Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/1/2015

The Egyptian government has designated Hamas a terrorist organization. In the past it had done so only for the “military wing” of Hamas, but now it interdicts the entire organization, including the “political wing”. Hamas has called for protests in the Gaza Strip as a response.

In other news, the teachers’ union in Malmö in southern Sweden has ordered that a school be closed, due to persistent violence and threats that make it unsafe for both teachers and students.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, K, Nick, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Italy: Over 160,000 Small Businesses Shut Down in 2014
 
USA
» 20-Year-Old Military Weather Satellite Explodes in Orbit
» Allen West, Another Neo-Con?
» Big Brother 2.0: 160,000 Facebook Pages Are Hacked a Day
» Drones Now Collecting Your Mobile Data to Create Targeted Ads: “With Drones, It Becomes So Much Easier”
» Google Gives New Meaning to “Orwellian”
» Google Moving to Shut Down Alternative Media by Ranking Sites on “Facts” Rather Than Popularity
» Liberals Analyze Situations ‘Divorced From Context’; Conservatives ‘Think Holistically, ‘ Study Claims
» Meta-Study on Genetically Modified Food: Virtually All Independent Scientists Are Concerned
» My Response to Bob Livingston’s Article, “Islamic Terror and the Great Deception”
» Obama’s True Enemy
» Obama Says Terrorists Not Motivated by True Islam
» Pattern of Child Murder and Violence Against Women Emerges Among GMO Science Proponents
» Senate Unanimously Welcomes Netanyahu to America
» Teen Charged With Manslaughter After She Allegedly Encouraged Friend to Commit Suicide
» The Presidential Liar
» Unelected Federal Bureaucrats Approve Government Takeover of the Internet
» US Officials Move to Deport Bosnian Suspects Over War Crimes
 
Europe and the EU
» A Word From the Editor: Britain Has to Come Out of the Multi-Cultural Inclusiveness Trance
» German City of Bremen Remains on High Terror Alert
» Islamic Terror Threat to British Victoria Cross Winner Joshua Leakey and His Family
» Italian Tax Authority Introduces Whistleblowing Procedures
» Italian Anti-Euro, Anti-Immigrant Party Holds Rally in Rome
» Italy: Police Detain Protesters in Anti-Salvini Demonstration
» Italy Will See More Bank Mergers, MPs President Predicts
» Italy: Majority of Public Contracts ‘Awarded Without Competition’
» Italy ‘A Potential ISIS Target’, Intelligence Services Say
» ‘Jihadi John’: Mohammed Emwazi ‘Felt Like Dead Man Walking’
» Poll of 1,000 Muslims in Britain for BBC Radio 4 Today
» Qatar Acquires All Milan’s Porta Nuova Business District
» Sweden: Malmö School ‘Too Dangerous’ For Students
» Sweden: Palme Murder Still Being Investigated
» Sweden: School in Malmö Closed After Threats and Violence
» The Truth About the Sound of Music Family
» Theodore Dalrymple: Denial and Grandiosity
» UK PEGIDA Rally Dwarfed by Counter-Demo
» UK: ISIS Killer Mohammed Emwazi Had Link to 2005 London Bomb Plot
» UK: Jihadi John’s School Investigated After Three Pupils Became Killers
» UK: Jihadi John Smoked Cannabis and Drank Vodka Despite Being Muslim
» UK: Jihadi John: Another Rich Terrorist Who Didn’t Need a Job
» UK: My Neighbour the Stalker
» UK: Peter Hitchens: Reasonable, Peaceful, Sober. That’s Why They Terrify Me…
» UK: Police Hunt Three Attackers Over Death of Schoolboy, 15, Stabbed to Death on North London Street During Bike Theft
» UK: Shoplifter Kim Farry Made £2m From Crime Spree But Still Lives in Rent-Free Council House
» UK: Violent Clashes Break Out During Anti-Islam March in Newcastle City Centre With Hundreds of Far-Right Protesters Met by MP George Galloway Leading a Rival Demonstration (Photos)
» UK: Woman Defends Her Decision to Wire $1.4 Million to Online Lover in Africa She’s Never Met
» Why Iceland Banned Beer
 
Balkans
» BBC Newsman Says Vaccination Led Him to Believe He Was the Devil
 
North Africa
» Egyptian Court Declares Hamas a Terrorist Organization
» Egypt Court Declares Part of Election Law Unconstitutional
» Gaza Fears Isolation as Egypt Calls Hamas ‘Terrorist’ Group
» Security Official Says Bomb Kills 2 Near Police Station and Mosque in Southern Egypt
» Videos: Egyptians Mock is Jihadist Anthem
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Israel Welcomes Italy’s Preference for Two-State Solution
» Obama Threatened to Shoot Down Israeli Warplanes
 
Middle East
» Christians Join New Militia to Combat ISIS in Northern Iraq
» France Divided Over Cooperation With ‘Butcher’ Assad
» Greece Protests Turkish Move to Reserve Aegean Sea Airspace for Military Maneuvers
» IS Needs Women and is Using Love as a Recruitment Tool
» ISIS Releases Online Propaganda in Italian
» Jihadi Bride Schoolgirls Spotted on CCTV at Turkish Bus Station
» Obama’s ‘Deal’ Would Allow Iran to Start Building Nuclear Bombs in About 10 Years
» Raif Badawi, The Saudi Arabian Blogger Sentenced to 1,000 Lashes, May Now Face the Death Penalty
 
Russia
» Caught on Tape: The Moment Boris Nemtsov Was Assassinated
» The Siberian Crater Saga is More Widespread — And Scarier — Than Anyone Thought
» Thousands March in Moscow in Memory of Shot Russian Politician Boris Nemtsov
» Thousands March in Moscow to Mourn Slain Boris Nemtsov
» US State Department Admits Russia Had Nothing to Gain From Killing Boris Nemtsov
» US-Backed Opposition Leader Gunned Down in Moscow
 
Far East
» Green Slander
» Kim Jong un Reportedly Tells North Korean Army to ‘Prepare for War’ With US
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» UK: Jihadi John: Mohammed Emwazi’s School Attended by Three Terrorists
 
Latin America
» US Officials Called ‘Terrorists’ By Venezuelan President Mock New Travel Ban
» Venezuela Imposes Visa Requirement for US Tourists
 
Immigration
» Colleges Using Coffers for Financial Aid to Illegal Immigrants Stirs Debate on Immigration Reform
 
Culture Wars
» Michelle Rodriguez: Fast & Furious Actor Apologises After Telling ‘Minorities’ To Stop Taking on ‘White’ Roles
» Should Women Watch Fifty Shades of Grey? Sexual Abuse and Humiliation Go Mainstream
» The “Dependent Victim” Psyop on Planet Earth
» The Left’s War on White America
» The News: Mind Control Through “Cognitive Dissonance”
» UK: Woman to Woman
 
General
» Sign of Judgment? Total Solar Eclipse on March 20th Falls in the Middle of the Four Blood Red Moons
» The Aral Sea and Green Energy; Licence to Kill
 

Italy: Over 160,000 Small Businesses Shut Down in 2014

Closures lead to ‘impoverishment of local social fabric’

(ANSA) — Venice, February 26 — At least 165,779 businesses operating in the retail and artisan sectors shut down in 2014, the Association of Artisans and Small Businesses of Mestre (CGIA) said Thursday.

It said 131,369 businesses of this type opened in the same period, translating into a negative balance of 34,410. This in turn translated into over 93,400 jobs lost, of which nearly 42,000 in retail and around 51,500 in the artisan sector, CGIA said. The decline was due to a combination of a drop in sales, recent tax increases and strong competition from large-scale distribution channels such as supermarkets. “Besides the economic damage, there is also a social aspect that must not be overlooked,” CGIA secretary Giuseppe Bortolussi said.

