The Front Page Cover
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
Featuring:
Does Europe Have No-go Zones?
Daniel Pipes
"Know who you are standing with"
"Show me your friends and I'll show you your future"
~~~lll~~~
Bickering continues over Benghazi committee rules - Fox News: “The chairman of the House select committee investigating the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya defended himself against criticism from Democrats that he had excluded them from meetings with witnesses.” -Fox News
DCCC $10 million in the hole - Roll Call: “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will report raising more than $206 million during the 2014 cycle, a record total, according to a committee aide. The DCCC will start the 2016 cycle $10 million in debt. Also per the aide, that’s less than the $13.5 million in arrears the committee posted following the 2012 cycle. The committee will report the totals in its year-end fundraising report, which includes new filings from Nov. 25 through Dec. 31. In that time frame, the DCCC raised an additional $4.1 million, and had about $2.2 million in cash on hand.” -Fox News
Grimes looks to stand pat after defeat - WaPo: “Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes [D] announced Monday that she will run for reelection, ending speculation the rising Democratic star might run for governor. ‘It’s been my honor to serve the people of Kentucky,’ Grimes wrote in a post on her Facebook page announcing her decision. ‘More than you can ever know, Andrew and I appreciate your love, your friendship and your support – today, in the past and in the future.’ Grimes challenged now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCon-nell [R] in one of the highest-profile contests of 2014.”
[Ed. note: Can you really be a “rising Democratic star” if you just lost a $100 million Senate race that was supposed to be a nail-biter by 16 points?] -Fox News
[Ed. note: Can you really be a “rising Democratic star” if you just lost a $100 million Senate race that was supposed to be a nail-biter by 16 points?] -Fox News
SENATOR OUSTS AIDE OVER VETS DRUG SCANDAL
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Under fire for her office's inaction over alleged overmedication at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin [D-Wis.] abruptly ousted one of her top state staffers late last week. Marquette Baylor, deputy state director for Baldwin and chief of her Milwaukee office, was let go on Thursday without explanation. Baylor has been offered a cash payout as part of a severance package if the former aide agrees to keep her lips zipped. ‘It looks like they're trying to pin the blame on her,’ a source said of Baylor's dismissal by Baldwin. But Ryan Hon, a former Tomah VA employee who has acted as a whistle-blower, said Sunday that Baylor is just one of several Baldwin staffers who mishandled the matter and should be let go. He said he talked with Baylor for two hours in late November about the problems at the Tomah medical center and that the Baldwin aide discouraged him from going public with his concerns, saying that doing so might get her and others fired.”
[The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched the first part of an agency wide overhaul to better assist veterans receive their benefits.] -Fox News
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Under fire for her office's inaction over alleged overmedication at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin [D-Wis.] abruptly ousted one of her top state staffers late last week. Marquette Baylor, deputy state director for Baldwin and chief of her Milwaukee office, was let go on Thursday without explanation. Baylor has been offered a cash payout as part of a severance package if the former aide agrees to keep her lips zipped. ‘It looks like they're trying to pin the blame on her,’ a source said of Baylor's dismissal by Baldwin. But Ryan Hon, a former Tomah VA employee who has acted as a whistle-blower, said Sunday that Baylor is just one of several Baldwin staffers who mishandled the matter and should be let go. He said he talked with Baylor for two hours in late November about the problems at the Tomah medical center and that the Baldwin aide discouraged him from going public with his concerns, saying that doing so might get her and others fired.”
[The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched the first part of an agency wide overhaul to better assist veterans receive their benefits.] -Fox News
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE...
