RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/venezuela-crisis-people-want-country-back/The people — the victims of this twisted socialist dream — just want their country back.

Caracas, Venezuela — “There are colectivos on every corner.”

My bodyguard points them out to me, the seemingly inconspicuous men standing a few feet away. The men belong to the colectivos, the heavily armed Maduro-loyalist gangs policing this city, always ready to intimidate and attack anti-government protesters.

Just after he points them out, one of them walks up to me and asks for my phone and passport. I hand him a copy of my passport and show him my phone. Without even bothering to search it, he tells me to delete whatever is on there.

I do as he says while he watches me, and when I am finally allowed to go I realize he didn’t think to check my phone’s trash. So I post the videos and photos, all in succession, while my bodyguard drags me away.

It’s only my second day in Caracas but already my third run-in with the alternative law in this city. There’s a growing sense of unease in me as I realize how truly totalitarian this country has become, creating a culture of desperation and fear. You fear everyone, not just the regime, but also all those who are on its payroll, wielding weapons in the name of this twisted socialist dream.

We are headed to the National Assembly where the self-appointed interim president, Juan Guaidó, is rumored to be making an appearance. Ever since the uprising against President Nicolás Maduro started almost two weeks ago, the country has been waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the nation’s fate to be determined through either violence or legislation, or both. Guaidó represents hope, but the path to freedom for Venezuela is paved with blood, tears, and radical uncertainty. Every other day here there are protests from both sides that result in riots and massive regime-led pushback, and it seems as if the people of Caracas are waiting for that final straw that will break the camel’s back.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/02/north_korean_military_proliferation_in_the_middle_east_and_africa.html

President Trump, to meet in late February with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a second attempt at ridding the dictatorship of nuclear weapons, maintains he is making historical progress and North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat to the U.S. Yet, earlier this week America’s top intelligence official, Dan Coats, rebutted that view. In a congressional hearing, Coats said North Korea wouldn’t completely give up nuclear weapons because its leaders view them as “critical to regime survival.”

Given today’s political urgency, a clear-eyed, comprehensive look at North Korea’s military capabilities and its long-standing and wide-ranging proliferation couldn’t be more timely and it is offered by retired Marine, author and political science professor, Bruce Bechtol. His new book, North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa: Enabling Violence and Instability (University Press of Kentucky, 2018), uses open-source intelligence reports, defectors’ testimony, field interviews and the work of fellow experts, to quantify the full extent of North Korea’s military capabilities and what it will take to stop the regime’s illicit activities.

Bechtol enumerates North Korea’s nuclear proliferation that includes weapons, capabilities, training, advice, assistance with fabricating facilities, equipment repairs and military backup. He profiles North Korea’s diversified capabilities that go beyond nuclear weapons programs to include myriad ballistic missile systems, maritime technology advances, airborne platforms, WMDs and cyber-warfare expertise. He lists the countries and non-state actors that benefit from their relationships with the rogue regime and details the country’s illicit financial networks and creative shipping arrangements that enable the regime to skirt sanctions and carry out global proliferation.

The Hermit Kingdom’s first nuclear weapons test occurred in 2006. By 2015, it had the capability to launch a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile that could hit the U.S. In 2016, it put a satellite into space using a missile with a range of 7,200 miles. Other tested ballistic missile systems, according to Bechtol, include a solid-fuel missile with an advanced GPS system for pinpoint guidance, a three-stage mobile ICBM able to carry a miniaturized nuclear warhead, and a two-state and a liquid-fueled mobile missile able to reach higher altitudes and distances than previous missiles.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13655/palestinians-lebanon

Protests by the Palestinians in Lebanon are unlikely to draw any attention from the international community, including so-called pro-Palestinian groups that are active especially on university campuses in the US and Canada, among other places.

The real “pro-Palestinian” groups are those who are willing to raise their voices against the mistreatment of Palestinians at the hands of their Arab brothers. The real “pro-Palestinian” groups are those who are prepared to defend the rights of women and gays living under Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The real “pro-Palestinian” groups are those that are prepared to advocate for democracy and free speech for Palestinians living under the repressive regimes of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The real “pro-Palestinian” groups are those who are prepared to condemn Lebanon for its racist and discriminatory measures against Palestinians, living and dead.

Hiding at a university campus and spewing hatred against Israel does not make one “pro-Palestinian.” Rather, it makes one just an Israel-hater. Will the “pro-Palestinian” groups listen to the urgent messages coming from the people in Lebanon they claim to represent?

A Palestinian who tries to bring a bag of cement or other construction materials into a refugee camp to build a house is subjected to arrest, interrogation, trial by military court and a fine.

Is this happening in the Gaza Strip? No. Is it happening in the West Bank? No. This inhumane and unjust practice is taking place in an Arab country where more than 500,00 Palestinians live: Lebanon.