“When a small shop or artisan workshop closes for good, the quality of life in the neighbourhood declines,” he added.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

20-Year-Old Military Weather Satellite Explodes in Orbit

A 20-year-old military weather satellite apparently exploded in orbit Feb. 3 following what the U.S. Air Force described as a sudden temperature spike. The “catastrophic event” produced 43 pieces of space debris, according to Air Force Space Command, which disclosed the loss of the satellite Feb. 27 in response to questions from SpaceNews.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Allen West, Another Neo-Con?

On Tuesday, February 12, 2015, the Tea Parties in northern Texas hosted an event to welcome former Congressman Allen West to Texas. He has been named the CEO of the formerly conservative National Center for Policy Analysis, (NCPA) a national policy think tank based in Dallas. Since the libertarian Koch brothers gave the organization $570,000, the NCPA is singing a different tune. (The Koch brothers are planning to spend $1 billion on the election in 2016, partly for a Rand Paul presidency. [Link] David Koch is on the board of Trustees of Rockefeller University. He is also on the board of Earthwatch Institute, an environmental, sustainability, Agenda 21 group. See this map of Koch’s many connections. David Koch also supports gay marriage and stem-cell research. He is also on the board of the globalist new age Aspen Institute formerly headed by new age environmentalist, and UN Agenda 21 author, Maurice Strong.)

Under the “About” category in the NCPA website, you’ll find dozens of their experts, and the first person listed is Bob McTeer, who is best known for his 36-year career with the Federal Reserve System, including 14 years as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

Another expert is Estelle James, Ph.D, who is a consultant to the World Bank, USAID and other international organizations. Previously she was Lead Economist at the World Bank and Director of the Bank’s flagship course on pension reform. She has also served on the Governing Board of the new pension fund in Kosovo and the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security in the U.S.

NCPA (Allen West) Invites Traitor to Lecture in Dallas

Sounds like a really conservative bunch of folks, doesn’t it? To top it off, the first guest under Col. West’s new leadership role is Glenn Greenwald who was a contributor for the leftist Salon Magazine and The Guardian.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Big Brother 2.0: 160,000 Facebook Pages Are Hacked a Day

WikiLeaks, the National Security Agency, data mining — we all know Big Brother is watching. But few of us realize to what extent.

Some things you might not know: Your smart TV is probably watching you watch it. Your office photocopier is recording everything you duplicate. Your smartphone can identify you by the way you walk, the way you hold it, and may also be recording you. The app you downloaded has now siphoned your name, e-mail address and place of residence and reported back to its parent company.

The insecurity of the individual, however, has nothing on the insecurity of nations, diseases, global finance, air and space travel, traffic and power grids, police and fire departments, medical data, news organizations. There are no firewalls that can’t be breached.

In his new book, “Future Crimes: Everything is Connected, Everyone is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It” (Doubleday), global-security expert Marc Goodman explores our existing and impending vulnerabilities, all while exhorting us to be aware to the point of paranoia.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Drones Now Collecting Your Mobile Data to Create Targeted Ads: “With Drones, It Becomes So Much Easier”

It seems that the NSA, the feds and law enforcement aren’ t the only ones monitoring cell phone data and mobile devices.

The Ad companies are in on it, too — and are now using drones to spy, err. track, err… keep pace with consumers.

Here’s what Venture Beat is reporting about the new drone fleet operating in the L.A. area:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Google Gives New Meaning to “Orwellian”

by Jon Rappoport

“…if all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth.” (1984, George Orwell)

The New Scientist has the stunning story (2/28/15, “Google wants to rank websites based on facts not links,” by Hal Hodson):

“THE internet is stuffed with garbage. Anti-vaccination websites make the front page of Google, and fact-free “news” stories spread like wildfire. Google has devised a fix “rank websites according to their truthfulness.”

Great idea, right?

Sure it is.

The author of the article lets the cat out of the bag right away with his comment about “anti-vaccination” websites.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Google Moving to Shut Down Alternative Media by Ranking Sites on “Facts” Rather Than Popularity

Search Engine giant Google, the major driver of traffic to the majority of media portals is moving to change the way it ranks websites, declaring that it intends to use known partisan debunking outlets to determine the “truthfulness” of content.

Currently, Google rankings are determined by the number of incoming links to a web page, meaning that if a story becomes popular it can be driven to the top of search results, and by viewed by millions of people.

However, this is a little too democratic for the liking of some, who only like to get their “facts” from pre-approved sources.

The proposed solution, according to a Google funded research team is to compute a “Knowledge-Based Trust score” for every web page, based on Google’s own “Knowledge Vault”, an automated database that determines “facts the web unanimously agrees on,” according to the New Scientist.

“A source that has few false facts is considered to be trustworthy,” says the research team.

In short, any web pages that provide information that contradicts or questions Google’s own established “truth”, will be bumped down the rankings.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Liberals Analyze Situations ‘Divorced From Context’; Conservatives ‘Think Holistically, ‘ Study Claims

(NaturalNews) Do American liberals and conservatives look at political, social and ethical issues as if they are from different cultures? Yes, according to a new landmark study that examined the differences.

The cultural psychology study, conducted by the University of Virginia, found that, essentially, political conservatives in the U.S. are somewhat like East Asians in the manner in which they categorize, think and perceive. Meanwhile, “liberals in the U.S. could be categorized as extreme Americans in thought, categorization and perception,” said a press release describing the study’s findings, which have been published recently in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

In addition, researchers found evidence that styles of thought — whether holistic or analytical — can be altered through training, and enough so that temporary changes in political thought and the way a person votes could occur.

“We found in our study that liberals and conservatives think as if they were from completely different cultures — almost as different as East and West,” said study leader Thomas Talhelm, a Ph.D. candidate in cultural psychology.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Meta-Study on Genetically Modified Food: Virtually All Independent Scientists Are Concerned

Tufts University’s Director of the Research and Policy Program at the Global Development and Environment Institute (Timothy Wise) points out:

There is no ‘consensus on the safety of GM food. A peer-reviewed study of the research, from peer-reviewed journals, found that about half of the animal-feeding studies conducted in recent years found cause for concern. The other half didn’t, and as the researchers noted, ‘most of these studies have been conducted by biotechnology companies responsible of commercializing these GM plants.’

The only consensus that GM food is safe is among industry-funded researchers.

By way of background, genetically engineered foods have been linked to obesity, cancer, liver failure, infertility and all sorts of other diseases (brief, must-watch videos here and here).

And genetically-engineered meat isn’t even tested for human safety.

And a leading risk expert says that genetically modified foods could wipe out the global ecosystem.

But government agencies like the FDA go to great lengths to cover up the potential health damage from genetically modified foods, and to keep the consumer in the dark about what they’re really eating. (Indeed, the largest German newspaper ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’ alleges that the U.S. government helped Monsanto ATTACK THE COMPUTERS of activists opposed to genetically modified food.)

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

My Response to Bob Livingston’s Article, “Islamic Terror and the Great Deception”

by Jon Rappoport

In his important personalliberty.com article, “Islamic Terror and the Great Deception,” Bob Livingston describes how recent US Presidents have continued to wage war against “terrorism,” when in fact their true goals have been quite different:

For example, keeping Middle East nations from nationalizing their precious oil supplies. For example, justifying tighter and tighter control over the lives of US citizens, in order to “protect them from terrorist attacks.”

I want to add a piece to the puzzle.

War is a permanent US government policy. Make no mistake about it. Who sets the policy? Who keeps it intact, despite legislators and Presidents exiting and entering office?

A number of groups — but one group has been virtually forgotten. Its influence is enormous. It has existed since 1973.

It’s called the Trilateral Commission (TC).

In a minute, I’m going to print a stunning piece of forgotten history, a 1978 conversation between a US reporter and two members of the Trilateral Commission.

I discovered the conversation in the late 1980s, and ever since then, I’ve been looking at it from various angles, finding new implications. Here, I want to point out that the conversation was public knowledge at the time.

Anyone who was anyone in Washington politics, in media, in think-tanks, had access to it. Understood its meaning.

