Reader’s Links for December 18, 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

117 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 18, 2020”

  1. Daesh Terrorists Fought With Benefits From Sweden, Media Investigation Reveals (sputniknews, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202012181081497141-daesh-terrorists-fought-with-benefits-from-sweden-media-investigation-reveals/

    “Swedish Social Insurance Agency Director General Nils Öberg has admitted that the abuse of welfare systems has become so extensive that it can now be considered “systemic”.

    At least 45 Daesh* terrorists have been supported by Swedish grants after they left the Nordic country to join the terrorist organisation, an investigation by the newspaper Expressen has revealed.

    According to the newspaper, they received their benefits while they were fighting in Syria, in some cases over a period of several years. Twenty-four of the terrorists received money directly, whereas the rest were treated as “part of the same family community”.

    The benefits featured money from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, Swedish Student Aid, the Swedish Public Employment Service, unemployment insurance funds, and the social services.

    A woman from Norrköping has reportedly received over SEK 250,000 ($30,000) since she left Sweden with her family in May 2015. The Swedish Social Insurance Agency later tried to reclaim some of the contributions but has not succeeded so far.

    In another case, a family applied for and were granted parental benefits one and a half years after having left Sweden.

    But arguably the most striking example is Michael Skråmo, a notorious Daesh propagandist recruiter, who posted pictures of himself with firearms and a huge grin captioned “The Swedish state paid for my Glock and my Kalashnikov”.

    “It is quite outrageous that it has happened in that way”, Thomas Falk, national coordinator against organised crime at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, told Expressen.

    The authority is none the wiser as to how much money has gone to the terrorists, or “Daesh travellers” as they are often referred to by the Swedish media and political establishment.

    “There are some difficulties associated with it. We don’t have or get any register where Daesh travellers or any other group, like motorcycle gangs or the like, are singled out”, Thomas Falk complained.

    “I understand that people react. I myself react to this type of information, when we and other authorities pay out incorrectly, as a taxpayer and a citizen. We do everything we can to deal with these types of cases”, Falk said.

    Swedish Social Insurance Agency Director General Nils Öberg recently suggested that the authority should have expanded powers to request bank statements and other bank details to be able to investigate crimes against social insurance systems.

    “Benefits crime and abuse of welfare systems have become so extensive that it can now be considered systemic”, Öberg admitted.

    In recent years, some 300 “Daesh travellers” have left Sweden to join the terrorist cause in the Middle East, which is one of the highest figures per capita in Europe. While about half of them have already returned, Sweden is notoriously lax at punishing the returnees. Neighbouring Denmark, however, withdraws citizenship from jihadists. Almost none of the Swedish terrorists was prosecuted for crimes committed in the Middle East due to the burden of proof.

    Daesh* (ISIS/ISIL/”Islamic State”) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and others”

  2. Trump Administration Reportedly Set to Blacklist Dozens of Chinese Companies, Including SMIC (sputiknews, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/us/202012181081497259-trump-administration-reportedly-set-to-blacklist-dozens-of-chinese-companies-including-smic/

    “According to reports, Washington plans to add around 80 additional corporations and affiliates to the so-called entity list later in the day. The designation means that American suppliers will have to seek a special license from the Commerce Department before starting cooperation with the blacklisted firms.

    Chinese chipmaker SMIC, as well as dozens of various Chinese companies, will be blacklisted by the US, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two sources. According to Washington, the said entities are linked to the Chinese military or are involved in alleged human rights violations.

    The US previously included around 275 China-based companies and their affiliates on the list, including Huawei, ZTE Corp, and surveillance camera maker Hikvision.

    At the same time, SMIC was targeted by the Department of Defence, which mandated export licensing for the suppliers of the firm and effectively banned US investors from buying SMIC shares, accusing it of cooperating with the Chinese military, which SMIC has repeatedly denied.

    DETAILS TO FOLLOW”

    • “She walked away from the rostrum and fainted. Doctors who were nearby managed to catch her.

      “News Channel 9 reported that minutes later she was able to address reporters. Doctors said that the vaccine ingredients did not cause the episode.

      Dover said that she has a condition where she could faint when she feels pain.

