October refugee numbers extremely low, refugee industry worried

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Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart did some number crunching yesterday and the conclusion is that if the Trump Administration continues to admit refugees at this historically low level, our refugee admissions this year will be way below the CEILING Trump set in September for this fiscal year (45,000).

George W. Bush still holds the record for the two lowest admission years in 2002 and 2003.  Why so low? Fear of terrorists getting in to the U.S. in the wake of 9/11/2001.

But….

Will President Donald Trump beat George W. Bush’s record?

Here is Leahy:

The number of refugees admitted into the country during the first month of FY 2018 by the Trump administration plummeted to 1,242 – an 87 percent decline from the 9,945 admitted during the first month of FY 2017 by the Obama administration.

The percentage of refugees admitted who are Muslim declined dramatically as well, from 45 percent in October 2016 to 23 percent in October 2017, according to the State Department interactive website.

Of particular note is the precipitous drop in the number of refugees admitted from the seven countries whose citizens were temporarily banned from traveling to the United States under the first travel ban, Executive Order 13679, issued by President Trump on January 27, 2017.

In October 2017, the first month of FY 2018, only 275 refugees from these seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudian, Syria, and Yemen — were admitted to the United States under the Refugee Admissions Program.

In contrast, in October 2016, the first month of FY 2017, a total of 4,581 refugees from these seven countries were admitted into the United States under the Refugee Admissions Program (1,352 from Somalia, 1,323 from Iraq, 1,297 from Syria, 414 from Iran, and none from either Libya or Yemen.)

This would beat the Bush record!

Should refugee admissions continue at this same pace for the remaining eleven months of FY 2018, the total number of refugees admitted for the entire fiscal year would be less than 15,000, which is 30,000 below the 45,000 cap for refugees set forward in the Trump administration’s presidential determination announced in September.

If it should be 15,000 that would be the lowest number admitted since the creation of the present system of admitting refugees.  However, anything above George W. Bush’s two lowest years of 27,070 (2002) and 28,117 (2003) would not set any records. In both those years the CEILING was set at 70,000 (so much for ceilings having any meaning!).

Leahy continues:

The refugee resettlement industry — which receives almost all of its estimated $1 billion annual funding from the federal government — is already feeling the budget pinch resulting from the diminished number of new arrivals. [And, that is why you are seeing so many refugee ‘forums’ in various states seeking to gin-up negative media publicity against Trump—ed]

[….]

The harsh political reality now facing the refugee resettlement industry is that neither the Trump administration nor Congress have much inclination to meet that 45,000 annual refugee ceiling.

Continue reading here.

Want to see where the refugees went in the first month of FY18.  Here is a map from Wrapsnet (October 1-31, 2017).  Top ‘welcoming’ states were Texas, Ohio, California, New York and Washington.

NOTE: Alaska welcomed 9 and Hawaii (the state begging for more diversity) again got zero!

For more on numbers, see my ‘refugee statistics’ category here.

RELATED ARTICLES: 

Do Arkansas college students understand that refugees are there to supply Tyson Foods with cheap labor?

Pew produces handy summary of where refugees have been placed since FY02

‘Gladiator’ star Russell Crowe says he wants a refugee of his own

Nebraska Lutherans moan: it is as bad as it can get….

Autopsy: The​ ​Democratic​ ​Party​ ​in​ ​Crisis

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After the recent revelations by former DNC interim-Chair Donna Brazile in a Politico Magazine op-ed that Hillary Clinton took over the Democrat Party in order to insure her nomination as the Democrat candidate for president the DNC is burning. Brazile wrote:

I had promised Bernie when I took the helm of the Democratic National Committee after the convention that I would get to the bottom of whether Hillary Clinton’s team had rigged the nomination process, as a cache of emails stolen by Russian hackers and posted online had suggested. By September 7, the day I called Bernie, I had found my proof and it broke my heart.

Brazile revealed in Politico that the DNC, the Hillary Victory Fund, and Hillary for America had entered into a “Joint Fund-Raising Agreement.” The agreement — signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook with a copy to Marc Elias — specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.

Given this confirmation that the DNC rigged the primary election it is interesting to review a 34-page After Action Report done by a group of progressive Democrats titled “Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis”.

The research for the Autopsy was provided by Action for a Progressive Future, a 501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organization. Action for a Progressive Future runs the RootsAction.org website. The task force members who did the Autopsy are:

The introduction​ ​to​ the Autopsy begins with this paragraph:

After a train wreck, investigators scrutinize the causes. A rigorous inquiry — not content to merely point fingers at external forces — takes an unflinching look at what occurred. Bringing to light the preventable problems is central to making significant improvements for the future. With such an approach, we can and must learn from electoral tragedy by evaluating the policies, actions and priorities of the Democratic Party.

The Autopsy focuses, “[O]n some of our party’s most crucial flaws, fissures and opportunities. During the 2016 general election, the party experienced a falloff of voter turnout and support among people of color, the young and the working class. Much of our report concentrates on assessing the Democratic Party’s approach to those demographic groups.”

The Autopsy notes, “Since Obama’s victory in 2008, the Democratic Party has lost control of both houses of Congress and more than 1,000 state legislative seats. The GOP now controls the governorship as well as the entire legislature in 26 states, while Democrats exercise such control in only six states…. Despite this Democratic decline, bold proposals with the national party’s imprint are scarce.”

The report accuses the DNC of refusing “to renounce, or commit to end, its undemocratic practices during the 2016 primary campaign that caused so much discord and distrust from many party activists and voters among core constituencies.”

The Autopsy blames “corporate power” for the DNC loss, stating, “Corporate domination over the party’s agenda — and, perhaps more importantly, the perception of corporate control over the party’s agenda — rendered the Democrats’ messaging on economic issues ideologically rudderless and resulted in a decline in support among working-class people across racial lines.”

The Autopsy concludes with:

Revitalized progressive populism — multicultural, multiracial and multigenerational — means fighting for genuine democracy. Outmoded narratives and facile calls for “unity” must be replaced with a new vision of politics that is explicitly inclusive and participatory. The party must learn how to speak a populist tongue that is in sync with real advocacy for a clear agenda, putting public needs above corporate profits. An imperative is to find common political
denominators that are inspirational and practical, cutting across demographic lines while building foundations for social advancement and a humane future.