But no one shouted from the rooftops. No one used the conversation to force a scandal. No one protested loudly.

The conversation revealed that the entire basis of the US Constitution had been torpedoed, that the people who were running US national policy (which includes war) were agents of an elite shadow group. No question about it.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s True Enemy

I am here to tell you that President Barack Obama has failed at nothing. From his point of view, he is a total success. He is, however, as accused, failing to name the enemy, as so many folks on the right-of-center accuse him of when it comes to the worldwide battle we see emerging around the globe. However, who we see to be the enemy, and who he views to be the enemy, are two different things.

The GOP is upset because Obama refuses to connect terrorism to Islam, shielding the Muslim community from the wrath of those that are angry about the murderous exploits of ISIS, al-Qaeda, Iran, and so forth. The Obama administration refuses to admit that it is Islam’s hatred of Christianity behind the constant slaughter of Christians around the world, avoiding even using the term “terrorism” in connection with Islam, and as in the recent case of the murdered Coptic Christians in Egypt, calling them “Egyptians,” rather than members of the Christian faith that follows Jesus Christ.

“How can Obama be so blind?” I constantly hear conservatives cry out.

Obama’s true enemy is anyone who dares to oppose him

Obama is not blind. He knows exactly what is going on. He is waging an all-out war against the enemy. Obama is not being forgiving against the enemy that he wishes to destroy. He is not being reluctant to recognize the enemy. President Obama is all too aware of who his enemy is, but in his mind, that enemy is not Islam, not terrorism, not Russia, not North Korea, not Iran, and not China.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Says Terrorists Not Motivated by True Islam

Criticized for avoiding the phrase “Islamic extremism,” President Obama said he doesn’t want to alienate the majority of peace-loving Muslims as the U.S. fights to defeat terrorist networks around the world.

“I think that for us to be successful in fighting this scourge, it’s very important for us to align ourselves with the 99.9 percent of Muslims who are looking for the same thing we’re looking for — order, peace, prosperity,” Mr. Obama said on CNN.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Pattern of Child Murder and Violence Against Women Emerges Among GMO Science Proponents

(NaturalNews) Some of the most vociferous defenders of genetically modified foods and GM science also happen to have engaged in some of the worst personal behavior, advocating mass child death, engaging in child and spousal abuse and using their positions of influence within their academic community to attack and smear legitimate researchers.

In recent months Natural News has exposed some of the worst of these abusers; consider this article merely the latest in our bid to continue those efforts. After all, our readers have a right to know not only what they advocate, but who they are personally and what kind of people they can be.

Three scientists of different disciplines share a common disregard for human life:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Senate Unanimously Welcomes Netanyahu to America

No Senate Democrats block measure backing Bibi’s speech

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution welcoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to America and endorsing his speech before a joint session of Congress.

Critics of the Obama administration view the unanimous approval as a rebuke to the White House and Democrats, who have vowed to boycott Netanyahu’s address and work to counter his warnings about the dangers of a nuclear Iran.

No Senate Democrats sponsored the measure, which attracted 50 Republican cosponsors. However, none attempted to block its passage, signaling that support for Israel and Netanyahu’s message has outweighed a pressure campaign by the Obama administration to sabotage the address.

“The Senate warmly welcomes the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on his visit to the United States, which provides a timely opportunity to reinforce the United State-Israel relationship,” the resolution states…

           — Hat tip: K [Return to headlines]
 

Teen Charged With Manslaughter After She Allegedly Encouraged Friend to Commit Suicide

Massachusetts high school student Michelle Carter has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Police say the 18-year-old urged a friend to commit suicide, even when he had doubts.

Conrad Roy III, 18, died of carbon monoxide poisoning after sitting in an idling truck in July of 2014. Conrad and Carter exchanged text messages, according to police, right up until the time he died.

According to the police report obtained by The Sun Chronicle: “Not only did Conrad tell Carter in several of his texts prior to his death that he was scared and didn’t want to leave his family, she continued to encourage him to take his own life, and when he actually started to carry out the act, he got scared again and exited his truck, but instead of telling him to stay out of the truck — Carter told him to “get back in.” “

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Presidential Liar

We have seen this president lie about such a multitude of things, Obamacare, the FBI, the NSA, Benghazi, the economy, same-sex marriage, unemployment and most recently islam. I cannot recall any president in modern history lie about so many things. I truly believe that he thinks most Americans are simply stupid. I would have to agree with the fact that a lot of his base voters probably are. Just how stupid do you have to be to vote for someone because they’re going to give you a phone? Remember the one lady that thought Obama was going to pay her rent? Obama money? Really?

This man is, if not the #1 deceiver at least in the top two of all time. So many people have been blinded by his ‘charm’ it is scary. So many think he is eloquent. I see none of that. If he doesn’t have a teleprompter, he can’t talk. I saw through his line of garbage before he was nominated in 2008. He has no character, at least no good character. He acts like he is a dictator. He issues executive orders when Congress won’t pass the legislation he wants. He has made appointments while Congress was in session that he did not have the legal right to make. He has tried to re-write our immigration laws without Congress and is intending to ignore the courts in their decision that what he did was outside the boundaries of his authority.

All through his selling Obamacare to the public he lied about being able to keep your doctor, about keeping you plan, about the death panels and about how much it was going to cost. We have found out that we can’t keep our doctors or plans, there are death panels and instead of saving $2,500 a year we are paying $5,000 more a year with double and triple deductibles. That is only a $7,500 loss to the American worker who has taken an economic hit over the last 6 years that has seen his income drop 30%- 65%. All the while the Obama’s are enjoying lavish vacations on the backs of the American taxpayer. Bush visited his ranch 57 times in 8 years at a cost of $20 million. One trip to Africa for the Obama’s cost $100 million.

When the Gulf War started after 911 Bush was on the golf course when the word came in that we had had our first casualty in the war. Bush did not finish his round, left the course and did not play a round for the rest of his presidency. Obama will golf no matter what. Americans get beheaded in the Middle East, he heads for the golf course. People are getting married on the course, they have to move their wedding so he can play through.

[…]

During the 2008 presidential campaign he complained about Americans ‘clinging to their Bible and guns’ yet he supports muslims that cling to their koran and their guns. He says nothing about these radicals that behead four and five year old children, the raping of their mothers and the murder of their fathers. Thousands of Christian families have been brutally murdered for their faith and he says nothing, he does nothing. He golfs! He defends or at least attempts to defend muslims, but not Americans.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Unelected Federal Bureaucrats Approve Government Takeover of the Internet

(NaturalNews) The Obama Administration could not build a functional health insurance exchange website despite spending a mind-boggling $2.1 billion of taxpayer money, but now feels it is capable of essentially managing the entire Internet.

On February 26, a small group of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats — three, to be exact — voted to give the federal government the instant authority to reclassify the Internet from a free, uninhibited mode of communication and commerce into a “public utility” the same as your old phone company, so it can now be “better regulated” — and all under the phony guise of making everything more “fair.” Now, when Comcast or Verizon provide services to your home, they will have to do so “in the public interest,” whatever that means.

In a partisan move, the Federal Communications Commission’s two Democrat members and its Democrat chairman voted to approve the new reclassification and associated rules over the objections of the panel’s two Republican members. As Fox News and other media reported, the rules remained secret right up to the vote, though one member, Republican Ajit Pai, tried to sound the alarm about the bogus nature of the plan — and against FCC panel rules — in the days before the vote.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

US Officials Move to Deport Bosnian Suspects Over War Crimes

Immigration officials in the US are preparing to deport at least 150 Bosnians suspected of “ethnic cleansing” during the Balkan conflict in the 1990s. The number of suspects could top 600, the New York Times reported.

As many as half of these were believed to have played a role at the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, where Bosnian Serbs killed 8,000 Muslim boys and men.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

A Word From the Editor: Britain Has to Come Out of the Multi-Cultural Inclusiveness Trance

Britain has been in a trance of multi-cultural inclusiveness and namby-pamby, touchy-feely liberalism since the Blair years.

