Reader’s Links for August 27, 2020

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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

99 Replies to “Reader’s Links for August 27, 2020”

  6. Libyan Embassy in Belarus Attacked by 30 People, Charge d’Affairs Says (sputniknews, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/202008271080290995-libyan-embassy-in-belarus-attacked-by-30-people-charge-daffairs-says/

    ” A group of at least 30 armed people allegedly affiliated with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord has attacked the Libyan embassy in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in the early hours of Thursday, Libyan Charge d’Affairs Mohammed Astete told Sputnik.

    “We were attacked by a group of around 30 people affiliated with the Libyan Government of National Accord”, Astete said.

    The embassy has pictures that prove this information, he noted, adding that he was personally assaulted. As of now, the diplomatic staff is inside the building, while the attackers still remain on the embassy’s territory.

    “We have contacted the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the situation was coordinated”, Astete said.

    A video, allegedly captured by the embassy’s CCTV shows people infiltrating the facility.

    According to the diplomat, the Libyan officials were also in touch with the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, but the local law enforcement agencies did not take any measures on the matter. Astete also stated that the attackers were of Belarusian nationality…”

  7. UK Training Soldiers From Countries on Foreign Office’s Human Rights Abusers List, Reports Suggest (sputniknews, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/uk/202008271080290266-uk-training-soldiers-from-countries-on-foreign-offices-human-rights-abusers-list-reports-suggest/

    “The UK armed forces are providing military training to at least 17 of the 30 countries the UK government has put on a watch list for alleged human rights violations, the newsparer The Independent reported.

    According to a report by the paper published on Wednesday, the countries whose soldiers have been trained by the UK military are: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Maldives, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe. The alleged training is said to have taken place from 2018 to 2020.

    “Other countries with poor human rights records not on the UK’s watch list were also given training, including Oman, Qatar, Turkey, the UAE, and the Philippines”, it added.

    The news outlet said the information was revealed in response to a written parliamentary question filed by lawmaker Sam Tarry, from the Labour Party, adding that the Ministry of Defence said any training being provided by the UK armed forces to other countries is kept under review.

    The paper also cited Campaign Against Arms Trade activist Andrew Smith, who accused the UK government of hypocrisy and asked for a full review of the military forces the United Kingdom has been training.”

  8. French Foreign Minister Warns Lebanon May Disappear as State Unless Urgent Reforms Made (sputniknews, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008271080290972-french-foreign-minister-warns-lebanon-may-disappear/

    “Lebanon should form a new government and implement a series of urgent reforms, as it is currently on the verge of distress and disappearance due to the consequences of both the Beirut blast and a political crisis in the country, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday.

    “The risk today is the disappearance of Lebanon”, Le Drian said while speaking on the RTL broadcaster.

    He added that the Lebanese authorities’ responsibility is to set up a mission government to ensure that all the necessary reforms, including that of the public market and the bank, are implemented.

    The international community, in particular, France, will not support the government demonstrating inaction in proceeding with the vital adjustments to the Lebanese political system, according to Le Drian…”

  9. There’s an elephant in the room..

    Nearly 5,000 car fires in Netherlands last year, a new record
    https://nltimes.nl/2020/08/26/nearly-5000-car-fires-netherlands-last-year-new-record
    A record number of 4,941 car fires were registered by insurers in the Netherlands last year, an increase of 12 percent compared to the 4,399 cars that burned out in the country in 2018, the Dutch Association of Insurers reported on Wednesday.
    According to the Association, car fires are mainly caused by arson. “The Association of Insurers find the increasing trend in the number of car fires very concerning. A car fire in a residential neighborhood has enormous impact on the feeling of security of the residents,” the association said.
    Between 2016 and 2019, Rotterdam had the most car fires with 573 claims filed with insurers. The Hague came next with 541, followed by Amsterdam with 533 and Utrecht with 448. By province, the most car fires were reported in Zuid-Holland at 3,051 claims.
    These figures do not include lease cars and third-party insured cars, so the actual number of car fires may well be higher, the Association said.