Moreover, this ban on the entry of construction material is punishing not only the living, but also the dead. Palestinians say that because of the prohibition, they cannot even find enough stones and cement to build graves.

The wretched condition of the Palestinians living in Lebanon is often ignored by both the international community and the Western main stream media. The only Palestinians the international community seems to care about are those residing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — those whose grievances can be blamed on Israel.

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/01/let

What I do not understand is Venezuelans voting for the very policies which subsequently devastated their country. What I understand even less are the polls indicating Australian voters are buying Bill Shorten’s Chavez-lite policies and class-war rhetoric.

Venezuela, the richest country in South America not so long ago, is sliding into the abyss of civil war and bloodshed. The shops are empty and astronomic inflation has rendered the national currency, Bolivar, worthless. Oil production, the economy’s mainstay, is reduce to a trickle and default on overseas loans is likely. Venezuela’s military, up to its neck in drug-trafficking, has been shooting people on the streets, with 26 are dead by the latest count. The country is in torment and turmoil. Whether one calls the massive protests and demonstratikons a rebellion, a revolution or an insurrection makes no difference; suffering is the same no matter what name you give it.

This tropical country, blessed with abundant fertile soil, an extensive coastline and one of the world’s largest known oil reserves, is motherless broke. People are emigrating in droves to anywhere they can, voting with their feet. The only governments which support the present regime are the usual suspects: Moscow, Moldova and the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, plus China, Turkey, North Korea, Cuba and Zimbabwe.

https://thehill.com/policy/international/427885-venezuelas-guaido-says-police-showed-up-at-house-looking-for-his-wife

The self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela says police forces loyal to President Nicolás Maduro showed up at his house asking for his wife in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó told reporters at a public event Thursday that the move was meant to intimidate him as he seeks international support for his bid to oust Maduro as the country’s president.

“I will hold you responsible for any intimidation of my baby, who is just 20 months old,” the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly said.

In a tweet, the interim president wrote that police forces had returned to his house, though it was unclear for what purpose.

“At this moment the FAES is in the apartment of my wife Fabiana,” Guaidó tweeted, adding that Maduro would be held responsible for his daughter’s safety.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been a vocal supporter of Guaidó’s bid to oust Maduro, tweeted that Cuban-trained “shock troops” were in Guaidó’s home and that there would be “severe” consequences for any violence.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/opinion/juan

CARACAS, Venezuela — On Jan. 23, 61 years after the vicious dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez was ousted, Venezuelans once again gathered for a day of democratic celebration.

Pérez Jiménez was fraudulently elected by a Constituent Assembly in 1953. His term of office was scheduled to expire in 1958. But rather than calling for free and transparent presidential elections, he was undemocratically re-elected after holding a plebiscite on his administration late in 1957. Following widespread protests and a rupture within the military establishment, the dictator left the country and Venezuela regained its freedom on Jan. 23, 1958.

Once again we face the challenge of restoring our democracy and rebuilding the country, this time amid a humanitarian crisis and the illegal retention of the presidency by Nicolás Maduro. There are severe medicine and food shortages, essential infrastructure and health systems have collapsed, a growing number of children are suffering from malnutrition, and previously eradicated illnesses have re-emerged.

We have one of the highest homicide rates in the world, which is aggravated by the government’s brutal crackdown on protesters. This tragedy has prompted the largest exodus in Latin American history, with three million Venezuelans now living abroad.

I would like to be clear about the situation in Venezuela: Mr. Maduro’s re-election on May 20, 2018, was illegitimate, as has since been acknowledged by a large part of the international community. His original six-year term was set to end on Jan. 10. By continuing to stay in office, Nicolás Maduro is usurping the presidency.

My ascension as interim president is based on Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution, according to which, if at the outset of a new term there is no elected head of state, power is vested in the president of the National Assembly until free and transparent elections take place. This is why the oath I took on Jan. 23 cannot be considered a “self-proclamation.” It was not of my own accord that I assumed the function of president that day, but in adherence to the Constitution.

https://premium.telegraph.co.uk/newsletter/article1/land-grabs-in-hong-kong-as-beijing-challenges-the-freedoms-of-former-british-colony/?

Late on a recent morning, a woman slowly rode a bicycle beneath the trees along the sun-dappled shores of Sha Tau Kok, a small village on the Hong Kong-China border.

It was a rare moment of tranquility amid modern China’s bustling urban sprawl. But now this crescent of greenery is at the centre of increasingly fraught tensions between the former British Colony and president Xi Jinping’s Communist government in Beijing.

Six years ago, mainland authorities occupied a small parcel of land in the village – reportedly for military use – after diverting the course of a river.

