Reader’s Links for December 30, 2019

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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

113 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 30, 2019”

  2. “Curtis Sliwa Patrolling Jewish Neighborhoods In NYC For First Time Since 1991”
    gifterphotos – December 29, 2019

    • ‘One attack on a Jew is an attack on everyone’.

      This is true. Just as ‘one attack on a muslim is an attack on everyone’.

      This is not a race-baiting statement. It does not create a seige mentality, to allow the speaker be their trade union master. The thug. To Become their go-between for profit. Freely moving between constanty-stirred and simmering ghetto and appeasing politicians for votes, as their savior.

      Comforting those they abuse, while deliberately promoting their attackers as bogeymen.

      “It’s a Hate Crime!”

      Oh how the rapist love those words. For this mask hides them. The femaled look away. And they get to play this role freely given to them: Dehumanise them, and they will dehumanise you.

      And the day after the next day, is when the terrorists rely on Western Media to sow fear. To confuse, misdirect and obscure. To pass on the one simple idea: they are monsters.

      There is no defense against a monster, and every defence against a submitting-coward that is not in control of their own destiny. Humanise them.

      ‘One attack on a Jew is an attack on everyone’.

      May this ring out to all the universe.

      • Agree. Consider that Germany and France and Sweden and Belgium are now proving it. Further, an attack against Israel: well isn’t it possible that is an attack against all nations with a ballot box?

        • Agreed.
          “An attack against Israel is an attack against the free world by unfreed nations”

          This works for just as well for individuals in bondage, as for collectivists in open prisons.

    • Unusual for DW to publish such things. Better take a screen shot before it gets taken down for “hate speech”.

    • Therefore the monetary capital thrown at it–which otherwise could be put towards fantastic German ingenuity and productivity–is squandered.

      That is the purpose, squander the money and bankrupt the nation and you are half way to destroying the nation.

  4. Minorities Faced ‘Rape, Violence, Conversion’ in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan – Indian Minister (sputniknews, Dec 30, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/201912301077899039-minorities-faced-rape-violence-conversion-in-pakistan-bangladesh-afghanistan—indian-minister/

    “The Indian Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in early December, stoking violent protests in various parts of the country. The law grants citizenship to non-Muslim religious minorities who faced persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. At least 25 people have died in protests.

    India’s Junior Minister for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur has said Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians in Pakistan have faced “enormous violence, forced conversion, rape and looting” by what he described as radical elements in Pakistan.

    In an article published in an Indian daily The Tribune, Minister Thakur talked of an infamous case of blasphemy linked to Aasiya Bibi, a Christian.

    “Aasiya Bibi was beaten up by a violent mob in Pakistan for drinking water from the same utensils as the majority community in Pakistan”.
    Thakur goes on to say that the Pakistani government, by design or default, has neglected the pleas of these communities to protect their rights.

    He has pointed out that the situation is no different in Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, which witnessed the infamous 2001 bombing of the 6th century Bamiyan Buddha.

    “These same communities have faced murder, rape and looting in Bangladesh and Afghanistan too. This is not to say that the governments of Bangladesh and Afghanistan have remained silent. But the radical elements are too entrenched in society to be able to sufficiently protect the minorities in these countries”.

    Pointing at the diminishing number of minorities in Afghanistan, the minister adds that the once 50,000-plus booming community of Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, and Hindus in Afghanistan has now declined to even less than 1,000.

    The write-up comes amid nationwide protests against a Citizenship Law that seeks to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants from six religious minorities – Hindus, Parsis, Jains, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan if they arrived in India prior to 2015. It, however, doesn’t extend the same rights to Muslims.

    The government of India and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier indicated that there is need to explain why religious minorities in neighbouring countries deserve leniency to have Indian citizenship, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that the law doesn’t discriminate against Muslims.

    Ministers and lawmakers from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been asked to spread awareness about the new law.

    Various leaders and ministers have taken to print media and social media to convey their message to the public. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself even launched a Twitter campaign on the Citizenship Act on Monday.

    Articles defending the government’s motive behind the Citizenship Act have been also written by Indian Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in prominent Indian dailies.”

    • Rape Conversion.
      Sexual Shock and Awe
      In schools – and ‘cross the nation
      They prey five times, not more.

    • VICE NEWS – How Hindu Nationalism Threatens India’s Muslims

      A wave of resurgent nationalism is transforming India.

      VICE’s Krishna Andavolu traveled across the Hindu-majority nation to see how this cocktail of religious nationalism is affecting India’s 240 million religious minorities.

    • Thank-you, Uncle Vlad, for publishing India’s rational. We should learn about India’s experience with the RoP. The global ummah dominates media in the West.

  5. Pro-Government Demonstrators Gather for Annual Rally in Tehran – Video (sputniknews, Dec 30, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201912301077898177-pro-government-demonstrators-gather-for-annual-rally-in-tehran—video/

    “The annual pro-government rally in the Iranian capital of Tehran commemorates what the government calls the “9-Day Epic” when supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei protested against the “Green Movement” that erupted in the country after the electoral victory of then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

    Pro-government demonstrators have taken to the streets for an annual rally in Tehran, Iran’s capital.

    The country was struck by a wave of protests after the government raised gasoline prices in mid-November. Some of the rallies were peaceful, according to local media, while others took a violent turn. Casualties were reported among both protesters and security forces.

    Leading Iranian politicians, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have called the protests a US-led conspiracy against Iran. Earlier in December, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said that over 1,000 people died in the protests, a claim that Tehran has vehemently denied.”

  6. Iraqi-US Ties in Jeopardy as Baghdad Blasts US Over Strikes on Shia Militia Group (sputniknews, Dec 30, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201912301077901510-iraqi-us-ties-in-jeopardy-as-baghdad-blasts-us-over-strikes-on-shia-militia-group/

    “US forces carried out airstrikes against five facilities belonging to Iraqi Shia militia group Kata’ib Hezbollah on Sunday, killing over two dozen people and injuring over 50 more following Friday’s deadly rocket attack on a US military base in northern Iraq.

    Iraqi President Barham Salih has condemned the US airstrikes on Iraq’s Kata’ib Hezbollah militia movement, describing the strikes as “unacceptable,” the Iraqi News Agency has reported.

    “This contradicts our agreements. It is harmful to Iraq and is unacceptable,” Salih was quoted as saying. The president was also said to have characterised the attacks as being inconsistent with the security agreements between the two countries.

    Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi also expressed his disapproval of the strikes, with an Iraqi military spokesman saying that the prime minister told Pentagon Chief Mark Esper that Iraq rejects any unilateral military action that has not been approved by the Iraqi government.

    “We have previously confirmed our rejection of any unilateral action by the coalition forces or any other forces inside Iraq, and we consider it a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a dangerous escalation that threatens the security of Iraq and the region,” the spokesman said, quoting the prime minister’s remarks.

