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.
Pelosi gives update after White House briefing on Iran attack
Saudi Arabia ‘wants to avoid war with Iran at all costs’
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has told Sky News his country wants to avoid a war with Iran “at all costs”.
Speaking to Sky’s Dominic Waghorn, Adel Al-Jubeir denied suggestions by Iran that Saudi Arabia is trying to provoke a conflict, calling the suggestion “ridiculous”.
Al-Jubeir is a snake.
Ick.We’re co-belligerents, not allies.
At best.I wish a lot more people understood that fact.
twitter – Javad Zarif
At 00:14 US drone took off from UAE in stealth mode & violated Iranian airspace. It was targeted at 04:05 at the coordinates (25°59’43″N 57°02’25″E) near Kouh-e Mobarak.
We’ve retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down.
https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1141772824086028288
Tucker: Washington is war-hungry
Lawmakers back military retaliation on Iran following drone attack, Trump calls drone being shot down ‘a mistake.’
I saw that and thought that Tucker has lost his mind, he seems to think that if the US pulls back inside our borders everyone will leave us alone.
Hannity: Trump puts Iran on notice after drone shot down
He points out that when laying out the Trump Doctrine he said he was against putting boots on the ground. Why do so many people who should be on our side forget that speech?
Washington DC – Trudeau on Bill 21 —
======> just past the 50 min mark
Houthis recruit 50,000 Yemen child soldiers in 3 months, minister says (thedefensepost, Jun 20, 2019)
https://thedefensepost.com/2019/06/20/yemen-houti-child-soldiers-noammar-al-eryani/
“A gun, a comic magazine about jihad and qat to chew – for many kids in Yemen, these are integral parts of their childhood. About 50,000 children have been recruited in the past three months by the Houthi rebels to fight in the country’s bloody civil war, with around 10% of them being girls, according to Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani.
With the difficult economic situation in the country when salaries are mainly being paid only to those willing to fight, families have to find a way to survive.
“Most of the kids go with the consent of their family, some are kidnapped … some are brainwashed,” Al-Eryani said during a media roundtable this week in Washington, D.C.
At the same time, many children have been recruited to the rebel cause from orphanages, he claimed.
According to the United Nations, the situation on the ground in Yemen is getting more violent as the civil war continues into its fifth year.
The total number of children currently fighting for the rebels is unknown, according to Al-Eryani. He said the 50,000 figure was calculated based on “the information received from Sana’a,” but that its source should remain classified.
The Defense Post was unable to independently verify the figures…”
UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia unlawful, court rules (thedefensepost, Jun 20, 2019)
https://thedefensepost.com/2019/06/20/uk-arms-exports-saudi-arabia-lawful-yemen/
“A London court on Thursday handed a partial victory to campaigners trying to halt U.K. arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the kingdom’s bombing campaign in Yemen.
The Court of Appeal ruling does not immediately halt U.K. arms sales or suspend existing licenses.
But judge Terence Etherton said the U.K. government “must reconsider the matter” and weigh up future risks.
The government had “made no concluded assessments of whether the Saudi-led coalition had committed violations of international humanitarian law in the past, during the Yemen conflict, and made no attempt to do so,” Etherton ruled on June 20.
The decision means there is a stay on the granting of export licenses to Saudi Arabia until an assessment is made, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said she was “disappointed that the court found against the government on one ground” and would seek an appeal.
Trade minister Liam Fox told parliament the government suspend issuing new Saudi licenses for the sale of arms that might be used in the kingdom’s bombing campaign in Yemen.
The U.K.-based Campaign Against Arms Trade non-profit first launched its court battle against the government in December 2015. CAAT was joined by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Rights Watch U.K.
Thursday’s judgement came in response to CAAT’s appeal of a July 2017 High Court ruling that U.K. arms exports to the Gulf kingdom were “lawful.”
Amnesty International said it welcomed Thursday’s judgement…”
France will pick up the business in a heartbeat.
The UK may just be the European headquarters of the MB, as the rumor mill has it.
France wants the money and wants to keep the oil flowing, something the Brit Judges are ignoring.
US Senate votes to block $8.1 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia (thedefensepost, Jun 20, 2019)
https://thedefensepost.com/2019/06/20/us-senate-block-arms-sales-saudi-arabia/
“The Republican-led U.S. Senate voted on Thursday, June 20 to block $8.1 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, as legislators outraged with the kingdom delivered a symbolic rebuke to President Donald Trump.
Some seven Republicans joined Democrats in supporting each of three resolutions that would prevent the controversial sales announced earlier this year by Trump.
