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The Syrian refugee terror plot in Pittsburgh and the long list of FBI-manufactured terrorism cases

Kris Hermes
Counterpunch
Wed, 26 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
An FBI Evidence Response Team

An FBI Evidence Response Team
On the surface, the story of 21-year-old Syrian refugee and Pittsburgh resident Mustafa Mousab Alowemer has the elements to strike fear in many Americans and give ammunition to the Trump administration for its war on immigrants and refugees, especially those who would dare to flee violence in countries like Syria.

With much fanfare but no apparent imminent danger, the FBI announced on Wednesday last week that it had foiled a purported plot by Alowemer, an accused ISIS supporter, to bomb a local church in Northview Heights on the north side of Pittsburgh. To increase the spectacle of Alowemer's arrest, police shut down the entire block on which he lived and even knocked on neighborhood doors to alert residents to stay inside.

The results of the months-long FBI investigation was the indictment of Alowemer, who was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS and two counts of distributing information about making explosives.

Although Alowemer's alleged plot to bomb the Legacy International Worship Center was set for July, the arrest was carried out on June 19, the eve of Global Refugee Day. This year's theme encouraged people to stand in solidarity with refugees.
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Arrow Down

Austria passes smoking ban in bars and restaurants following take down of populist government


RT
Tue, 02 Jul 2019 15:48 UTC
no smoking signs

An employee shows no-smoking signs in the a printing shop in Vienna, Austria.
Parliament on Tuesday passed a ban on smoking in Austria's bars and restaurants, extinguishing a flagship policy of the recently collapsed right-wing government which had scrapped the measure after it was already on the statute books.

Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, launched in December 2017, imploded in May after FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache was caught in a video sting apparently offering to fix state contracts at a meeting with a woman posing as a Russian oligarch's niece.

The coalition had thrown out an impending ban on smoking in bars and restaurants passed under the previous centrist government.

Comment: The shady take down of the populist Austrian government is the gift that just keeps on giving: NATO 'Deep State' and Israeli interests both served by the collapse of the Austrian government

See also:

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Ice Cream Bar

Merkelstan: German public pool closed after swarm of Muslim migrants harasses family, attacks police


RT
Tue, 02 Jul 2019 21:31 UTC
swimming pool migrants germany
© Global Look Press / DPA / Gerhard Berger
Police cars seen outside the Rheinbad pool in Dusseldorf, Germany on June 29, 2019.
A public pool is surely a nice way to cool yourself off, yet one in Dusseldorf, Germany was not enough to stop several hundred of hot-heads from causing trouble. Over the weekend the pool was closed twice thanks to rowdy visitors.

The Rheinbad public pool was plagued by ugly incidents this weekend, amid a record heat wave in Europe. There was even a large-scale police operation to calm-down rowdy swimmers on Saturday. The explosive situation involved "several hundred" people, primarily young men, the police said.

Local media put the number of the rowdy pool-goers at 400, reporting that the crowd primarily consisted of people of North-African origin.


Comment: That's another one to add to the list of new rules in Germany: don't offend migrants when they're having fun.

Merkel has done a good job speeding up the end of liberalism in Europe.

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Fire

Explosion that destroyed home under investigation in Ballantyne, US


ABC 11
Tue, 02 Jul 2019 21:15 UTC
ballantyne explosion
Charlotte firefighters are responding to a Ballantyne house destroyed by an apparent explosion Tuesday afternoon.

It happened just before 2 p.m. according to WSOC.

The Charlotte Fire Department confirmed to WSOC the house collapsed due to a fire.

The home is located in the 11800 block of James Jack Lane off Ballantyne Commons Parkway.

Firefighters said a man made several calls to 911 to say he was trapped in the home after the explosion. They said the man was rescued and airlifted to the hospital.

Comment:





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Dollars

During their 'smashing' success, Hong Kong protesters politely paid for drinks and protected cultural artifacts


RT
Tue, 02 Jul 2019 02:29 UTC
HongKong protesters
© Reuters/Tyrone Siu
Protesters break into Hong Kong's Legislative Council building
While protesters in Hong Kong smashed their way into the city's parliament building and daubed anti-Chinese slogans on its walls, they were apparently polite enough to pay for drinks and protect "cultural artifacts" inside.

A mass of demonstrators used a metal trolley to breach the Hong Kong Legislative Council building after a standoff with riot police on Monday afternoon. Once inside, they occupied the main debating chamber, spray-painting anti-Chinese graffiti on the walls and hanging a British colonial flag - a visual thumb on the nose to Beijing.

However, according to a series of viral pictures circulating online, the seething masses deliberately avoided damaging books and antiquities within the building. The unverified pictures apparently show signs hung by the protesters warning that "cultural objects should be preserved." Near the Legislative Council library, barricades were put up, and another sign read "Preserve books. Don't destroy."

