Joe Biden's Latest Gaffe

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


This article first appeared in New English Review.


Joe Biden-Clarence Thomas


With his obviously failing mental capacities, Joe Biden, a man long known for verbal gaffes, is now committing them on a daily basis. It's not entirely fair to blame him because his mental decline is so obvious, yet his latest gaffe was nothing to laugh about. On Friday, Biden was being interviewed by a black radio host (Charlamagne the God) when he made the comment that blacks considering voting for Trump "ain't black".

Where to begin? First of all, I don't consider Biden a racist, but he seems to have that paternalistic attitude that all blacks should support Democrats and liberal policies. This is the man who, a few years ago, told a black audience that the Republicans were "going to put y'all back in chains." This is the man who presided over the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings that was turned into a three-ring circus. Anita Hill was the Democrats' pawn, but the real objection for them was that Thomas was a conservative black Republican.

The main issue that should be addressed here is the barriers faced by African-American conservatives. I have said for years that they are, in my view, the most intellectually stimulating people in American society. It takes a courageous person to go against the grain and support alternative views and solutions for what ails black America. Justice Thomas is just one who has felt the wrath and been called an Uncle Tom. There are others like Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Candace Owens, Larry Elder, Senator Tim Scott, and others. The tactics used by the left to demonize these independent thinkers are despicable, and Joe Biden's comments are equally despicable.

The question should also be asked: Who in the Hell does Biden think he is to define who is black and who is not according to how they think? What he is saying is that all black people should think like him. Would he make that same statement about white people-that any white that would vote for Trump isn't white?

The truth of the matter is that Biden, even in his prime, has always been a jerk who thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. He could have easily made that same statement in 1980. He is anything but the smartest guy in the room, not now, not ever.

Biden should issue a public apology to black conservatives and any others who are even considering voting for Trump. This might even be the appropriate time to announce that he is withdrawing from the presidential race.

*Update: Biden has apologized for the remark.

Michael Flynn and the FBI

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


The headline of today is that the Justice Department has moved to formally drop the case against Michael Flynn for lying to FBI agents. This is long overdue.

The judge overseeing the case still has to put the lid on it by dismissing the charges, which should be a formality. That should have been done even before the DOJ dropped the charges. The revelations this week regarding FBI notes discussing how they should interview Flynn and to what objective ended any doubt that the FBI had acted in an unethical manner.

I take no pleasure in writing this as a former federal agent (DEA). But I feel in my heart what those agents did to Flynn was against the very spirit of the law under our democratic system of justice.

During my own career I had several occasions to interview people who were targets of an investigation, usually after arrest, but occasionally prior to actually being charged. In most cases (unless they exercised their right to a lawyer etc.), they told me lies. Sometimes I knew at the time they were lies. I was later able to testify in court that they had lied and present the evidence that contradicted their statements. To me, it was just another element of proof that they were guilty of the underlying drug offense. However, I never charged anyone for lying to a federal agent (18 USC 1001), and I never conducted an interview with that end in mind. I never went into an interview with the aim of getting somebody fired from a job. And similarly, I never went back after I submitted a report favorable to the suspect and in effect, changed that report to the suspect's detriment.

On that latter point, let me explain the proper procedure. We are human and sometimes investigative reports are written and submitted that later turn out to have factual errors in them. In that case, the agent who wrote the original report has an obligation to write a follow up report to the case file pointing out the error and correcting it. You don't make the original report disappear.

Once the agent signs a report, it is reviewed and signed by that agent's immediate supervisor. From there it is distributed to the relevant parties. Who are the relevant parties? Those would be other field offices involved in the investigation as well as the relevant headquarters sections. Naturally, a copy goes into the case file(s). Those reports, in the event of eventual prosecution, are legally available to the defense attorney. It is called the Law of Discovery or the Brady Act. (There are some exceptions if the material is not deemed relevant to the actual prosecution, but in Flynn's case, the original report made after the interview, which reportedly indicated that  Flynn was being truthful, should have been turned over to his defense council under Discovery-especially if it was exculpatory. Instead, what they (and the public) got was drips and drops over a three-year period.

The treatment of Flynn is much like the treatment of Carter Page, who was subjected to electronic monitoring based on a fraudulent dossier prepared by a former British intelligence agent  hired by entities who ultimately  were paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC. The FBI knew the dossier was highly suspect, yet included it in affidavits to the FISA court to conduct electronic surveillance on Page, a man who has never been charged with anything. James Comey himself signed off on three of the affidavits himself. And here is Comey crying about today's action and telling DOJ officials to stay and fight back. Fight back against what-bringing corrupt agents to justice?

James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, Bruce Ohr, Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page and others violated the civil rights of people in the Trump camp because they wanted to influence the outcome of an election and continued to do so even after the election and after the inauguration to bring down a duly-elected president-all based on a lie. The lie was that Trump and people in his campaign were complicit in Russian efforts to meddle in our election.

I don't condemn the rank and file agents, but the FBI suffered from a rot at the top, a feeling of superiority that led them to think they could white wash the Clinton email case-which they did- and then submarine Trump. This attitude of superiority goes deep back in history-all the way to J Edgar Hoover. He was the man who built the FBI into the law enforcement agency none other could match in turns of resources and sophistication. He also made it into an agency that at times was above the law. Several directors since Hoover's death have tried to reform the agency-with mixed results.

Like your average DEA agent, I was not a fan of the FBI. Yet I ended my career with DEA as a trainer at the FBI Academy, a great experience. In the war on Islamic terror, I have been a solid supporter of the FBI and the terror strikes they have thwarted. As I stated, this present corruption was at the top and should not be considered as something most field agents would do. Indeed, it seems that the operations aimed at Carter Page and Michael Flynn were not carried out by field agents at the Washington Field Office-rather by high level supervisors at Hqs. That itself should have raised red flags.

James Comey, in spite of all his moral posturing, brought disgrace to the FBI. He himself was part of the cabal aimed against both Flynn and Page.

And about the current director, Christopher Wray? True, the scandal took place before his watch, but he has an obligation to help clean up the filth. If he is not, if he is merely trying to withhold information that would damage the agency-then he too should be fired.

Meanwhile, DOJ must continue the investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing by government officials. If indictments are warranted, let them come.

Yom ha Shoah-Palestinians Refer to Jews as Virus

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



Hat tip  Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers


Leave it to the Palestinians to conjure up modern-day Nazi style images of the Jews in Israel. As Israel marks the Holocaust and the loss of 6 million Jews, the Palestinian tweeters and artists are outdoing themselves with cartoons equating Jews to the Corona virus.

https://proisraelbaybloggers.blogspot.com/2020/04/palestinians-campare-jews-to-viruses-on.html



Let's try to draw some comparisons. Suppose we were to produce cartoons attacking the Chinese people for the Corona virus? How fast do you think that would be condemned? Yet, the noble Palestinians could produce this trash and get away with it.

Rather than go on a long rant about all the anti-Jewish hate I have seem come out of the pro-Palestinian lobby over the years, let me just say that these images say much more about the Palestinians and their "cause" than they could ever say about Jews.

Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article is another translation of an original regarding the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. It describes the Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium and was written in French by Willy Wolztain in 2016 for the CCLJ (Centre Comunautaire  Laïc Juif-Secular Jew Community Center). Translation by Fousesquawk. The influence of radical Islam is very strong in Belgium, and Brussels is often described as the epicenter of radical Islam in Europe.


https://www.cclj.be/actu/politique-societe/systeme-freres-musulmans-illustration-par-cas-privot

The Muslim Brotherhood System: Illustration via the Privot Case
- Friday, 20 May 2016 by Willy Wolsztain

More a religious political sect than a  spiritual movement, founded in 1928 by the Egyptian Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood carries a totalitarian vision of the religion. In Europe, they are attempting to Islamicize society in a gradual manner with their ultimate end, the installation of a worldwide caliphate. In order to grasp their true nature, it is enough to observe up close the Muslim Fair of Brussels (FMB), one of their  flagship annual events, along with the Moslem Expo (Antwerp) and the Muslim Expo (Charleroi).

Promotion of the female Muslim dress code, segregation between men and women during conferences, omnipresent prayers, Koranic rants. At the FMB, there reigns an atmosphere of obscurantism, bigotry and conservatism. There the Aksahum Foundation supports the charitable works of Hamas. One can hear the diatribes of hate against Shi'ite Islam (Hassan Iquiousson at the FMB 2015). Anti-Semitic preachers are invited (FMB 2104, Muslim Expo, Charleroi 2-016) Works by Youssef al-Qaradawi, the notorious leading thinker and spiritual guide of the Brotherhood, are distributed.

The founding father Hassan al-Banna always present

The ideology that permeates the Muslim Fair is inspired directly from the founding father, Hassan al-Banna. See his 1947 manifest with its 50 programmed points. One will note in passing how many ideas also influence the Islamic political pressure in Europe ( claims on the Islamic veil, segregation between the sexes, family law, censorship of media and art, etc.) A prophetic microcosm, the Fair prefigures the ideal macrocosm according to the Brotherhood, exact opposite of a liberal Islam, open to the values of individual liberty, democracy, humanism and progress.

We examine the Brotherhood career of Islamologist Michael Privot. We have already dealt with his case elsewhere. In an exemplary manner, it illustrates the "Leninist perspective of taking control", put into practice by the Brotherhood, to use the happy formula of the Egyptian historian, Tewfik Aclimandos.

A completely unusual approach for a member of the Brotherhood, Michael Privot, carried out a Brotherhood "coming out" in 2008. In perfect contrast to the spectacle of the Muslim Fair, Privot presents the European Muslim Brotherhood self-styled "fed-up with the virtues of democracy, human rights, the Nation of laws and responsible citizenship". Interviewed 8 years later after having said he slammed the Brotherhood door, he gave us the same angelic serenade. He shows "the tip of the ear", however. "One has to take the the example of Milli Gorush." Milli Gorush (of the) Turkish Islamist movement, conservative, totalitarian, close in spirit to the Muslim Brotherhood. Since 2012, Michael Privot claims to have broken with the Brotherhood. In truth, that is false. Up to today, he remains closely tied to the active Brotherhood structures in Belgium. And here is the proof.

According to a 2008 American report, "The Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium", Michael Privot co-chaired the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Students Associations (FEMYSO), one of the top organisms linked to the Brotherhood. In 2004, he entered the administrative council of the Educational Islamic Cultural Complex of Verviers- Assahaba Mosque (CECIV) as treasurer, a few months after the establishment of this non-profit. In 2007 he became vice secretary. He only left the board of the CECIV at the beginning of 2015.  Not without leaving behind him a person of confidence, namely Julie "Noor" Pascoet, (who) joined the board at the end of 2014 as secretary. She joined Hajib El Hajjaji (see below), who then sat on the board of CECIV since 2010, as well as Frank "Amin" Hensch, president and imam of CECIV. Pascoet is also a close collaborator of Privot at the head of ENAR-European Network Against Racism, which he leads in a professional role. She worked for Islamic Relief Worldwide, a very important international charitable NGO linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

ENAR, a European network of organizations, has, among its Europeans members, the FEMYSO, already mentioned, as well as the European Forum of Muslim Women (EFOMW), also linked to the Brotherhood. ENAR counts among its Belgian members the Collective Against Islamophobia in Belgium (CCIB) and Muslims Right Belgium (MRB), two propaganda agencies from the Muslim Brotherhood movement. ENAR makes the fight against "Islamophobia", an Islamist obsession, one of its priority actions.

At the beginning of 2013, Privot co-founded Empowering Belgian Muslims (EmBeM), a non-profit where he served as vice president. It is Fatima Zibouh, a researcher at the University of Liege, who leads EmBeM. She also functions as editorial  adviser of Radio AraBel, a local Brussels transmitter. A partner of the Muslim Fair of Brussels, Radio AraBel covers this event exclusively from a temporary studio installed in the heart (of the fair). Among the founding members of EmBeM, we note Brussels representative Mahinur Ozdemir, the first Parliamentarian in Europe to wear the Islamic veil. After having gotten her elected, the CDH excluded her for denying the Armenian genocide. Should that be surprising? The current Turkish president, the Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister, a great democrat as everyone knows, attended the lady's marriage in Istanbul. Another founder of EmBeM: Zaki Chairi, a Radio AraBel host and Islamist Scout leader (Scouts and Muslim Guides of Brussels). Zaki Chairi is the son of Mustapha Chairi, president of CCIB, previously mentioned. EmBeM counts among its administrators Taoufik Amzile, president of the Belgian Association of Muslim Professionals-ABPM. We will return to this (see below). EmBeM figured, along with the CCIB, among the partners of Moslim Expo 2015 in Antwerp, a Muslim Brotherhood event organized in the north of the country.

Nebula of personalities- Network of institutions

In this way, accessible data, though partial, permit the outlining of the active Muslim Brotherhood mechanism in French-speaking Belgium. Not having identifiable bosses and leaders, a nebula of personalities emerges. It adopts the form of a network of non-profits of various social purposes, with converging aims and mutual filtering roles, through cross-participation in boards of directors. To which should be added de facto associations (Muslim Rights Belgium) and limited public companies (Radio AraBel). What is shown in the table is French-speaking Belgian level with connections in Flanders, an international level, as well as positions of external, strategic influence, for example, within ENAR. By the number of its administrators also belonging to the boards of sister non-profits, the Michael Privot's CECIV appears to be at the center of the mechanism.

The Tarek Al-Suwaidan episode at the Brussels Muslim Fair (FMB) in 2014 offers an opening (view) of the operational function of this apparatus. Remember that the authorities prohibited entry into Belgium of this Kuwaiti preacher on  grounds of anti-Semitism. The CECIV, during the time when Michael Privot was still director, co-organized the FMB along with the League of Belgian Muslims (LMB). On the Facebook page of the Fair is shown a reservation banner with the CECIV logo alongside those of the French editor Gedis and the LMB, the official organizer.  After the incident, Privot put out a press release. He was sorry for "the lack of differentiation" between the LMB and Gedis. He avails himself of EmBeM, but takes care not to denounce CECIV. The press award him a "patent of virginity" under the title, "discordant voice". A discordant voice? Or skillful against fire?

At the end of the Merley report in 2008 an info chart shows the central position of Michael Privot within the Muslim Brotherhood structures in Belgium. Hajib El Hajjaji, previously mentioned, appeared by his side. He still figures today among his close (associates). We could find them together during a  conference which EmBeM organized at Anderlecht on 12 May 2015 at Espace Poicare/Dar al Quran- a Brotherhood institution. Michael Privot introduced the debate. Hajob El Hajjaji manages the location.  He also chairs the Collective Against Islamopobia in Belgium, mentioned above. He has practiced professionally on behalf of the ABPM of Taoufik Amzile and was administrator for a time. As for Julie Pascoet, administrator/secretary of CECIV and Michael Privot's right arm at ENAR, she participated in the European Parliament on March 2, 2016 on behalf of ENAR in the conference, Women Against Islamophobia". The session was held under the leadership Deputy Soraya Post (Sweden, Feminist Party, Socialist Group). ENAR co-organized the event along the European Brotherhood federations, FEMYSO and EFOMW, already mentioned.

