San Jose floods caused by faulty calculations about Anderson Reservoir capacity-NBC Bay Area

2/24/17, "Water District Miscalculated Flow From Anderson Reservoir Into San Jose: E-Mail," NBC Bay Area staff

"NBC Bay Area has obtained San Jose city records that show the Santa Clara Valley Water District miscalculated how much water could be safely released from the Anderson Reservoir, which led to the biggest floods in San Jose in 20 years.

(San Jose) Mayor Sam Liccardo questioned the water district on Tuesday when the flooding began. E-mail exchanges between Liccardo's office and officials from the Santa Clara Valley Water District show water district officials badly over-estimated how much water they could release through Anderson Dam without flooding the neighborhoods downstream."

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Colorado rancher plows mile-wide 'Trump' sign into his field. Doug Koehn never voted before 2016's election when he was inspired to cast a ballot for Trump-KUSA, 2/24/17

Colorado ranch Trump sign, 2/24/17

2/24/17, "Colorado rancher plows mile-wide ‘Trump' sign," KUSA, Brandon Rittman, Limon, Col. 

"If you fly in or out of Denver soon, you might spot what we’re pretty sure is the state’s largest political sign. 

Frustrated at some of the negativity coming from opponents of President Donald Trump, rancher Doug Koehn hopped on his plow and carved the word “TRUMP” in big block letters into his field. 

“The letters are 800 feet wide and approximately 800 feet long,” Koehn said. “A mile-long Trump.” 

You can’t really read it from ground level. The first time Koehn saw the whole thing in one frame was when 9NEWS showed up with a drone to see it.

“It looks really nice,” Koehn said while staring at the drone’s video feed, joking that he was relieved he didn’t make a spelling error.

Some farmers have equipment that can be programmed to use GPS systems to precisely plow a field. This effort was decidedly low-tech by comparison.

“I have an old tractor, it don’t do that,” Koehn said. “My son come out and stepped it off and I just drove the tractor to wherever he was standing.”

Koehn says he’s never voted before last year’s election, when he was inspired to cast a ballot for Trump. He tells 9NEWS he’s “embarrassed” that Colorado voted for Hillary Clinton last year and wanted to show that Trump has healthy support in Colorado’s rural Eastern plains.

He was also inspired by his previous experience flying in and out of Denver International Airport, which ranks as one of the 20 busiest airports in the world.

He’s been able to spot the house on his ranch land from the plane before and he hopes his sign will reach travelers with routes that run to the East of Denver.

There’s also a bit of big dreaming at play here as well. Koehn lit up at the idea that Air Force One might someday buzz the sign he cut into his land. 

“They can even land if they’re in Marine One,” Koehn said. “I’ll buy [President Trump] a beer. I’d love to shake his hand.” 

The whole job took only about two hours to complete, Koehn said. He plans to leave it up until he needs to plow the rest of the field in the Springtime. 

A side note: this is the first-ever story to air on 9NEWS using a station-owned drone. You can expect to see more drone footage popping up in our coverage moving forward."







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4th branch of government, dangerously off kilter, even has its own separate court system. Vast majority of “laws” governing the United States aren't passed by Congress but are issued as regulations by thousands of unnamed, unreachable bureaucrats....Shift of authority has been staggering. The Administrative State now has larger practical impact on lives of citizens than all other branches combined-Washington Post, Jonathan Turley, May 24, 2013

4/22/2013, In 2012, $19.5 billion was taken out of the US economy via regulations: "Costs of new regulations issued in 2012 dwarf those of previous years, according to OMB report," Regulatory Studies Center, George Washington University, Susan E. Dudley
.................... 
5/24/2013, "The rise of the fourth branch of government," Washington Post, Jonathan Turley, opinion

"The growing dominance of the federal government over the states has obscured more fundamental changes within the federal government itself: It is not just bigger, it is dangerously off kilter. Our carefully constructed system of checks and balances is being negated by the rise of a fourth branch, an administrative state of sprawling departments and agencies that govern with increasing autonomy and decreasing transparency.