      “It just hit me all of a sudden,” she said, according to the station. “I could feel it coming on. I felt a little disoriented but I feel fine now, and the pain in my arm is gone,” she said.”
      https://www.foxnews.com/health/tennessee-nurse-passes-out-after-getting-covid-19-vaccine

    • Tennessee Nurse Passes Out On Camera Minutes After Taking COVID-19 Vaccine

      A Tennessee nurse passed out on camera ten minutes after taking the COVID-19 vaccine.

      Critical care nurse Tiffany Dover at CHI Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga was having a lucid discussion with WRCBtv following her vaccination, when she became visibly impaired – holding her hand to her head and swaying. She then apologized to the news crew, turned away from the camera, and fainted.

      “Ten minutes after the shot, Dover became light-headed and passed out while speaking with us,” the outlet reported.

      more:

      https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/tennessee-nurse-passes-out-front-news-crew-minutes-after-taking-covid-19-vaccine

      • Nothing to see here, folks, move on. Actually, the question is was it a reaction to the vaccine or simply a faint common to people who don’t like needles.

        • If it where a faint common to people who don’t like needles, these people wouldn’t offer themselves to speak before cameras after an needle injection. No?

            • I see this as the Kabuki Theater works both ways. We need some actors to create some COVID vaccine reactions to get the normies to question of the efficacy of a series of rushed vaccines.

    • Sorry, I’m calling BS. If that was the case why did Israel Zolli, the chief rabbi of Rome at the time, convert to Catholicism after the war? Pope Pius XII did more to help the News of Rome and Italy than anyone else, going so far as to shelter them in convents and monasteries and selling off Vatican treasures to help them.

    • In 1937 Pope Pius Xl wrote an encyclical called: “Mit Brenender Sorge” (hope I’ve spelled it correctly, in translation “With burning heart”). The only encyclical ever written in German. It condemned the Nazi ideology and was banned in Germany by the Nazis. It doesn’t mention them by name, but they knew who it was addressed to. It’s generally accepted that the future Pius Xll had much to do with the writing of the Encyclical. He’d been Papal Nuncio to Germany in the 1920’s. He admired the German people, but not the Nazis.
      The fear that if Pius Xll spoke out would mean retaliation by the Nazis was real. The Dutch bishops spoke against the Nazis and in retaliation they rounded up all the Jews in Holland who’d converted to Christianity and sent them to concentration camps. Edith Stein and her sister were among them, and died there.
      Jewish people were hidden in convents and monasteries across Italy at the request of the Pope. And also in the Papal residence of Castel Gandolfo.
      John Cornwell is not a reliable writer, his account of Pius Xll has many errors, pointed out by writers such as Ronald Rychlak and Rabbi David Dalin.
      The New York Times (in its better days) in its Christmas editorial of 1941 praised Pius Xll as a lonely voice among all the leaders of Europe denouncing what was happening in Germany. When he died Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel said that Israel had lost a good friend.
      A libelous play was written in the 1960’s called “The Deputy”. written by an East German communist to discredit Pius Xll and the Vatican. It’s from that time that the criticism of Pius Xll started, up until then he’d been praised for his efforts to save Jews, mainly by diplomatic means. Hitler was not a man to be reasoned with!

      • “With burning concern”

        “5. At the same time, anyone must acknowledge, not without surprise and reprobation, how the other contracting party emasculated the terms of the treaty, distorted their meaning, and eventually considered its more or less official violation as a normal policy … Even now that a campaign against the confessional schools, which are guaranteed by the concordat, and the destruction of free election, where Catholics have a right to their children’s Catholic education, afford evidence, in a matter so essential to the life of the Church…”
        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mit_brennender_Sorge

        Socialists. Those who twist and distort truths with the equal outcomes they are hammered to fit.

  9. How to mask? | Canadian Minister puts on a mask in a unique way

    Deputy Minister of Alberta Municipal Affairs and a former Commander of the Canadian Army Paul Wynnyk, who oversees COVID vaccine distribution in the province, demonstrated a unique fashion of putting on a mask during an official address on December 14.

    • Germany: UN”s Guterres warns against “vaccine nationalism,” urges more support for COVAX scheme

      UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned against ‘vaccine nationalism’ and urged richer countries to support poorer nations receiving more coronavirus vaccines during a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, after the two had a meeting, in Berlin on Thursday.

