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.
Serbia not a ‘parking lot’ for migrants, says president
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/serbia-not-a-parking-lot-for-migrants-says-president/1754836
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday said his country is not a “parking lot” for migrants.
In an interview to local Pink TV, Vucic said: “No one will unnecessarily enter Serbia. But we will make our own judgments. We will certainly not be a parking lot for migrants.”
He said they could not endanger the security of citizens and have therefore deployed additional troops at the border with Croatia.
“If someone is really thinking of sending 100,000, 150,000, or 200,000 people to Serbia, he’s wrong, that won’t happen,” he added.
Meanwhile, Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said the country’s security forces are ready to defend the borders from an influx of asylum-seekers from Turkey.
Serbia currently hosts 6,000 migrants, the interior minister said.
Last week, Turkish officials announced that they would no longer try to stop asylum-seekers from reaching Europe.
More than 135,000 asylum seekers have crossed to Europe after Turkey opened its borders, accusing the EU of not fulfilling the promises it made as part of a 2015 agreement reached on the refugee crisis.
Turkey, which already hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees, more than any country in the world, says it cannot absorb another wave of migration.
An escalation in Syria’s Idlib has sent a fresh wave of refugees toward Turkey’s border.”
Iran refuses UN nuclear watchdog access to sites
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-refuses-un-nuclear-watchdog-access-to-sites/a-52642477
“Tehran has said it has “no obligation” to grant the International Atomic Energy Agency access to certain sites in Iran. Iranian officials accused Israel and the US of trying to “exert pressure” on the agency.
Iran said on Wednesday it has no obligation to fulfill requests from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to allow access to the country’s nuclear sites, adding that such requests are based on “fabricated information” and require a legal basis.
“Intelligence services’ fabricated information … creates no obligation for Iran to consider such requests,” said Kazem Gharib Abadi, Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Vienna.
Abadi also accused the US and Israel of trying to “exert pressure on the agency… in order to distort the proactive and constructive cooperation” between the IAEA and Iran.
The comments come after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a regular quarterly update on Iran’s nuclear activities.The quarterly said Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium nearly tripled since November to more than a ton, violating the 2015 nuclear deal.
Leaked report
In addition to its regular quarterly update, the IAEA sent a second report to member states, reprimanding Iran for failing to grant UN inspectors access to one or more sites of interest. The report looked into Tehran’s denial of access to two sites which two senior diplomats said are believed to have been active in the early 2000s. The two sites were reportedly among the three locations that the IAEA had been questioning since the middle of last year.
The report also said Tehran has not clarified the IAEA’s questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities.
It was unclear what exactly is thought to have taken place at the three sites, none of which the IAEA has visited before.
‘Not obliged’ to respond
According to French news agency AFP, the IAEA said in Tuesday’s report that it had received a letter from Iran saying Tehran did “not recognize any allegation on past activities and does not consider itself obliged to respond to such allegations”.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran’s nuclear agency, was quoted on Wednesday by Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency as saying: “Not every question and every access is up to the agency.” Kamalvandi said he believes the IAEA’s questions to Tehran were based on distorted information by “the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel. Iran does not recognize the state of Israel.
“Certainly, if any country in the world agrees to answer such questions, there will be thousands and millions of questions and also there will be thousands of requests to have access,” Kamalvandi said, but did not elaborate further.”
EU ‘strongly rejects’ Turkey’s ‘use’ of migrants at border
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-strongly-rejects-turkeys-use-of-migrants-at-border/a-52640976
“The EU has advised the 12,500 migrants gathered at the Greek border that “illegal crossings will not be tolerated.” France’s top diplomat accused Ankara of “blackmail” after Turkey decided to open its borders to Europe.
At a meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, the member states said that Turkey was exploiting refugees to get its way politically.
A joint statement said that bloc “strongly rejects” the “use” of migrants by Ankara, saying that the “situation at the EU’s external borders is not acceptable.”
More than 12,500 refugees are waiting at the Turkish border to enter Greece, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the borders were open last week.
“The EU and its member states remain determined to effectively protect EU’s external borders,” the ministers wrote in the statement.
Read more: Migrants at Turkish-Greek border: ‘We want another life’
“Illegal crossings will not be tolerated. In this regard, the EU and its member states will take all necessary measures, in accordance with EU and international law … Migrants should not be encouraged to endanger their lives by attempting illegal crossings by land or sea.”
The interior ministers called on Turkey to “relay this message and counter the dissemination of false information.”
Since Turkey’s decision, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated both at the land border of Greece and Turkey and on the Greek island of Lesbos.
France accuses Turkey of ‘blackmail’
European Council chief Charles Michel and the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell were in Turkey on Wednesday as political rhetoric between Ankara and Brussels heated up.
Erdogan has said he will not renegotiate a refugee deal with Europe until the bloc agrees to support its military efforts in Syria, a move French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called “blackmail.”
“This migratory pressure is organized,” Le Drian said in Paris. “It is organized by President Erdogan’s regime as a form of blackmail against the European Union.”
Read more: ‘We have no other choice’: Afghans stranded at Greece’s gates
In Ankara, Borrell said that during talks the EU had offered humanitarian aid worth 60 million euros for the most vulnerable groups of people in northwestern Syria, as well as additional assistance to Turkey in addressing its own specific “challenges stemming from the situation in Syria.”