This exponential growth has led to increasing power and independence for agencies. The shift of authority has been staggering. The fourth branch now has a larger practical impact on the lives of citizens than all the other branches combined.

For much of our nation’s history, the federal government was quite small. In 1790, it had just 1,000 nonmilitary workers. In 1962, there were 2,515,000 federal employees. Today (2013), we have 2,840,000 federal workers in 15 departments, 69 agencies and 383 nonmilitary sub-agencies. 

The rise of the fourth branch has been at the expense of Congress’s lawmaking authority. In fact, the vast majority of “laws” governing the United States are not passed by Congress but are issued as regulations, crafted largely by thousands of unnamed, unreachable bureaucrats. 

One study found that in 2007, Congress enacted 138 public laws, while federal agencies finalized 2,926 rules, including 61 major regulations.

This rulemaking comes with little accountability. It’s often impossible to know, absent a major scandal, whom to blame for rules that are abusive or nonsensical. Of course, agencies owe their creation and underlying legal authority to Congress, and Congress holds the purse strings. But Capitol Hill’s relatively small staff is incapable of exerting oversight on more than a small percentage of agency actions. And the threat of cutting funds is a blunt instrument to control a massive administrative state — like running a locomotive with an on/off switch.

The autonomy was magnified when the Supreme Court ruled in 1984 that agencies are entitled to heavy deference in their interpretations of laws. The court went even further this past week, ruling that agencies should get the same heavy deference in determining their own jurisdictions — a power that was previously believed to rest with Congress. In his dissent in Arlington v. FCC, Chief Justice John Roberts warned: “It would be a bit much to describe the result as ‘the very definition of tyranny,’ but the danger posed by the growing power of the administrative state cannot be dismissed.”

The judiciary, too, has seen its authority diminished by the rise of the fourth branch. Under Article III of the Constitution, citizens facing charges and fines are entitled to due process in our court system. As the number of federal regulations increased, however, Congress decided to relieve the judiciary of most regulatory cases and create administrative courts tied to individual agencies. The result is that a citizen is 10 times more likely to be tried by an agency than by an actual court. In a given year, federal judges conduct roughly 95,000 adjudicatory proceedings, including trials, while federal agencies complete more than 939,000. 

These agency proceedings are often mockeries of due process, with one-sided presumptions and procedural rules favoring the agency. And agencies increasingly seem to chafe at being denied their judicial authority. Just ask John E. Brennan. Brennan, a 50-year-old technology consultant, was charged with disorderly conduct and indecent exposure when he stripped at Portland International Airport last year in protest of invasive security measures by the Transportation Security Administration. He was cleared by a federal judge, who ruled that his stripping was a form of free speech. The TSA was undeterred. After the ruling, it pulled Brennan into its own agency courts under administrative charges.

The rise of the fourth branch has occurred alongside an unprecedented increase in presidential powers — from the power to determine when to go to war to the power to decide when it’s reasonable to vaporize a U.S. citizen in a drone strike. In this new order, information is jealously guarded and transparency has declined sharply. That trend, in turn, has given the fourth branch even greater insularity and independence. When Congress tries to respond to cases of agency abuse, it often finds officials walled off by claims of expanding executive privilege.

Of course, federal agencies officially report to the White House under the umbrella of the executive branch. But in practice, the agencies have evolved into largely independent entities over which the president has very limited control. Only 1 percent of federal positions are filled by political appointees, as opposed to career officials, and on average appointees serve only two years. At an individual level, career officials are insulated from political pressure by civil service rules. There are also entire agencies — including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — that are protected from White House interference. 

Some agencies have gone so far as to refuse to comply with presidential orders. For example, in 1992 President George H.W. Bush ordered the U.S. Postal Service to withdraw a lawsuit against the Postal Rate Commission, and he threatened to sack members of the Postal Service’s Board of Governors who denied him. The courts ruled in favor of the independence of the agency.... 

