"At this rate we won't be voting anymore, they will impose a leader like in the old days."

In Huge Protest, Romanians Rail Against Do-Over Election Targeting Populist NATO Skeptic

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/huge-protests-romanians-rail-against-do-over-election-targeting-populist-nato-skeptic

BY TYLER DURDEN

MONDAY, JAN 13, 2025 - 03:55 AM

Upwards of 100,000 Romanians of various political stripes took to the streets on Sunday to express outrage over the voiding of a presidential election that seemed poised to put a NATO and Ukraine War skeptic in power. George Simion, leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, summed up the intent of the demonstrations his party organized:

"We are protesting against the coup d’état that took place on Dec. 6. We are sorry to discover so late that we were living in a lie and that we were led by people who claimed to be democrats, but are not at all. We demand a return to democracy through the resumption of elections, starting with the second round.” 

In November, Romania held the first balloting in its two-round election. It resulted in Europe's latest instance in which a populist, nationalist, right-wing candidate posted a result that far exceeded what polls indicated he was capable of. In a 13-contender field, that candidate, Calin Georgescu, led the pack with 23%, setting him up to advance to the second and final round against reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party.

However, just two days before that second round was to take place on Dec. 8, Romania's constitutional court annulled the election, and ordered a complete do-over of both rounds. Their justification: Supposed Russian meddling manifested in manipulated votes, campaign irregularities and secret spending. The ruling came after incumbent President Klaus Iohannis reportedly shared intelligence claiming Russia organized thousands of social media accounts to boost Georgescu's campaign.

"You petty politicians, with your ungrateful and immature games, you won't even know what hit you in this global storm," said Georgescue in a social media post in which he promoted the protest and compared Romanian leaders and judges with former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who's on trial on corruption charges. "You are so small that you aren't even able to understand anything. Nothing you do will make a difference anymore. The inevitable, is inevitable." 

On Sunday, crowds -- estimated in size from tens of thousands to more than 100,000 -- marched through the streets of Bucharest, with Reuters reporting that many left-wingers joined the protest. The slogans on their signsincluded "We Want Free Elections," "Bring Back The Second Round," "Freedom," and "Democracy Is Not Optional." In a country that is among the most religiously observant in Europe, many carried Christian Orthodox icons. According to video posted to social media, protesters also vented their aggravation with establishment media: 

Social media was the principal catalyst of 62-year-old Georgescu's success. He didn't run as a member of any political party, but his TikTok account racked up 1.6 million likes for content showing him going to church, running, practicing judo, and being interviewed by podcasters.

Iohannis' term was supposed to end on Dec. 21, but he's now slated to remain in power until the do-over election is complete. The dates are not yet official, but, last week, leaders of the ruling coalition government said they'd agreed on holding the two rounds on May 4 and May 18.   

Georgescu's views are anathema to the European establishment. He's pledged to restore Romanian sovereignty and put an end to what he characterizes as subservience to NATO and the EU. He has taken a hard line against the presence of NATO's missile defense system that's based in Deveselu, southern Romania, calling it a "shame of diplomacy" that is more confrontational than peace-promoting. 

Romania shares a 400-mile border with Ukraine and hosts a NATO missile defense system in the country's south (via Britannica)

He's also pushed for Romania to pursue a non-interventionist policy in the Ukraine war, and said US arms-makers were manipulating the conflict. Since Russia's invasion, Romania has facilitated Ukrainian grain exports and furnished military assistance including the donation of a Patriot missile battery. In addition to his broad theme of restoring Romanian sovereignty, Georgescu also ran on countering price inflation, addressing Romania's worst-in-EU poverty rate, supporting farmers and decreasing the country's reliance on imports. 

However, now it is the sovereignty of the Romanian people themselves that is in peril. As a flag-wrapped economist named Cornelia told Reuters on Sunday: "At this rate we won't be voting anymore, they will impose a leader like in the old days."

Wanton murder in the name of Islam

Nigeria: Farmers killed in suspected Boko Haram attack

https://www.dw.com/en/nigeria-farmers-killed-in-suspected-boko-haram-attack/a-71287087

1 hour ago

A government official in the northeastern state of Borno said at least 40 farmers were killed in a weekend attack. He called on the military to "track and deal decisively" with the perpetrators.

