RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19929/geert-wilders-speech

I have been on the death lists of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS for a very long time….

In recent years, several fatwas have been issued against me by imams and mullahs, two of which have been repeated quite recently. Fatwas, religious death sentences consisting of concrete calls to Muslims worldwide and also in the Netherlands to kill me.

I now receive so many death threats, every day and about a thousand a year, that I no longer even report everything, because then I would no longer be able to do my work as a Member of Parliament.

They are often descriptions of how they want to kill me, often with explicit pictures, beheading videos, there are audio recordings of threats, including imams from mosques, and other disgustingly violent material. Many of those threats come from various Islamic countries, but especially from Pakistan.

And with a few exceptions of Pakistanis who came to the Netherlands to kill me, but luckily were arrested and also convicted, 99.99% of all people who threaten me from abroad have never been prosecuted.

Luckily one is prosecuted today. And I would like to thank the Public Prosecution Office for that.

I do hope that they will also prosecute the Pakistani mullah Jalali and the political leader Rizvi, who issued the aforementioned fatwas against me. Please don’t forget them.

[T]oday your court is hearing the case against Khalid Latif, a well-known former cricketer from Pakistan, who in 2018 put a bounty of three million Pakistani rupees, then about 21 thousand euros [roughly $23,000], on my head as a reward for the one who murders me, and would post the video of that murder online as evidence. And if he had more money, he added, he would also give it to the one who kills me.

Khalid Latif thinks I should be killed because I (and I quote) would insult “the prophet of God” – he is referring to Muhammad – by organizing a cartoon contest [which did not take place].

But of course that is absolutely no reason to put a price on someone’s head, let alone kill someone.

I wanted to make it clear that making drawings is allowed by anyone and we should never, ever bow down to people who choose violence, threats, murder and terror.

Because of all the fatwas, threats and calls to kill, I have been living in high security for almost nineteen years.

I have lived in a prison with my wife for months for my safety, lived in a barracks, lived in a police station, had to dress unrecognizably in public with mustaches and wigs. And to this day, my wife and I live in a government safe house.

I can’t do the most basic things that every human being does every day without thinking about it…. Quickly get some air. Empty the mailbox. Driving. Walk around the block. Quickly run a message [errand] in the store…..

And frankly, you never get used to it. You learn to deal with it but you never get used to it. And that’s tough. You should know that.

I am grateful to be protected. I also want to say that today.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19928/communist-china-ecuador

“We are basically being plundered. There are no words. There are no words to describe this tragedy…. China took control of the natural resources. They control the hydroelectric plants, they control the oil, a large part of mining, and they control political power. We’ve been colonized. Again.” — Fernando Villavicencio, Ecuadorean investigative journalist and presidential candidate in the award-winning 2022 documentary, This Stolen Country of Mine.

From 2007 to 2017, Villavicencio, who was a leading critic of the country’s sellout to China and government corruption, investigated the corruption and China dealings of left-wing Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who effectively sold the country and its rich resources to China. In 2020, Correa was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption but had already fled to Belgium. Today, China is Ecuador’s largest creditor.

[I]n March 2023, Honduras cut ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic ties with China in order to handle its enormous debt and need for investments.

Even more disturbing is the fact that China’s activities in Latin America amount to a significant security threat against US interests.

“What concerns me as a Combatant Commander is the myriad of ways in which the PRC is spreading its malign influence, wielding its economic might, and conducting gray zone activities to expand its military and political access and influence… The PRC is investing in critical infrastructure, including deep-water ports, cyber, and space facilities which can have a potential dual use for malign commercial and military activities. In any potential global conflict, the PRC could leverage strategic regional ports to restrict U.S. naval and commercial ship access. This is a strategic risk that we can’t accept or ignore… This is a decisive decade and our actions or inactions regarding the PRC will have ramifications for decades to come.” — General Laura Jane Richardson, Commander of the US Southern Command, to the House Armed Services Committee regarding her concerns over China’s activities in Latin America. Those include China’s recent financing of a $3 billion container port in Peru, and the establishment of a space monitoring station near the Strait of Magellan. March 8, 2023.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19922/iran-religious-influence-us

The Iranian regime is advancing its ideology and increasing its influence in Shia mosques throughout the United States, while the Biden administration is sitting idly by, presumably still seeking to return to a disastrous nuclear deal, lift sanctions against Iran, and fund the regime to launch more terrorist attacks, further repress its own citizens, and pave the way for it legally to obtain an unlimited supply of nuclear weapons.

