Contributor’s links for July 16, 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

135 Replies to “Contributor’s links for July 16, 2019”

  1. PANORAMA: IS LABOUR ANTI-SEMITIC
    video – 59 minutes
    Panorama goes inside the anti-Semitism crisis gripping Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. With exclusive interviews from key insiders and access to confidential communications and documents, this is the story of how the crises developed. Reporter John Ware reveals the evasions and contradictions at the heart of the political party which leader Jeremy Corbyn says has anti-racism at its very core.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0006p8c/panorama-is-labour-antisemitic

  2. CHINA’S NEW WORLD ORDER – BEHIND THE DEEP STATE
    video – 11 minutes 4 seconds
    In this episode, host Alex Newman discloses globalists who praise and push for China to be the future of the world.

    • Australia has sold it’s soul to China already. Our future has been sold out by car salesmen and real estate agents who think they are clever.

  3. Good news from the EU, Martin Selmayr aka the Beast of the Berlaymont is heading for the exit.
    https://twitter.com/liliebayer/status/1150999950349733890

    About his appointment:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Selmayr#Appointment_to_Secretary-General_of_the_European_Commission

    Some media sources claimed that support for Selmayr had been “bought”, and with others claiming that Selmayr had “forced” his way into the position.[13] The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has threatened to resign if the controversy leads to Selmayr’s dismissal.[14] On 25 March 2018 the Commission issued a formal statement claiming that Selmayr’s promotion was in accordance with legal procedures.[15]

    The European Ombudsman contested the lightning-quick appointment of Selmayr from Deputy Secretary-General to Secretary-General, found instances of “maladministration” and concluded that the Commission “did not follow EU law”.[16] The Ombudsman’s statement was rejected by the Commission.

  4. Germany: A Tunisian rams a knife into a woman’s head and stabs three further women+++
    Last Saturday morning a Tunisian is said to have brutally stabbed four women – among them allegedly a mother and her daughter – with a knife. One of his victims was in mortal danger. Despite the prolongation of the immigration stop for immigrants, the town of Salzgitter does not come to rest.
    It has now become known that on Saturday morning there was a knife attack next to a Shisha bar in Salzgitter, which ended almost fatally. After a verbal battle with his separated wife, a 41-year-old Tunisian is said to have taken a knife from a car. Then he randomly stabbed his ex-wife and three other women. This was confirmed by the Salzgitter police and the public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig at the request of the newspaper SZ.According to the newspaper, the alleged perpetrator is said to have stopped the attack because his knife in the head of one of the women broke off. The public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig did not want to confirm or deny this information. Subsequently, the 41-year-old fled and surrendered to the police immediately after the crime. Since then he has remained silent about the accusations. The injured women were taken to various hospitals. The woman whose head the knife was stuck in was operated on. According to the police, she is now out of danger. On Sunday, the Salzgitter Local Court issued a remand warrant against the 41-year-old accused. The public prosecutor’s office accuses him of attempted manslaughter. Further investigations are ongoing. The public prosecutor’s office did not want to comment on the question of whether the suspect had already committed crimes before.
    Read more:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/07/germany-tunisian-rams-knife-into-womans.html

  5. ‘Tasteless’: Swedes Disturbed by ‘Mafia Movie’ Pistol Dance at Immigrant Wedding Party (Video) (sputniknews, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/society/201907161076259378-swedes-disturbed-by-mafia-movie-pistol-dance-at-immigrant-wedding-party-video/

    “An unapologetic display of unholstered guns during a dance at an immigrant wedding party in the Swedish town of Filipstad has rocked the peaceful Nordic nation, sparking a debate.

    In a clip published by freelance journalist Joakim Lamotte, who is known in Sweden for his investigative reporting on matters of immigration and sex crimes, a man is seen dancing to music in a crowd of people who appear to be of non-Swedish descent with raised arms and a gun in each hand. According to Lamotte, the gun dance was performed at a recent wedding in Filipstad, Värmland County.

    Lamotte contacted landlord Alex Fornander who confirmed that Munkeberg homestead had indeed been rented out for a wedding party, but admittedly failed to see the problem.

    “An immigrant couple was getting married. I had no reason not to trust them”, the landlord said, as quoted by Lamotte.

    He subsequently asked what magazine Lamotte worked for and upon learning that he was a freelancer inquired what his problem was and whether he tried to scrape a living from it.

    When confronted by local newspaper Filipstads Tidning, Fornander was more cooperative.

    “The police were there that evening, and it was toy weapons”, Fornander told the newspaper.

    The Filipstad police confirmed that a local man was dancing with two toy guns. While the event was described as “highly inappropriate”, the party was allowed to continue.

    Nevertheless, the pistol dance video went viral, amassing thousands of comments and triggering strong condemnation in Sweden, a country with stringent gun laws and until recently no culture of going around armed. The news outlet Samhällsnytt wryly wrote about “new traditions being introduced”, while many Swedes voiced their indignation on Facebook.

    “The new normal! And yes where are the women?” a user wondered at the gathering of suit-clad bearded men.

    “Looks more like a wedding scene from a mafia movie. Pistols at a wedding, how tasteless”, another one commented.

    “It is quite common to use guns at an Arab wedding. They may not be real, but still it looks so unpleasant”, yet another one mused.

    “Had it been a Hell’s Angels party, the police would had stormed the premises right away. No matter what, it is unnecessary to brandish guns. Can end badly in many ways”, yet another frowned.

    By contrast, Lamotte’s opponents suggested he was “ferretting out” morbid details to please his “racist crowd”.

    A former reporter on national broadcaster SVT and Göteborgs-Posten columnist, Lamotte rose to national fame with independent investigations on matters related to crime, sex assault and immigration, intended to spark debate. While his Swedish-language Facebook page has over 200,000 followers (in a nation of roughly 10 million), Lamotte’s brand of “Swish journalism” is often criticised by mainstream media. Lamotte’s family had admittedly received death threats over his investigations.

    Filipstad is a locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with about 6,000.

    Sweden has tight gun control regulations. Most licenses for gun ownership are for hobby hunters.”