    Sunday’s airstrikes, thought to have killed 25 militia members and left 51 others injured across three locations in Iraq and two more facilities in Syria, were described by the Pentagon as a response to Iraqi militias’ alleged attack on a US base near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday. In that attack, one US civilian contractor was killed, and several US service members received injuries. No group claimed responsibility for the Kirkuk attack.

    ‘Successful’ Strikes
    Defence Secretary Esper praised Sunday’s strikes, saying they were “successful” and that he would advise President Trump on possible “additional actions as necessary to ensure that we act in our own self-defence and we deter further bad behaviour from militia groups or from Iran”.

    Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz welcomed the US action, calling it “a turning point in the regional response to Iran and its proxies”. Iran, meanwhile, condemned the attacks as “direct evidence of US terrorism.”

    Kata’ib Hezbollah released a statement in which it called the attacks an act of blatant “disregard and humiliation for the sovereignty and honour of the Iraqi nation.” In a statement, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, another Iraqi Shia militia group, expressed solidarity with the group, saying that “ending US military presence in Iraq is essential, by all means necessary, before it lasts any longer”.

    Kata’ib Hezbollah is an Iraqi Shia paramilitary group formed in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, and took part in the insurgency against US forces in the late 2000s.

    From 2014-2017, the group joined other Shia militias under the umbrella Baghdad-allied ‘Popular Mobilisation Forces’ coalition in the battle against Daesh (ISIS).* The US classifies Kata’ib Hezbollah as a terrorist entity, and says it has links to Hezbollah in Iran and Lebanon.

    The Iraqi-US security agreement has become strained in recent months. Earlier this year, the Fatah Coalition, a major Shia-led bloc of deputies in Iraq’s parliament, called on the US to withdraw its estimated 5,000 or so remaining troops from the country. Parliament deputy speaker Hasan al-Kaabi has also called for legislation to terminate Baghdad’s 2008 security agreement with Washington.

    *A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.”

    • Satellite Images of US Air Strikes in Iraq Released

      The U.S. Defense Department released satellite video, Monday, December 30, of their air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group, Sunday, killing at least 25 militia fighters.
      ————————————————————————–
      An Iran-backed militia threatened revenge Monday in response to U.S. airstrikes against its positions in Iraq and Syria, which killed at least 25 people.

      The warning from Kataeb Hezbollah came as Iran’s foreign minister condemned the U.S. attacks as violating Iraqi sovereignty and amounting to an act of terrorism.

      U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed the airstrikes in comments to reporters late Sunday. He said U.S. fighter jets hit three Kataeb Hezbollah targets in western Iraq and two others in eastern Syria.

      Esper identified the targets as weapons storage and command and control facilities.

      The airstrikes were carried out in response to a rocket attack Friday on an Iraqi military base in northern Iraq that killed a U.S. defense contractor.

    • This is really a big score for the USA. Big bad dudes, IRGC-wannabe.

      Situated at one of the most critical border crossings between Iraq and Syria. They’ve been striking Americans for the last six months – !! – with no response from our side.

      Iranian Resources and Shi’a Militant Cohesion: Insights from the Khazali Papers

      Abstract: In January 2007, an Iranian-backed Shi`a militant group known as Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq (AAH) carried out an audacious attack on an Iraqi-American Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, Iraq. The head of AAH, a young cleric named Qais al-Khazali, was captured later that year.

      Declassified interrogation reports from al-Khazali’s time in custody reveal new information about al-Khazali’s rivalry with prominent Shi`a cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, suggesting that Iranian resources do not necessarily produce militant group cohesion. These intra-sectarian rifts are likely to persist and will complicate Iran’s ability to project its influence in the future.

      https://ctc.usma.edu/iranian-resources-shia-militant-cohesion-insights-khazali-papers/
      …..
      2018
      Officer and fighter in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, senior Hezbollah officer, and Shiite militia operatives killed in ISIS attacks in Albukamal. The Albukamal border crossing is of major importance to Iran since a route promoting Iran’s strategic interests in Syria and Lebanon passes through it.

      https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/officer-fighter-iranian-revolutionary-guards-senior-hezbollah-officer-shiite-militia-operatives-killed-isis-attacks-albukamal-albukamal-border-crossing-major-importan/

    • Moon of Alabama – After U.S. Strike On Iraqi Forces Its Troops Will (Again) Have To Leave

      […]The strikes were designed to kill those who still fight ISIS in its most virulent hide outs

      […]U.S. President Donald Trump had declared that he wants U.S. troops to leave the Middle East. But the ‘deep state’, the Pentagon and State Department bureaucracy, have resisted any such move:

      Pompeo, Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, flew to Palm Beach, Florida, after the operation to brief President Donald Trump. Esper said they discussed with Trump “other options that are available” to respond to Iran.
      …
      Trump was at Mar-a-Lago but did not appear with his top national security officials. After Pompeo and Esper spoke, the president traveled to his private golf club in West Palm Beach. The White House did not immediately say why Trump returned to the club after spending nearly six hours there earlier Sunday.

      Yesterday’s attacks guarantee that all U.S. troops will have to leave Iraq and will thereby also lose their supply lines to Syria.

      One wonders if that was the real intent of those strikes.

      https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/12/after-us-strike-on-iraqi-forces-its-troops-will-again-have-to-leave.html

      ===========================================================
      Col. Macgregor: US airstrikes look like an attempt to drag us into a war

      • Macgregor doesn’t add anything substantive. Just hypes thin information that’s publicly available. Gee, his geography’s off, too.

        Spinning the libertarian-flavored, pacifist goop that Tucker Carlson, Rand Paul, and James Buchanan reliably spew.

        Reading conservative blog and article comments makes me hate this wing of PTrump’s base. It’s vacuous. Refuses to deal with facts, as militantly stupid as its leftist snowflake counterparts.

        Isolationism sounds like pure Russian propaganda, the antiwar crud that worked so well in hippy days. Panic as if we still had compulsory conscription. Nutures defeatism.

        Code words: globalist, neocon, warmonger, Cruz-bot. As loaded as fascisss, raycisss, white-supremacisss. Really gets old fast.

  7. Drug gang violence: Four Albanians killed in fortnight (express, Dec 29, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1221949/four-Albanians-killed-fortnight-drug-gang

    “A RECORD producer shot dead outside his home on Christmas Eve was the fourth man of Albanian heritage to be murdered in Britain in the past fortnight.

    Flamur Beqiri, 36, was gunned down in front of his wife outside their £1.5million Battersea home in south London at around 9pm.

    The Met Police are investigating possible links with organised crime in Sweden, where Mr Beqiri moved to from Kosovo as a child.

    In 2008 he was named as one of Sweden’s most wanted men amid claims that he was part of an international drugs gang that smuggled £2million of cannabis into Scandinavia.The charges were later dropped but he was found guilty of smuggling cigarettes and alcohol.

    Det Insp Jamie Stevenson said: “We believe Flamur may have been involved in some criminality in Sweden and are in liaison with our Swedish counterparts to try to understand what, if any, incidents there may have been that might have led to someone seeking retribution against Flamur.”