 Belgian elites bet on the Muslim Brotherhood?

In spite of his insistent denials, Michael Privot persists in frequenting Muslim Brotherhood circles in an active manner. Ex-officials of the Brotherhood like Farid Abdelkrim or Mohamed Louizi denounce the ideology, exposing its hidden function, (and) help combat it. They take risks. Nothing of the sort for Michael Privot. On the contrary he reveals nothing about the organization which he, nevertheless, worked inside for years. He makes soothing comments about the Brotherhood. He saves the day. We can commit errors of youth. To have adhered to a fascist-type movement. But if you break with it, you must pay the debt. You must work to destroy it. A question of democratic credibility. Privot is very careful. This con artist is an excellent showcase for the Muslim Brotherhood. And it works.

Because it is exclusively those non-Muslims, media types, academics, politicians who have created and maintain the visibility and the notoriety of Michael Privot. Here 40 years, our political elites (and the Royal Palace) have outsourced the Islam of Belgium to Saudi Arabia. Today, we are paying very dearly for this fatal choice. Would our current elites  bet on the Muslim Brotherhood to out-source Islam 2.0 to them? A disastrous calculation. Like the Saudi Salafism in the past 40 years, the ever-so-close Brotherhood ideology programs and softens the brains and renders them permeable to the jihadist sirens of tomorrow.

Do We Need a New Agency to Tackle the Pandemic Threat?

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Sultan Knish


Daniel Greenfield at his blog, Sultan Knish, has an interesting article on how we should address the likelihood of future virus attacks. Once we get through this one, we have to expect that it could happen again-especially if this turns out to be man-made. In this article, Greenfield suggests a new government agency to specifically attack the threat of viruses.

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2020/04/pandemic-hardening-can-make-america.html#comment-form

While I share Greenfield's skepticism of the myriad of US Government alphabet soup agencies, I agree with his idea that a new agency be formed.

As I commented in the reader thread, I myself was part of an alphabet soup agency (DEA). During my career, I spent a total of ten years working under the State Department umbrella, three years in Thailand, five years in Italy, and two years in DEA's International Training Division. I will simply say that I don't place much confidence in the State Department, and that is no slap at the many foreign service officers who spend years in God-forsaken places trying to carry out US Government policy and make the world a better place.

Greenfield touched on the 9-11 intelligence failures. Much of that was due to the failure of the CIA and FBI to work together and share intelligence, I know personally that has been a long-standing problem even beyond the artificial wall that was imposed between them during the Clinton administration by Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, who inexplicably went on to be part of the 9-11 Commission.

I strongly believe that we need a new agency with intelligence capability and criminal investigators with enforcement powers to specifically address this issue. We are now living in a new world, and we cannot afford regular pandemic occurrences in the future.

But how to create this agency and get highly-qualified personnel? I offer as a possible example the government merger in 1973 that created DEA.

During the Nixon administration, it was decided that there was too much overlap, competition, and lack of cooperation between the government agencies involved in the "War on Drugs".  At that time, there was the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) in the Justice Department and the US Customs Agency Service in the Treasury Department. With Customs, there were hundreds of agents specifically assigned to fight drug smuggling. I was one of them, stationed in San Pedro, California.

Often we worked with BNDD on joint cases where we both had information on the same violators. Just as often we did not work together. The relationship between our agencies was not good. There was more competition than cooperation, and only the bad guys win in that scenario.  The solution for the Nixon administration was to have a government reorganization-merge 500 agents from Customs who had been working drugs with BNDD into a new Justice Dept. agency. Thus, in July 1973, DEA was born, and I was transferred to my new office and my new agency. We basically were absorbed into the BNDD infrastructure with a new name. Looking back, I think it was a good move. It was difficult at first, but DEA grew into one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in the Federal government.

So a new agency would take in agents from different government agencies, people with particular skills like intelligence analysts, chemists, and people with overseas experience and language skills. DEA, for example, has many diversion investigators, who deal with the unlawful distribution of legal controlled substances. Would that mean that a lot of people would have to switch agencies against their will? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. I did not want to leave Customs, but I had to and it turned out well for me. I had a good career in DEA. I suspect just as many people would be thrilled to take on such an enormous task given the urgency of this situation.

Over the years, different administrations have seriously considered merging DEA into the FBI. (The FBI was even given concurrent drug enforcement jurisdiction along with DEA.) That was not a good idea, and such a merger never happened. For certain crimes, like drug trafficking, we need a single-focus agency. The FBI, with its myriad of crimes that they investigate, many white collar, are a different culture than that of DEA. Like drug traffic, this new threat requires a single-purpose agency. Of course, other agencies like the DEA and FBI must cooperate and share information. In-fighting between law enforcement agencies has long been a problem not just in America but many foreign countries as well. We simply cannot afford that.

As I said above, we are living in a new world, and we are going to need wisdom from our leaders. Whether the Corona virus came from bats in Chinese food markets or a lab in China, we all have to deal with it. We will need to work with our foreign police and intelligence colleagues the same as we do with drugs. That's not globalization; that is common sense. Our leaders at every level will need to be prepared with the steps they will take the next time around. We need planning and preparation. We need new ideas, and we need a new agency.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Luxembourg

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article is the latest in a series regarding the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe-country by country- which are translated from the original. The below article was written by Yoan Kaufman in Mediapart and is dated June 14, 2018. It describes the MB's use of Luxembourg as a financial center. It was written in French and is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://blogs.mediapart.fr/yoan-kaufman/blog/140618/enquete-luxembourg-le-paradis-fiscal-des-freres-musulmans


Investigation: Luxembourg, the fiscal paradise of the Muslim Brotherhood?
14 June 2018 by Yoan Kaufman  Blog: The Blog of Yoan Kaufman

If Switzerland is known to have been a rear base of the Muslim Brotherhood, on the other hand, Luxembourg has long been ignored. However, historically, the Grand Duchy has played a central role in the financial strategy of this organization.


"In the name of God. The Islamic bank of Luxembourg"
-Mediapart

Luxembourg has become one of the strongholds of worldwide Islamic finance, and its authorities boast about it: "As the second largest world center for funds and host of the world's principal stock exchange for stock securities, Luxembourg is today a key center  for the development of Islamic finance in Europe," states Tom Theobald, Luxembourg's deputy director general for Finance at the end of 2017.   

It is true that the publicity and lobbying carried out around this "Islamic finance" lends credence that this "finance" would be cleaner, more ethical because it is religious! In the name of God, is it less neo-liberal or less opaque? Nay. Such affirmations are absurd at best and at worst deceiving.

But in reality, the valuation of this so-called new market quite simply, hides the financial infiltration strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood and certain Gulf countries.

A project built for over 40 years....

In 2005, the Swiss journalist, Sylvain Besson, published a remarkable work: "The conquest of the West", which everyone unfortunately forgot and would be good to update.

In this book, the investigator-journalist recalls that after the attacks on 11 September, the Swiss police conducted a search at the home of Youssef Nada, chairman of a group named al-Taqwa, which was suspected of having financed al-Qaeda. In Nada's house, the police seized an exceptional document, (which) had to do with "Project" of the Muslim Brotherhood written in 1981. This document established the global strategy of the Brotherhood and more specifically, that which was envisioned for Europe.