“Lives of people cannot be put at risk,” he wrote on Twitter, stressing the importance of the EU and Turkey working together.
Why did Turkey open the border?
Borrell warned that Erdogan’s decision to open its borders to Europe would deeply undermine trust, urging the Turkish president to return to his obligations from the 2016 agreement between Brussels and Ankara that saw Turkey vow to stop migrants from crossing to Greece in exchange for aid money and other concessions.
“Border and unilateral action don’t benefit anyone” Borrell said in a speech in Ankara.
Earlier on Wednesday, Turkey accused Greek forces of having shot dead a refugee when they fired tear gas in an effort to repulse a group trying to cross the border. The Greek government responded by saying Turkey was spreading “fake news.” It was the second such exchange of the week between the two governments.
On February 27, Erdogan announced that his government would no longer actively prevent the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it hosts from entering Europe, after 33 Turkish troops were killed during airstrikes in Idlib carried out by the Syrian regime. Turkish forces have been fighting the Russian-backed Syrian army, as well as Kurdish combatants in the area, off and on since 2016.
Since then, the Turkish government had repeatedly threatened to “open the gates” to Europe during several disputes with the bloc.”
Time Out – Comic Relief
“Live on air meltdown by Steve Lookner of Agendafree TV fighting trolls in the chat (hilarious)” the RR show – March 2, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al0CzY_8cfU
This young man does a wonderful walking tour of “Corona” Queens. He uses the word “infectious,” figuratively when he describes places to visit and eat.
“NYC Live Walking Corona, Queens in the Rain (February 10, 2020)”
ActionKid – Streamed live on February 10, 2020
GERMANY – DRESDEN – Thousands mobilize against Islamophobia in Germany
An Islamophobic rally was organized by PEGIDA, a group formed in 2014 to ‘check’ the rising inflow of Muslim migrants to Germany and to ‘resist’ the alleged Islamisation of the country.
Countering it, an anti-fascist mobilization was called in Dresden by several groups, including Antifascist Action, HOPE-fight racism, Die Linke (The Left), LifeLine, leftist-socialist-Green youth groups, and others
Germany: Pegida rally in Dresden met with large counter-protest
A rally of the far-right Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (Pegida) was met with a massive counter-protest in Dresden on Monday.
Footage shows counter-demonstrators, reportedly around 2,500, gathered next to the Pegida rally in Neumarkt square in the city centre, with signs reading “Nazis out” and “All together against fascism.”
CBC – Canada shares expertise with Germany on successfully integrating immigrants
Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino says Canada viewed as ‘role model’ by some G7 countries
Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino was in Germany this week to share what Canada has learned from an immigration program that helps newcomers find jobs and learn about life in Canada before they arrive.
At the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mendicino took part in a summit looking at best practices for integrating migrants.
Canada was the only foreign country the Germans invited to take part in the summit.
“Our friends in Germany see Canada as a role model, as a country that has achieved success,” Mendicino told CBC News.
Canada’s pre-arrival settlement services provide newcomers with information and supports, including employment assistance, while they’re still overseas. The goal of the program is to better prepare immigrants to ease into Canadian society by educating them about life in Canada and navigating roadblocks they could encounter.
An internal government audit in 2018 found that while the program was valuable in helping newcomers, it had a low uptake due to a lack of widespread awareness about the services available. It concluded there was a “missed opportunity.”
In response to that finding, the government set aside $113 million to raise the profile of the program. Mendicino said a recent survey showed that 85 per cent of people who used the services said the program helped them find them a job, and about 88 per cent said the program helped them get foreign credentials recognized in Canada.
Boost for productivity, growth
“If we are able to facilitate integration by speeding up the processes and helping immigrants to land a job, then that will contribute to productivity and growth. It will mean that one more job vacancy is filled and that will contribute to a stronger economy as a whole,” Mendicino said.
The minister said Canada’s pre-arrival settlement services program has been around for about 20 years, undergoing various refinements and adjustments over that period.
Describing Canada and Germany as “like-minded countries,” Mendicino said the two nations have shared values and an understanding that solid integration of immigrants leads to better outcomes for both the newcomers and the country’s economy.
Canada has been praised in past on the world stage for programs that attract and retain workers to communities outside large urban centres, and that link immigration to labour gaps.
“What we’re discovering is that some of our strongest G7 partners like Germany are starting to look at Canada as a role model, so that tells me that we certainly have been recognized for having a specific expertise in this area,” he said.
Last year, the OECD praised Canada’s economic migration system as one of the most successful in the world. It said Canada is widely seen as a “benchmark” for other countries.
Programs that assist in successful immigration and attract skilled workers are key to meeting the economic challenges of the future, Mendicino said.
“We will really benefit from continuing to grow our country and our economy through immigration, and that’s part of the narrative that I shared with our friends in Germany,” he said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mendocino-immigration-settlement-services-1.5484192
Scary.
Rep. Nunes: Democrats want to sweep FISA abuse under rug
twitter @MLP_officiel
https://twitter.com/MLP_officiel/status/1235162723576668163
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L’EUROPE VIT UNE TENTATIVE D’INVASION !
PIC – Unholy Trinity
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ESP1hunXkAIcjL9?format=jpg&name=small