The shift of authority has been staggering. The fourth branch now has a larger practical impact on the lives of citizens than all the other branches combined. The marginalization Congress feels is magnified for citizens, who are routinely pulled into the vortex of an administrative state that allows little challenge or appeal. The IRS scandal is the rare case in which internal agency priorities are forced into the public eye. Most of the time, such internal policies are hidden from public view and congressional oversight. While public participation in the promulgation of new regulations is allowed, and often required, the process is generally perfunctory and dismissive. 

In the new regulatory age, presidents and Congress can still change the government’s priorities, but the agencies effectively run the show based on their interpretations and discretion. The rise of this fourth branch represents perhaps the single greatest change in our system of government since the founding. 

We cannot long protect liberty if our leaders continue to act like mere bystanders to the work of government." 

"Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University."


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EU looks to Russia for help with Libya chaos: Libya has no central government, is main departure point for massive population transfer from Africa to Europe, 90% of which consists of men, including some Islamic terrorists. Five short years ago, Libya was a country of great wealth and stability--CNN, 2/10/17

90% of Libya migrants are men. (Third chart in 2nd article below). 

2/10/17, "Libya: Why the EU is looking to Russia," CNN, Laura Smith-Spark and Angela Dewan

"EU leaders are turning to Russia as they seek to stabilize Libya, stem the flow of migrants departing its shores for Europe and combat Islamist terrorism.

But what is Russia's stake in the volatile North African nation?

One Libyan figure may prove to be central to any negotiations: Gen. Khalifa Haftar, whose forces have been fighting Islamists and control a chunk of the country's east. He's already been talking to Russia.

Here's what you need to know:

Put simply, Libya is in a mess. Five years after the fall of strongman leader Moammar Gadhafi, three governments vie for power, multiple tribes compete for influence and a slice of the country's dwindling oil wealth, and ISIS has gained a foothold in some areas.

Keen to promote stability, the United Nations hastened in a Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) early last year. But it has failed to gain real popular support or legitimacy, said US-based Libya analyst Ronald Bruce St John.

It continues to compete with the Islamist-dominated General National Congress in Tripoli, also known as the Government of National Salvation, and with the previous internationally recognized government, the Council of Deputies, which has set up camp in the east of Libya and backs Haftar.

Haftar, who heads the so-called Libyan National Army, has been working to drive out Islamist forces, with some success, said St John. His forces now control much of the east, including Benghazi and most of the major oil producing and exporting areas -- crucial to Libya's economy, said St John.

Libya is one of seven Muslim-majority countries listed in US President Donald Trump's travel ban as a security threat. 

Libya's chaos, explained in five graphics

What is Russia's interest in Libya?

In the last six to nine months, Russia has been trying to take advantage of the chaos and instability in Libya to establish itself as a regional player, said St John. After gaining a "major foothold" in Syria, where it has backed the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, influence in Libya could allow it to expand its reach into North Africa, he said....

In Syria, Russia has been able to act as a power broker, bringing the warring sides together for talks where others have failed, Walker said -- and it may seek the same role in Libya.

"Certainly by engaging with different political actors in Libya, it's looking to reassert its presence there, not necessarily militarily but as another power player in the region," she said....

Russia is also "disappointed" by the results of Western involvement in the Middle East, he said, which it largely blames for the fall of pro-Moscow regimes in Iraq and Libya, and associated political and economic losses.

What are the economic drivers for Russia?

The Arab Spring and subsequent instability in the region has been a blow to Russia's economy, Kozhanov said. Russia had huge investments in Libya before the Arab Spring -- from military infrastructure to railroad construction to energy.

The Soviet Union was also a major supplier of weapons to Libya's former strongman leader Moammar Gadhafi following his rise to power in 1969, said St John. Russia would like to tap back into that market, he said. In addition, Libya has oil and gas reserves that could offer future development opportunities, said Walker.

Who is Gen. Haftar and why does he matter?

Haftar -- who defected from Gadhafi's military to live in exile in the United States before returning to Libya in 2011 -- will have to be brought on board if a stable Libyan government with popular support is to be formed, said St John. 

