Sunday, March 8, 2020

Fareed Zakari annihilates Sanders in a data driven smackdown


The video totally speaks for itself.  Enjoy!

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Greek Troops Open Fire on Refugees While Vigilantes Attack Aid Workers and the Media

 exhausted syrian migrant
Article by Rick Moran in "PJMedia": 

The situation in the no-mans-land between Turkey and Greece is becoming increasingly more violent and desperate for the refugees. Reporters on a tour heard gunshots despite the Greek government denying the use of anything except tear gas to stop the refugees.
Daily Beast:

For over an hour, the sound of people trying to direct each other in multiple languages through farms, woodlands, and across riverbanks was punctuated by shots. First it sounded like single rifle blasts, then came bursts of three, and then longer, heavier automatic fire.
However, when Papastathis appeared on Wednesday afternoon to direct us to the new location, he denied absolutely that we had heard what we heard.
“Only tear gas is being fired,” he insisted to a group of a dozen journalists on the tracks.
Turkey accused Greece of killing a Syrian man and wounding five other people. The next day footage of Greek soldiers apparently firing in the direction of migrants on the border surfaced online. And more signs of the Greeks using live fire on migrants and asylum seekers could be found at a makeshift camp for people waiting to cross the Evros River near the Turkish city of Edirne.

Greece is becoming more and more desperate to stop what has to be considered a Turkish-inspired invasion of its territory. And since the government has been ineffective, armed private citizens have taken matters into their own hands.

The BBC has encountered members of self-styled militias who carry out night-time armed patrols in Greek border towns looking for migrants.
"There are such militia along the entire region," said Yannis Laskarakis, a newspaper publisher in the city of Alexandroupoli who has received death threats for speaking out against armed vigilantes.
"We have seen them with our own eyes, arresting migrants, treating them badly and if someone dares to help them, he has the same fate."

And the vigilantes aren't only going after refugees. Aid workers and the press have also been assaulted.

Telegraph:

On Lesbos, young men have targeted reporters and NGOs because they perceive them as being sympathetic to the refugees’ plight.
It is not clear if they are local or outsiders from the mainland, possibly connected to far-Right organisations.
On Friday there were reports that members of German and Austrian far-Right groups had arrived on the island.
Their presence was deeply disconcerting for aid workers and journalists who already feel they are being subjected to a witch-hunt.

I doubt whether a lot of these simple Greek villagers are members of a far-right organization. Their motivations are simple; their families are at risk and their property is being invaded by foreigners. For them, there are no grand geopolitical issues involved. They are protecting theirs and their own from harm.

But with the rest of the EU cheerleading from the sidelines -- while not lifting a finger to help except to open their wallets -- Greece finds itself alone and facing a potential onslaught of 100,000 people.

The EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday, “This border is not only a Greek border, it is also a European border, she said. “I thank Greece for being our European shield in these times.” If it's a "European border" shouldn't the European Union give Greece a hand in protecting it? Or will EU nations continue to cower in fear of another migrant crisis? The European left wants the EU to open its heart to the newcomers.
But the rest of Europe remains unconvinced.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/greek-troops-open-fire-on-refugees-while-vigilantes-attack-aid-workers-and-the-media/ 
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Joe Biden: I Am As Sharp As A Tack! Sharper, Even!




Joe Biden: Folks, I am proud to be here in the great state of  . . . the state of . . . the . . . what I am saying is, I am proud to  . . . er . . . here’s the deal: it’s the state that’s next to that other state, but this one begins with an “M” . . .  er . . . Let me just begin by saying that here, in the great state of . . . er . . . in this state, which is definitely a great state, I am glad you all came to see me! No joke!

Ever since Super Thursday, my campaign has literally been on a roll. Just when everybody was ready to leave me for dead, I proved them all wrong! I am no more dead than that Chinese guy I met in Paris in 2015, Deng Xiaoping, when I negotiated the Paris Climate Treaty with him. He was as alive as anybody, even more so than me, if I remember correctly, and I always remember everything correctly, because I have perfect memory. In fact, my memory is so good, I even remember things that never happened in the first place, and you have my word as Biden on that!

Sure enough, I met Mr. Deng in Paris, and we had a really nice dinner, and we talked about my grandkids and his grandkids. And then, during the negotiations, Mr. Deng offered me a deal I couldn’t refuse. So here’s the deal, he said: after 2060, China promises to try to make an effort to possibly reduce their emissions, and in exchange, beginning today, America will not oppose China’s plans to dominate Asia. Since I couldn’t refuse such a deal, I didn’t, and me and Mr. Deng shook on it.

