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.
WATCH: Russian Jews ‘Party’ After Lighting Chanukah Menorah in Moscow’s Red Square
Russian Jews sang and danced on the first night of Chanukah this week after the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar kindled the Chanukah lights on the public menorah in Red Square, standing in a forklift over the statue of Karl Marx before the gates of the Kremlin.
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/russian-jews-party-after-lighting-chanukah-menorah-in-moscows-red-square/2019/12/25/
Lessons of the Soviet Jewish Exodus
Between the late 1960s and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, nearly two million Jews left Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of the Soviet Empire. Their heroic struggle for the right to worship, to learn Hebrew, and to emigrate enlisted the support of diaspora Jewish communities around the globe, especially in the United States.
American Jews supported Soviet Jewry’s fight in many ways: from writing and calling individual “refuseniks,” remembering those imprisoned at Passover Seders, and “twinning” their children’s bar and bat mitzvahs with those of Soviet Jewish children who could not celebrate them, to mass rallies, protests at Soviet embassies, lobbying Congress and the administration, and actually traveling to Russia to meet refuseniks and express their solidarity. In the 1970s and 80s it seemed as if every synagogue in America had a huge poster outside of it demanding freedom for Soviet Jewry.…
[Bernie Sanders traveled to Russia to feast with the oppressors, Soviet Communists. Worse than a kapo, what the Bible calls running to do evil.]
American Jews relearned in the Soviet Jewry movement what Jews had learned in the 19th century and even the 18th: to think of Jewish interests in terms of American values. … The [Jackson-Vanik Amendment, 1975] …text said nothing about Jews but instead backed freedom of emigration as a basic human right.
https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/5151/lessons-of-the-soviet-jewish-exodus/
public menorah in Red Square, standing in a forklift over the statue of Karl Marx before the gates of the Kremlin.
A Macabeean miracle.
Baruch HaShem!
Why wont you have alcohol and pork?
“It won’t kill me but my community will”
Why won’t you have free-enterprise?
“It won’t kill me but my community will”
Why won’t you love your opposite gender?
“It won’t kill me but my community will”
Seven Die as Migrant Boat Sinks in Lake Van in Eastern Turkey – Reports (sputniknews, Dec 26, 2019)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201912261077868135-seven-die-as-migrant-boat-sinks-in-lake-van-in-eastern-turkey—reports/
“Seven people have died as the result of an incident in which a boat carrying migrants capsised in Lake Van, situated between the provinces of Van and Bitlis in eastern Turkey, the Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.
The Van province has become a gateway to Turkey for Afghan and Pakistani migrants who cross over from Iran. The migrants first make their way to Turkey so that they can then travel to the European Union.
Sixty-four migrants have been rescued, according to the agency…”
Battersea shooting: Man executed on doorstep on Christmas Eve as London violence soars (express, Dec 26, 2019)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1221169/battersea-shooting-man-gun-crime-death-south-west-london-met-police-christmas-eve
“A MAN has been killed after he was shot on Christmas Eve on his front doorstep in Battersea, southwest London.
Police officers were called to the scene on Battersea Church Road at around 9pm on December 24 after reports emerged of shots being fired in the area. The Metropolitan Police and London Ambulance Service attended the scene.
At the scene, the victim – who was believed to be in his 30s – was pronounced dead after suffering from gunshot injuries.
Scotland Yard have confirmed they have launched a murder investigation.
Arrests are yet to be made…”
Police Wasted £1.5 Million on Electric Cars That Can’t Chase Criminals (breitbart, Dec 26, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/26/uk-police-wasted-million-electric-cars-cant-catch-criminals/
“Police forces in the United Kingdom have squandered over a million pounds on electric cars that are incapable of chasing criminals or performing emergency services because the eco-friendly vehicles are too slow and take too long to charge…”
Australia Opposes ICC’s Anti-Israel Probe, Germany Supports (breitbart, Dec 26, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2019/12/26/australia-opposes-icc-probe-germany-supports/
“Australia has joined the U.S. in rejecting the top prosecutor at the International Criminal Court’s proposed investigation into Israel for unsubstantiated war crimes claimed by the Palestinians, while Germany, on the other hand, has expressed its support for the probe…”
Italy: Migrant Landings Halved in 2019 Due to Salvini Policies (breitbart, Dec 26, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/26/italy-migrant-landings-halved-2019-due-salvini-policies/
“The Italian Interior Ministry has released figures showing that illegal migrant landings have reduced by half in 2019, largely thanks to policies enacted by former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
According to the ministry, the country saw 23,210 arrivals in 2018 which then reduced to 11,439 in 2019, although the number of arrivals has dramatically increased since Salvini and his League party left the government in August and were replaced by the leftist Democratic Party, Il Giornale reports.
Salvini, who closed Italian ports to migrant transport NGOs, is largely credited with dramatically reducing the number of drowning deaths in the Mediterranean sea.
The populist League leader slammed the leftist government coalition for the rise of new arrivals in recent months saying: “Even in December the landings increased compared to the same period a year ago.”
“From September to today, considering the immigrants arriving in Taranto, Italy has received 6,249 people. In the previous eight months, with the League in government and more favourable weather conditions for departures, there were 4,976 arrivals,” he added.
According to Il Giornale, the number of new migrants has increased since the new coalition took power in September, compared to the same period last year and claimed that the current government was taking credit for policies enacted by Salvini, rather than their own record.