      “We need to be able to make a vaccine available to everybody, everywhere and affordable by everybody, everywhere,” Guterres said, adding that the UN-backed COVAX programme has “a gap of $5 billion (€4.07 billion) until the end of January.”

      “It is not with vaccine nationalism that we are going to defeat the COVID it is with international cooperation,” the UN chief stressed.

      He also emphasised that it is in all countries’ best interests to work towards achieving broad immunisation because “nature always strikes back.”

      Maas lamented what he called ‘serious attacks’ on the UN’s core values of ‘multilateralism’ in 2020, including within the context of the fight against the pandemic, adding that he hoped “a new spring will follow soon” after what he referred to as ‘very icy times.’

  11. North Korea commemorates 9th anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death

    Workers, service personnel and students visit Mansu Hill in Pyongyang to pay floral tribute on the 9th anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il.

  12. CBC – Edmonton police investigate race-based attacks on 2 Muslim women

    Edmonton police are investigating two separate assaults on Muslim women wearing head scarves committed in one week.

    Police are recommending increased sentences because of what they say are race-based motivation.

  14. CAUSE OF DEATH: AIR POLLUTION (She died seven years ago)

    The New York Times and The Guardian are both reporting a “landmark ruling” from Britain. “A 9-year-old girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2013 became the first person in Britain to officially have air pollution listed as a cause of death, a British official said. . . . In the ruling on Wednesday, assistant coroner Philip Barlow in London said air pollution had significantly helped induce and exacerbate Ella’s asthma, adding that she had been exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter in excess of World Health Organization guidelines.” [ source: NY Times ]

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/12/18/cause-of-death-follow-up/

  15. Satellite Images Allegedly Show Iran Building at Underground Nuke Site in Wake of Scientist’s Murder (sputniknews, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202012181081501743-satellite-images-allegedly-show-iran-building-at-underground-nuke-site-in-wake-of-scientists-murder/

    “In 2019, Tehran went beyond the restrictions imposed by the Iran nuclear deal in terms of enriching and stockpiling uranium. The move came a year after Washington’s unilateral exit from the deal and the re-introduction of crippling US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

    Iran has kicked off construction at a site located close to its uranium enrichment plant in Fordo in the country’s Qom Province, according to satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies obtained by the Associated Press (AP).

    Neither Iran’s mission to the United Nations, nor the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have commented on the matter yet.

    AP claimed that the construction, which allegedly kicked off in late September, is taking place at a northwest area of the Fordo site about 90 kilometres (55 miles) southwest of the capital Tehran.

    One of the photos allegedly shows what looks like a dug foundation for the facility with scores of pillars typically designed for securing buildings in earthquake zones.

    The news outlet also referred to a satellite photo of the ongoing construction at the Fordo site posted by a Twitter user nicknamed Observer IL.

    The user, who only identified himself as a retired Israeli Defence Forces soldier with a civil engineering background, was quoted by AP as saying that the photo came from South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Research Institute, which confirmed the information.

    This comes a few weeks after the assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Absard, a city near Tehran. Senior Iranian officials immediately accused Israel of being behind the attack, while the Jewish State’s top brass has so far remained silent on the matter.

    Iran Building Up Uranium Enrichment
    In a separate development, the IAEA argued in mid-November that Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium had already reached 2,442.9kg (5,385.6lbs), more than 12 times the amount of enriched uranium allowed under the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

    Iran has been stockpiling uranium fuel since summer 2019, when Tehran announced it would no longer adhere to the JCPOA provisions in terms of limits on stockpiles and the allowed enrichment levels. The developments followed President Donald Trump announcing Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA and reinstating harsh economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic in May 2018.

    Tehran has expressed cautious optimism about the prospects of Joe Biden’s presidency and Washington’s potential return to the JCPOA, but also repeatedly stated that the agreement was not open to renegotiation.

    Iran is currently enriching uranium up to 4.5%, as compared to the nuclear deal’s limit of 3.67%. The Islamic Republic underscores that its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes only, while Washington insists that Tehran is looking to obtain a nuclear weapon.