  6. Danish Right-Wingers Want Warships in Persian Gulf to Protect Merchant Marine (sputniknews, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201907161076258288-danish-right-wingers-want-warships-in-persian-gulf-to-protect-merchant-marine/

    “As the owner of the world’s fifth largest merchant fleet, larger than both the US’s and the UK’s, Denmark should contribute to the security of maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf and send a message to Iran, the Danish People’s Party has argued…”

    • The Finns who don’t want to use their warships to protect their ships are wanting to free load off the nations who are protecting shipping. As the left pushes the Western Nations further into tribalism there will be growing calls for the US to protect the US ships and let the other nations protect their ships.

  7. Miracle twins conjoined by skulls separated after 50 hours of operations in London (express, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1153902/conjoined-twins-head-operation-safa-marwa-ullah-great-ormond-street-hospital

    “CONJOINED twins have been separated at a London hospital following 55 hours of operations to separate their heads after they were born with their skulls and blood vessels joined together.

    More than 100 members of staff worked on the operations of the two-year-old sisters from Pakistan, Safa and Marwa Ullah. The surgeons working on the operations separated the brains of the twins, which were between their shared skull, repositioned them and then cut the head apart. The doctors had to study the girls’ brains for months so they could prepare for the procedure…”

  8. Forced marriage victim escaped from husband on honeymoon and fled back to Heathrow alone in one of 1,764 cases reported last year say police as they launch new airport crackdown (dailymail, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7251669/Forced-marriage-victim-escaped-husband-honeymoon.html

    “A victim of forced marriage escaped from her husband while on their honeymoon and flew back to Heathrow Airport alone, police have revealed

    The incident was one of 1,764 cases reported last year under Operation Limelight, a national campaign to stop forced marriage, exploitation and female genital mutilation.

    And the British woman’s ordeal was revealed as police announced a new crackdown at airports to stop victims being taken abroad against their will.

    The woman, who has not been identified by officials, had undergone a forced marriage in the UK to a British husband but fled once they reached their unnamed honeymoon destination.

    Described as a ‘young adult’, she immediately reported her situation once she returned to Heathrow.

    A forced marriage is one which one or both spouses do not, or cannot, agree to. It was made a specific crime in 2014, with a maximum jail term of seven years.

    Last year, the Home Office supported victims in 1,764 suspected cases of forced marriage, 574 of which involved under-18s.

    These cases were linked to 74 different countries, the most common of which involved travel to Pakistan (769 cases), Bangladesh (157 cases) and India (110 cases).

    The Met Police has now launched a week-long scheme at Heathrow to raise awareness of the issue and is working with Border Force to identify those at risk of exploitation and honour-based abuse including FGM and ‘breast ironing’.

    Officers say they are focusing on flights in and out of countries where such practices are most common and are training check-in staff at airlines are being trained to spot victims.

    Amanda Read, Border Force national lead for safeguarding and modern slavery, said: ‘A couple of weeks ago we had a case at Heathrow of a girl who had a forced marriage, went on honeymoon and managed to escape from her honeymoon.

    ‘It’s an ongoing case. For me, it was the first time I had seen that. I think it (the forced marriage) had happened here and they had gone out on honeymoon. She was an adult, a young adult.

    ‘I can’t remember exactly where she had been on honeymoon. She came and made a declaration when she had come back.’

    Ms Read refused to reveal whether a criminal investigation was launched against the husband.

    Police stressed airport interventions would be a last resort, with the focus on changing attitudes and prevention.

    Inspector Allen Davis, from Scotland Yard’s rape and harmful practices partnership team, said: ‘Forced marriage is a crime that has devastating consequences.

    ‘Unfortunately it remains a hidden harmful practice and we need to change that and normalise conversations about it.’

    Detective Sergeant Trudy Gittins, from West Midlands Police, said forced marriage protection orders are one tool available to the authorities.

    Courts can stop family members, including parents living in the same household, from applying for passports or arranging ceremonies, with breaches becoming a potential criminal offence.

    DS Gittins said some 1,849 of the civil orders were granted between when they came in to force in 2008 and December 2018.

    Officials say real numbers are likely to be much higher because the crime goes unreported.

    Polly Harrar, founder of the Sharan Project charity, said forced marriage victims have been identified between the ages of two and 80.

    An NSPCC spokesman said: ‘Coercing or forcing children into marriage is illegal and can involve physical, sexual or emotional abuse.

    ‘Sometimes children are, understandably, too frightened to speak up because they believe they have no control over the situation and they worry they will get their family into trouble or be disowned by their parents. But it’s so vital that they do speak up.

    ‘We want them to know that they can always talk to Childline, no matter the hour, and there is always a counsellor ready to listen and to help.'”

  9. ranian ‘bomb boat is discovered in the path of Royal Navy destroyer’ sent to protect British vessels in the Gulf as EU leaders desperately try to salvage crumbling nuclear deal (dailymail, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7251619/Iranian-bomb-boat-discovered-path-Royal-Navy-destroyer-sent-Gulf.html

    “An Iranian unmanned bomb boat was discovered lying in wait of a British destroyer in the Red Sea, a report claims.

    The remote-controlled ‘Blowfish’ was reportedly spotted by Saudi forces in HMS Duncan’s path as it headed south from the Suez Canal to protect Gulf shipping lanes.

    The small vessel was laden with explosives, enough to blow a hole in the side of the destroyer, and steered from up to four miles away, sources told the Mirror.

    British and American warships have sailed to the region after Tehran lashed out at crippling sanctions as a result of the crumbling Iran deal, with a series of attacks on oil tankers in recent months.

    EU nations are desperately trying to salvage the Obama-era agreement, as Iran’s top diplomat warned yesterday the U.S. was ‘playing with fire.’

    Small explosive-packed vessels, including suicide boats, have been deployed by Houthi rebels in the past.

    Former naval officer Simon Warrington told the Mirror: ‘The threat from the Houthis, who as Iran’s proxy militia do Tehran’s dirty work, is very real.’

    Similar water-based improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs) have been discovered by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in recent years.

    In January 2017, two Saudi sailors were killed after Houthi explosive vessels blew up at the side of a frigate…”

  10. Migrant NGO Captain Demands Europe Take over 500,000 Migrants (breitbart, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/07/16/migrant-ngo-captain-demands-europe-500000-migrants/

    “Migrant transport NGO Captain Carola Rackete has demanded that Europe take in all asylum seekers from Libya, a number believed to be over half a million people.

