Contributor’s links post for May 6, 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 must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

141 Replies to “Contributor’s links post for May 6, 2019”

  1. Pregnant Palestinian Mother and Baby Killed by Misfired Jihadi Rocket, Not Israeli Air Strike: Military

    A pregnant Palestinian woman and one-year-old baby killed in Gaza died not from Israeli retaliatory air strikes, but from rockets misfired by jihadi terrorists, the Israeli military says.

    The Independent cited Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israeli army, as saying the country’s intelligence services found the pregnant woman and baby had been killed by “Hamas fire.”

    The Telegraph Middle East correspondent Raf Sanchez wrote on Twitter, “‘We can now confirm that they were killed by accident as a result of Hamas fire,’ an IDF spokesman says.”

    https://twitter.com/rafsanchez/status/1124924942347382784

    This contradicts earlier reports, such as by the British news service ITV, that the “baby girl and her pregnant mother were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.”

    ITV cited Gaza’s Health Ministry, which identified the 14-month-old girl as Seba Abu Arar, and claimed she had been killed in an Israeli air strike.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/pregnant-palestinian-mother-and-baby-killed-by-misfired-jihadi-rocket-not-israeli-air-strike-military_2907328.html
    ===================================================
    Gaza News agency

    We don’t need to lie in our war against Zionists. 14-month-old Saba Abu Erar was killed by Hamas rocket – not Israeli F16. When you lie – you hurt our cause. You destroy our credibility.

    https://twitter.com/GazaNewsAgency/status/1124831020266790912

    =====================================================
    VOA – Funeral for Palestinian Baby Killed in Israeli Airstrike

  2. MSNBC – Russia Worked To Suppress Black Vote: National Urban League Report

  3. The Brainwashing of a Nation
    From campus identity politics cults to the media, brainwashing is bigger than ever.
    May 6, 2019
    Daniel Greenfield

    Brainwashing isn’t a secretive event that takes place in hidden rooms. No hypnotists or vials full of chemicals are required. It takes place every day on a massive scale across the United States.

    Unlike Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate, brainwashing does not turn people into hypnotized zombies who would be ready to kill a presidential candidate at a command. Instead, it transforms them into the sort of people who would be willing to kill someone for political reasons.

    The distinction is why so few people understand the sources of political radicalism and violence.

    Brainwashing isn’t magic, but it can look like magic. The sleight of hand that causes us to think so is our firm belief in our reason and free will. It’s easier to believe in changing minds through hypnotism and drugs, than to understand, what the successful practitioners of brainwashing do, that the human mind is more malleable than we like to think, and that the subconscious is more powerful than the conscious.

    The art and science of brainwashing is well known. We don’t know it because we choose not to.

    Brainwashing happens every day. It doesn’t have to mean a complete transformation of identity. On the simplest level, it means compelling someone to believe something that isn’t true.

    It’s as simple as two cops browbeating an innocent suspect into believing that he’s guilty. The officers and the suspect won’t see their interaction as brainwashing. The officers can honestly believe in his guilt. And, at the end of the process, the suspect will also believe that he committed the crime. He will even be able to describe in great detail how he committed it. That’s common, everyday brainwashing.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273635/brainwashing-nation-daniel-greenfield

  4. BREAKING: Dem-Controlled House Judiciary Committee Takes First Step to Hold Bill Barr in Contempt of Congress

    The Dem-controlled House Judiciary Committee has taken the first formal step to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for Mueller’s unredacted report as well as the underlying grand jury materials.

    The Judiciary Committee announced Monday that it will vote on a contempt citation against Bill Barr on Wednesday morning.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/breaking-dem-controlled-house-judiciary-committee-takes-first-step-to-hold-bill-barr-in-contempt-of-congress/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%206,%202019%20at%2011:06:09%20AM

  5. US charities fund fringe Islamophobia network — report
    US charities and foundations have empowered a web of anti-Muslim groups spreading misinformation and hate, according to a report. The Islamophobia network has extended its tentacles to the halls of power in Washington.

    American philanthropic organizations, including mainstream foundations, have funneled tens of millions of tax-free dollars to anti-Muslim groups influencing public opinion and government policy all the way up to the White House, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group said in a report on Monday.

    In a report called Hijacked by Hate: American Philanthropy and the Islamophobia Network, the conservative Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) documented how 1,006 charitable foundations provided nearly $125 million (€111 million) to 39 anti-Muslim groups between 2014 and 2016, the dates of the latest publicly available tax filings.

    Read more: Anti-Muslim hate crime on the rise in Trump era

    “Anti-Muslim animus and Islamophobic messages are now pervasive features of our country’s mainstream political, legal, educational, and media landscapes because these ideas are perpetuated by organizations and institutions with deep and extensive sources of funding and deliberate political agendas,” CAIR said in the report, adding that the 39 anti-Muslim groups it identified had combined financial resources of $1.5 billion.

    https://www.dw.com/en/us-charities-fund-fringe-islamophobia-network-report/a-48609434

  6. The Increasingly Narrow, Parochial Prism of Journalism

    by Douglas Murray
    May 6, 2019 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14176/narrow-parochial-journalism

    Last month, immediately after fire had almost destroyed the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the Washington Post ran a piece with the headline, “The Notre Dame fire ignites the West’s far-right.” The author, Ishaan Tharoor, used his piece to expand on that untimely and inaccurate claim. He wrote:

    “A strange — though not altogether surprising — thing happened in the shadow of Monday’s tragedy. As many around the world watched an iconic cathedral in Paris go up in flames, others immediately set about trying to spark new fires. On both sides of the Atlantic, denizens of the far right took to social media to grind their culture-warring axes, locating in the calamity a parable for the political moment — or, at least, their understanding of it.”