    The reported construction at the Fordo site comes amid ongoing Washington-Iran tensions which worsened in early January, when top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was killed in Baghdad by a US drone strike authorised by President Trump.”

  16. Iran, Russia to Maintain Military Cooperation in Spite of US Sanctions, Iranian Ambassador Confirms (sputniknews, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202012181081501250-iran-russia-to-maintain-military-cooperation-in-spite-of-us-sanctions-iranian-ambassador-confirms/

    “Iran and Russia will maintain bilateral military cooperation, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, told Sputnik in an interview, adding that US sanctions will not impact his country’s military capabilities nor its scientific research.

    “This behavior of the United States will continue in the future, and the reason is that the US no longer enjoys the dominance of the past. It wants to say that it is the world’s number-one power, while that is not the case as there are several countries that have caught up and overtaken it,” Jalali stated discussing the latest US sanctions against his country.

    In an effort to exert “maximum pressure” on Iran, the administration of outgoing US President Donald Trump has intensified its use of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in an effort to curb the development of its nuclear program, with the latest sanctions targeting the country’s entire financial sector.

    “Russia, China, Iran and other countries subjected to sanctions should stand together and show that the forceful use of instruments of power on the international scene is an illegal act that may lead to harmful consequences for countries and peoples,” Jalali added.

    The latest US sanctions against Iran’s banks have been decried as a “crime against humanity” by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier in October. Zarif said the banks served one of the country’s channels to pay for food and medicine. These fears were materialized when Iran was unable to procure a vaccine via the COVAX platform earlier this month.”

  18. Eritrean asylum seeker ‘grabbed knife and terrified staff’ at ex-army barracks holding hundreds of migrants (dailymail, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9067153/Eritrean-asylum-seeker-grabbed-knife-terrified-staff-ex-army-barracks.html

    “Police were scrambled to a former army barracks after an Eritrean asylum seeker was said to have ‘grabbed a knife and terrified staff’.

    Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, is home to hundreds of refugees, with two escaping every week according to reports.

    Now sources have described the camp as a ‘ticking time bomb’ after the latest incident, which is believed to have left many working there shaken.

    Officers were called on Monday morning following reports of a man with a knife.

    The refugee, who it is thought arrived in the UK from Eritrea just days before, caused panic after setting off a fire alarm, according to the Sun.

    He then grabbed a blade as a security guard tried to turn off the alarm, as other staff members retreated and phoned 999.

    Police attended and arrested a 33-year-old man, but he was only given a caution.

    A source told the site: ‘The atmosphere at the Barracks is like a ticking time bomb. Many of the people being held there don’t want to be and as a result there are often lots of flare-ups.

    ‘It is only a matter of time before things really kick off and the worry is that someone could eventually end up getting seriously hurt.’

    A Kent Police spokesman said: ‘Kent Police was called at 7.45am on Monday 14 December 2020 to a report that a man had been seen with a knife at an address in Sandgate, Folkestone.

    ‘Officers attended and a 33-year-old man was arrested. A knife was seized and no injuries were reported.

    ‘The man and witnesses were spoken to and the man was later given a caution for assault.’

    It comes after it was revealed that two migrants are escaping the camp every week…”

  19. German man charged with attempted murder in Carnival attack (abcnews, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/german-man-charged-attempted-murder-carnival-attack-74796632

    “A German man has been charged with 91 counts of attempted murder for driving his car into a crowd celebrating Carnival earlier this year in the central town of Volkmarsen, Frankfurt prosecutors said Friday.

    The 30-year-old, whose name hasn’t been released in line with German privacy laws, also faces 90 counts of causing bodily harm and other lesser crimes.

    He is accused of driving his car at more than 50 kph (30 mph) through a crowd of people watching the town’s traditional “Rose Monday” procession, which included many children, in an attempt to kill them.

    None died, but he injured 90, including 20 who needed hospitalization.

    He is accused of planning the attack in advance and having installed a dashboard camera in order to record it. Prosecutors said the suspect was neither under the influence of alcohol nor drugs at the time of the crime.

    The man, who was arrested at the scene, has refused to make any statement to investigators, prosecutors said.”

