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Will Iran’s Regime Survive Coronavirus? By Ilan Berman

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/will-irans-regime-survive-coronavirus/

Soaring inflation. Deepening domestic discontent. An expanding environmental crisis. Even before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in recent weeks, the Iranian regime was struggling under the weight of domestic problems that increasingly threatened to undermine the integrity of the Islamic Republic. With the advent of COVID-19, however, matters have become much, much worse for the Iranian regime — so much so that it isn’t unreasonable to think that the Iranian regime could buckle under the weight of its own internal contradictions. That’s because, for Iran’s ayatollahs, coronavirus represents a true “black swan” event.

The term, popularized by the scholar Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2008 book of the same name, refers to an improbable occurrence that cannot be reasonably predicted, but which has profound — and potentially catastrophic — consequences. This is what COVID-19 is for Iran.

The problems start with the failing health of Iran’s ruling class. The upper echelons of the Iranian leadership are overwhelmingly aging and infirm, and coronavirus is exacting a deadly toll on this cohort. As of March 4, the Washington Post had documented that the disease had afflicted “about two dozen members of parliament and at least 15 other current or former top figures.” That figure has expanded significantly since then, as has the number of high-profile casualties within the Islamic Republic. To date, the virus is known to have claimed the lives of Mohammad Mirmohammadi, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, former deputy foreign minister Hossein Sheikholeslam, parliamentarians Mohammad Ali Ramezani Dastak and Fatimeh Rehber, and at least three other officials. More can certainly be expected in coming days.

Visible From Space, Iran’s Coronavirus Mass Graves Give the Lie to the Mullahs’ Propaganda By Tyler O’Neil

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/visible-from-space-irans-coronavirus-mass-graves-give-the-lie-to-the-mullahs-propaganda/

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has dismissed the coronavirus as “not that big a deal” but Iran’s Health Ministry has reported that 429 people have died of the virus, and the country’s deputy health minister has contracted the virus. New satellite imagery shows that mass graves in Qom, the mullahs’ spiritual center, are visible from space. This graveyard lends weight to the opposition party’s claim that the regime is underreporting the deaths and the number is closer to 1,500.

The Washington Post published images from the Colorado firm Maxar Technologies showing the mass graves visible from space.

The images show the Behesht-e Masoumeh complex in Qom, about 80 miles south of Tehran, where the excavation of a new section of the graveyard began as early as February 21, according to satellite imagery. The digging rapidly expanded as the virus spread. By the end of the month, two large trenches — their lengths adding up to 100 yards — had become visible from space, the Post reported.

Coronavirus spread quickly in Iran, spurred on in part by the Islamic regime’s close ties with China, according to The Wall Street Journal. The regime has reported that more than 10,000 people have contracted the disease and 429 have died. The dead include members of parliament, a former diplomat, and even a senior adviser to the supreme leader. The regime has reported that more than 846 people have contracted the coronavirus in Qom, a city of about 1.2 million.

Turkey Confronts Greece with More Hordes of Syrian Refugees and Migrants Erdogan breaks deal with European Union to extort new concessions. Joseph Klein

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/03/turkey-confronts-greece-more-hordes-syrian-joseph-klein/

Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to engineer a mass invasion from Turkey into Greece of thousands of Syrian refugees and migrants. He has broken a deal reached with the European Union in 2016 to close its border with Europe to stem the flood of immigrants from the Middle East. He took Europe’s money that was part of the deal but is now reopening his country’s border with Greece to extort more concessions. “We will continue the current measure on our frontiers until all of our expectations are concretely met,” Erdogan said recently.

When Greece pushed back to protect its border from the invasion, Erdogan lashed out. “There is no difference with what the Nazis did and the images from the border,” he declared as he made unproven claims of “barbaric” tactics supposedly used by Greek border guards.