    Tharoor then went on to list the various people he wanted to grab at to make this prefabricated argument.

  7. Battling for the Future: Arab Protests 2.0

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Developments across northern Africa and the Middle East demonstrate that the drivers of the 2011 popular revolts that swept the region and forced the leaders of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen to resign not only continue to exist, but can still upset the apple cart at any moment. They suggest that the regional struggle between forces of change and ancien regimes and militaries backed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia is far from decided.

    Momentous developments across Arab North and East Africa suggest the long-drawn-out process of political transition in the region as well as the greater Middle East is still in its infancy.

    There continues to be popular discontent in Syria despite eight years of devastating civil war. It rumbles on in Egypt as well, notwithstanding a 2013 military coup that rolled back the advances of the 2011 protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak – a coup that brought one of the country’s most repressive regimes to power.

    If nothing else, protesters in Algeria and Sudan have learned one lesson from the failed 2011 results: Don’t trust militaries, even if they seem to align themselves with the demonstrators. Protesters now understand that they must not surrender the street until their demands have been fully met.

    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/arab-protests-revolts/

  8. US Will Move F-35 Work and Support Out of Turkey Acting Defense Sec. Shanahan says
    By Geller Report Staff – on May 5, 2019

    US Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan warned Friday that the Pentagon will halt manufacturing support for the F-35 in Turkey if Ankara buys a Russian missile defense system. Turkey’s adoption of Russian missile technology alongside U.S. fighter jets would pose a threat to the F-35 and endanger Western defense.

    https://gellerreport.com/2019/05/us-will-move-f-35-work-and-support-out-of-turkey-acting-defense-sec-shanahan-says.html/

  9. Ep. 973 This is the Next Information Bombshell To Drop. The Dan Bongino Show 5/6/2019.

  10. Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Moves to Impeach ‘Rogue’ Pittsburgh Mayor Over Gun Control Measures That Violate the Constitution

    Pennsylvania Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R) was met with thunderous applause at a Second Amendment rally as he discussed his intentions of impeaching Democrat Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto over new gun regulations.

    Speaking at the 14th annual Second Amendment rally in the state Capitol, Rep. Metcalfe said that he is moving to impeach the “rogue mayor.”

    According to a report from WESA, Peduto signed legislation last month restricting assault weapons, banning armor-piercing bullets and allowing temporary seizure of guns from people determined to be a danger to themselves or others.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/pennsylvania-gop-rep-moves-to-impeach-rogue-pittsburgh-mayor-over-gun-control-measures-that-violate-the-constitution/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%206,%202019%20at%2003:06:08%20PM

  11. FBI Anti-Terrorism Wiretap Translator, Haji Raghe Arrested For Making False Statements to FBI in Federal Terrorism Investigation

    FBI Anti-Terrorism Wiretap Translator, Haji Raghe Arrested For Making False Statements to FBI in Federal Terrorism Investigation
    Cristina Laila by Cristina Laila May 6, 2019 143 Comments

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    The DOJ and US Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia said in a press release Monday that a former FBI linguist was arrested and indicted on obstruction charges in a terrorism investigation.

    “According to court documents, Abdirizak Jaji Raghe Wehelie, aka Haji Raghe, 66, of Burke, was a federal contractor for the FBI and worked as a linguist translating communications captured by court-authorized surveillance of a suspect (Person A) in a terrorism investigation. Wehelie allegedly intentionally misidentified his own voice that was captured when Person A left a voicemail message on Wehelie’s mobile telephone,” the US Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia stated in a press release.

    In other words, Haji Raghe, who was hired by the FBI to translate wiretaps, was actually caught up in a wiretap talking to a suspected terrorist — then lied to the feds about it.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/fbi-anti-terrorism-wiretap-translator-haji-raghe-arrested-for-making-false-statements-to-fbi-in-federal-terrorism-investigation/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%206,%202019%20at%2003:06:08%20PM

  12. Fighting kills 43 in Syria’s northwest: Monitor (saudigazette, May 6, 2019)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/565772/World/Mena/Fighting-kills-43-in-Syrias-northwest-Monitor

    “Clashes between Syrian government forces and militants on Monday killed 43 fighters in the country’s northwest, where the regime and its Russian ally have stepped up bombardment in the past few days, a monitor said.

    Militants also fired rockets at a Russian air base in the region but were repelled with the attack causing no casualties or damage, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

    Twenty-two pro-government fighters were among those killed in fierce fighting in the northern countryside of Hama province, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

    Twenty-one jihadists, including members of Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), and its ally the Turkistan Islamic Party, were also killed, the war monitor said.

    The fighting came as regime forces advanced on two villages and a strategic hilltop in the region, it said…”

    • Russia’s getting ready to clean out that septic pocket, Idlib.
      Seems the Turk didn’t live up to his Astana obligations, stringing Uncle Vlad along like he’s used to playing with Uncle Sam.

      It won’t be pretty. Nobody’s going to shame the Bear with “proportionality” sermons.

  13. France: Telecoms giant faces court over spate of employee suicides

    Senior executives and the former CEO of France Telecom – now known as Orange – headed to trial in Paris, on Monday, faced with charges of ‘moral harassment’ as part of proceedings investigating a spate of employee suicides a decade ago.

    The case will focus on 19 employees who committed suicide, 12 who attempted suicide and eight others who suffered severe depression or were forced to stop working between 2008-2009, in what then CEO Didier Lombard called a “suicide fad.” Lombard and top management stand accused of creating a climate that used psychological distress to encourage employees to resign.

