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FSB arrests 7 suspected supports of ISIS and al-Qaeda in Russia


RFE/RL
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 17:20 UTC
fsb isis
Russian authorities say they have detained seven people suspected of financially supporting two extremist organizations in the Middle East.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on December 13 that the suspects had been apprehended in and around the Moscow region and the three North Caucasus regions of Chechnya, Daghestan, and Ingushetia.

They were suspected of sending at least 38 million rubles ($570,000) to militants of the Islamic State (IS) group and the Al-Nusra Front - Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate until 2016 -- since 2010.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said the seven suspects were detained following a joint operation by the FSB, the Investigative Committee, and the National Guard.

Also on December 13, authorities in Ingushetia said that two suspected terrorists were killed overnight after one of them threw a grenade at police in the city of Nazran.

Two officers were wounded in the attack, officials said.

Comment: This is how Russia deals with her Islamist threat. France, by contrast, simply lets them walk the streets:

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Attention

9 dead and 46 wounded as high speed train collides with locomotive in Ankara, Turkey


Sputnik
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 17:05 UTC
Train crash Ankara
© REUTERS / Tumay Berkin
According to the Ankara administration, a crash, in which two railcars derailed, had been caused by the high-speed train's collision with a suburban passenger train.

Two railcars derailed in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday leading to multiple casualties, local media reported.

The death toll in the high-speed train crash in the Turkish capital of Ankara has increased to nine, while 46 people were injured, Turkish Minister of Transport Mehmet Cahit Turhan told reporters.

"A total of seven people died as a result of the crash, including the driver. A total of 46 people were injured, and the condition of three of them has been assessed as grave", the Ankara administration said in a statement earlier.

Comment: Train crashes, derailments and bridges collapsing seem to be in the news more and more often these days. Here are just a few from this year alone:

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USA

2018's 'man' of the year: The American "Dissidents" - Stephen Cohen, Bonnie Faulkner, Paul Craig Roberts and Ron Unz

The Saker
The Unz Review
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 16:56 UTC
cohen faulkner roberts unz
Once a year I like to pretend like my blog is some kind of "respectable" mainstream outlet and I engage in the (admittedly totally silly!) exercise of nominating some "man" (sorry, "person" is unbearably politically correct and once you go down that route you end up calling mentally deranged freaks "ze/zir/zee/etc" and the like). Hey, if you cannot get the kind of financing AngloZionist propaganda outlets get, let us at least pretend like we are fighting on an even playing field once a year, no? So once a year I pretend like I am not a lonely "deplorable" and I chose my own heroes of the day and that sort of makes me feel the "momentary equal" to propaganda outlets like Time mag or The Economist :-)

FYI - past nominees have included "the Syrian solider" (2013), "the Russian solider" (2014), "the Russian Airmen in Syria, Major-General Qasem Soleimani and Alexander Zakharchenko" (2015), "the American basket of deplorables" (2016) and "all those who gave their lives for Syria" (2017).

(Now please pretend like you hear a dramatic drum-roll.....)

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2018 "Saker man of the year" award jointly goes to: (in alphabetical order)

The American "Dissidents": Stephen Cohen, Bonnie Faulkner, Paul Craig Roberts and Ron Unz
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NPC

MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski uses homophobic slur, calls Pompeo 'a wannabe dictator's butt boy'

Tom Kludt
CNN
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 16:55 UTC
Mika Brzezinski

Mika Brzezinski, Co-Host, Morning Joe
MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski apologized Wednesday for a remark she made on air that drew criticism for its homophobic implications.

During a segment on "Morning Joe," Brzezinski blasted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his response to the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Pompeo had appeared on the Fox News morning show "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday to talk about a range of topics, including the terror attack in France and U.S. border security. In the sit-down interview, he evaded the hosts' questions about Khashoggi's murder and cast doubt on evidence that said Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was involved. Later in the morning, Brzezinski expressed outrage by what she called Pompeo's "pathetic deflections."

Comment: The Left is all about being tolerant, except when they are dealing with someone from the Right. Unfortunately for Mika, her employer MSNBC tried but failed to censor her homophobic slur. She is also missing from today's Morning Joe segment, which MSNBC has called a "planned absence" but which really looks like a PR move to let the furor over her comments die down until the news cycle moves on.

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Dollar

Some migrant caravan members demand reparations to turn around

Michael Burke
The Hill
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 16:52 UTC
police migrant caravan riot protesters
© Reuters / Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Two groups of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. on Tuesday marched toward the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, where one group has asked to be granted asylum or be paid $50,000 each in reparations to turn around, according to a report in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The first group of about 100 migrants arrived at the consulate on Tuesday morning, and members said they were asking the Trump administration for $50,000 to go away.

"It may seem like a lot of money to you. But it is a small sum compared to everything the United States has stolen from Honduras," organizer Alfonso Guerrero Ulloa said to the Union-Tribune of the reparations request.

The group gave the U.S. Consulate 72 hours to respond to their demand.

Another group of migrants delivered a letter to the Consulate later in the day, asking the U.S. to more quickly process requests for asylum. According to the Union-Tribune, the migrant group asked the U.S. to grant asylum to 300 people each day at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Comment: See also:

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Snowflake

Snowflake NY Times columnist wants office Christmas parties canceled because they are too difficult for women

Paul Bois
Daily Wire
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 19:48 UTC
New York Times columnist Jennifer Weiner
© Al Pereira / Contributor / Getty Images
New York Times columnist Jennifer Weiner
"It's the least wonderful time of the year," says New York Times columnist Jennifer Weiner in a recent op-ed. The source of her Scroogey disposition: office Christmas parties (she uses the politically correct term "Holiday" party) because of all the sexual harassment that women face.

