Reader’s Links for December 18, 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

96 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 18, 2019”

  1. Saudi student with illegally obtained gun found in possession of ‘kill list’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191218-saudi-student-with-illegally-obtained-gun-found-in-possession-of-kill-list/

    “A Saudi student residing in the US, armed with illegally obtained firearms, was found in possession of a “kill list” that included a university professor.

    Last Friday’s arrest of 27-year-old Hassan Alqahtani, who is being held by US authorities until his trial on a federal gun charge, comes over a week after a Saudi airman training in the US carried out a deadly terrorist attack killing three people at a US Navy base in Florida.

    US Magistrate Judge Laura Fashing ruled yesterday that Alqahtani, who was studying mechanical engineering at the University of New Mexico in southwestern US, posed a danger to others and should be kept in federal custody.

    Alqahtani was initially arrested for alleged domestic violence. A Federal prosecutor told the judge during the detention hearing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that Alqahtani held a gun to his girlfriend’s head and threatened to kill her.

    Reported allegations of domestic violence was made by the family of Alqahtani’s wife. Testimonies of the Saudi student’s violent conduct was also given by the mother of Alqahtani’s girlfriend who told FBI agents that her daughter was scared he might attack her…”

  2. Turkey to establish military base in Libya
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191218-turkey-to-establish-military-base-in-libya/

    “Turkey is set to establish a military base in Libya, according to Turkish media reports earlier this week, as President Recep Tayyip weighs up the possibility of intervention in the country’s civil war.

    Yeni Shafak reported on Monday that the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish parliament had approved a recent agreement between Turkey and Libya on military cooperation. It also includes provisions for launching a “quick reaction force” if requested by the Libyan government.

    Military sources revealed to Yeni Shafak that the government asked the Turkish armed forces to equip ships and warplanes in preparation for the transfer of Turkish forces to Libya.

    Last week, Erdogan stated that Turkey was ready to send troops to support the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), should Tripoli make such a request…”

  3. 13 Daesh suspects arrested in southern Turkey
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191218-13-daesh-suspects-arrested-in-southern-turkey/

    “Turkish police arrested 13 suspects allegedly linked to the Daesh terror group in the southern Osmaniye province, said security sources on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

    The suspects were allegedly planning terrorist attacks around the time of New Year’s celebrations, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

    Provincial intelligence and anti-terror police units conducted simultaneous raids at 13 addresses as part of the Daesh operation, and digital materials seized during the search were confiscated…”

  4. Italy’s Salvini faces new trial risk for holding migrants on ship
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-salvini-migrants-court/italys-salvini-faces-new-trial-risk-for-holding-migrants-on-ship-idUSKBN1YM1VY

    “A special tribunal has recommended that former Italian interior minister and far-right League party leader Matteo Salvini face trial for holding scores of migrants on board a coastguard ship docked in a port in Sicily in July.

    In a court document seen by Reuters, Sicilian magistrates ask parliament for authorization to continue their investigation into Salvini for alleged kidnapping, saying he abused his powers and “deprived 131 migrants of personal liberty”.

    In July Salvini, then interior minister, ordered the migrants, including children, remain on board the Italian coastguard ship Gregoretti until other European countries agreed to take most of them in.

    “Investigated because I defended the security, the borders and the dignity of my country, unbelievable,” the anti-migrant leader said in a statement. He called the investigation “shameful”.

    During his 14 months at the interior ministry, Salvini staked his credibility on a pledge to halt migrant flows, blocking Italian ports to rescue ships and threatening the charities operating them with fines.

    The investigation echoes another case earlier this year…”

  5. Albania passes anti-slander law despite media protest calling it censorship
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-albania-media-law/albania-passes-anti-slander-law-despite-media-protest-calling-it-censorship-idUSKBN1YM2HS

    “Albania’s parliament on Wednesday passed an anti-defamation package criticized by journalists and the Council of Europe as an attempt to muzzle the media while the government countered it was merely regulating “a jungle of misinformation and hate.”

    Parliament adjusted two laws to empower the Albanian Media Authority (AMA) and the Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications to hear complaints about news websites, demand retractions, impose fines of up to 1 million leke ($9,013.88), and suspend their activity.

    The journalists, who protested by wearing black scarves outside parliament, said that the measures were tantamount to censure.

    More than a dozen media organizations condemned the law and said they would start an information campaign that would also aim to kill those bills or nullify them with litigation.

    “We call on journalists to keep working by reporting truthfully and correctly and fear not the existence of these regressive laws,” the media organizations said in a statement.

    The package was initially meant to cover some 700 to 800 online news sites that have sprung up over the last decade, but may also apply to TV stations, according to last-minute changes.

    “This law says ‘if we do not like your news story, we can remove it and fine you’”, said editor Enton Abilekaj.

    Prime Minister Edi Rama told parliament the move intended to stop fake news or slander from causing loss of life or pressing businesses for bribes by shaming the quality of their products.

    The law did not violate at all the right to free speech and opinion, but restored dignity to the slandered, Rama added.