We were sold the idea that such tolerance has strengthened our democracy but it has done quite the opposite: it has allowed a small, hard-core of extremists to develop and flourish, and threaten the security of the vast, law-abiding majority: whether they be Christians, Jewish people, Muslims or any other race or creed.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

German City of Bremen Remains on High Terror Alert

Police in the German city of Bremen say they are continuing with heightened security measures amid a terrorism alert. A police union has warned of a concrete Islamist terror threat in Germany.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic Terror Threat to British Victoria Cross Winner Joshua Leakey and His Family

Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey, 27, (left) has been told by military top brass he and his family face a kidnap threat from British-based Islamists, including his mum Rosie and dad Mark (pictured right).

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Tax Authority Introduces Whistleblowing Procedures

?We must be emblem of legality and honesty?, director says

(ANSA) — Rome, February 26 — Italian tax officials can now report corruption within the inland revenue authority under new whistleblowing procedures announced on Thursday.

The measures, inspired by procedures already in place in the United States and Britain, are set out in a 15-page booklet distributed to employees and should be extended to other sectors of the public administration in due course.

“The message is: us against corruption,” wrote inland revenue director Rosella Orlandi in a covering note, reassuring employees feeling compelled to blow the whistle on colleagues that reports would be made under condition of anonymity and that they would receive appropriate protection against possible backlash. “The employee who makes a report? cannot be likened to an informant” but is “a precious voluntary collaborator”, she said.

“If we intend to continue the fight against tax avoidance we must first be the emblem of legality and honesty,” Rosella continued. “We are not allowed to fall into an ethical slumber or to entertain the feeling of intermittent honesty,” she concluded.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Anti-Euro, Anti-Immigrant Party Holds Rally in Rome

The rising star of the Italian right, Matteo Salvini, led a mass rally in support of his anti-immigration, anti-EU Northern League party in central Rome Saturday, as a counter-rally took place nearby.

The rally’s slogan was “Renzi go home”, with Salvini, “the other Matteo”, setting himself up as a challenger to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

“I do not make the distinction between the right and left, the struggle between fascists and communists belongs to the history books. We differentiate between those who work and parasites, and defend those who work,” Salvini told crowds at the rally.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Police Detain Protesters in Anti-Salvini Demonstration

Tried to occupy church ahead of Saturday rally

(ANSA) — Rome, February 27 — Police on Friday detained three demonstrators who were protesting a planned Saturday rally by the anti-immigrant Northern League party in Rome. The protesters had entered one of the churches on Rome’s central Piazza del Popolo and planned to spend the night there, sources said. A 40-year-old woman was injured and hospitalized when police tried to dislodge the protesters from the church. Northern League chief Matteo Salvini called the protest “delinquent”. “I hope the police are ready to…put them in jail and keep them there as long as necessary,” he told Radio Padania, his party’s radio station.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Will See More Bank Mergers, MPs President Predicts

Profumo expresses cautious support for ‘bad bank’

(ANSA) — Rome, February 26 — Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank president Alessandro Profumo said Thursday the Italian banking system will undergo mergers to create bigger groups and accused the European Central Bank (ECB) of penalising banks on the peninsula.

“The Italian banking system will undergo profound transformations,” Profumo told the Senate finance committee.

“The crisis has reduced the number of groups in recent years, but with European Union vigilance intense aggregation, both domestic and across borders, will resume”.

The ECB assessment of the European banking system “has penalised Italian banks,” he claimed. “As a country, we have to be more aggressive in influencing decisions,” he added.

“We need to send our best people into Europe”.

Profumo indicated he was cautiously in favour of the project for a “bad bank”.

“I am in favour of something that allows (bad loans) to be managed in a systematic way”.

Asked if he will stand for a second mandate as head of the troubled Siena bank, Profumo said “I haven’t decided yet”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Majority of Public Contracts ‘Awarded Without Competition’

Some 80% of contracts without competing tenders in 10 cities

(ANSA) — Rome, February 26 ? As many as 60% of public contracts in Italy are awarded without a competition for tender, the national anti-corruption agency said Thursday.

The agency based its report on 2011-2014 data on projects costing more than 40,000 euros in 20 different cities.

It found the number of contracts being dished out without formal tender competitions had increased compared to the 2007-2011 period.

In 10 regional capitals, as much as 80% of work was awarded without competition. In Rome, 86.51% of all contracts were awarded directly, the report found.

In Milan the situation was only slightly better, with 83.33% of contracts awarded unilaterally albeit being worth only 14.29% of the total public works in the city.

Florence has the worst tally with a total of 87.21% being entrusted directly to a chosen contractor in deals worth 50.54% of the total.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy ‘A Potential ISIS Target’, Intelligence Services Say

(ANSAmed) — Rome — Italy is a “potential target” for Islamic terrorists because of its “symbolic value as the epicenter of Christianity”, Italy’s intelligence services told parliament Friday. But as yet no “activities or plans” by Islamic terror groups to conduct attacks have been uncovered, officials added.

Their warnings follow previous Islamic State (ISIS) threats that their jihadists had the Vatican and Pope Francis in their sights.

ISIS has even published photoshopped images of its black flag flying over a conquered St. Peter’s Square, although Vatican officials have steadfastly said that they aren’t aware of particular threats to centre of the Catholic faith.

Images of the destruction of the Colosseum have also been posted by ISIS.

Italy, and Europe as a whole, has become more concerned with threats from ISIS as jihadists gain ground in northern Libya not far from the Mediterranean coast, and alarmingly close to southern Italy.

Some fear that ISIS could use Libya, which is currently being torn apart by civil war with two rival governments, as a staging ground for attacks in Italy and further north into the rest of Europe.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘Jihadi John’: Mohammed Emwazi ‘Felt Like Dead Man Walking’

The man identified as extremist “Jihadi John” said he felt like a “dead man walking” after being contacted by UK security services, a newspaper reports.

Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man from west London, made the claims in 2010 in email exchanges with a Mail on Sunday journalist, the paper says.

Emwazi said he had considered suicide so he could “get away” from MI5.

In recent months, he has been seen in several Islamic State videos where Western hostages have been beheaded.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Poll of 1,000 Muslims in Britain for BBC Radio 4 Today

Q: Western liberal society can never be compatible with Islam. Agree/Disagree?

20% of Muslims agree.

Q: Organisations which publish images of the prophet mohammed deserve to be attacked. Agree/Disagree?

11% of Muslims agree.

Q: I have some sympathy for the motives behind the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. Agree/Disagree?

27% of Muslims agree.

Q: I understand the motives of those who launch attacks in the name of Islam because the religion has been insulted. Agree/Disagree?

32% of Muslims agree.

It is appropriate that Muslims who convert to other religions are cut off by their family. Agree/Disagree?

17% of Muslims agree.

For each of the following statements, say whether they apply to you:

I feel sympathetic towards people who want to fight against Western interests.

11% of Muslims say this applies to them.

Muslim clerics who preach that violence against the West can be justified are out of touch with mainstream Muslim opinion.

45% of Muslims say this does not apply to them.

I would rather socialise with Muslims than non-Muslims.

13% of Muslims say this applies to them.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Qatar Acquires All Milan’s Porta Nuova Business District

Amoung paid ‘confidential’

(ANSAmed) — MILAN — The sovereign wealth fund of Qatar has become the sole owner of Porta Nuova, a new business district in Milan. The announcement was made on Friday in a press conference by the head of Hines Italia SGR, Manfredi Catella. Catella did not mention the amount paid by Qatar.

“The figure is confidential,” he said, but “it is of course an important transaction.” “It is one of the most important deals in Europe,” he stressed, “and certainly one of the most important in Italy.” Catella added that work had been underway on the transaction for the past 6 to 7 months and that it was signed this week. Through a subsidiary, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) had in May 2013 acquired a 40% stake in the investment funds that own Porta Nuova, and now it has bought the entire project. Porta Nuova has a market value of over two billion euros.