    Four days before he was killed, a 31-year-old Kosovan-Albanian man, Shkelqim Paja, was found dead from stab wounds in Elstree, Hertfordshire.

    The Met have linked it to the murder of a 30-year-old man found stabbed to death five miles away in Barnet, north London, a day earlier. He was last night named as Arber Fesko.

    Albanian Besnik Berisha, 42, and KazikuTuwisana, 31, have been charged with both murders and remanded in custody.

    Police are investigating whether the double killing is connected to organised crime but say there is nothing to suggest a link to the murder of Mr Beqiri. A week earlier, on December 12, Albanian Asqeri Spaho, 25, died after being stabbed in the chest during a fight in Southend.

    A police spokesman said: “Police believe that the suspects involved attacked the man during a targeted drugs-related burglary.”

    Three men from London, two aged 21 and one aged 31, were arrested and bailed until January.

    Meanwhile, the Government has pledged a further £35million to help police tackle spiralling levels of violence connected to organised crime.The Met, who have investigated 150 murders this year, will get the most, at £7million.”

  9. Turkey detains 124 suspected of links to the IS group (abcnews, Dec 30, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-detains-dozens-suspects-ahead-year-67977963

    “Police in Turkey detained at least 124 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group, the state-run news agency reported Monday, in an apparent sweep against the militant group ahead of New Year celebrations.

    At least 33 foreign nationals were detained in the capital Ankara in a joint operation by anti-terrorism police and the national intelligence agency, according to the Anadolu Agency.In Istanbul, police raided 31 houses, detaining 24 suspects, including four foreign nationals.

    Police conducted simultaneous, pre-dawn raids in the city of Batman, in southeast Turkey, where 22 suspects were detained, it said in a separate report. Raids were also conducted in the cities of Adana, Kayseri, Samsun and Bursa where 45 people, including six foreign nationals were detained.

    Anadolu said the IS suspects apprehended in Ankara were from Iraq, Syria and Morocco. Police were searching for some 17 other suspects, the report said.

    The country was hit by a wave of attacks in 2015 and 2016 blamed on IS and Kurdish militants that killed over 300 people.

    The IS group also claimed responsibility for an attack at an Istanbul nightclub during New Year celebrations in the early hours of 2017. The attack killed 39 people, most of them foreigners.

    Meanwhile, Turkey deported a total of 778 IS or other jihadists back to their home countries in 2019, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Sunday.

    Turkey has stepped up its efforts to expel foreign fighters back to their countries of origin in recent months, accusing many European countries of not taking responsibility for their nationals and saying Turkey was “not a hotel” for foreign fighters.”

  13. Texas Republican credits church security team, change in state law after shooting

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-republican-credits-church-security-team-change-in-state-law-after-shooting

    The deadly shooting inside a Texas church on Sunday prompted Republicans there to credit the changes in state law that permitted concealed firearms inside places of worship after it was revealed that the gunman was fatally shot six seconds after opening fire.

    CHURCH SHOOTING LATEST IN MANY ATTACKS IN RECENT YEARS

    The unidentified gunman killed two when he opened fire inside the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, which is outside Fort Worth. Authorities are trying to determine a motive. Police said the gunman entered the church and sat down before 11 a.m. He stood up, pulled out a shotgun and shot two parishioners who died at a nearby hospital.

  14. The IRS Placed Lien On Hunter Biden For About $113,000 In Unpaid Taxes From Year He Served On Burisma Board

    The IRS placed a tax lien on Hunter Biden seeking $112,805 in unpaid taxes from 2015, according to records the Daily Caller News Foundation obtained.

    The federal agency issued the previously unreported lien in November 2018 and it seeks unpaid taxes for a year in which Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, served on the boards of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings and the Chinese private equity firm BHR Partners.

    “We have made a demand for payment of this liability, but it remains unpaid,” the IRS stated in the lien notice, which it filed with the Washington, D.C., Recorder of Deeds. “Therefore, there is a lien in favor of the United States on all property and rights to property belonging to this taxpayer for the amount of these taxes.”

    https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/29/hunter-biden-tax-lien/

    • Is this just the Tax or is it the Tax and Penalties?

      Given the amount of money he received the penalties would mount up fast.

      Remember what I said a few days ago, when you get past the first two layers of the IRS (for this amount of money that would happen quickly) you can negotiate anything and everything with the IRS. Get a Dem supporter handling the investigation and he might get away with paying a couple of thousand in Tax and Penalties.

  15. Left presses 2020 Democrats to retake the courts from Trump

    Democratic presidential contenders are facing increasing pressure to detail their plans for filling federal court vacancies amid angst over President Trump’s success in packing the benches with conservative judges.

    Trump has been able to get his appointees confirmed at a pace that surpasses that of any recent administration. The Senate left town the week before Christmas after confirming 12 more of Trump’s judicial appointees, bringing the total number of lifetime judges appointed in this administration to 187.

    For many on the left, the issue of recapturing the courts has become more urgent as those judges make their mark on a host of high-profile issues.

    Last week, a three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a key tenet of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, the mandate requiring everyone to have health insurance, is unconstitutional, setting up a likely fight in the Supreme Court. One of the judges who joined the ruling, Kurt Engelhardt, was appointed by Trump in 2018.

    https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/475577-left-presses-2020-dems-to-retake-the-courts-from-trump

    • Despite what the article says the Dems don’t want Constitutionalists on the bench the Constitutionalists make their decisions based on the wording and of the law and Constitution and the stated original intent of the people who wrote the law. The Dems want activists Judges who will illegally write new law in the decisions based on what they think is the right thing to do. The Dems/left don’t want people who believe in the Rights of the People, they want people who consider themselves to be the elite ordained by a higher power to rule the common people.

      All of the Nations that compose what use to be Western Civilization are fighting to prevent a new unelected aristocracy from taking over the government. Look at what the Bureaucracy is doing in the EU, that is what they want to set up in all Western Nations.

  17. Hong Kong to end year with multiple protests, kick off 2020 with big march

    HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong will end 2019 with multiple protests planned for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day aimed at disrupting festivities and shopping in the Asian financial hub, which has seen a rise in clashes between police and protesters since Christmas.