The general opposes the rule of the UN-backed Tripoli government and has indicated he might try to extend his power base to the Libyan capital, said St John.

Haftar traveled to Moscow last year and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He also met with a high-level Russian delegation on board a Russian warship off eastern Libya last month.

Kozhanov said he doubted Russia had a "clear master plan" in Libya -- but links with Haftar could be useful in a future Libyan government. 

What does all this have to do with the migrant crisis?

Libya is a departure point for hundreds of thousands of migrants who have left poverty and repression in African and Middle Eastern nations.

 

The European Union has struggled to stem the flow of migration from the Libyan coast while the lawlessness there continues -- so forming a stable government is a priority from its point of view.

There are also concerns ISIS is trying to infiltrate Libyan people-smuggling routes to get its militants to Europe.

Europe's migrant crisis is not a real factor in Russia's plans, said Kozhanov. But, he said, "Moscow often offers to cooperate with the West on the anti-terrorist agenda, using it as the way to make the West less interested in confronting Moscow on other topics." That would include Ukraine, where Russian aggression has led to European sanctions.

US President Donald Trump has also spoken of working with Russia to fight Islamist terrorism.

What overtures has the EU made toward Russia?

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini last week spoke by phone about Ukraine, Syria and Libya with Lavrov. The pair have agreed to meet in the coming weeks, perhaps on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

"Both on Libya and Syria, we decided to find ways to join efforts and cooperate," said Mogherini of her call with Lavrov, adding that working with the Russians to help Libyans unite their country "can only be a positive thing."

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano also spoke with Lavrov about Libya, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing Italian newspaper La Stampa.

Are there pitfalls in working with Russia?

Support within Europe for sanctions against Russia over Ukraine has been weakening, said Walker. Treating Russia as a credible negotiating partner in Libya will make maintaining unity on sanctions harder, she said.

However, she said, "Europe has so many issues it is grappling with at the moment that refusing Russia's support or actively trying to counter it is probably not in its interests."

Many European nations -- as well as the US -- also condemned Russia for its military intervention in Syria, particularly its role in Assad's siege of Aleppo.

What has Russia said?

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that all sides should look to negotiations, not force, to resolve the situation in Libya. 

She stressed that Russia was talking to various political forces in Libya, not just Haftar, and planned to receive Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the GNA, in Moscow this month.

We would like Libya to get out of the protracted crisis as soon as possible and once again become a prosperous state relying on strong government institutions, capable army and law enforcement forces restoring its status as a major regional player," she said."

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90% of Libya migrants are men. (Third chart in article below). 

Aug. 4, 2016, "Libya's chaos, explained in five graphics," CNN, Bryony Jones, Anastasia Beltyukova 

"Five short years ago, Libya was the wealthiest and most stable nations in Africa. 

The country had been led by Colonel Moammar Gadhafi for more than 40 years, since he seized power in a 1969 coup, and its six million citizens enjoyed the benefits of the country's vast oil wealth.

Then the Arab Spring took hold, Gadhafi was toppled and summarily executed, and things got a whole lot more complicated. 

After years of uncertainty and upheaval allowed ISIS militants to gain a foothold in the country, the U.S. has begun carrying out airstrikes to try and oust them. 

Fixing Libya is going to take more than a few raids as these five graphics explain.

Libya is made up of three historic regions: Tripolitania in the northwest, Fezzan in the southwest, and Cyrenaica in the east, which were linked together as an Italian colony in the early 20th century. 

Each area is home to different denominations and interpretations of Islam, and to a variety of disparate tribes -- many Libyans' primary identity rests with their tribe, rather than their nation. 

Libya currently has not one but three ruling powers, all of whom make some claim to be in "government." 

The U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (now based in the capital, Tripoli, under Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj) took charge in December 2015, tasked with unifying a country bitterly divided by years of conflict. 

But the Islamist-dominated Government of National Salvation (also based in Tripoli, under Prime Minister Khalifa Ghwell) still has some support, and the capacity to cause trouble, and across the country in Tobruk, its one-time rival, the House of Representatives, has so far been unable to formally concede power to the GNA because of safety concerns. 