Initial investors in the project include the Hines European Development Fund, UnipolSai, and the Italian investment funds MHREC and HICOF as well as COIMA (of the Catella family, which remains in charge of property and project management activities) and Galotti. “None of the investors earned less than 30%,” regardless of when they entered the project, Catella said. The Qatar fund is a “more economic than financial” investment, he added. From the point of view “of the project, nothing changes and the Italian platform has been confirmed.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Malmö School ‘Too Dangerous’ For Students

A secondary school in Malmö has been closed after the teachers’ union declared that it is too dangerous a place for students and teachers to attend due to widespread violence and criminality.

Violence, threats and visits from adult criminals eventually became too much for the teachers’ unions at Varner Rydén School in the Malmö suburb of Rosengård, whose safety officers have now closed the premises.

“Violence, threats and verbal abuse. There has also been trouble with students from other schools,” said Hans Nilsson at the City of Malmö to news agency TT.

The responsibility now lies with the teachers’ employer, the City of Malmö, as the school closure can only be waived by the Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket).

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Palme Murder Still Being Investigated

It was 29 years ago Saturday that Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was murdered on the street in Stockholm on his way home from seeing a Movie with his wife. And the investigation of the murder is still unsolved and continues by police.

The continuing police investigation involves five staff, who are examining 250 meters of shelves of evidence, which is constantly growing.

“We receive about two or three tips a week, which we compare with old information to see if it adds anything new,” the investigation group’s chief Hans Melander said on the police’s website.

In July 1989, Christer Pettersson was convicted to life in prison for murder, but the Svea Court of Appeal later released him. Pettersson died in 2004.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: School in Malmö Closed After Threats and Violence

The situation at Värner Rydénskolan school in Malmö has become too dangerous for students and staff. Now the safety committee of the teachers’ union has decided to close the middle school in the Rosengård neighborhood because of violence and criminality.

“The safety of students at the school can not be guaranteed. The students behave in classrooms but outside during recess and in the recreational room it is a very disruptive situation and there are a lot of conflicts,” Catharina Niwhede, the district’s director of the teachers’ union in Malmö, told Swedish Radio News.

“Certain groups of students were so disruptive that the teachers could not handle it,” Nilsson said.

Malmö city is now going to hire a security company to make the school safer. Staff will even receive help with security routines and conflict resolution.

Nilsson also said that some students may be expelled from the school, or moved to different schools.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Truth About the Sound of Music Family

When it was released 50 years ago, The Sound of Music became one of the most successful films of all time. It was based on the true story of the von Trapp family — but what did they think of it and was their life really like it was portrayed in the movie?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Theodore Dalrymple: Denial and Grandiosity

Some observations after the Copenhagen killings

Denmark is in many ways an admirable country. Without natural resources, it is more prosperous than the United States, has exceptionally high levels of education, and is generally very pleasant. Despising Denmark, as some people are apt to do for ideological reasons, is quite wrong.

But behind the teacher’s notion that she and her compatriots live in a fairytale country lies not only complacency, but arrogance. “We are so wise and nice that what goes on in the rest of the world cannot affect us,” they suppose. “Moreover, anyone who comes to live here must be so thankful for our generosity that he must be grateful to us.” This is indeed a fairytale, as real life is not. It requires a form of moral grandiosity to believe that you can live in such a tale, with a happy beginning, a happy middle, and a happy end, without ever having to think of such potentially nasty beasts as national interest and old enmity. Strange, when one thinks that within living memory-just-a vicious enemy intruded on the fairytale.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK PEGIDA Rally Dwarfed by Counter-Demo

An estimated 375 people turned out for the Germany-based PEGIDA movement’s first demonstration in Britain on Saturday, but were outnumbered by a 2,000-strong crowd of counter-protesters, police said.

PEGIDA has drawn large crowds in Germany to protest against what it calls the “Islamisation” of Europe, and small demonstrations have also taken place in Austria and Sweden.

Police in the city of Newcastle, northeast England, said five men were arrested “for isolated incidents” but insisted both the PEGIDA march and the Newcastle Unites protest passed off smoothly.

The five men, aged between 17 and 54, were arrested for alleged offences including assault, breach of the peace and for being drunk and disorderly.

Extra police had been deployed in the city, which was also hosting a Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa, and there were some angry confrontations as officers kept the two protests apart.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: ISIS Killer Mohammed Emwazi Had Link to 2005 London Bomb Plot

Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State (Isis) extremist behind the beheading of western hostages, was able to flee Britain and the scrutiny of the security services, despite being a member of a terror cell that was known to have links to the failed 21/7 attacks on London in 2005, the Observer can reveal.

One leading member of Emwazi’s network had a telephone conversation on the day of the attacks with Hussein Osman, who was later jailed for life for placing an explosive at Shepherd’s Bush tube station.

The security services were also aware that associates of the 12-strong west London terror group had joined the four 21/7 bombers at a training camp in Cumbria a year before the attempt to bring carnage to London’s streets.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Jihadi John’s School Investigated After Three Pupils Became Killers

Ministers have ordered an urgent investigation into the school attended by Jihadi John after it emerged two dead Islamist fighters were also taught at Quintin Kynaston Academy in north London.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Jihadi John Smoked Cannabis and Drank Vodka Despite Being Muslim

Merciless killer Jihadi John dressed like a gangster rapper, smoked cannabis and had an obsessive crush on a girl at school, friends have revealed.

The ISIS executioner, unmasked this week as Londoner Mohammed Emwazi, was in a violent gang which used Tasers to target rich victims and ‘borderline stalked’ a girl he was fixated on.

Ahlam Ajjot, 27, has spoken of her horror that the world’s most wanted terrorist lusted after her when the pair were just 16 and both attended Quintin Kynaston school in St John’s Wood

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Jihadi John: Another Rich Terrorist Who Didn’t Need a Job

Harf either does not understand the threat we face or is purposely ignoring the threat, but, either way, it is troubling. Her “jobs” theory took another hit this week with the revelation of the identity of “Jihadi John,” the masked man seen in Islamic State videos beheading innocent hostages. According to multiple media and governmental sources, the masked man is Mohammed Emwazi, a 26-year-old Kuwaiti, who moved to London with his family at an early age.

In London, he attended fine schools, was raised in an upper middle class neighborhood and received a degree in computer programming from the University of Westminster in 2009. In fact, he found employment as a computer programmer, but that job did not stop him from becoming radicalized.

According to Shiraz Maher of the King’s College radicalization center, Emwazi may well have travelled to Syria in 2012, later joining the Islamic State. In Maher’s view, Emwazi’s route to terrorism was not caused by a lack of economic opportunities. He said Emwazi’s case is similar to other jihadists, who are “by and large upwardly mobile people, well educated.” The disclosures about Emwazi and the vast majority of Islamic terrorists should debunk the theory held by Harf and others in the Obama administration “that these guys are all impoverished, that they’re coming from deprived backgrounds.”

Emwazi joined the Islamic State to commit terrorist acts and kill “infidels.” He was not looking for a job; he was looking for a religious crusade. He was motivated by religious fervor, not financial considerations.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: My Neighbour the Stalker

After a chilling daubed message and a dead rabbit our columnist LIZ JONES got justice for being terrified by a local farmer — and his punishment? A £100 fine

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

After Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and the abuse of young, vulnerable women in Bradford, you’d be forgiven for thinking there has been a sea change. That any man who transgresses against a woman will be stopped; that women will finally be believed; that we can trust the judicial system. My experience over the past two very difficult and distressing years proves the opposite is true.

When I bought my house in October 2012 in the breathtakingly beautiful Yorkshire Dales, with a cottage on site for my assistant/ animal behaviourist, Nic, who has worked for me for seven years, I thought we would be able to live in peace.