During a second search of the offices of al-Taqwa, investigators found another document fascinatingly named "Financial Strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood".

This edifying text details the financial structures created by the leaders of the Brotherhood during the 1970s, thanks to funds principally coming from the Gulf countries.

The central position of Luxembourg is clearly exposed in the first pages. "The Islamic International Bank of Luxembourg is the principal entity  that directs and controls all other institutions. ARINCO, an affiliated entity manages the long term investments." And here we are!

A booming business...

These structures have been used to clandestinely finance Islamic centers of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe and the US in order to, as Sylvain Besson writes, "extend the sphere of Islam and put an end to the hegemony of the West on the world." 

One of the figures who has long held the keys to Islamic finance in Luxembourg is named Gamal Attia, of Egyptian origin and an influential member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He notably founded the Islamic Development bank of Jedda and was, not incidentally, a close (associate) of Youssef Nada....

Gamal Attia himself has been a consultant-expert for the UN during the 1980s. He is also considered with his compatriot, Abou Saud, as the father of Islamic finance

 If ARINCO was dissolved in 1989 and the International Islamic Bank of Luxembourg in 1994, that, of course, doesn't mean that the business has disappeared, quite the contrary.

The Brothers have only reorganized themselves and enlarged their influence in financial circles, to the point that Islamic finance has become a trend phenomenon, which gains more terrain each day....

As the next article will reveal, the structures affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood still use Luxembourg as a fiscal paradise to protect their war chest. A mysterious financial fund which I was able to identify holds amounts in excess of 150 million euros.

To follow

The Muslim Brotherhood in the Netherlands

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


The below article in AD.NL appeared in February and concerns the testimony of a Dutch terrorism expert before the Dutch Parliament. The expert, Ronald Sandee, identified mosques and individuals in the Netherlands as having connections to the Muslim Brotherhood as well as having received funding from Kuwait and Qatar. Translation by Fousesquawk.


https://www.ad.nl/politiek/moskeeen-in-rotterdam-en-amsterdam-in-de-greep-van-conservatieve-moslimbroeders~a3966d2a/

"Mosques in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the grip of conservative Muslim Brothers"

The Rotterdam mosque De Middenweg and the Amsterdam Blue Mosque are in the grip of the Muslim Brothers. (Brotherhood). The message from the terror expert and investigator Ronald Sandee on Monday during his testimony in the mini-case in the Second Chamber (Parliament) on unwanted foreign influence in Islamic institutions.

Although both steadfastly deny it, Sandee named Chairman of the Board Jacob van der Blom and imam Yassin Elforkani of the Blue Mosque as Muslim Brothers (members of Muslim Brotherhood). Van der Blom is also founder of the De Middenweg (mosque).

Sandee has no hard evidence, but: "If it runs like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it may be a duck," Van der Blom and Elforkani  "follow the ideology" of the Muslim Brothers.

The mosque in New West, built with money from Kuwait and Qatar, played a large role in the hearing. Sandee, ex-employee of the military intelligence service, also spoke extensively about the international Muslim Brotherhood. According to him, the organization strives for a "sharia state" in which Islam leads.

Veils

The Muslim Brothers are commonly well-educated, articulate, and "anti-integration", said Sandee. According to him, they encourage women to wear veils, and hammer on "Islamophobic tendencies in society.

Sandee named the Blue Mosque as a striking example of the influence from the Gulf region. When Kuwait came in as financier around 2006, a high-ranking Kuwaiti official took over the company that owns the real estate, (and) according to Sandee, still now determines the course of the mosque. 

Sandee also said he heard talk about young converts in the Blue Mosque, who are fairly intimidating in imposing their views. "But that is only hear-say."

Middenweg

In the Blue Mosque, and also in the Middenweg (also financed by the Gulf region and with the same owner as the Blue Mosque) you see, according to Sandee, the influence of the Muslim Brothers on the speakers and training. In that connection, he also named the Essalam Mosque in Rotterdam, the largest in the Netherlands.

With respect to the money flow from the Gulf, the Netherlands is a little too naive, perhaps gullible. "I have the feeling that countries like Turkey and Qatar follow a completely conscious strategy in influencing Muslim communities abroad. But we are stuck on freedom of religion." 


He advocated for measures to limit foreign funding. He mentioned the Austrian Islam Law as an example, which contains a ban on foreign financing. Her also suggested a European ban. "That would be a possibility to come down on unwanted influence in one blow."

Real Estate

The Parliamentary Commission asked the necessary questions about Jacob van der Blom, ex-director of the Essalam Mosque, which, according to Sandee, is well connected with Qatra Charity, a prominent donor to Islamic institutions in Europe. Van der Blom has for years been director of Europe Trust Netherlands, the owner of De Middenweg and the Blue Mosque. According to Sandee, that is the real estate branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which serves as a  branch of the Birmingham-based mother company, Europe Trust. "I have the feeling that if Europe Trust in Birmingham claims the property, that will happen."

Recently, Sandee signaled a cross-pollination between the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists. "A sort of Dutch Salafism or Dutch Brotherhood".

Sandee was also asked about a detailed article that he wrote last last for an American research site, in which he swept the floor with the Amsterdam Deradicalization Policy, which, according to him, is on the leash of dubious figures. Signs about people (who are) radicalizing have been swept under the carpet, said Sandee.

Bas Soetenhorst 10-02-20, 14:49 

Bernie's Funding Dreams

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Up until recently I have not been watching the Democrat debates. Then, last week, I watched the last hour or so of the debate in Nevada. It was then I realized that this was fun! So I made a point to sit dumbfounded through the South Carolina debate a few days ago. Now this is entertainment.

There were so many high points I can't remember them all. There was Joe Biden pounding his chest and telling everybody that 150 million people (in the US) had died by guns since 2007 and how he and Barack (Obama) stopped the Ebola virus dead in its tracks. To someone out there he pointed his finger and stated, "I'm coming for ya". And there was the classic claim (later refuted) that he had been arrested in Soweto, South Africa attempting to see Nelson Mandela in prison at Robbins Island).Tom Speyer announced that on Day One (of his presidency) he would declare a national emergency (on the Corona virus). There was Elizabeth Warren  saying she would "work with our allies and use every tool in our toolbox". Translation? She has no idea what she would do.Virtually everybody on stage devoted time to pandering to the largely African-American voting block in South Carolina.

That brings me to Bernie Sanders.

Aside from defending his proposed budgets and quibbling about how many hundreds of trillions of dollars it would cost, he also-out of the blue-announced that he was going to "provide funding for African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Native Americans to open legal marijuana dispensaries and keep them out of the hands of the big corporations."

Really?

Now Bernie Sanders is a lot of things (including being a Marxist), but I don't think he is racist. But my questions to Mr Sanders are these: How and why did you make the connection between the above three groups and selling legal marijuana? Is that all you think of their abilities? Is that your key to revitalizing the inner cities- by flooding them with marijuana?  Maybe I am missing something, but isn't this akin to Planned Parenthood having so many of its facilities in the inner cities? I'm not saying that the current directors of PP are consciously trying to reduce the black population-even though that was definitely the intent of Margaret Sanger, the founder of PP's predecessor agency.

But I digress. Back to Sanders.