Finally, in a letter published on RootsAction.org to DNC Chair Tom Perez Karen Bernal asks:

1) What are the DNC’s plans to further accelerate its gear-up of staffing to fight against the multi-front assaults on voting rights that include voter ID laws, purges of voter rolls and intimidation tactics?
2) How can we assure fellow Democrats that the DNC has committed itself to scrupulously adhering to its Charter’s requirement to be evenhanded in the presidential nominating process?
3) What is the status of decision-making as to the voting power of superdelegates at the 2020 Democratic National Convention?

The DNC is in big trouble. It is like a row of burning porta potties and none there to put out the fire. Midterm election 2018 will be the proof in the pudding.

Corruption, sex scandals, fraud, money laundering, identity politics, a move toward socialism do not bode well for Democrats and their candidates.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Why Democrats Are Obsessed With Wealth Inequality

Voter Fraud Is Real. This Searchable Database Proves It.

VIDEO: New York City IG — De Blasio Stopped Anti-Terrorism Police Procedures, ‘Caved Into Political Correctness’

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TRANSCRIPT [Emphasis added]

TUCKER CARLSON: Until yesterday afternoon probably against all odds, New York City had enjoyed 16 years without anyone being killed by Islamist violence. Could this latest bloodshed have been prevented with different law enforcement practices? You hate to ask that question, but it arises in this case because in 2005 the NYPD created a report, radicalization in the West is a homegrown threat it was called, and it laid out how U.S. Muslims could become radicalized.

But that guide was subsequently denounced as Islamaphobic. The De Blasio administration purged it in 2016 in response to a lawsuit by, you will be surprise, the ACLU.

Patrick Dunleavy is a former deputy inspector general of New York, he is the author of “The Fertile Soil of Jihad,” and he joins us tonight. Patrick, thanks for coming on.

PATRICK DUNLEAVY, FORMER DEPUTY INSPECTOR GENERAL OF NEW YORK: Oh, my pleasure, thanks for having me, Tucker.

CARLSON: So, I mean, New York is famous for having a very serious kind of world class literally, Police Department, and they took this threat seriously after the two World Trade Center bombings, obviously. They produced this report. What does it mean that the de Blasio administration jettisoned it?

DUNLEAVY: Well, what they basically did is they caved into political correctness. Nobody was looking at the fact that what the NYPD was doing was normal police practices when it came to investigating crime. And if we’re going to say that terrorism is a crime, which obviously we’ve just charge this individual in federal court and we’ve given him Miranda rights, then there are certain police practices that are normal.

CARLSON: Yes.

DUNLEAVY: Surveillance, undercover operatives, knowing the neighborhood to which you are going to go. For instance, if you’re going to look for clean shirt for your show tomorrow, you will probably go to your closet or to your dresser. You will not go to the refrigerator. In the same way, if I’m looking for an organized crime figure from a mafia, I’m probably going to go to an Italian neighborhood.

So now if we are looking for radical Islamic terrorists, we should probably be going to predominantly Muslim neighborhoods. That would just become a police practice.

CARLSON: So, of course it would. So what about that changed under de Blasio?

DUNLEAVY: Well, there were complaints made by not just the ACLU, but certain Muslim activist groups, like the Council on American Islamic Relations —

CARLSON: Right.

DUNLEAVY: — and other groups that said that we were profiling, that it was unfair, that we ought not to do it. This has never been happening before. And instead of actually showing that it was a normal police practice to do these things, they just caved in. It was like throwing up the white flag and saying, oh, no, we don’t want it, we want to be perfectly polite, we don’t want to offend anybody. Meanwhile, the cost was the public safety.

CARLSON: Really quickly, Patrick, was there any evidence that the police in New York were violating peoples civil rights, hassling people, hurting people under the current policing regime?

DUNLEAVY: No, in fact that particular lawsuit that was filed was ruled on by — Judge Martini was the individual who ruled on the case, and said there were no damages. One of the things that they sued with damages. There were no damages done by the New York City Police Department when they surveilled these particular neighborhoods.

CARLSON: Yes.

DUNLEAVY: And then when the case was reinstated on appeal, instead of fighting the case, and it was probably a 99.9 percent chance that they were going to — the NYPD would win the case on appeal, because a new regime had come in. Bloomberg had no longer been mayor, de Blasio came in, and he caved. And when you look at the fact that the new procedure calls for a civilian to be appointed to oversee any request to go into particular neighborhoods or particular religious organizations, that person is appointed by the mayor. Now, the mayor of New York City has praised domestic terrorists.

CARLSON: Right. I mean, that’s exactly right.

DUNLEAVY: So when we say we’re going to do that, instead of letting the police be the police, we caved in.

CARLSON: Of course we have. Patrick, thank you, that was really interesting and important.

DUNLEAVY: Oh, my pleasure.

CARLSON: Thank you.

A Traditional Marriage Student Group Has Been Branded a ‘Hate Group’

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In today’s bitter political climate, there are few labels more intellectually lazy than “hate group.” When you label an entity as a “hate group,” you automatically demonize it and remove from your shoulders any mantle of responsibility to dialogue or engage in civil discourse with this denounced entity.

This cowardly melodrama is currently playing out at our nation’s oldest Catholic university, where a student group has come under attack for taking the allegedly “hateful” position that Christianity got it right when it said sexual relations were meant for marriage, and that marriage was meant to be between a man and woman.

Students at Georgetown University founded Love Saxa, an affiliate of the Love & Fidelity Network, because they saw a gaping void on campus. In the face of the hook-up culture, widespread pornography usage, increasing sexual assaults, and attacks on the institution of marriage, Love Saxa sought to be a voice that would argue for the cultivation of healthy relationships, the repossession of sexual integrity, and the defense of traditional marriage.