    Events dubbed “Suck the Eve” and “Shop With You” are set for New Year’s Eve on Tuesday in areas including the party district of Lan Kwai Fong, the picturesque Victoria Harbour, and popular shopping malls, according to notices on social media.

    https://www.oann.com/hong-kong-to-end-2019-with-multiple-protests-big-march-planned-for-jan-1/

  18. De Blasio blames Hanukkah party slashings on white supremacy: Just one problem
    By Joe Newby December 30, 2019

    Could it be that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is colorblind … literally? He appeared on Sunday’s edition of MSNBC’s “Weekends” where he expounded on the anti-Semitic attack at a Hanukkah party in Monsey, N.Y., that left five people with stab wounds. By the time of the mayor’s appearance, the assailant had been apprehended in Harlem by New York Police, still wearing the blood-stained clothing he had had on during the machete attack, and his photograph — plainly revealing him to be black — had been widely circulated.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/12/30/de-blasio-blames-hanukkah-party-slashings-on-white-supremacy-just-one-problem/

    • BREITBART – ‘Not an Antisemite’: Family Says Hanukkah Attack Suspect has Long History of Mental Illness

      The suspect in the brutal attack at a rabbi’s home during a Hanukkah celebration has suffered from a long history of mental illness but has no known history of antisemitism, a family statement issued Monday outlines.

      Grafton Thomas, 37, allegedly wounded five people with a machete after entering a rabbi’s home. The bloody assault was labeled an “act of domestic terrorism” by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as Breitbart News reported.

      He was arrested in Harlem by New York Police Department (NYPD) officers and “was found with blood all over his clothing and a strong smell of bleach in the car, like he was trying to destroy evidence,” according to Rockland County Assistant District Attorney Michael Dugandzic.

      The attack came a day after New York city police said officers were stepping up patrols in heavily Jewish districts following a spate of antisemitic threats and attacks.

      The statement released by the family sought to definea man who has battled mental illness rather than one consumed by hate. His pastor of 10 years told the New York Post that Thomas has suffered from mental illness for 20 years.

      “Grafton Thomas has a long history of mental illness and hospitalizations,” the statement read. “He has no history of like violent acts and no convictions for any crime. He has no known history of antisemitism and was raised in a home which embraced and respected all religions and races. He is not a member of any hate groups.”

      The family concluded the statement by offering their prayers for the victims and thanked those who “rendered medical attention to each of those injured.”

      Thomas was arraigned Sunday and pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. Bail was set at $5 million and he remains behind bars. He didn’t answer questions as authorities escorted him to a waiting vehicle. He reportedly pleaded not guilty.

      Thomas’ criminal history includes an arrest for assaulting a police horse, according to an official briefed on the investigation who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. A lawyer representing Thomas at the arraignment said he had no convictions.

      https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/30/not-an-antisemite-family-says-hanukkah-attack-suspect-has-long-history-of-mental-illness/

    • BREITBART – FBI: Hannukah Stabbing Suspect Kept Antisemitic Journal, Fixated on Hitler

      Dec. 30 (UPI) — Hannukah stabbing suspect Grafton Thomas, already jailed on five counts of attempted murder, has also been hit with federal hate crime charges, according to documents filed Monday in New York.

      Thomas, of Greenwood Lake, N.Y., has pleaded not guilty to five state counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary stemming from a machete-wielding attack at the home of a Hasidic Jewish rabbi during a Hannukah party late Saturday.

      He was ordered held on $5 million bail with his next court appearance Friday.

      Meanwhile, federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York also weighed in with additional hate crime charges against Thomas, a 37-year-old African-American man.

      FBI investigators said they found journal entries allegedly written by Thomas in which he expressed anti-Semitic views, referencing Adolf Hitler and “Nazi culture.”

      They said another journal entry allegedly stated that “Hebrew Israelites” had victimized “ebonoid Israelites,” which the FBI took to mean African-Americans claiming descent from the ancient tribes of Israel.

      In the Saturday attack, police said a suspect armed with a machete entered the home Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg in Monsey, N.Y., a town of about 18,000 residents and began stabbing the party-goers.

      Around midnight, Thomas was located in a gray Nissan 30 miles south in New York’s Harlem after a traffic stop and taken into custody by the New York Police Department. Authorities say they found an 18-inch Ozark Trail machete in the car.

      The hate crime charges came after members of Thomas’ family said Sunday that he suffers from mental illness but was not known to harbor hateful views.

      “We believe the actions of which he is accused, if committed by him, tragically reflect profound mental illness for which … Grafton has received episodic treatment before being released,” according to his family’s statement released by their attorney.

      RELATED Jersey City shooting to be investigated as domestic terror

      “He has no known history of anti-Semitism and was raised in a home which embraced and respected all religions and races,” the statement continued. “He is not a member of any hate groups.”

      Rockland County, N.Y., public defender Kristine Ciganek said Thomas had no criminal history and lived with his mother.

      Police are also investigating Thomas in connection with another stabbing in the same town last month.

      Citing police sources, the New York Post reported authorities are looking at his possible involvement in a Nov. 20 attack in which a 30-year-old Jewish man was beaten and repeatedly stabbed while on his way to a village synagogue in Monsey.

      In that attack, the victim was so badly beaten that authorities initially believed he had been hit by a car.

      The Nov. 20 incident and Saturday’s rampage are part of an upsurge in anti-Semitic hate crimes being reported in the New York City area. There was at least one incident reported every day last week leading up to the Monsey stabbings.

      https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2019/12/30/fbi-hannukah-stabbing-suspect-kept-antisemitic-journal-fixated-on-hitler/

  19. If one of the senators running for the WH wins, it will be Congress’s duty to impeach him ASAP
    By Howard Portnoy December 30, 2019

    As the Washington Times noted yesterday, Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, is pushing a resolution that calls upon the Senate to amend its rules to require that the five senators running for the presidency recuse themselves in the event of an impeachment trial. The resolution, which is non-binding, is intended to highlight an obvious conflict of interests. The five, all of whom have aspirations to become president, would in essence be interfering in a presidential election — the very “crime” for which Donald Trump has been impeached.

    But the problem would become more serious in the event one of the five went on to win the election. The victorious candidate would take the oath of office knowing full well, as would every American, that he had committed an impeachable offense to sway the election in his favor.

    It could be fairly argued that the five senators have already attempted to injure “candidate Trump” by calling for his impeachment and removal. In September, Elizabeth Warren admonished Congress to move to impeach Trump or become “complicit” in his alleged crimes. On Dec. 10, Bernie Sanders importuned the Senate to “quickly” pursue a trial over the articles of impeachment, and a week later Amy Klobuchar called Trump’s impeachable offenses “a global Watergate.” Cory Booker, meanwhile, argued back in July that Trump should be impeached based on what’s in the Mueller report (viz., nothing).

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/12/30/if-one-of-the-senators-running-for-the-wh-wins-it-will-be-congresss-duty-to-impeach-him-asap/

    • We all know the Dems think they are above all laws, they can do what they want and never face a Judge and Jury becuse they are Dems.

  21. Colorado and the mystery drones
    By J.E. Dyer December 29, 2019

    Since Friday 20 December, dozens of drones have been seen flying in formation and operating in grid patterns over northeastern Colorado and a small slice of western Nebraska. (See here as well.)

    The area the drones are flying in is very sparsely populated. Initially, witnesses reported as many as 16 drones at a time, but more recent reports have included a drone count of 30 flying together. The area of operation now includes five Colorado counties (Sedgewick, Phillips, Yuma, Washington, and Lincoln) and one in Nebraska (Deuel, a small county in the southeast of the panhandle. See maps).