“In four separate cases, recent reports have illustrated the Iranian regime’s influence on multiple Shi’a mosques and religious institutions in the United States. This is unacceptable.” — Letter from nine US House Representatives to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, June 28, 2023.

“This appears to be part of a network of regime-sponsored mosques acting as agents for a foreign adversary. The radical ideology being promoted by this regime preaches hatred not only towards Jews, Christians, and Westerners but also to Sunni Muslims and fellow Shi’a Muslims who do not accept the regime’s ideology.” — Letter from 9 US House Representatives to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, June 28, 2023.

We are fortunate enough in the US to have freedom of religion enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

All the same, Americans might like to be aware that there are clergy in the US whose goal it is to take the beliefs you now hold away from you and replace them with their own?

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19921/china-influence-activity-us

[President Joe] Biden’s closing the China Initiative played, of course, right into the Chinese Communist Party’s hands.

While the Biden administration worries about political correctness, the Chinese Communist Party is successfully using every means at its disposal to weaken the US in all fields.

“[A] significant portion of America’s intellectual and political elites share the responsibility for perpetrating key CCP propaganda agendas, including misleading the American public to minimize the degree to which the PRC is still a country ruled by a Marxist-Leninist communist party. The manipulation of language is a prime example of this endeavor.” — Miles Maochun Yu, Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, hoover.org, May 5, 2021

The FBI has named China as “a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States” and said that confronting this threat is “FBI’s top counterintelligence priority.” However, instead of focusing all available resources on countering this “grave threat” from the CCP on all fronts, the Biden administration has been busy institutionalizing woke ideology in the federal bureaucracy — including in the military….

The Biden administration, under an executive order issued in February 2023, now requires all federal agencies to present annual “equity action plans” in order to “advance an ambitious, whole-of-government approach to racial equity and support for underserved communities.” Since Biden became president, the military alone has spent close to 6 million hours on diversity, climate change and “extremism.”

The other focal point for the Biden administration has been mitigating “climate change” – all while China, during 2022, has been approving the construction of two new coal plants per week.

The US under Biden is arguably not even close to countering the threat that China poses or perhaps even properly understanding it.

The Biden administration has unfortunately shown itself to be unable to stop, or even limit, China’s continued rise. On the contrary, the connections of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, to China could mean that the US president is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party.

Meanwhile, at a recent press conference, when asked whether the administration is concerned that Hunter Biden’s ties to China “pose a national security issue,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan replied, “I don’t have any comment on that.”

https://www.frontpagemag.com/indias-battle-against-jihad/

Despite historical persecution, ethnic cleansing campaigns, as well as ongoing pressure at the hands of jihadists supported by Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir remains part of India, whose sovereignty in the region helps improve the civil rights of the residents, enables it to battle the Islamist threat, and enhances stability in South Asia.

Today, Jammu and Kashmir is demographically majority-Muslim, but it is within the borders of India, which has millennia-long historic and spiritual ties with the region.

Indigenous Hindus are the original inhabitants of Kashmir and possess a unique ethno-religious culture existing for more than 5,000 years. Kashmir had a majority Hindu population ruled by Hindu kings until the 14th century when Muslims from Central Asia invaded the region.

Under Islamic rule, Hindus in Kashmir were subjected to persecution. In the early 1800s, Sikh rulers controlled the region, and then a Hindu dynasty from the mid-1800s through 1947.

In 1947, the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir became part of the secular Republic of India. Shortly thereafter, Pakistani Armed Forces invaded the area. In response, Indian Forces deployed to counter Pakistan’s attacks. In Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the areas of Kashmir which remained outside of India, thousands of Hindu families were forced to flee for their lives.

In 1948, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 47 urging the Pakistani military to withdraw. Pakistan, however, refused.

Since then, Pakistan has increased its military presence and fomented unrest and terrorism in the region. Thousands of civilians have been killed in terrorist acts carried out by militant groups supported by Pakistan.