Bernie Sanders may be a joke, but he is the most dangerous man on the stage. His ideas are befuddled and the opposite of what is good for this country. When you consider all his past statements about socialism, Cuba, Nicaragua, etc, you really have to wonder what's going on in that mind of his. This is a man who has defended the Castro regime in Cuba. This is a man who took his honeymoon in the former Soviet Union. This is a man who has seen the bread lines and actually defended them!
And this is the man who now promises to provide tax payer funding to minorities to open marijuana clinics (whether they want to or not I am guessing).

Dov Hikind Thrown out of Rashida Tlaib Event at Rutgers

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com




Dov Hikind


Dov Hikind (69) is a former New York Democrat state assemblyman who is also a Jewish, pro-Israel activist. On Sunday, he attended an event at Rutgers University sponsored by Muslims for Peace. According to Hikind's account, things were going well until Rep. Rashida Tlaib came on to speak. When he got up to ask her about her history of anti-Semitic statements, he was quickly removed from the room by campus police after being grabbed by the arm by a young man wearing a Palestinian keffiya. The below Washington Examiner link has a video of the incident posted on Twitter by Hikind.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/former-democratic-lawmaker-removed-from-rashida-tlaib-event-after-shouting-what-about-your-anti-semitism


Here is how the Rutgers student newspaper, The Daily Targum, reported it in their politically correct way.

https://www.dailytargum.com/article/2020/02/rep-tlaib-other-speakers-come-to-rutgers-for-muslims-for-peace-event

Comment: Muslims for Peace is an organization of Ahmadiya Muslims. It should be noted that this group, which has its origins in present-day Pakistan, is not recognized by mainstream Muslims since they believe in a latter day prophet after Mohammad, which is considered heresy. Thus, they are badly persecuted in Pakistan and other areas where they reside. They do have a good track record in not being involved in terrorism or intolerance against others, but they do follow most of Islamic teachings including Sharia law and revering Mohammad.

In addition, I have heard Dr. Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini, founder and director of the Islamic Center of Orange County and president of the Shia Muslim Council of Southern California, speak several times. I have no negative information on him as regards radicalism. He is mentioned as having spoken at the same event.

Craig M Considine of Rice University, who also spoke, is another one of those dime-a dozen critics of Israel/defenders of everything Islamic you will find in most every university in the land.

As to the incident itself, it is hard to tell if Hikind was disrupting Tlaib or was being removed for asking her a critical question about anti-Semitism. I would like to see more footage just before he rose and asked his question. It appears he was not called upon though it is possible he was asking a follow-up question to Tlaib. At any rate, the response was unusually fast and appears to be an overreaction. The words were barely out of his mouth when that keffiya-wearing young man rushed up and grabbed him by the arm. That was improper. Obviously, there were campus police in the room because they were there seconds later and immediately hauled him out of the room.

I have no issue with actual disruptors being removed, but I wonder if Rutgers' campus cops are as quick to remove pro-Palestinian disruptors from pro-Israel events.

Rep Sylvia Garcia Defends Biden

 Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Today, Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), one of the House managers presenting the impeachment case to the Senate, went into great detail in defending Joe Biden and his son Hunter in the Burisma-Ukraine issue.

It was President Trump's phone call to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy last July 25 that forms the basis of this impeachment. President Trump asked President Zelenskyy to investigate the alleged Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election, mentioning Crowdstrike, and also asked him to look into the Biden issue involving the firing of the prosecutor (Viktor Shokin), who was investigating Burisma, which had put Hunter Biden on its board of direetors for no discernible reason. (Well, there was one obvious reason).

Given the famous video of Joe Biden bragging to the Council on Foreign Affairs that he had gotten Shokin fired while visiting Ukraine as vice president, the obvious conclusion is that Biden was acting to protect his son.

Not so, argued Rep. Garcia. Shokin was considered corrupt, and people in the US Congress and other international bodies were complaining to Ukraine about him. Garcia argued that Biden was merely carrying out the wishes of the US government in demanding Shokin's firing,

As for Biden's son being on the Burisma board of directors, which was under investigation for corrupt practices at the time by Shokin? Just a coincidence. (My words, not hers)

I don't buy that for a minute, but even if true, Biden should have had the sense to recuse himself from such a task due to the obvious appearance of a conflict of interest. But even that is giving Biden the benefit of the doubt.

Garcia also argued that nobody in Ukraine or anywhere else had alleged any corrupt, illegal or improper actions by Hunter Biden during the time he was serving on Burisma's board. That may be so, but it is irrelevant. What is important is the mere fact that he was on the board itself. Hunter Biden has no experience in energy, Ukrainian matters, or any other field that might justify him being on the board. The younger Biden was receiving a salary from Burisma that was $50,000 a month or $80,000 a month depending on your source. Let's be real: Hunter Biden was sitting on that board (likely doing nothing-proper or improper) and getting a huge salary because he was the son of the Vice President of the United States.

It's called influence peddling.

Garcia went on to discuss the Crowdstrike story, which involved Ukrainian interests coming into possession of hacked Democrat emails and acting against the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Garcia argued that it had been conclusively proven that it was the Russians who got those emails not Ukrainians.

That may be so. Trump's defenders are not disputing the fact that Russians meddled in the 2016 election to the detriment of Clinton. The important point-the final conclusion of the Mueller investigation- is that neither Trump nor his campaign were involved or colluded with the Russians.

But was there Ukrainian meddling as well-meddling that was to Trump's detriment? Did not Alexandra Chalupa, a  DNC operative, go to the Ukrainian embassy in Washington and ask officials to dig into Trump's associates in Ukraine, specifically Paul Manafort? Mr Manafort was investigated and successfully prosecuted for his shady business dealings with Ukraine, which took place  before he briefly became Trump's campaign manager. The Kiev District Court itself said that there was Ukrainian meddling in our election by those who leaked information about Manafort's dealings. And finally, did not the then-Ukrainian ambassador write an op-ed in the Hill severely criticizing candidate Trump for comments he made relative to the Ukraine-Russia conflict?

Rep. Garcia has not only tried to explain the inexplicable and defend the indefensible. She tried to tell us that there is no elephant in the back of the room. (Biden's action in getting Shokin fired). She may have opened up a can of worms. It is my opinion that when the Republicans put on their defense, they should address Garcia's claims. I have been saying for a long time that the Republicans are not talking enough about what Joe Biden (the supposed victim) did. I say let them respond to Garcia's claims. Make Joe Biden the centerpiece of the defense. Let the TV viewers see for themselves what Biden did, how he bragged about it on video, and let the public decide as to why he did it.

In my view, there was Russian meddling and Ukrainian meddling, the latter probably being much less sophisticated. The Mueller investigation has already established that neither Trump nor his campaign were involved. However, the actions of Ms Chalupa, a DNC operative, suggest that if there was Ukrainian meddling, there was Democrat collusion with that meddling.

The fact is that Trump was within his presidential rights to ask his counterpart in Ukraine to investigate these allegations even if some might prove unfounded. But even if you think Trump's motives were personal and political (which I don't completely discount though I don't think it will be proven), the public should ask: Which is worse- Biden getting the prosecutor fired to protect his son's interests, or Trump asking the Ukrainians to investigate it?

Rep Garcia has made her assertions trying to defend Biden. She has opened the door, and the Republicans should march right through it.