The caretaker had warned me as he left the property about the farmer next door, saying he and the farmer had been at it “hammer and tongs” for years.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Peter Hitchens: Reasonable, Peaceful, Sober. That’s Why They Terrify Me…

Please permit me not to care about “Jihadi John”, whose participation in a series of gruesome videos has made him a useful frontman for his murderous accomplices, writes PETER HITCHENS…

If you’re worried about an Islamist threat to Britain, Jihadi John isn’t the problem. That’s to be found in the astonishing figure of 300,000 net migrants into Britain last year. A fair number of them will be Muslims, reinforcing what is rapidly becoming a highly influential minority in this country.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Police Hunt Three Attackers Over Death of Schoolboy, 15, Stabbed to Death on North London Street During Bike Theft

The sister of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death as he cycled along a north London street with his friends has paid tribute to her brother who was full of ‘laughter and joys.’

Alan Cartwright was killed after being confronted by three men in Caledonian Road, Islington, London, on Friday evening.

He managed to continue cycling a short distance after he was stabbed, but collapsed and died in the street shortly afterwards.

The attackers stole two of the teenager’s friends’ bikes before they fled, police said.

[Comment: no description of attackers…]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Shoplifter Kim Farry Made £2m From Crime Spree But Still Lives in Rent-Free Council House

Mother-of-six Kim Farry, 54, from south west London has been jailed seven times and says at her peak she was taking home almost £50,000 a year through stealing — but is now going straight.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Violent Clashes Break Out During Anti-Islam March in Newcastle City Centre With Hundreds of Far-Right Protesters Met by MP George Galloway Leading a Rival Demonstration (Photos)

There were violent clashes on the streets of Newcastle today as hundreds of demonstrators from controversial anti-Islam group Pegida were met by a 2,000-strong counter-protest.

Around 400 people from the far-right group were shouted down by the counter-demonstration, with scuffles breaking out as the rally made its way through the city centre, leading to five arrests.

The rival demonstrations against the anti-Islam march were led by Respect MP George Galloway who spoke at the pro-Islam rally, branding the far-right protesters a ‘German Nazi group’.

[Comment: note article slant.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Woman Defends Her Decision to Wire $1.4 Million to Online Lover in Africa She’s Never Met

‘We are in love… and I am 95% certain he’s telling the truth’

A woman has defended her decision to sent $1.4 million to her online lover in Africa — who she has never met.

Twice-divorced Sarah met Chris Olsen online 18 months ago.

Though the mysterious man’s accent has changed over time, and he keeps asking for money to be wired to various different countries, Sarah insists she is ‘95 per cent certain’ that he is telling her the truth.

Despite his numerous attempts to come home so they can be together, she says, he keeps getting arrested on false charges.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Why Iceland Banned Beer

A century ago, Iceland banned all alcoholic drinks. Within a decade, red wine had been legalised, followed by spirits in the 1930s. But full-strength beer remained off-limits until 1 March 1989. Megan Lane asks why it took so long for the amber nectar to come in from the Icelandic cold.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

BBC Newsman Says Vaccination Led Him to Believe He Was the Devil

MALCOLM BRABANT’S face — round, ruddy, full-featured, and crowned by a bald dome — is immediately recognisable. For 30 years he has been an award-winning member of the BBC’s team of foreign correspondents, bringing wars, natural disasters, political stand-offs and occasionally something a bit more cheerful into our living rooms on the evening news…

In April 2011, he attended an Athens clinic for a routine vaccination against yellow fever before an assignment in the Ivory Coast. As well as reporting from Athens, he has also travelled the globe to cover international stories, winning a coveted Sony award in 1993 for his reporting from a besieged Sarajevo at the height of the Bosnian crisis.

His reaction to the vaccine, however, was anything but routine. “It fried my brain,” he states simply. Overnight a previously sane man developed severe psychosis. An agnostic, Brabant became so convinced he was the Messiah that he telephoned his bemused fellow correspondent, Allan Little, to appoint him “first disciple” and ask him to record his words of wisdom.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Egyptian Court Declares Hamas a Terrorist Organization

An Egyptian court on Saturday declared the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement a terrorist organization, media report.

The news comes one month after a judge listed the group’s armed wing as a terrorist group.

While the January decision on Hamas targeted only the armed wing, Saturday’s broader ruling could further deteriorate relations between Cairo and Hamas which controls the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit alleging that Hamas was involved in attacks in Egypt in recent months.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt Court Declares Part of Election Law Unconstitutional

An Egyptian court on Sunday ruled as unconstitutional a clause in the election law that draws voting districts, a verdict that is almost certain to delay parliamentary elections scheduled to start later this month.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in a statement that he has ordered the government to adopt the “necessary legislative amendments” within a month to comply with the Supreme Constitutional Court’s ruling.

Another court is likely to rule later this month on whether the election should be delayed, but a date for the new vote would be decided by the Supreme Electoral Commission, which went into an emergency meeting on Sunday following the verdict.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Gaza Fears Isolation as Egypt Calls Hamas ‘Terrorist’ Group

Gaza residents said Sunday they fear growing isolation and more hardships after an Egyptian court declared the territory’s ruling Hamas a terrorist organization. Some blamed the Islamic militant Hamas while others said Egypt is being unreasonable.

Hamas called for protests against the Egyptian government and issued angry statements, but did not offer a way out of the crisis. Salah Bardaweel, a Hamas spokesman, alleged Sunday that Egypt has become a “direct agent” of Israeli interests.

Saturday’s court ruling signaled Egypt’s growing hostility toward Hamas, an offshoot of the region-wide Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt has blamed Hamas for violence in the country’s restive Sinai Peninsula, a charge Hamas denies.

Hamas seized Gaza by force in 2007, and the territory’s borders have been largely sealed by Israel and Egypt since then. Egypt intensified the blockade after its military toppled a Hamas-friendly government in Cairo in 2013.

In recent months, Egyptian soldiers have destroyed virtually all smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Security Official Says Bomb Kills 2 Near Police Station and Mosque in Southern Egypt

An Egyptian security official says a bomb went off near a police station and mosque in the southern city of Aswan, killing two civilians and wounding a soldier and four others.

He said the crude bomb went off near an electrical transformer on a road that runs along the River Nile, severing the foot of the soldier, who was a conscript.

Last week, a series of blasts went off in Cairo, killing one person and wounding at least seven others in another series of attacks using homemade explosives that authorities blame on Islamist militants.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Videos: Egyptians Mock is Jihadist Anthem

Most videos consist of edited scenes of Egyptian movies with the anthem played. The first half of videos always looks serious, until the remix interpretation of the song with a dancing beat starts.

On social media there are also Internet memes mocking the anthem using snapshots of comedies.

The online sarcasm of the Islamic State group comes after last month’s beheading of 20 Egyptian Christians in Libya, which was taped and released online before Egypt replied with airstrikes.

It is not the first time social media users have opted for sarcasm in reply to brutality at the hands of IS.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Welcomes Italy’s Preference for Two-State Solution

(AGI) Rome, Feb 27 — The Israeli Embassy in Rome has said it welcomes the Italian parliament’s decision not to recognise the State of Palestine and its preference for direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, based on the principle of a two-state solution. As of the 1993 Oslo Accords, all Israeli governments have agreed and accepted the idea of two states for two peoples, an embassy statement said. Following the elections and the formation of a new government in Israel in March, it continued, the Palestinians must agree to go back to the negotiating table without preconditions to work towards peace and security between the two peoples.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Threatened to Shoot Down Israeli Warplanes

President Obama threatened to use the U.S. military to shoot-down Israeli fighter jets last year if they attempted to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities, the Bethlehem news agency Ma’an reported Sunday.

Mr. Obama’s threat reportedly deterred Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from dispatching warplanes into Iran after Israel discovered that the U.S. had entered into secret talks with Tehran and that the two countries had signed an agreement, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida.

Al-Jarida also reported Sunday that “well placed” sources confirmed an unnamed Israeli minister disclosed the plan to Secretary of State John Kerry, and that Mr. Obama replied by warning that he would foil the plan by shooting down Israeli jets before they could reach their target destinations.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Christians Join New Militia to Combat ISIS in Northern Iraq

Iraqi Shiite fighters pose with an Islamic State flag which they pulled down on the front line in Jalawla, Diyala province, Iraq, November 23, 2014.