    Utrecht riots incited by vloggers, mayor says
    https://nltimes.nl/2020/08/26/utrecht-riots-incited-vloggers-mayor-says
    Riots in Utrecht over the past weeks were fueled by vloggers on social media and three of them being arrested took the sting out of the unrest, Utrecht mayor Peter den Oudsten said in a city council meeting, RTV Utrecht reports. The three arrested suspects are from Hilversum and IJsselstein.
    In a meeting with Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus and the mayors of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Den Ousten asked Grapperhaus to look into how websites and posts on social media can be taken down more quickly if they call for riots, the mayor told the city council.
    According to him, the police were hardly able to follow the posts on social media, because much of the conversation took place within closed groups. He therefore also told Grapperhaus to make sure the government can gain easier access to such closed groups, he said.
    A total of 53 people were arrested over several nights of rioting in the Utrecht neighborhoods of Kanaleneiland, Ondiep, and Overvecht, among others. They detainees are suspected of throwing stones at the police, setting of fireworks, and committing vandalism and arson. More arrests may be made as more suspects are identified, the police said.
    During the city council meeting, it also became clear that there were too few riot police officers in the city during the first night of rioting. Alderman Lot van Hooijdonk said that it was a conscious choice to intervene later, to try and have the unrest settle itself. When it became clear that this was not going to happen, the riot police were called in. They took about an hour to arrive, but could not respond in full numbers because many were on holiday and there was also unrest in other places in the country.

  11. Rule, Britannia! BBC Boss Compares Britons’ Patriotism to Nazi Gas Chambers (breitbart, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/08/27/rule-britannia-bbc-boss-compares-britons-patriotism-to-nazi-gas-chambers/

    “A BBC executive producer said that singing the words of the patriotic British song Rule, Britannia! is akin to neo-Nazis singing about gas chambers.

    Following the BBC’s decision to remove the lyrics of the song in its Last Night of the Proms broadcast, the executive producer of the BBC’s Songs of Praise and CEO of the production company Nine Lives Media, Cat Lewis, claimed that the song’s line ‘Britons never, never, never shall be slaves’ is similar to if neo-Nazis shouted: “We will never be forced into a gas chamber”.

    “Do those Brits who believe it’s ok to sing an 18th Century song about never being enslaved, written when the UK was enslaving and killing millions of innocents, also believe it’s appropriate for neo-Nazis to shout, ‘We will never be forced into a gas chamber.’ #RuleBritannia,” the BBC producer wrote on social media.

    Lewis explained that she believes “slavery was Britain’s holocaust. We should apologise for it properly and yet at the moment, we have NO memorial to enslaved people in the UK. We should not celebrate slave owners.”

    “We should not sing in a gloating way that Britons will never be enslaved, when we were responsible for enslaving so many. We should have anthems which celebrate what is truly great about the UK, which we can all sing and this will help unite our country,” she went on to write.

    The woke screed from the BBC producer was met with furious outrage on social media, with many correcting her version of ‘history’.

    “Britannia helped end slavery! This song rightly marks that,” Former Brexit Party MEP Martin Daubney declared, adding that Ms Lewis needs “a history lesson”.

    Indeed, following the passage of the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807, the Royal Navy, specifically the West Africa Squadron, captured an estimated 1,600 slave trade ships, freeing some 150,000 African slaves in the process.

    Between 1830 and 1865 some 1,587 British sailors lost their lives in their fight against slavery.

    Lewis responded: “The song was written in 1740 & up to the end of the 18th century, millions were enslaved Martin Daubney. Yes, I’m also very proud Britain ended slavery in the 19th Century, but this song is not about that.”

    Again Ms Lewis’ myopic view of British history was dispelled by Daubney, who noted that: “For 300 years Barbary Pirates from North Africa frequently plundered our shores for slaves. The Royal Navy fought back – hence in 1740 Rule Britannia roared “Britons never never never shall be slaves”.

    The outlandish attacks on British patriotism and history from the BBC producer came after the publicly-funded broadcaster announced its decision to remove the lyrics of Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory from The Last Night of the Proms, amid pressure from Black Lives Matter supporters.

    Responding to the decision, Foreign Office minister James Cleverly wrote on Tuesday: ‘I’m black. My mum was black. I have black family. I have black friends. I have black colleagues. I have black constituents. Number of times that the Last Night of the Proms was raised with me as an issue before this BBC nonsense? Zero.”

    The Deputy Chairwoman of the European Research Group and MP for Morley and Outwood, Andrea Jenkyns, also took aim at the “woke agenda” of the BBC.

    ‘The BBC’s metropolitan managers have been looking for any excuse to pursue their woke agenda,” she told the Daily Mail.

    “Patriotic songs are a huge part of British culture, and coming together to enjoy them as part of events such as St George’s Day is traditional in communities around the country,” she explained.

    “I totally support upholding those traditions. I’ll continue singing them, as I have for many years,” Jenkyns pronounced.”

  12. Swiss Townsfolk Tell Authorities: Sort Out Migrant Crime or We Will (breitbart, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/08/27/swiss-townsfolk-tell-authorites-sort-out-migrant-crime-or-we-will/

    “Locals in the Swiss town of Neuchâtel have offered an ultimatum to local authorities, saying they must deal with the growing problem with migrant crime or the residents will take matters into their own hands.

    The ultimatum was spread across the Swiss town on dozens of posters that called on police to act against the problem of delinquency committed by mainly North African migrants.