So there is your proof, folks—I am as alive today as Mr. Deng! I am serious!

And folks, I’ve been around a long time and I know more than most people. I even know things nobody else knows. Even I don’t know half the things that I know. And I can get things done. That’s why I’m running to be your Senator. No joke!

So I’d like to thank my sister, Dr. Jill Biden, for all the help with the campaign so far. Jill has been terrific. Every time I need something, like my pills, or directions to the little boys’ room, or the phone number for my gerontologist, she is always there for me. So when I decided to run for the U.S. Senate last April, she was definitely there. At least, I remember her being there . . .  Jill, honey, were you there? You were. Good. What’s that? You’re not my sister? What are you talking about? Are you sure? Oh, right. Of course, I meant, you were my wife. Are my wife. Right. So who is my sister? Do I even have a sister? Valerie? Who is Valerie? Oh, right. Valerie. Got it. Is she here now? Standing right next to you, you say? Oh, good, I see her.

 My Brain Has Been Through A Lot

Here’s the deal, folks: a lot of the people who criticize me, especially Republicans, just don’t have good brains. No brains, period. None. Have you ever seen Nikki Haley’s brain? That woman is just an idiot. Let me count the ways in which she is an idiot. One, she didn’t expand Medicaid when she could have, as governor of South Carolina. Two, she . . .  she . . . she didn’t . . . she didn’t do that other thing to help the people of her state. Which is why I say that she has no brain. No joke!

Now, my brain has been through a lot. In fact, no presidential candidate in this race has a brain that has been through as much as mine. My brain has been through two major surgeries, and, miraculously, it’s still functioning! I remember just before my last brain surgery, the doctors told me that I probably wouldn’t make it, or if I did make it, I’d probably be a vegetable—that’s how serious it was. But whaddaya know!

It turned out all they had to do was remove some unnecessary portions of my brain, and I was fine! You can see that right here and now! In fact, my post-Super Thursday resolution is, that whenever I start a sentence, I am going to . . .  going to . . . What I am saying is, that from now on, every time—and I mean, literally, every time I start saying a sentence, I will definitely . . . for sure, I will . . . Here’s what I am going to do, this is a promise, and you can take it to the bank: every time I begin a sentence, I will . . .  finish it! Yes!

So folks, a lot of people on the campaign trail ask me . . .  They ask me if the thing is . . . that thing . . . What I am trying to say is, many Americans, real Americans, Americans of all three genders, just like you and me, many of those Americans ask me if I . . .  I’ve been asked by many Americans about . . . People, real people, are hurting, and that’s why they ask me all sorts of questions. And the one question they always ask me is . . . there are people who want to know the answer . . .  the question they always ask is about education! I am serious!

Folks, I know a lot about education, because after I was Barack’s vice president, I became a teacher for a few years. As a teacher, I taught students. Those students, they were taught by me, and they learned many things from me. I didn’t do it for money, I should point out, I only did it for the love of teaching, because look at all those minority students who can’t read because their parents can’t read or write themselves. And that’s just unacceptable! No joke!

In point of fact, the University of Pennsylvania only paid me $800,000 for teaching there, and I remember that I taught . . .  I taught . . . the thing . . . that thing that I taught, I did it when I came to the University that one time, to explain to students about . . .  the thing. No, it must have been that other thing . . . What I explained to somebody there is that education is very important, it is key, in fact, to a successful economy, and that is why we must have education of every kind—higher, lower, whatever. I am being serious!

Education is vital, if we are going to beat China. No, wait, we don’t need to beat China, we already beat China. Didn’t we? Right. We did. I mean we did it in the past. But we can do it again in the future, if we need to, and that is why we need education. And that’s why the University of Pennsylvania paid me $800,000, to contribute to educating Americans on the need to beat China. So this would be the second time we beat China. But only if we need to, and I don’t really think we need to.

 You Know . . . The Thing

Folks, when I was in law school, I came across the text of the Declaration of Independence. It was so moving, so inspiring, that I memorized it. To this day, I can recite it by heart. It says, we hold these truths to be apparent, that all women and all men are created equal, and that  . . . they are equal, because . . . Title XVII says so, and . . . also, these men and women, and any transgendered persons, that they are endowed by their . . . their . . . you know, their . . . thing . . . that thing that is . . . well, the thing . . . the endowing thing, they are endowed by it with certain unalienable rights, and those rights are . . .  they are given rights, like an endowment, because they need rights in order to vote . . . I remember there are three of them. I definitely remember that. Those rights . . . the three rights that the . . . great thing endowed them with, they are Life and the Pursuit of Happiness. No, wait! That’s only two . . . I know there is a third one . . . Or is Pursuit and Happiness two separate rights? I can’t remember . . .

