeachment because of Republicans refusing to agree with the radical left.

      When Obama was President and committing real crimes the Repubicans decided that to try and impeach him when they knew the votes were there would only strengthen Obama. The Dems may decide that with the Propaganda to carry their water they may be able to damage PT if they do try and impeach him and fail.

    • ANTI-PELOSI IMPEACHMENT WAVE GROWS: Ocasio-Cortez, Omar And Tlaib Call For Impeaching Trump

      Determined to ignore House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said in March that she had no interest in attempting to impeach President Trump, the three fresman Congresswomen who have established themselves as the loudest members of the Democratic Party sallied forth yet again on Thursday, reacting to the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report by demanding the impeachment of the president.

      https://www.dailywire.com/news/46171/anti-pelosi-impeachment-wave-grows-ocasio-cortez-hank-berrien?utm_medium=email&utm_content=042119-news&utm_campaign=position7

  16. STRASSEL’S WSJ OP ED: BARR BRINGS ACCOUNTABILITY — America’s Newsroom 4/12/19 — FOX NEWS 4/12/19

  17. California Rabbi fined $6000 for reporting synagogue vandalism to police

    “This decision empowers vandals to continue to interfere with sacred religious practices without fear of accountability,” says First Liberty lawyer.

    By World Israel News Staff

    A California judge fined an Orthodox Jewish rabbi over $6,000 last week for reporting the vandalism of his synagogue to the police, reports First Liberty, a legal organization that says it is devoted to protecting the religious liberty of all Americans.

    “This is an outrageous decision that penalizes a rabbi for simply reporting a crime that he witnessed,” said Stephanie Taub, a senior counsel to First Liberty.

    https://worldisraelnews.com/rabbi-fined-over-6000-for-reporting-synagogue-vandalism-to-police/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Hezbollah+Leader+Warns+of+War%2C+Fears+Being+Killed+by+IDF%3B+Kushner+to+Trump%3A+Drop+%27Palestinian+Refugees%27%3B+Poles+Burn+Jewish+Effigy+for+%E2%80%98Betraying+Jesus%E2%80%99&utm_campaign=20190421_m151115045_Hezbollah+Leader+Warns+of+War%2C+Fears+Being+Killed+by+IDF%3B+Kushner+to+Trump%3A+Drop+%27Palestinian+Refugees%27%3B+Poles+Burn+Jewish+Effigy+for+%E2%80%98Betraying+Jesus%E2%80%99&utm_term=_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09Read+Now_0D_0A_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09_09

  18. Nigeria: Jihad against Christians

    by Uzay Bulut
    April 21, 2019 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14067/nigeria-jihad-christians
    Send
    Print
    Share

    hristians are being massacred in Nigeria by Fulani and Boko Haram jihadists — and no one seems to care.

    The most severe persecution of these defenseless Christians — who make up half of Nigeria’s total population — has been taking place mostly in the Muslim north of the country, which is governed by sharia law, and in the states known as the “Middle Belt,” which are a transition zone between the northern and southern states.

    According to the human rights organization International Christian Concern (ICC):

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14067/nigeria-jihad-christians

  19. Richard: This one is interesting in many ways but scary also, it shows Iran as a nation in turmoil with no popular leadership and no sign of anything that binds the nation together. This may be true and the IRGC may be as unpopular and disorganized as he says. If so this makes the idea of them getting nuclear weapons and even semi reliable delivery systems even scarier. It also says that there is little to no hope for peace in the Middle East anytime soon.

    When the Ayatollah Plays His Joker

    by Amir Taheri
    April 21, 2019 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14091/ayatollah-plays-his-joker
    Send
    Print
    Share

    For years, “Iran experts” in the West have regarded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the “deep government” in the Islamic Republic. However, the events of the past weeks, marked by floods that wreaked havoc in 22 of Iran’s 31 provinces, may warrant a second look at that theory. The floods showed that, in real terms, Iran has no government and that the IRGC is more of a business-cum-security conglomerate than a government, deep or shallow.