Love Saxa’s position is not a popular one, particularly on a D.C. campus of politically active millennials. But one would hope that its place at a Catholic university, even one so liberal as Georgetown, would provide some level of security. But when the utter complacency of the Georgetown University administration is combined with the insatiable appetite of social justice warriors, no strand of Orthodox Christianity can be left unthreatened.

Last week, members of Georgetown’s Pride group filed a petition to sanction Love Saxa and strip it of its university funding and ability to operate on campus. Several days earlier, the editorial board of Georgetown’s student paper The Hoya—whose staff clearly hold up CNN and The New York Times as paragons of journalistic integrity—penned an op-ed accusing Love Saxa of fostering hostility and intolerance because of its commitment to the Christian view of procreative marriage.

The authors of the article at least recognize that Love Saxa’s mission statement is in line with the Catholic Church’s view of marriage and sexuality; however, their faculties of logic fail them when they go on to claim that despite upholding the same faith as its university, Love Saxa is violating the university’s code of conduct by arguing against same-sex marriage.

But then, logic and rationality needn’t play a large role when one can simply bandy about “hate group” terminology. The left’s modus operandi appears to be to toss out words like “intolerant” and “dehumanizing” alongside a few accusations of “hostility” and “bigotry” and hope that in the subsequent maelstrom of indignant outcries, no one notices the utter lack of coherency in its position.

Unfortunately, their ploy has proven successful far too frequently. Even now, in the face of this sham of a petition, Georgetown’s official statement is predictably weak, and it even appears to be giving a semblance of credence to the calls to silence Love Saxa: “As a Catholic and Jesuit institution, Georgetown listens deeply and discerningly to the plurality of voices that exist among our students, faculty, and staff and is committed to the care of each member of our community,” Rachel Pugh, a university spokesperson, said.

Pugh provides no further clarification of how the school will deal with a “plurality of voices” when only one voice is defending the faith it purports to believe.

G.K. Chesterton wrote that “tolerance is the virtue of the man without conviction,” and, speaking as a Georgetown alumnae and a founding board member of Love Saxa, it is unfortunate—though I confess not entirely unexpected—that Georgetown is once again revealing the tepidity of its own commitment to Catholicism, and choosing the “tolerant” path over that of conviction.

Perhaps they think doing so will quiet the liberal voices calling for the disbanding of Love Saxa, but that is a position so naive as to be indefensible. The left has proven that it does not stop in its quest to silence its opposition, no matter how “discerningly” that opposition hears its complaints. No compromise is sufficient for it. Once given an inch, these forces of illiberal liberalism demand a mile.

Chad Gasman, a sophomore at Georgetown and the president of GU Pride, told The Hoya that this petition, which he helped to file, will “force Georgetown University to actually be queer-friendly and queer-affirming.” Such a statement reveals that nothing short of an open endorsement of all same-sex relationships, including marriage, will be enough, no matter how much it defies the faith of the institution they have chosen to attend.

On Tuesday, the university will vote on whether or not to defund the club. If Love Saxa is banned from defending the Christian vision of sexuality and marriage, how will the Jesuits of Georgetown be able to refrain from referring to their own church as a “hate group?” How long before they will be called on to condemn the doctrinal tenets of Catholicism?

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Kelly Marcum

Kelly Marcum

Kelly Marcum is the office coordinator for government affairs at the Family Research Council, where she also tracks legislation on abstinence education and human trafficking.

EDITORS NOTE: The vote on Love Saxa was postponed. Originally published in Tony Perkins’ “Washington Update,” which is written with the aid of Family Research Council senior writers.

A Note for our Readers:

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The Leftist War Against America Requires a Reality Revolution

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The Leftist progressive movement has adopted the binary victim/oppressor social structure of cultural Marxism. White males are the identified oppressors and everyone else is their victim. Classical Marxism identifies the oppressors as the bourgeoisie (owners of production) who exploit the proletariat (the workers). The metric of classical Marxism is economics. Cultural Marxism is a departure because it relabels the players in the drama and defines culture as the metric of exploitation.

Cultural Marxism dominates the Leftist Democrat Party and explains their radical political platform that is taking aim at the established Judeo-Christian values which define American culture. The family, the Church, patriotism, traditional definitions of race, gender, and sexual identity are oppressive and must be dismantled and replaced with romanticized notions of one globalized world without political borders, country borders, sexual borders, or any other defined boundary.

Here is the problem. Classical Marxism and cultural Marxism both seek to replace an existing order with collectivism – they are selling their own idealized form of secular heaven on earth. The naive social justice warriors who sign onto this Leftist fantasy are too childish to examine the reality of the offer. They believe the fantasy of a Marxist paradise but the reality they are embracing is the state of powerless infancy – complete dependence in a world without boundaries and borders.

Critical thinking is the objective analysis of facts to form a judgment and is the foundation of rational thought. Critical thinking is dependent upon accurate information – it relies upon objective reality. The ability to remain in objective reality is threatened when fiction/fantasy (subjective reality) is presented as fact. It is impossible to make an informed decision without an accurate source of information.

Truth in lending laws exist to provide consumers with informed consent. Surgical consent forms and pharmaceutical labels equip patients with information to make informed decisions about their health. Product labeling, food labeling, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), are all attempts to provide consumers with accurate information to make informed decisions. Laws and labels acknowledge the existence of conflicts of interest and are attempts to level the playing field. What about conflicts of interest in politics? News? Social media?

Let’s consider the current reporting of the horrific jihadi attack in NYC on 10.31.17. Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, an Uzbeki national admitted into the United States through the deadly “diversity” visa program, rented a truck and drove down the Hudson River bike path deliberately murdering and maiming innocent Americans. He murdered eight people injured dozens more then exited his vehicle shouting “Allah Akhbar!”

Predictably leftist Mayor Bill de Blasio (a cultural Marxist) refused to use the words Islamic terrorism or jihad and instead disingenuously called the attack a “cowardly act of terrorism.” “We know this action was intended to break our spirit. Our spirit will never be moved by an act of violence and an act meant … to intimidate us.” Similarly leftist cultural Marxist Governor Andrew Cuomo told the nation that this was the action of a “lone wolf,” and that “there is no evidence to suggest a wider plot or wider scheme.” REALLY? These two Leftist political responses are prime examples of the subjective reality that the Left is selling to America.