    The Seas Watch captain told German media that she wanted to see Europe take in all of the migrants currently in Libya, according to German tabloid Bild, saying: “We hear of half a million people in the hands of smugglers or in Libyan refugee camps we need to get out.”

    Rackete, who is currently under investigation in connection with aiding illegal migration in Italy, was arrested late last month and then released after forcing her vessel, the Sea Watch-3, into Italian territorial waters without permission and ramming a patrol boat in the process.

    “As far as the accident goes, nobody was in mortal danger, that was a minor technical collision. But even politicians should not judge that, but experts alone. In general, all the excitement could have been prevented if Italy had supported us,” Rackete said.

    She went on to say that Europe should also take in so-called “climate refugees” arguing that “asylum has no limit!” and went on to say: “The collapse of the climate system causes climate refugees, which we naturally have to absorb. In some African countries, caused by industrialised countries in Europe, the food base is being destroyed.”

    According to Rackete, European states like Germany have a “historical responsibility” to Africa because of their colonial past. “There is a historical responsibility to accept refugees who can no longer live in their countries due to the balance of power or the climate situation,” she said.

    Italian populist interior minister Matteo Salvini has spoken out against Rackete and her actions repeatedly since her arrest including last week when Rackete was awarded a medal and cash from the city of Paris…”

  11. Crime Wave UK: Doctors Report Rise in ‘Punishment Stabbings’ (breitbart, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/07/16/crime-wave-uk-doctors-report-rise-punishment-stabbings-designed-maim/

    “Senior doctors in the Welsh capital of Cardiff have reported a rise in “punishment stabbings” designed to maim their victims, and that they are dealing with knife wounds almost every week.

    Speaking to the BBC, Dr James Dunn of the University Hospital of Wales in the regional British city said hospital staff were seeing “people stabbed in limbs over arteries” in attacks reminiscent of “the days of punishment beatings in Northern Ireland with kneecappings.”

    “All of us feel like we’re seeing more knife crime,” he said — as well as a new phenomenon he referred to as “spoking”.

    “Spoking is where you use a very thin spoke of a wheel [to stab someone],” the physician explained.

    “The wound isn’t obviously dangerous when first performed but clearly a spoke that’s six to eight inches long into the heart or liver is significant and as fatal as a zombie knife or kitchen knife,” he warned…”

  12. Ankara Claims It Is a Victim of E.U. Anti-Turkish ‘Prejudice and Bias’ in Cyprus Row (breibart, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2019/07/16/ankara-claims-it-is-a-victim-of-e-u-anti-turkish-prejudice-and-bias-in-cyprus-row/

    “Turkey on Tuesday hit back at E.U. measures designed to punish Ankara for its illegal drilling operations off Cyprus, alleging anti-Turkish “prejudice and bias” in the decision while adding ta fine will “in no way” affect the country’s activities in the eastern Mediterranean.

    E.U. foreign ministers on Monday agreed on punitive measures including cutting 145.8 million euros ($164 million) in pre-accession financial funds to Turkey allocated for 2020.

    The move came after Ankara repeatedly ignored warnings by the European Union and the United States to cease its drilling activities off Cyprus, claiming it had the right to continue regardless of criticism.

    The discovery of huge gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean has sparked an ongoing dispute between E.U. member Cyprus and Turkey, with Ankara last month sending a second ship called Yavuz to search for natural resources in the region.

    In June, E.U. leaders warned Turkey to end drilling in waters around the island or face action from the bloc.

    “The conclusions adopted by (the bloc’s foreign ministers)… will in no way affect Turkey’s determination to continue its hydrocarbon activities in the eastern Mediterranean,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

    The ministry accused the E.U. of being “prejudiced and biased” over the lack of reference to Turkish Cypriots, “who have equal rights over the natural resources of the island.”

    Turkey has had thousands of troops stationed in the northern third of the island since invading in 1974 in response to a Greek military junta-sponsored coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.

    The northern part of the island was declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is only recognised by Ankara. UN-sponsored efforts to reunify the island have failed.

    Turkey currently has two ships drilling for oil and gas in the disputed zone. Turkish officials have previously said the areas where the ships are either part of Turkey’s continental shelf or part of the territory of the island’s northern third.

    The United States and Egypt also warned Turkey previously against escalating tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.

    “The United States remains deeply concerned by Turkey’s repeated attempts to conduct drilling operations in the waters off Cyprus,” the State Department said in a statement last month.

    “We urge Turkish authorities to halt these operations and encourage all parties to act with restraint and refrain from actions that increase tensions in the region,” it said.”

  13. Concern grows over UAE-based oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz (abcnews, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/top-iran-diplomat-talks-ballistic-missiles-64358556

    “Tracking data shows an oil tanker based in the United Arab Emirates traveling through the Strait of Hormuz drifted off into Iranian waters and stopped transmitting its location over two days ago, raising concerns Tuesday about its status amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S.

    It isn’t clear what happened to the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Riah late on Saturday night.

    However, its last position showed it pointing toward Iran. Oil tankers have previously been targeted as the Persian Gulf region took center stage in a crisis over Iran’s unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

    The concern about the Riah comes as Iran continues its own high-pressure campaign over its nuclear program after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord over a year ago…”

  14. Turkey: EU sanctions over gas drilling ‘worthless’ (abcnews, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-eu-sanctions-deter-drilling-activity-64358462

    “Turkey on Tuesday rejected as “worthless” an initial set of sanctions approved by the European Union against Ankara, and vowed to send a new vessel to the eastern Mediterranean to reinforce its efforts to drill for hydrocarbons off the island of Cyprus.

    EU foreign ministers on Monday approved sanctions against Turkey over its drilling for gas in waters where EU member Cyprus has exclusive economic rights. They said they were suspending talks on an air transport agreement, as well as high-level Turkey-EU dialogues, and would call on the European Investment Bank to review its lending to the country.

    They also backed a proposal by the EU’s executive branch to reduce financial assistance to Turkey for next year. The ministers warned that additional “targeted measures” were being worked on to penalize Turkey, which started negotiations to join the EU in 2005….”

  15. Afghan radio station closes down following Taliban threats (abcnews, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-radio-station-closes-taliban-threats-64358134

    “A local radio station in eastern Afghanistan was forced to shut down after repeated threats from the area’s Taliban commander, the head of the station said on Tuesday.