    Civil plaintiff and former employee Beatrice Pannier said she expected a lot from the trial.

    “Things have to change. I am 56 years old today, I don’t know if one day I will ever return to work in a company because my life is shattered and my career is destroyed,” she said.

    If convicted, the defendants could face one year behind bars and a €15,000 ($US16,800) fine each. Orange could also be hit with a sanction of €75,000 (US$84,030).

  14. CNN – Former prosecutor explains why she would charge Trump

    Former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers explains to CNN’s Brooke Baldwin why she joined hundreds of other prosecutors in signing a letter saying that President Donald Trump would be charged with obstruction of justice if he were not in office.

    • Associated PressLegal expert: subpoena battle could lead to crisis

      A legal scholar says that the the battle between the Democrat-led House and President Donald Trump over special counsel Robert Mueller’s report could lead to a constitutional crisis.

      • We already have a constitutional crisis and it is going to get worse as the known coup members start ratting out their political masters to get lesser sentences.

    • Gowdy on what House Dems can expect out of a Mueller hearing

      Reaction and analysis from former House Oversight Committee chairman Trey Gowdy and former independent counsel Ken Starr.

      • Thank you for the clip, Martin. I’ve never been a big fan of Dobbs (or Fox News for that matter). Regardless (at video time point – 00:03:12), Lou deserves major credit for mentioning the Koch Brothers as one of Trump’s major domestic adversaries. This one pair of multibillionaire influencers furnish a glimpse into the naked face of the GOP Deep State—even as they fuel every worst Progressive conspiracy theory about the Right.

        While I have no druthers about Bannon, just his praising Trump’s backhand to Xi (NOT in the tennis sense) gets my vote. Ever since Nixon’s (at that time) brilliantly sly move of destabilizing the USSR by normalizing relations with Communist China, it’s all been fucking downhill as America was sold out by president after president who took it up the shorts so their Wall Street cronies could feast at Uncle Mao’s AYCE cheap labor trough.

      • She’s like the fanatic Japanese soldiers hiding in caves 40 years after Hirohito surrendered. Still at war against the Allies.
        Freaky.

    • Interview: Catherine Herridge of Fox News Interviews Donald Trump – May 2, 2019

  15. Bahrain court upholds death sentences for Shia activists (alaraby, May 6, 2019)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/5/6/bahrain-court-upholds-death-sentences-for-shia-activists

    “Bahrain’s supreme court on Monday upheld death sentences for two Shia activists and jail terms for dozens of others on terror-related charges and links to Iran, state media reported.

    The court, whose rulings are final, also stripped 47 of the defendants of their Bahraini citizenship, said the BNA news agency, citing an official statement.

    The court upheld life terms for 19 convicts and sentenced 37 others to between five and 15 years in jail, the statement said.

    The men were charged of forming a “terror cell” that carried out a number of attacks, killing at least two policemen and wounding several others…”

  16. WATCH: Chainsaw-Wielding Thug Threatens Trump Supporters

    Antifa members came out in force to threaten a group of Trump supporters who dared to wave flags from a closed highway overpass.

    Police watched wearily as one carried a chainsaw. (The Register-Guard)

    Home
    America
    WATCH: Chainsaw-Wielding Thug Threatens Trump Supporters
    WATCH: Chainsaw-Wielding Thug Threatens Trump Supporters
    True Daily Staff May 6, 2019 America 3 Comments

    Antifa members came out in force to threaten a group of Trump supporters who dared to wave flags from a closed highway overpass.

    Police watched wearily as one carried a chainsaw. (The Register-Guard)

    The overpass was closed from about 12:19 p.m. to about 2:55 p.m., with officers from the Springfield and Eugene police departments trying to keep protesters from different ends of the political spectrum separated. Springfield Police Sgt. Matt Neiwert said there was one arrest, of a woman wearing black clothes and a bandana over her face. Her name or charges were not immediately available.

    A group called Oregon Women for Trump organized the “America First” rally and “flag wave” Sunday afternoon on the overpass.

    Some flag-wave-goers held banners and signs for President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign. Counter-protesters held signs that said “Hex Nazi Scum” and other antifascist messages. One America First protester held a Bible and prayed for much of the rally. One counter-protester carried a chainsaw without a chain and revved the engine to drown out flag-wave rally cheers.

    Eventually, the America First group moved off the bridge toward Gateway Street. The counter-protesters followed, still with police keeping the groups apart.

    A SWAT team had to keep Antifa members away from Trump supporter.

    https://truedaily.news/2019/05/06/watch-chainsaw-wielding-thug-threatens-trump-supporters/

  17. Sudanese forces seize weapons, including explosives belts: agency (reuters, May 6, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-security/sudanese-forces-seize-weapons-including-explosives-belts-agency-idUSKCN1SC1WT

    “Sudanese forces seized explosives belts, guns including rifles fitted with silencers, devices used to detonate explosives remotely and satellite telephones in a raid on a property in the capital Khartoum, the state news agency reported on Monday.

    A contingent of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), acing on a tip, carried out the raid in al-Taif district of Khartoum, the agency said…”

  18. All suspects in Sri Lanka bombings arrested or dead: acting police chief (reuters, May 6, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-blasts/all-suspects-in-sri-lanka-bombings-arrested-or-dead-acting-police-chief-idUSKCN1SC1W7

    “All suspected plotters and those directly linked to Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bombings have either been arrested or are dead, the country’s acting police chief said on Monday.

    In an audio statement circulated by the defense ministry, Chandana Wickramaratne, the acting Inspector General of Police, said security forces had also confiscated bomb-making material intended for future use by the militants involved in the attacks, which killed more than 250 people.