Comment: See also:

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Biohazard

Two people may have been exposed to sarin at California Facebook mail facility


RT
Mon, 01 Jul 2019 20:15 UTC
Facebook facility
© Reuters/Noah Berger
Facebook facility, Menlo Park, California
Authorities say two employees may have been exposed to sarin, after a machine designed to detect harmful substances at a Facebook mailing center alerted employees to the presence of the lethal nerve agent. Several buildings in the Menlo Park, California area, the location of the mailing facility, have been evacuated, according to a Facebook spokesperson.

"At 11:00 AM PDT this morning, a package delivered to one of our mail rooms was deemed suspicious," Facebook said in a statement. "We evacuated four buildings and are conducting a thorough investigation in coordination with local authorities."

The company added that while authorities have not yet identified the substance, they have cleared three of the four evacuated buildings for repopulation. The FBI confirmed to the Associated Press that federal agents were assisting on the scene.

The Menlo Park Fire Marshal reported that two Facebook employees may have come in contact with the nerve agent. "We have two possible exposures but right now they are not exhibiting any signs or symptoms," said Menlo Park Fire Marshall Jon Johnston.

The machine used to detect dangerous substances at the mail processing center reportedly identified sarin on the package on two out of three tests, but it is unclear whether they were false positives.
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Attention

Camping okayed in Austin public spaces — but not at City Hall

Elizabeth Findell
The Statesman
Fri, 28 Jun 2019 16:57 UTC
homeless people austin texas
After emotional testimony last week regarding homelessness in Austin, City Council members rescinded prohibitions on camping on public property. Starting Monday, so long as they are not presenting a hazard or danger, people will be able to sleep, lie and set up tents on city-owned sidewalks, plazas and vacant non-park space.

Except, not in front of City Hall itself.

City Hall building guidelines implemented by former City Manager Marc Ott in 2012 disallow anyone from using the outdoor plaza, covered amphitheater or raised mezzanine from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. unless a city meeting is going on inside. The rules specifically prohibit sleeping, camping, storing personal property and erecting tents.
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Pirates

Islamic State claims responsibility for attack in Chechnya, Russia


RFE/RL
Tue, 02 Jul 2019 16:29 UTC
grozny chechnya

Grozny
The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for an attack in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya in which a police officer was killed.

On July 1, an unknown man threw a grenade at a police post in Chechnya's western Achkhoi-Martan district and stabbed a police officer to death.

The assailant was shot dead by police officers.

The IS group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online activity of jihadist organizations.

Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, condemned the attack and vowed to increase counterterrorism efforts.

Attacks on police and authorities in Chechnya have persisted for years after Russia drove out a separatist Chechen government in the second of two devastating post-Soviet wars.

The wars spawned an Islamist insurgency that has spread from Chechnya to other mostly Muslim North Caucasus provinces.

Comment: If Russia hadn't came to the Syrian government's assistance, attacks like this would be a much more regular occurrence in Russia. The IS-aligned Caucasus Emirate migrated to Syria to join in the Islamist revolution there. And that's where most of them died.

That said, you can't always trust SITE, or IS sources. While many of the attacks they claim are later verified (especially the ones in Syria and Iraq, where they had a substantial presence), many are not, and could simply be opportunistic PR moves.

For more background on the Islamist scene in Russia, see SOTT's interview with Gordon Hahn:

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NPC

Antifa is mostly made up of privileged white dudes

David Marcus
The Federalist
Mon, 01 Jul 2019 16:34 UTC
antifa
At Occupy Wall Street, there were two very distinct groups. On one side of the park were the peaceful intellectuals. They ran the library and the general assembly, and organized services in the park. On the other side was the black bloc, a collection of black-clad punks, often with bandanas ready to serve as masks, who mostly engaged in drug use and drum circles. The latter group is directly related to the movement we now know as Antifa.

One thing that both of these groups had — and continue to have — in common is that they are mostly young white people. This is not surprising; poll after poll shows us that the vast majority of far-left progressives are white. The intellectuals at Occupy understood and tried to address this, giving special treatment to the speech and ideas of their small cadre of non-white participants. The Black Bloc and Antifa take a different approach; they just cover their faces.
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Dominoes

Arizona blocks Nike after Kaepernick complaint sparks virtue-signaling sneaker ban

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 02 Jul 2019 14:42 UTC
betsy ross sneaker
Just a week after Nike appeared to bow to Chinese authorities' demands, halting the sale of a range of sports shoes in China after its Japanese designer showed support for Hong Kong protests in an Instagram post; the sportswear company has been implicitly banned from Arizona after nixing the launch of its "Betsy Ross Flag" sneakers after former football player Colin Kaepernick complained.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, the sneaker giant created the Air Max 1 USA in celebration of the July Fourth holiday, and it was slated to go on sale this week.
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