There is no such thing as a lone wolf. The term lone wolf is a misleading political misnomer – jihadists do NOT act alone – they are part of a worldwide Islamic ideological war against the West that seeks to destroy Western culture and replace it with Islam and sharia law. Politicians who are unable or unwilling to accept this unpleasant reality are unfit to serve. Americans need leaders with the ability to identify and act upon the threat. America needs objective reality. Saying you are safe and being safe are not the same thing. America needs leaders without a political conflict of interest.

So why would Western politicians like de Blasio and Cuomo deny the Islamic connection when the jihadi himself screamed “Allah Akhbar?”

Deliberate disinformation is a tactic of war. Sun Tzu, the great Chinese military strategist said 2500 years ago, “All warfare is based on deception. Practice dissimulation and you will succeed.”

The disinformation (subjective reality) disseminated by Leftist politicians and echoed by the six mainstream media outlets and social media denies an accurate reference for viewers to make informed decisions. The echo chamber is a weapon of war. It is the epitome of Sun Tzu’s dissimulation designed to manipulate public opinion by encouraging regression and the identity politics of the Left that focus on the WHO not the WHAT of behavior.

The Islamic State issued the following explicit call to action in September 2014. The Leftist mainstream media ignored reality and refused to report it:

“So O muwahhid [believers in Allah and his messenger Muhammad], do not let this battle pass you by wherever you may be. You must strike the soldiers, patrons, and troops of the tawaghit [non-believers]. Strike their police, security, and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents. Destroy their beds. Embitter their lives for them and busy them with themselves. If you can kill a disbelieving American or European — especially the spiteful and filthy French — or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be….If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him….”

Saipov is part of the worldwide jihad against the West whose individual soldiers never act alone because they are carrying out the specific orders of their leaders. Jihadis are warriors engaged in a global effort that has different rules of engagement than previous wars America has fought. Islamists do not consider civilians to be innocent. They do not recognize boundaries between soldiers and civilians, they do not recognize any law except sharia, and they are considered heroes in their Islamic culture. Anyone naively classifying them as deranged or mentally ill is inappropriately applying our Western values to individuals who do not accept our Western values. This is specifically why importing immigrants with hostile cultural norms is a clear and present danger to America. The colluding mainstream media ignores these realities as well.

So, what does Islamic terror and the way it is reported have to do with American safety?. Ninety percent of news media, including television, radio, print, and online are controlled by six corporations. The ability of these six corporations to manipulate the news and, therefore, public opinion is staggering. The mainstream media has been politicized and reflects the left-wing liberal political bias of the six controlling corporations. Google is manipulating its search engine with algorithms that favor the Left. Twitter and Facebook are closing oppositional accounts. The prevalence of fake news and social media bias that deliberately manipulates public opinion is interfering with the public’s ability to make informed decisions. Why?

War makes strange bedfellows. The Leftist/Islamist axis is a very very strange union of sedition attempting to overthrow the legitimate government of President Donald Trump. The Leftists seek to replace American democracy with socialism and the Islamists seek to replace it with Islamic sharia law. Their cooperation is based on the axiom “my enemy’s enemy is my friend.” The Left thinks it will ultimately prevail and the Islamists think they will ultimately prevail if together they can create enough social chaos to make the country ungovernable and topple the Presidency. The irony is that the Leftists and Islamists are both too arrogant to realize they are participating in their own destruction. The Leftist/Islamist axis is a mere stepping stone for the globalist elite who fund and foment their seditious activities. If social chaos topples the Trump government there will be martial law. The police departments will be nationalized and then the globalist elite will internationalize them and impose one-world government.

One-world government is the long game being played by the globalist elite. One-world government is the final answer to the question WHY?

This is what America needs to know. Collectivism is tyrannical whether it is an Islamic caliphate or secular one-world government. The collectivism idealized by the Left denies individual liberties and awards total control of the population to the government. The collectivism idealized by the religious Islamic caliphate denies individual liberties and awards total control to the government at the expense of the freedom of the population. The foolish members of the Leftist/Islamist axis are too arrogant to realize they are being duped into surrendering their liberties. A life of dependency and eternal childhood is a life without freedom.

The Leftist war against America has made a Reality Revolution necessary – an American call to action is required. No more fake news. No more dishonest echo chambers. Truth in politics like truth in lending must be demanded to provide the American public with accurate information to make decisions about their future. Perhaps if these disinformed millennials actually knew the reality of collectivism they would not sign the consent form.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the Goudsmit Pundicity.

Inspectors Stumble on Ghoulish Scene at Abortion Chain

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In the abortion debate, there aren’t many areas where the two sides agree. But shouldn’t women’s safety be one of them? Whole Woman’s Health doesn’t think so, and its latest inspection report proves it. The company’s network of abortion centers is making headlines in Texas for subjecting mothers to third-world conditions that show just how little respect the industry has for the women it claims to protect.

Over a six-year period, the Texas Department of State Health Services stumbled on one horrifying scene after another in the group’s chain of facilities. Despite raking in millions from its abortion business, Whole Women’s Health didn’t spend any of it ensuring that women had a safe or clean experience. They were grisly scenes for investigators, who, unfortunately, are used to the disgusting conditions of many abortion businesses. Health workers found dirty and rusty equipment, tools that had been used on multiple patients without being disinfected, bloody suction machines, and staff that weren’t trained or licensed for the procedures they were performing.

“A 2016 report on the McAllen, Texas facility notes a counter so warped it ‘was no longer a wipeable surface, which could harbor bacteria and infectious matter.’ The reports also show cracks, rips, and tears on exam tables’ covers” and other holes that inspectors thought rodents were using to enter the facility, the Washington Free Beacon reports. Lethal prescriptions in one of the Austin locations were completely unaccounted for, and a Beaumont center didn’t even have a registered nurse on staff — a blatant violation of Texas law.