Folks, let me talk instead about an issue where I just appointed Beto O’Rourke to be my right-hand man. And that issue is gun violence. Gun violence is the single most important issue facing America today, except for climate change and transgender rights, which are also important, if not more so. I am being serious!

But think about it, folks: 150 million people have been killed by guns in America since 2007, and that’s not even counting the people who were killed using knives and forks! Think about that! 150 million! 150 million Americans, dead, all because gun manufacturers are exempt from liability. This is 100 times more Americans than were killed in all the wars! Including Vietnam! No joke!

Because of guns, we have carnage on our streets, and I want to tell you, if I’m elected, and if you have a gun, I’m coming for you! And gun manufacturers, I’m going to take you on and I’m going  . . . going . . . I’m going to do what I need to do, and . . . Er . . . You can run, but you can’t hide! I will find you! What’s that? They are not hiding, you say? They are advertising? Well, let me tell you, when I am president, there will be no more advertising showing guns in a positive light! Only in a negative light! Right.

And you know what the worst part is? The worst part about those gun manufacturers is how they try to sell you 100 rounds in a single bullet! Imagine that! Who on Earth would need 100 rounds in one bullet? I have no idea. I don’t even know what a round is . . .  And then, to add insult to injury, they put 30, 40, 50 clips into a weapon! Can you imagine that? I don’t know what any of this really means, but I am glad Beto knows—he is my czar for all the gun questions now, I’ve appointed him my czar. What’s a “czar,” by the way? Does anybody know? Oh. OK.

 And That Is Why I am a Candidate for the United States Senate

So folks, this campaign is all about the working men and women of America. And the other working genders, I don’t mean to limit myself to just two genders, we all know there are many other genders—at least three that we know of, and almost certainly many more. But regardless, my own family is proof that if you work hard enough, you can succeed in anything. I am living proof of that, and as your future Senator, I promise you that together, we can . . .  we can . . . you and I can . . . both of us . . . we can all come together and make it happen, because this is what makes our country special.

I come from a thousand generations of Pennsylvania coal miners. As the first Biden to go to college . . .  er . . . except for the other Bidens who went to college before me, I . . . there were a thousand generations of Bidens . . .  what I am trying to say is that we Bidens have been mining coal in Pennsylvania and Delaware our entire lives, and the lives of a thousand generations of Bidens before that.

And that is why I’m now a candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over, if you like what you see, send a small donation to me, maybe $5, or $20. Or more, if you can afford it—and I know you can afford it. If not, vote for the other Biden. No joke!

Folks, I am very grateful for all the support from the black community. I have supported civil rights my entire life. I marched for civil rights in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. I remember doing that very well, even if no one else does. In fact, I remember a dog biting me when I was marching there. That dog remembers biting me, too—I recently met that dog, and the dog said it was real sorry. And also I remember how the white police used fire hoses on me. I am being serious!

But that wasn’t the first time that I stood shoulder to shoulder with the black community. I was there in Little Rock, in 1957, when schools were being desegregated. I remember helping that little black girl attend school, and I knew even then that they would surely arrest me for that.

In fact, they did arrest me—although they waited for about 40 years until I got to South Africa to visit Nelson Mandela. So the minute I got to South Africa, they arrested me. They told me the second we all got off the plane that the rest of the Congressional delegation had to go to the left, where the buffet was set up for them, but I had to go to the right, because they had a special meal prepared for me.

So I said, absolutely not, I am not eating that meal, because all I see there is overcooked beef and hardly any vegetables, and the dessert was very unappetizing and flabby-looking. I told them I would much rather eat with the rest of the Congressional delegation, and the South Africans eventually agreed, and took me to the buffet. So that’s how I was arrested there, when visiting Nelson Mandela, which was a really formative experience for me, and that’s the God’s honest truth.

Thank you, folks!

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‘The Squad’ Opposes Amendment Preventing TSA From Hiring Sex Offenders and Terrorists



Just when you thought “the Squad” couldn’t get any more radical, they find a way to descend further into Marxist insanity. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and her comrades, Reps Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) opposed the passage of an amendment designed to protect the American people.

The amendment would prevent the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) from hiring individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes, sexual misconduct, or terrorism. Apparently, these lawmakers seem to believe that people who have committed these types of offenses should be in charge of safeguarding traveling Americans.

Imagine being these people.

Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) proposed the amendment, which also expanded protections for TSA workers during a debate in the House. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) urged her colleagues to support the measure. “We have two options today: Adopt the Underwood amendment and keep sexual predators off of the federal payroll, or reject it and reward sexual predators with a paycheck from the taxpayer,” she said.