  20. Turkish philanthropist on trial for alleged failed coup ties (abcnews, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-philanthropist-stands-trial-alleged-ties-coup-74796029

    “A Turkish philanthropist businessman and human rights defender denied accusations of espionage and attempting to overthrow the government in connection with a failed coup four years ago, telling a court on Friday that he opposes all efforts to take over power by force.

    Osman Kavala addressed the court from his prison in the outskirts of Istanbul through a judicial video conference system during the opening hearing of a new trial against him, which human rights groups have denounced as unjust and politically motivated.

    Kavala, 63, was acquitted earlier this year of terrorism-related charges for allegedly organizing and financing mass anti-government protests that erupted in 2013. But as his supporters awaited his release from prison, authorities issued a warrant for his re-arrest, this time accusing him of links to a 2016 failed coup attempt.

    The businessman faces a life term in prison if found guilty of the charge of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, and another 20 years for alleged “military and political espionage” against Turkey. Kavala denies the charges.

    Academic Henri Barkey, who lives in the United States and was also charged in the case, is being tried in absentia.

    A 64-page indictment alleges Kavala and Barkey collaborated over the coup, which Turkey’s government says was orchestrated by a network headed by U.S.-based Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. It cites as evidence mobile phone signals suggesting that Kavala and Barkey met in Turkey around the time of the coup attempt. Human rights groups have described the indictment as “absurd.”

    Kavala told the court that his more than three-year pre-trial detention was a violation of his rights and amounted to “a kind of mental cruelty,” according to Punto 24 website which monitors freedom of expression trials in Turkey. He also rejected the charges against him saying he had opposed military coups throughout his life.

    “My life experience, my world views and ethical values do not allow me to support coups,” Kavala said, adding that none of the evidence backed the accusations of espionage.

    The court later rejected a request that Kavala be released from prison pending the outcome of the trial, and adjourned the case until Feb. 5…”

  21. Suspected foreign fighter extradited to Denmark from Turkey (abcnews, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/suspected-foreign-fighter-extradited-denmark-turkey-74800890

    “A court in Denmark on Friday ordered a Danish national facing terror charges on suspicion of having fought alongside the Islamic State group in Syria held in pre-trial custody until Jan. 6.

    The 32-year-old man was arrested Thursday when he arrived in Copenhagen having been extradited from Turkey. The Copenhagen police said he had been in custody since he was arrested on an international warrant in January by Turkish authorities.

    Police did not give the man’s name, but Danish media widely identified him as Jacob El-Ali, who has a Lebanese-Palestinian background.

    The suspect has been sought since December 2014 for supporting terrorism after he posted photos of himself standing with severed heads and praised the Islamic State group. In October of the following year, he was also suspected of promoting terrorism for allegedly having fought for the Islamic State group and for having planned a trip to Syria for at least one other person.

    On Friday, he was charged with having been recruited himself and attempting to recruit several other people to join the Muslim extremists. Danish media said he pleaded not guilty but admitted having been in Syria. He also has claimed that he was a spy there for the Syrians.

    If found guilty, he faces up to six years in prison.”

  22. Egypt officials: Bombs kill 3 security forces in Sinai (abcnews, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-officials-bombs-kill-security-forces-sinai-74796207

    “Two roadside bombs exploded in restive northern Sinai Peninsula killing three members of Egypt’s security forces and wounding 10 others, officials said Friday.

    The bombs went off near separate checkpoints in the town of Sheikh Zuweid late Thursday, said two security officials and a medical official, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to brief the media.

    The officials didn’t say who was responsible for the attacks and no one immediately claimed responsibility. But Egypt has been battling an Islamic State-led insurgency in the Sinai that intensified after the military overthrew an Islamist president in 2013. The militants have carried out scores of attacks, mainly targeting security forces and minority Christians.

    The first explosion Thursday night left one dead and seven wounded, while the second killed two and wounded three, the officials said. The casualties were transferred to El-Arish military hospital.

    Also on Thursday, the Egyptian military carried out a series of raids in the same town killing four militants, officials said. It wasn’t clear if the raids took place before or after the bombings.

    The conflict in Sinai has largely taken place out of public view, with journalists and outside observers barred from the area. The fighting has so far not expanded into the southern end of the peninsula, where popular Red Sea tourist resorts are located.