The measures would block 22 separate sales of aircraft support maintenance, precision-guided munitions and other weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan at a moment of heightened tensions in the Middle East.
The votes were only assured this week when Republican leadership agreed to hold the sensitive roll calls on the arms sales that critics say will aggravate the devastating war in Yemen.
Trump’s administration took the extraordinary step of bypassing Congress to approve the sale in May, as his administration declared Iran to be a “fundamental threat” to the stability of the Middle East.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said the administration was responding to an emergency caused by Saudi Arabia’s historic rival Iran, which backs the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Senators, including some Republicans, said there were no legitimate grounds to circumvent Congress, which has the right to disapprove arms sales.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump loyalist on several other fronts, offered a full-throated rebuke of the arm sales, and of the Saudi leadership.
Graham said he hoped his vote would “send a signal to Saudi Arabia that if you act the way you’re acting, there is no space for a strategic relationship.”
The senator was referring to last year’s brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey at the hands of Saudi agents, an incident that triggered a full-blown crisis in Riyadh’s relations with the West.
“There is no amount of oil that you can produce that will get me and others to give you a pass on chopping somebody up in a consulate,” Graham said, adding that there is also “no amount of threat coming from Iran that’s going to require me to give a pass to this brutal barbaric behavior.”
The measures would still need to pass the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives before they go to the president’s desk.
Trump is expected to veto them, and it will remain an uphill climb for Congress to come up with a two-thirds vote to overcome a veto.”
Lindsey Graham.
Dirtbag MB-lover, kissy-face McStain IN HELL.
(And take that Moslem-sister Huma with you.)
Yes, I feel a little slow to have not understood this about LG.
I wish that the fools families were the only people being put at risk by this action. Saudi is a snake pit with a lot of slimy people in the government but they aren’t (openly) attacking us, by taking this action the fools weaken Saudi, enrich France and make it easier for Saudi to decide to fund terrorists who will attack us.
Greece to take action against Turkey at EU summit (memo, Jun 20, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190620-greece-to-take-action-against-turkey-at-eu-summit/
“Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras flew to Belgian capital Brussels today to attend a two-day summit held by the European Union (EU), in which he plans to push for measures to be taken against Turkey over the controversy in the eastern Mediterranean.
The effort taken by Tsipras is largely based on a call by the EU General Affairs Council on Tuesday to take “appropriate measures” against Turkey, which the Greek government saw as “positive”.
Over the past month, the two countries have been engaged in a dispute over vast natural gas reserves discovered off the coast of Cyprus, which remains split between Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south…”
Turkey sends second ship to drill near Cyprus, EU warns of action (reuters, Jun 20, 2019)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyprus-turkey-ship/turkey-sends-second-ship-to-drill-near-cyprus-eu-warns-of-action-idUSKCN1TL1R6
“Turkey launched a second drilling ship on Thursday which will conduct natural gas operations off the northeast coast of Cyprus for three months, a move which risks aggravating a conflict with Cyprus over jurisdiction rights for oil and gas exploration.
Turkey and the internationally-recognized government of Cyprus have overlapping claims in that part of the Mediterranean, an area thought to be rich in natural gas.
Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said at the launch of the vessel, Yavuz, it would operate in a borehole near Cyprus’ Karpas Peninsula, and reach a depth of 3,300 metres (3,609 yards).
Turkey already has a ship offshore Cyprus, and Cyprus last week issued arrest warrants for its crew.
European Union leaders warned Turkey on Thursday to end its gas drilling in disputed waters or face action from the bloc, after Greece and Cyprus pressed other EU states to speak out.
At an EU summit in Brussels, leaders issued a formal statement saying Turkey’s drilling is “illegal” and that the bloc “stands ready to respond appropriately.”
“The European Council underlines the serious immediate negative impact that such illegal actions have across the range of EU-Turkey relations,” leaders said, using the official title of their summit. “The European Council calls on Turkey to show restraint.”
The statement also threatened “targeted measures”: EU code for possible travel bans and asset freezes of Turkish companies and individuals involved in the drilling.
The dispute has escalated in the past month and also risks straining Ankara’s relations with its western allies.
Ankara, which does not have diplomatic relations with Cyprus, claims that certain areas in Cyprus’s offshore maritime zone, known as an EEZ, fall under the jurisdiction of Turkey or of Turkish Cypriots, who have their own breakaway state in the north of the island recognized only by Turkey.
Cyprus says that defining its EEZ is its sovereign right…”
When the EU or NATO has to move on Turkey we are going to regret not selling the weapons and spare parts to Saudi.