    Ramez Azimi, director of the Samaa station in the city of Ghazni, the capital of eastern Ghazni province, said he had received phone calls as well as written warning notes purportedly from the Taliban commander. The commander was not identified.

    Azimi said Taliban insurgents, who control several districts in Ghazni province, threatened them because three of the station’s 16 employees are women. The Taliban are against women’s rights to education and work.

    Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, denied the insurgents had threatened Samaa…”

  16. Norway arrests Muslim cleric after Italian terror trial (abcnews, Jul 16, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/norway-arrests-muslim-cleric-italian-terror-trial-64359118

    “A Muslim cleric found guilty in Italy of planning terror has been detained in Norway on an Italian arrest warrant, The Norwegian domestic security agency said.

    Iraqi-born Mullah Krekar was detained late Monday, the PST security agency said. It was not immediately clear whether he would be extradited.

    The agency tweeted hours after an Italian court found Krekar guilty of attempting to overthrow the Kurdish government in northern Iraq and create an Islamic caliphate, and sentenced him to 12 years.

    Italian prosecutors had alleged Krekar, who is based in Norway, is behind Rawti Shax, a European network aimed at violently overthrowing the government in Kurdistan. Krekar, who has denied the allegations, plans to appeal, said his Italian lawyer, Marco Vernillo.

    In 2015, European authorities arrested 15 Iraqi-Kurdish nationals on terrorism-related charges. Rawti Shax recruited foreign terrorist fighters to be sent to Iraq and Syria and provided logistical and financial support, according to the Italian prosecutors who spearheaded the probe. They alleged that Krekar was the leader.

    Only Krekar and five others were charged, according to Vernillo.

    Krekar, born Najm al-Din Faraj Ahmad, had refused to travel to Italy, fearing he would be extradited to Iraq after the trial.

    A refugee from Iraqi Kurdistan who came to Norway in 1991, the 63-year-old cleric has several convictions in Norway, including for threatening Prime Minister Erna Solberg. He also praised the 2015 extremist attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

    Norwegian officials have long wanted to get him out of the country.

    Krekar founded the now-defunct Ansar al-Islam insurgent group of Sunni Kurds, which aimed to install an Islamic caliphate in Iraqi Kurdistan. It reportedly merged with the Islamic State group in 2014.

    Norwegian courts have ruled in favor of his extradition and the government has given him travel documents so he can travel to Italy, escorted by Norwegian police. According to his lawyer, Brynjar Meiling, Krekar lives legally in Norway and should not be extradited because of fears for his life.”

  17. “TODAY (16th July 2019), corresponding to Savan 1, 1802Bk (1745AD) is the Shaheedi Diharra of Bhai Taru Singh Ji. During the most challenging times in Sikh history, Bhai Taru Singh Ji at the age of 25 years old stood firm on the principles laid by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. He gave the ultimate sacrifice of his life upholding Guru’s Langar (Guru’s free kitchen). It is only 274 years back today, the world had shone with the courage of Bhai Taru Singh who sacrificed his life but did not allow even one strand of hair on his body to be cut. Bhai Taru Singh Ji gladly got his scalp removed instead, to retain his Kes (hair) while singing aloud “Sir Jaave Ta Jaave Mera Sikhi Sidak Naa Jaave” (Even if I have to forsake my life, be it; as long as my faith towards Sikhi remains)”

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fmgOr6RQgCw

  18. Beware, the IRS is eyeing your inherited money

    One of the perils of being well-off is the constant risk that the federal government and/or your friendly state and local tax collectors will figure out new and different ways to snatch more of your wealth. Especially wealth that you earned the old-fashioned way: by inheriting it. To raise your paranoia to the appropriate level, here are two new things to worry about.
    SECURE Act would eliminate big tax advantage for IRA beneficiaries

    Few noticed when the House of Representatives in May overwhelming passed the imaginatively named “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019.” The vote was 417-3. Senate passage was thought to be a mere formality — until Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced opposition, because the bill no longer includes a provision that would allow tax-free Section 529 college savings account withdrawals to cover homeschooling costs.

    But with such near-unanimous support, you would think the SECURE Act is basically nothing but good news for anybody and everybody. Right? Wrong. Here’s the story.

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/beware-the-irs-is-eyeing-your-inherited-money-2019-07-15

  19. ech giants brace for Washington showdown in echo of Bill Gates

    David McLaughlin and Ben Brody, Bloomberg News

    Tech execs face antitrust grilling in Washington

    U.S. technology giants are headed for their biggest antitrust showdown with Congress in 20 years as lawmakers and regulators demand to know whether companies like Alphabet Inc.’s (
    ) Google and Facebook Inc. (

    ) use their dominance to squelch innovation.

    Executives from Google, Facebook, Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are set to appear Tuesday before the House antitrust panel, whose Democratic chairman is leading an investigation into the market power of the biggest tech companies and their effect on competition.

    The hearing harkens back to Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates’ appearance before the Senate in 1998 when Microsoft was the target of government scrutiny into its monopoly in computer operating systems. Two months later, the Justice Department filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft that reined in its practices and nearly led to the company’s breakup.

    “This is really a deep dive by the committee to understand what’s going on in the tech sector, what needs to be done in terms of antitrust enforcement but also to understand better whether there is a need for change in the law,” said Gene Kimmelman, a senior adviser at the policy group Public Knowledge, who served in the Justice Department’s antitrust division under President Barack Obama.

    https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/tech-giants-brace-for-washington-showdown-in-echo-of-bill-gates-1.1287647

    • Amazon in EU Crosshairs as Vestager Fights Big Tech to the End
      [Bloomberg]
      Aoife White
      BloombergJuly 16, 2019

      (Bloomberg) — Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here.

      Amazon.com Inc. faces a full-blown European Union antitrust probe as the bloc’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager prepares for a summer finale to her five-year crackdown on U.S. technology giants.

      The Dane, who heads the EU’s competition division, is poised to open a formal investigation into Amazon within days, according to two people familiar with the case, who asked not to be named because the process isn’t public.

      Vestager has hinted for months that she wanted to escalate a preliminary inquiry into how Amazon may be unfairly using sales data to undercut smaller shops on its Marketplace platform. By ramping up the probe, officials can start to build a case that could ultimately lead to fines or an order to change the way the Seattle-based company operates.