    In February 2018, the military launched a massive operation in Sinai that also encompassed parts of the Nile Delta and deserts along the country’s western border with Libya. Since then, the pace of Islamic State attacks in Sinai’s north has diminished.”

  23. Official: Rickshaw bomb kills 15 kids in eastern Afghanistan (abcnews, Dec 18, 2020?
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/official-rickshaw-bomb-kills-11-kids-eastern-afghanistan-74797960

    “A bomb rigged to a rickshaw killed at least 15 children and wounded 20 others in a Taliban-controlled area in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, a provincial official said, as violence in the war-weary country continued to surge.

    The bomb went off after a man driving a motorized rickshaw entered a village in the Gilan district to sell goods and was soon surrounded by kids, according to Wahidullah Jumazada, spokesman for the Ghazni provincial governor. He said the casualty toll could rise further.

    No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and Jumazada said an investigation was underway into why children were targeted.

    However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid sent a message to the media claiming that the explosion was caused by the remains of unexploded ordinance in the area, which the children had allegedly picked up and brought to the merchant.

    Mujahid gave a lower death toll, saying 12 children were killed.

    The conflicting reports could not be reconciled as the area is under Taliban control and off limits to reporters…”

  25. NGOs Allegedly Helping African Migrants Illegally Enter Greece (breitbart, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/12/18/claim-ngos-helping-2000-african-migrants-who-want-enter-greece/

    “A Greek newspaper has blamed NGOs for a surge of arrivals of African migrants, mainly from Somalia, claiming that between 2,000 and 2,500 migrants are currently in Turkey being helped to enter Greece illegally.

    Earlier this month, Greek migration minister Notis Mitarakis had claimed that so-called civil society groups were involved in the illegal migration of Africans and that the charities were working with people-smugglers in Turkey.

    “NGOs pay for the cost of travel and the issuance of a visa to Turkey, with flights to Istanbul. Then [the migrants] are transported to the Turkish coast, where migrant smugglers, again with NGO support, help them enter the European Union illegally,” he said.

    Greek newspaper Proto Thema claimed on Tuesday that between 2,000 and 2,500 migrants from Somalia and the Congo are in the Turkish cities of Izmir and Dicelli waiting to cross into Greece illegally, allegedly with the help of NGOs and the tolerance of Turkish authorities.

    The claims are not the first time NGOs have been accused of helping people-smugglers in the Aegean Sea.

    In October, Greek police launched an investigation into four Germany-based migrant NGOs for helping traffickers, including by using espionage against Greek border forces and the European Union border agency Frontex to help migrant boats evade patrols.

    Authorities say the NGOs used the charity Alarmphone, an emergency phone for migrants in distress at sea, to coordinate and guide migrant boats away from Greek and Frontex ships.

    Undercover Greek agents also found evidence of two NGO workers, one Austrian and the other Norwegian, having direct contact with people-smugglers in Turkey.

    Just two years before, Greek police arrested several charity employees over similar accusations and claimed they had formed a criminal network which had been smuggling illegals to Greece since the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.”

  27. Australia: Murder of Elderly Couple in Brisbane Home a ‘Terrorism Incident’ (breitbart, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/12/18/australia-murder-of-elderly-couple-in-brisbane-home-a-terrorism-incident/

    “Australian detectives suspect the deaths of an elderly couple in their Brisbane home is a “terrorism incident” perpetrated by a knife-wielding man who was shot dead by police, officials said on Friday.

    Raghe Abdi, 22, threatened police with a knife before he was shot dead on a highway on the outskirts of Brisbane on Thursday morning, officers said.

    The bodies of Maurice Anthill, 87, and his 86-year-old wife Zoe Anthill were found in their home later Thursday near where Abdi died, Queensland state Police Deputy Commissioner Tracy Linford said.

    Linfold declined to detail how they had died but homicide detectives had found evidence that Abdi had been in the house, she said.

    Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the known extremist had been acting alone…”

  28. Iran General Sees Islamic ‘Superior Power’ Ruling World Trade, Banking, and Energy Supplies (breitbart, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2020/12/18/iran-general-sees-islamic-superior-power-ruling-world-trade-banking-and-energy-supplies/

    “A grand coalition of the Islamic countries can control the world by dominating banking systems, commerce, trade, energy and key shipping routes, chairman of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major-General Mohammad Baqeri, said on Thursday.