    The first week of chaos and confusion showed that, despite boasts by its commanders, the IRGC was unable to organize a credible rescue operation. IRGC chief Gen. Muhammad-Ali Aziz-Jaafari was even unable to travel to the affected provinces. Then came small but ominous protests by flood-stricken people against the IRGC, blaming it, rightly or wrongly, for causing the floods by jerry-building dams and railway lines.

    Concerned that popular anger may trigger clashes between the IRGC and the populace, Gen. Muhammad Baqeri, Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, decreed that IRGC men should not carry arms in public. That meant that they wouldn’t be able to mount any relief operation while risking attacks by angry crowds. There was the additional risk that local IRGC units might side with protesters who were their kin and kith. Top mullahs were also advised to stay away from stricken areas where their security couldn’t be guaranteed. The vacuum created had enabled units from the regular army to remind the people that it still exists by doing a bit of relief work.

  20. Mali soldiers killed in attack on Guiré in the central Koulikoro region (thedefensepost, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/04/21/mali-soldiers-killed-guire-koulikoro/

    “At least 10 Malian soldiers were killed on Sunday, April 21 in an attack in the Koulikoro region in the center of the country, a security source told AFP.

    “There are at least 10 dead soliders,” the source said.

    Other reports put the provisional death toll at 12.

    AFP later reported the source as saying 12 people were killed “including the post commander, a captain.”

    Studio Tamani reported local sources as saying that 16 soldiers had been killed and several were missing.

    The Armed Forces of Mali (FAMa) said that soldiers were attacked in Guiré at around 5 a.m. local time and that reinforcements had been dispatched. It said evaluations were in progress and did not give a casualty figure.

    “The terrorists came out of the forest. They were on motorcycles and pick-up trucks. They burnt vehicles and took away others,” the source, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

    Some reports said the base was overrun…”

    • I know someone who lived in Mali for a couple of years. She came back in 2004. It was such a peaceful country to live in. Islam destroys everything it touches, in due time.

  21. Yemen Fires Homegrown Ballistic Missile at Saudi Base in Jizan (tasnimnews, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2019/04/21/1994202/yemen-fires-homegrown-ballistic-missile-at-saudi-base-in-jizan

    “Yemen’s army and Popular Committees fired a homegrown ballistic missile at a military base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern province of Jizan in retaliation for the continued massacre of civilians by the Saudi-led coalition in the Arabian Peninsula country…”

  22. Visual Documentation of Saudi Court Sessions Boosts Performance, Efficiency (aawsat, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1688921/visual-documentation-saudi-court-sessions-boosts-performance-efficiency

    “The Saudi ministry of justice announced that it started implementing the audio/visual documentation of the hearing sessions initiative. Riyadh criminal court will be the first to start the visual recording of the sessions.

    The ministry has been planning this move earlier this year and started preparing the grounds for it.

    Documenting court hearings is a very important step to preserve the rights of all parties involved, and help judges make full use of technology by being able to retrieve hearing sessions related to any case, said the ministry.

    Saudi Arabia’s judiciary has been taking important steps in utilizing technology to build a strong database and boost the sector’s performance.

    “Visual documentation of hearings will help the ministry step into a new level of transparency and performance efficiency.”

    The ministry stressed that “the availability of online visual documents for courts hearings will help judges as well as legal practitioners have a better analysis of certain cases and provide most accurate evaluations.” “

  23. Tunisia Seizes Anti-armored Vehicle Munition Owned by Two ‘Takfiri’ Brothers (aawsat, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1688931/tunisia-seizes-anti-armored-vehicle-munition-owned-two-takfiri-brothers

    “Tunisian counter-terrorism security services arrested two Tunisian brothers accused of adopting terrorist ideology and suspected of belonging to a terrorist organization.

    Forces seized ammunition in their house, including five cartridges used in Kalashnikov weapons and one cartridge for armored vehicles.