22 Migrants Die Attempting to Cross from Morocco into Europe (moroccoworldnews, Jun 20, 2019)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/06/276338/22-migrants-die-crossing/
“Waiting at the doorstep of Europe, thousands of migrants and refugees in North Africa see the journey across the Mediterranean as the final obstacle between the hardships of their past and the hope of safety in Europe.
Yet, this crossing is a larger obstacle than many first perceive, and the journey across the Mediterranean remains one of the most dangerous routes for migration in the world, with thousands of migrants dying along the path every year.
For the most fortunate of these migrants, the journey will be interrupted by an NGO or passerby willing to help them along to Europe. For the least fortunate of these migrants, the makeshift boats in which they attempt the journey become waterlogged coffins in the salty waters of the Mediterranean.
Floating adrift in the Mediterranean Sea, 27 migrants were found and rescued by a Spanish passenger ferry on June 20; however, less fortunate were the additional 22 migrants previously on board who did not survive the journey.
No bodies were found aboard the ship, and according to the rescued passengers, the deceased were thrown overboard into the sea during the course of the journey.
Corroborating this claim, an NGO confirmed that a migrant ship carrying 49 people did indeed leave from the Moroccan city of Al Hoceima en route to Spain.
Fleeing from violence, poverty, and persecution, tens of thousands of migrants attempt to make their way to Europe each year, their resolve called into question each time one of their traveling companions falls along the way…”
Court sentences Lahore man to death over blasphemy (dawn, Jun 20, 2019)
https://www.dawn.com/news/1489347/court-sentences-lahore-man-to-death-over-blasphemy
“A sessions court in Lahore sentenced a man to death in a three-year-old blasphemy case and fined him Rs200,000.
In 2016, police had filed a first information report against a man identified as Saleem under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code after he had uttered blasphemous remarks in a public place in the Lohari Gate area.
According to Deputy Prosecutor General Muhammad Amjad,12 witnesses had recorded testimonies against Saleem. Six of the testimonies had been recorded in court, while the other half were recorded via video link due to security concerns.
Half the trial had been conducted in court, and the other half via video link while the accused remained in Camp Jail for security purposes. Additional sessions judge Faizul Hassan read the verdict out to Saleem over video link.”
600 Italian families sign up to host refugees (ansamed, Jun 20, 2019)
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2019/06/20/600-italian-families-sign-up-to-host-refugees_99bb71af-3bd6-4f11-9504-7204e1c3abdb.html
“About 600 Italian families have in the past six months expressed their willingness to host a refugee as part of the Refugees Welcome Italia project. The association said that this figure shows ”the desire to help those forced to leave their homes due to conflict, persecution, or poverty remains strong despite the fact that the political climate is not very favourable. To the contrary: most of the time it is precisely the desire to do something tangible in such a critical moment that pushes people to sign up on the Refugees Welcome website.” ”In this period, many people are writing to us to share with us the need to do something tangible. They see welcoming (refugees, Ed.) into their families a response, a way to say clearly which side they are on,” said Fabiana Musicco, the director of the association.
This was the case, for example, of Guido, Giovanna and Laura, who are sharing their home and a part of their lives with Layla, an Iraqi woman who arrived in Italy via a humanitarian corridor from Lebanon. They noted that they had made this decision ”a long time ago, to host a refugee within our family. For many reasons: first of all, as a refusal to feel accomplices of political choices that we do not share. But also because we are a large family – many children, siblings and friends – and so for us sharing and solidarity are fundamental.” At times the motivations can also be more personal, linked for example to the desire to set an example for one’s children. Like in the case of Camilla and Paolo, who signed up for the project ”because we want to make our children – Vincenzo, 14, Miriam, 11, and Pietro, 10 – understand how lucky they are.
Hosting Hafsa, an 18-year-old Somali girl, was easy. She immediately became part of our family. We are happy. Every time she speaks or smiles, a whole new world opens up.””
Pro-migrant German mayors receive death threats (thelocal, Jun 20, 2019)
https://www.thelocal.de/20190620/pro-migrant-german-mayors-receive-death-threats
“At least three prominent German pro-migrant mayors have received death threats, it emerged Thursday, days after police arrested a suspected far-right extremist over the assassination-style gun murder of a local politician…”
DiGenova calls the DOJ and FBI politically corrupt, says Barr will ‘clean it up’
FBI warned key document in Manafort case may have been fake: Solomon
Award winning investigative journalist John Solomon says the FBI warned that a key document in the Paul Manafort case may have been fake.