As FRC’s Arina Grossu points out, this is what happens when restaurants and tanning salons are more closely regulated than the abortion industry. “Anyone who cares about women’s health and safety should want abortion facilities to be frequently inspected, no matter what their position is on abortion… [J]ust because it has to do with a hot-button topic doesn’t mean that the abortion industry should get a free pass.”

Like most of the industry, groups like Whole Women’s Health say they care about women but refuse to prove it with common-sense standards. Other abortion tycoons, like Planned Parenthood, refuse to spare the money to upgrade their systems and instead blow millions of dollars in court fighting to keep their business’s shoddy standards in place.

While the CEO of Whole Women’s Health has insisted “there is no safety problem around abortion in Texas,” her own network is exposing mothers to an environment most people wouldn’t want their pets in. Unfortunately, these are the effects of the gradual dulling of the senses for people in the abortion industry. If you destroy innocent lives day in and day out, how could you possibly care about the condition of patients? In the end, the only way to justify taking lives is to become calloused to them.

According to Texas officials, agents have flagged and cited this same company for violating safety standards, “some dozens of times.” It’s time for Washington stop running when the Left yells about a “war on women” and start putting the responsibility for this war where it belongs: on the abortion industry and the pandering politicians who do their bidding.

Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.

Also in the October 31 Washington Update:

Trans Ruling Booed by Legal Experts

Columnist: ‘If you want to understand why people like Trump, watch VVS’

Austrian Election Results Make Nationalism Youthful and Normal

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he Overton Window, a paradigm of acceptable political discourse, is shifting radically in Europe as “right-wing topics like measures against Islamic terrorism, border protection and migration became primary agenda items in European governments.”

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By Taylor Rose

In an ever-changing European political landscape, Sebastian Kurz, 31, of the People’s Party contends that state sovereignty within the European Union, is possible.

Nationalism winning is the new normal. It is now so normal that even the European center-right is coming to terms with the new reality that it either must change or die. The results of the snap-elections for the Austrian parliament a week ago Sunday prove this true.

After the 2013 parliamentary elections, the center-left Social Democrats (SPÖ) was the largest party in parliament and the hard-right nationalist Freedom Party (FPÖ) was coming close to overtaking the dried up, center-right People’s Party (ÖVP). Now, after the snap-elections, the Austrian Left is in retreat with the Social Democrats suffering not one seat gained and the Greens are out of parliament. Now being young, nationalistic, right-wing and in-charge is the new normal in Austria.

Sebastian Kurz, 31, who presents himself as trendy, approachable and, yet, edgy on his visions for Austria, is now set to become the youngest Austrian chancellor after the ÖVP took first place with 31.5% of the vote, and will likely form a coalition with Heinz-Christian Strach’s nationalist FPÖ. Kurz, from Vienna, appeared suddenly on the scene as the youngest Austrian foreign minister at the age of 27, and since has helped purge the ÖVP of its more moderate ideas, embracing many nationalist positions in order to help the ÖVP ride the waves of an ever changing European political landscape.

Dr. Andreas Karlsboeck, an FPÖ member of parliament representing Vienna south, spoke with SFPPR News & Analysis to clarify this changing political landscape in Austria.

Dr. Karlsboeck says this shift to the right in Austria is “indeed” an indicator that Austria has shifted to the political right, as a “logical reaction towards unpleasant developments such as illegal immigration, Islamic terrorism, and the abuse of social systems in the European countries.”

Though he is hesitant to say if these results mean the end of the Austrian left, Dr. Karlsboeck is convinced that the Austrian and much of the European left is “currently undergoing an identity crisis and losing political influence” that will likely keep them in the political fringes for sometime, especially as millennial voters shift right.

Thus, enter Sebastian Kurz and the new face of the ÖVP that looks a lot like the face of the FPÖ.

Dr. Karlsboeck, like many European nationalists are hesitant to say if Kurz is in-fact a true nationalist because many are simply “just not sure” of his true intentions. However, “it is quite probable that FPÖ will get responsibility in a new Austrian government.” Which is a positive indicator that the leader of a center-right party would even consider this an option. However, Dr. Karlsboeck warns, “it depends on the results of the upcoming negotiations with Kurz’ and the Social Democrats. Only if the FPÖ’s primary agenda items will be accepted, Mr. Strache will be ready to join a new coalition.”

Karlsboeck explicitly outlined those agenda items as “a restrictive position in questions of migration, asylum, security and protection of Austrian borders as long as EU is not capable or ready to protect its external borders; a fair balanced economy and more direct democracy in form of binding referendums.”

Surprising to many, however, is the issue of Austrian membership in the European Union. When asked if this will lead to a referendum on Austrian membership, Dr. Karlsboeck explicitly said there will be “definitely no” referendum on this issue, as “the FPÖ stands for a common Europe of sovereign states…yet, fewer centrally made decisions. The FPÖ will support all positive and constructive efforts to reform the EU from inside.”

Though some may be wary about the prospects of the FPÖ as junior members of a coalition given the disastrous political fallout in 2000 when the ÖVP and FPÖ became coalition partners then, Dr. Karlsboeck remains optimistic that this will not repeat itself. The Overton Window, a paradigm of acceptable political discourse, is shifting radically in Europe as “right-wing topics like measures against Islamic terrorism, border protection and migration became primary agenda items in European governments.”

TAYLOR ROSE

Taylor Rose is a graduate of Liberty University with a B.A. in International Relations from the Helms School of Government. Fluent in English and German he has worked and studied throughout Europe specializing in American and European politics. He is a prolific writer and author of the book Return of the Right an analysis on the revival of Conservatism in the United States and Europe. He is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis of the conservative on-line journalism center at the Washington-based Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research.

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U.S. Army knew Bergdahl deserted, but forced soldiers who knew the truth to sign nondisclosure agreements

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“In the days following Sergeant Bergdahl’s desertion, soldiers with knowledge of the facts were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements. The truth about Sergeant Bergdahl was suppressed at the cost of their peace of mind. Though it was common knowledge inside the unit that Sergeant Bergdahl had deserted, the Army allowed the myth to perpetuate that he might have fallen behind on a patrol. Soldiers who knew the truth were afraid to speak up, out of fear that they would be punished.”