50 years ago today, the Shelby GT 350 made its debut. The supercharged version of the Ford Mustang stayed in production throughout the 1960s and remains a valuable collector’s item. Carroll Shelby, was a high endurance race car driver before retiring to become a car designer. Shelby passed away in 2012 leaving an enduring and interesting legacy. Online buying guide, Supercompressor examined some little known facts about Shelby the man and Shelby the car. He quickly became one of the world’s best drivers when at his first road race, he took a British MG and beat his entire engine class and the class above him. Shelby was a stubborn man often driving races with major injuries and illness including broken hands and a bout of dysentery. The Shelby almost never materialized. It was a car designed with the sole purpose of allowing Ford to compete in the Sports Car Club of America series. -Fox News
50 years ago today, the Shelby GT 350 made its debut. The supercharged version of the Ford Mustang stayed in production throughout the 1960s and remains a valuable collector’s item. Carroll Shelby, was a high endurance race car driver before retiring to become a car designer. Shelby passed away in 2012 leaving an enduring and interesting legacy. Online buying guide, Supercompressor examined some little known facts about Shelby the man and Shelby the car. He quickly became one of the world’s best drivers when at his first road race, he took a British MG and beat his entire engine class and the class above him. Shelby was a stubborn man often driving races with major injuries and illness including broken hands and a bout of dysentery. The Shelby almost never materialized. It was a car designed with the sole purpose of allowing Ford to compete in the Sports Car Club of America series. -Fox News
1.
MARK LEVIN: Ted Cruz IS a natural born citizen
(therightscoop.com) - This is mainly for those of you who still aren’t convinced that Ted Cruz is a natural born citizen and eligible to be president...Mark Levin has addressed this very issue once before and put it to rest in my opinion. But given the recent hoopla created by people like Trump, I’ve decided it needs to be heard again. For the rest of you, give it a listen anyway. It’s very entertaining. Listen to Live Mark Levin by clicking on his the arrow. http://therightscoop.com/mark-levin-ted-cruz-is-a-natural-born-citizen-and-eligible-to-be-president/
2.
White House Caught Red Handed in Benghazi Lie
(conservativetribune.com) - Virtually everyone knows that President nObama’s administration has been, at best, less than forthcoming about the Benghazi terrorist attack in 2012. At worst, they are engaged in a massive cover up...This is precisely why Congressman Trey Gowdy is making efforts to uncover the entire truth of what happened in Benghazi, as part of the Benghazi Select Committee that he heads. Thankfully, Gowdy’s Committee isn’t working alone, as their efforts are matched by a group of retired military and intelligence leaders, and they are supported by conservative watchdog groups like Judicial Watch. http://conservativetribune.com/white-house-caught-benghazi-lie/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=936184&utm_campaign=0
3. California Finally Too Liberal For Themselves
(PJ Media) - Tax Smart Cars: California Finally Too Liberal For Themselves. The Trifecta team discusses. California isn’t alone in this, either... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtOY7WA8qPc&x-yt-ts=1422411861&x-yt-cl=84924572
4. U.S. Acknowledges Conviction of David Hicks, Guantanamo Detainee
(Raymond Bonner) - The United States has acknowledged that the conviction of an Australian man held for nearly six years in Guantanamo Bay was not legally valid...The Australian, David Hicks, was one of the first people sent to Guantanamo, and he has already figured in a key U.S. court decision that expanded the rights of detainees held in the offshore prison. Initially charged with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, attempted murder, and aiding the enemy, Hicks ultimately pleaded guilty to a single charge of providing "material support'' to terrorism. Hicks recently appealed, arguing that the law used against him was passed after 9/11 and could not be applied retroactively. In its reply, the U.S. argued that the review court should refuse to review the case because Hicks had entered a guilty plea. But in a crucial concession, the military commission's chief prosecutor said that if the appeal were allowed, "the Court should not confirm Hicks's material-support conviction." <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pixel.propublica.org/pixel.js" async="true"></script http://www.propublica.org/article/u.s.-acknowledges-conviction-of-david-hicks-guantanamo-detainee-not-valid
5. Israel, Hezbollah Violence Flares in Golan Heights
(Scott Bobb) - Two Israeli soldiers and a U.N. peacekeeper were killed Wednesday, as Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah traded fire in the biggest escalation of fighting since their 2006 war...The United Nations urged all parties to use "maximum restraint" to prevent an escalation. The Israeli Defense Forces said the Hezbollah missile attack on an Israeli military convoy near the Shebaa Farms area of the Golan Heights killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded seven, two of them moderately. The United Nations also confirmed a peacekeeper, a Spanish soldier, was killed in southern Lebanon as the Israeli military and Hezbollah traded fire in the region. http://www.voanews.com/content/israeli-airstrikes-target-syria-after-rocket-attack/2616426.html