As Breitbart pointed out, “The slur against Greece is notable, as some 300,000 people were killed during the 1941 Nazi occupation of the country, which near-wiped out Greece’s Jewish population.” Then again, we should not be surprised. Erdogan is an avowed anti-Semite who has indulged in conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the world’s problems.

“Greece does not accept lessons in human rights and the respect of international law from the Turkish president,” said a spokesman for the Greek government. He claimed that Ankara’s actions were aimed at destabilizing Greece.

Coronavirus: European Leaders Finally Acknowledge Scale of Crisis by Soeren Kern

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15729/coronavirus-europe-crisis

The number of new coronavirus cases in Europe has been doubling, on average, every 72 hours.

“It has increased in some countries over the last two weeks by one thousand… There is nothing to stop that expansion… unless those societies move aggressively… including introducing social distancing…. We need to modify our behavior. We need to start practicing that now. We have to modify our behavior in ways that reduces the risk of transmitting the virus….” — Dr. Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

“I think we need to start thinking in terms of the social risk. If I have a cold and I go to work and shake hands with my older colleague who has a chronic medical condition, I could be responsible for that colleague’s death. We all need to think about our responsibility to each other as we govern our behavior. We can’t view the epidemic in terms of our personal risk, we need to act collectively in a cooperative manner…” — Dr. Richard Hatchett.

Merkel said that her government’s top priority was to slow down the contagion to prevent a collapse of the German healthcare system.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has now reached more than 45 countries in Europe, where (as of March 12) more than 30,000 people have tested positive for the disease, according to a Gatestone Institute tally based on calculations from European health ministries.

The disease is spreading fast: more than 28,000 coronavirus cases (93% of all cases) in Europe were confirmed during just the first twelve days of March. The number of new cases has been doubling, on average, every 72 hours.

Europe Under Siege Barbarians are storming the gates, but Europeans still won’t pull in the welcome mat. Bruce Bawer

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/03/europe-under-siege-bruce-bawer-0/

In 1683 a massive army of the Ottoman Empire laid siege to the Christian city of Vienna. After two months, an allied force that consisted of men from all over the Holy Roman Empire and from other central European states, including Hungary, and that was led by John III Sobieski, the King of Poland and Lithuania, turned the Ottoman soldiers back, preventing the potential Islamization of the continent.

In recent days, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of the Ottoman Empire’s successor state, Turkey, has unleashed thousands of Muslims, mostly young males of military age, upon the European Union, today’s not-so-holy but increasingly imperial reincarnation of the Holy Roman Empire. More specifically, Erdogan, in violation of an agreement with the EU that netted him billions, has allowed – and encouraged – these people, who have been routinely described in the Western media as “refugees” and “migrants,” to storm the border separating his country from the EU’s southeasternmost satrapy, Greece. Indeed, he’s lent them active support, providing many of them with free transport to the border, which they’ve attacked with rocks, “makeshift battering rams,” and tear-gas canisters (supplied by Ergodan) while setting fires and shouting “Allahu akbar!” Photos taken at the border underscore just how perverse it is to call these thugs “refugees” or “migrants.”  

Iran: The Mullahs’ Coronavirus Lies by Majid Rafizadeh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15698/iran-coronavirus-lies

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently called the coronavirus a “blessing.”

The situation has become so perilous that some members of the Iranian parliament have finally come forward and criticized the theocratic establishment for failing to address the issue adequately.

The Iranian leaders’ cover-up and lies are some the underlying reasons behind the spread of coronavirus to other nations. By calling the coronavirus a “blessing”, Iran’s Supreme Leader seems to suggest that his objective is to spread the virus to other countries, particularly Israel and the West.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently called the coronavirus a “blessing.” After China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, its ally, has emerged as the second focal point of coronavirus, and thanks to the ruling mullahs’ lies and cover-ups, Tehran is spreading it to the rest of the planet.

The Iranian authorities at first claimed that the country was not experiencing a crisis regarding the coronavirus: that no one in Iran had contracted the disease. Soon, however, leaked information disclosed that top Iranian officials were aware of the coronavirus in Iran but had decided to conceal the truth.