    “We are proud, organized and angry. We have the capacity to be dangerous for those who disturb social peace so much,” the poster said, according to a report from Swiss broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse.

    So far, police say they have not been able to identify those behind the poster campaign but say that on at least two occasions there have been violent attacks on migrants causing trouble in the city.

    Georges-André Lozouet, communications officer for the Neuchâtel police labelled the posters as unacceptable saying, “No one can take the place of the police. We are in a democracy and the system is bearing fruit.”

    The alleged fruit Lozouet referred to is an operation by police in the area which led to 184 arrests and targetted those engaging in thefts and assaults.

    In 2018, residents on the Greek island of Lesbos, which has been a hotbed for mass migration for years, echoed similar sentiment according to the leader of the community on Moria at the time.

    Nikos Trakellis explained the situation on the island and said, “We are all being duped here and in Europe. They’re making fun of us. The residents are ready to take the law into their own hands. We are trying to contain the local community, to preserve whatever social cohesion is left.”

    While normally police do not condone vigilantes, earlier this month in Montpellier a police officer allegedly suggested the idea to residents of a so-called “vulnerable” no-go neighbourhood in the city in order to deal with local delinquency.

    The officer is said to have suggested that if residents do not like the situation they could simply leave.”

  13. Turkey Grants Citizenship to a Dozen Senior Hamas Terrorists and Their Families (breitbart, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2020/08/27/turkey-grants-citizenship-to-a-dozen-senior-hamas-terrorists-and-their-families/

    “Turkey has granted citizenship to a dozen high-ranking members of the Hamas terror group living on Turkish soil who have been involved in orchestrating terror attacks, the Reuters news wire reported citing an Israeli diplomat.

    “Some are in the process, some already got (the documents), but we are talking about around a dozen,” says Roey Gilad, chargé d’affaires at Israel’s Embassy in Turkey, according to Reuters.

    According to Gilad, Israel has evidence to that end.

    “We have already one document that we will present to the government in copy,” he said. “Judging by the last experience we had by presenting a well-based portfolio to the government… and getting no reply, I must say I don’t have high hopes that something will be done this time.”

    He added the Hamas members receiving Turkish passports were financing and organizing “terror-related activity” in Istanbul, but Turkey had not taken action.

    According to Gilad, many of them came to Turkey under the 2011 prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel to exchange captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for more than 1,000 prisoners.

    A senior regional source told the Telegraph that seven some of the Hamas members are living in Turkey under aliases. Citizenship has also been granted to the families of the Hamas members, the paper said.

    “These are not foot soldiers but the most senior Hamas operatives outside of Gaza,” the source told the paper, adding they are are “actively raising funds and directing operatives to carry out attacks in the present day.”

    “The Turkish Government gave in to pressure by Hamas to grant citizenship to its operatives, thereby allowing them to travel more freely, endangering other countries that have listed Hamas as a terror group.”

    One of the cell members who has apparently received citizenship is Zacharia Najib, who was responsible for a plot to assassinate high-ranking Israeli officials, including the national police commissioner and Likud MK Nir Barkat, who was then mayor of Jerusalem.

    Turkish citizens can already travel visa-free to a range of countries, the Telegraph noted, adding that Turkey is working to obtain a similar privilege to European Union countries.

    The U.S. State Department on Tuesday strongly objected to a weekend meeting in Istanbul between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and a delegation of senior Hamas leaders, including wanted terrorists.

    State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri are designated by the U.S. and European Union as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”

    Al-Arouri, who has a $5 million bounty on his head from U.S. authorities, is wanted for his ties to several terror attacks, kidnappings and hijackings, including the 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers — one with U.S. citizenship — in the West Bank, which he praised as a “heroic operation.” Ortagus said in a statement:

    President Erdo?an’s continued outreach to this terrorist organization only serves to isolate Turkey from the international community, harms the interests of the Palestinian people, and undercuts global efforts to prevent terrorist attacks launched from Gaza.

    We continue to raise our concerns about the Turkish government’s relationship with Hamas at the highest levels. This is the second time President Erdogan has welcomed Hamas leadership to Turkey this year with the first meeting occurring February 1.

    The response came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left Jerusalem for Khartoum in Sudan for the second leg of his Middle East tour.

    The condemnation marks a departure from U.S. policy, which for years has ignored Ankara’s ongoing support for the terrorist group.

    According to The Jerusalem Post, this is because the U.S. has traditionally sought closer ties with Turkey as “part of wishful thinking that [it] would turn away from Iran and Russia and work with the US on regional issues.”

    The meeting also included Hamas’ overseas leader Maher Salah, Hamas head of Arab and Islamic religions, Ezzat al-Rihiq, and Hamas representative in Turkey, Jihad Yaghmor.