    Sri Lankan authorities have said the bombings were believed to have been carried out by two little-known local Islamist groups, the National Tawheed Jamaath (NTJ) and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim (JMI). Islamic State has claimed responsibility.”

  19. Kuwait to jail those who eat in public during Ramadan (gulfnews, May 6, 2019)
    https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/kuwait/kuwait-to-jail-those-who-eat-in-public-during-ramadan-1.63771271

    “Kuwait City: People eating in public during the days of the Muslim fasting of Ramadan in Kuwait risk jailing and a fine, a security official was quoted as saying on Monday.

    In Ramadan, Muslims have to abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to sunset.

    According to the Kuwaiti law, fast-breaking in public during this period is an offence punishable by a maximum one month in prison or a fine of 100 dinars, acting head of public relations at the Interior Ministry, Brig. Tawheed Al Kandari said, according to Al Anba newspaper.

    The law applies to Muslims and non-Muslims…”

  20. US Mosques Tighten Security Measures During Ramadan (moroccoworldnews, May 6, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/05/272389/us-mosques-tighten-security-measures-during-ramadan/

    “US mosques are determined to protect Muslim worshipers during the holy month of Ramadan amid an increase of worldwide attacks on mosques, churches, and synagogues.

    Taraweeh prayers, which are extra prayers carried out every night throughout Ramadan, started on Sunday, May 5, the eve of the first day of the holy month in the US.

    The Washington Post reported that mosques across the US are taking strong security measures against attacks similar to Christchurch terror shooting, which killed 51 Muslims inside two mosques in March 2019.

    The mosques’ safety preparations include “preparedness drills,” as well as recruiting armed or undercover security staff and training volunteers to ensure security at mosques and its surroundings.

    The mosques will add surveillance cameras and extra locks…”

  21. Pakistan suspends executions during Ramazan (tribune, May 6, 2019)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1966661/1-pakistan-suspends-executions-ramazan/

    “Prison authorities across the country will not be carrying out executions from the first of Ramazan till Eidul Fitr, Express News reported on Monday.

    The decision to temporarily suspend the death penalty comes in view of the sanctity of the holy month. President Arif Alvi will also deliberate upon and is expected to grant presidential pardons over the course of Ramazan.

    The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government had imposed a moratorium on capital punishment after coming to power in 2008.

    The moratorium was, however, lifted by the Nawaz Sharif-led government through an executive order after the 2014 terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.

    The decision was endorsed by parliament through 21st Constitutional Amendment in January 2015 which sought to establish military courts for speedy trials in terrorist offences and acts threatening the security of Pakistan. The move was part of the National Action Plan, a comprehensive strategy to deal with the menace of terrorism.

    Since then, Pakistan has executed almost 500 prisoners. The number accounted for 13 per cent of the total executions carried out globally between 2015 and 2017.

    There are currently 289 death row prisoners at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi , 12 out of whom are women who have challenged the death penalty in apex and high courts. At least 18 of the death row prisoners are awaiting a decision on clemency pleas.

    According to a report of the Justice Project Pakistan, ‘Counting the Condemned’, Pakistan has sentenced 4,500 people to death and executed around 821 over the last 14 years. The Supreme Court has overturned 85 per cent of the death sentences during appeals in the last three years.

    According to a military tally, the federal government had referred 717 cases to military courts this year, of which 546 were decided. A total of 310 terrorists were awarded the death penalty, while 234 were awarded rigorous imprisonment of varied durations ranging from life imprisonment to five years in jail and two others were acquitted.

    The military says that 56 condemned prisoners have been executed after final decisions from the top judiciary and rejection of clemency appeals by the president and the army chief.

    Prison authorities across the country will not be carrying out executions from the first of Ramazan till Eidul Fitr, Express News reported on Monday.

    The decision to temporarily suspend the death penalty comes in view of the sanctity of the holy month. President Arif Alvi will also deliberate upon and is expected to grant presidential pardons over the course of Ramazan.

    The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government had imposed a moratorium on capital punishment after coming to power in 2008.

    The moratorium was, however, lifted by the Nawaz Sharif-led government through an executive order after the 2014 terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.
    Pakistan faults UN for ‘misreading’ its vote on death penalty resolution

    The decision was endorsed by parliament through 21st Constitutional Amendment in January 2015 which sought to establish military courts for speedy trials in terrorist offences and acts threatening the security of Pakistan. The move was part of the National Action Plan, a comprehensive strategy to deal with the menace of terrorism.

    Since then, Pakistan has executed almost 500 prisoners. The number accounted for 13 per cent of the total executions carried out globally between 2015 and 2017.

    There are currently 289 death row prisoners at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi , 12 out of whom are women who have challenged the death penalty in apex and high courts. At least 18 of the death row prisoners are awaiting a decision on clemency pleas.

    According to a report of the Justice Project Pakistan, ‘Counting the Condemned’, Pakistan has sentenced 4,500 people to death and executed around 821 over the last 14 years. The Supreme Court has overturned 85 per cent of the death sentences during appeals in the last three years.

    According to a military tally, the federal government had referred 717 cases to military courts this year, of which 546 were decided. A total of 310 terrorists were awarded the death penalty, while 234 were awarded rigorous imprisonment of varied durations ranging from life imprisonment to five years in jail and two others were acquitted.

    The military says that 56 condemned prisoners have been executed after final decisions from the top judiciary and rejection of clemency appeals by the president and the army chief.