    This incident prompted security forces to be on alert, especially since Jendouba, located north-west of Tunisia, is one of the areas in which terrorist organizations are active and hide in mountains that extend to the borders with neighboring Algeria.

    In details of the security operation, two brothers accused of terrorism, aged 30 and 35, were possessing live ammunition at their residence. After receiving permission from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, forces stormed their houses and found these cartridges.

    During interrogation, the younger brother confessed he had brought the cartridges from neighboring Libya since 2014 when he was working and living there.

    Starting from this confession, the counterterrorism forces will investigate whether his confession was true, find the reasons behind keeping them throughout this time and check the possibility of their communication with Tunisian terrorist elements residing in neighboring Libya.

    Tunisian security sources said the two brothers’ position is critical as they will not be able to defend their possession of munitions.

    Keeping the illegal possessions for five years makes it worse, sources added, especially that they could’ve got rid of them or handed them over to security or military apparatuses.

    Thus, suspicions over being part of terrorist organizations operating in Libya have increased now.

    Tunisian terrorists who have carried out criminal acts in the country received military training in Libya. Those terrorists include Sayf al-Din al-Rizqi, perpetrator of the attack on tourists at a beach resort in the eastern city of Sousse, and Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui, who carried out an attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis.

    In anticipation of further details, the two brothers have been arrested and imprisoned pending their referral to the Tunis-based Anti-terrorist Brigade (BAT) to complete the investigations with them.”

  24. Iraq Sentences Four to Death for Joining ISIS (aawsat, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1688976/iraq-sentences-four-death-joining-isis

    “An Iraqi court has sentenced four people to death by hanging for belonging to ISIS militant group and committing terrorist crimes in Iraq and Syria, a judiciary statement said on Sunday.

    The four men, who are Iraqis, were wanted by Iraqi authorities and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) handed them over to Baghdad.

    A criminal court convicted them for joining ISIS and “carrying out criminal operations that targeted innocent civilians with the aim of undermining peace and stability in Iraq and Syria,” Reuters reported.

    In February, Iraq’s military said the SDF had handed 280 Iraqi and foreign detainees to Iraq.

    Iraqi courts are relying on counter-terrorism laws to prosecute thousands of suspects, including foreign fighters, for joining the ultra-hardline militant group.”

  25. Rights group calls for acquittal of Cyprus journalists detained over Erdogan ‘insult’ (alaraby, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/4/21/rsf-urges-acquittal-of-journalists-detained-over-erdogan-insult

    “Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has urged authorities in northern Cyprus to acquit two journalists facing up to five years in prison on charges of insulting and defaming Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    Sener Levent, the editor of Turkish-language daily Afrika, and the paper’s reporter Ali Osman Tabak are on trial over a cartoon showing a Greek statue urinating on Erdogan’s head.

    The image first appeared online at the time of the Turkish leader’s 2017 visit to Greece, and Afrika later published it with the caption “seen through Greek eyes”.

    RSF said the two journalists are charged with defaming and insulting a foreign leader and “inciting hatred against a foreign leader with the aim of spoiling the friendly and peaceful relations between the two countries”.

    Their lawyer, who will deliver their final arguments in court on Monday, will argue that they should be acquitted, his assistant said.

    The journalists deny the charges and say the trial threatens freedom of expression and the press.

    “I hope that the court’s decision will not be shameful for our society,” 70-year-old Levent said.

    RSF said in a statement that convicting the journalists would be “a grave error and would send an extremely negative signal to the media in the northern part of Cyprus”.

    Levent is a native of Cyprus, a Mediterranean island whose northern third has been under Turkish military control since 1974.

    Turkish troops invaded that year in response to a coup backed by the military junta then in power in Athens that sought to unite the island with Greece – a union staunchly opposed by Turkish Cypriots.

    Only Ankara recognises the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which it bankrolls and where it has more than 30,000 troops stationed.

    RSF said journalists today face growing pressure both in Turkey and in the TRNC.