    Originally, the report of “wingspan” size (approximately six feet) suggested the drones were fixed-wing aircraft. However, a video incorporated in a Denver area TV update on the drones seems to indicate they are rotary wing drones (which would make them quite large for their type).

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/12/29/colorado-and-the-mystery-drones/

    Richard: Who is doing what and why are they doing it? Why is the Government showing no interest in what is happening?

  22. Germany: Starbucks shooting reports yet to be confirmed, says Berlin Police

    Berlin Police announced that reports of a shooting at a Starbucks cafe near Checkpoint Charlie could not be confirmed as of yet, as law enforcers and firefighters cordoned off the area in the Friedrichstadt neighbourhood of Central Berlin, on Monday.

    Footage shows armed officers in front of the Starbucks coffee shop at the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Kochstrasse.

    “At noon witnesses alerted the police of a suspected robbery at a Starbucks branch. According to them, the suspect had used a fire gun,” a police spokesperson said. “It could not be confirmed to this moment that this was an attempted robbery.”

    “Special units are inspecting a house here nearby that is thought to be the residence place of the suspect,” the police spokesperson continued. “So far, we could not find the person there and no gun. We can also not confirm the versions of a shooting, simply because we couldn’t find any shot holes at the place where there was supposed to have happened.”

    Footage also shows passersby standing behind the cordoned off area.

    Berlin Police tweeted that they have the “situation under control.”

  23. Cyprus: British woman found guilty of lying about hotel gang rape

    A court in the Cypriot town of Paralimni found a 19 year-old British woman guilty of lying over claims she was gang raped by 12 Israelis in a hotel at a tourist resort.

  24. North Korea: Kim urges ‘offensive measures’ ahead of year-end deadline

    North Korean State TV said Kim Jong-un urged ‘positive and offensive measures’ to ensure security of the country before his end-of-year deadline for denuclearisation talks with the US on Monday.

    He was speaking on the second day of a meeting with the Workers Party’s officials in Pyongyang.

    In early December North Korea threatened the US with a ‘Christmas gift, triggering fears of a possible missile launch. Kim Jong-un set December 31 as the deadline for Washington to change its position on nuclear talks.

  25. (Richard: Which is the scarier thought, Hillary as President or Occasionally Conscious as President?)

    Growing rumblings about an Ocasio-Cortez presidential run
    By Rusty Weiss December 29, 2019

    Just when you thought liberals couldn’t become further untethered from reality!

    You may have thought that point of no return had been reached when the Left began championing the rights of mental patients who think they were born into the wrong body or the party’s field of candidates for the 2020 election turned out to be an assortment of far-left misfits.

    But the final separation came in Friday with a report in Politico that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s work as a surrogate for Bernie Sanders was prompting buzz about a future presidential run of her own.

    “As she’s drawn massive crowds,” the outlet fawns, “progressive insiders and activists are increasingly whispering about Ocasio-Cortez inheriting the movement one day — and running for the White House with it behind her.”

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/12/29/growing-rumblings-about-an-ocasio-cortez-presidential-run/

    • BREITBART – German Police Shoot Sword Wielding Man to Death in Front of His Mother

      A man was shot to death by German police after he went on a rampage, crashing a car and threatening officers with a sword.

      Police in Germany said that they killed a 32-year-old man — in front of his 69-year-old mother who had been a passenger — in the Southern city of Stuttgart. The man, who was believed to be suffering from mental illness, was shot multiple times after threatening police with a 70-centimetre (2’4?) sword.

      The police were called to the scene on Saturday following reports of a man recklessly driving down the wrong side on a roundabout, before crashing his car head-on into an advertising sign, with his mother riding in the passenger seat.

      Police tried to subdue the man with pepper spray but he was undeterred and continued to threaten and move towards the police officers with his sword. Officers opened fire and the suspect later died in hospital of his injuries, reports Deutsche Welle.

      During a search of the perpetrator’s home, the police discovered what they described as signs of mental illness, as well as two pellet guns, a crossbow, and another sword.

      Police shootings are a rare occurrence in Germany, where 11 people were shot to death by police in 2018.

      The shooting on Saturday has prompted police unions to call for all officers in Germany to be equipped with ‘Taser’ stun-guns.

      “Between a baton, pepper spray and a firearm, from the point of view of the German Police Union, officers are missing an important resource,” said Ralf Kusterer, the vice president of the union.

      On the same day as the rampage in Stuttgart, police in the German town of Neunkirchen were threatened by a man wielding a machete and a gun. Police were able to subdue the man with a Taser and arrested him, according to Der Tagesspiegel.

      In April Breitbart London reported that as a result of the rising knife crime in Germany a woman’s magazine Illu der Frau published an article entitled “How do I treat a stab wound?”.

      Official statistics on knife crime in Germany remain largely elusive, however, with the police union admitting that release of such figures may take up to several years.

      https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/30/german-police-shoot-sword-wielding-man-to-death-in-front-of-his-mother/

  27. MEMRI – Gaza sermon: Florida shooter acted out of compassion for Islamic nation

    Friday speech by Sheikh Nael Mossran: Shooter in Pensacola, Fla., had acted out of compassion for the Islamic nation; the only way to stop America’s crusade against Islam is jihad for the sake of Allah.

    Palestinian Sheikh Nael Mossran said in a Friday sermon in Gaza that Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani—the Saudi Air Force officer who shot and killed three U.S. service members at the Pensacola Naval Station in Pensacola, Fla. on Dec. 6—had felt overcome with compassion for the Islamic nation, and that the last thing Alshamrani said had been that America is a nation of evil.

    Sheikh Mossran said: “[People] started to paint this young man as a criminal [and] calling him evil, criminal, and backward … as if America spread flowers in every country its air force has been through.”

    He said that the United States is waging an organized crusade against Islam that can only be stopped by an organized Islam and by jihad for the sake of Allah.

    The sermon was delivered at the Al-Huda Mosque in Rafah in the Gaza Strip and uploaded to Sheikh Mossran’s YouTube channel on Dec. 22.

  28. MEMRI –Detroit-Based Shiite Iraqi Imam: Iraqi People Must Gather Around Leadership of Ayatollah Al-Sistani

    In a Friday sermon, Detroit-based Shiite Iraqi imam Bassem Al-Sheraa from Alzahraa Islamic Center, said that the Iraqi people has gained many achievements in the recent demonstrations, however, in order to reach their goals of change and real reforms they must gather around the leadership of Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.

    Al-Sheraa said that Al-Sistani gave a signal during his Friday sermon and thanks to that the prime minister and government resigned.

    He added that Iraqis in the diaspora feel embarrassed when they see the violence and brutality of protests.

    The sermon was posted on the YouTube channel of Alzahraa Islamic Center of Michigan on December 1, 2019

    • He’s taking orders DIRECTLY from Iran.
      This is one of many nests of enemies in the US and Canada. If we go to war with Iran, these critters have to be sent to internment camps.