The policies of Salvini remain popular in Italy, with the League topping opinion polls for months and Salvini himself consistently being voted the most trusted politician in the country, ahead of current Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
The coalition of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party, however, remains unpopular with the vast majority of the Italian public with some polls showing Salvini’s League with nearly as much support as both parties combined.
Cracks in the government coalition have also begun to emerge in recent weeks, with three Five Star Movement senators defecting to the League earlier this month.”
Taliban target Afghan army in country’s north, kill 6 troops (abcnews, Dec 26, 2019)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-official-suicide-bombing-kills-troops-north-67928592
“A powerful suicide car bombing targeted an Afghan army compound in the country’s north on Thursday morning, killing six Afghan soldiers, the defense ministry said. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.
Shortly after the bomber detonated his car laden with explosives outside the small military base in Balkh province, a group of insurgents stormed into the compound, setting off a shootout with Afghan forces.
The defense ministry said in a statement that three Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the explosion and the ensuing “terrorist attack.” The provincial governor’s spokesman, Munir Farhad, said fighting inside the compound continued for hours before the attackers were repelled.
The Taliban, however, claimed they inflicted a far greater number of casualties and also that they captured the base and seized huge quantities of weapons and ammunition, according to a tweet by their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. The militants routinely exaggerate their claims.
Afghan ministry of defense rejects the Taliban claim, saying the insurgents had not taken the base.
The Taliban have been active in Balk in recent days. They targeted an army checkpoint in the province’s district of Dawlat Abad on Tuesday, killing at least seven Afghan soldiers and wounding six other members of the security forces — three soldiers and three intelligence agents. At the time, the Taliban said they also captured four Afghan troops and seized weapons and ammunition form the checkpoint.
The Taliban now control or hold sway over practically half of Afghanistan but continue to stage near-daily attacks targeting Afghan and U.S. forces, as well as government officials — even as they hold peace talks with a U.S. envoy tasked with negotiating an end to the 18-year conflict, America’s longest war. Scores of Afghan civilians are also killed in the crossfire or by roadside bombs planted by militants.
Also Thursday, a roadside bombing struck a police patrol in eastern Khost province, wounding at least five policemen, said Talib Mangal, the provincial governor’s spokesman.”
Kashmir border shooting kills 2 Pakistani, an Indian soldier (abcnews, Dec 26, 2019)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kashmir-border-shooting-kills-pakistani-indian-soldier-67928424
“Pakistan and India have again traded fire in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, with the latest exchange killing two Pakistani troops and an Indian soldier, officials on both sides said Thursday.
The Pakistani military said in a statement that its troops came under attack Wednesday in the Dewa area, where the two soldiers died, and returned fire. There was also cross-border shooting in the Haji Pir region. The Pakistani military called it an “unprovoked ceasefire violation.”
In India, army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said an Indian soldier was killed when Pakistani forces targeted their positions Wednesday in the area of Rampur, in the Indian-administered Kashmir. He said Indian soldiers returned fire.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi condemned the latest cease-fire violation and paid tributes to the two killed soldiers, accusing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of looking to disrupt peace in the region…”
Germany: Afghan stabs woman to death on Christmas Day
Yesterday, Christmas Day, a 26-year-old woman was fatally injured with a knife in Idstein. Her 31-year-old husband is a prime suspect. A resident reported an argument between a man and a woman to the police on Gruner Street around 3:00 pm, in which a knife is said to have been used. When the police arrived on the scene shortly afterwards, neither of the two could be found at first. During a search of the surroundings, the 26-year-old was found lying dead a few metres away in the courtyard of a residential building. She had suffered fatal injuries. The 31-year-old suspect was found at his home address in Gruner Street at about 3:30 pm and was arrested. The woman who was killed and the suspect are Afghan nationals. The suspect is to be brought before a judge tomorrow. The investigation into the background of the crime is continuing.
More:
https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/12/germany-afghan-stabs-woman-to-death-on.html
Germany: Eight Arabs Attack Christmas Party at St. Nicolai and Stab Parish Employees
Just a bit more holiday cheer from the religion of peace:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/germany-eight-arabs-attack-christmas-party-at-st-nicolai-and-stab-parish-employees/
PS: This took place in the town of Chemnitz. You know, that German town where the indigenous Germans are all racist xenophobes…
These Former Intelligence Chiefs Fit Perfectly Into Our Media Advocacy Culture
Former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have lots of things in common.
One, they ran the nation’s key intelligence and investigatory agencies under President Barack Obama. They were deeply involved in the “Russian collusion” hoax. And they participated in the surveillance of the Trump campaign and transition.
Comey and McCabe both signed applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrants requesting surveillance on Trump campaign aide Carter Page. A report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz criticized Comey and McCabe’s FBI for falsehoods and misrepresentations during its investigation of the Trump campaign.
Clapper, Brennan, and the FBI helped to disseminate the fallacious Steele dossier to the press and among government agencies.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/12/25/these-former-intelligence-chiefs-fit-perfectly-into-our-media-advocacy-culture/
Reporter’s Notebook: Why is Pelosi holding the articles of impeachment? DC insiders have some theories
The House of Representatives had finished work for the year early last Thursday evening. Nearly all lawmakers had escaped to the train station or airport. The Senate was marooned in a lengthy quorum call across the Capitol Rotunda. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., graced the Senate floor around 6 p.m. to declare he and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., remained at an impasse over how to conduct an impeachment trial.