    Levent also faces trial over an article he wrote criticising a Turkish military operation against a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria.

    Erdogan responded by calling on Ankara’s “brothers in north Cyprus to give the necessary response”.

    The following day, a crowd of ultra-nationalists attacked the offices of Afrika – a tiny daily with a 1,500 circulation in a statelet of around 300,000 people – as Turkish Cypriot police stood back and watched.

    “There is always a price you pay for freedom of expression,” Levent told AFP afterwards.

    “We paid this price…. but I believe that a person should get rid of his fears.””

  26. Exclusive: U.S. carves out exceptions for foreigners dealing with IRGC (reuters, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-irgc-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-carves-out-exceptions-for-foreigners-dealing-with-irgc-idUSKCN1RX0ME

    “The United States has largely carved out exceptions so that foreign governments, firms and NGOs do not automatically face U.S. sanctions for dealing with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards after the group’s designation by Washington as a foreign terrorist group, according to three current and three former U.S. officials.

    The exemptions, granted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and described by a State Department spokesman in response to questions from Reuters, mean officials from countries such as Iraq who may have dealings with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, would not necessarily be denied U.S. visas. The IRGC is a powerful faction in Iran that controls a business empire as well as elite armed and intelligence forces.

    The exceptions to U.S. sanctions would also permit foreign executives who do business in Iran, where the IRGC is a major economic force, as well as humanitarian groups working in regions such as northern Syria, Iraq and Yemen, to do so without fear they will automatically trigger U.S. laws on dealing with a foreign terrorist group.

    However, the U.S. government also created an exception to the carve-out, retaining the right to sanction any individual in a foreign government, company or NGO who themselves provides “material support” to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

    The move is the latest in which the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has staked out a hardline position on Iran, insisting for example that Iran’s oil customers cut their imports of Iranian petroleum to zero, only to grant waivers allowing them keep buying it…”

  27. Bangladesh puts anti-sexual harassment units in schools (gulfnews, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/bangladesh-puts-anti-sexual-harassment-units-in-schools-1.63469979

    “Bangladesh has ordered some 27,000 schools to set up committees to prevent sexual violence, an official said Sunday, after a teenager who accused a teacher of sexual harassment was burnt to death.

    The killing of 19-year-old Nusrat Jahan Rafi has sparked outrage across the South Asian nation of 165 million people and put police action in the case under the spotlight.

    Protesters in the capital Dhaka staged demonstrations for an 11th day on Sunday, seeking “exemplary punishment” for the killers of the girl.

    Police say she was lured to the rooftop of the Islamic seminary she attended in Feni, south of the capital, where her attackers ordered her to withdraw a police complaint against the head of the school.

    When she refused, she was doused in kerosene and set on fire.

    Rafi died in hospital on April 10 after suffering 80 per cent burns. At least 20 people, including the head teacher, have been arrested.

    Activists say the murder has exposed a “culture of impunity” surrounding sex crimes against women and children, and that fact that those who report harassment often suffer a backlash.

    Amid nationwide protests, the Bangladesh government has ordered more than 27,000 schools and colleges to form five-member committee to prevent sexual violence, an official said.

    “The committee will be led by female teachers. They will take steps to prevent sexual harassment and take up any complaints,” the director of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Shahedul Khabir Chowdhury, told AFP.

    He said the committees were being formed by an order from the country’s high court, which in 2009 laid down a set of guidelines to prevent sexual harassment of women and children at workplaces, schools and on the streets.

    Rafi went to police in late March to report the harassment and a leaked video shows the local police station chief registering her complaint but dismissing it as “not a big deal”.

    Police said at least five of those under arrest, including three of Rafi’s classmates, tied her up with a scarf before setting her on fire. They had planned to pass off the death as a suicide.

    Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina has vowed that all those involved will face action and police say they are investigating why more was not done to protect Rafi.

    More than 100 protesters at the country’s elite Dhaka University held hands to form a human chain as part of continued demonstrations over the grisly murder.