    The delegation met with the Turkish prime minister to discuss the U.S.-brokered normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which both sides deeply oppose.

    Hamas and Turkey’s ruling party have roots in the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Erdogan in the past has panned the U.S. for “working with terrorists” in Syria, over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters combating ISIS.

    Islamic State members who escape Syria find refuge in Turkey.

    Ankara has detained several U.S. citizens, including U.S. pastor, Andrew Brunson, a U.S. soldier and a U.S. consulate employee who was imprisoned. President Donald Trump thanked Erdogan at the Republican National Convention for releasing Brunson, who was held for two years, in 2018.

    A spokesperson for the terror group said it “hailed the Turkish honorable position in support of the Palestinian’s rights and steadfastness.”

    Hamas chief Haniyeh “congratulated Erdogan on the advent of a new Hijri year, discovery of a new natural-gas field and the reopening of the Aya Sofia Mosque,” according to a statement released by the terror group.

    The Aya Sofia Mosque was one of two ancient churches that Turkey turned into mosques recently, causing a storm of controversy.

    Hamas also said it was working against Israel’s “Judaization of Jerusalem.””

  14. Italian General Proposes Blocking All Ships Suspected of Carrying illegals (breitbart, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/08/27/italian-general-proposes-blocking-all-ships-suspected-of-carrying-illegals/

    “Italian General Vincenzo Santo has proposed that the country’s naval forces work with Libya and Tunisia and block suspicious boats in the Mediterranean that may be carrying illegal migrants.

    General Santo, the former head of NATO operations in Afghanistan, has called for a maritime blockade on migrant boats reaching Italy and said that any migrants who are not entitled to asylum in Italy will be repatriated by the navy.

    “But let’s talk about care, not remedy that requires a political will that does not exist, which would consist precisely in implementing a maritime ban together with the Tunisian and Libyan navy and blockade at sea of any suspicious vessel,” Santo said.

    According to a report for the newspaper Il Giornale, the General welcomed recent moves from Sicilian Governor Nello Musumeci who signed an ordinance to close Sicily’s migrant hotspots after the island began to be overwhelmed in recent weeks with new arrivals who had to be quarantined due to the coronavirus.

    “By 24 August, all migrants present in hotspots and in each reception centre must be… transferred and/or relocated to other facilities outside the Sicilian Region, since it is not possible to guarantee the stay in the island in accordance with the health measures of prevention of contagion,” Musumeci said.

    According to General Santo, the Sicilian governor’s actions may not be enough to convince the leftist coalition government to change course. “But it could turn into a fundamental political signal,” he said.

    He also appealed to military commanders aiding illegal migration saying, “When a commander realizes that the soldiers are not being soldiers, but the transporters of irregular immigration, the taxi drivers of the sea, then there is only one thing to do: resign.”

    Italy has seen a surge of migrants in Sicily and the island of Lampedusa in recent weeks, with some migrants also testing positive for the Wuhan coronavirus, which has led to fears that more illegal migration could lead to a second wave of infection across the country.”

      • Why is Germany always on the enemy side in World Wars? Italy switches sides with every new World War but Germany and Austria always side with the enemies. Russia is always consistently on our side in the World Wars, I wonder why that is?

        • I think Carl von Clausewitz would claim to know the answers to those questions. And it would lie in how geography over ideology even, would force leaders to make the same decisions over and over again to achieve goals that have to be met.

          Von Clausewitz might argue that modern Russia is more dangerous than the Soviet Union because they don’t have communism holding them back.

            • Possibly, I know some people have said that if communism wasn’t holding the Chinese people in chains they would take over the world through their willingness to be helpful to their customers.

          • I hadn’t thought of the Geographic location determining the side in ideological disputes but will think about that before I reply.

  16. Liberia war crimes suspect arrested in London (abcnews, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/liberia-war-crimes-suspect-arrested-london-72648433

    “A man has been arrested in London on suspicion of war crimes relating to the first and second Liberian civil wars between 1989 and 2003, British police said Thursday.

    The Metropolitan Police said officers arrested the 45-year-old in southeast London and took him into custody at a police station.

    Officers were searching an address in southeast London, and inquiries are ongoing. The man hasn’t been identified and no further details were immediately available.

    The Liberian civil war raged from 1989 when Charles Taylor started an uprising in a bid to topple the government. A peace agreement led to the election of Taylor as president of Liberia in 1997, but a second civil war broke out in 1999. Taylor was forced into exile and later jailed for committing war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone.”

  17. Trolls flood social media in Pakistan amid virus lockdown (abcnews, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/trolls-flood-social-media-pakistan-amid-virus-lockdown-72650366

    “…Minority rights activists and social media trackers say they’ve seen a sharp rise in online sectarian attacks, hate speech and cries of “Blasphemy!”