Libya is also home to a host of militia groups, and Mattia Toaldo, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, says the country is "de facto...split in several areas similar to medieval city-states."

ISIS fighters infiltrated Libya in 2014, first seizing the Mediterranean coastal town of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, and then capturing Gadafi's hometown, Sirte, further west. 

Taking advantage of the country's political chaos, the militants carried out attacks in Tobruk, Benghazi, Misrata, and the capital, Tripoli, as well as  on the Al-Ghani oil field.
.........

 

Libya first struck oil in the late 1950s, and has been exporting the "black gold" since 1961; the nation's economy is almost entirely dependent on its fossil fuel reserves. But widespread civil unrest since the overthrow of Gadhafi in 2011 has had a severe impact on its oil and gas industry, leaving revenues plummeting, and causing a big dent in the  country's coffers.  Oil production is down from a pre-Arab Spring level of  almost 1.6M barrels a day in 2010, to just 403,900 barrels a day in 2015; Libya's GDP has taken a big tumble as a result. ...........

Libya is one of the main stops along the migrant route to Europe.

 In recent years, thousands of people have fled sub-Saharan Africa via rickety, dangerous boats from ports along Libya's Mediterranean coast, heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa and on to mainland Italy; the bodies of many have washed back up on its shores a short time later. 

But before the Arab Spring and the chaos that followed it, Libya was itself a destination for huge numbers of migrants, and many of those remain in the country. 

Widespread unrest -- particularly in ISIS-held areas around Sirte 

and Derna -- have also forced thousands of people from their 

homes." The International Organization for Migration says 

there are currently some 425,250 internally displaced people in 

the country."

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http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/04/africa/libya-chaos-in-graphics/index.html

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Never Trumper butt hurt: CPAC ACU: Trump cabinet most conservative, surpassing Reagan. "Now, how are Never Trumpers gonna deal with that?" Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 2017. Lawmakers in Trump cabinet avg. 91.52% ACU rating, Reagan 63.43. Others: Obama 23.96, Clinton 18.62, Carter 5.31, LBJ 4.12-Washington Examiner, Bedard

"Now, how are Never Trumpers gonna deal with that? No, seriously! Trump has appointed a more serious cabinet than even Reagan, according to the American Conservative Union." Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 2017 

2/9/17, "CPAC-ACU: Trump's Cabinet the most conservative, surpassing Reagan," Washington Examiner, Paul Bedard

"Donald Trump has succeeded in picking the most conservative cabinet in the modern era, and possibly ever, even besting the team put together by former President Reagan, according to a scorecard from the American Conservative Union, host of the annual CPAC convention. 

ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp told Secrets that Trump's team, made up in part with House and Senate lawmakers graded by the group over the years, has a 91.52 percent conservative rating, significantly surpassing Reagan's by 28 points.

Only the Cabinet of former President George H.W. Bush, who was Reagan's vice president and followed the Gipper into the Oval Office, came close with a 78.15 conservative rating. 

"By our ranking of the members of Congress in the Cabinet, this is the most conservative Cabinet of any Republican including Reagan," Schlapp said.

"The set up is nice," added Schlapp, currently preparing for the Feb. 22-25 annual Conservative Political Action Conference, which could be the biggest ever.

Liberals have mocked the rightward tilt of Trump's team, but conservatives are cheering it and expect it to keep the president on the course to limited government, reduced regulations, smaller taxes and a stronger military.

The ACU ratings, 0-100, are based on the average of the grades given to lawmakers in the Cabinet. Some Cabinets, like both of the Bushes, had many lawmakers. The total numbers are higher for some because longer presidencies saw Cabinet secretaries resign and be replaced. Those details are below:

— Trump, five of 21 picks were in Congress, average lifetime ACU rating of 91.52 percent.

— George H.W. Bush, 10 of 30, rating of 78.15 percent.

— George W. Bush, 10 of 48, rating of 76.40 percent.