    “I joined the protest because Nusrat Rafi’s murder was a wake-up call for all our women,” Dhaka University student Antara Labiba told AFP.

    “I am also a victim of sexual harassment. I think most women in Bangladesh face sexual harassment in their families, schools, markets and workplaces,” she said.

    The Manusher Jonno Foundation, a non-government group, says there have been at least 39 cases of children under 18 being raped in Bangladesh since April 2.

    Another eight have been subjected to sexual harassment, the group says.”

  28. Austria NGO fights hate online, one conversation at a time (thelocal, Apr 21, 2019)
    https://www.thelocal.at/20190421/austria-ngo-fights-hate-online-one-conversation-at-a-time

    “When it comes to the problem of online hate speech, the culprits behind the keyboards and smartphones can take some surprising forms — just take 74-year-old Viennese retiree Ms H.
    Angered by an article she read on the internet a year ago, the outwardly unassuming former midwife reacted with a Facebook outburst in which she said all immigrants should be poisoned on arrival in Austria.

    She said the comment was “spontaneous”, written in the heat of the moment.

    But in the eyes of the law it could have amounted to the criminal offence of “incitement to hatred and violence”.

    “The police summoned me and said I didn’t have the right to write that,” says Ms H, adding: “I thought it wouldn’t go any further than that”.

    However, the Austrian authorities are trying to crack down on hate speech online, a phenomenon which countries across Europe are trying to grapple with — not least ahead of May’s European elections.

    Since the end of 2017, several Austrian jurisdictions — including Vienna — have been trying to fight online abuse through a pilot programme called “Dialogue instead of hate” (“Dialog statt Hass”).

    Instead of taking cases to court, prosecutors can now refer offenders to the programme, which aims to cultivate media literacy and respectful behaviour online.

    Offenders ’emboldened’

    The programme consists of a six-month course of 15 modules, covering topics such as disinformation, human rights, the workings of Facebook’s news feed algorithm and dissecting tabloid headlines.

    The aim is to show participants how to “express one’s point of view without denigrating others,” explains Nikolaus Tsekas, head of the Vienna branch of Neustart, the crime prevention and rehabilitation NGO behind the course.

    The initiative comes amid rising international concern over the conduct of political campaigns online.

    In Austria the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), the junior party in the governing coalition, has been accused by the opposition and by rights activists of stoking tensions with hostile rhetoric towards immigrants and asylum seekers.

    The anti-racist NGO SOS Mitmensch has collated 20 messages from FPOe officials in the space of a year which could be considered Islamophobic.

    The instructors at Neustart says those messages embolden others to repeat the same language.

    “We often see people who say: ‘Politicians say it, why can’t I?’,” says Tsekas.

    Last November, a local FPOe politician was himself sent on an online course run by Neustart after a racist, homophobic Facebook post.

    – No brainwashing –

    Along with homophobic comments, use of racist and Islamophobic language leads to the vast majority of referrals to Neustart so far.

    Most of those sent for training are men between the ages of 40 and 60 and the first steps are often tricky.

    Speaking to AFP at her fifth session, Ms H was still of the belief that “there’s no freedom of speech, we don’t have the right to say what we think”.

    Her adviser Wioletta Ruehrer says this a typical reaction.

    Her work with Ms H will consist primarily of “understanding her life story, her fears, seeing whether she herself has ever been discriminated against”.

    In this way she hopes to create empathy for the targets of abusive language.

    Another Neustart client tells of how he was a reluctant participant at the beginning of the course but ended up wanting further sessions.

    “My opinions, my points of view haven’t changed,” says the voluble middle-aged Viennese man.

    “But the conversations with the advisor were interesting, they made me reflect and I understand how some language can be degrading,” he adds.

    The advisor in question, Dana Pajkovic, explains that “it was new for him to be confronted with different opinions”.

    The client says that since the training he has learnt to “take a step back from the articles.