Carrie Lam, chief executive of Hong Kong, initially said her administration was unaware of any such land occupation.

But the apparent cross-border land-grab angered local residents, who have in turn criticised hamstrung city officials for failing to stand up to Beijing.

“How could the government not be aware?” Mr Yau, a local landowner, told local media when the border breach emerged last November. Mr Yau, who did not give his first name, said he feared losing the land his family grew rice on for generations.
The waterfront near Sha Tau Kok, a village at the heart of a land dispute between Hong Kong and mainland China
The waterfront near Sha Tau Kok, a village at the heart of a land dispute between Hong Kong and mainland ChinaCredit: Sophia Yan/Telegraph

The Hong Kong government said in a statement that it was looking into the issue and that mainland personnel had agreed to refrain from using the land “until a consensus is reached on the boundary issue”.

https://www.amilimani.com/index.php/archives/show?show=262&start=10

Persia was the greatest empire on the planet and the most civilized nation until she was infected with Islam and suffered a slow death. A Muslim is required to abide by and live under the laws of Sharia and not the Constitution of the United States of America or any other laws. Because it is mandatory for a Muslim to adhere to Islamic laws and not to a man-made law like the US Constitution, a Muslim can never be a both Muslim and an American at the same time. They are incompatible with the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and our Judo-Christion values.

Like a virus, Islam is an invader. I am no longer worried about Persians because Persians by the millions have either left Islam or are on their way out. I am concerned about Western Civilization which is on the verge of death with the help of Islam apologists, Islam enablers and their collaborators: the liberal media, Hollywood celebrities, the liberal University professors, and both Democrats and many Republican politicians.

When our so-called educated leaders, call Islam a “religion of peace,” they are appeasing, if not lying outright. We, the people, elect our leaders and we hold them accountable to be honorable to their oath. When they use their voice to call the deadliest threat to everything we cherish, they not only legitimize Islam but also, they confuse the rest of the uninformed population with a false belief.Therefore, those politicians will become the agents of death, using political correctness to advance their own lofty agenda.

Ignoring the smoldering fire and relying on a few local “firefighters” to keep the fires from spreading is either naive or outright criminal, and it is certainly the easiest thing to do.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272670/world-council-churches-and-jew-hate-joseph-puder

A Jerusalem Post headline on January 14, 2019 declared “World Council of Churches (WCC) use anti-Semitic rhetoric and advocate Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)” against Israel. Research by NGO Monitor found that, “The WCC project – Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) has sent 1,800 Ecumenical Accompaniers from around the world to serve as observers in the West Bank and Jerusalem over the past 15 years, and aim to have 25 to 30 of these unofficial observers on the ground at all times. This is the only program of its kind run by the WCC.”

The stated goal of the EAPPI observers, according to the WCC, is to “offer protective presence and witness…monitoring and reporting human right abuses…standing with local peace and human rights groups…and advocacy (for Arab-Palestinians).” Naturally, this is a one-sided enterprise and pseudo “human rights” effort. It looks the other way on Arab-Palestinian terror, gross violations of human rights, hate propaganda, and anti-Semitism taught in Arab-Palestinian schools and mosques by the official Hamas and Palestinian Authority school systems.

According to the WCC website, the group represents 350 member churches in 110 countries, and half a billion Christians throughout the world. WCC member churches can be found in all regions of the world and include most of the Orthodox churches (Eastern and Oriental, i.e. Arab), as well as African Instituted, Anglican, Assyrian, Baptist, Evangelical, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Old Catholic, Pentecostal, Reform, United/Uniting and Free /Independent churches, Disciples of Christ, and Friends (Quakers). The Roman Catholic Church is not a part of the WCC.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13606/belgium-multiculturalism

The report notes that the texts used call for gays to be stoned to death or thrown off buildings, and described Jews as “corrupt, evil and treacherous people”…. The writings, the report continued…called for “war” on all people who do not follow Sunni Islam — From a recent report by the Belgian State Security Service.

“[T]he most important principle of jihad is to fight unbelievers and aggressors… Armed jihad becomes an individual duty for every Muslim.” — From a teaching manual used in Belgian mosques, according to a leaked intelligence report.

Such manuals, noted the report, are widely available “thanks to the unlimited financial and technological means of the proselytizing apparatus of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.” The manuals, the report added, were found not only in Belgium but also in neighboring countries.

Belgium, in its well-intended welcome of newcomers from the Middle East, is now facing a persistent terrorist threat and a “wave of jihadism”, according to a new report published by the Belgian State Security Service (VSSE) on November 30. The main reason for these recent acquisitions, notes the report, is the ongoing Islamic radicalization of inmates in Belgian prisons and the risk of terrorist convicts engaging in terrorist acts once they have served their sentences and are back out on the street.