6. BUSTED: nObama Advisor Worked For Israel Hater
(Charles C. Johnson) - Off to try to defeat Nethanyahu, nObama advisor Jeremy C. Bird once worked for an anti-Israel activist condemned by the Anti-Defamation League...Bird, then a student at Harvard’s Divinity School, worked for Edmund Hanauer, one of America’s most prominent anti-Israel activists, in 2002. Bird worked for Hanaeuer while Hanaeuer wrote a virulently anti-Israel op-ed that accused Israel of “state terrorism” and “war crimes,” and called for the arrest and prosecution of Israeli soldiers. http://gotnews.com/busted-obama-advisor-working-defeat-nethanyahu-worked-israel-hater/
7. Top U.S. Communist Boasts That Party “Utilizes” Democrats
(Alex Newman) - Communist Party USA boss John Bachtell boasted in a recent column that his Marxist-Leninist organization, a tentacle of the Soviet regime in America for decades, “utilizes” the increasingly radical Democratic Party...to advance its totalitarian objectives in the United States. Writing in the Communist Party propaganda mouthpiece People’s World, Bachtell suggested that, eventually, a “radical third party” would become a viable option to advance communism in America. However, for now, he argued, fending off what he calls the “ultra-right” — essentially anyone to the right of nObama, whom American communists openly backed in both elections — requires the CPUSA to continue utilizing the Democrat Party as a “vehicle.” http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/19997-top-u-s-communist-boasts-that-party-utilizes-democrats?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=091ad6f0b7-The_Editors_Top_Picks_3_12_143_12_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8ca494f2d2-091ad6f0b7-289778381
8. Castro: U.S. must return Guantanamo for normal relations
(Javier Cordoba and Michael Weissentstein) - Cuban President Raul Castro demanded on Wednesday that the United States return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations...Castro told a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that Cuba and the U.S. are working toward full diplomatic relations but "if these problems aren't resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement wouldn't make any sense." Castro and President nObama announced on Dec. 17 that they would move toward renewing full diplomatic relations by reopening embassies in each other's countries. The two governments held negotiations in Havana last week to discuss both the reopening of embassies and the broader agenda of re-establishing normal relations. http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/01/28/castro-guantanamo-us-relations/22480809/
9. General Condemns Epic WH Failures In Senate Testimony
(Rick Wells) - General James “Mad Dog” Mattis is quoted as having said, “Marines don’t know how to spell the word defeat.” Hussein nObama is clearly not a Marine, as he can’t even muster the fortitude to say the word victory...In Senate testimony on Tuesday, the retired Four Star General had some harsh words for the failures of the current regime in its conduct of the various military engagements around the world, our foreign policy quagmire, and their facilitation in the rise and strengthening of radical Islam around the globe. He makes many clear points as to the lack of direction and intent on defeating our enemies under Hussein nObama, including “I don’t know what our policy is on Syria, I don’t know what the political end state is that people want to accomplish,” and “We’ve been somewhat in a strategy-free environment for quite some time,” and “come out now from our reactive crouch and take a firm, strategic stance in defense of our values.” http://www.rickwells.us/general-mad-dog-mattis-condemns-epic-wh-failures-in-senate-testimony/
10. The Muslim Brotherhood are Here in America and Working
(gopthedailydose.com) - They say that all politics are local. When you want to bring about real change, influencing and impacting the minds of people, then you start local and grow from there...That is precisely the strategy currently being used by the Muslim Brotherhood who are now officially in America trying to influence the political system. Their initial target? Chicago. Known for its massive corruption and already home to a very active chapter of the Communist Party USA, Chicago has made a name for itself with its radicalism. Being the home of the anti-American, racist Black Liberation Theology church attended by Barack and Michelle nObama for over 20 years, which was led by Pastor Jeremiah Wright, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that the Muslim Brotherhood would have Chicago as their first target to try to influence the American political system. Sabri Samirah, who is a member of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, was exiled from the United States after being investigated for a possible role in the terrorist attacks by al Qaeda on 9/11/2001. He was allowed to return last year and is using his return to organize an official political party, UMMA. http://gopthedailydose.com/2015/01/28/muslim-brotherhood-america-working-influence-local-politics-guess/
Does Europe Have No-go Zones?