    “I don’t get carried away with the titles, I say to myself: ‘They’re trying to wind you up again!'”

    “Taking the time to recognise these difference, to listen to these people, is crucial,” says Tsekas.

    “The idea isn’t to transform FPOe voters into left-wing activists.”

    But the programme has a long way to go — despite the torrent of abusive comments posted online, “Dialogue instead of hate” only dealt with 73 cases in 2018.

    It will be rolled out across Austria this summer.

    The government is also considering making it mandatory for big internet platforms to register users to prevent anonymous hate postings — although both of the clients who spoke to AFP posted under their own names.”

  29. Russia’s Military Should Leave Venezuela Immediately

    BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,147, April 21, 2019

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, as reported by Moscow Times, states that Russia is considering deploying strategic bombers full-time in Venezuela. The outlet also reports that an agreement has been reached between Moscow and Caracas to allow the deployment of Russian aircraft at a military base on Venezuela’s Caribbean island of La Orchila, where Russian advisers were dispatched in December. It is urgent that Washington act before Russia and Venezuela reach their imminent formal military agreement. At the same time, NATO membership should be offered to Brazil, a major ally, and economic aid should be provided to Colombia.

    After the landing of two Russian aircraft in Caracas on March 23 – one an Ilyushin Il-62 passenger plane transporting 100 ground forces; the other an Antonov An-124 military cargo plane carrying 35 tons of materièl – US President Donald J. Trump said that “Russia has to get out” of Venezuela.

    Two months earlier, two Russian Air Force Tu-160 strategic bombers flying over the Arctic region near the North American coastline were detected and escorted out of the area by Canadian and US Air Force jets.

    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/venezuela-russia-military/

    Richard: Interesting, I am not sure that our invading Venezuela is politically possible right now, a large number of the Dems are wanting to impeach President Trump and a preventative invasion of Venezuela to remove a communist will create a major political problem in the United States Congress.

  30. ‘Shedding of blood’ may be required to save US, author of an Arizona immigration law says
    By Louis Casiano | Fox News

    Russell Pearce, a former president of the Arizona state Senate who helped author a controversial immigration law in the state, appeared to advocate for violence for the U.S. to save itself in remarks delivered earlier this week.

    Pearce, a Republican, spoke Monday at a rally in Gilbert, Ariz., dubbed “Patriotism Over Socialism.” Other featured speakers included Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward and Laura Loomer, whose anti-Muslim social media posts have gotten her banned from Twitter, Uber and Lyft, the Arizona Republic reported.

    “And it may take the shedding of blood to keep this Republic,” Pearce. “And I, for one, am willing to do whatever it takes.”

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-arizona-lawmaker-author-of-immigration-law-says-shedding-of-blood-may-be-required-to-save-u-s

  31. Actress Charlize Theron says she has been raising her adopted son to be a girl since he was 3
    Francesca Bacardi, NY Post April 21, 2019

    [Ed. – Lucky the child didn’t say he was a corpse at age or she might have buried him. In the meantime, maybe it’s time for the agency that arranged the child’s adoption to revisit its decision.]

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/04/21/actress-charlize-theron-says-she-has-been-raising-her-adopted-son-to-be-a-girl-since-he-was-3/

    Charlize Theron confirms daughter Jackson is transgender

    By Francesca Bacardi

    April 19, 2019 | 11:39am

    Charlize Theron revealed that her 7-year-old child Jackson is transgender.

    “Yes, I thought she was a boy, too,” Theron told The Daily Mail, “Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said: ‘I am not a boy!’”

    “So there you go! I have two beautiful daughters who, just like any parent, I want to protect and I want to see thrive,” the “Long Shot” star shared. “They were born who they are and exactly where in the world both of them get to find themselves as they grow up, and who they want to be, is not for me to decide.”

    Theron dressed Jackson in female clothes from there on out, embracing her child for who she is.