      “If powerful platforms are found to use data they amass to get an edge over their competitors, both consumers and the market bear the cost,” said Johannes Kleis of BEUC, the European consumer organization in Brussels.

      The probe comes as Qualcomm Inc. could be hit with a second hefty EU penalty as soon as next week for allegedly underpricing chips to squeeze a smaller competitor. The U.S. chipmaker was fined last year for thwarting rival suppliers to Apple Inc. and has been the subject of on-and-off antitrust scrutiny since 2005.

      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-faces-eu-probe-vestager-104750661.html

  20. Critics slam $5 billion Facebook fine as weak

    A roughly $5 billion reported settlement between Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to close an investigation into the Cambridge Analytica data scandal is angering Democrats and tech industry critics who see it as a weak punishment.

    Details of the settlement have not been made public by the agency, but The Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported on Friday that Republican FTC commissioners approved the deal in a 3-2 party-line vote last week.

    The biggest tech critics in Congress, who had long pushed for tough penalties on Facebook over its handling of consumer data, made it clear that the settlement terms fell short of their expectations.

    “The FTC just gave Facebook a Christmas present five months early,” Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) said in a statement. “It’s very disappointing that such an enormously powerful company that engaged in such serious misconduct is getting a slap on the wrist.”

    Full details about the terms of the settlement have yet to be released, but media reports indicated that Facebook will have to submit to greater oversight about how it collects user data. The fine would also be the largest the federal government has ever handed to a tech company. The previous record, issued in 2012 against Google, was $22.5 million.

    But Facebook admitted in its most recent earnings report in April that it expected to pay as much as $5 billion to settle the investigation. And critics say that will be a drop in the bucket for a company whose first-quarter revenue this year was $15 billion and that reportedly has more than $40 billion in cash reserves.

    https://thehill.com/policy/technology/453192-critics-slam-5-billion-facebook-fine-as-weak

  21. The ‘Lady of the House’ Who Was Long Entangled With Jeffrey Epstein

    Trigger Warning: This article contains information and details about sexual assault and/or violence, which may be upsetting to survivors.

    Shortly after Ghislaine Maxwell arrived in New York from England in the early 1990s, she was looking for a new start. She had just lost her father, a British media mogul, along with much of her family fortune and her social standing.

    Soon she was on the rise with the help of her new boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein, a rich financier. It was the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship. With Mr. Epstein, Ms. Maxwell was able to resurrect the lifestyle she coveted.

    She flew on his private jet, she settled into his mansions in New York and Florida and she eventually landed her own five-story townhouse in Manhattan. For Mr. Epstein, who had grown up in Coney Island and was a college dropout, the gregarious Ms. Maxwell provided new social pathways. Her friends in high places included Britain’s Prince Andrew, who became a frequent guest in Mr. Epstein’s homes.

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    Now, with Mr. Epstein under federal indictment on charges of sexually trafficking and abusing girls, there are mounting questions about what else happened in his close relationship with Ms. Maxwell.

    He has pleaded not guilty, and she has denied any wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged. But in recent years, Ms. Maxwell has struck confidential settlements in civil court with two women who say she participated in Mr. Epstein’s sexual exploitation of them. Thousands of sealed records from one of those cases are expected to be released in coming weeks, potentially revealing more about Mr. Epstein’s alleged predation and what Ms. Maxwell may have known about it.

    What is clear is that their partnership was deep, entangled and continued even after their romance ended. Over more than a decade, Ms. Maxwell, now 57, helped manage Mr. Epstein’s homes, facilitate his social relationships and recruit masseuses to help satisfy his seemingly insatiable appetite for massages, according to his former employees. Some of Mr. Epstein’s accusers allege that in their experiences the massages were just a pretext for sexual abuse by Mr. Epstein, according to court records.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/the-lady-of-the-house-who-was-long-entangled-with-jeffrey-epstein/ar-AAEnhXu

    • How Epstein Groomed His “Number One Girl”
      The harrowing story of teenage victim known as “Jane Doe 103”

      JULY 15–Like most of the girls exposed to Jeffrey Epstein’s predation, “Jane Doe 103” was introduced to the sex offender through an illicit bounty program run from the tycoon’s Palm Beach, Florida mansion.

      While working one weekend at a mall across from the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, Doe was approached by a fellow student from Royal Palm Beach High School, a feeder for Epstein’s underage massage corps. The other girl, who worked at Abercrombie & Fitch, had a proposition.

      The teen told Doe, who was 16 at the time, that she could earn $200 by simply giving Epstein a brief massage at his Palm Beach residence. Doe’s friend noted that the massage would have to be performed naked or in some state of undress. In return for delivering Epstein a fresh face, the girl would pocket a $200 finder’s fee.

      Doe’s acquaintance would later tell cops that she was introduced to Epstein by a classmate named Haley Robson, and would end up going to Epstein’s home “numerous times.” During those visits–which began when she was 16–the girl said that she was paid for “more than a massage,” telling police that Epstein would rub a “vibrator/massager v

      http://thesmokinggun.com/documents/investigation/jane-doe-jeffrey-epstein-103846

  22. Prince Andrew’s humiliation as ‘sex slave’ files of paedo pal to be released

    The US Appeals Court’s decision over the Jeffrey Epstein defamation case could prove embarrassing for a number of prominent and powerful people

    Prince Andrew faces further embarrassment after a judge ruled that documents relating to an alleged “sex slave” can be released.

    The US Appeals Court has said that 2,000 pages of papers from a ­defamation suit by Virginia Giuffre, who claims that billionaire businessman Jeffrey Epstein used her as a sex slave, can be made public.

    The court said the documents contain potentially damaging information about sexual abuse by “prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister and other world leaders”.

    In its 27-page ruling, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the public’s right of access to court papers overrode the privacy concerns of individuals.

    The records will not be made public immediately, as mystery litigants have about two weeks to file a request for all 2nd Circuit judges to consider their arguments for keeping them sealed.

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-andrews-humiliation-sex-slave-18209986

  23. Racism’ canard is a lie, and that’s why it won’t bring Trump down
    By J.E. Dyer July 16, 2019

    Trump didn’t say anything racist in his rants against the radical progressive congresswomen he tweeted about and then fulminated against on Monday.