The insane next door

Accused killer in horrific random stabbing of boy, 14, booted from court over ‘crazy’ rant — as footage surfaces of him terrorizing neighbors

https://nypost.com/2025/01/12/us-news/nyc-maniac-accused-in-fatal-random-stab-of-14-year-old-boy-booted-from-court-over-crazy-rant/

By 

Kevin Sheehan, 

 

Joe Marino and 

 

Steve Janoski

Published Jan. 12, 2025, 2:36 p.m. ETcamera footage shows Waldo Mejia attacking a neighbor's door with a knife.

The violent Bronx nut accused of randomly stabbing a 14-year-old boy to death as he walked to school was booted from court Sunday after a “crazy’’ rant about the White House, al-Qaeda and Satan.

The disturbing outburst came as video surfaced of the suspect wildly stabbing one of his neighbor’s Ring doorbell cameras with a huge blade in November.

Waldo Mejia, 29, had been hauled before the judge for allegedly killing teen Caleb Rios by sticking a knife into the boy’s chest on East 138th Street on Friday morning. The suspect was also being arraigned on an unrelated stabbing Mejia allegedly committed about a week ago.

But the hearing turned into chaos when the alleged killer at one point screamed he was “with Satan.

5

Suspect Waldo Mejia was booted from Bronx court after a bizarre outburst Sunday.

Biden making the world less safe...coddling Islamist terrorists

Another terrible Biden legacy — releasing more Gitmo prisoners who will terrorize the world

https://nypost.com/2025/01/12/opinion/another-terrible-biden-legacy-releasing-more-gitmo-prisoners-who-will-terrorize-world/

Twenty-three years after the 9/11 attacks on NYC, new US intelligence documents reveal 234 “rehabbed” former Gitmo detainees have returned to terrorism and killing Americans — an alarming 32% recidivism rate. Most of them have not been recaptured and are still at large. 

Nonetheless, lame-duck President Biden is quietly freeing more of these high-risk terrorist suspects from the Guantanamo Bay prison, all to fulfill his old boss Barack Obama’s pledge to permanently close the facility in Cuba.

Shortly after taking office, Biden reversed President Trump’s executive order to keep Gitmo open and is lining up more inmates to transfer out of the prison with the goal of emptying it and shuttering it — even though the remaining prisoners have long been classified by military intelligence as the worst of the worst and too dangerous to release.

Earlier this month, the outgoing president freed 11 Yemeni prisoners — all of them al-Qaeda terrorists, including two of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards — leaving the number of remaining detainees at 15. He sent them to Oman, where we are told they’ll be monitored, rehabilitated and go on to live peaceful lives.

However, some of Oman’s counterterrorism programs “were postponed or canceled” after the COVID-19 pandemic, and “Oman’s iniatives to counter violent extremism remained opaque in 2023,” according to the State Department’s latest country report. It also stated that Oman has “limited resources” and needs to “improve its CT (counterterrorism) capabilities.”

What’s more, Oman’s remote, uncontrolled borders with Saudi Arabia and Yemen present additional “obstacles for counterterrorism,” the report warned. 

One of the bin Laden bodyguards released by Biden — Sana Ali Yislam al-Kazimi — was a “facilitator for the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch,” according to a declassified military dossier, and could slip back into his old role across the border.

Just six months ago, Oman abandoned 28 other Gitmo terrorists it promised to reform under an agreement with Obama. Oman stripped them of citizenship and shipped them across the border to Yemen, a known terrorist redoubt.

15

Gouled Hassan Dourad, a Somali prisoner, planned attacks in Djibouti and Ethiopia.

15

Ismael Ali Faraj Ali Bakush, aka Ismael Ali Bakush, was a fighter for the Taliban and al Qaeda. DoD

15

Zayn al-Ibidin, a senior Osama bin Laden lieutenant involved in the planning of 9/11, was captured in Pakistan in 2002.

Perhaps it needed to make room for Biden’s 11 new parolees, who include unrepentant al-Qaida operative Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, who’s tied to 9/11 planners and lusted for watching footage of the attacks while incarcerated and required “robust security assurances” from Oman. 

Or more likely, officials in Muscat viewed them as an internal terror threat and wanted to get rid of them rather than “reintegrate” them into their society.

“Anyone who thinks they’ll be rehabbed simply doesn’t want to look at past incidents of detainees returning to the fight,” said ret. Army Lt. Col. Brian F. Sullivan, a former FAA special agent who specialized in counterterrorism.

15

Once al Qaeda’s third in command, Mustafa Faraj Muhammad Masud al-Jadid al-Uzaybi aka al-Libbi, plotted plane hijackings and the assassination of Pakistan’s president.