— Gerald Ford, 2 of 32, 70.5 percent.

— Reagan, 7 of 46, 63.43 percent.

— Richard Nixon, 2 of 43, 58.5 percent.

— Barack Obama, 9 of 47, 23.96 percent.

— Bill Clinton, 9 of 44, 18.62 percent.

— Jimmy Carter, 4 of 30, 5.31 percent.

— Lyndon Johnson, 1 of 26, 4.12 percent.

Trump has named five lawmakers to his Cabinet. Vice President Mike Pence has a ACU lifetime rating is 99.43 for his years in the House. The others:

— Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, confirmed to be Attorney General, 94.21 percent lifetime rating.

— Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, for Interior, 71 lifetime rating.

— Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, for HHS, 96 lifetime rating.

— Former Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana, director National Intelligence, 89.5 lifetime rating.

— Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, confirmed for CIA, 96.8 lifetime rating."


=================

Rush Limbaugh quote from:

2/23/17, "The Opening Monologue: Poll on the Economy, Boehner, Mnuchin, Trump’s Cabinet — and More," RushLimbaugh.com




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Wall St. Journal op-ed by two Swedish elected officials: Mr. Trump did not exaggerate Sweden’s current problems-if anything, he understated them. Riots and social unrest are now everyday life, gang violence is booming. Dec. 2010 marked Sweden's first Islamic suicide bomber terror attack. Artists live under death threats, performances are cancelled for fear of angering Islamists. Returning ISIS members are welcomed with open arms. Jews in Malmo are refugees in their country of birth-Wall St. Journal, 2/22/17

2/22/17, "Trump Is Right: Sweden’s Embrace of Refugees Isn’t Working," Wall St. Journal, by Jimmie Åkesson and Mattias Karlsson, opinion. "Mr. Åkesson is party chairman of the Sweden Democrats. Mr. Karlsson is the party’s group leader in Parliament."

"The country has accepted 275,000 asylum-seekers, many without passports—leading to riots and crime."

"When President Trump last week raised Sweden’s problematic experience with open-door immigration, skeptics were quick to dismiss his claims. Two days later an immigrant suburb of Stockholm was racked by another riot. No one was seriously injured, though the crowd burned cars and hurled stones at police officers.

Mr. Trump did not exaggerate Sweden’s current problems. If anything, he understated them. Sweden took in about 275,000 asylum-seekers from 2014-16—more per capita than any other European country. Eighty percent of those who came in 2015 lacked passports and identification, but a majority come from Muslim nations. Islam has become Sweden’s second-largest religion. In Malmö, our third-largest city, Mohamed is the most common name for baby boys.

The effects are palpable, starting with national security. An estimated 300 Swedish citizens with immigrant backgrounds have traveled to the Middle East to fight for Islamic State. Many are now returning to Sweden and are being welcomed back with open arms by our socialist government. In December 2010 we had our first suicide attack on Swedish soil, when an Islamic terrorist tried to blow up hundreds of civilians in central Stockholm while they were shopping for Christmas presents. Thankfully the bomber killed only himself.

Riots and social unrest have become a part of everyday life. Police officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel are regularly attacked. Serious riots in 2013, involving many suburbs with large immigrant populations, lasted for almost a week. Gang violence is booming. Despite very strict firearm laws, gun violence is five times as common in Sweden, in total, as in the capital cities of our three Nordic neighbors combined.

Anti-Semitism has risen. Jews in Malmö are threatened, harassed and assaulted in the streets. Many have left the city, becoming internal refugees in their country of birth.

The number of sex crimes nearly doubled from 2014-15, according to surveys by the Swedish government body for crime statistics. One-third of Swedish women report that they no longer feel secure in their own neighborhoods, and 12% say they don’t feel safe going out alone after dark. A 1996 report from the same government body found that immigrant men were far likelier to commit rape than Swedish men. Last year our party asked the minister of justice to conduct a new report on crime and immigration, and he replied: “In light of previous studies, I do not see that a further report on recorded crime and individuals’ origins would add knowledge with the potential to improve the Swedish society.”

