Reader’s Links for December 3, 2019

Daily Links Post graphic

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

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

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

This is the new Samizdat. We 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

103 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 3, 2019”

  1. Twitter and Facebook are no longer safe for us, say prominent Arab activists
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/twitter-and-facebook-are-no-longer-safe-us-say-prominent-arab-activists

    “A group of prominent Arab activists, artists and academics say they no longer view Twitter or Facebook as safe platforms, and they are calling on the social media companies to do more to protect them.

    In an open letter released on Tuesday, nearly 40 signatories say the companies’ policies – “or lack thereof” – have had “real life consequences on the lives of thousands of Arab voices”.

    “They have led to the arrest, enforced disappearance and at times the extrajudicial murder of innocent civilians in the Arab world, most notably, the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the letter reads.

    It was signed by London School of Economics professor Madawi al-Rasheed, Saudi filmmaker Safa al-Ahmad and Egyptian human rights advocate Mohammed Soltan, among others.

    The signatories say they plan to form teams to protect social media users in the Arab world, and provide legal support to data breach victims and technical assistance to protect online privacy.

    The letter comes weeks after two former Twitter employees were charged in a California federal court with spying for Saudi Arabia, and sharing user data with Saudi officials.

    One of the employees accessed the data of more than 6,000 accounts over seven months before Twitter put him on administrative leave, according to a complaint filed by the US government in November.

    Six months after the employee was put on administrative leave, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reportedly discuss technology investment and how the two could cooperate to train Saudis.

    Saudi activists recently told MEE that they have been left wondering if they are among the 6,000 users whose data was accessed, but they have not had any contact from the company.

    They also said they fear that information, including IP addresses, may have been used to target and arrest activists who have subsequently disappeared. Twitter declined to answer MEE’s specific questions about the alleged breach.

    However, the signatories of Tuesday’s letter say they are not only focused on Twitter, the alleged Saudi spying or on privacy protection.

    They also raised concerns about the other ways they say their speech has been compromised on social media platforms.

    The social media accounts of “outspoken, anti-authoritarian Arab activists” have been shut down or suspended, and hashtags and trends have been manipulated through algorithms to “silence dissenting voices”, they say in the letter.

    They also say they are concerned by the investments authoritarian Middle Eastern governments have made in social media companies, “which has strengthened their position in silencing dissenting voices at home and abroad”.

    “Today, Arab social media users no longer trust social media companies in protecting their personal data after they have witnessed increased investment from the authoritarian regimes,” the letter states.

    It also calls on the companies to “step up and fulfill their moral and legal obligations” to protect user data and the lives of their users, and to re-evaluate and strengthen their policies.

    MEE reached out to Twitter and Facebook to comment on the letter, but did not get an immediate response on Tuesday.”

  2. Egypt says Qatar supported Muslim Brotherhood
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191203-egypt-says-qatar-supported-muslim-brotherhood/

    “Egypt has cut ties with Qatar as a result of the Gulf state’s “support to terror groups [Muslim Brotherhood],” Egyptian representative at the International Court of Justice said yesterday.

    “Qatar has been holding a hostile stance against Egypt by supporting terror operation in the Sinai Peninsula,” Amgad Abdel Ghaffar pointed out, adding that Doha was “promoting the doctrine of Al-Qaeda and Daesh.”

    Responding to what he described as “Doha’s interference in Egypt’s internal affairs,” Abdel Ghaffar stressed that his country had repeatedly rejected the Qatari move.

    “Qatar has left Egypt no choice but to cut ties,” he reiterated, pointing out that its interference was “threatening Egypt’s national security.”

    “All the region’s countries were affected by the Qatari interference in their internal affairs,” the Egyptian official noted, explaining that, in 2013, Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV channel was promoting what he described as “hatred and violence across Egyptians.”

    Since 5 June 2017, Egypt, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, has been imposing a blockade on Qatar accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the allegations saying the boycotting countries are actually working to force a change in government in Qatar.”

  3. Iran’s President: ‘Washington asked to negotiate in secret’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191204-irans-president-washington-asked-to-negotiate-in-secret/

    “Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that his country had received “secret messages” from the US administration, through European mediators, about launching talks. Rouhani insisted that “this is contrary to the slogans they (US officials) raise publicly,” and expressed Tehran’s readiness “to restore relations with Saudi Arabia and overcome past disputes.”