Swedish Sexual Assault Stats Since 2015

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Nyheter Idag


The below article from Nyheter Idag shows statistics in reported sexual assault cases in Sweden since 2015. It shows a dramatic increase. Translation by Fousesquawk.


https://nyheteridag.se/anmalda-fall-av-sexuellt-ofredande-mot-kvinnor-och-flickor-har-okat-kraftigt-sedan-2015/

Reported cases of sexual molestation against women and girls has increased sharply since 2015

Sweden: On Thursday, the Crime Prevention Council's preliminary statistics for reported crime during 2019 were released. The statistics show that the number of sexual molestations against women and girls has increased sharply since 2015. The number of reported sexual molestations in the group of girls 15-17 has increased by 51%.

The number of reported rapes increased during 2019 by 6%  up to 8,350 reported crimes compared to the previous year. Something that Nyheter Idag earlier reported on.

The total number of reported cases of sexual molestation remained at the same level as the previous year-9,730. However, among women 18 or older, an increase of 5% was reported-to 5,294 reports.

Now Nyheter Idag has reviewed the number of reports of sexual molestation against women since 2015, five years back in time.

- Women age 18 or older: From 4,173 to 5,294. An increase of 27%.

-Girls 15-17. From 718 to 1,084. An increase of 51%.

-Girls up to 15 years of age: From 2,072 to 2,304. An increase of 11%. 2014, the first year with complete statistics from BRA, however, is extremely high-3,000.

In total, the number of reported cases of sexual molestation has more than doubled in 20 years. From 4,963 total reported cases of sexual molestation in 1999 to 10,310 cases in 2019- an increase of 108%. 

There are different theories as to why the number of reports has increased. Criminologist Nina Rung has earlier said that she believes that the tendency to make a report has increased.

After a large number of cases of sexual molestation against especially young girls were reported, the police compiled a report in 2016 in which, among other things, described that there were found cases of how groups of men surrounded a girl (who was) alone then abused them.

In at least ten cases, a lone girl was surrounded by several men (from 5-6 to a larger number) who are sometimes estimated to be 14-16 years of age. On these occasions, some have held (the girl) while others have touched her breast and body, and in one case, some have photographed the abuse.

In some cases, the perpetrators have unbuttoned the girl's pants and attempted- in certain cases-also succeeded in pulling them down before  rescue arrived. Similarly, it has occurred that several girls in a peer group have been exposed at the same time by a large gang. A few suspected offenders have been identified.

Those identified are citizens of Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia. All of the investigations in Stockholm  and Kalmar from 2014-2015 have been closed due to the difficulty in identification or  lack of evidence.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know what that crimininologist is  thinking unless she made other statements not included in the article. The cause is obvious. 2015 is the year that, thanks largely to the Syrian civil war, the number of refugees and asylum-seekers in Europe exploded. That is not to say that Syrians are  the only problem as shown by the fact that there are so many migrants from Afghanistan and Somalia. As mentioned in the article, they make up a large part of the cases, at least in Sweden.

Never Again Is Now

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com




In December 2018, I was contacted by Evelyn Markus, a Jewish Dutch emigree and daughter of Holocaust survivors. She was about to release her documentary entitled, "Never Again Is Now", about anti-Semitism. The film recounts the story of her family during the German occupation of the Netherlands and brings us up to date with the worldwide problem as it exists today including in the US.

Ms Markus had seen the video of the disruption of a pro-Israel event at UC Irvine by Students for Justice in Palestine in May 2017, which I had videotaped since I was present.  She was asking for my permission to use clips of that disruption in her film, which I readily agreed to.  I just saw the film in its entirety last night, and I urge all my readers to watch it. It features interviews with people like Ben Shapiro, Muslim apostate Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Muslim reformers Shireen Qudosi and Dr Qanta Ahmed. Unlike many depictions of today's anti-Semitism, the film does not limit the finger of blame to just right wing, white anti-Semites, but also points out the problem of anti-Semitism within Islam including among immigrant communities in Europe and anti-Israel forces on American college campuses.

This film is available on Prime Video.

UC Beserkeley Is Still Beserkeley-and Anti-Jewish

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Checking out the latest news from UC Berkeley, we note that nothing has changed when it comes to anti-Israel and anti-Jewish agitation. In the first article running this week in the campus fishwrap, Daily Californian, we learn that the pro-Palestinian mob, specifically, the oddly named Jewish Voice for Peace, is upset over President Trump's executive order on campus anti-Semitism. I added a comment in the reader thread to the effect that JVP is a bunch of misfits who have linked up with those who would wipe Israel off the map and remove all Jews from the Holy Land if they could.

https://www.dailycal.org/2019/12/16/uc-berkeley-student-group-protests-executive-order-on-anti-semitism/

Next we have an op-ed by the president of the Cal Berkeley Democrats against hate speech. What the writer means is that conservative speakers should be banned from campus- as well as those menacing campus cops (who, in reality, just stand around while students disrupt conservative speaking events).

https://www.dailycal.org/2019/12/07/campus-must-stand-united-against-hate-speech/


And from Algemeiner, we learn about a pro-Palestinian display honoring Palestinian murderers like Rasmea Odeh. And Bears for Palestine have the temerity to complain about the "constant fear" they feel on campus.

https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/12/16/anti-zionist-students-at-uc-berkeley-condemned-for-display-showcasing-palestinian-hijacker-bombers/

You talk about a place where the inmates run the institution.

UC Santa Cruz Middle East Propaganda Center's New Head

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Campus Watch


Along with the various ethnic, gender, LGBQ, and women's studies departments on university campuses, the Middle East Studies departments tend to be the worst when it comes to propaganda and indoctrination. In recent years, many of them have been funded with Saudi money. In some cases, they have been established with Saudi money. They routinely specialize in anti-Western, anti-Israel, pro-Arab, pro-Islamic BS. They are one of the leading causes of the wave of anti-Semitism sweeping our campuses. In short, they are an embarrassment to the very concept of education and scholarship.

So it is hardly surprising that UC Santa Cruz (America's Wackiest University) would choose another dime-a-dozen anti-Israel, pro-BDS activist to head up their new Center for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Meet Jennifer Derr.

 https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/60085/uc-santa-cruz-taps-prof-who-pushed-the-academic

How refreshing it would be to see a Middle East studies department chaired by someone who is pro-Israel. For that matter, even a professor or two would be helpful.

As pointed out by Campus Watch, Derr taught a class in 2014 entitled, "The History of Palestine: From Colonialism to Occupation." Gee, where have I heard that before? She should been fired for plagiarism. What's next, a class on the History of the Lost City of Atlantis?

Or how about this?

"Jennifer Derr’s work explores the configuration and experience of the colonial state in Egypt through its construction of the agricultural environments that lined the banks of the Nile River. Derr traces the intersections of the colonial state in Egypt with the material experiences of environmental infrastructure, resource allocation, disease, and  the geographies of colonial capitalism."

Far be it from me to debate Middle East history with Derr (who has lived ten years in the region). Her area of expertise seems to be in disease outbreaks that occurred in Egypt in the 20th century, which she links to colonial agriculture (in this case, the Brits) and Nile dam construction. I am not arguing the history because I am not qualified, but do I sense a bit of post-colonial emphasis here on blaming all of the problems of the Middle East on the West, colonialism and capitalism? Just asking. After all, that is a large part of Middle East studies teaching in our universities. 

Of course, if Derr is such an expert on the Middle East, some wise guy like me (who is not) might ask the learned professor why she doesn't support a boycott of say, Syria, Sudan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or virtually every other country in the region besides Israel. I would even throw in neighboring countries like Iran and Turkey.