    “It is unprecedented,” Shahzad Ahmad of Bytesforall, an Islamabad-based social media rights group, told The Associated Press.

    Toxic trending on Twitter has also taken aim at minorities, blaming the ethnic Hazaras for allegedly bringing the coronavirus to Pakistan from neighboring Iran. Like most Iranians, Hazaras are Shiites, and traditionally make pilgrimages to holy sites in Iran, which has the deadliest virus outbreak in the region. Some Pakistani pilgrims returning home were among the first reported cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan.

    After #Shiavirus began trending on Twitter in April, Hazaras say they were denied jobs, service at stores — even treatment in medical facilities…”

  18. Handful of Deportations Go Ahead as Illegal Migrants Hunger Strike (breitbart, Aug 27, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/08/27/handful-of-deportations-go-ahead-as-illegal-migrants-hunger/

    “The British Home Office has managed to deport a small group of illegal migrants despite a hunger strike by detainees at Brook House.

    Two small groups of six migrants each were removed to France and Germany, with another 15 being removed in the last week, according to the BBC — but these numbers are dwarfed by the more than 5,000 known to have crossed the English Channel illegally in small boats since the beginning of 2020.

    Even this figure almost certainly underestimates the true scale of the Channel crisis, however, as the British authorities have been refusing disclose the number of supposed child migrants who migrants who have been crossing — even though it has been admitted that at least a quarter of these are really adults.

    It also fails to account for migrants who land undetected, or who reach Britain via more “traditional” cross-Channel routes — i.e. hiding in lorries and other vehicles, stowing away in ferries, or breaking into the Eurotunnel.

    Nevertheless, even the small number of deportations Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel have achieved have met with resistance, with some illegals detained at Brook House ahead of their removal organising a hunger strike in an effort to blackmail the authorities into letting them stay…”

  19. MEMRI – Former Libyan Religious Official: It Is Permissible to Sell Cats for Their Skin, Not for Their Flesh

    Hamza Abu Faris, Libya’s former Minister of Islamic Affairs, said in an August 6, 2020 interview on Al-Tanasuh TV (Libya) that according to Islamic scholars, it is impermissible for Muslims to buy and sell cats unless they intend to derive benefit from their skin or fur.

    He also said that it is permissible for Muslims to buy or sell hunting dogs and watch dogs, but that it is impermissible to buy or sell any other kind of dog, including dogs that are kept as house pets.

  20. CBC – Liberals pressure O’Toole to kick Sloan out of Conservative caucus

    The Liberal Party has launched a petition calling on new Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole to remove former leadership rival Derek Sloan from caucus over comments he made during the leadership campaign.

    He “Attacked the loyalties of Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer and accused her of working fro China ”

    • Sloan is the only real Conservative. Will O’Toole cave, he is just another global guy, looking for some suckers to vote for him. Can he afford to ditch Sloan, methinks not, but he is just another huckster, so nothing he does will be shocking. I wonder how many 5 minute Muslim Conservatives signed up to support him. What did he ever say about creeping Shari’ah in the fact sheet that was sent to his campaign – – oh they forgot to fill it in and send it back.

  21. CBC – Toronto-area woman faces terrorism charges

    A Toronto-area woman, Haleema Mustafa, has been charged with two terrorism-related offences after allegedly leaving Canada to join ISIS in Syria in 2019.

    Her arrest comes eight months after her husband, Ikar Mao, was arrested in Canada on similar charges.

  22. Sky News White supremacist jailed for life for NZ mosque attacks

    A white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand’s deadliest shooting has been sentenced to life without parole.

    It’s the longest prison term handed out in New Zealand’s legal history, and a penalty never before used in the country.

    • Global News New Zealand shooting: Christchurch mosque shooter sentenced to life without parole

      Christchurch High Court Justice Cameron Mander said Brenton Tarrant had shown no remorse, and that no amount of time in prison would be enough to hold him to account “for the harm you have done.”

      The attack led to a ban on firearms in New Zealand and a campaign against hate content by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

      Survivors and victims’ families celebrated outside the court as Tarrant was sentenced on Thursday.

  24. channel 4 How can post-Covid ghost cities be avoided?

    “….will this be a moment of real revolution – changing the way we live and work…”

  26. North Korea Patrol Boat Fired At Chinese Fishing Boats; Richest Woman in China bought $2.5M Passport

  28. Finnish town offers prizes to turn residents green

    An EU-funded project in Lahti, southern Finland, offers inhabitants rewards including bus tickets or free food if they ditch the car in favour of cycling or public transport, under a scheme to lure the public into lower-carbon lifestyles.