This should be the focus of a full investigation, and those responsible for the Army spreading this lie removed from their positions, if they’re still there. If Obama was responsible, that needs to come out as well.

The man (left) in the photo with Bergdahl is Badruddin Haqqani, head of operations and financial chief for the Haqqani network. The insurgent group is blamed for some of the deadliest and most spectacular attacks on NATO and Afghan troops in Afghanistan.

“A soldier’s perspective on Bergdahl,” by Chase Spears, Baltimore Sun, October 24, 2017:

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who pleaded guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, will soon face sentencing, bringing him and the Army one step closer to legally resolving the chain of events that started when Sergeant Bergdahl walked away from his unit in Afghanistan in 2009. He was captured and held as a hostage for five years; six soldiers died looking for him, according to some accounts.

Sergeant Bergdahl’s case has faced politicization from both sides of the aisle. Those speaking the loudest publicly about it have overlooked the consequences that his actions had on the unit he abandoned.

Sergeant Bergdahl was assigned to the storied 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, which traces its history to the liberation of France during World War II. Soldiers in this unit are proud to be part of the “1-Geronimo” battalion.

I began my career as a military officer at Fort Meade and served as the public affairs officer for Sergeant Bergdahl’s unit before returning to Maryland to attend graduate school this year. I worked and spoke candidly for six years with soldiers who were deployed with the unit when Sergeant Bergdahl disappeared, and I have read the initial investigation.

The most basic tenet of my job as the unit spokesman was to be knowledgeable on all critical facts pertaining to the brigade. The Bergdahl story was the biggest annual recurring news event reflecting one of our soldiers. Yet, it took months for me to convince a leader to brief me on the facts associated with it. In the days following Sergeant Bergdahl’s desertion, soldiers with knowledge of the facts were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements. The truth about Sergeant Bergdahl was suppressed at the cost of their peace of mind.

Though it was common knowledge inside the unit that Sergeant Bergdahl had deserted, the Army allowed the myth to perpetuate that he might have fallen behind on a patrol. Soldiers who knew the truth were afraid to speak up, out of fear that they would be punished….

Sergeant Bergdahl’s return to the U.S. resembled a well-orchestrated public relations campaign, complete with presidential Rose Garden ceremony and National Security Advisor Susan Rice telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on June 2, 2014, that Sergeant Bergdahl “served the United States with honor and distinction.” This prompted fury among those who knew the truth….

RELATED VIDEO: President Obama Speaks on the Recovery of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on May 31st, 2014.

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Cast Your Vote: Ask Joy Villa to run against Charlie Crist

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Grammy Award winner Joy Villa has announced that she is considering running for Congress. Ms. Villa appeared on Fox & Friends to make her announcement:

Joy Villa at Grammy Awards in her Make America Great Again gown.

Ms. Villa published this on her YouTube channel:

I’m thinking of running for congress! I feel this may be my calling, one I don’t take lightly. If you support my endeavors, please donate http://www.joyvilla.com/testingthewaters

Ms. Villa on her Twitter page asked, “Which of my communities would you like me to run for congress in?” One of the cities listed is Tampa, FL. That is Congressional District 13 currently represented by former Republican, turned Independent, turned Democrat Charlies Crist.

It would be a major smack in the face of Democrats if Charlie Crist would lose to Joy Villa. Ms. Villa wants your input on which Congressional district to run in. She’s going to the people to measure support for her 2018 mid-term election bid.

Click here to vote on which city Joy should run: New York City, NY, Tampa, FL, Santa Barbara, CA or Los Angeles, CA.

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VIDEO: The John Adams Quote Phil Robertson Thinks You Should Pay Attention To

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Phil Robertson, or “The Duck Commander,” joins us in “the swamp” to give his take on faith, freedom, and President Donald Trump. Watch our full interview.

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Genevieve Wood

Genevieve Wood

Genevieve Wood advances policy priorities of The Heritage Foundation as senior contributor to The Daily Signal. Send an email to Genevieve. Twitter: 

A Note for our Readers:

Trust in the mainstream media is at a historic low—and rightfully so given the behavior of many journalists in Washington, D.C.

Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, it is painfully clear that the mainstream media covers liberals glowingly and conservatives critically.

Now journalists spread false, negative rumors about President Trump before any evidence is even produced.

Americans need an alternative to the mainstream media. That’s why The Daily Signal exists.

The Daily Signal’s mission is to give Americans the real, unvarnished truth about what is happening in Washington and what must be done to save our country.

Our dedicated team of more than 100 journalists and policy experts rely on the financial support of patriots like you.

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Cast Your Obamacares, Says Hill GOP

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House and Senate leaders may disagree on how to fix Obamacare, but they certainly don’t dispute why.

After seven years, the only thing higher than the costs of the Left’s health care law may be the mounds of evidence about its failures. Already, families are bracing themselves for January 1, when experts warn that most Americans will wake up with a headache — and not from a lack of sleep from the night before.When the Times Square ball drops, premiums won’t. In fact, the first day of 2018 may trigger one of the steepest rises in health care premiums the country has faced. For the 39 states that have stuck it out on the Obamacare exchange, they’ll ring in the New Year by wringing out their wallets — most facing a 34-percent spike in premiums, and climbing. Although the pain will be passed on to almost every customer, analysts say the middle class will be squeezed the most. Like most people, insurers understand that Obamacare is a sinking ship, and they’re doing everything they can, the Wall Street Journal points out, to “hedg[e] against broader uncertainty around other aspects of the Affordable Care Act, and my market conditions.”

Others have outright left the exchange, blowing a big hole in the number of plans consumers could pick from. “The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has estimated that 46 percent of Americans live in counties that will lose at least one exchange insurer next year.” Others are losing their plans entirely, news many of them are just getting in the mail. “Time to shop for new coverage,” their letters read. In some pockets of the country, like Virginia, people who had as many as 14 policy options last year are down to two (which also happen to cost $150 more a month).