Daniel Pipes
(danielpipes.org) - Comments by Steven Emerson on Fox News have prompted a heated debate over whether predominantly Muslim "no-go" zones exist in Europe. On Jan. 11, Emerson said they "exist throughout Europe … they're places where the governments like France, Britain, Sweden, Germany don't exercise any sovereignty. .. you basically have zones where Shariah courts were set up, where Muslim density is very intense, where the police don't go in, and where it's basically a separate country almost, a country within a country."
Although Emerson, whom I admire for his moral courage and investigative skills, immediately apologized for his "terrible error" of saying that cities like Birmingham, England, "are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don't go," he did not address the larger question of whether no-go zones, in fact, do "exist throughout Europe" and are places where governments "don't exercise any sovereignty."
Is he right about this?
In a 2006 weblog entry, I called Muslim enclaves in Europe no-go zones as a non-euphemistic equivalent for the French phrase Zones Urbaines Sensibles, or Sensitive Urban Zones. No-go zones subsequently became standard in English to describe Muslim-majority areas in West Europe.
After spending time in the banlieues (suburbs) of Paris in January 2013, as well as in their counterparts in Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Malmö, and Stockholm, however, I have had second thoughts. I found that those areas "are not full-fledged no-go zones" --- meaning places where the government had lost control of territory. No war lords dominate; Shari'a is not the law of the land. I expressed regret back then for having used the term no-go zones.
So, what are these places? A unique and as-yet un-named mix.
On the one hand, West European states can intervene anywhere and at any time in their sovereign territory. As the shoot-out in Verviers and the subsequent raids in Belgium suggest, their overwhelming advantage in force – including military, intelligence, and police – means they have not ceded control.
On the other hand, governments often choose not to impose their will on Muslim-majority areas, allowing them considerable autonomy, including in some cases the Shariah courts that Emerson mentioned. Alcohol and pork are effectively banned in these districts, polygamy and burqas commonplace, police enter only warily and in force, and Muslims get away with offences illegal for the rest of population.
The Rotherham, England, child sex scandal offers a powerful example. An official inquiry found that for sixteen years, 1997-2013, a ring of Muslim men sexually exploited – through abduction, rape, gang rape, trafficking, prostitution, torture – at least 1,400 non-Muslim girls as young as 11. The police received voluminous complaints from the girls' parents but did nothing; they could have acted, but chose not to.
According to the inquiry, "the Police gave no priority to CSE [child sexual exploitation], regarding many child victims with contempt and failing to act on their abuse as a crime." Even more alarming, in some cases, "fathers tracked down their daughters and tried to remove them from houses where they were being abused, only to be arrested themselves when police were called to the scene." Worse, the girls "were arrested for offences such as breach of the peace or being drunk and disorderly, with no action taken against the perpetrators of rape and sexual assault against children."
Another example, also British, was the so-called Operation Trojan Horse that flourished from 2007 until 2014, in which (again, according to an official inquiry), a group of school functionaries developed "a strategy to take over a number of schools in Birmingham and run them on strict Islamic principles."
What does one call Rotherham and Birmingham? They are not no-go zones, neither in terms of geography or sovereignty. This is where we – Emerson, others (such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal), and I stumbled. The English language lacks a readily-available term for this. And for good reason: I know of no historical parallel, in which a majority population accepts the customs and even the criminality of a poorer and weaker immigrant community. The world has never seen anything comparable to the contemporary West's blend of achievement, timidity, and guilt, of hugely superior power matched by a deep reluctance to use it.
Instead of no-go zones, I propose semi-autonomous sectors, a term that emphasizes their indistinct and non-geographic nature – thus permitting a more accurate discussion of what is, arguably, West Europe's most acute problem.
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