And then, near the Will Rogers Statue, just steps from the House floor, appeared three aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Two clutched gigantic bills, ready for President Trump’s signature. Another pushed a cart, stocked with another stash of legislation. Loaded onto the trolley was one of the “mini-buses” Congress had just approved, a spending measure which helped avert a government shutdown. They were wheeling the measures off the House floor, back to the speaker’s office or over to the Senate.
Watching the procession, someone wondered if the House had sneakily adopted the measure announcing the impeachment managers. Was it possible the articles of impeachment were loaded aboard the Senate-bound cart?
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-impeachment-articles-senate-reporters-notebook
Swedish City Fights Loneliness, Boosts Integration by Housing Seniors With Migrants (sputniknews, Dec 26, 2019)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201912261077870439-swedish-city-fights-loneliness-boosts-integration-by-housing-seniors-with-migrants/
“A key feature of the experimental block opened in the Swedish city of Helsingborg is that its residents of different ages and backgrounds are required to socialise for at least two hours a week.
In a bid to combat loneliness and alleviate social segregation in the country, the city of Helsingborg in Skåne county, southern Sweden, has launched a new type of housing where elderly Swedes are placed together with young immigrants.
The idea of the project called Sällbo (a portmanteau word for ‘sällskap’ meaning “society” and ‘bo’ “live”) is to place an emphasis on integration through socialising. This particular Helsingborg quarter used to house a seniors’ home. With the onset of the 2015 migration crisis, when Sweden received 163,000 asylum seekers in a single year, it was converted into the country’s largest accommodation for unaccompanied teenage migrants.
Half of Sällbo’s 51 apartments will be rented out to senior citizens over 70 and a half to young adults aged between 18 and 25, of which 10 will go to immigrants who only recently got their residence permits.
The company initially planned to gear the housing towards older Swedes and young immigrants alone but chose to accept young Swedes as well, to bridge the gap between the two different demographics.
In the press release, Sällbo is described as a “new and unique housing concept placing an emphasis on the social aspect”.
Sällbo offers its residents two-room apartments with a balcony or patio. The size varies between 36 and 49 square meters and the maximum monthly rent is SEK 5,410 ($574). The rent covers electricity, water, heating and basement storage.
While the two-room apartments are small, the blocks are designed with a lot of common space, including a shared dining room, library, training room, film room and art atelier, as well as bedrooms where guests can stay. This is meant to maximise the time spent together. Additionally, residents are required to socialise with each other for at least two hours a week with a host for support and inspiration.
“By living together and having opportunities to interact through social activities, we hope to increase the integration between these groups, which often lack natural opportunities to meet”, curator Dragana Curovic said.
According to her, southern countries with a warmer climate offer ample opportunities for socialising outside. By contrast, in Sweden with its cold climate and winter darkness, opportunities are limited. Therefore, extra arrangements are needed. For the idea to function as intended, a varied composition of tenants was selected based on application forms and interviews.
Sweden, formerly one of Europe’s most homogeneous nations, embraced mass immigration in the late 20th century. In recent decades alone, the share of immigrants and their descendants has surpassed a quarter of the Swedish population of 10 million. Given the demographic trends that include higher nativity rates among the newcomers, the share of non-Swedes is expected to reach half of the population at some point in the 21st century.
Immigrants tend to settle down in enclaves dominated by their former compatriots. Popular examples of this phenomenon are Stockholm’s “Little Mogadishu” and Södertälje, which is often referred to as Mesopotälje after the historical Mesopotamia region due to its significant population of Syrians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans. Immigrants often lack any contact with Swedes whatsoever, except for social workers.
Immigrant areas dominated by immigrants, such as Rinkeby, which is 90-per cent migrant-populated, tend to be over-represented in the list of Sweden’s “particularly disadvantaged areas”. These are characterised by parallel social structures, difficulties in police work, violent crime and religious extremism.”
Hey, let’s throw our frail elderly to feral young savages!
At least some oldsters will survive gang-rape, torture, murder. Academic weasels will study this experiment for decades, build entire careers on it.
Afghan Presidential Hopeful Hekmatyar Says Peace Impossible in Presence of Foreign Troops (sputniknews, Dec 26, 2019)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201912261077871464-afghan-presidential-hopeful-hekmatyar-says-peace-impossible-in-presence-of-foreign-troops/
“Peace cannot come to Afghanistan until foreign troops leave the country, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a presidential candidate in the recent Afghan election, said on Thursday, calling for a national unity government that would negotiate the withdrawal of such forces.
“Peace is not possible in the presence of foreign forces; foreigners have not achieved anything in the war in Afghanistan. We want them to let us make decisions by ourselves”, Hekmatyar said at a meeting with the Wahdat-e-Islami party.
He then scolded the incumbent government, calling it another obstacle to peace.
“There will be no peace in the presence of the present government. This government is the main cause of the war. All political parties must reach an agreement on the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country”, he added.
According to Hekmatyar, a new government should be formed of all political parties to steer the country toward a transparent election.
“We are aware that the biometric system of the 2,400 polling places consisting of around 400,000 votes was destroyed by the state-building team [of the incumbent president]. This election was full of frauds and the [election] commissions are not independent”, he said.
During the meeting, Karim Khalili, the Wahdat-e-Islami leader and a former vice president, agreed with the assessment of the September election as fraudulent. He called Abdullah the winner of the election and warned that no one would be allowed to form a government on the basis of “sham” election.