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/08/25/the-china-century-is-over/

For decades we’ve heard that China will some day, very soon, be the world’s hegemon, both through its stunning economic growth and its rising military might. Move over, America, here comes China. Just as the 1900s were the “American Century,” the 2000s would be the “China Century.” Not so fast.

Google “The China Century” and you get 1 billion hits. It’s that ingrained as an economic truism.

But in recent years, China has entered a kind of doom loop of debt accumulation, population shrinkage and a productivity slowdown that is eroding its once powerful economic growth and threatens to halt many of the economic advances it made over the last 50 years.

We’ve watched as decades of 10% annual GDP growth, a result of Deng Xiaoping’s 1979 market-oriented reforms, began dropping sharply under Chairman Xi Jinping, China’s born-again Communist leader. The nation’s traditional growth engines of soaring government debt, consumer spending, and foreign investment are now sputtering.

There are two big reasons for this.

One, is China’s single-child policy. Soon the nation of 1.4 billion will shrink outright. Economic growth usually follows population growth.

Two, the return to communist principles under Xi, whose totalitarian policies and crackdowns on dissent and human rights since 2012 have led to an exodus of foreign investment and know-how, and created a stagnant domestic economy.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/24/mercenary-chief-prigozhin-dead-wagner-boss-plane-putin/

“Never strike a king,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “unless you are sure you shall kill him.” Good advice, but it comes too late for Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian leader of the Wagner mercenary army.

Vladimir Putin, that old KGB man, already knew Emerson’s message, deep in his guts. He also knew the unstated part: if you try to kill the king and you fail, you will be the dead one.

And so Prigozhin was.
 
Prigozhin, once Putin’s ally, should have known the limits of their ties

The leader of the Russia’s most effective mercenary force had once been Putin’s chef and ally. He had the Kremlin’s support when he formed Wagner. He had it, too, when he led his soldiers in the grinding, brutal battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where Wagner lost tens of thousands of soldiers in the house-to-house fighting. As the fighting wore on, however, Prigozhin learned the limits of Putin’s support.

The Kremlin’s fear was that, if Prigozhin and his mercenaries got credit for this prominent victory in Bakhmut, Wagner’s success would undermine the prestige of the regular Russian army and ultimately threaten Putin’s own power.

Preventing that erosion is why the regular military’s two leaders, Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and military chief of staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, ultimately denied Wagner the ammunition and supplies they needed to complete their victory. Then Shoigu and Gerasimov, presumably at Putin’s direction, tried to deny Wagner credit for taking the city.

Prigozhin’s Fatal Decision to March on Moscow
 
Prigozhin was furious at this betrayal and said so repeatedly on his widely-circulated social-media posts. When his PR campaign failed, Prigozhin took much more drastic—and ultimately fatal–action. He mobilized his troops to march on Moscow.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19917/atrocities-blasphemy-laws-pakistan

“What began as accusations against two Christian brothers has escalated into a devastating wave of violence, resulting in the destruction of over 20 churches and 500 homes. The situation remains tense as the community grapples with the aftermath of this unfortunate incident.” — Pakistan Christian Post, August 18, 2023.

“Both men were taken into custody on the next afternoon and handed to the Counter-Terrorism Department, Punjab for investigation. Section 295-B relates to desecration of the Koran and carries a punishment of life in prison. Section 295-C relates to insulting Muhammad and is punishable by death.” — Morning Star News, August 18, 2023.

After the Pakistani Supreme Court’s 2018 acquittal of Asia Bibi, a Christian who was charged with blasphemy and kept in solitary confinement for eight years until TLP members held protests across Pakistan. Muhammad Afzal Qadri, a TLP co-founder, also called for the murder of the three Supreme Court justices involved in hearing Bibi’s appeal, stating: “The Chief Justice and two others deserve to be killed.”

“Videos circulating on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms showed a violent mob dragging a half-dead man on the streets of Sialkot, Pakistan on December 1, 2021. Young men were throwing stones at him and kicking his body as he was dragged mercilessly by those who called themselves the ‘protectors’ of the sanctity of the Prophethood. The videos go on to show ghastly scenes of the mob burning a corpse as dozens of men not only look on, but use their cell phones to take selfies….” — Atlantic Council, January 15, 2022.

On July 8, 2023, police arrested a 35-year-old Christian for allegedly sharing a post on Facebook, although “Even the imam of the village mosque told them that the post contained nothing derogatory against Islam, and that they should desist from stoking religious tension.” — Morning Star News, July 12, 2023.