    Crimes punishable by death in Pakistan

    Article 10 (a) of the Constitution of Pakistan grants every citizen the right to a fair trial, Article 185 (2) (a) allows the court to award capital punishment to an individual found guilty of any crimes punishable by death as defined in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    The 27 offences punishable by death in the PPC include blasphemy (295-C of PPC); high treason (Section 2 of the High Treason Act, 1973); murder (Section 301 of PPC); hijacking (Section 402-B, C of PPC); waging or abetting war against Pakistan (Section 121 of PPC); Rape (Section 6 of the Zina Ordinance, 1979); adultery (Section 5 of the Offence of Zina Ordinance, 1979); mutiny and subordination (Section 31 of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952); abetment of mutiny (Section 132 of PPC); offences in relation to enemy, treachery, mutiny, and cowardice (Section 24 of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952), arms trading (Section 13-A(1) of the Pakistan Arms (Amendment) Ordinance, 1996), giving up military passwords, intentionally using unassigned military passwords (Section 26 of the Pakistan Army Act); stripping a woman’s clothes (Section 354-A of PPC), abduction to subject someone to unnatural lust (Section 12 of the Offence of Zina Ordinance, 1979); kidnapping or abduction of minor (Section 364-A of PPC); kidnapping for ransom or extortion (Section 365-A of PPC); importing, exporting into and from Pakistan dangerous drugs (Section 13 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930); importing, exporting inter-provincially or manufacturing drugs (Section 14 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930); drugs smuggling (Section 9 of the Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 1997); gang rape (Section 10(4) of the Offence of Zina Ordinance, 1979); sabotage of the railways system (Section 127 of the Railways (Amended) Act, 1995); Haraabah (Section 15 of the Offences Against Property Ordinance, 1979); scheduled offence likely to create terror or disrupt sectarian harmony (Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997); aggravated murder (Section 302 of PPC); robbery resulting in death (Section 396 of PPC) and Bearing false witness intending or knowing the accused may be convicted of a capital offence, if an innocent person is convicted and executed as a result (Section 194 of PPC).”

  22. 68 narcotics labs destroyed, nearly 200 Taliban militants killed, wounded in Farah airstrikes (khaama, May 6, 2019)
    https://www.khaama.com/68-narcotics-labs-destroyed-nearly-200-taliban-militants-killed-wounded-in-farah-airstrikes-03905/

    “Officials in the Ministry of Defense have confirmed that nearly 200 Taliban militants were killed or wounded in joint Afghan and coalition forces airstrikes which destroyed 68 narcotics labs in western Farah province of Afghanistan.

    The airstrikes were carried out in the vicinity of Bakwah district of the province.

    “RS+ANDSF, carried joint targeted airstrikes in Bakwah, Farah. 68 narco labs, processed daily $1 million worth of revenue for TBN terrorists, destroyed. 150 TBN killed & 40 injured,” the officials said.

    According to defense officials, these labs which were destroyed during the airstrikes produced, crystals meths, 6 times valuable than heroin!

    The Ministry of Interior in a statement confirmed that the airstrikes were carried out in Ashin, Palwashe and Spin Karez areas of the province in close coordination with the ground forces, resulting in destruction of 68 narcotics labs and killing of 150 militants.

    In the meantime, the district administrative chief of Bakwa Abdul Ghafoor has told Radio Free Europe’s Afghanistan service that 45 people were killed in coalition airstrikes on narcotics laboratories in this district.

    Ghafoor further added that ten narcotics factories were also destroyed in the airstrikes.”

  23. Turkey’s cultural diplomacy ‘has a humanitarian dimension’ (hurriyetdailynews, May 6, 2019)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-cultural-diplomacy-has-a-humanitarian-dimension-143188

    “The mission of Yunus Emre Institute is not just limited to project Turkey’s culture or encourage cultural exchange, according to its chairman. The strategy of the institute, which is celebrating its 10th year, has a humanitarian dimension to it. “We also want to answer the needs of our interlocutors,” Professor ?eref Ate? has said.

    What were your priorities and to what degree do you think you’ve accomplished them?

    Yunus Emre Institute was founded to share Turkey’s cultural experience with the world, to connect Turkey’s culture with the world.

    It started first by establishing a network abroad by setting up cultural centers. We now have 58 centers. We have a strategy based on several pillars. One of them is cultural diplomacy. Another pillar is to teach Turkish. Currently, there is tremendous demand worldwide to learn Turkish.

    Another one is the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDnet), which we initiated. We conduct activities in order to spread a discourse on peace.

    Another leg consists of science diplomacy. Science is an apolitical space, and we want to connect Turkey’s scientific ecosystem with the world.

    In the cultural interaction, first you carry and project the culture, for instance, a folkloric dance group will go to Japan and perform. The second phase is to open a course to teach how to play a Turkish instrument for instance. The third phase is the cultural exchange, where activities are done reciprocally. You learn while you teach.

    And the fourth phase is to create the opportunity to answer the needs of the other side. You have a toolbox and you need to find the tool to answer the needs of your interlocutor.

    Cultural exchange is about making connections not about taking your culture and making its propaganda.

    We conduct at least 1,000 activities based on this approach.

    The fundamental principle is to help other societies. We will, for instance, organize a meeting in Istanbul in June to get the Somali diaspora together.

    You might say, “What’s the purpose?” We have an ability to get organized, to get institutionalized and to make decisions quickly. These are also some of the characteristics of Turkish culture. So we do not want to only project the Turkish culture or teach Turkish, for instance, but if we can, we want to solve problems and answer their needs within the scope of our means.

    In that respect, it has a humanitarian dimension.

    This is a very wide framework. Doesn’t this create a loss of focus?