Abdullah also took the floor at the meeting, pledging to advocate for “clean” election results and not allow the next president to come to power “on the basis of fraud”.
On Sunday, Afghanistan’s election watchdog announced preliminary election results.
According to them, incumbent President Ashraf Ghani was reelected with 50.64 percent of the vote, while Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah came second with 39.52 percent. Hekmatyar, a former warlord and ex-prime minister, got only 3.85 percent. Both Abdullah and Hekmatyar challenged the results, labelling the vote as rigged.
The country remains torn, as the government is combatting numerous militant groups, including the Taliban movement, which controls vast swathes of Afghanistan and has been fighting against the US-led coalition since the start of the campaign in 2001.
At the moment, the Taliban and the US are engaged in talks in Doha, negotiating a possible withdrawal of the coalition troops in exchange for security guarantees from the militants to prevent terrorist bases from being set up in the country.”
Another caravan of Mexican migrants – but heading south of border for Christmas
JALPAN DE SERRA, Mexico (Reuters) – Poor Central American migrants who form caravans to fend off predatory gangs as they cross Mexico’s interior en route to the United States have made global headlines and drawn the ire of President Donald Trump.
But last week in the Texan border city of Laredo a caravan of about 1,500 families made up of Mexican migrants and Americans of Mexican origin set out in the opposite direction – for their Christmas holidays.
Driving large cars laden with clothes, perfumes and other Christmas presents, the Mexicans, all with U.S. legal status, bore scant resemblance to the Central American migrants trudging north on foot, except for their shared fear of criminal gangs.
“There’s a lot of extortion, corruption, many people have been attacked,” said Jesus Mendoza, a 35-year-old painter who obtained U.S. legal residency in August and returned to Mexico for the first time this year since 2001.
About half of the 12 million Mexicans living in the United States have legal residency, and Mexico’s Senate expected more than 3 million to return home this year.
https://www.oann.com/another-caravan-of-mexican-migrants-but-heading-south-of-border-for-christmas/
Hong Kong marchers target malls on third day of Christmas protests
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hundreds of protesters marched through Hong Kong shopping malls on Thursday, disrupting business in the Asian financial hub for a third day over the festive period and prompting riot police to close off a mall in a tourist district.
The “shopping protests” have targeted malls across the Chinese-ruled city since Christmas Eve, turning violent at times with police firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators in areas filled with shoppers and visitors.
While the turnout on Thursday was smaller than on the previous two days, riot police stepped up patrols at shopping centers on the Kowloon peninsula and in the rural New Territories.
https://www.oann.com/hong-kong-marchers-target-malls-in-third-day-of-christmas-protests/
Indian state demands damages, threatens to confiscate property over protest
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) – India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state is demanding millions of rupees from over 200 people and threatening to confiscate their property as a penalty for damage done to public property during protests against the country’s new citizenship law.
Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has suffered some of the most violent protests against India’s Citizenship Amendment Act, which gives minorities who have migrated from three neighboring countries a path to citizenship but doesn’t make the same concessions for Muslims.
https://www.oann.com/indian-state-demands-damages-threatens-to-confiscate-property-over-protests/
(Richard: The Democrats in Virginia are proving to the nation that the radical left has taken control of the Democrat Party. This social engineering campaign of forcing the people in the suburbs to transform their communities into the inner city is going to backfire big time. The Dems are saying that the base culture of the United States must be destroyed and they are saying this in the State that is already up in arms. This purposed law would be challenged in court but I don’t know which way the Judges would rule.)
Va. Dems eye state law against single-family zoning, say it’s racist, environmentally unsound
By Daily Caller News Foundation December 25, 2019
Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not.
The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on suburban lots in neighborhoods previously consisting of quiet streets and open green spaces. Proponents of “upzoning” say the changes are necessary because suburbs are bastions of segregation and elitism, as well as bad for the environment.
The move, which aims to provide “affordable housing,” might be fiercely opposed by local officials throughout the state, who have deliberately created and preserved neighborhoods with particular character — some dense and walkable, others semi-rural and private — to accommodate people’s various preferences.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/12/25/va-dems-eye-state-law-against-single-family-zoning-say-its-racist-environmentally-unsound/
It is a movement to bring the eclectic apartment lifestyle into neighborhoods with detached homes.
https://www.smartergrowth.net/adu/
The upper middle class libs who donate a lot to the Dems are going to love their new neighbors.
(Richard: The attack on Christianity continues, I have been wondering when this assault would be commented on. I have noticed that since Trump has been in office more some people are shifting back to AD)
Wishing you a Very Merry C.E. (Common Era)
By Myra Kahn Adams December 25, 2019
The fact that I am an “OK boomer” (word of the year, by the way) means I have a long list of distressing cultural changes. Ranking near the top is increasing acceptance of the dating systems, B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era).
But the “common” event differentiating the two is not apparent until one learns what they replaced: B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini) Latin for “In the year of our Lord.”
For the record, the Anno Domini dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus. According to Wikipedia, “Almost all churches adopted his computus (calculation) for the dates of Easter.”
Hence, Christmas is the perfect time to rail against this monumental change in dating that served the world well for the last 1,494 years — now rapidly being cast aside by institutions, media, and the culture at large.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/12/25/wishing-you-a-very-merry-c-e-common-era/
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Removes Trump Scene from ‘Home Alone 2’ (breitbart, Dec 26, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/12/26/canadian-broadcasting-corporation-removes-trump-scene-from-home-alone-2/
“Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has removed a cameo scene featuring an appearance from Donald Trump in its broadcast of the film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
A 10-second cameo scene in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York — which shows Donald Trump giving Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) directions to the hotel lobby — has been removed by Canadian Broadcaster Corporation (CBC).