All four members of the Squad refused to vote on the amendment. Interestingly enough, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also declined to cast her vote on the legislation.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy slammed the Democrats who refused to vote for the amendment and referred to the Squad as the “socialist wing of the party.” Last Thursday, he said, “The amendment was pulled back by leadership because the socialist wing of the party did not want to have that amendment go forward on this bill.”

McCarthy also asserted that the House “would like to see the TSA not hire terrorists or hose who have been convicted of sexual misconduct with minors and others. But the socialist wing of the party, that controls now the Democratic Party, said that could not be offered.”

The amendment was passed by a vote of 227-175 when 42 Democrats joined GOP lawmakers in approving the measure. Neither Pelosi, or any members of the Squad deigned to explain their refusal to vote for the amendment. Rep. Val Demings (D., Fla.) did state that the legislation was “unnecessary.”

Perhaps the reason why the Democrats who opposed the bill are silent on the matter because they know it is indefensible. Maybe they realize that no explanation would be sufficient for traveling Americans and TSA workers who might be subject to ill-treatment by bad actors. Far-left progressives have proven time and time again that they are willing to sacrifice the safety of citizens to pursue their agenda. But really, are any of us surprised?

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Biden Misstates His Own Name, Tells His Supporters ‘We Can Only Re-Elect Donald Trump’



Unfortunately for the Democrats, Joe Biden still has to campaign, they can’t just hide him away, hope he gets the nomination and doesn’t have to do anything to get to the general election.

As long as Biden is talking, that’s a problem for the Democrats.

He was in Missouri campaigning on Sunday and he could barely get his words out. According to Townhall, he even managed to mispronounce his own name, urging people to vote for him because he was a “lifelong Democrat,” an “Obiden Bama Democrat.” 



He then told the crowd who they should vote for, but it wasn’t for him. 



“Turn this primary from a campaign which is about negative attacks to one that’s about what we’re for. Because we cannot get re-elect, we cannot win this re-election, excuse me. We can only re-elect Donald Trump,” Biden said to his supporters. 

How many videos do we have to see of this? 

Here’s a collection:



Even the Bernie Bros and other Democrats who know this is just wrong are calling this out now too. 

Once it comes to the general election, he is going to get eaten alive in a real debate where he isn’t being coddled by the Democratic establishment and media. And that’s not even counting his problem of inappropriate touching/sniffing and being wrong on virtually every issue. 




But at least he did get something right. We must re-elect Donald Trump.

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Pres Trump & His Experts Grant Extensive Press Availability at CDC HQ



President Trump toured the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.  At the conclusion of the tour and briefing the President delivers remarks to the media and holds a press conference. 



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Bandy X. Lee, the Trump-hating psychiatrist, refuses to diagnose Biden’s issues

 Image result for cartoons about crazy psychiatrists
Article by Andrea Widburg in "The American Thinker":

Bandy X. Lee is a psychiatrist affiliated with the Yale School of Medicine. She entered the American consciousness in 2017 when she led a pack of psychiatrists, none of whom had ever spoken to Donald Trump, who declared that his extreme mental illness constituted a state of emergency. The psychiatrists claimed a “duty to warn,” even though this duty, like the duty to diagnose, requires having treated a patient.

Three years have passed since then and Trump’s governance has been consistent with American norms (but for the Obama interlude). He is a right-of-center president, although more effective than most. The only thing that distinguishes him from 20th- and 21st-century American presidents is that he refuses to take insults lying down and he keeps his campaign promises.

Lee, though, has never walked back her unethical diagnosis. Indeed, when asked to comment on Joe Biden’s manifestly bizarre pronouncements, while she refused to address Biden's issue, she doubled down on Trump. Her post at Medium about Biden is both weird and laughable.

In the opening paragraph, Lee self-righteously announces that she would never diagnose someone without an examination unless there’s a clear and present danger – and Biden isn’t dangerous:

I do not diagnose without examination and do not speak about public figures in general, unless there is evidence of such profound danger to public health and well-being because of serious signs of mental instability in a public servant, that it would be a public disservice not to share my knowledge and training. Biden has not risen to this threshold. 

While unconcerned about a man who speaks Grandpa Simpson-level gibberish, Lee is still obsessed with Trump. Among other things, she castigates him for mean tweets, insulting “legitimate news sources,” “traumatizing children” (which was okay when Obama and Biden did it), “programming and hypnotizing his followers,” and all sorts of other conspiracy theories.