When a few Iranian authorities were pressured to provide information, they stated that they are not allowed to report the actual number of people who have been infected or died. The head of the Medical Sciences University in Qom, Mohammad Reza Ghadir, for instance, said on Iran’s state television that the Ministry of Health had issued a ban on disclosing statistics on the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Global Warming Alarmists: Not Only Wrong But Vicious J. Frank Bullitt

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/03/09/global-warming-alarmists-not-only-wrong-but-vicious/

Christiana Figueres, at one time the United Nations’ climate director, says the coronavirus might be good for the climate “because there is less trade, there’s less travel, there’s less commerce.” She didn’t say it, but given her past statements, it’s not hard to imagine she’d be OK with any global or Western crisis that hurt the economy.

After all, Figueres is the woman, the former executive secretary of the U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, who admitted some years ago that the “fight” against global warming was a cover to crush capitalism.

“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” Figueres, considered “the world’s most important environmentalist,” said in 2015.

Those comments are similar to those of Rajendra Pachauri, a former chairman of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who said he was “not going to rest easy until” he had “articulated in every possible forum the need to bring about major structural changes in economic growth and development. That’s the real issue. Climate change is just a part of it.”

For these world “leaders” to militantly crusade against the only economic system — the free market — that has lifted hundreds of millions out of “grinding” poverty is beyond cruel.

The Stigma of Coronavirus? The leader of the World Health Organisation says it’s more dangerous than the virus itself.Katie Hopkins

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/03/stigma-corona-virus-katie-hopkins/

Following its latest media briefing, the World Health Organization (WHO) might want to think about changing its name to the Woke Health Organization.

In the face of a possible global pandemic of Coronavirus (so called COVID-19), the head of WHO says the most urgent priority is how we talk about the virus so as not to cause offense.

He is worried about the social impact of Coronavirus and the stigmatizing effect of words. He claims the stigma is more dangerous than the virus itself and he has made every effort to underline this point by repeating it… twice.

Stigma is the most dangerous enemy we face. Stigma is the most dangerous enemy we face.

You know, even with the duplication I am not really getting his point. An unknown killer virus with no known cure that turned a Princess cruise ship into a floating plague hotel and has killed 100 Italians in a week sounds just a bit more dangerous than words right now.

The Director General of WHO is a gentleman named Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, which I think is short for Utter Madman. Rallying around his own rhetoric, he is leading the fight for unity in the media and online, retweeting a tweet from Twitter that says: “Take care of each other.”

On International Women’s Day, whining Westerners and mad Muslims By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/03/on_international_womens_day_whining_westerners_and_mad_muslims.html

While many Western women were bashing men and complaining on International Women’s Day, women were not faring so well in Muslim countries

International Women’s Day is an old communist holiday that got picked up in the West. It’s become a profoundly ironic holiday as well. In the West, where women have greater freedoms than at any other time in human history, many women “celebrate” the occasion by either moaning about their victimhood, bashing men, or flashing their breasts. Meanwhile, in the Muslim world, where no day is a “women’s day,” those women who try to take a stand are brutally attacked by the mob or by their own government – yet leftist women seem unconcerned by the way in which Islamic countries treat women.

Wikipedia has an excellent précis explaining the communist roots behind International Women’s Day (hyperlinks and footnotes omitted):

After the Socialist Party of America organized a Women’s Day in New York City on February 28, 1909, German delegates Clara Zetkin, Käte Duncker and others proposed at the 1910 International Socialist Woman’s Conference that “a special Women’s Day” be organized annually. After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement in about 1967. The United Nations began celebrating the day in 1977.

Now that we’re stuck with the holiday, too many Western women use it as an annual occasion to whine about their non-existent oppression, to attack men, or to objectify themselves by baring their breasts.

Saying No to the Invasion of Europe By Janet Levy

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/03/saying_no_to_the_invasion_of_europe.html

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.