Our nation’s culture hasn’t been spared either. Artists accused of insulting Islam live under death threats. Dance performances and art exhibitions have been called off for fear of angering Islamists. Schools have prohibited the singing of traditional Christian hymns because they don’t want to “insult” non-Christian immigrants. Yet reports made with hidden cameras by journalists from Swedish public media show mosques teaching fundamentalist interpretations of Islam.

Sweden’s government now spends an incredible amount of money caring for newly arrived immigrants each year. The unemployment rate among immigrants is five times as high as that of native Swedes. Among some groups, such as Somalis, in places like Malmö unemployment reaches 80%.

Our party, the Sweden Democrats, wants to put the security and welfare of Swedish citizens first. We are surging in the opinion polls and seem to have a good chance of becoming the country’s largest party during the elections next year. We will not rest until we have made Sweden safe again.
 
For the sake of the American people, with whom we share so many strong historical and cultural ties, we can only hope that the leaders in Washington won’t make the same mistakes that our socialist and liberal politicians did
.  
"Mr. Åkesson is party chairman of the Sweden Democrats. Mr. Karlsson is the party’s group leader in Parliament."
 

Feb. 20, 2017, "Burned out cars following a riot in a suburb of Stockholm, Feb. 20. Photo: Associated Press" via WSJ


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Added: Six consecutive nights of rioting in Stockholm, Sweden in May 2013 sent notion of multi-cultural paradise constructed over decades by the Swedish Left up in smoke:

May 25, 2013, "Stockholm riots leave Sweden's dreams of perfect society up in smoke," UK Telegraph, Colin Freeman, Husby, Sweden: 

"Police were hardly to be seen, and when they did arrive, it was purely to protect the firefighters dealing with the car blaze rather than make arrests...."Anyone who wants to regulate immigration is immediately classified as a nationalist, which also implies a racist as well," he (Swedish academic Carlbom) said. "It is still almost impossible to debate this question."" In a central Sweden town, "25 masked youths set fire to a school on Friday night." The Swedish Left has "ruled the country for most of the post-war period." Stockholm's outskirts are now dominated by "immigrant populations, including large numbers from Somalia, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Iraq." 

May 25, 2013, "Stockholm riots leave Sweden's dreams of perfect society up in smoke," UK Telegraph, Colin Freeman, Husby, Sweden

2013 Stockholm riots

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Added: Dec. 2010 Islamic terror attack in Stockholm, Sweden at Christmas market: The bomber Abdulwahab "was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and moved to Sweden in 1992 and then to Britain in 2001."...Abdulwahab’s father, Thamer, 61, lives in a town south of Stockholm.

12/12/2010, "Sweden suicide bomber: Taimur Abdulwahab al-Abdaly was living in Britain," UK Telegraph, by Duncan Gardham, Marcus Oscarsson and Peter Hutchison

Dec. 2010, Stockholm bombing

"An Islamic suicide bomber who attacked Christmas shoppers in Sweden at the weekend is a British university graduate and was living in this country until two weeks ago." 

"Taimur Abdulwahab al-Abdaly tried to set off a car bomb packed with gas canisters in a busy shopping street in Stockholm. The car caught fire and the bomber fled the scene before blowing himself up 300yd away 15 minutes later, injuring two bystanders. 

It emerged last night that Abdulwahab, who was due to turn 29 yesterday, is a former physical therapy student at Bedfordshire University in Luton, and that his wife and three young children still live in the town.... 

Abdulmutallab had trained in Yemen, but had become increasingly radical during his time in Britain. The security services and police are concerned that British university campuses have become breeding grounds for extremism. Neighbours told The Daily Telegraph last night that they had last seen Abdulwahab...two and a half weeks ago. The couple have two young girls and a baby son. His wife, Mona, a Swedish citizen, is said to run a home beauty company....Abdulwahab used to go to Friday prayers at the Islamic Centre in Luton.