    “This is a jungle that takes money right and left … A jungle that produces hate, misinformation and despair,” he told the chamber.

    Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, said the laws were in urgent need of improvement.

    The powers given to AMA, the possibility of excessive fines and the blocking of media websites without a court order “may deal a strong blow to freedom of expression and media”.

    “Several provisions are indeed not compatible with international and European human rights standards which protect freedom of expression and freedom of the media,” she said.”

  6. States pledge more than $3 billion for refugees, asylum rights ‘under threat’: U.N.
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-refugees/states-pledge-more-than-3-billion-for-refugees-asylum-rights-under-threat-u-n-idUSKBN1YM2GT

    “States have pledged more than $3 billion to support refugees and about 50,000 resettlement places, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday at the end of a ministerial conference.

    U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that the Global Forum on Refugees had broadened responsibility-sharing for 25.9 million refugees who have fled war and persecution, mainly exiled in poor neighboring countries.

    Grandi told a final news conference that the $3 billion was in addition to the World Bank and other pledges. The private sector pledged $250 million, but all the figures were preliminary, Grandi said.

    Germany, which has taken in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, pledged some 1.7 billion euros, Grandi said. The Inter-American Development Bank pledged $1 billion to communities hosting refugees in Latin America, while the World Bank announced it was expanding funding for projects supporting refugees by 10% to $2.2 billion, Grandi added.

    States pledged 50,000 new resettlement and other legal pathways for refugees to remain in host countries, he said.

    The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump said in September that it planned to allow only 18,000 refugees to resettle in the United States in the 2020 fiscal year, the lowest number in the history of the modern refugee program.

    The right to claim asylum, enshrined in international law, remains “under threat”, Grandi said, without naming names.

    “The reality is there has been no real systematic burden- and responsibility-sharing,” he said.

    “We cannot go into a world in which responsibility-sharing means some states keep all the refugees and some states pay all the money. We cannot do that, that is why we have resettlement, why we have different types of partnerships.

    “That is why asylum has to remain a reality in all parts of the world including in the rich countries and even more in rich countries that have so many responsibilities,” Grandi said.”

  7. Moroccans Spend More than $44 Million on Schengen Visa Applications
    http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/12/289246/moroccans-spend-44-million-schegen-visa-applications/

    “Moroccans spent more than than $44 million (MAD 424 million) on 662,586 Schengen visa applications in 2018. Nearly $8 million (MAD 77 million) of the total came from applicants whose visas had been denied.

    Of the 533,861 Moroccans who received Schengen visas in 2018, most applied for visas to France, followed by Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy.

    The French consulates in Casablanca, Fez, and Rabat received the most Moroccan applications in 2018.

    Beginning on February 3, 2020, Schengen visa applicants will be subject to the new Schengen visa code. The new rules will include higher visa fees, an extended period for submitting applications, and electronic application options in most countries.

    Applicants will need to pay a fee of €80 (MAD 855) per application rather than the current rate of €60 (MAD 641). Applications for children aged seven and older will cost €40 (MAD 427) rather than €35 (MAD 374). Children six years old and younger will remain exempt from visa fees.

    With the new regulations, Schengen visa applicants will also be able to file an application six months before their intended trip to the Schengen area as opposed to the current period of three months. The latest that an application can be submitted is two weeks before an applicant’s intended trip.

    The new visa code will also require the representative authorities of every Schengen member state to be present in every ‘third country,’ or developing country, with regard to visa admission.

    If a Schengen member state does not have representatives in a specific developing country, the Schengen member must outsource visa admission to another Schengen country or visa processing service center. Consequently, visa applicants will no longer need to travel to another country just to file an application.

    Additionally, frequent travelers who have already received visas can benefit from valid visas for a longer period of time.

    The new code will also introduce a mechanism to assess whether visa fees should change or remain the same every three years. Additionally, the EU will begin penalizing countries that refuse to cooperate on the readmission of irregular migrants with visa restrictions.

    The European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, adopted the new regulations in June 2019. The updated visa code aims to strengthen the common visa while addressing migration and security concerns…”

  8. UN Official: Morocco Sees Considerable Increase in Asylum Applications
    http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/12/289265/un-official-morocco-considerable-increase-in-asylum-applications/

    “United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has said that asylum applications in Morocco have “increased considerably over the past few years.”

    Grandi commented on Morocco’s performance on accepting asylum applications at the First Global Refugee Forum in Geneva on December 17.

    The event opened on the eve of the International Migrants Day, celebrated globally today, December 18.

    Morocco is participating in the forum.

    The UN top official told the press that the UN worked “very well with the Moroccan government on all aspects concerning” refugees.

    He described the cooperation as “very fruitful.”

    Morocco is both a transit and home for many refugees and sub-Saharan migrants.

    The symposium in Geneva is the first of its kind, convening refugees, heads of state and government, UN officials and NGOs interested in human rights and migratory issues.

    The event is set to cover several issues, including arrangements for burden and responsibility sharing, as well and protection capacity and education.