Lee then risibly claims that the mere fact that she attacks only Trump proves how non-partisan she is:

I only speak up when there is a medical need of such great magnitude as to risk the survival of the human species. This is definitively Donald Trump, not Biden. Nor is it Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or any other false equivalences people wish to create for political purposes.

Put another way, Lee is bothered by Trump’s rhetoric but is untroubled by Biden’s corruption and dementia, Sanders’ unhinged adoration for communism, and Hillary Clinton’s corruption and violations of national security.

People apparently had a few issues with Lee’s self-serving statements, conspiracy theories, and manifestly partisan approach to “non-partisanship.” Therefore, she felt compelled to issue an addendum defending herself. The addendum is even funnier than the original post:

Since my comments have been widely circulated under a misinterpretation, I would like to clarify, I did not say that Joe Biden shows no disturbances. Indeed, he shows signs that may be of concern under ordinary circumstances. But as long as we refuse to confront the current emergency that is existential for the entire human species and historic in proportion, it will be a distraction. When you have a person before you bleeding and about to expire, you attend to the immediate emergency first. This is what we do in medicine: we triage minor, less urgent cases for later.

Then, to round out her insanity, Lee proceeds to diagnose Trump’s supporters too:

Recommendations, for those who requested, on how to deal with Trump supporters (3/7/2020): There will be a lot of projection, which is why minor issues in Joe Biden are magnified (to the level of reality in Donald Trump), while Trump’s defects are minimized (to the level of reality in Biden). If you look at my “translations” of Trump’s words (https://twitter.com/BandyXLee1/status/1172485339652481024), you will see that whatever he or his followers say about others will be a direct reflection of himself or themselves. The psychopathology behind this is complicated, but you will discover that it is quite accurate.

Her suggested approach for treating the millions of allegedly psychopathologically-damaged, delusional Trump supporters, standing alone, should cause Lee to lose her license:

Hence, here are my suggestions: (a) do not confront them with facts, for it will only rouse resistance (subconsciously, they already know what is true, which is why they project very accurately); (b) do not invest in trying to persuade, for the problem is in granting an impaired individual power (which spreads pathology in a previously healthy populace), not in their cognitive system; and (c) continue to state the facts elsewhere, without intimidation, so that a delusional narrative does not overtake the truth.

When it comes to delusional narratives, one has to admit that Lee is an expert!

If Lee represents the caliber of professionals at the Yale School of Medicine, that once-reputable institution is circling the drain, another victim of the leftist takeover of academia.
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Background Details on Trump-Bolsonaro Dinner


The White House provides some background material on the purposes of the working dinner tonight between President Trump and President Bolsonaro of Brazil.


[White House Transcript] – […] SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you so much. So let me put this working dinner, which is what it’s going to be tonight, in context. Obviously, President Trump will welcome President Jair Bolsonaro to Mar-a-Lago for a working dinner, along with a group of advisors in this dinner.

To put it in kind of a greater context, you know, last year, we welcomed — President Trump welcomed President Bolsonaro to the White House for a working lunch at that time. And there’s a historic list of deliverables that was announced at that time, many of which have now been followed up upon in this new historic relationship that the United States has with Brazil and the historic relationship, frankly, that President Trump and President Bolsonaro have.

Last Monday, President Duque from Colombia visited the White House, had a working visit at the White House. Last year, as well, he did. You all would be remiss to find — and I don’t believe it’s ever happened in history, whereby two years in a row, the President of Colombia and the President of Brazil were invited to the White House or, in this case, the White House (inaudible) working dinner to have meetings with the President of the United States at this level, which goes to show, really, the historic — two things — the historic relationship that the United States currently has with both Colombia and Brazil. And also, one of the things that brings us together is the nature of the crisis in Venezuela and, really, the — as I said before in calls — the fact that President Trump has been really the first President since the Cold War to raise an issue in the Western Hemisphere as a national security priority, which is what we’re seeing with Venezuela, which is probably the worst humanitarian and security crisis the Western Hemisphere has faced in modern times.

So I think that goes to show that, all around, regionally, just in the last year and a half, the President has had 13 — 13 working visits with heads of state from the Western Hemisphere. That too is historic and unprecedented, which goes to show really the unprecedented engagement that President Trump has had toward the Western Hemisphere.
President Bolsonaro’s team will be following up with a visit to Washington, where more historic engagements will take place. We’ll be signing, with Brazil, and America Cresce energy and infrastructure finance framework during this visit that his team will then have to Washington. Brazil will be the eighth country with which we’ve signed one of these frameworks on energy and infrastructure finance, so almost a third of the region now has taken part in the America Cresce initiative.