“Pakistani authorities need no more evidence to see how dangerous the blasphemy laws are – they are abused to make false accusations that can, and have, led to unlawful killings and even whole communities being attacked and their homes burnt.” — David Griffiths, Director of the Office of the Secretary General of Amnesty International, August 25, 2020.

No changes in the situation have yet been observed.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19909/killing-christians-paradise

“The Taliban are working to completely erase Christianity or any religious minority from the country, even stating that there are no Christians in Afghanistan, an obviously false claim. Many Christians have gone underground to avoid being kidnapped by the Taliban ‘courts.’ The rising starvation rates and increasing poverty in Afghanistan create an even higher security threat to these believers since now the Taliban are offering financial compensation to anyone who reports on Christians… and Afghans are desperate, further heightening the security risk [to Christians.] Unless ransomed by their families, Christians captured by the ‘courts’ face brutal torture and even death. If redeemed, the survivors and their families, often bankrupt from the exorbitant ransom demands, must flee their homes to avoid repeated kidnappings from the various Taliban gangs. Because of the persecution, many Christians escape to Pakistan and risk capture and death by the Taliban. Even if they make it to Pakistan, they must conceal their faith for fear of receiving worse treatment in already poor conditions. Some Christian refugees decide to return to Afghanistan, deciding they have a better chance of survival under the Taliban than in Pakistan.” — Report by International Christian Concern, July 13, 2023, Afghanistan.

Arguing that churches should never exist in Muslim-majority regions, on Sunday, July 2, Muslims broke up a Christian worship service even as police stood by looking on. — Morning Star News, July 17, 2023, Indonesia.

She was heard yelling, “You the minorities should not always ask to be respected!” — Morning Star News, July 17, 2023, Indonesia.

This video captures some of the most recent damage of beheadings and desecrations. The report concludes by saying the motivation of the “unknown vandals” remains “a mystery to police.” — Kronen Zeitung, Austria.

“Blasphemy laws are often used as a weapon of revenge against both Muslims and non-Muslims to settle personal scores or to resolve disputes over money, property or business. A mere allegation is enough to provoke a mob to riot and lynch falsely accused suspects in Pakistan. At least 1,949 persons were accused under the blasphemy laws between 1987 and 2021, according to the Center for Social Justice. A large number of these blasphemy cases are still awaiting justice.” — Morning Star News, July 12, 2023, Pakistan.

These laws are, moreover, becoming more, not less, severe….

“The… situation became tense after the Friday prayers when announcements were made from mosque loudspeakers asking people to gather for a protest.” — Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, a Christian and former lawmaker, Morning Star News, July 4, 2023, Pakistan.

“The blasphemy charge against Shahzad stems from personal grudges against him by the complainant, Ullah … [who] had engaged in legal battles with Shahzad over a piece of land allotted by the government for constructing a church building.” If found guilty, [he] faces up to ten years in prison. — Morning Star News, July 4, 2023, Pakistan.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19908/brexit-politics

It depends on what we mean by Brexit….If we go by its simplest meaning, that is to say ceasing to be a member of the European Union, Brexit has succeeded.

Leaving aside control of borders and curbing immigration, Brexit became a vehicle for all sorts of fantasies. The UK was to regain its imperial role as leader of the Commonwealth, albeit in the service of world peace and prosperity. Creative trade agreements were to be signed with the United States, China, Japan and any other nation that recognized the advantages of having the UK as partner.

Needless to say, that hasn’t happened.

In the UK today, more than 25 percent of children have foreign mothers. (In London it is 52 percent). Of every ten British children, one is a Muslim-born citizen. In a decade or two, “little Englanders” may even be a minority as a new globalized society takes shape.

“Brexit has failed!” This is what Nigel Farage, the politician who was the cheerleader for Britain leaving the European Union, said in a television interview last week.

A day later it was the turn of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the man who railroaded Brexit through the parliament, to echo Farage. In his newspaper column, he said the UK “is still stuck in the European Union orbit.”

For a brief moment, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seemed to amplify that echo with a tweet that implied the UK was still part of the EU. (Needless to say the tweet was hastily corrected.)

Well, has Brexit failed?