    On December 18, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on world leaders to “give life” to the Global Compact for Safe Regular Migration adopted Marrakech Pact last year in Morocco.

    In a message on International Migrants Day, Guterres said that “all migrants have the right to equal protection of all their fundamental rights”.

    Leaders and representatives from 164 countries adopted the global migration pact on the first day of the migration conference in Marrakech in December 2018.

    The compact aims “to better manage international migration, address its challenges, and strengthen migrants’ rights while contributing to sustainable development.””

  9. India: Thousands take to the streets of New Delhi against Citizenship Amendment Act

    Thousands of people flooded New Delhi’s streets in an ongoing protest sparked by a recently ratified Citizenship Amendment Act outside Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University on Wednesday.

    Footage shows a large number of people chanting, making signs and protesting into the night, outraged by an alleged police crackdown inside JMIU’s campus as students demonstrated against the citizenship bill.

    Large demonstrations are taking place in the country since last Thursday, over a new citizenship bill entitling Indian citizenship to migrants who are either Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs or Hindus from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan as long as they entered the country before 2015.

    The bill sparked backlash as critics, including Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, say it aims to further ostracise some of the 200 million Muslims living in India and state that it is discriminatory in nature as it does include Muslim migrants from the same countries.

  10. Turkey: Operation Kiran neutralizes 139 PKK terrorists
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-operation-kiran-neutralizes-139-pkk-terrorists/1677243

    “A total of 139 terrorists have been neutralized and over 300 caves, shelters, and warehouses destroyed in the last four months during Operation Kiran, according to Turkey’s Interior Ministry.

    On Aug. 17, Turkey launched Operation Kiran in the country’s southeast against YPG/PKK terrorists in the Van, Hakkari and Sirnak provinces, followed by the launch of Operation Kiran-2 on Aug. 27 in the Mardin, Sirnak and Batman provinces. Six more iterations of the operation followed, including Operation Kiran-8 which is underway in rural areas of the eastern Bitlis and Siirt provinces.

    With Turkey ramping up its fight against terrorists, security forces launched the domestic anti-terror operation’s eighth phase, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

    Operation Kiran-8, under Interior Ministry coordination, is underway in the rural areas of the eastern Bitlis and Siirt provinces with nearly 3,500 security forces.

    Since the operation’s start in August, 139 terrorists have been neutralized and 321 caves, shelters and warehouses destroyed, and large amounts of weapons and ammunition seized.

    In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.”

  11. Migrants: 4,500 in Serbia, 20% are children
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2019/12/18/migrants-4500-in-serbia-20-are-children_76b6f682-7501-46ed-ac87-39517aa8b2c1.html

    “There are currently 4,500 immigrants in Serbia staying at 17 hosting centers, the Serbian commissioner for refugees said on Wednesday, International Migrants Day. A reported 20% are children, including 5% who are unaccompanied minors. The majority of migrants are citizens of Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and Bangladesh. Over the course of this year, the commissioner said, 220 migrants applied for asylum in Serbia and 32 were successful. The commissioner stressed the work carried out by Serbian authorities in assisting the most vulnerable refugees, mainly children, unaccompanied minors, women, seniors and the sick.

    Although the so-called ‘Balkan route’ was officially closed in March 2016 – after the dramatic crisis that in a few months saw over one million Middle Eastern and Asian refugees march towards western Europe – the itinerary is still chosen by thousands of migrants trying to reach the European Union.”

  12. In Syria and Iraq, around thirty French soldiers have become jihadists since 2012
    The military know-how of these legionaries, commandos or paratroopers “facilitated their ascent within the various terrorist groups”, according to a report.

    TERRORISM – Thirty French soldiers have joined the ranks of jihadist organizations in Syria and Iraq since 2012, bringing their experience and knowledge of the war, according to a report by the Center for Analysis of Terrorism (CAT) obtained by the AFP.

    The report, which is to be published at the end of the week and of which AFP obtained a copy after Le Figaro revealed its contents this Wednesday, December 18, documents the journeys of these soldiers, sometimes passed by reputed units – Foreign legion , riflemen, paratroopers – and who decided to join the ranks of jihad after individual journeys very different from each other….

    https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/entry/en-syrie-et-en-irak-une-trentaine-de-militaires-francais-sont-devenus-jihadistes-depuis-2012_fr_5dfa4056e4b0969b618e98ad

  13. These snippets summarize the article.
    https://nypost.com/2019/12/16/man-tied-to-jersey-city-shooter-held-without-bail-in-gun-case/
    The FBI found a cache of weapons in Hady’s Keyport, NJ, home and his pawnshop after tracking him from the phone number and address scribbled on a piece of paper found on Jersey City gunman David Anderson after he was shot dead by police.

    Hady had a history of gun purchases dating to 2007 but was barred from legally owning weapons following a 2012 fraud conviction, according to a federal complaint.

    Hady’s brother and father are cooperating with the FBI, including turning over telephone records.
    They told The Post that they did not know Anderson and said it was just “bad luck” that the Jersey City gunman had Hady’s contact information on him.