But obviously, at the top of tonight’s dinner and discussion will be the crisis in Venezuela; will be, obviously, the economic relationship with these countries, which — between both of our countries — which will be followed up with this America Cresce framework signing, which is really important.

We will continue discussion. We’re very eager to try to pursue and find an avenue for some type of trade deal with Brazil. Obviously, the issue of our commitment and President Trump’s commitment of support to Brazil on its OECD membership. As its last year, obviously we’ve already made Brazil a non-NATO member ally and kind of lifted its profile in that sense. We’d even like to upgrade that further in the next step of the NATO Alliance, per se. And we’re even going to discuss issues of forest conservation and all of those.

But that kind of gives you a feeling of the breadth of the relationship. It highlights the importance of the region for President Trump. There’s been a very consistent view of obviously, you know, kind of the concern of issues very far away that President Trump uniquely (inaudible) our foreign policy beginning at the Western Hemisphere — not having the Western Hemisphere being an afterthought, as we’ve seen in previous administrations, but really having it be at the forefront of our foreign policy priorities.

The 13 engagements over the last year and a half alone and the two years in a row of engagements with Colombia and Brazil and the historic partnership we’re creating there really is a north-south axis — you know, kind of just taking it from that regard, with what we’re seeing in China, with the Wuhan virus and (inaudible). But obviously, those are issues that also concern, which will be discussed — that also concern the relationship, but also highlight why it’s important that our primary relationship, frankly, should be from the north to south.

I think the United States and Brazil are the anchors of that north-south axis, of that north-south relationship. The commercial ties, the supply chains, et cetera — they’re being north-south is good for our national security, it’s good for the economy, it’s good for helping stem illegal migration flows. It’s really a win-win all around for the region. And we’d really like to focus in on that north-south engagement, per se.

And finally, you know, it’s kind of consistent with the President’s view of the Western Hemisphere is this focus on, you know — especially the Americas being for America, meaning, you know, all of us — with a capital “A” — for all of the Americas.

And it’s really kind of a part of the Trump doctrine that you’ve seen already and heard of. He just mentioned at the Latino Coalition speech this past week, you know, that we have the opportunity for this to really be the first fully free, democratic hemisphere. And that’s a goal that we all aspire to: the first fully free and democratic hemisphere in human history. That’s obviously an aspiration that we all have in that regard.

And I think that the other thing that we agree on and will continue to be fleshed out in the weeks and the months to come is in regards to the role of external actors — really, kind of a Monroe 2.0 doctrine, whereby, you know, we’re no longer worried about the 19th century European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere, but there are still external actors, that, frankly, are incompatible with a lot of the values and the things that bring the entire Western Hemisphere together, meaning — being mostly, obviously, the Chinese and Russian involvement in the Western Hemisphere.

We truly feel that the Western Hemisphere is the hemisphere of the Americas, for the people of the Americas, and — first and foremost, per se. So I think that’s also very important.

In regards to Venezuela, just one more thing: I know there’s going to be consistent — you saw, obviously, the action on (inaudible) trading by the President. I think in the days and weeks to come, there’s going to continue to be escalation towards the maximum pressure that we seek and that we’ve set out as our policy. Hopefully, we don’t have to get ever to 100 percent maximum pressure, but we are all dedicated, along with our allies — Colombia and Brazil, in particular, but also the rest of the Lima Group members — to achieve that democratic transition and free and fair elections in Venezuela.

As a colleague in the State Department recently stated, you know, this is a — March has turned out to be — gave it a good name of “Maximum-pressure March” because there is — we’re moving that direction and you’re going to continue to see actions in that direction.

So with that, I’ll conclude and open the line for questions. continued HERE



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Saying No to the Invasion of Europe

 Asylum seekers seen gathering on the buffer zone between Turkey and Greece today
Article by Janet Levy in "The American Thinker":

The inundation of Europe with Muslim migrants intent on permanent settlement is unprecedented in world history.  Europe, which has accepted vast numbers of the migrants, has become an epicenter of Islamic terrorism replete with alarming levels of migrant crime, including Muslim sex slave gangs and sharia-controlled "no-go" zones.  Faced with this reality, four Central European countries — Hungary, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia — have adamantly refused to accept Muslim refugees, earning criticism from the European community and prosecution by the European Court of Justice.

But now, with Turkey threatening to open its border and inundate Greece with thousands more Muslim refugees, the European community appears to have paused in its ongoing acceptance of migrants and pledged to protect Greece's border.  It illustrates the threat that has existed from the beginning from the mass movement of Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa.