  30. the gateway pundit – 43-Year-Old Man from River Oaks, TX Identified as Freeway Church Shooter – Was Previously Arrested on Gun Charges

    The man who pulled a gun inside the Freeway Church in Texas was identified on Monday.

    Keith Kinnunen has a previous record on gun charges in New Jersey.

    He was arrested in Lindon in 2016 on gun charges.

    Kinnunen was shot dead after he started shooting churchgoers on Sunday in White Settlement, Texas.
    ——————————————————————–
    The man who shot two people at a White Settlement Church on Sunday before he was killed by church security has been identified as 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen, of River Oaks, according to two law enforcement sources.

    Kinnunen had a criminal record in Tarrant County including charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2009 and theft of property in 2013.

    He also was arrested in September 2016 for possession of an illegal weapon in Linden, New Jersey after he was found taking pictures outside an oil refinery, according to news reports at the time.

    An article on the news website mycentraljersey.com reported that Kinnunen said he was travelling from Texas, was homeless and was taking photos of “interesting sites.”

    At the time of his New Jersey arrest, Kinnunen also had a warrant for his arrest in Oklahoma for aggravated assault, mycentraljersey.com reported.
    —————————————————————————

    Looks like the #WhiteSettlementShooting suspect Keith Thomas Kinnunen had Tucson Connection. Several warrants for disorderly conduct, assault, and Lots of FTA. Guess it doesn’t matter now.

    https://twitter.com/solrcg/status/1211702546877665282
    ——————————————————————————

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/43-year-old-man-from-river-oaks-tx-identified-as-freeway-church-shooter-was-wearing-fake-beard-during-shooting/

  32. Met police arrest five suspects on suspicion of organising terror offences (express, Dec 30, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1222349/UK-terror-attack-arrests-Met-police-Scotland-Yard-new-years-eve-attack-threat-level

    “FIVE men have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences the Metropolitan Police have confirmed today.

    In a joint nationwide operation, forced from the Counter Terrorism Command, Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW) unit and the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) CTP arrested the five men today. According to the police, the five men were arrested on Monday morning at addresses in north London, Manchester and Peterborough.

    In a statement from the Met Police they said: “A 21-year-old man [A] was arrested in Manchester on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism under Section 40(1)(b) Terrorism Act (TACT) 2000.

    “A 19-year-old man [B] was arrested in Peterborough and two men [D – 23yrs; E – 22yrs] were arrested in north London on suspicion of the same offence.

    “A 19-year-old man [C] was also arrested in Peterborough on suspicion of encouraging terrorism, under section 1 of TACT 2000. This arrest was made under PACE.”

    The police also stated the arrested were not made into a supposed threat on New Year’s Eve.

    Moreover, the operation was made in relation to the attack on Fishmongers’ Hall in London last month.

    The police added: “Searches are currently being carried out a number of addresses in Manchester, Peterborough and north London and the investigation is being led by detectives from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command with support from CTPNW and ERSOU colleagues.”

    Officers continue to search the respective areas…”

  33. The Dam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 29 Dec 2019. Pro-Israel activist cussed out, harassed by muslims. “Jews child murderers” “We will destroy it” etc:

  34. Trump Offers To Help California, New York Democrats With Their Homeless Problem, On One Condition

    President Trump’s war of words with Democrats over the homelessness crises plaguing progressive strongholds, particularly California and New York, continued over the weekend. The president took to Twitter Saturday to offer some federal help with the escalating problem of homelessness in the Democrat-controlled states, but on one condition: they’ve got to learn some manners.

    Trump’s feud with Democratic leaders over the growing number of homeless people in the two highest population Democrat-run states — which has reached a critical point in California over the last year, with some 60,000 homeless people now living in Los Angeles County alone — ratcheted up in recent days after California Gov. Gavin Newsom attempted to shift some of the blame for the growing crisis to the Trump administration.

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-offers-to-help-california-new-york-democrats-with-their-homeless-problem-on-one-condition

  35. EXCLUSIVE: Pelosi’s Son Paul Jr. Was Paid Thousands By Same Firm That Paid the Clintons Millions!

    Not only did Paul Pelosi Jr. get paid thousands for a no-show job which he wasn’t qualified in an effort to buy influence with his politician parent. The same company that paid him is connected to the Clintons as well.

    We reported yesterday that Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul is also on the board of an energy company.
    Paul Pelosi Jr. also traveled to Ukraine for his work.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/exclusive-pelosis-son-paul-jr-was-paid-thousands-by-same-firm-that-paid-the-clintons-millions/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  37. Fighting the Demonization of Israel at the International Criminal Court

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, has decided to indict senior Israeli policymakers and military officers for committing war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza. Her decision is baseless, preposterous, and discriminatory, and it violates the ICC’s own mission and rules. Bensouda’s action should be placed within the wider context of the Palestinian disinformation, delegitimization, and demonization campaign against Israel at international organizations. Israel should discredit and delegitimize the ICC in turn via aggressive political measures and collaboration with concerned liberal democracies, primarily the US.

    On December 20, 2019, Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, announced: “I am satisfied that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.” She referred to 2014’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, the 2018-19 Hamas’s violent “protests” along the Israeli border with Gaza, and the Israeli neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. She mentioned war crimes committed by Hamas and other Palestinian “armed groups,” but that mention was no more than a fig leaf to create an impression of neutrality. The object of her case—to target Israel for demonization—is reflected in the enthusiastic praise she received for her decision from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/israel-international-criminal-court/

  38. Germany Puts Its Head in Russia’s Energy Pipeline Noose

    by Soeren Kern
    December 30, 2019 at 5:00 am

    A Swiss company working on the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline directly linking Russia to Germany has suspended pipelaying operations after U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed into law new sanctions.

    The sanctions are part of an effort by the United States to halt completion of the €9.5 billion ($10.5 billion) pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea. Opponents of the pipeline warn that it will give Russia a stranglehold over Germany’s energy supply. Proponents counter that with European domestic natural gas production in rapid decline, the pipeline will enhance security of supply.

    American sanctions may delay Nord Stream 2, but they are probably too late to kill the project. More than 80% of the 1,230-km (764-mile) pipeline has already been laid and the project is expected to be completed in 2020, according to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.

    On December 17, the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 86 to 6, passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill, which includes the Nord Stream 2 sanctions language. The measure previously cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on December 11 by a vote of 377 to 48. President Trump signed it into law on December 20.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15353/germany-russia-nord-stream-pipeline

  39. Turkey’s Gunboat Gambit in the Mediterranean

    by Burak Bekdil
    December 30, 2019 at 4:00 am

    Turkey, since 2011, has been waging a pro-Sunni proxy war in Syria, in the hope of one day establishing in Damascus a pro-Turkey, Islamist regime. This ambition has failed, costing President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s Turkey violent political turmoil on both sides of Turkey’s 911-km border with Syria and billions of dollars spent on more than 4 million Syrian refugees scattered across the Turkish soil.