    The Iranian president’s comments on Washington’s request came ahead of a meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi…”

  4. HuffPost Maghreb closes 6 years after launch
    https://gulfnews.com/technology/media/huffpost-maghreb-closes-6-years-after-launch-1.1575418064102

    “The North Africa edition of US news site HuffPost, covering Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, announced Tuesday its closure, six years after it launched.

    “As of December 3rd, HuffPost Maghreb will no longer be publishing content,” the site’s homepage read, inviting readers to visit the US version.

    HuffPost Maghreb was the first version of HuffPost — formerly Huffington Post — to cater specifically to an African audience.

    Launched in the United States in 2005 and since rolled out in several other countries, HuffPost has since 2015 been owned by US telecoms firm Verizon.

    The North African version had offices in Rabat, Tunis and Algiers, and posted content written by its own teams and outside contributors in a blog section.

    No explanation was given for the closure apart from it “based on strategic reasons”, according to an internal memo seen by AFP.

    It comes after a wave of layoffs at the start of the year within the parent company, symptom of a shaken business model based entirely on advertising.”

  5. PISA: Moroccan Students Have Poor Reading, Math, Science Abilities
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/12/288097/pisa-moroccan-students-math-science/

    “The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) placed Morocco 75th out of 79 countries that participated in an international assessment that evaluates 15-year-old students’ abilities in reading, mathematics, and science.

    Chinese students dominated the top of the ranking in every domain of study, beating Singapore—the country that occupied the top spot in 2015. China did not place in the top five on the 2015 rankings.

    Around 600,000 students from across 79 countries sat for the two-hour computer-based assessment.

    Morocco placed ahead of the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, and Kosovo.

    This is Morocco’s first participation in the international assessment that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been conducting since 2000. Morocco is the only African country assessed alongside five Arab countries: Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the UAE.

    Conducted every three years, the study took place in April 2018 on a sample of 6,814 Moroccan students from 179 secondary schools.

    In every domain of study, Moroccan students scored below the PISA’s average score.

    For reading, Moroccan students achieved a score of 359 points, far below PISA’s international average of 487.

    Morocco’s national average score in mathematics is 368 points, over 100 points below the international average of 489.

    In science, Moroccan students attained a score of 377 points, compared to an international average of 590 points.

    The Ministry of Education pointed out that social background is not a factor since 13% of students tested came from vulnerable populations but were able to obtain the national average…”

  6. Crew Find 4 Moroccan Stowaway Minors on UK-Bound Cargo Ship
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/12/288138/moroccan-minors-ukcargo-ship/

    “The crew members of an Estonian cargo ship, the MV Anetta, have found four irregular migrants, reported weekly newspaper the Great Yarmouth Mercury on Monday, December 2.

    The four migrants are under the age of 18 and told customs officers that they come from Morocco.

    The vessel sailed from Zeebrugge in Belgium and was due to arrive at the Great Yarmouth harbor on Sunday, December 1, at 9 a.m…”

  7. Map delineates Turkey’s maritime frontiers in Med Sea
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/map-delineates-turkeys-maritime-frontiers-in-med-sea-149379

    “A Turkish diplomat on Dec. 2 shared a map of the country’s continental shelf and the borders of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Eastern Mediterranean following a maritime jurisdiction agreement with Libya.

    With the chart, Ça?atay Erciyes showed the outer boundaries of Turkey’s continental shelf and EEZ, designated in a 2011 agreement between Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the median line between Egypt and Turkey’s mainlands and a recent memorandum with Libya.

    On Nov. 27, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an held a closed meeting in Istanbul that lasted over two hours with Fayez al-Sarraj, chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya.

    The agreement, titled Restriction of Marine Jurisdictions, could expand security and military cooperation between Libya and Turkey.

    Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said on Dec. 1 that the agreement was “in accordance with the court decisions that create the international jurisprudence and international law including the relevant articles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

    Stressing that Turkey has the longest continental coast line in the eastern Mediterranean, Aksoy said: “The islands which lie on the opposite side of the median line between two mainlands cannot create maritime jurisdiction areas beyond their territorial waters and that the length and direction of the coasts should be taken into account in delineating maritime jurisdiction areas.”