So, while some may want to steer Congress away from the failed Obamacare debate into the greener pastures of tax reform, there are still Republicans who are trying to solve the looming crisis and give Americans some relief. Two of Congress’s key moneymen, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Senate Finance Chair Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), are the latest to offer up a proposal that deals with some of the worst aspects of Obamacare — and, unlike the Lamar Alexander-Patty Murray deal, leaves no doubt about one of the biggest concerns: abortion. From its very first bullet point, Hatch and Brady explain that their “bicameral agreement” would fund cost savings reductions (CSRs) through 2019 “with pro-life protections.” That was a problem many of us had with the Alexander-Murray idea, since nothing in the plan addressed one of voters’ key priorities — ending the forced partnership between taxpayers and the abortion industry.

“What we’re proposing not only helps treat some of Obamacare’s symptoms: rising premiums, fewer choices, and uncertainty and instability,” Rep. Brady explained. “It takes steps to cure Obamacare’s underlying illness through patient-centered reforms that deliver relief from federal mandates, protect life, and increase choices in health care.” Like other bills, it would eliminate Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates, expand health savings accounts, and fund the cost-sharing program for two years, a move, Politico explains, “designed to appeal to Republicans who want to fund the Obamacare program but feel that Alexander didn’t get enough conservative concessions in his negotiations with Murray.”

Its biggest obstacle, apart from getting time on a busy congressional calendar, is that the duo will be introducing it as a standalone bill, meaning that it would need help from Democrats to pass. But if the Obamacare implosion continues, even they’ll have to concede that something needs to be done. And soon.

Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.

Also in the October 26 Washington Update:

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Noncitizen Immigrants Voted Illegally in Pennsylvania Elections

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A Pennsylvania election official confirmed Wednesday that noncitizen immigrants illegally voted in elections hundreds of times since 2000, casting doubt on the state’s ability to screen out ineligible voters on its election rolls.

Jonathan Marks, commissioner for Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation, told a state legislative committee that an agency analysis found 544 improper ballots cast from 2000 through 2017.

dcnf-logo

The election commission says those ballots were cast by noncitizen immigrants who claim they had mistakenly registered to vote, reports the Associated Press. In response to questions from Republican lawmakers, the commission said it was investigating if other noncitizen immigrants remain registered to vote.

The hearing comes two weeks after former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes abruptly resigned amid disclosures that legal resident noncitizens were able to register to vote while applying for or renewing drivers licenses. After inquires from Republican state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, the Pennsylvania State Department said it had records of 1,160 canceled voter registrations listing ineligibility as a reason and had put the issue under review.

At his testimony Wednesday, Marks said a glitch in the state’s Transportation Department’s “motor voter” process was responsible for the improper voter registrations. He told lawmakers the issue will be fixed within several months, according to the AP.

Republican officials nationwide have for years voiced concern that state election systems are susceptible to fraud and illegal voting by noncitizens and illegal immigrants. President Donald Trump pushed the issue to forefront in May with the creation of an election integrity commission to investigate “vulnerabilities in voting systems” used for federal elections.

In July, the commission sent letters to all 50 states, asking for voter data, including names, birth dates, party affiliation, partial Social Security numbers, and voting history dating to 2006.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, declined to provide some of the information, citing privacy issues and “grave concerns your request is a mere pretense for pursuing restrictions on the fundamental right of citizens to vote.”

Will Racke

Will Racke is a reporter for The Daily Caller News Foundation. Twitter: @hwillracke.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities for this original content, email licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

A Note for our Readers:

Trust in the mainstream media is at a historic low—and rightfully so given the behavior of many journalists in Washington, D.C.

Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, it is painfully clear that the mainstream media covers liberals glowingly and conservatives critically.

Now journalists spread false, negative rumors about President Trump before any evidence is even produced.

Americans need an alternative to the mainstream media. That’s why The Daily Signal exists.

The Daily Signal’s mission is to give Americans the real, unvarnished truth about what is happening in Washington and what must be done to save our country.

Our dedicated team of more than 100 journalists and policy experts rely on the financial support of patriots like you.

Your donation helps us fight for access to our nation’s leaders and report the facts.

You deserve the truth about what’s going on in Washington.

Please make a gift to support The Daily Signal.

SUPPORT THE DAILY SIGNAL

Border Agency Uses Slow Computers that Blackout & Can’t Screen Aliens with ‘Harmful Intent’

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The computer system used by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) front-line border protection agency is slow, frequently blacks out and can’t prevent the entry of inadmissible aliens with “harmful intent,” a disturbing federal audit reveals. Incredibly, thousands of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents rely on the flawed information technology (IT) system to fulfill their duty of securing the nation’s borders and keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the United States.

“CBP’s IT systems and infrastructure did not fully support its border security objective of preventing the entry of inadmissible aliens to the country,” a DHS Inspector General report states. “The slow performance of a critical pre-screening system greatly reduced Office of Field Operations officers’ ability to identify any passengers who may represent concerns, including national security threats. Further, incoming passenger screening at U.S. international airports was hampered by frequent system outages that created passenger delays and public safety risks. The outages required that CBP officers rely on backup systems that weakened the screening process, leading to officers potentially being unable to identify travelers that may be attempting to enter the United States with harmful intent.”

This may seem inconceivable 16 years after the worst terrorist attack on American soil. CBP is one of the world’s largest law enforcement agencies with 60,000 employees and annual budget of around $13 billion. It’s a crucial DHS agency that must balance national security with facilitating lawful international travel and trade. On a typical day CBP processes more than a million passengers and pedestrians, 280,000 vehicles and conducts more than 1,000 apprehensions. The agency also has an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) that protects sea borders by interception inadmissible aliens and cargo approaching American borders. The division has about 1,800 agents, 240 aircraft and 300 marine vessels throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The agency watchdog found that “frequent network outages hindered air and marine surveillance operations, greatly reducing the situational awareness needed to detect inadmissible aliens and cargo approaching U.S. borders.”