    In Egypt, in 2011-2012, Erdo?an aggressively supported the failed Muslim Brotherhood government and deeply antagonized the incumbent — then-general but now president — Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Since Erdo?an’s efforts in Syria and Egypt failed, his Sunni Islamist ambitions have found a new proxy-war theater: Libya.

    On December 10, Erdo?an said he could deploy troops in Libya if the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli (which Turkey supports) requested it. Erdo?an’s talks with GNA’s head, Fayez al-Sarraj, who is fighting a war against the Libyan National Army (LNA) of General Khalifa Haftar, produced two ostensibly strategic agreements: a memorandum of understanding on providing the GNA with arms, military training and personnel; and a maritime agreement delineating exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean waters.

    Greece and Egypt protested immediately while the European Council unequivocally condemned the controversial accords. Meanwhile, the deals apparently escalated a proxy competition between Turkey’s old (Greece) and new (Egypt and the United Arab Emirates) rivals.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15347/turkey-gunboats-mediterranean

  40. Missouri Bills Take on Federal Gun Control; Past, Present and Future

    By: Mike Maharrey|Published on: Dec 10, 2019|Categories: Right to Keep and Bear Arms, State Bills|

    JEFFERSON CITY. Mo. (Dec. 10, 2019) – Bills prefiled in the Missouri legislature would set the foundation to create a “gun rights sanctuary state” by banning state and local enforcement of most federal gun control. Passage into law would represent a major step toward ending federal acts that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms within the state in practice and effect.

    Sen. Eric Burlison (R-Battlefield) filed Senate Bill 588 (SB588) for introduction in the 2020 legislative session. Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Republic) filed the House companion bill, House Bill 1637 (HB1637). Titled the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” the legislation would ban any person, including any public officer or employee of the state and its political subdivisions, from enforcing any past, present or future federal “acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, court orders, rules, or regulations” that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.

    The bills include a detailed definition of actions that qualify as “infringement,” including but not limited to:

    https://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2019/12/missouri-bills-federal-gun-control-past-present-future/

    Richard: The states are choosing sides and before it is over almost all will declare that they will follow the Constitution. People forget that the States have rights that are suppose to be protected by the Constitution, the left has taken some of those rights away from the States and now the States are fighting back.

    FYI: The name of the Capital of Missouri is Jefferson City city is part of the name like New York City. Too many people are calling it the City of Jefferson showing they don’t know much about the names of the State Capitals.

    • Landmark Bill Would Bar State from Enforcing Federal Red-Flag Gun Laws

      OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (TAC) – A bill prefiled in the Oklahoma Senate would prohibit state enforcement of any federal “red-flag” laws, setting the foundation to nullify any such laws in practice and effect.

      Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) filed Senate Bill 1081 (SB1081) for introduction in the 2020 legislative session. Under the proposed law, the Oklahoma legislature would “occupy and preempt the entire field of legislation in this state touching in any way federal or state extreme risk protection orders against or upon a citizen of Oklahoma to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance or regulation by any municipality or other political subdivision of this state. “ In effect, only the Oklahoma legislature could pass any type of so-called red-flag law effective in the Sooner State.

      The legislation also would declare that any federal red-flag law “which would infringe upon a citizen’s Constitutionally-protected rights including, but not limited to the right to due process, the right to keep and bear arms and the right to free speech, shall be null, void, unenforceable and of no effect in the state of Oklahoma.”

      https://thefreethoughtproject.com/laws/

    • I don’t know anything about the above websites but the news about Missouri is accurate and that from Oklahoma fits with other things I have heard. The same outfit that had links to these articles have links to a couple of other sites with articles I am having a hard time believing.

    • (Richard: The Trump Administration is already opposing the push to have credit card companies refuse to pay for firearms, ammo and accessories. Now it looks like the Dems are trying to create a back door gun registry. They aren’t going to back off and if we want to remain free we can’t either.)

      Virginia Democrat’s Bill Would Enlist Credit Card Companies in Monitoring Gun Purchases

      Virginia politicians are feeling their anti-gun oats. After using Bloombucks to flip the state legislature from red to blue, they’ve wasted no time in introducing gun control bills in Richmond on Monday. And in the US House, a Virginia Congresswoman has filed legislation that would require credit card companies to keep an eye on what you’re buying at the gun store.

      While credit card companies have been reluctant about being drawn into the corporate gun control business, if the bill passes, it would be a powerful incentive for gun buyers to pay cash rather than using their Visa, MasterCard or Discover cards.

      https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/democrats-bill-would-enlist-credit-card-companies-in-monitoring-gun-purchases/

  41. Al-Shabab Claims Responsibility for Terrorist Attack in Somalia, Threatens Turks – Reports (sputniknews, Dec 31, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/africa/201912311077904881-al-shabab-claims-responsibility-for-terrorist-attack-in-somalia-threatens-turks—reports/

    “Al-Shabab* terrorist group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack that struck Mogadishu on Saturday. Terrorists targeted a convoy carrying Turkish nationals, local media portal Garowe Online reported, citing Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Dhere.

    The group’s spokesman also threatened that Al-Shabab would continue attacking Turkish citizens who he said invaded the country, according to the media portal.

    A car bomb exploded on the outskirts of Mogadishu on Saturday morning. The death toll ranges from 78 to over 90 according to different local officials and media, with at least 125 others reportedly left injured. Garowe Online said the death toll reached 85 people.
    Russia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, as well as many other nations worldwide, condemned the attack and expressed condolences to Somalia.

    Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres also slammed the horrendous terrorist act, while Pope Frances called for prayers to honor the victims.

    Turkey has its largest overseas military base in Somalia. Ankara also invested millions in military and humanitarian aid in the East African nation.

    *Al-Shabab is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.”

  42. Texas Freeway Church Shooter Keith Kinnunen was a Repeat Felon – By Texas Law He Was Not Allowed to Own a Firearm — Kinnunen Didn’t Follow the Law

    The Freeway Church shooter Keith Kinnunen was gunned down on Sunday after he shot two people during the church service in Texas.

    Kinnunen was arrested in 2016 after police found him in possession of a .12 gauge shotgun and rounds while in the area of the Phillips 66 refinery in Linden, New Jersey. He was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon.

    Convicted felons cannot own guns in Texas. A felon in Texas can own a gun but only on his premises and five years after the conviction.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/texas-freeway-church-shooter-keith-kinnunen-was-a-repeat-felon-by-texas-law-he-was-not-allowed-to-own-a-firearm-kinnunen-didnt-follow-the-law/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily

    • Former FBI agent says his privacy was violated by Justice Dept.

      Judicial Watch president and author Tom Fitton weighs in on the IG report and further investigations into the FBI.