    He added that Ankara’s actions were based on international law and an “equity-based approach,” while regional countries that reject Turkey’s legitimate arguments were taking unilateral steps.

    Turkey, as a guarantor nation for the TRNC, is currently carrying out hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean with its two drilling vessels, Fatih and Yavuz, along with two other seismic vessels that are also operating in the same region.

    Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that the TRNC also has rights to the resources in the area.

    In 1974, following a coup aiming at Cyprus’s annexation by Greece, Ankara had to intervene as a guarantor power. In 1983, the TRNC was founded.

    The decades since have seen several attempts to resolve the Cyprus dispute, all ending in failure. The latest one, held with the participation of the guarantor countries — Turkey, Greece, and the U.K. — came to an end without any progress in 2017 in Switzerland.”

    • Turkey is trying to take over the Mediterranean, through Libya

      One of the governments in Libya controls only a small percentage of the country and the capital of Tripoli, but in need of Turkish support it signed a bizarre deal with Ankara over who controls the Mediterranean. Turkey says the deal that it signed is historic and that it has “proven its capabilities to the world in a manner that is compatible with international law but also signaled its future intentions in the region.”

      Greece is outraged, threatening to take the dispute to international bodies and complain to NATO. It has larger ramifications also for Egypt, Cyprus and Israel as Turkey seeks a vast swath of sea to control as an economic zone.

      …The real story is buried in the report. Turkey is trying to assert itself across the swath of Iraq, Syria and now all the way to Libya, with its eyes set on having power not seen since the Ottoman Empire more than 100 years ago.…Turkey calls this the “blue motherland,” or “Mavi Vatan” in Turkish. It has launched major naval exercises in the last year to show off its power.…

      Now it is revealed that the drones and other support were part of a much larger Turkish goal. Turkey wants the economic access and strategic corridor linking its coastline to Libya. This is no small amount of water because it bypasses Cyprus and Greece across 800 km. of open water to an area of Libya controlled by Haftar’s forces.…

      Greece is now also working with Egypt to delineate its own exclusive economic zones. There are larger games afoot. Italy, which was once the colonial power of Libya after the 1911 war with the Ottomans, may look askance at the deal. Libya’s Haftar government in the east of the country does not accept the deal. The US has been seeking a peace deal quietly in Libya and the Russians are also involved in Libya.…

      https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Turkey-is-trying-to-take-over-the-Mediterranean-through-Libya-609622

      • The Chinese and Persian Empires are in trouble so the Ottoman Empire steps up to the plate to make trouble for the world.

  8. Turkey repatriates 5 foreign terrorists to Germany
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-repatriates-5-foreign-terrorists-to-germany/1662930

    “Turkey repatriated five foreign terrorist fighters to Germany on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

    The ministry said the German nationals were sent back to their countries of origin as part of Turkey’s ramped-up efforts to repatriate foreign terrorist fighters.

    “Extradition of foreign terrorist fighters to their countries continues,” the statement added.

    The statement did not specify which terror group the fighters belonged to, but in recent months it has been stressing the return of Deash/ISIS terrorists.

    Several European countries have resisted Turkey’s efforts to repatriate Daesh/ISIS terrorists, but Turkey has vowed to press forward…”

  9. Nigerian mafia trafficking, slavery clans busted
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/12/03/nigerian-mafia-trafficking-slavery-clans-busted_87de8053-87d8-4b9b-99d6-eb0574baee29.html

    “Italian police on Tuesday busted two Nigerian mafia clans operating in Italy and abroad to traffic and sell women into sex slavery.

    Some 32 people were arrested in Puglia, Sicily, Campania, Calabria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Marche, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and, abroad, in Germany, France, Netherlands and Malta.

    Those probed are suspected of conspiracy, trafficking, making slaves of women, extortion, robbery, bodily harm, sexual violence and exploitation of prostitution, police said.

    The probe was led by Bari anti-mafia prosecutors and coordinated by the central operational service in Rome with the help of Interpol.

    The investigation was carried out by the Bari flying squad.