    Addressing the Sixth Congress of Muslim Geographers, the semi-official IRNA news service reported Baqeri outlined the ways he believes Islam is a superior force and how that perceived advantage can translate into leverage on a host of international levels.

    [The] Islamic world holds “some two third of the world’s fossil energy resources, the most important straits essential for the world maritime trade and attractive markets,” Baqeri said, before urging optimal use of the assets.

    Calling on the Islamic countries to iron out differences and move toward a political coalition to demand a permanent status for Islamic world in the U.N. Security Council, he said they should set up “joint Islamic banks and joint trade market exchanging goods with preferential tariffs and create Islamic world’s media and radio and TV unions.”

    Baqeri’s boast follows last weekend’s claim by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) that Muslim voters in Georgia have been given an opportunity from Allah to show their “power” in the Peach State during the Senate runoff elections.

    Breitbart News reported Tlaib’s remarks came during an online “vote-a-thon,” which was co-hosted by the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Georgia Muslim Voter Project.

    “I hope that you realize just the opportunity here that Allah has given us to show the power of Muslims in Georgia,” Tlaib said, according to CNS News. “I want people to be like, oh my God, I didn’t even know Muslims are in Georgia. … Exactly! Because we’re going to show them in droves of numbers.””

  31. Paris: 71 Per cent of African Migrants’ Children Want to Move to Parents’ Homeland (breitbart, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/12/18/paris-71-per-cent-of-african-migrants-children-want-to-move-to-parents-homeland/

    “A large majority of the children of African migrants born in France in the Paris region say that, within the next ten years, they want to migrate to their parents’ homelands.

    Many of the French citizens in the Ile-de-France region born to African migrants say they want to leave France and resettle in their parent’s countries of origin, a phenomenon becoming known as repatriation or return migration.

    Newspaper Le Parisien cited a 2019 Intelcia study of 800 children of African migrants, which revealed 71 per cent could move to their parents’ country of origin within the next ten years. Nearly 40 per cent said they would do so immediately.

    The study also noted that those from sub-Saharan Africa were more likely to want to return to their parents’ country (58 per cent) than those from Muslim-majority North Africa, also known as the Maghreb (42 per cent). The largest number by age group of those who want to resettle were those between 24 and 27.

    Another study, conducted in 2017 by the Avako Group, found that 93 per cent of so-called “Repats” felt satisfied in their choice to move to their parents’ country.

    Diadié Soumaré, who helps Franco-Malians settle in Mali, told the newspaper this week: “In the Paris region, there is a pool of skills which may appear trivial in France but which are in demand in Africa.”

    The group AfricaFrance has even claimed that those who migrate find themselves with as much as a 45 per cent increase in salary after finding work.

    Diadié Soumaré was born in France and travelled to Mali on discounted aeroplane tickets as his father worked at Paris’ Charles De Gaulle airport.

    After finding that he could sell iPhones in Mali for far more than he bought them in France, he eventually moved and later became the first official Apple distributor in Mali’s capital of Bamako, and now employs 20 people.

    The Repat movement comes as many migrants continue to come to Europe illegally, many also seeking a better life or better economic prospects.

    In October, the United Kingdom’s Channel migrants “tsar”, Dan O’Mahoney, claimed that most asylum seekers crossing from France to England were genuine asylum seekers, but this notion was shot down by the head of Migration Watch UK, Alp Mehmet.

    “His assertion simply doesn’t stack up. Ninety-eight per cent of those crossing the Channel illegally do claim asylum, but this is hardly an indication of genuineness,” Mehmet told Breitbart London, suggesting that their reasons for migrating were largely economic.”

  32. Sounds greenly political to me. Lawfare lawsuits against polluters in the name of saving the planet next?

  33. ‘Cambodia is not a dustbin,’ Cambodia’s PM slams Xi Jinping in a refreshing U-turn against China

    • This explains why Mitch McConnell is telling people not to contest the electors, China wants Biden as President and he owes his wife, his wife’s family and China.

  35. I see this as the Kabuki Theater works both ways. We need some actors to create some COVID vaccine reactions to get the normies to question of the efficacy of a series of rushed vaccines.