UCSC's own announcement of the establishment of this center, which is also linked in the above CW article, also raised my eyebrows a bit. Particularly this item:

"In addition to the support of faculty in various divisions, this campaign had the full support of the Jewish Studies Program.

“One cannot have a complete understanding of the Jewish past without studying the Middle East and North Africa; likewise, one cannot have a complete understanding of the MENA without studying the region's Jews,” said Alma Heckman, assistant professor of history and Jewish Studies, and the Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies at UC Santa Cruz.

“Since the ancient past, Jews have lived across the MENA region, from Morocco to Iran and everywhere in between,” she added. “Jewish Studies and MENA Studies are inherently complementary. Working in tandem with the UCSC Center for Jewish Studies, the new MENA Center enriches the unique programmatic offerings at UCSC that connect across Jewish and MENA studies.” 

Working in tandem? I can't wait to see how that works out. I know nothing about Dr Heckman, and I agree with her words in the second paragraph. However, I seriously wonder how any Jewish studies department, given the current climate and state of Middle East studies departments in the US, could welcome the establishment of such a center at UCSC, especially when it is headed by a supporter of BDS.

This new center is new. Both it and its director deserve a chance to show how they will proceed. Perhaps, MENA and the Jewish studies department will work harmoniously together. Perhaps, MENA will teach serious scholarship and not just be a propaganda center against the West and Israel. I would be surprised if that turns out to be the case, but I am willing to wait and see. (What else can Little Ol' Me do?) If my suspicions are proved correct, maybe the Department of Education will take a close look at UCSC given President Trump's inclination to cut funding for universities that tolerate anti-Semitism.

Arrogance on Parade

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



Pamela Karlan


I watched much but not all of the impeachment hearings today, and to me, the Democrats did not help their case for impeachment. Not only did they not move the needle in terms of changing anybody's opinion, especially those in Congress who will be voting, they gave the American public a view of academic arrogance with their 4 law professors who testified about whether Trump legally deserved to be impeached. (At least, that's the case with at least 2 of them. Three were pro-impeachment, and one -called by the Republicans- was against impeachment.)

Stanford Law School Professor Pamela Karlan and Harvard Law School Professor Noah Feldman came across as highly partisan, impassioned and arrogant advocates for removing President Trump. Karlan was especially shrill-yes, shrill- with her rants against Trump, even going so far as to make a joke at the expense of the President's son, Barron. (She later apologized, but added that she wished Trump would apologize for things he has said.) She said she was insulted that a Republican member of the committee had commented that she and the other three witnesses were not fact witnesses since they had no personal knowledge of the facts of the case other than having read them. Several times, it seemed she was about to lose her composure.

In contrast, Jonathan Turley of the George Washington University Law School, a liberal himself who voted against Trump, but who was called as a witness by the Republicans because he opposes this impeachment, showed class. Having watched him on TV for years, I consider him articulate and intellectually honest. He made his points very effectively, quite the opposite from Karlan, who when she wasn't railing against Trump, seemed to spend half of her time telling us about the law in Merry Olde England and someone named the Sheriff of Windsor. In short, she embarrassed herself. Feldman reminded me of one of those "I'll fight for you" lawyer commercials we see on TV all the time.

Who's next, Michael Avenatti?

What If There Was a Quid Pro Quo?

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blog.com


Hat tip The Hill


Yesterday, Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland testified in his opening statement that there was a quid pro quo as to a presidential call with President Trump and a White House visit in exchange for Ukrainian President Zelenskyy committing to investigating Ukraine's alleged involvement in the 2016 US election and investigating the Bidens. He also presumed that military aid was tied to the above commitment by Zelenskyy. The testimony went back and forth with Democrats and Republicans making their own arguments about Sondland's presumptions and the one thing that Trump said directly to him over the phone. "I want nothing. No quid pro quo".

To the media, Sondland's testimony was a "bombshell" Last night on ABC Evening News, David Muir and his correspondents highlighted Sondland's presumptions while explaining away what Trump actually said to Sondland, pointing out that this conversation occurred after the White House had become aware of the whistle blower's complaint. The media concluded that Trump was covering his backside. Meanwhilke, the headline caption on the TV screen was "Bombshell testimony". It was anything but.

At this point, it is pretty clear that the House will vote to impeach Trump, and the Senate will vote not to remove him. The Democrats seem to be pinning their hopes on some smoking gun that will show up proving there was a quid pro quo.  So what if this is true? So what?

My own common sense tells me that in all likelihood, there was a quid pro quo. Trump did want Ukraine to investigate that country's alleged involvement in the 2016 election and he did want them to investigate the entire Burisma scandal, which includes having an unqualified Hunter Biden on its board of directors and Joe Biden's successful demand that the prosecutor investigating Burisma be fired if Ukraine wanted one billion dollars in aid.

In the case of Trump, Republicans point out that Ukraine got the aid, the phone call from Trump, and the meeting with Trump (at the UN) while no investigation was launched.

But let us assume that there was a quid pro quo. Is this not a common part of international diplomacy? For example, is there a quid pro quo when Trump conducts his diplomacy with North Korea? If Norea Korea halts its nuclear weapon program, the US will do this or that. Of course.

But Gary, you say: Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, who is a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Biden is his political rival.

True. But does that change things?

US foreign aid is hinged to the receiving country not being engaged in corruption, however vague that condition is. Ukraine is corrupt, as are many other countries receiving US aid. In return for our aid, they are supposed to at least demonstrate they are taking steps to fight corruption in order that they may be "certified". Often, that is a sham because it is deemed in our interest to continue aid to a particular country. When I worked with DEA in Thailand in the 1970s, that country was riddled with corruption-and still is. They get plenty of US aid. I could go on and on.

Part of the corruption angle in Ukraine is that they allegedly improperly engaged in meddling in out 2016 election. The controversy over Crowdstrike and DNC hacking, and whether it was done by Ukraine or Russia is a matter of dispute. It is not a matter of dispute that during the election, the Ukrainian ambassador to the US wrote an op-ed criticizing then candidate Trump. The Ukrainian embassy in Washington has confirmed that they were approached by a DNC operative during the campaign who tried to enlist their help in digging up dirt on Trump and Paul Manafort. Rightfully or wrongfully, Trump likely feels that he was the victim of a lot of dirty tricks during the election, and that Ukraine had a role. After all, a Ukrainian court issued a statement that there had been meddling by their country. So is Trump justified in asking Ukraine to investigate that matter? I think he is.

As to the more important matter of the Bidens, that is also a legitimate issue, and if Joe Boden gets the nomination, expect to hear much more about it in those campaign ads. Then-Vice President Biden traveled to Ukraine and demanded that the president fire the chief prosecutor-who was investigating Burisma, a company accused of corruption, which had put Hunter Biden on its board of directors though he had no qualifications for the post. Biden told the president that if the prosecutor wasn't fired within 6 hours, Ukraine would not get the aid it had been promised-some one billion dollars. Within 6 hours, the prosecutor was fired. How do we know all this? Biden bragged about it on tape while speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations. Of course, he left out the information about his son being on the board of Burisma and that Burisma was under investigation.

Quid pro quo.

So let us assume the worst: Suppose Trump did have a quid pro quo that included an investigation of the Bidens, and let's assume he did it for purely political reasons. What is worse, the action of Trump in his phone call to Zelenskyy or Biden's demand to the previous Ukrainian president?

And here is another point: If Trump cannot ask for an investigation of Biden because he is a potential opponent in a future election, doesn't that give Biden-or anyone else in a similar position, literally, a license to steal? Is Biden immune from an investigation into his action simply because he is running for Trump's job? No.

