Thursday, January 14, 2016
Al Jazeera America to Shut Down
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Opinion: State of Disunion
“I stand here confident that the State of our Union is strong,” President Obama summed things up last night. To which one might have puckishly responded: Strong maybe, but what union?
The invited audience at the annual address included many human symbols of national division: culture-war conscientious objectors Kim Davis and the Little Sisters of the Poor; Jim Obergefell, victor in the Supreme Court battle that occasioned Davis’s objection; representatives from Black Lives Matter and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. There were even empty seats to show disrespect for the Second Amendment and opposition to abortion.
The president acknowledged the country’s divided state in the most interesting line of his address:
It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency—that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.Likewise, there’s no doubt our column would improve if we wrote as well as Shakespeare: We thank God for our humility.
It would have been more interesting—and shown real self-awareness—if the president had acknowledged his political talents are in some respects wanting when compared not with the universally acknowledged great presidents but with the successful presidents of his own lifetime. We’re thinking here of Reagan and Clinton, who like Obama held office during fractious (if not quite as fractious) periods under divided government. In terms of both compromising with the opposition and emerging victorious from confrontations with it, Reagan and Clinton each enjoyed considerably more success than Obama. » | James Taranto | Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Merkel spricht Unsinn! Angela Merkel über die Angst vor einer Islamisierung Europas 03.09.2015
Taharrush: Muslim Gang Rape Custom SWEEPING Europe
UK Government Accused of Selling Weapons to Saudis, Admits Helping Choose Targets in Yemen
Angela Merkel Faces New Rebellion Over Refugees
Angela Merkel is facing a fresh rebellion over her refugee policy, with more than 40 politicians from her Christian Democrat party reportedly signing a petition to close Germany's borders to asylum seekers.
The rebels plan to call for a vote on the proposal at the next party meeting on January 26.
Mrs Merkel has come under intense pressure to change her “open-door” refugee policy since it emerged that asylum seekers were among the suspects in the New Year’s Eve sex attacks in Cologne.
More than 650 women have now come forward to file criminal complaints over the attacks, around 45 per cent of them for sexual assault. » | Justin Huggler in Berlin | Wednesday, January 13, 2016
DrB spricht über die Lage in Deutschland: Wie geht's weiter?
Ezra Levant Show: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to Introduce New Hijab Uniform
Sign the petition here
Rhetoric Shift: Germany Imposes Stricter Rules on Refugees after Cologne Sex Assaults
USA: Germans Are Going to Riot, Overthrow Merkel – Trump Talks Cologne in Iowa
The West's Terminal Radical Islam Denial Syndrome
In response, Hillary Clinton declared, "Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with Islam." She agreed this week that "white terrorism and extremism" are just as much a threat to Americans as ISIS and radical Islam, and then proceeded to blame "gun violence." The mayor of Cologne, Germany, told young women not to walk within "arm's length" of young Muslim men, and leftist commentators explained that the wave of sexual harassment resulted from some generalized, nonspecific religious patriarchal attitudes. The mayor of Philadelphia said that the attack on the police officer had nothing to do with "being a Muslim or the Islamic faith," and that instead, we ought to focus our attention on the pressing issue of gun violence: "There are just too many guns on the streets, and I think our national government needs to do something about that."
If the West keeps this up, there won't be any West of which to speak. » | Ben Shapiro | Wednesday, January 13, 2016
State of the Union: Obama Regrets Era of 'Rancor' and Ponders Divided America
Read the Guardian article here | David Smith and Dan Roberts in Washington | Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Denmark to Force Refugees to Give Up Valuables under Proposed Asylum Law
Denmark is set to force refugees to hand over their valuables in order to pay for their accommodation while applying for asylum, in a move the UN has warned may fuel fear and xenophobia. The Danish government has secured a parliamentary majority in favour of legislation that will severely curb the rights of refugees, and is expected to pass the legislation in parliament on Wednesday.
The bill states that asylum seekers who arrive with more than 10,000 kroner in cash “will have to [use] the surplus above 10,000 kroner to pay for their stay”, Danish government spokesman Marcus Knuth told the Guardian.
After criticism of an earlier draft of the law, refugees will no longer have to give up items of sentimental value, such as wedding rings, or items deemed as essential, such as watches. Gold bullion could still be seized, but Knuth said that in the case of any dispute of sentimental value, the asylum seeker would have the final say.
Responding to comparisons between the new law and the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust, Knuth said the claim was “ludicrous” because similar laws apply to Danish citizens on welfare benefits. “We’re simply applying the same rules we apply to Danish citizens who wish to take money from the Danish government,” he said. » | Patrick Kingsley Migration correspondent | Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Sister of Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi Arrested and Jailed in Same Prison
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| Samar Badawi received the 2012 International Women of Courage award for her efforts to promote women's equality in Saudi Arabia. |
Samar Badawi, a prominent Saudi human rights advocate – and the sister of jailed blogger Raif Badawi – has been arrested and is being held in the same prison as her brother, according to activists and family members.
In a series of tweets Raif Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, said Samar had been arrested and transferred to Dharhan central prison after four hours of questioning.
According to Haidar, Amnesty International and the Raif Badawi Foundation – a Canadian advocacy group – Samar is believed to have been arrested Tuesday for posting to a Twitter account used to campaign for the release of her former husband, Waleed Abu al-Khair, and for publishing of photo of him in jail.
Abu al-Khair is a Saudi human rights lawyer currently serving a 15-year sentence, in part for defending Raif Badawi.
In a statement, Amnesty called Samar’s arrest “the latest example of Saudi Arabia’s utter contempt for its human rights obligations and provides further damning proof of the authorities’ intent to suppress all signs of peaceful dissent”. Read on and comment » | Jessica Murphy in Ottawa | Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Germany: Sexual Assaults 'Not a Totally New Phenomenon in Germany' - Interior Minister
Germany: PEGIDA and AntiFa Supporters Clash in Munich
Syrian Mothers Urge UK Women Not to Take Their Families to War Zone
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