    The charge of “racism!” has been a convenient shorthand for silencing opposition, deployed almost exclusively by the political left for the last 30 years. But it has become such a reflexive allegation that it has lost all meaning for good-faith political discourse.

    It’s not racist to say that people who hate America should go somewhere else and see if they like it better. It’s not racist, regardless of whether or not those people ostentatiously identify as “victimized” minorities. It may be impolite; I certainly don’t think it’s useful or necessary myself, as part of political discourse among public officials. But it’s not racist.

    It’s not as if Trump has given time heretofore to talking about or apparently noticing Ilhan Omar’s race, naturalized immigrant status, or religion. What he notices and talks about is what she says and does.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/07/16/racism-canard-is-a-lie-and-thats-why-it-wont-bring-trump-down/

  24. France: ‘Thank God, we are leaving’ – Farage on von der Leyen’s plans for EU

    UK’s Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage lashed out at European Commission President nominee Ursula von der Leyen, accusing her of presenting an “updated form of communism” to the European Parliament (EP). Farage spoke in the EP chamber during a plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

    Farage claimed that von der Leyen “wants to build a centralised, undemocratic, updated form of communism.” He argued that von der Leyen has made Brexit “a lot more popular” in the UK after outlining her visions for the EU, adding, “thank God, we are leaving.”

    Farage also tore into French President Emmanuel Macron’s support for the creation of an EU army, branding him an “updated version of Napoleon.”

    The Brexit Party leader then urged MEPs to vote down the European Commission hopeful and “strike a blow for democracy.”

    Von der Leyen responded to Farage’s comments, saying, “I think, Mr Farage, speeches like yours, we can do without.”

    The European Commission top candidate also said that she was “ready” for any potential further delay in the UK’s departure from the EU, which was met with groans from Brexit Party MEPs.

  25. Former Iraqi Minister: ISIL Ringleader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Hiding in Libya

    Former Iraqi Minister Baqer Jabr al-Zubeidi said ISIL ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is hiding in Libya and continues to command terrorist operations from the African country.

    Al-Zubeidi told the Arabic-language Baghdad Post news website that al-Baghdadi is presently in Libya coordinating ISIL’s terrorist operations throughout the Middle-East.

    The Iraqi politician noted that the ISIL is trying to take control of some regions in the African continent covering parts of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.

    The statements by the former minister comes amid contradictory reports on the fate of the ISIL leader. While some reports claim that he is still hiding in Iraq near the border with Syria, others have stressed that Abu Bakr al-Bghdadi is dead.

    In early June, Iraqi sources reported that al-Baghdadi was hiding in the Western deserts of al-Anbar province at the border with Syria.

    The Arabic-language al-Ma’aloumeh news website quoted an intelligence source in Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi popular forces) command center in al-Anbar province as saying that according to the latest intel, al-Baghdadi has sheltered in a hidden tunnel in al-Husayniyat region in the Northern parts of the town of al-Ratbah in Western al-Anbar.

    He added that the security forces are mulling operations to take control of the tunnel, and said that given the heavy deployment of security forces in al-Ratbah region near the border with Syria and closure of all roads, al-Baghdadi and the militants under his command cannot escape.

    The source underlined that given the fact that the US fighter jets have not bombed the ISIL’s hideouts and tunnels in the region, the American forces are likely aware of his presence in al-Ratbah desert areas.

    The speculations come after al-Baghdadi made his first appearance in April, after five years of absence, in a video in which he acknowledged the defeat of the terrorist group’s fighters in the battle for Baghouz in Syria.

    The video was reportedly filmed earlier in April.

    In recent years, Baghdadi’s death has been reported multiple times, however, the terrorist leader has re-emerged time and time again.

    The Sun claimed, citing Zaid Hamid, who is a co-founder of the BrassTacks threat analysis think-tank, last month that al-Baghdadi is allegedly hiding in a distant region of Afghanistan.

    “Note the style of the bedding and the pillows….Is he already in Afghanistan?” Zaid Hamid pointed out.

    https://www.msn.com/en-xl/middleeast/top-stories/former-iraqi-minister-isil-ringleader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-hiding-in-libya/ar-AAEnfXL

    • I wonder why he is being arrested, although they are going to add resisting arrest to the charges.

  26. Nikki Haley slams ‘disgusting’ silence from Dems after MNikki Haley slams ‘disgusting’ silence from Dems after Mexican flag raised at ICE facility

    Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley on Sunday condemned prominent Democrats for staying mum after protesters demonstrating outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility last week pulled down the American flag and flew the flag of Mexico in its place.

    Crews in Aurora, Colorado, restored the American flag Friday evening. The protesters also removed a “Blue Lives Matter” flag, honoring law enforcement, spray-painted it with the words “Abolish ICE,” then raised the flag upside-down, on a pole next to the Mexican flag, local media reported.

    “There are no words for why the Democrats are staying silent on this,” Haley wrote. “If this is your way to winning an election, fire your strategist. This is disgusting. Love your country. And if you don’t like what is happening then tell the members of Congress to get to work and fix it.”

    Mexican flag raised at ICE facility

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nikki-haley-mexican-flag-ice-facility-democrats-disgusting-silence

  27. Facebook Embeds ‘Hidden Codes’ To Track Who Sees And Shares Your Photos

    Facebook has become synonymous with privacy violations in the year since Cambridge Analytica came to light. Now in the same week that details of the record $5 billion FTC fine emerged, an Australian cyber researcher has reopened a years-old debate as to whether the social media giant is embedding “hidden codes” in photos uploaded by users onto the site.

    “Facebook is embedding tracking data inside photos you download,” Edin Jusupovic claimed on Twitter, explaining he had “noticed a structural abnormality when looking at a hex dump of an image file from an unknown origin only to discover it contained what I now understand is an IPTC special instruction.” The IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) sets technical publishing standards, including those for image metadata.

    Jusupovic described this as a “shocking level of tracking,” adding that “the take from this is that they can potentially track photos outside of their own platform with a disturbing level of precision about who originally uploaded the photo (and much more).”