According to Weiner, the prospect of the "Holiday" party is a difficult one for women due to the difficult task of "choosing clothes that signal that you are polished without being boring, attractive without being provocative, and that you're looking to be promoted, not propositioned."

"For women, it's never easy," she says, adding that men "have it all figured out" when it comes to festive wear.

In an appearance on CBS "This Morning" on Monday, Weiner said that she would prefer it if the office "Holiday" party was canceled entirely so that women could have more money in their paycheck instead of having to stress over what to wear.
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Che Guevara

French farmers' union blasts Macron's empty promises: 'Minimum wage is nuts if you work 70 hours a week'


RT
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 16:05 UTC
farmers yellow vest protest
© Reuters/Regis Duvignau
Protesters wearing yellow vests occupy a roundabout in Sainte-Eulalie near Bordeaux
The French President tried to quell Yellow Vest protests by vowing to increase the minimum wage and cut some taxes, but it means nothing to farmers working long hours and living on slim budgets, their union head told RT France.

President Emmanuel Macron sought to appease Yellow Vest demonstrators, offering them concessions after weeks of massive protests. A monthly minimum wage hike by €100 ($113) and tax decreases for the poor among them.

But Veronique le Floch, Secretary General of 'Coordination rurale' (Rural Coordination), a labor union of French farmers, told RT France Macron had only embraced wage earners but failed to deliver a similar promise to those employed in agriculture.

Comment: It seem that Macron's actions are being orchestrated behind the scenes, and interested only in blunting the the most vociferous protests, which are in the big cities. France's economy is heavily weighted to farming. It contains one-third of all agricultural land within the EU. A leader who was truly concerned with citizen welfare would never have made such a blunder.

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Broom

Boy Scouts of America deflects reports of pending bankruptcy amid sexual misconduct litigation

John Bacon
USA Today
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:32 UTC
Boy Scouts America bankruptcy

The Wall Street Journal reported that BSA was considering bankruptcy in the face of dwindling membership and the increasing legal costs.
The Boy Scouts of America deflected a report that the youth group might file for bankruptcy protection in the face of increasing sexual misconduct litigation, saying "no imminent actions or immediate decisions" are expected.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the youth organization was considering bankruptcy in the face of dwindling membership and the increasing legal costs. The law firm Sidley Austin LLP was hired to explore options, the newspaper reported.

The law firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Michael B. Surbaugh, chief scout executive, issued a statement "in anticipation of news reports that will speculate about the BSA's financial position." He said the group was working with experts he did not name to explore all options aimed at ensuring that the group's programming continues uninterrupted.

"We have a social and moral responsibility to fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in scouting," he said. "And we also have an obligation to carry out our mission to serve youth, families and local communities."

Comment: More on the scandal plagued scouting organization:

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Bullseye

Victory for Project Veritas: Judge Patti B. Saris rules Americans can secretly record public officials

Alex Swoyer
The Washington Times
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:56 UTC
James O'Keefe
© Blair Raughley/Associated Press
James O'Keefe of Project Veritas called the ruling groundbreaking.
A federal judge ruled Monday that Americans have a right to secretly record their public officials, including police, when they are engaged in their government duties.

U.S. District Chief Judge Patti B. Saris said a Massachusetts law banning secret recordings violates the First Amendment when it comes to government employees, rejecting the state's claims that officials need some space to be able to operate without having to worry about being monitored.

"This is not to say that police and government officials have no privacy interests," she wrote. "However, the diminished privacy interests of government officials performing their duties in public must be balanced by the First Amendment interest in newsgathering and information-dissemination."

Comment: A carefully formulated law will go a long way towards enforcing accountability for those in power, especially at the local level. The current situation is a confusing patchwork of rulings from state to state. And the bodycams worn by police seem to "malfunction" more often than not. A backup record of an incident may make all the difference.

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Cross

Orthodox Bishop Kallistos: Constantinople was unwise to break with Moscow as conflict hurts the entire church


RT
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:51 UTC
Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople
© Reuters / Huseyin Aldemir
Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople
Patriarch Bartholomew was wrong to declare Ukraine is no longer subject to the Russian Orthodox Church as the conflict hurts the entire Orthodoxy, believes Metropolitan Kallistos, a leading bishop of the Constantinople patriarchy.

Kallistos (Timothy Ware) is an Oxford-based bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and one of the most respected Orthodox theologians today. In a recent interview with Slovo Bozhie (the word of God), a Russian Orthodox news website, he acknowledged that the escalation was initiated by Constantinople.

He is referring to the 17th century letter, which acknowledged the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church to appoint the metropolitan of Kiev, the highest bishop in Ukraine. In October, Constantinople announced it was revoking this right as part of its effort to create an independent Orthodox church in Ukraine, which would include the recognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which answers to Moscow, and two self-proclaimed churches that are considered schismatic by other churches.

Kallistos said that, with all due respect to Patriarch Bartholomew, he agreed with the Patriarchate of Moscow that "Ukraine belongs to the Russian Church."

"This is a fact of history that Ukraine has belonged to the Russian Church. I believe therefore, it has been a mistake for the Ecumenical Patriarch to give autocephaly to the two schismatic bishops - Philaret and Makary," he said, referring to the leaders of the two unrecognized churches in Ukraine. The same decision of Constantinople in October declared them legitimate priests in defiance of Moscow's position to the contrary.

Comment: More recent news on the schism within the Orthodox Church:

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