Some view the migration as a "humanitarian crisis" and call critics "xenophobes" or "racists" who lack compassion.  Others question the motivation for the sudden refugee onslaught and ask why Europe must shoulder responsibility and absorb the mass exodus when proximate, affluent Muslim countries have not offered assistance.  They see, instead, a planned invasion or hijra, a 1,400-year-old Islamic doctrine modeled after Mohammed's migration from Mecca to Medina.  It is designed to subvert and subdue non-Muslim societies and pave the way for total Islamization, in this case, of all Europe.  

It began in 1990, when the U.N. high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) established a liaison with the European Union (E.U.) and its executive branch, the European Commission (E.C.), to monitor the asylum and migration process.  This led to resolutions and recommendations on refugee policies by the European Council, heads of state of E.U. member-nations that determine overall E.U. political priorities. 

In 2015, E.C. president Jean-Claude Juncker unveiled a proposal to redistribute Muslim refugees flooding Europe to all E.U. member-states.  The European Council followed with a plan that gave refugees the right to settle in E.U. member-states based on each country's economic and demographic circumstances.  All were required to participate, with substantial fines to be imposed against countries that rejected refugees. 

The E.C. edict was particularly problematic for the Visegrád (V4) countries — Hungary, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, four Central European countries with a combined population of 64 million, constituting the fifth largest economy in Europe.  Unlike the rest of Europe, they had only recently recovered their sovereignty after suffering under the Iron Curtain and resisted delegating power to a central authority.  They balked at the E.U. refugee resettlement policy, unwilling to jeopardize national security and their cultural and religious traditions.  The V4 countries clearly identified the stark reality facing the continent.  They recognized that the asylum-seekers were infiltrated by ISIS and other terrorist groups, included refugees resistant to assimilation, and represented a drain on national resources.  The countries preferred to provide aid to migrants in or near their countries of origin.

Polish leader Dominik Tarczynski affirmatively stated that Poland would not accept a single Muslim illegal migrant.  He proudly points to his country's record of safety — not one Islamic terrorist attack.  Tarczynski has compared Muslim immigrants to Polish immigrants, pointing out that "zero Poles" have blown themselves up in any country in the world for their religion or out of hatred.  Deflecting charges of "racism" and "nationalism," he defends his policy that has protected his countrymen.  For this, he has been vilified by E.U. leadership.

Tarczynski acknowledges that Poland has taken in two million Christian Ukrainians, but he defends himself against charges of "Islamophobia" by plainly stating that Poland chooses to be a Christian country free of the problems facing the rest of Europe struggling with Muslim migration.  His country is not responsible for conflicts in Syria or Iraq, he has said, and has pointed out that wealthy Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, well equipped to accept Muslim refugees, do nothing to help their co-religionists.

Government officials from Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia have all adopted similar restrictions. 

Current V4 leader and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has maintained that the "refugee crisis" is a well funded, well organized invasion and that NGOs are serving as human-smuggling groups.  According to Orbán, Hungarian intelligence discovered that 95% of the migrants were military-age men in military-style group movements.  Few are innocent women and children who suddenly appear when the media are present.  Orbán has financed a "Hungary Helps Project," which provides aid directly to churches and charities to assist migrants to remain in their own countries.  The funds are earmarked for persecuted Christians, a population typically ignored by other governments and the media.

For the past five years, the V4 have remained at the forefront of an effort to stem massive Muslim migration into Europe.  They have collectively refused to accept any compulsory long-term refugee resettlement quotas set by the E.U. and notably remain virtually unaffected in a continent rife with Islamic terrorist attacks and sharia-compliant no-go zones.

In 2017, the European Commission took Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and charged them with breaking E.U. law by refusing to accept asylum-seekers under the E.U.'s mandatory migration quotas.  The three countries were criticized for reaping the benefits of the union while failing to meet their humanitarian and political responsibilities.  The ECJ denied that legitimate security concerns existed and cited legal obligations to follow E.U. policies.

Leaders in Hungary, Poland, and Czechia responded that their security and cultural cohesion were threatened by the E.U.'s refugee plan and denied that legal grounds existed to impose such quotas.  The ECJ will rule on the matter later this year.

So it stood until just recently, when Turkey opened its border to Greece and threatened Europe with the arrival of several million refugees.  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey's president, threatened the invasion following the E.U.'s lack of support for Turkey's military incursion into northern Syria.  Thousands of so-called asylum-seekers from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, and several East African countries have traveled to the Turkish border in recent days.  President Erdoğan has gone so far as to make a formal announcement about the open border and supply buses and maps to facilitate the latest crossings, despite a 2016 agreement with the E.U. to prevent refugees from illegally entering Europe.  Greek authorities claim that Turkish soldiers have used wire-cutters to open the borders and that Turkish police have provided the "refugees" with tear gas canisters to be used against Greek police blocking their passage.  Reports from Greece also allege that freed prisoners have been escorted to the E.U. border in Turkish police cars and that Turkey has deployed 1,000 policemen to halt any pushback of migrants.  