    The “IPTC special instructions” that Jusupovic viewed are essentially metadata watermarks that Facebook adds to tag the image with its own coding—those tags can be read later, enabling the “tracking” to take place. This is not new, and at a basic level not especially well-hidden either. It can be used to trace the ownership of images, to resolve copyright infringements, to provide enhanced user services. It can also be used to better target advertising and trace links between different users—I have an image, where did I get it from.

    According to one analyst, the metadata has been added since 2016 and “contains an IPTC block with an ‘Original Transmission Reference’ field that contains some kind of text-encoded sequence. This coding method lets Facebook “know it has seen the image before when it gets uploaded again,” explained a user on Reddit. “It is yet another way to learn associations between people. Person 1 uploaded a bunch of the same photos Person 2 uploaded, let’s show them both all the same advertisements!”

    Another user on the same forum linked the coding to the current focus on the spread of fake news: “You download a meme from some account/page which is known to spread propaganda/hate speech etc. Now you think, hey let me just share this on WhatsApp on my family groups, because why not. Now, Facebook can easily tag you as a user who ‘believes in that propaganda’ and can sell that data to political parties or companies to target ads or more propaganda on you.”

    There is no active tracking implied here, the image does not contain a secret beacon of any sort. It is a hidden code that would allow another Facebook or third-party site with the right software to link the image back to its origins—obviously, more metadata can be added as an image travels, which has additional implications. Think of this like the UV marker pens used to mark possessions with zip codes in case they’re stolen.

    Not everyone is willing to play along with the Facebook scheme though. Twitter strips out the basic level of IPTC coding when images are posted on its site. But what remains unknown is whether there are other levels of more advanced steganography (hidden data in media) used by Facebook. There are continual advances being made in hiding data in images, some for security and data protection, others to execute advanced levels of malware that can be virally shared across social media platforms.

    Zack Allen from ZeroFOX told me that “hidden data can be predictably transmitted through social network images with high-fidelity—and AI can hide that data in plain sight, at large-scale, and beyond human visual discernment, making steganalysis and other countermeasures difficult.”

    This latest research, though, will add more fuel to the fiery Facebook debate around social media and privacy. “In addition to the [$5 billion] fine, Facebook agreed to more comprehensive oversight of how it handles user data,” reported the New York Times, citing sources close to events. “But none of the conditions in the settlement will impose strict limitations on Facebook’s ability to collect and share data with third parties.”

    Jusupovic told me he thinks “this is likely just the tip of the iceberg, this particular discovery was very obvious and easy to find. But in the future, it will be easier for companies to hide these sort of privacy violations. There is an emerging field in steganography, which will continue to be a problem and will be much harder if not impossible to spot.”

    In May, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley, a Democrat and Republican respectively, wrote to urge the FTC “to compel sweeping changes to end the Facebook’s pattern of misuse and abuse of personal data.” They considered even the prospect of a $5 billion fine “simply a write-down for the company—while the reported penalty exceeds previous penalty cases, the scope and nature of the allegations are also unprecedented.”

    And that, for many, remains the real issue.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/07/14/facebook-is-embedding-hidden-codes-to-track-all-your-uploaded-photos-report/#674173261592

  28. Faith Goldy: Antifa Terrorism—The Coming Civil War

    “Armed Civil War In Current Year America.” Even as hyperbole, it makes for a sexy headline. So why won’t the failing news media — so desperate for ratings and clicks—talk about the story that’s a far fetch from fake news? Antifa has declared war on America’s border agents and the pro-open border press has declared a media blackout on the details.

    If you’ve been keeping track of corporate press storytelling, this is what you know: On July 13, 69-year-old Willem Van Spronsen stormed an ICE detention centre in Tacoma. He was armed and eventually fatally shotafter throwing what authorities called “incendiary devices” at an immigration detention center in Washington state, trying to set a commercial-size propane tank on fire.

    And that’s where the story ends.

    But did you know the dead firebombing terrorist, who had ICE agents in his crosshairs, was an avowed member of Antifa’s militant left wing gun club?

    Did you even know Antifa has a gun club?

    Didn’t think so.

    https://gundynamics.com/articles/faith-goldy-antifa-terrorism-the-coming-civil-war

  29. ICYMI: At A Concert, Billy Joel Tried To Do Something Nice For The Clintons…And Got Booed For It

    Well, while there some Democrats who still love her and probably want her to run again, it looks like more are looking desperately to move on from 2016. Hillary Clinton has the money to mount a third run. She has the name recognition, she has the pool of operatives to lay down the groundwork, and she could do well in this field, which while large, is profoundly average. The supposed titan of this horde, former Vice President Joe Biden, has yet to distinguish himself as a legitimate frontrunner, unapproachable, unbeatable, and dominant. His first debate performance was trash and he’s been bleeding support since then. Yes, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has seen a bump, but there is no one in this field as of now that can beat Trump. And that’s the other knock against the former first lady, even if she does manage to clear the field, she can’t win. She’s already a two-time loser. Everyone knows this. When Billy Joel dedicated a song to the Clinton at Madison Square Garden, she was roundly booed (via Fox News):

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2019/07/15/icymi-at-a-concert-billy-joel-tried-to-do-something-nice-for-the-clintonsand-got-booed-for-it-n2550094

  30. “The Lion of London Bridge”
    Katie Hopkins OFFICIAL – Published on Jul 15, 2019

    Roy Larner was stabbed in the neck, arm and chest fighting back against Jihadi terrorists. Britain put HIM on the terror watch list. Bonkers Britain!

  31. American-Hating Americans Are the Ultimate Ingrates and Hypocrites
    Once again, Trump stands up for Americans who love their country.
    July 16, 2019
    Bruce Thornton

    With his usual flair for hyperbole and indifference to factual details, Donald Trump last week tweet-blasted the so-called “Squad” of female freshman Congressmen “of color” for slandering America as racist, sexist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and numerous other empty epithets. Though Trump was careless for suggesting, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”––since only one, Ilhan Omar, was born abroad––his sentiment is still valid, and has been shared for decades by millions of Americans angry over their homeland being demonized by immigrants and fellow citizens alike.

    This sentiment was memorably captured by country singer Merle Haggard in his hit “Fightin’ Side of Me.” Released in December 1969, the song expressed the anger of the “Silent Majority” that had just put Richard Nixon in the White House. And the lyrics identified who Americans were angry at: the free, comfortable New Leftists, college students, bougie hippies, and liberal elite fellow-travelers who burned the American Flag, slandered our soldiers as baby-killers, and called their country “AmeriKKKa.” Haggard especially targeted the antiwar activists who insulted our troops even as they were fighting and dying, and who “love our milk and honey” but “preach about some other way of livin’.” Sound familiar?