    We do work in parallel with Turkey’s foreign policy. Turkey has been lagging behind in that sense. There is a lot of catching up to do. We want the world to meet Turkey’s cultural richness as soon as possible. Indeed there is this sense of hastiness. Sometimes they ask us abroad, “What’s this rush?” There are some foreign institutions that have been active for hundreds of years. But it seems they have become too static; they have a certain program, annual targets, a routine. But we are relatively new and wherever we go that enthusiasm motivates us.

    Doesn’t this have negative consequences? Of course there is loss of concentration; you set a target but you can’t reach it. But still you hang on. We started Turkish as a selective course in Bosnia and Herzegovina in elementary schools with very limited means. This is our seventh year, and on April 23 Children’s Day was celebrated with the participation of 10,000 children. We could not include their families as there was no place left in the stadium. In normal conditions, you have to have a few years of planning, training of the teachers and earmarking the budgets in advance etc. When you want to do a work plan with the Western mentality, you are not supposed to do it the way we do it. But what we do is not just about reaching the targets about certain projects, it is about intentions. If you have the intention to reach out to people, then you can get out of the normal flow of the implementation of projects. So, first, we need to define well the philosophy and then build the strategy upon that.

    Mehmed the Conqueror is not a great man because he conquered Istanbul, he is great because after taking Istanbul he supported the Orthodox Church, he supported the Catholics and the Assyrians. Yunus Emre says, “If you do not look at 72 different nations with the same eye, you are not one of mine.”

    Even though you want to remain equidistant to all, you need to have certain priorities in terms of geographies for instance.

    The institute first went to near regions like the Balkans. The first center was opened in Bosnia for instance, the second was in Damascus. Then came the Turkic world in Central Asia. In the new phase, we look at where there is demand for us, where prejudice towards us is less. So currently it is Latin America and Africa.

    Perhaps the institute should go to places where there is prejudice?

    Unfortunately, there is too much prejudice in European countries. We have 12 centers in Europe and there we rather work with children, as they are less prejudiced. We face difficulties in EU countries like the Netherlands or Austria. When we ask for a concert hall for example we get a negative reply. We had difficulty finding a partner. But currently, it has started to normalize.

    To what degree has the current rise of Islamophobia shaped your priorities?

    It affects us but it does not shape our approach. We do not have a reactionary approach. We want to achieve sustainability in relations by offering an opportunity to our interlocutors according to their needs. It is not just about making people familiar with Turkish coffee. Yunus Emre says, “Come let’s meet; let’s make it easy.” He wants to say, “Let’s facilitate things.” And he adds, “The world shall be left to no one,” in other words, even if you are from Germany, Turkey or Mozambique, we are not eternal. In the most difficult times, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk called for peace at home and for peace in the world too.

    Can the institute be considered as an institution to project Turkey’s soft power?

    We object that concept. Anything involving power opens way for abuse. We don’t want power. Culture should not be instrumentalized for peace. That’s why the institute is not the government’s propaganda machine. That’s why it has been established as a foundation.

    We are not state officials. Its establishment was supported by the opposition too. And we are watched over by a monitoring institution which has members from the government but also from the opposition. Obviously, our budget comes from the state and we cannot do anything in contrast to Turkey’s foreign policy. But where the foreign policy is blocked, the institute continues to work. Right now, we have a center in Egypt, which continues its activities despite the crisis in relations. We have received 3 billion euros from the EU for cultural dialogue between Turkey and Europe. It is important to continue relations between people no matter what the policies of the governments are.”

  24. Nearly 1,500 personnel suspended from Turkish forces (aa, May 6, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/nearly-1-500-personnel-suspended-from-turkish-forces/1471630

    “A total of 1,496 personnel with links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) were suspended from the Turkish Armed Forces in the last 10 months.

    According to security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, a total of 879 personnel of the land forces, 242 of the naval forces, and 375 personnel of the air forces were suspended from duty by the Turkish National Defense Ministry.

    Additionally, some 150 retired soldiers’ ranks were revoked over FETO links.

    The ministry and the military continue their struggle with FETO decisively, said the sources.

    FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the July 25, 2016 coup attempt which martyred 251 people and injured nearly 2,200.”

  25. Ten arrested in illegal migration case (ansa, May 6, 2019)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/05/06/ten-arrested-in-illegal-migration-case_8e6d88d6-f58d-411f-b33f-7dd40adf7789.html

    “Police in Bergamo on Monday arrested 10 people, including several public officials, charged with aggravated abetting of illegal immigration, fraudulent misrepresentation committed by public officials, corruption and of forging documents to issue residency permits.

    The so-called ‘Yuan’ police operation was carried out in Bergamo, Milan and Novara.
    Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, the leader of the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League party, praised the police operation saying that “good times are over” for the “business of mass immigration”.”

  26. 53-yr-old pusher gets 5 yrs for raping and torturing woman (ansa, May 6, 2019)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/05/06/53-yr-old-pusher-gets-5-yrs-for-raping-and-torturing-woman_2ed0f236-8efa-4e44-84c9-694abe4c8c00.html

    “A Nigerian pusher has been sentenced to five years and eight months for raping and causing bodily harm to a 21-year-old girl as well as selling drugs.

    The Parma prosecutor’s office said that the man, 53-year-old Wilson Ndu Aniyem, had with Parma-native entrepreneur Federico Pesci raped the girl for hours in the latter’s attic. The incident occurred in July 2018.”

  27. Migrants: 1 in 3 died at sea in 2019 – UNHCR (ansamed, May 6, 2019)
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2019/05/06/migrants-1-in-3-died-at-sea-in-2019-unhcr_36643122-b251-47e3-8348-8a960305c466.html

    “One in three people died in 2019 while attempting to reach Europe from Libya by sea, UNHCR Italy tweeted on Monday. The organization stressed that ”there is no safe port in Libya but no government or NGO ship is carrying out search and rescue operations. ”It is clear that this situation cannot continue”, concluded the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.”