Adam Schiff's Gross Mischaracterization of the Trump-Zelensky Call

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Today, Adam Schiff (D-CA), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, did something truly despicable. Already having seen the unredacted transcript of President Trump's July 25 conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, he then made up his own dialogue and read it into his opening statement. Below is what Schiff said today in opening the hearing with the testimony of National Intelligence Director Joseph McGuire.

https://www.conservativereview.com/news/adam-schiff-makes-phony-trump-ukraine-phone-conversation-formal-statement-intelligence-hearing/

Here is the transcript itself as turned over to Congress. Nowhere does it say things like Trump telling Zelensky, " I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent".

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/25/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-transcript-call/index.html

Schiff is now claiming that his words were meant as a parody of what Trump told Zelensky. It is true that in his remarks, Schiff used terms like, "in essence" in presenting his version. But Schiff is not a stupid man. Far from it. He structured his words very carefully as to give the viewer a certain impression while adding just enough language to give him his escape hatch when his mischaracterization was pointed out-as it quickly was.

In addition, Schiff is not a man who deals in parody. Humor is not in his bag.He presents himself as a serious, reasoned, and  moral voice. It is a facade. Schiff is a deeply partisan politician who deals in cleverly disguised dishonesty. This is a man who for months claimed to have the evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians-evidence that has never materialized on a narrative that has been discredited by none other than Robert Mueller himself.

Now come this latest rabbit hole about Ukraine and Schiff is leading the charge armed with false information. Did Schiff, in his opening remarks, make any mention of the underlying issue behind the Trump-Zelensky conversation-that then VP Biden threatened the then-Ukrainian president with cancellation of one billion dollars in US loan guarantees if he didn't fire the chief prosecutor investigating Burisma Holdings, who had mysteriously placed Joe's son, Hunter Biden, on its board of directors and paid him some 3 million dollars over the course of three years? Biden himself is on videotape telling an audience that he did exactly that and got the results he wanted. Should that not be investigated by both countries?

One can only pray that the vast majority of the American public will see this for what it is-the latest made up scandal in a never-ending quest to remove Trump from office.

Sweden: Nigerian Rapper Calls for Killing of Whites

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


"....shoot them"

Hat tip Samnytt and Gates of Vienna


A Nigerian-born rapper residing in Lund, Sweden has just come out with a statement about  killing white people. This showed up on his Instagram account which is open only for black people. The below report from Samnytt is translated from the Swedish by Fousesquawk. Editing and sub-titling by Vlad Tepes.

https://samnytt.se/rapartist-fran-lund-uppmanar-till-mord-pa-vita-skjut-dem/

Rap artist from Lund calls for death for whites" "Shoot them".


A YouTube profile and rap artist well known among young people has started a closed account on social media in which he invites only black people. In several video postings, he calls for murder of white people in Sweden. Samhallsnytt has (gotten into) the account and can now reveal how an immigrant Nigerian propagates racism to hundreds of young people. "If some white guy or white girl tries to talk shit about you-shoot them."

The well-known YouTube profile is "JCBUZ", who has 280,000 subscribers on his two YouTube accounts, in which he reviews current hip hop records in Sweden and shares his own gangster-inspired rap music. JCBUZ, who is really named Jesse Ekene Nweke Conable, is 22 years old and registered (residence) in Lund. According to the tax police, he immigrated from Nigeria in 2008 and now has Swedish citizenship.

On a newly registered and locked Instagram account under the name "barasvarta" (black only)  several video clips with JCBUZ have been uploaded. In the presentation text for the account, which has 465 followers up to now, followers can read: "Black Power in Sweden" and "Only for Blacks".

Samhallsnytt  has gained access into the account, where it is clear that only blacks should get access to the content. Below is a photo update from his account where he states that he does not allow any white people to join the group.

On Tuesday several video clips were uploaded on the account where the rap artist propagated murder against white people in Sweden.

Text above video:

"Created our group so we get it together"

JCBUZ states in a  post that he has created "our group" so that blacks will get together in the fight. He means that blacks "must take over".

Below is JCBUZ speech and the video clip:

Video link

"My brothers and sisters, my black brothers and sisters, I have an important message for you. I only want to say to you, my black brothers and sisters out there.- You are special and nobody is like you. Continue the war.

We will take over- we will be number one- one beautiful day we will become number one. We will take over over those whites here. Just like these whites took us as slaves, we will take them as slaves and treat them even worse.

But right now we're just fighting (among ourselves), we're going to be smarter, we're going to be faster, we're going to be the best at everything. We'll take their bitches and we'll take their money. To be perfectly honest, we will be the best race ever. This is only the beginning; it is starting small but believe me, we will grow and grow bigger. We will be the strongest group in Sweden - no one will dare mess with us. Just wait, a beautiful day.

The whites try to mess with us- then you know what will come (gun sign with fingers). We will show them how we do it. We are warriors, do you understand? We are African warriors- They are not on our level. This here is just the beginning. Black power. Black power.

If any white guy or white girl is trying to talk shit about you - shoot them! If they talk shit about your family - shoot them!"

Text below the video:

"Created our group so we will stick together"

JCBUZ says in a post that he has created "our group" for blacks to stick together in the fight. He believes that blacks "must take over".

Text of comment thread ( red box 1): "Up to now whites have seen us as their slaves. Even if they don't say it straight out, it is what they think. I swear everything- that is why I created our group-so we can get ourselves together."  

Red box 2

"Therefore, we must take over."

Text below photo of JCBuz making shooting sign.

CBUZ makes pistol sign on social media. Facsimile Facebook.

In the comments, a "Chidde" writes out his/her hate toward whites as they are unsocial and the type who all talk behind your backs and are racist. Further says Chidde  that whites "always get better grades and jobs".

”Fuck White People”

In several posts, the artist expresses his hate against whites. In one post with a noose is "Fuck White People", and then, "We blacks are the best"

"What do you think about white people?"

Several posts call for hate toward people with white skin color. One person writes, "They think they are better than us, but it was we who build everything up here."

"If a white boy messes (with me) I would shoot him."

In one post, a picture is shown with text that one cannot be racist if he isn't white.  Followers are then asked if they agree.

One person named "Abdi" states that he will squeeze the trigger if a white boy  talks bad with him.

Shows video clip when a white boy is hit

The account also shows a video clip where a white boy is wrestled down by a black boy in a gym. During the video post, is "black power" and then follows several jubilant comments where he is happy that the white boy is knocked down. 

No response from gangster rapper

Samhallsnytt has sought out JCBUZ Conable without results, both by telephone and email for a comment.

Update: Conable has commented on Samhallsnytt's article via his Instagram account with the following comment:

(Laughing emojis)

It is not clear if someone has reported the artist for hate towards an ethnic group.

Update 2: Conable has taken note of our article and now writes that he wants to "eliminate the snitch" ('informer-" Editorial note) in an update in his closed Instagram group.

Image at bottom in black:

"We have a snitch among us. He or she must be eliminated."

By Simon Kristoffersson
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Fousesquawk comment:  This is sick. Do I think it represents the thinking of all or even most black immigrants in Europe? No, I don't. But it should sound an alarm to Europe and their careless-reckless even - admission of migrants from the Middle East and Africa-largely Muslim nations, with scant or no attention paid to their backgrounds. So here you have in Sweden, an ungrateful Nigerian thug who advocates killing whites in the predominantly white nation that admitted him.

Sweden, you have a problem.