    The “CitiCap” app tracks a user’s carbon emissions as they move around, by detecting whether they are travelling in a car, on public transport, on foot or by bike.

    The aim is to develop a “personal carbon trading” scheme that rewards citizens for green behaviour and which can be expanded to other cities.

  29. Italy: Migrant relocation continues as authorities seek to alleviate Lampedusa overcrowding

    A total of 273 migrants, of which at least 70 tested positive for the coronavirus, embarked the Aurelia ship, in Lampedusa, which was chartered by the Italian government to relieve the overcrowding of the reception centre in the island.

    The migrants could be seen being brought to the dock by vans, and embarking the ship, in what is a continuation of the government’s efforts to relocate the migrants out of Sicily to other regions.

    During the summer, around 4,000 migrants have already been relocated. Around 850 migrants remain at Lampedusa awaiting for other ships that will come to take them.

    The naval ship Azzurra is expected to arrive on Friday.

    The Italian authorities are trying to clear overpopulated high-risk areas on Lampedusa where migrant reception facilities are already facing overcrowding amid an increase in crossings.

  30. China’s employees crawl in public as punishment; Exclusive: How CCP officials hoard mask for profit

    • I sent this to Kazuko in Japan.
      ~ ~ She laughed ~ ~
      They’ll never trust Russia to be anything other than a co-belligerent.

      Japanese don’t understand Indians. Just too alien.
      “Sorry to say, repellent.” She apologized for such honest expression, knowing it’s unfashionable in the West.

      I asked, “not PC?”
      She said, “Honesty’s unfashionable in the West.”

  36. Berlin Senate: Right to Peaceful Assembly Guaranteed, Because Pro-Government Demonstrations Are OK!

    Red Pill Germany

    Hey guys, we live in crazy times. A former SED Communist who now found a profitable position with the SPD tells us that the constitutional right to free assembly is perfectly guaranteed by the state of Berlin, as it is still ok to protest in FAVOR of the German State under Angela Merkel.

  37. AUSTRALIA – Craig Kelly Speech on the Suppression of Hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 in Australia

    • AUSTRALIA – Australia’s Labour shadow health minister launches attack on professors & doctors who’ve spoken out

      Australia’s Labour shadow health minister uses parliamentary privilege to launch a verbal attack on professors and doctors who have spoken out.

      This follows Craig Kelly MP speaking out about ‘the war on the drug Hydroxychloroquine’.

      Craig Kelly, Facebook, 27.08.2020 :

      In a disgrace to the Parliament, Bowen demanded Groupthink and conformity by attempting to censor me for daring to cite the opinions of these learned medical experts and numerous studies recently published in medical journals that have found Hydroxchloroquine associated with lower hospitalistions and deaths in Covid patients – when I was arguing that Australians and their doctors should not be denied use of HCQ if a doctor thinks it might save a patients live.

      The thought that this man, Chris Bowen would be our nation’s Health Minister in a Labor government, should send a chill up the spine of every thinking Australian.’


    • AUSTRALIA -Morrison Government shuts down debate in Parliament over supporting TGA on hydroxychloroquine

      Today, the Morrison Government’s addiction to shutting down Parliamentary discussion hit a new low.

      I ( Chris Bowen ) moved a motion backing the independent TGA which “strongly discourages the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19”

      Every Government member, including the Health Minister, voted to shut down debate and voted against the motion.

      But they let Craig Kelly make ludicrous claims which have been dismissed by leading health authorities

    • sky news australia Potential coronavirus treatments are being ‘patronisingly dismissed’

      Sky News host Andrew Bolt says one would think Victoria’s coronavirus death toll would make the state government and its advisors desperate to investigate any potential treatment suggested by doctors “better qualified than themselves”.

      “You would think wrong,” Mr Bolt said.

      On Wednesday Victoria marked its second deadliest day since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic with 24 new fatalities overnight.

      The state also recorded 149 new infections which aligned with the continuing downward trend.

      Mr Bolt said three quarters of Victoria’s 462 coronavirus deaths have come in aged care.

      He spoke of possible treatments which scientists have claimed could possibly help treat those affected by the coronavirus, discussing some of the scientific findings into Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin.

      “Unfortunately there’s a pattern here of patronisingly dismissing potential treatments – potential treatments – that could cut the dying”.

  38. MSNBC – At RNC Trump Again Hypes Unproven COVID-19 Treatment Hydroxychloroquine

    During the first night of the RNC while speaking with frontline workers, Trump again talked up the unproven coronavirus treatment hydroxychloroquine.

    Fmr. Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reacts

  39. I wonder who collects their Paycheck?

    Nearly 1/3 of Pretoria’s paid municipal workers do not exist in the flesh | South Africa
    If you are a rate payer in Pretoria be very, very angry – out of a work force of 25,000 staff 7,000 only exist on the payroll.