  28. Spanish police bust Bangladeshi-run migrant smuggling ring (thelocal, May 6, 2019)
    https://www.thelocal.es/20190506/spanish-police-bust-bangladeshi-run-migrant-smuggling-ring

    “Spanish police have smashed a Bangladeshi-run ring which smuggled more than 350 migrants from the Indian subcontinent into the country and gave them fake passports.
    The migrants allegedly paid the ring between €14,000-20,000 ($15,500-$22,000) for the journey, police said, adding that 11 people had been arrested in Barcelona where the group was based.

    The migrants were flown to Algeria, from where they crossed into neighbouring Morocco by foot and were then taken by motorboat across the Mediterranean into Spain, the police said in a statement issued on Friday.

    At least 350 people from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were smuggled in by the group, the statement added.

    The ring comprised several cells. One was charged with recruiting migrants, another organised their stay in transit countries while a third arranged the Mediterranean Sea crossing.

    The gang fraudulently obtained Algerian entry visas for the migrants in India.

    Once the migrants were in Spain, they were provided with fake passports or fake Bangladeshi police certificates stating they had no criminal records which they used to obtain Spanish residency permits.

    Spain is the main entry point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe after Greece.

    Over 7,800 migrants have entered Spain since the start of the year, mostly by boat from Morocco, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM). The vast majority were from Africa.”

    • Video time point – 00:01:25

      Why should we expect any significant measures to be taken now?

      Just prior to asking this question, Cullen breezily traipses by a point which merited much greater clarification. It goes directly back to my own personal objections about Alex Jones and why it was so disconcerting that his hand up the MSM’s skirts was being confused with any legitimate Conservative message.

      Did InfoWars widely viewed coverage (especially just prior to being banned) of such verboten topics as the Clinton Foundation’s flagrant malfeasance ruffle MSM petticoats more than a little above the knee? Without a doubt. You be the judge as to the way Jones and PJW alarmed voters with otherwise media-blacked-out election year updates and whether that was more than likely a major reason for the conspicuously simultaneous cross-platform excommunication that then happened.

      NOTE: — The word “excommunication” seems ridiculously appropriate in a variety of ways. Media in general has become a place of worship whose commandments are handed down from the DNC’s most extremist extreme Olympian heights. The ostensibly justifiable casting of Jones into the outer darkness is just a fragment of the dreamscape being fobbed off as reality by PoMo Prog zealots. As many here (and at GoV) often note: Cultural Marxism requires, nay demands, a religiosity of belief which exceeds that of all other world faiths save, incredibly, ISLAM.

      I’ll freely confess that the Trowel of Cosmic Irony is getting a bit antsy at this point but let’s see what other minor gaffes Cullen commits, eh?

      As a quick aside, Cullen monetizing with ads (that he at least narrates himself) really doesn’t annoy me. The man’s gotta eat. We’ll talk about the bugs later.

      Be that as it may, I submit for your approval how Cullen (video time point – 00:11:48), like myself, understandably brays about the Comedic Cornucopia parading as MSM “journalism”. Even as he, too, is gobsmacked about his material writing itself, I remain unsurprised about that entire ersatz therapy delivered via fast food oral gratification (i.e., “Real Meals”) in boxes with scwoowy chat memes. (Am I the only one who sees the BK ad tag line, “keepin’ it REAL” coming down the pipe?)

      Many years ago, clinical psychological studies showed preverbal infants responding to and recalling McDonald’s commercials on television. So, another fast food giant is using subliminal marketing (because, let’s face it, that’s what it is) to hawk their crap—be it down our throats or right back up. What else is new?

      However, Cullen displays this worrisome ability to brush past vital issues. One of them being how the reprehensible conspiracy theories of Alex Jones gave credence to Leftist hysteria over nonexistent American “right-wing extremism”.

      It played into the hands of the “mental illness” rationalization of terrorism, disease model for addiction, and every other Culturally Marxist trope designed to override the mandate for personal responsibility with endless nanny state Big Government. This is specifically why it was so important to defend his right to voice an opinion but then met it with more resistance from a better informed community.

      As to eating bugs. Meh! It happens on a lot of picnics. Roasted palm grubs are considered delicacies. The places where they are consumed sometimes cannot possibly sustain herds of livestock needed to replace fish and the occasional insect. In David Brin’s eco-thriller, “Earth”, goats have been globally exterminated for their harmful ability to strip out vegetation from treetops and, unbelievably, even on near-vertical hydro dam faces in Italy (see below).

      Like most Conservative conservationists, I’m concerned about animal extinctions like Brin proposes. All the same,whatever simultaneously deprives Muslims of wealth, food, and their favorite sex partners can’t be all bad.

      Any hunters who watch the following will probably think, “Boy howdy! If I bag one of those suckers way up there, by the time it tumbles down to the bottom, it’ll be tenderized just perfect!

      T = 00:00:49 – Seconds of TSFW MIND-BENDING FOOTAGE

  29. Berlin’s ‘Mohammed’ baby-name trend distorted by far-right and media (DW, May 6, 2019)
    https://www.dw.com/en/baby-name-mohammed-afd-context/a-48624839

    “What’s in a name? In Germany, if that name is “Mohammed,” the answer is: a political powder keg — and one that the far-right AfD was quick to get its hands on. But what does the uproar about the name actually reveal?

    On Thursday, the Society for the German Language (GfdS), a politically independent organization dedicated to cultivating and studying the German language, released its annual study of Germany’s most popular baby names.