“Excuse me, where’s the lobby?” asks the Home Alone 2 character Kevin McCallister in the film.
“Down the hall and to the left,” responds Donald Trump….”
Niger Interior Ministry Says 14 Soldiers Killed in Attack in Western Part of Country (sputniknews, Dec 26, 2019)
https://sputniknews.com/africa/201912261077872606-niger-interior-ministry-says-14-soldiers-killed-in-attack/
“Niger’s Minister of Interior Mohamed Bazoum has posted a communique on Twitter saying that a convoy of National Gendarmerie officers and the National Guard of Niger, escorting teams responsible for electoral registration in the town of Sanam (department of Abala), was ambushed strained by heavily armed terrorists.
According to the communique, 14 officers were killed in a shootout with numerous losses on the part of terrorists.
“After a fierce battle… seven police and seven national guards were killed”, the Interior Ministry said.
The representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) have managed to return to Sanam safely and unharmed, the ministers’ communique says.
Mohamed Bazoum has expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased…”
HQ of Brazilian comedy group behind Netflix’s ‘gay Jesus’ special is firebombed
The Rio de Janeiro headquarters of the Brazilian comedy group Porta Dos Fundos has been attacked with Molotov cocktails. The incident comes weeks after it released a controversial movie, depicting Jesus as gay.
“In the early morning of December 24, on Christmas Eve, the headquarters of Porta dos Fundos was the victim of an attack. Molotov cocktails were thrown at our building,” the comedy group confirmed.
The fire was promptly contained by a security guard and no one was injured, yet the incident endangered “several innocent lives in the office and in the street,” it said.
A handful of photos circulating online purportedly show the damage that the studio sustained – and it appears to be very minor.
[…]
https://www.rt.com/news/476830-comedy-gay-jesus-molotov-attack/
I dunno…
…looked like a couple of righteous lightening bolts to me.
That description is close enough to reality.
The Lord helps those who help themselves.
Hands off the Quran or face Muslim outrage, MAPIM warns China
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organization (MAPIM) was outraged by the recent report in the Dailymail by Ryan Fahey dated Dec 24 that China will rewrite the Bible and the Quran to ‘reflect socialist values’ amid crackdown on Muslim Uighur minority.
Its president Mohd Azmi Abd Hamid, in a statement, demanded the Chinese authorities to explain on the report.
The report depicts an outline of China’s recent policy move:
1. All translated classic religious books should be “re-evaluated”:
2. The new editions must not contain any content that contradicts socialism;
3. Paragraphs deemed wrong by censors will be amended or re-translated.
“We are outraged by the strings of policies against Muslims executed by China,” said Mohd Azmi.
The report reveals China will rewrite the Bible and Quran to “reflect socialist values”.
It stated that new editions must not contain any content that goes against the beliefs of the Communist Party, according to a top party official.
Though the Quran and Bible were not mentioned specifically, the party called for a “comprehensive evaluation of the existing religious classics aiming at contents which do not conform to the progress of the times”.
The order was given in November during a meeting held by the Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which oversees the ethnic and religious matters in China.
According to Xinhua News Agency, a group of 16 experts, believers and representatives of different religions from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attended the conference last month, supervised by Wang Yang, Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
He urged the officials to build a religious system with Chinese characteristics’.
They also claimed that by “re-evaluating” religious books, they would prevent “extreme thoughts” and “heretical ideas” from eroding the country.
French newspaper, Le Figaro reported that Wang stressed that religious authorities must follow President Xi’s instructions and interpret the ideologies of different religions in accordance with “the core values of Socialism” and “the requirements of the era”.
If the reports are true this is a clear afront to Islam and will never be tolerated, Mohd Azmi said, adding that even Christians will despise this as an intrusion of religion by the communist party.
“The re-writing of the Quran will be seen as a war against Islam and Muslims around the world will definitely stand up to rebuke this policy.
“We remind China not to cross the redline. The already massive repression of Uyghur Muslims has been heavily criticised by the international community and the Muslims will not tolerate such abusive policy to alter the most sacred text of Islam.
“We demand the truth of this report and if China refuses to respond we will follow closely if the policy will actually be implemented or the policy be revoked.
“We call again that OIC must not be silent on the plight of the Uyghur Muslims and Muslims in general in China,” added Mohd Azmi.
China cannot be allowed to reign on Muslim nations by weighing down their economic muscle to silent them under the pretext of combating terrorism.
“If the re-writing and re- interpreting of the Quran to comply with socialism by the Chinese government is allowed, and OIC keeps silent on this attrocious policy, it will no longer qualify to represent Islamic nations to protect the interest of Islam and Muslims,” Mohd Azmi concluded.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/12/550929/hands-quran-or-face-muslim-outrage-mapim-warns-china
3rd world cures!
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1210130614118010887
Karnataka: Three specially-abled children were buried up till the neck at Tajsultanpur village in Kalaburagi, during #SolarEclipse, earlier today as parents believed that their children will be cured of deformities by this.
Sick children buried in sand during “ring of fire” solar eclipse in Karachi
People with disabilities were buried chest-deep in sand during a partial solar eclipse at Karachi’s Clifton beach on Thursday, in a superstitious practice believed to help heal the sick.