  44. Taliban deny agreeing to ceasefire with Afghanistan government
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/12/30/afghanistan-taliban-deny-ceasefire/

    “The Taliban denied agreeing to any ceasefire in Afghanistan after rumors swirled of a potential deal that would see a reduction in fighting after more than 18 years of war.

    “In the past few days, some media have been releasing untrue reports about a ceasefire … The fact is that, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no ceasefire plans,” the Taliban said in a Monday, December 30 statement.

    The statement from the insurgents comes as local and international forces brace for another bloody winter amid U.S.-Taliban talks to end the violence in Afghanistan.

    Deadly bouts of fighting have continued even as Washington negotiates with the militants in a bid to reduce America’s military footprint in the country, in return for the insurgents ensuring an improved security situation.

    Ten Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack on a government military base in the southern province of Helmand on Saturday, and U.S. special forces soldier was killed in operations against the insurgent group in Kunduz province last Monday.

    Afghanistan is also struggling with an ongoing political dispute after officials announced preliminary results in the latest presidential elections that put President Ashraf Ghani on track to secure a second term.

    Elections authorities have yet to declare the results as final after receiving more than 16,000 complaints about the polls, with the ultimate tally expected in the coming weeks.

    The Taliban have long viewed Ghani as an American stooge and have refused to negotiate with his government, leading many to fear that fighting against Afghan forces will continue even if the U.S. secures an eventual deal with the militants to withdraw.”

  45. Iraqi PMU leader vows retaliation for US airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/12/30/iraq-pmu-muhandis-retaliate-kataib-hezbollah/

    “The de facto head of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi militias vowed to retaliate against U.S. forces in the country in response airstrikes that killed more than a dozen Kataib Hezbollah fighters in Iraq and Syria.

    “The blood of the martyrs will not be in vain and our response will be very tough on the American forces in Iraq,” Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, also known as Abul Mahdi al-Muhandis, said Sunday night in response to the U.S. strikes, Reuters reported on December 30…”

  47. Haftar Urges Arab Stance to Confront Turkish Meddling in Libya as Macron, Sisi Discuss Crisis
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2059031/haftar-urges-arab-stance-confront-turkish-meddling-libya-macron-sisi-discuss

    “Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar called for Arab countries to rally behind Libya against Turkey’s ambitions in the country.

    Haftar had arrived in Egypt on Monday for talks with President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to address how to prevent Ankara’s intervention in Libya.

    He appealed for support to the LNA and lifting of the arms embargo against it, reported Al-Arabiya.

    Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his government’s decision to seek parliamentary consent to send troops to Libya, at the request of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord. The troops would help to defend the GNA against the LNA.

    Last month, Turkey signed two separate accords with the GNA, one on security and military cooperation and another on maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean. Ankara has also sent military supplies to the Fayez al-Sarraj’s GNA despite a United Nations embargo, according to a UN report seen by Reuters last month.

    Earlier, Sisi held telephone talks with French President Emmanuel Macron over the situation in Libya.

    They warned against any military escalation in the North African country, urging all parties involved to exercise the greatest restraint. They urged the need to relaunch negotiations between Libyan parties to resolve their conflict.

    Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri held telephone talks with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio on Libya. The officials rejected any military intervention in the country.

    The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said they stressed the need to intensify efforts to restore security and stability in Libya.

    Also on Monday, United Nations special envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame warned that the maritime agreement between Erdogan and Sarraj would expose Libya to foreign intervention. The agreement between them also threatens to escalate the conflict in Libya.”

    • The UN is talking to Turkey’s BFF, the GNA.
      It controls a tiny bit of the coast, not even the area the filthy Turk’s claiming for himself!

      He’s shuttling jihadis and weapons from Syria to this scrap of territory. Plenty of ISIS in the mix.
      Qatar is footing the bill, keeping afloat the munitions industries in the US and Europe.

  48. US ‘disappointed’ in Baghdad’s condemnation of American attacks on Iraqi militia
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-disappointed-iraqi-condemnation-american-attacks-kataib-hezbollah

    “The United States is “disappointed” by Iraq’s condemnation of US air strikes against an Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary group, a senior State Department official said, days after a rocket attack killed an American contractor.

    Washington has accused Kataib Hezbollah (KH) of launching the attack on US forces before retaliating against the group on Sunday.

    US air raids targeted the Tehran-linked Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) faction KH both in Iraq and Syria after a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk on Friday killed an American contractor and wounded several US service members and Iraqi personnel.

    Iraq strongly denounced the US strikes on Monday, calling the raids, which killed 25 PMU fighters and wounded 55, a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty”. Washington bombed KH positions and arms depots in Iraq and Syria.

    On Monday, the US official said it was discouraging that the government in Baghdad rushed to condemn the American military response.

    “We’re disappointed that every time that Kataib Hezbollah controls and moves weapons and people on behalf of the Iranians, there’s no condemnation,” the official said.

    “Every time Hezbollah represses protesters … there’s no condemnation. Every time Hezbollah sends fighters off to Syria without the authorisation of the Iraqi government, there’s no condemnation.

    “Yeah, it’s disappointing, but – you know – it’s moments like this when you see people’s true colours.”…”

  49. African migrants claiming to be wrongly-held in Yemen prison
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191230-african-migrants-claiming-to-be-wrongly-held-in-yemen-prison/

    “Dozens of would-be North African migrants held in the central Prison in Taiz, south of Yemen, want to return to their homeland, saying that poverty forced them to leave.

    78 Africans including three women who set out from the Horn of Africa, mainly from Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, hoping for a better life ended up in al-Dabab district jail in western Taiz.

    The migrants have been held in prison for three months and say they travelled through Yemen seeking refuge and work in other countries.

    The Yemeni authorities said they had to put the migrants in Taiz prison as there was no other appropriate shelter for them…”

  50. Turkey’s defense sector makes strong showing in 2019
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191230-turkeys-defense-sector-makes-strong-showing-in-2019/

    “Over the past year, Turkey took significant steps in its indigenous defense sector, from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to tanks and warships.

    Turkey’s state-run and private defense and aviation companies developed, tested and delivered aerial, naval and land systems during 2019.

    In 2019, the country’s leading aviation company Baykar’s Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) – named Akinci – took off for the first time, making Turkey one of four countries able to produce UCAVs.

    Another aviation giant, Turkish Aerospace, tested its Aksungur UAV, capable of doing 180 kilometers per hour (112 miles per hour), with the vehicle later entering the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) inventory.

    The TSK also received Turkish Aerospace’s Anka-S model UAVs, controllable via national satellites.

    Turkish Aerospace delivered its new Atak-type multi-role combat helicopters and a number of Atak helicopters, with TSK inventories reaching 55.

    The defense firm also successfully completed tests for the second phase of the Atak helicopter, which boasted additional electronic combat systems.

    The Turkish Aerospace’s multi-role utility helicopter, Gokbey, made its first certification flight in July.

    The year also saw the delivery of Russia’s S-400 air defense system to Turkey. The system is expected to go online in 2020.”