  40. DAILY MAIL – Hazmat officials board Ryanair flight at Stansted and drag off Covid-infected passenger who broke quarantine by taking seat AFTER getting text alert that he had tested positive in airport

    Passenger was told they had tested positive via text as they sat on the Ryanair plane preparing to head to Pisa

    Footage shows three hazmat-clad officials on plane preparing to escort off male passenger and companion

    Their seats and the overhead cabin bins were disinfected before the flight was allowed to head to Italy

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8669265/Moment-officials-hazmat-suits-board-Ryanair-plane-passenger-gets-track-trace-message.html

  41. Turkish Radio & Television -TRT – US councilman dresses in traditional Arab attire to play ‘terrorist’

    • red herring
      The US military and its contractors have at least two Afghan villages stateside for training purposes. As I recall, one is at Fort Irwin. This is old news and being used to browbeat the politician.

      • Turk TV now has to register as FARA – foreign agent. Like RT and Sputnik.
        (We’ve more than our share of wholly domestic MB mouth-organs.)

  42. Muharram day 8

    ==================================================
    Abarkuh – Iran – 2016 – mourning procession

  45. Democrats Support For Riots BACKFIRED As Locals Are FURIOUS Over Destruction, Trump Takes Lead In WI

  47. Narrative Busted: Media Ignore White Boy Shot By a Black Man, While BLM Calls Looting ‘Reparations’

  48. Egypt jails man ‘receiving revelation of a new Quran from God’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200827-egypt-jails-man-receiving-revelation-of-a-new-quran-from-god/

    “An Egyptian court sentenced a man to 15 years in jail after he claimed that he received revelation from God and attempted to make changes to the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

    The Port Said Criminal Court convicted Nakkash, 40, after he was arrested and confronted with the accusations made against him.

    He was charged with violating the law regulating the printing of copies of the Quran.

    During questioning, Nakkash reiterated his allegations that he received revelation from God on a “new Quran” which he believes it is his mission to spread.”

  50. The role of Black Muslims in America’s fight for racial justice
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/indepth/2020/8/27/black-muslims-and-americas-fight-for-racial-justice

    “After months of demonstrations around the world, America is getting ready for a massive civil rights march at the end of this month.

    On Friday, 28 August, on the 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, people will show what more than three months of continuous activism can achieve. The range of the protesters – from the transgender Black community in New York to mothers in Portland – shows the diversity of the movement.

    Among them are Black Muslims, part of the backbone of America’s civil rights movement, and a community whose dual identities have made them acutely aware of the urgency of demanding justice.

    “There’s heavy surveillance and over-policing in the Black and Muslim communities. I can’t take off the colour of my skin, and I proudly wear a hijab,” says Ismahan Abdullahi, Executive Director of San Diego’s MAS PACE (Muslim American Society Public Affairs Community Engagement), who in the early 1990s moved as a child with her family to the US from Somalia, one of 13 countries on America’s travel ban.

    “We’re in a moment of action, and we won’t settle for breadcrumbs. We’re beyond kneeling. This is a moment to get full systemic change, and not be shy or compromising when it comes to liberation. It’s a resilient community, that knows what it needs.”

    We’re in a moment of action, and we won’t settle for breadcrumbs. We’re beyond kneeling
    She adds, “I think what folks don’t realise is that there has been a lot of deep work Black Muslims have done. We’re standing on the shoulders of the Black community. Because of the civil rights movement, a lot of people have been able to be here.”

    A history of activism

    America’s first Black Muslims were slaves who were kidnapped from predominantly Muslim parts of West Africa, some of whom left their mark on African American culture through music and literature. At the beginning of the 20th century, Muslim movements in the Black community were seen by many as going back to their ancestors’ original faith.

    It wasn’t until the civil rights era of the 1960s that their voices became well known, as civil rights leader Malcolm X was a follower of the Nation of Islam, founded in 1930. He was assassinated by members of the group in 1965 after his break with Elijah Mohammed and turn towards orthodox Sunni Islam, as have most adherents.

    The group’s current leader, Louis Farrakhan, has a mixed record. On the one hand, his well-known bigoted remarks about Jews, the LGBTQ community and interracial marriage have led public figures to distance themselves from him. On the other hand, his work in community activism, such as prison rehabilitation and working with at-risk youths in low-income neighbourhoods, have earned praise from former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel.

    Today, most Black Muslims in the US adhere to mainstream Sunni orthodox Islam, followed by those who identify as unaffiliated, with just two percent identifying with the Nation of Islam, according to a 2019 Pew Research survey. Black Muslims are broadly divided into those who were born into the faith, converts, and African immigrants.