People attempted to create light out of the darkest day of the year across Asia, as they believe that “during a solar eclipse these special needs children can be healed by sun rays,” according to a father of an ill child.
Special prayers, known as Salat al-Kusuf, were performed and lasted from the beginning of the eclipse until the time it ended. “We bring them here because those children who suffer from paralysis or epilepsy or lots of other illnesses, can get better if during a solar or lunar eclipse, they are partially buried in the sand near the sea, with just their heads outside the Earth. Allah listens to them and heals them,” said a father of another ill child.
I worked for a top-level executive of an international conglomerate many years ago who visited Pakistan. The flight landed in Karachi.
While everyone was seated, a staff team entered the aircraft and while passengers were seated, they proceeded to fumigate the aircraft before passengers were allowed to deplane.
Karachi, one of the filthiest places on the planet, think about it.
PICS – KARACHI
https://varlamov.ru/478997.html
LAHORE -countryside
https://varlamov.ru/498855.html
These pictures give me the itchies.
Muslim Conditions in Belgium
Els Keytsman, Director of the Unia Center for combating racism, said that Muslims have been living in difficult conditions in Belgium since the 2016 Brussels bombings
Islam Guide for Australian Youth
…. a new guide to provide a brief explanation and correct misconceptions about Islam …
to address false information that circulate the Internet and are issued by non-specialists.
The Egyptian Family House: Where Al-Azhar and The Church Meet
The Dream of Building 100 Mosques
The story of the Muslim Indian, Mohammed Aamir, reveals the transformation from an extremist Hindu who demolishes mosques to a tolerant Muslim who seeks to build 100 mosques in India.
He wants to spread the teachings of Islam and the values ??of coexistence.
Teaching Islam in Germany
The German state of Hamburg announced that it approved the teaching of different religions in its schools, including Islam, for the first time ever.
They used to teach Christianity only. The aim is to promote the cultural and religious diversity of the city.
Terrorism Resorts to SoundCloud!
Press reports revealed that extremist group</b recently resorted to the SoundCloud platform as an alternative to other platforms that are banning the circulation of their terrorist messages.
They took advantage of its security holes to spread their extremist ideas.
…. AfD the radical German alternative party broadcasted anti-minority and anti-immigrant tracks
VILE media outlet seems to be “Sawt Alhikma”
– Center For Dialogue, Peace, and Understanding
– An OIC creation, Saudi money. The folks who brought us the CVE – Countering Violent Extremism – from the R of P.
– Competing with the MB propaganda nozzles
TORONTO – Fighting back against Islamophobia
A Toronto businessman has been standing up to Islamophobia in our community.
Traffic on Highways as People Flee Idlib, Syria
Traffic builds up on highways in Idlib, Syria as Islamists flee with their belongings and head for Turkey, Tuesday, December 24.
Kevin Spacey Accuser Ari Behn Commits Suicide
A high profile accuser of alleged sexual predator and disgraced Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey has mysteriously committed suicide, marking the 3rd accuser of Spacey to die under strange circumstances. As The New York Post reports:
https://americanupdate.com/articles/kevin-spacey-accuser-ari-behn-commits-suicide
Richard: If I was one of the other accusers I would be trying to find money for some real good bodyguards.
(Richard: Pay attention to this one, the first thing he is talking about Virginia and the steps they are taking to outlaw guns and imprison gun owners.)
Ep. 1144 Is This What John Brennan is Worried About? – The Dan Bongino Show.
The Decision to Go to War Is More and More Difficult
By Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen
December 26, 2019
The Decision to Go to War Is More and More Difficult
By Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen
December 26, 2019
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Golani Brigade recruits, IDF, photo by Cpl. Yuval Shmueli, IDF Spokesperson’s Unit via IDF Flickr CC
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,382, December 26, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The phenomenon of a growing reluctance to go to war and commit ground troops to combat can be seen around the world, not only in Israel. Citizens are increasingly demanding clarity on the purpose of the wars their armies are expected to fight.
“In the Netanyahu era,” argued a recent article in the monthly Hebrew magazine Liberal, “we are unable to launch a real war in Gaza. The leadership has no way to sell its cost to the public.”
Although Netanyahu’s reluctance to go to war may be related to his own quintessential decision-making pattern, it is consistent with a global trend. Something fundamental in the phenomenon of war has changed, particularly with regard to ground forces, and it is a concern for all armies. Even Russia is showing restraint in its use of ground forces in Syria.
https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/decision-to-go-to-war-is-more-difficult/
Rumors Swirling: Crowdstrike’s Assertion Russians Hacked DNC Faces Scrutiny – Carter Page Weighs In
This is interesting.
Why have we not heard this before?
The Gateway Pundit received an email from a self described cyber expert who claims there is no way that Crowdstrike could have identified Russia as the entity who hacked the DNC before the 2016 election.
The reason is because no entity, including Crowdstrike, has software that can identify a hacker. Crowdstrike’s only out is to prove that their software can identify hackers and they can’t.
Here are parts from an email that was forwarded to the Gateway Pundit and a group of other top conservative websites:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/rumors-swirling-crowdstrikes-assertion-russians-hacked-dnc-faces-scrutiny-carter-page-weighs-in/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily
Historian Doug Wead: Every Foreign Intelligence Service Knew within 24 Hours Trump-Russia Collusion was Bogus Story
Presidential historian and author Doug Wead joined Molly Line on FOX News on Thursday morning to discuss the upcoming impeachment trial in the US Senate.