    Harnessing data from over 700 civil registries across Germany, the report determined that the most popular names in Germany in 2018 overall were “Marie/Mari” for girls and “Paul” for boys. The ranking takes into account all given names.

    The normally innocuous report, however, quickly became fodder for political mudslinging and false news reports — all because 280 of 22,000 newborn boys in Berlin were given one of at least 25 iterations of the first given name “Mohammed.”

    Media frenzy

    Berlin’s Tagesspiegel daily newspaper summed up the report as “Mohammed is more popular than Karl-Heinz,” while British tabloid The Daily Mail pointed out that “Mohammed was in the 10 most popular boy names in six of Germany’s 16 states,” without putting the results into context.

    Alice Weidel, parliamentary co-leader for the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), currently the country’s third-largest party, was quick to use Twitter to repost an article about the study from German tabloid Bild.

    “Well I never! Last year the most commonly chosen first name in Berlin for male newborns was Mohammed … a rising trend,” she wrote.

    The Berlin chapter of the AfD was less cryptic, posting a graphic over its Twitter account about the study that depicted a woman wearing a headscarf teaching a classroom full of students. “Stop Islamization: Only with the AfD!” it read.

    Sawsan Chebli, a German politician in Berlin for the center-left Social Democrats who is of Palestinian descent, posted a personal rebuttal directly aimed at the AfD: “My father is named Mohammed. I am named Sawsan Mohammed Chebli. My oldest nephew is named Mohammed … We’ll make sure that the name Mohammed never disappears!” Twitter temporarily suspended her account for triggering algorithms meant to prevent electoral manipulation.

    Lacking context

    The GfdS report failed to provide much-needed context to its results, Gabriele Rodriguez, who researches family nomenclature at the University of Leipzig, told DW. This lack of clarity combined with a society sensitive to its changing demographics and mired in political debate over migration and refugee issues led to the groundswell of misinformation.

    It’s partly true that “Mohammed” has ascended the ranks of baby names due to growing immigrant communities in Germany. But it’s also because it’s tradition that families from the Arab world name at least one of their children after the Prophet Mohammed.

    “There is not a large pool of names to choose from, as is the case with German families,” she said, pointing out that over half of all baby names registered in any given year in Germany are unique, and that the most popular baby names are at most between 2% and 3% of all newborns.

    And while most baby names have only a few different variations, there are at least 25 of the name “Mohammed.” Moreover, it is often a first given name, causing it to occur with more frequency than other names in that category. The most popular name for boys in Berlin when all given names were taken into consideration was Alexander.

    The GfdS study ranked Mohammed the 24th most popular name in Germany when second and third names were also taken into account.

    Confusing methods

    The report’s methods were also not entirely fleshed out, said Rodriguez, making it difficult for the public to draw informed conclusions.

    Until 2017’s report, all first given names, regardless of order, were grouped together to determine the most popular. Over the past two years, however, the GfdS has begun to publish two separate lists together: The most popular overall baby names, including second and third given names, and the most common first given name on a birth certificate.

    Without explaining the new methods for determining popularity, or giving absolute numbers for any given name, it’s to be expected that the public would get confused, Rodriguez said.

    “We also realized that the results are perhaps a bit confusing,” Frauke Rüdebusch, a researcher with the GfdS, told DW. “But through the list of first given names, there is now another aspect of comparability that we didn’t have before. Both lists are important for us … but [we] will be careful to ensure greater transparency and distinctness between the two.”

    Fearmongering

    That the once innocent report got taken so out of context also speaks to Germans’ fears of a changing society, said Rodriguez.

    “Most new baby names in Germany are from abroad and are considered to be exotic — German ears need a bit of time to adjust,” she said. “That’s no problem in urban enclaves, but elsewhere people see that as a problem and feel threatened, even though in villages, where the problem is most pronounced, there are very few foreigners.”

    “This isn’t just the case for first names — it has everything at the moment to do with foreigners,” she added. “This is just feeding into the AfD, which has the express goal of creating fear about such things so that they can sustain themselves.””

    • The Saudis are afraid that the next US prez will be an obamination.
      So’s India – they’re not just playing coy to the current US overtures.
      Israel can relate to such worries.

      • I am praying Pence will win after 2 terms of Trump.

        I honestly don’t see the Dems winning in 2020, but I do see them touching off a massive civil war between now and 2021.

  30. John Solomon: FBI Played ‘Political Dirty Trick’ on Donald Trump over Alleged Russia Collusion

  31. They can’t stop us now. The genie’s out of the bottle.” Mr Brexit Nigel Farage with Sebastian Gorka

  32. epublicans Face EXTINCTION Unless They Stop Online Censorship, Here ‘s How They Can Fight Back

  33. the guardian – ‘I’m getting death threats,’ says man who threw milkshake on Tommy Robinson

    Danyaal Mahmud says he’s worried about his family after protest against far-right candidate went viral

    The 23-year-old works as an apprentice customer services adviser and had never been to a march before.

    By the end of the afternoon, Mahmud had become the poster boy for protest; a clip of him throwing a milkshake over Tommy Robinson’s head has been shared as the viral sensation of the week.

    Speaking to the Observer on video call from his home, where he lives with his mum, dad, and four siblings, Mahmud, 23, says he is still in shock. “I’m a low-key person, I didn’t anticipate this publicity and I don’t want it – I’m getting death threats on social media and I am worried about me and my family being targeted.”

    https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/05/death-threats-man-threw-milkshake-over-tommy-robinson

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    https://twitter.com/Keith58146767/status/1124595657799499776

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