    “My job as a parent is to celebrate them and to love them and to make sure that they have everything they need in order to be what they want to be,” she continued, “and I will do everything in my power for my kids to have that right and to be protected within that.”

    https://pagesix.com/2019/04/19/charlize-theron-confirms-daughter-jackson-is-transgender/

  32. Is ‘can’t prove untrue’ new standard in Trump probe?
    Byron York, Wash. Examiner April 21, 2019

    [Ed. – Similar to the presumption of guilt standard they used in judging Brett Kavanaugh.]

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/04/21/is-cant-prove-untrue-new-standard-in-trump-probe-2/

    Byron York: Is ‘can’t prove untrue’ new standard in Trump probe?

    When a political figure is accused of wrongdoing, a conversation begins among journalists, commentators, and public officials. Are the charges true? Can the accusers prove it?

    That’s the way it normally works. But now, in the case of the Trump dossier – the allegations compiled by a former British spy hired by the Clinton campaign to gather dirt on presidential candidate Donald Trump – the generally accepted standard of justice has been turned on its head. Now, the question is: Can the accused prove the charges false? Increasingly, the president’s critics argue that the dossier is legitimate because it has not been proven untrue.

    It’s an argument heard at the highest levels of government, academics, and media.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/byron-york-is-cant-prove-untrue-new-standard-in-trump-probe

    • Innocent until proven guilty?It would be kinder to put these commies out of our misery permanently before they vandalise any more of our civilisation.

  33. France: Here Come the Architects: Modernists Want Glass Roof, Steel Spire, Or Minaret for Notre Dame

    Hat Tip: Reader from Chicago @ GoV

    NR: I am almost shaking with rage after just reading the lede. No way can I bring myself to open the article. It shall not pass my eyes. Anyone who might be so kind as to summarize it is welcome to do so.

    I knew a meticulous restoration was out of the question so long as these mouth-breathing Pomo Philistines (starting with that colossal fraud, Corbusier, the Marcel Duchamp of architecture – see: From Bauhaus to Our House, by Wolf) mentioned that vomit inducing nerve-shattering le “coeur de Paris” à l’horizon 2040 sacrilige.

    It’s also why I detailed the rebuilding of Dresdner Frauenkirche. I knew there was no way in everliving hell that these Cultural Marxists could resist the urge to go full Borgia and do the architectural equivalent of a Venetian ¢lµstêr£ü¢k. You know, where they merely slit open everyone’s current object of affection as needed to effect penetration when no other orifice is available. Why would corrupt French Socialists ignore methodologies dating back to ultra-wealthy spaghetti benders Venetian thugs?

    Most likely, the original designers and builders of Notre Dame would feel like I do. And in the same way we’d ALL feel just like The Fountainhead’s Roarke when he sent Cortlandt into Chapter12 and next Tuesday.

    The only way that Notre Dame should be put under glass is As Is SERVING AS A PERMANENT MONUMENT TO ISLAMIC BARBARITY.

    Just like with the Gedächtniskirche in Berlin (which I gazed down upon from Kaufhaus des Westens): As in, a highly visible, permanent scar open wound (which it is) on the German landscape conscience.

    The French people deserve nothing less than being perpetually reminded of electing an Oedipal elitist investment banker for President their Communist folly and the Culturally Marxist living hell they midwifed for the EU. France was a primary post-Algerian gateway for huge amounts of Maghrebi and Nafri filth that began the universal Türd World fauxation of Europa.

    If Iran goes nuclear, then the French people deserve all of this monumental mayhem in spades—if only for harboring the illiterate goat-fucking Khomeini. If that isn’t enough, just the genocidal money trail odor left behind by Suha (Souiee?) Arafat—lovingly osculated (who-knows-where-else) by President O’Hillary—is enough to get my motor started. Legend has it that Israel taking just one major hit means the Bourse gets its chips cashed in with the Bursa’s Samson Options.

    T = 00:00:46 – TSFW

  34. Russia Collusion Peddlers Will Turn on Each Other—Trump 2020 Adviser Steven Rogers