15

Guantanamo Bay detainee Muhammad Rahim al Afghani, one of Osama bin Laden’s top aides and translators. via CAGE International

15

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the architect of the 9/11 attacks. He has agreed to a controversial plea deal that gives him life in prison but not the death penalty. AP

But Biden isn’t finished. Three other Gitmo fiends have been cleared for release — including an “explosives expert who trained al-Qaeda members and provided operational support to key al-Qaida figures” and “a key member of the al-Qaeda network in Somalia,” according to Gitmo parole board documents reviewed by The Post.

And three more are eligible for review by the parole board, including Abu Zubaydah, “one of Osama Bin Laden’s most trusted facilitators,” according to his Gitmo dossier. Congress would have to be notified 30 days in advance of Zubaydah’s release, giving Republicans time to raise objections.

Even the prisoners not being released are dodging justice, with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed avoiding the death penalty as part of a sweetheart plea deal, and will instead serve life in prison. 

15

Encep Nurjaman, an Indonesian head of al Qaeda in Southeast Asia, where he plotted the Bali nightclub bombing of 2002.

15

Walid Bin Attash worked as bodyguard for Osama bin Laden and helped with USS Cole attack.

These “forever” detainees have been charged in the military court system. Biden wants to move them out, as well, but a law blocks their transfer to US prisons. Trump has vowed to keep Gitmo open.

Biden is hellbent on clearing out the cells despite being fully briefed by his intelligence agencies that one in three released detainees have gone back to fighting against America — and some have actually managed to kill more Americans.

“Based on trends identified during the past 20 years, we assess that some detainees currently at GTMO will seek to reengage in terrorist or insurgent activities after they are transferred,” a recent US intelligence report warned.

15

Mustafa-al-Hawsawi, a Saudi Arabian who provided financial and travel support to the 9/11 hijackers. via International Red Cross

15

Ramzi-bin-al-Shibh was supposed to be one of the 9/11 hijackers, but was rejected for a visa to the US. He helped facilitate the attacks.

According to the June 2024 declassified report by the Office of National Intelligence, a total of 234 of the 733 detainees released from Gitmo have reengaged in terrorist activities, including conducting and planning attacks and recruiting and funding terrorists. That’s a re-offense rate of 31.9%. (The share would be even higher if US intelligence included engagement in anti-US statements or propaganda in its definition of “terrorist activities.”)

Detainees have appealed to the Biden administration through their bleeding-heart pro-bono defense lawyers to ensure their release. They argue their bloodthirsty clients have reformed their violent ways thanks to “yoga classes” and other touchy-feely prison activities and just want to return home to help their sick moms or run their family shops.

Several terrorists have told the exact same sob story to the review board, as The Post has previously reported. But since those stories were exposed, the Pentagon has removed the detainees’ written submissions and hearing transcripts from the review board website. It claims they aren’t posted “at the request of the detainee,” but those materials have now been removed from all detainee files. 

15

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian who plotted the bombing of the USS Cole.

15

Ammar al-Baluchi, nephew of the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he helped hide and transferred the money needed for 9/11. via International Red Cross

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assured that each of the released detainees “underwent a thorough review,” yet the public is now blind to that process.

Even more stunning: The administration admits that resettling terrorists in Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan hasn’t stopped them from returning to their violent ways. According to the 2024 ODNI report, “Former GTMO detainees routinely communicate with members of terrorist organizations.”

“Some detainees determined to reengage have and will do so regardless of any transfer conditions,” the report adds. 

15

Ali Hamza al-Bahlul was convicted in 2008 of performing media relations for Osama bin Laden and providing material support for terrorism. Was sentenced to life in prison.

15

Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi commanded Al-Qaeda’s army, and served as the terror group’s accountant. As part of a plea deal, he will be held in prison until 2032.

Gitmo inmates previously repatriated in Afghanistan are now under the care of the Taliban, who reclaimed control of Kabul in late 2021 (thanks to Biden’s disastrous troop withdrawal) and are once again sheltering al-Qaeda leaders, who no doubt have reunited with those Gitmo alumni and are plotting a 9/11 encore.

“The men Joe is sending to Oman will be no different,” said ret. Army Capt. Sam Faddis, a former CIA operations officer who served in the Middle East. “We will see them again soon on the battlefield.”

What do you think? Post a comment.

He added: “Given the open-border policies of the Biden administration and the extent of our penetration by terrorist networks, that battlefield may be right here at home.”

By 

Paul Sperry

Published Jan. 12, 2025, 11:24 p.m. ET