Information technology is a critical part of CBP’s operations and the agency has a special Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) to assure everything is functioning properly. The office is charged with providing effective technology, infrastructure and communications to adequately carry out border security operations. It’s also well-funded to the tune of $1.4 billion in 2016, the DHS IG report says. That accounts for the largest IT budget within DHS, comprising around 23% of DHS’s $6.2 billion IT budget. The CBP IT division also has a staff of around 5,200, including nearly 2,000 federal employees and thousands of contractors. This is a big-time and handsomely-funded enterprise that should run smoothly and effectively. Instead, it’s notorious for being inefficient and dangerously unreliable.

As an example of traveler delays and safety issues, the DHS report offers recent system outages that affected about 119,774 international travelers nationwide. More than 10,000, arrived at Miami International Airport and the backlog created “hazards and security concerns,” the audit says. CBP had to call local police and fire departments to help mitigate the risks and 258 CBP officers worked 762 overtime hours, resulting in more than $58,000 in overtime pay. The incident “created numerous secondary challenges and risks, including difficulties with crowd control, temperature, health emergencies and officer and public safety,” according to the audit.

Border Patrol agents face similar issues with a system known as e3 that’s famously slow and suffers lots of outages. Agents are frequently unable to carry out border apprehension and enforcement activities, DHS investigators found, with the most common outages related to a key portal that shares information in real time with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE). Some of the outages were prolonged and others occurred monthly. “The most significant impact of outages and slow processing in the e3 system was Border Patrol agents’ inability to meet court deadlines for submitting information about criminal aliens for possible prosecution,” The report states. For example, 48 individuals apprehended in the Tucson sector of the southwest border were not prosecuted in 2015 due to late records submissions. The same Border Patrol sector missed the deadline for transferring records for another 36 individuals due to e3 system failures.

CBP management does not dispute any of the findings in this alarming report. The question is, what will the agency do to fix the problem.

300 Million Slaves — A Documentary

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Dr. Kirk Elliott, founder of Sovereign Advisors

America is in the midst of a cultural battle, a war and the country will lose unless the church wakes up and decides to start speaking the truth.

If the church would wake up and the church would start speaking the truth and the church would start speaking the truth in love, we wouldn’t have the politicians we have and we wouldn’t have the moral decadence going on all around us.

But because the church has been silent for decades (this isn’t a new thing) we’ve got economic problems, moral problems, political problems, geo-political problems…these are all physical manifestations of a spiritual battle that is taking place.

This research digs into the integration of the churches role in the public and political arena.

Why has Facebook removed this photo titled ‘Victory’?

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The featured image titled “Victory” is of a soldier in Raqqa, Syria holding the Polish flag billowing in the wind in his left hand, while holding a burning ISIS flag in his right hand.

This photo was removed from Facebook for violating its “community standards.”

It was one of several photos posted on Facebook by Wrath of Euphrates after the battle to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa, the last strong hold of ISIS. This was a victory for President Trump, the U.S. military and coalition forces. The battle was the demise of ISIS in Syria.

According to Wikipedia:

The 2017 Battle of Raqqa was the fifth and final phase of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the de facto Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) capital in the city of Raqqa. The battle began on 6 June 2017, and was supported by airstrikes and ground troops from the US-led coalition. The operation was named the “Great Battle” by the SDF. The battle concluded on 17 October 2017 with the SDF fully capturing the city of Raqqa. It ran concurrently with the Battle of Mosul, which started six months earlier, as part of an effort by the CJTF–OIR and its allies to strip ISIL of its regional centers of power and to dismantle it as an organization controlling territory.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has come under increasing criticism for his company’s “censorship” of certain groups and causes.

FYI published on Feb 23, 2017 a video of a discussion between Zuckerberg and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Now in October 2017 social media sites are reporting that Facebook is “censoring” those who oppose the Muslim migration to Europe and targeting the nation of Poland.

The International Business Times’s Jason Murdock in a November 6th, 2016 article titled “Poland’s far-right groups protest Facebook ‘censorship’ after social accounts removed” reported:

A number of far-right groups in Poland have carried out a protest outside Facebook’s Warsaw office after the social networking giant blocked their profiles ahead of the nationalist marches scheduled for the country’s Independence Day on 11 November.

Roughly 120 people gathered in Poland’s capital city on Saturday 5 November, publicly accusing Facebook of censoring free speech. Groups at the rally included the National Radical Camp and All-Polish Youth, reported the Associated Press (AP).

The groups in attendance called on Facebook to respect freedom of expression and to abide by the Polish legal system.

According to AP, Krzysztof Bosak of the National Movement said during the rally: “What Facebook does is not in line with our constitutional rights.”

On the social network, a group that claims to “monitor for racist and xenophobic behaviour” published a statement that indicated it was behind the reporting of the far-right profiles – all of which have since been restored.

The social network group that led to Facebook censoring these Polish populist groups is the Center for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behavior. On February 5th, 2017, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported:

Police raided the offices of the Center for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behavior in Warsaw as part of a fraud investigation.

The search Friday came at the request of the Bialystok prosecutor’s office as part of its probe into fraud, counterfeiting of documents and other offenses, Lukasz Janyst, a spokesman for prosecutors in Bialystok, told reporters.

The anti-racism center said on Facebook that it operates legally and accused Poland of “turning into a police state.”

Janyst said the investigation involved the theater opened by the center.

[ … ]

“The Prosecutor’s Office in Bialystok is leading an investigation into the falsification of dozens of documents, making a series of scams and attempted scams that took place in connection with the activities of the Association of Trzyrzecze Theatre based in Warsaw,” and previously based in Bialystok, Janyst said in a statement.

There appear to be various groups that target conservative, populist, anti-immigration and pro-national sovereignty groups and individuals and report them to social media sites like Facebook. Facebook appears to take groups like the Center for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behavior at their word, at least initially.

Nation states like Poland are in Facebook’s crosshairs.

It this wrong? The answer is yes.

Can Facebook do this? The answer is yes.

Should Facebook do this? The answer is no.

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EDITORS NOTE: This e-Magazine has been repeatedly blocked by Facebook from adding links to our columns to other Facebook pages. The reason given for this blocking is that our re-posting on other Facebook sites, that have befriended us, violates Facebook’s community standards. We have asked repeatedly what community standard(s) we have violated. Facebook has yet to give us an explanation.