All this has sorely tested the E.U.'s tolerance for the migrant problem, and government officials are condemning the onslaught.  They have agreed to help Greece and mobilize a Frontex force to protect the border.  Suddenly, the Greek border is a European border, and the E.U. is expressing solidarity with the rest of the continent and a willingness to mobilize the necessary operational support to fortify the defensive actions of the Greek authorities.

It remains to be seen if this new development represents a volte face of the E.U.'s 2015 policy on refugee resettlement or is a temporary moratorium to slow the tide of migrants into Europe.  It certainly lends credence to the Visegrád Group's characterization of Muslim migration as an invasion and a serious threat to Europe's way of life. 
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Sunday


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A French intellectual warns that France will have a Muslim future


 Image result for pictures of palestinians
 Article by Andrea Widburg in "The American Thinker":

Because of its relationship with Algeria, France has a 50-year history of Muslim immigration, pre-dating Angela Merkel’s 2015 welcome mat. Last month, Michel Gurfinkiel, a French intellectual who founded the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institution, participated in a radio interview with Gregg Roman of the Middle East Forum. During the interview, he warned that French demographic changes predict a future in which Islam is ascendant:

Domestically, the past fifty years of steady immigration from Islamic countries into France is “transforming the fabric of French society” from within. Demographic and sociological surveys indicate that 10-15% of the French population is now of Muslim origin, including 20-30% of French citizens or residents under the age of 25. Some integrate successfully, but many align with the most radical and militant expression of the religion. Their rejection of France’s secular constitution is matched by resentment of the French military’s fight against global jihadism in Africa and the Middle East, seen as a “deliberate assault ... on Islam.”

Meanwhile, French people, as is true for most Europeans, have lost faith in their institutions. Christianity is declining and the French are no longer marrying or having children. Free speech is also dying in France:

In January, a 16-year old identified only as “Mila’ criticized Islam as a “religion of hate” on her Instagram account in response to online harassment from a homophobic Muslim troll. The resulting online threats of bodily harm led to Mila and her family being placed under police protection. The French custom of satirizing or criticizing religion does not extend to Islam, “and the main reason ... is, of course, fear,” said Gurfinkiel. “It’s a fact that Muslims don’t react peacefully to these kinds of [speech] as ... Christians [do], and everybody ... remember[s] ... the humorists of Charlie Hebdo ... slaughtered by a Muslim commando a few years ago.”

Another sign that Islam is ascendant in a land that was once considered the cradle of European Christianity is that churches in France are routinely desecrated.

Dr. Peter Hammond, in his early 21st-century book about Christian genocide in Muslim lands, Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat, produced a rough rule of thumb about the threat to a dominant culture from Islamic immigration:

As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:

United States — Muslim 0..6%
Australia — Muslim 1.5%
Canada — Muslim 1.9%
China — Muslim 1.8%
Italy — Muslim 1.5%
Norway — Muslim 1.8%

At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in:

Denmark — Muslim 2%
Germany — Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom — Muslim 2.7%
Spain — Muslim 4%
Thailand — Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:

France — Muslim 8%
Philippines — 5%
Sweden — Muslim 5%
Switzerland — Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands — Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago — Muslim 5.8%

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. In Russia, grade-schools were attacked. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam, with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in:

Guyana — Muslim 10%
India — Muslim 13.4%
Israel — Muslim 16%
Kenya — Muslim 10%
Russia — Muslim 15%

After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:
Ethiopia — Muslim 32.8%

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:

Bosnia — Muslim 40%
Chad — Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon — Muslim 59.7%

From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:

Albania — Muslim 70%
Malaysia — Muslim 60.4%
Qatar — Muslim 77.5%
Sudan — Muslim 70%

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, beheadings, stoning, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in:

Bangladesh — Muslim 83%
Egypt — Muslim 90%
Gaza — Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia — Muslim 86.1%
Iran — Muslim 98%
Iraq — Muslim 97%
Jordan — Muslim 92%
Morocco — Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan — Muslim 97%
Palestine — Muslim 99%
Syria — Muslim 90%
Tajikistan — Muslim 90%
Turkey — Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates — Muslim 96%

France’s Muslim population has substantially increased since Hammond wrote those words. The tipping point is near.
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