The bomber had recently advertised on a Muslim dating site for a second wife, saying he was looking for a “lady 25-30 who lives in UK for marriage”. The site, Muslima.com, said he was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and moved to Sweden in 1992 and then to Britain in 2001 to study for a degree in physical therapy, marrying in 2004. 

On his Facebook page, he included a group called Yawm al-Qiyaamah, meaning Day of Judgment, that featured a montage of Tower Bridge in flames. 

Reports from Sweden said Abdulwahab was shouting in Arabic and carrying six pipebombs, one of which exploded, along with a rucksack full of nails and explosives....

One witness said the bomber had worked as a sandwich board advertiser in the Drottninggatan shopping area. 

Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, said it was “a most worrying attempt at a terrorist attack”, adding that it “failed – but could have been truly catastrophic”. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, said: “The Swedish government have indicated they believe this was a terrorist attack. We will be talking to them about the details of that attack.” 

Abdulwahab’s father, Thamer, 61, who lives in Tranås, south of Stockholm, said his son had been at the family home on Friday. 

“After he woke up Saturday morning, he took his car and drove off,” he said. “He did not say if he was going to Stockholm or elsewhere.” 

An Yemeni Islamist website, Shumukh al-Islam, published a photograph of Abdulwahab in dark glasses, saying: “It is our brother, mujahid Taymour Abdel Wahab, who carried out the martyrdom operation in Stockholm.” 

Twelve minutes before the bombing on Saturday, a Swedish news agency received a message with two sound files, one in Swedish and one in Arabic, that was also sent to the Swedish Security Police. The message criticised Swedes’ silence over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed and Swedish soldiers serving in Afghanistan. Abdulwahab said: “Now your children, your daughters and your sisters will die as our brothers, our sisters and our children are dying.” 

He also asked his family for forgiveness for misleading them about a trip to the Middle East: “I never went to the Middle East to work or to make money, I went for jihad.” He asked his wife to kiss the children on his behalf. “Tell them Daddy loves them,” he added." image above from UK Telegraph

--------------------------------

Added: Islamic terror attacks in in Europe mean loss of lucrative tourism dollars. Paris, France lost 1.5 million tourists and $1 billion in revenue in 2016 due to Islamic terror fears-AFP 

2/21/17, "Paris visitor numbers hit in 2016 after attacks," AFP, Katia Dolmadjian, Paris 

"Paris saw a drop of 1.5 million tourists in 2016 as fears linked to terror attacks scared off visitors, especially from China and Japan, figures showed Tuesday....

The shortfall cost Paris about 1.3 billion euros ($1 billion), the CRT said."... 

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Added: Also in France in 2016, Islamic mass murder on the Riviera via truck with bulletproof glass. French "terror" readiness consisted of police having hand guns. At least 84 killed, hundreds more injured:

7/15/16, "Nice (France) terror truck had bullet-resistant windshield," Debka File Exclusive (now req. subscription)
 
"At least 84 people were killed when a huge truck drove into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera town of Nice on the famous Promenade des Anglais seafront Thursday night in a horrific Islamist terror attack. Hundreds more were injured."... 

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Comment: Deciding not to participate in your own genocide is a brave step. You'll be attacked by enraged globalist elites who thought they'd sidelined you.
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Definition of genocide:

"Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation....It is...rather...a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the 

political and social institutions, of 
culture, 
language, 
national feelings,  
religion, and the 
economic existence of national groups, 

and the destruction of personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups."... 

"The crime of genocide is defined in the "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide."... 
 
"Raphael Lemkin in his masterpiece "Axis Rule in Occupied Europe" (1943) invented the term "genocide" by combining "genos" (race, people) and "cide" (to kill). Lemkin defined genocide"...from Genocide Watch

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1/7/2015, "The European Civil War: Elites vs People in a Fight for Survival," Gerald Warner, Breitbart London

"Europe is in a state of war: specifically, a civil war between the self-appointed elites who have destroyed much of the continent’s freedom, culture and prosperity and the insurgent populations they have deceived and enslaved."...





  
 

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