    The two clans were the Supreme Vikings Confraternity and the Supreme Eye Confraternity, better known as “Reds” e “Blues”.

    The gangs operated with the slogan “the three Ds”, referring to “donne, denaro e droga” (women, money and drugs).

    Some 49 people were placed under investigation, all Nigerian nationals. Investigators said the women, most of them trafficked and subjected to physical and psychological violence, also via voodoo rites, were forced to become sex workers.

    The proceeds of the prostitution rackets were sent to Nigeria via couriers or ‘hawala’ systems, or reinvested in drug trafficking.

    The probe found an exponential rise in cash flows from Italy to Nigeria, which was estimated by the Bank of Italy at 74.79 million euros in 2018, double what it had been in 2016, and consisting of 6.2 million illegal proceeds per month.

    Investigators compared this to the numbers of Nigerians in Italy, equal to 105,000 as of June 30 this year – most of them men, with a lower employment rate (45.1%) than the general non-EU population (59.1%) and the highest unemployment rate (34.2% compared to 14.9% of non EU nationals).

    The bust was hailed by politicians including Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni who said “we must extirpate this cancer” and League MP Rossano Sasso who said the probe had highlighted the need, yet again, to close down the vast CARA asylum seeker centre in Bari, where much of the trafficking and drug dealing allegedly took place.

    Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said “today’s international operation attests to the attention and hard work of the investigators and police forces to combat on the whole national territory all the various ramifications of the Nigerian mafia”.

    The Bari prosecutor’s office warned against exploiting the probe to tar all Nigerian migrants with the same brush.

    “Let there be no exploitation of this affair. The Nigerians who have been arrested are persons who committed crimes, exactly like we do with people of any colour, race or country.
    “Then there are very many Nigerians who asked help in the forms laid down by the law, asking the Italian State, that is, to intervene to restore order and justice”.”

  10. Pelosi Schedules First Impeachment Hearing Monday to Compete with IG Report and Obama Deep State Spying on Trump Campaign

    The Pelosi House will prayerfully convene on Monday December 9th in the Judiciary Committee to hold their first sham impeachment hearing.

    This gives their liberal media cover to ignore the historic IG report on Obama deep state spying on the Trump presidential campaign and administration.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/pelosi-schedules-first-impeachment-hearing-monday-to-compete-with-ig-report-and-obama-deep-state-spying-on-trump-campaign/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily

    Richard: By being able to ignore the IG report they are making it easier for the left to justify the antifa inspired violence that is coming.

  11. Democrat Operative Paul Begala: Democrats May Have to Keep Impeaching This President

    Clinton adviser and Democrat operative Paul Begala went on CNN this morning to discuss the Democrats’ plans to impeach President Trump over a ham sandwich.

    Begala and the CNN host were STUNNED that more Republicans did not buy into their sham impeachment.

    And Begala then said Democrats may have to keep impeaching President Trump over pure nonsense to damage him.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/democrat-operative-paul-begala-democrats-may-have-to-keep-impeaching-this-president/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily

  12. Democrats’ Star Impeachment Panelist Noah Feldman LIED UNDER OATH – Give him the Roger Stone Treatment – SEND HIM TO PRISON!

    In November Trump supporter Roger Stone was found guilty in a far left DC court for making false statements under oath.

    Roger Stone faces up to 50 years in prison or until death, whichever comes first.

    Roger Stone was dragged into court ONLY because he is a prominent Republican activist who supported Donald Trump! And he was charged with process crimes that occurred only after he was called in to testify.

    On Wednesday Harvard law professor and Democrat impeachment panelist Noah Feldman lied under oath to the American public.

    Feldman testified UNDER OATH that he was an “Impeachment skeptic” until the president’s July 25 call.

    But this was a lie.

    In a Vice Article on 5/17/17 Feldman stated that President Trump committed impeachable acts.

    This is perjury.
    Feldman should be brought up on charges immediately!

    Read more at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/democrats-star-impeachment-panelist-noah-feldman-lied-under-oath-give-him-the-roger-stone-treatment-send-him-to-prison/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  13. Spiritual “Slavery” in China: Will Hong Kong Be Next?—Cardinal Zen | American Thought Leaders