For years now the Democrats and their mainstream media have insisted that America has lost its standing in the world thanks to President Donald Trump.
Democrats do this while ignoring President Trump’s historic international successes in trade agreements, NATO obligations, the defeat of ISIS, the embassy move in Israel and dissolving Obama’s sham Iranian nuclear agreement.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/historian-doug-wead-every-foreign-intelligence-service-knew-within-24-hours-trump-russia-collusion-was-bogus-story-video/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily
WOW! CBC Cuts Donald Trump’s ‘Home Alone 2’ Appearance Out of Christmas Broadcast
Donald Trump was very popular on the left in the black community until he ran for president as a Republican.
In ‘Home Alone 2’ Donald Trump made a cameo with the star Macaulay Culkin in the hotel hallway.
But last night when the state-run Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ran ‘Home Alone 2’ they cut the scene with Donald Trump.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/wow-cbc-cuts-donald-trumps-home-alone-2-appearance-out-of-christmas-broadcast/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily
Donald Trump Jr: If Barron Trump Is Not Off Limits, Then Hunter Biden ‘Sure As Sh*t Is Not’ (VIDEO)
Donald Trump Jr. went after Hunter Biden hard this past weekend at the Turning Point USA student action summit conference in Florida.
Trump Jr. said that since the far-left mainstream media constantly picks on 13-year-old Barron Trump, then Joe Biden’s crack smoking son Hunter Biden ‘sure as sh*t is not off limits.’
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/donald-trump-jr-if-barron-trump-is-not-off-limits-then-hunter-biden-sure-as-sht-is-not-video/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily
Congress Quietly Continues Mass Surveillance of Americans
Judges Confirmed at Record Pace in 2019 | Gina Shakespeare | The Epoch Times
Hallmark Christmas Movies Are Fascist Propaganda
Australian, French Academics Held in Iran Go on Hunger Strike
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2053641/australian-french-academics-held-iran-go-hunger-strike
“Two French and Australian academics held in Iran over espionage charges have gone on indefinite hunger strike as of Christmas Eve, France’s Sciences Po University confirmed.
“The Ceri confirms the hunger strike started by Fariba Adelkhah and her cellmate Kylie Moore-Gilbert,” the Center for International Studies and Research at Sciences Po University said in a Wednesday tweet.
“On this Christmas day, our solidarity and thoughts of hope go to Fariba, Roland and all the other prisoners in arbitrary detention,” it added, AFP reported.
A specialist in Shiite Islam and a research director at the university, Adelkhah’s arrest over “espionage” was confirmed by Iran in July.
Melbourne University Academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s detention was confirmed in September as charged with “spying for another country”, but her family said at the time that she had been detained for months before that.
In an open letter, the two women said they were subjected to “psychological torture” and called for international solidarity in the name of “academic freedom.”
“We will strike on behalf of all academics and researchers across Iran and the Middle East, who like us have been unjustly imprisoned on trumped up charges,” read the letter sent to the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
“We have been in the custody of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for an extremely long period, Kylie Moore-Gilbert for over 15 months, and Fariba Adelkhah for over 7 months. We have been subjected to psychological torture and numerous violations of our basic human rights,” it added.
The matter is of “deep concern” to Australia, its Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne told AFP, calling for Moore-Gilbert to be treated “fairly, humanely and in accordance with international norms.”
“I continue to believe that the best chance of a successful outcome for Dr Moore-Gilbert is through diplomatic channels,” she said, adding “very hard work” is being done behind the scenes to secure her release.
In addition to the two women, foreign nationals still held in Iran include former US soldier Michael R. White, British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and French academic Roland Marchal.”
Turkey Detains 20 ISIS Suspects
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2053766/turkey-detains-20-isis-suspects
“Turkey has detained almost two dozen suspected ISIS militants in Istanbul as it extends a crackdown on the extremist organization ahead of the New Year, police sources said Thursday.
Police carried out simultaneous raids Tuesday and Wednesday at 48 addresses in the country’s biggest city, the sources said, taking 20 ISIS suspects into custody.
Their nationalities were not revealed, Agence France Presse reported.
In 2017, a New Year’s Eve attack on an Istanbul nightclub that killed around 39 people was claimed by ISIS.
Since October, Turkey has boosted efforts to repatriate ISIS militants to their countries of origin, after launching a military offensive in northern Syria.”
Morocco jails one man, detains another over criticism of authorities on social media
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/morocco-jails-one-man-detains-another-over-criticism-authorities-social-media
“Morocco on Thursday jailed a man for four years on charges he insulted the king on YouTube, and authorities also arrested a rights activist who on Twitter criticized long jail terms for protesters seeking social justice.
The cases come after the Moroccan Human Rights Association had deplored in July an “escalation of violations of human rights and public and individual freedoms” in Morocco, AFP said.
Freedom Now, a Moroccan rights group, said prosecution of social media users who voiced anger at social and economic conditions were an attack on free expression.
Mohamed Sekkaki, who has a popular following on YouTube, shared a video last month criticising King Mohammed’s speeches and calling the Moroccan people “donkeys” and “stupid”, Reuters reported.
A court in Settat, 135 km (84 miles) south of Rabat, sentenced him to four years in jail and a fine of 40,000 dirhams ($4,150) on charges that included insulting Moroccans and constitutional institutions. His lawyers said he would appeal the verdict…”
Erdogan: Turkey to send troops to Libya at Tripoli’s request
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191226-erdogan-turkey-to-send-troops-to-libya-at-tripolis-request/
“Turkey will send troops to Libya at the request of Tripoli as soon as next month, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, putting the north African country’s conflict at the centre of wider regional frictions, Reuters reports.
Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) has been fending off a months-long offensive by General Khalifa Haftar’s forces in eastern Libya, which have been supported by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Last month, Ankara signed two separate accords with the GNA, led by Fayez al-Serraj, one on security and military cooperation and another on maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean.
“Since there is an invitation (from Libya) right now, we will accept it,” Erdogan told members of his AK Party in a speech. “We will put the bill on sending troops to Libya on the agenda as soon as parliament opens.”
The legislation would pass around Jan. 8-9, he said, opening the door to deployment…”
Turkish court: Wikipedia ban defies freedom of speech
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191226-turkish-court-wikipedia-ban-defies-freedom-of-speech/
“Turkey’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled by majority that a government-imposed block on Wikipedia violated freedom of expression, Anadolu reports.
The Wikimedia Foundation, the parent organization of the online encyclopedia, had taken the access ban to the Constitutional Court.
With six out of 10 votes, the court ruled that the total ban on the website violated freedom of expression.
Wikipedia was blocked on April 29, 2017, due to articles and comments that Ankara believes falsely linked Turkey to various terrorist groups, according to the Communications Ministry.
The telecommunications authority — which is required to take such measures to a court within 24 hours — made this decision by citing a law that enables it to ban access to websites deemed a threat to national security. A day later, an Ankara court ruled to ban Wikipedia.”
Let’s visit super-fun SAN FRANCISCO, the land of the Democrats.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1209531458198614016
PICS – SAN FRANCISCO
https://varlamov.ru/3481851.html
https://varlamov.ru/3482837.html
https://varlamov.ru/1930090.html
Spanish Media Links Spanish Show of Force to Moroccan Expansion at Sea
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/12/289782/spain-air-forces-morocco/
“A Spanish media outlet has linked a Spanish Air Force video of two F-18 jet fighters to the adoption of two laws redefining Morocco’s maritime border.
Last week, the foreign affairs committee of the Moroccan parliament passed two laws to “reactualize” the limits of Morocco’s territorial waters. The move aimed to assert Morocco’s sovereignty over its entire maritime coasts, including its southern provinces.
The new laws modified and supplemented Law No.1.81, establishing an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles off the Moroccan coast
The Spanish media was quick to react to Morocco’s move, painting it as a possible source of tensions with Spain.
In an article titled; ‘Spain exhibited its F-18s over the Canary Islands the day after Morocco approved extending its territorial waters,’ Confidencial Digital reported on Spain’s determination to show off its military Tuesday arsenal to deter Rabat from implementing the provisions of the newly adopted laws.
Spain’s deployment of its F-18 over the Canarian sea came just one day after Morocco’s house of councilors voted to adopt the law on Monday evening, December 16, the Spanish outlet insisted.
El Confidencial Digital also confirmed that the Spanish Air Forces published the video on Facebook and Instagram on Thursday, December 17, before 9 a.m.
The Spanish Air Forces did not provide the exact location of the scenes depicted in the video. All it said was that the F-18 took off from the Gando airbase in the Canarian Islands.
The publication came at a time when no air defense maneuvers are being held, leading the Spanish media to speculate that the publication is a response to Morocco’s “reactualization” of its maritime borders.
“The publication did not obey any specific air defense maneuvers, nor was there any other data that would justify why that video was broadcast on that specific date,” wrote Confidencial Digital.
Spanish and Moroccan air fleet comparison
Although the Spanish Air Force seems to possess a more modernized and powerful air fleet, the Spanish news outlet cited a number of military experts who believe that they cannot withstand their Moroccan counterparts.
Morocco has acquired a fleet of state-of-the-art F-16s from the US. The fleet comes, with the latest surveillance equipment and missiles, in addition to a radar of 300 kilometers of range enabling the detection of the Spanish F-18’s equipped with 150 kilometer-range radar.
In addition to having a more powerful engine, the Moroccan F-16, equipped with Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) sights with four hulls is believed to easily outmuscle the Spanish F-18.
JHMCS allows the pilot to fix the fighter jet he wants to shoot down by turning his head and looking in its direction. The Spanish pilot, on the other hand, must be positioned in front of the target so that the launch system fixes it.
Morocco’s Air Forces expenses and acquisition
Morocco has heavily invested in modernizing its air fleet and acquiring the latest generation of fighter jets and helicopters.
The most recent military deal was on November 20, when the US State Department approved the sale of 36 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and related equipment to Morocco for an estimated cost of $4.25 billion.
The equipment includes sophisticated attack and defense systems such as Fire Control Radars, anti-tank missiles, Air-to-air missiles, anti-helicopters, drones, and low-level aircraft as well as deadly bombs, in addition to modernized communication devices, sensors, and self-protection.
The acquisition is part of Morocco’s five-year plan, established in 2017, to reach “regional supremacy” by modernizing the military equipment of its army, air force, and navy.
Morocco’s arms deals with the US this year involved the sale of $3.8 billion worth of 25 F-16 aircraft and associated equipment in March, in addition to the upgrading of Morocco’s existing fleet of F-16 fighter jets for a cost of $985 million.
In total, Morocco’s arms acquisition from the US reached $10.3 billion in 2019, outranking Saudi Arabia.”