  36. Free Speech Victory: Judges Rule Social Media Users Have Right to Offend (breitbart, Dec 18, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/12/18/free-speech-victory-judges-rule-social-media-users-have-right-to-offend/

    “Britain’s Court of Appeal has struck a rare victory for free speech, overturning the conviction of a Twitter user who called a transgender person a man and ruling that people have a right to offend others online.

    Mother of two Kate Scottow had been convicted under a section of the Communications Act which makes “persistently making use of a public electronic communications network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another” a crime following an argument with lawyer and trans activist Stephanie Hayden, who is legally a woman according to a gender certificate obtained in 2017.

    District judge Margaret Dodds decided that Mrs Scottow had broken the “rule’” to “be kind to each other and not call each other names”, but Lord Justice Bean and Mr Justice Warby at the Court of Appeal overturned her judgement as “deficient” and “flawed”.

    “The Judge appears to have considered that a criminal conviction was merited for acts of unkindness and calling others names,” said Mr Justice Warby, but “A prosecution under section 127(2)c [of the Communications Act] for online speech is plainly an interference by the state with the defendant’s Convention right to freedom of expression.”

    The appellate judges said that if the case “been approached by the [original] Judge in a legally correct manner, it should have been dismissed”.

    “This has been the hardest battle I have fought that has had a profound impact on every aspect of my life, from my career to my health and my marriage,” said Scottow in comments to the Telegraph, hailing the verdict in her favour as “a victory for freedom of speech that confirms no one has the right not to be offended.”

    “[I]t was necessary to enshrine one of the most fundamental rights of every living being in a democratic society — the right to freedom of speech that is now routinely attacked at such a fundamental level,” she continued.

    “Women fighting for their rights against an aggressive LGBT lobby have been silenced for the past three years. I hope this judgment gives them hope.”

    Toby Young, for the Free Speech Union, added that he “hope[s] this judgment sends a message to Chief Constables. They’ve been getting their officers to spend far too much time sifting through people’s social media accounts, like little offence archaeologists. They should be policing our streets, not our tweets.”

    Free Speech Union chief legal counsel Bryn Harris welcomed the appellate court’s decision as “a positive sign that the senior judiciary will exercise their jurisdiction forcefully, and control wayward judges in lower courts who can’t seem to remember their ever-present obligation to protect freedom of expression.”

    “The judges in this case rightly recalled that the freedom to offend is not constrained by the facile ‘obligation to be kind’ mooted by the magistrate below,” Harris added.”

  37. Georgia’s role in senate races; An historic battle for control of the US Senate | US Election 2020

  41. (Richard: As you watch this one remember two things, 1) Actions speak louder then words and Biden is putting a lot of pro China people on his Cabinet. 2) Biden lies as much or more the Hillary.

    Biden says no intention to ‘substantially change’ US policy towards China


  43. Trump camp. reveals key to his path to victory; Report on foreign interference on election delayed

  48. Biggest Atmanirbhar Project: India Has Miles To Go When It Comes To Nuclear Submarines | Battle Cry

  50. Michigan Hearing Witness: Dominion CEO’s Testimony Leaves More Questions Unanswered
    By Tom Ozimek
    December 18, 2020 Updated: December 18, 2020
    biggersmaller Print

    Linda Lee Tarver, president of the Republican Women’s Federation of Michigan and former election integrity liaison in the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, said Thursday that Dominion chief John Poulos’s recent testimony left more questions unanswered than it clarified.

    Tarver, who testified at a Michigan election integrity hearing on Dec. 2, said Poulos’s Dec. 15 testimony to lawmakers boiled down to reiterating that “human error” was to blame for an initial Election Day vote discrepancy in Michigan’s Antrim County, where Dominion products were used.

    She said some of the questions that Poulos did not address include whether poll workers received proper training on the Dominion system, concerns about whether vote tabulators could use a USB stick to add votes to a candidate, and how prone Dominion systems are to hacking. Tarver also said chain-of-custody questions remained unanswered, and raised concerns about the ability of Dominion machines to connect to the Internet. Poulos confirmed that a small percentage of Dominion machines have Internet connectivity.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/michigan-hearing-witness-dominion-ceos-testimony-leaves-more-questions-unanswered_3624165.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-12-18-2