    But it was one line in the chorus that summed up many Americans’ attitude: “If you don’t love it leave it.” This blunt phrase became that era’s ultimate “trigger” of leftist spluttering rage and hysterical spouting of the same question-begging epithets that today inundate the rhetoric of progressive politicians and pundits––exactly the response to Trump’s later suggestion to the “Squad,” “If you’re not happy here, then you can leave.” And like today, for self-proclaimed sophisticated cosmopolitans who fancied themselves too smart for patriotism, such a déclassé love of country was fit only for the xenophobic deplorables clinging to their guns and religion.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274320/american-hating-americans-are-ultimate-ingrates-bruce-thornton

  32. (Richard: As if we didn’t have enough reasons to dislike Warren.)

    Elizabeth Warren Gets Maxed Out Donation from Socialist Traitor Who Justified Torture of US POWs
    July 16, 2019
    Daniel Greenfield

    That must have really hurt Bernie’s feelings.

    He’s the one who honeymoons in the USSR, cheers every Marxist regime, and Hanoi Jane leaves him at the altar and maxes out for Cherokee Liz.

    Hollywood A-listers who contributed the maximum $2,800 primary donation to Warren included TV drama guru Shonda Rhimes and actress Jane Fonda. Barbra Streisand donated $1,000 to the Massachusetts senator.

    Hanoi Jane hasn’t been an A-lister in a long time. Except with the Viet Cong.

    But you can see why Jane Fonda would be drawn to Elizabeth Warren.

    By 1970 she was telling American college students: “If you understood what communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that we would some day become communist. . . . I, a socialist, think that we should strive toward a socialist society, all the way to communism.”

    Now, in theory, a politician running for president ought to return a donation from a traitor who posed smilingly with enemy forces and weaponry during a war with the United States.

    But Elizabeth Warren won’t. Of course.

    Jane Fonda called POWs who had been tortured, “hypocrites and liars”.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/274322/elizabeth-warren-gets-maxed-out-donation-socialist-daniel-greenfield

  33. Trump vs. the Radical Squad
    Why the president need not apologize for calling out OAC and her three comrades.
    July 16, 2019
    Joseph Klein

    President Trump renewed his attack on Monday against the four far-left congresswomen he had picked a fight with over the weekend. “When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said,” the president tweeted. “If Democrats want to unite around the foul language & racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these very unpopular & unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.” He added, “they are Anti-Semitic, they are Anti-America, we don’t need to know anything about them personally, talk about their policies. I think they are American citizens who are duly elected that are running on an agenda that is disgusting, that the American people will reject.” The four congresswomen the president was referring to are Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.).

    President Trump had tweeted over the weekend that all four should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” In fact, only Somalian-born Ilhan Omar came from a country outside the United States, which rescued her from the desperate conditions and hopelessness she was facing as a child living in a Kenyan refugee camp. While President Trump overreached in his original tweet by treating the four congresswomen as all coming from outside the country, as to Omar specifically he does have a valid point.

    Omar has recently said she misses the freedom to be herself that she claims to have experienced in the Kenyan refugee camp, as opposed to the constraints on expressing her identity she feels in the United States. It’s fair to ask why Omar has not gone back to her home country of Somalia to try and fix the grave problems of corruption and brutality there, or even to speak out against the horrific conditions in Somalia as vociferously as she has attacked the United States. Rather than show gratitude for the opportunities afforded her since she arrived in the United States, Omar has turned her anger against her adopted home, which she has accused of racism. For Omar to say that “I probably love this country more than anyone that is naturally born” is a cruel joke.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274321/trump-vs-radical-squad-joseph-klein

  34. Who Is Celebrated ‘Patriot’ Khizr Khan?
    The bizarre and subversive world of pro-Sharia American loyalism.
    July 16, 2019
    Andrew Harrod

    The condition of American border detention centers “reminds us of the concentration camps of the Second World War,” stated Khizr Khan this past July 4 at Thomas Jefferson’s historic Monticello estate near Charlottesville, Virginia. This Holocaust-trivializing hyperbole was among the controversial statements at Monticello’s annual new citizen oath ceremony that indicate the disturbing questions surrounding this Gold Star father and contemporary political sensation.

    The Charlottesville resident Khan has had numerous high profile speaking engagements on television, at the Oxford Union, and elsewhere since he burst onto the national scene at the 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC). There he undertook a searing attack against then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in an address that profiled Khan’s son, Humayun, who valiantly fell in combat as an American army officer during the Iraq war. At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson Foundation President Leslie Greene Bowman introduced Khan as an “advocate for constitutional rights, religious liberty, civic engagement, and, importantly, national unity.”

    Khan effused patriotic praise for cherished American institutions such as the Bill of Rights, a “sacred document.” As on past occasions, he stated that his study of the Constitution came to the conclusion that “there is none like our Rule of Law, our Separation of Power, our Checks and Balances,” although he only passed the New York State bar in 2010. He enthused that Charlottesville is the “blessed city of Thomas Jefferson, and home of Mr. Jefferson’s University,” the University of Virginia. (The local city council, which recently abolished the birthday of the slaveholder Jefferson as a city holiday, made no comment.)

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274300/who-celebrated-patriot-khizr-khan-andrew-harrod

  35. ‘I’m Tommy Robinson’
    My print of Tommy — designed to help a heroic and noble freedom fighter.
    July 16, 2019
    Bosch Fawstin

    I was able to get word to Tommy Robinson about my offer to create a print of him, where the proceeds would go to him, outside of what I would need for production and shipping and handling costs, and he expressed appreciation for it.

    I was told to coordinate with those at TR.News. If it’s not obvious, my cartoon is based on Spartacus, echoing my earlier Geert Wilders cartoon. Tommy was recently sentenced by his guilty persecutors, and this is the way I can help him. And you can also help him by ordering a print. It’s 11 x 17, signed by me, and unlike my other prints, I’m not going to limit this run. You can order it domestically or internationally here. Thank you.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274293/im-tommy-robinson-bosch-fawstin