    According to the Pew survey, Black people make up 20 percent of America’s Muslim population; however Muslims are only two percent of America’s Black population, about half of whom are converts. Still, according to the Pew survey, like their Black Christian counterparts, they tend to have high levels of religious commitment. Many are involved in social justice causes, seeing their faith-based activism in a similar light to that of prominent Christians of the civil rights movement, such as Martin Luther King.

    Black Muslims are broadly divided into those who were born into the faith, converts, and African immigrants
    For Kenyatta Bakeer, a member and spokeswoman for Black Lives Matter, her faith-based activism goes back to the roles of her parents – Muslim converts in 1968 – in the civil rights movement and non-violence. “I heard all of the activism growing up,” she told The New Arab.

    “One step toward liberation is understanding the history we stand on. People can empathise, learn, and take lessons,” says Abdullahi.

    A bridge between communities

    For Black Muslims, the discrimination they face is at least twofold. They are contending with Islamophobia and racism, at times within their own communities.

    “There’s still a gap between what Islam preaches and what happens at the leadership level,” says Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in California.

    “We still see segregated mosques. It’s cultural. If you build a mosque in an inner city, it will be majority Black. You see an unintended separation. It’s not unusual to see predominantly Syrian or Nigerian mosques. The intention was never to isolate. But eventually it reinforces itself,” says Ayloush, who regularly preaches to mosques of different communities, showing him both the diversity and divides in America’s Muslim communities.

    Activism has helped bridge America’s Muslim community, the country’s most diverse faith.

    “No one can be fully immune to racism in America. Some people might have misperceptions about others. Some immigrants need to be educated about anti-Black racism. Sometimes I hear people say or repeat things they’ve heard, like ‘All lives matter. Why should we only care about black victims of police brutality?’ Black Muslims have been great in mobilising the community, and shake up prejudice and ignorance by sharing their stories,” says Ayloush.

    No one racial minority can overcome or abolish the status quo by itself
    At the height of this recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests, a Palestinian-American family company in Minnesota, Holy Land Hummus, found itself in damage control after the CEO’s daughter, then director of catering, saw some of her old racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic tweets (from 2012 and 2016) resurface.

    CEO Majdi Wadi, called upon the advice of his friend, a local Black Muslim leader, Imam Makram El-Amin. Through El-Amin’s guidance, Wadi instituted anti-racism training programs for his employees and also took steps to invest more in the local Black community, which had long been loyal customers.

    It was a tough and costly lesson for this Palestinian Muslim family that had built their business largely from the patronage of Black customers, but also possibly an opportunity to build a more meaningful relationship with the local Black community.

    Indian-American comedian Hasan Minhaj has also seized the moment to address racial divisions in America’s Muslim community. In one of his more serious segments at the beginning of the latest wave of demonstrations, he gave examples of bigotry or complicity of racism in immigrant communities, and urged everyone not to be silent about the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers.

    Pointing to the Immigration Act of 1965, which was inspired by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he also reminded Asian-Americans that some of the basic rights they enjoy are thanks to the civil rights work of African Americans.

    Referring to his support for the Black Lives Matter movement, Ayloush, an Arab-American, says, “As a minority, much of the rights I enjoy came on backs of their sacrifices, for me it’s a way to say thank you. It’s the right thing to do now and as pay-back to the debt we owe.”

    This is going to require the unity of everyone. What’s critical to understand is people want the same thing
    Edward Mitchell, deputy director of CAIR in Washington, DC is hopeful about this recent engagement.

    “Muslim Americans who aren’t Black have really stepped up to take steps to address racism in communities, making sure mosques are diverse places, and making sure racism is called out in families. They’re also making sure Muslims are not just advocating for Palestine overseas, but against police brutality at home.”

    He adds, “I’m heartened by the fact that so many people of so many backgrounds, in rural areas in conservative states, people have come together to demonstrate against anti-Black racism.”

    Mitchell says, “It’s easy in circumstances like this to be cynical, we want to try to stay hopeful. Things in this country have gotten better in the past and will get better in the future.”

    United for a better future

    On the ground, the Black Lives Matter protests have seen unprecedented momentum. However, with important obstacles remaining, activists say that unity is key.

    “When people live in a country of immigrants that prides itself on its cultural diversity and yet has widespread racial and other forms of prejudice, no one racial minority can overcome or abolish the status quo by itself,” says Mohamed Camara, chair of the African studies department at Howard University, originally from Senegal.

    “It will take constructive solidarity among all minoritized entities to form a progressive majority and help the racial majority free itself from the racist or racialist mentality that some of its members harbour. Only then will the entire nation be free from the shackles of prejudice and social injustice because injustice against anyone is a threat to justice for everyone.”

    Abdullahi says, “This is going to require the unity of everyone. What’s critical to understand is people want the same thing.””