The Assyrian Democratic Movement has announced the formation of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, a militia largely comprised of Christian volunteers created to defend civilians from ISIS. The NPU also hopes to recapture land that was taken over by the terrorist organization.

There are reportedly between 500 and 1,000 Assyrian volunteers in training with the NPU, which was fomed by the Assyrian Democratic Movement, the primary political party of Assyrians in Iraq, according to Aletia.

“The mission of the NPU will be first to protect the remaining Assyrian lands from further attacks by ISIS, and then to participate in the necessary military campaigns to liberate the Assyrian homeland of the Nineveh Plain from these notorious terrorists,” reads a press release from the American Mesopotamian Organization, which is helping the project by raising awareness and support for the NPU.

“As a means of protection for themselves and other ethno-religious peoples under attack from ISIS, the Assyrian Democratic Movement is now actively recruiting and training young Assyrian volunteers for service in the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, readying them for combat with ISIS,” according to the press release.

David W. Lazar, a Baghdad native who runs the American Mesopotamian Organization, said that the program is being funded by “Assyrian communities in the diaspora,” specifically in the U.S. and Europe, and plans to eventually seek help from the U.S. and European governments.

“As the NPU grow in strength and size, they will become part of the official security forces of the proposed province, ensuring protection for the lands, homes and lives of Iraq’s minority populations,” according to the press release.

“They will be part of national guard, a project Iraq is putting together,” said Lazar. “We will be pushing for creation of Nineveh Plain Province because it’s our right.”

The units are being formed by Assyrian Christians out of frustration with the Iraqi government and military who they feel failed to protect them during the most critical times. They specifically hold the Kurds, a group that runs part of northern Iraq, responsible.

“Kurds told Christians: ‘Relax, stay in your house, we’ll take care of it.’ They got them to hand over their weapons, saying, ‘We can’t have a lot of weapons floating around; that might cause problems,’“ claimed Jeff Gardner, who is helping the American Mesopotamian Organization with public relations.

While some Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters have been successful at pushing ISIS out of certain areas, including the village of Bakufa in northern Iraq, ISIS had driven the Christian population out of the area, which is comprised of 95 houses and is located 243 miles north of Baghdad.

However, after they took back the town, the Kurdish fighters began setting up village militia that was made up of about 70 volunteers. The militia, which is made up of many Christians, now patrol the area around the clock to keep the village free so that their families could return.

“We found ourselves helpless,” Caesar Jacob, deputy to the Christian militia’s commander, told The Associated Press. “We must defend ourselves to defend our land for now and the future.”

The Kurdish peshmerga fighters seem proud of their accomplishments in Bakufa.

“We came here to protect our Christian brothers and their homes,” said Abdul Rahman Kawriny, the local peshmerga brigade commander. “There is constant cooperation and assistance. We are always together.”

It is important to ensure safety once an area is cleared of ISIS, according to Michael Stephens, a Middle East expert at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies.

“One of the biggest problems is that when ISIS leaves an area, it leaves it full of roadside bombs and mines and traps everywhere, which makes the place uninhabitable for anybody who wants to move back,” he told Aletia.

The placement of bombs along roads, and inside homes and churches was also reported by The Christian Post in October.

Both sides of this fight will face a potential harsh winter and displaced people and refugees face an even greater challenge as the U.N. recently announced that its World Food Program ran out of funds and is cutting off its programs in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

France Divided Over Cooperation With ‘Butcher’ Assad

Four days after French MPs went on an unofficial trip to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, much to the chagrin of President François Hollande, a bitter rift is growing among French politicians on how to deal with the Syrian leader.

Despite the vast gains made by the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria, the French government’s line has been and remains that under no circumstances will it cooperate with Assad in the battle against the Islamic militants.

But it is a policy that is being increasingly questioned by French MPs, even those within the ruling Socialists’ own party.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece Protests Turkish Move to Reserve Aegean Sea Airspace for Military Maneuvers

Greece is protesting Turkey’s move to reserve a large chunk of airspace over the Aegean Sea for military maneuvers until the end of the year, a Greek foreign ministry spokesman says.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

IS Needs Women and is Using Love as a Recruitment Tool

In a few months’ time, perhaps even weeks, you might remember the story, but will you remember the names? Kadiza Sultana, 16; Shamima Begum, also 16; and Amira Abase, 15.

All three London schoolgirls said they were going out for the day and now it is thought they have left the UK, gone to Turkey and slipped across the border to join Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria.

Their names are important to me, because they focus my mind on them as individuals, as young girls, with a promising future ahead of them, with friends, siblings and parents.

Yet, inevitably, we are in thrall to the bigger narrative: a troubling and growing sisterhood is being cultivated — it appears an estimated 200 to 300 European Muslim girls have made the same journey as Kadiza, Shamima and Amira.

Why? What for? The term jihadi bride is particularly egregious, but there is some truth to it.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Releases Online Propaganda in Italian

(AGI) Rome, Feb 28 — A 64 page document aimed at recruiting aspiring Italian terrorists for the Islamic State (IS) was discovered online by WikiLao on Saturday, a few days after it apparently began circulating in jihadist forums. The propagandist text, written in flawless Italian and titled “Lo Stato islamico, una realta’ che ti vorrebbe comunicare” (The Islamic State, an entity that wants to reach out to you), was signed by “Your brother in Allah, Mehdi”. “I decided to write this text to try to briefly present an entity that is widely talked about: the Islamic State, which everyone knows through the media of the accusers and not through the media of the accused,” the pamphlet’s author begins. The document, complete with interviews, pictures, and documentation gathered in the self-proclaimed Caliphate, focuses on life in the province of al-Raqqa, which has been under IS control for months. It describes the application of Sharia law, the creation of various Islamic tribunals under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s reign, and the tasks of the hisba — “the police that orders good and prohibits evil” and “destroys any temple or temple or tomb which venerates anyone outside of Allah”. The Islamic police “also controls the price of goods, watches over the citizens’ safety, resolves disputes over theft, property, threats, or provocation among Muslims”, the text declares. “Thanks to Allah, the mujahideen, who years ago lived hidden in the desert of Anbar in Iraq, now control a vast and ever-expanding territory. With the application of Sharia law, citizens are now truly safe: it is proven that crime rates usually drop by 90 percent in the territories we control,” the author states. The document claims that the situation in IS territories “is generally positive despite the coalition bombings and the number of enemies”. The Islamic State, it says, “supports the citizens’ needs” as it has obtained and continues to obtain “large quantities of weapons, equipment, and military vehicles, which allows it to concentrate its economic resources on offering services to the citizens”. The text proceeds with a hagiography of the various protagonists of the jihad, and incites the reader to join the “struggle” and support the Caliphate. “The soldiers of the Islamic State are in Algeria, Nigeria, Chad, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and even more nations. And with the will of Allah, the Caliphate will conquer Constantinople and Rome, as Muhammad prophesied.” .

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Jihadi Bride Schoolgirls Spotted on CCTV at Turkish Bus Station

The three jihadi brides who left their homes in London to join the Islamic State have been caught on camera at a bus station in Istanbul in footage screened on Turkish television.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s ‘Deal’ Would Allow Iran to Start Building Nuclear Bombs in About 10 Years

Should Iran be permitted to build as many nuclear bombs as it wants just a decade from now? Shockingly, this is precisely what the ‘deal’ that the Obama administration is currently negotiating would allow Iran to do. Even the Washington Post, an enthusiastic cheerleader for Obama all these years, says that this deal is the equivalent of ‘giving Iran everything it wants’ . Sadly, ever since negotiations with Iran began several years ago, the stance of the Obama administration has been to retreat, retreat and then retreat some more. Back in 2005, the western world was insisting that Iran was not going to be allowed to have any centrifuges at all. But now we are going to allow Iran to keep all of the nuclear infrastructure that it has built up, and a decade from now it will be allowed to start building nuclear weapons. This is a country that is run by genocidal Islamic fanatics that consider the United States to be ‘the Great Satan’ and that wants to wipe the nation of Israel off the face of the planet. Under no circumstances should Iran ever be allowed to build even a single

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Raif Badawi, The Saudi Arabian Blogger Sentenced to 1,000 Lashes, May Now Face the Death Penalty

Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger whose punishment of 1,000 lashes has prompted international condemnation, may now face the death penalty.

Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, told The Independent in a series of messages that judges in Saudi Arabia’s criminal court want him to undergo a re-trial for apostasy. If found guilty, he would face a death sentence.

She said the “dangerous information” had come from “official sources” inside the conservative kingdom, where Mr Badawi has already been sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes — administered at a rate of 50 per week — for criticising the country’s clerics through his liberal blog.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Caught on Tape: The Moment Boris Nemtsov Was Assassinated

As the world contemplates the various ‘provocation’ scenarios — a Russian act, a CIA act meant to look like a Russian act, or a Russian act meant to look like a CIA act? — the following clip suggests this was anything but an ad hoc shooting:

The narrator suggests, as Nemtsov and his companion are walking along the road, a garbage truck (or cleaning vehicle) is behind them. When the garbage truck comes alongside the couple, it slows down, then moves ahead, then stops -’ and another man leaves the vehicle and jumps in a following car, which speeds away with tires smoking.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Siberian Crater Saga is More Widespread — And Scarier — Than Anyone Thought

In the middle of last summer came news of a bizarre occurrence no one could explain. Seemingly out of nowhere, a massive crater appeared in one of the planet’s most inhospitable lands. Early estimates said the crater, nestled in a land called “the ends of the Earth” where temperatures can sink far below zero, yawned nearly 100 feet in diameter.

The saga deepened. The Siberian crater wasn’t alone. There were two more, ratcheting up the tension in a drama that hit its climax as a probable explanation surfaced. Global warming had thawed the permafrost, which had caused methane trapped inside the icy ground to explode. “Gas pressure increased until it was high enough to push away the overlaying layers in a powerful injection, forming the crater,” one German scientist said at the time.

Now, however, researchers fear there are more craters than anyone knew — and the repercussions could be huge. Russian scientists have now spotted a total of seven craters, five of which are in the Yamal Peninsula. Two of those holes have since turned into lakes. And one giant crater is rimmed by a ring of at least 20 mini-craters, the Siberian Times reported. Dozens more Siberian craters are likely still out there, said Moscow scientist Vasily Bogoyavlensky of the Oil and Gas Research Institute, calling for an “urgent” investigation.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Thousands March in Moscow in Memory of Shot Russian Politician Boris Nemtsov

Thousands of people are marching in Moscow today in memory of the murdered Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

Mr Nemtsov, who was shot dead in the street on Friday, had been due to lead a rally in the country’s capital today.

The original opposition rally has been adapted into what some activists are referring to as a “funeral procession” in memory of the shot politician.

Authorities had originally granted approval for a march numbering 50,000 people but organisers believe more people could turn out.

Protesters are holding placards declaring “I am not afraid” and criticising alleged corruption in the country’s government.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Thousands March in Moscow to Mourn Slain Boris Nemtsov

For the tens of thousands bearing flowers and tying black ribbons to railings in honor of slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the solemn march through the Moscow drizzle on Sunday was a time for silence, not slogans.

The marchers occasionally broke out with chants of “Russia without Putin,” or “Say no to war,” but often the only sound was the steady thwack of police helicopters overhead or the hum of police boats patrolling the shores of the Moscow River.

While the death of Nemtsov has shaken the Russian opposition, which sees the Kremlin as responsible, it is unclear whether it will be enough to invigorate the beleaguered movement. Despite the Ukraine conflict and Russia’s economic crisis, support for President Vladimir Putin has been above 80 percent in the past year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US State Department Admits Russia Had Nothing to Gain From Killing Boris Nemtsov

Perhaps believing by virtue of having admitted the murder of Russian opposition member Boris Nemtsov in Russia’s capital of Moscow Friday evening in no way served the Russian government’s best interests, the US State Department believes it can deflect guilt from being shifted towards its direction.

Indeed, the US State Department through its Voice of America media network — chaired by the US Secretary of State himself — would state in an online article titled, ‘Could Nemtsov Threaten Putin in Death as in Life?,’ that (emphasis added):

“With the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, gunned down on a Moscow street, the fiercest critic of President Vladimir Putin has been removed from the political stage. But it remains to be seen whether, in death as in life, Nemtsov will remain a threat to Putin’s rule.

“Already, city authorities have approved a mass march for up to 50,000 people in central Moscow on Sunday. The march, expected to be far larger than the scheduled protest rally it replaces, will provide a powerful platform for Kremlin critics who suspect a government hand in Nemtsov’s death.

“Even officials in Putin’s government seem to sense the danger that the former first deputy prime minister’s martyrdom might pose, hinting darkly that Friday night’s drive-by shooting may have been an deliberate ‘provocation’ ahead of the planned weekend rally.

While this logic has clearly not escaped the US State Department’s media network, it stops short of clearly implicating the Russian opposition and its foreign backers (the US State Department itself) as the chief suspects in Nemtsov’s murder — though the article clearly states only the opposition (and in turn, their foreign sponsors) stood to benefit from his death.

The diminutive and previously ineffective protests carried out by the opposition will now be ‘far larger’ and serve as a ‘powerful platform for Kremlin critics,’ a reality that simply would not have existed had Nemtsov not been murdered.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

US-Backed Opposition Leader Gunned Down in Moscow

US-backed opposition groups in Russia have so far failed utterly to produce results. Their transparent subservience to Washington coupled with their distasteful brand of politics has left a rather unpleasant taste in the mouth of most Russians. Each attempt to spread the ‘virus’ of color revolution to Moscow, as US Senator John McCain called it, has failed’ and each attempt has fallen progressively flatter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has never been more popular. His ability to weather serial provocations aimed at Russia by NATO has made him a champion against the perceived growing injustice exacted against the developing world by an increasingly militaristic and exploitative West.

So when US-backed opposition groups in Russia decided to gather again this coming March 1, Sunday, many wondered just exactly what they expected to accomplish…

The prospect of triggering sustainable unrest aimed at the Kremlin was beyond impossible, that is, until the leader of the planned protest was shot dead, practically on the steps of the Kremlin itself in the heart of Moscow.

Nemtsov had led US-backed opposition protests for years. In 2012, he was caught literally walking into the US Embassy in Moscow to meet with then newly appointed US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul who had serve on the board of directors of Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

The significance of this cannot be overstated.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Green Slander

It is a sure sign that the advocates of the “global warming” and “climate change” hoaxes know that the public no longer believes that the former is occurring or that the latter represents an immediate, global threat.

Even though the “climate skeptics”, scientists who have produced research proving false methodology and the conclusions based on it are quite few in number, an effort to silence them by smearing their reputations and denying funding for their work has been launched and it is based entirely on a lie.

Scientists are supposed to be skeptical, not only of other scientist’s findings, but their own. Good science must be able to reproduce the results of published research. In the case of the many computer models cited as proof that global warming was occurring or would, the passing years have demonstrated that none were accurate.

As Joseph L. Bast, president of The Heartland Institute and Joseph A. Morris, an attorney who has fought in several countries to defend free speech, wrote in a February 24 commentary, “The Crucifixion of Dr. Wei-Hock Soon”, of an article co-authored with Christopher Monckton, Matt Briggs, and David Legates, and published in the Science Bulletin, a publication of the Chinese Academy of Sciences “The article reveals what appears to be an error in the computer models used to predict global warming that leads models to over-estimate future warming by a factor of three.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kim Jong un Reportedly Tells North Korean Army to ‘Prepare for War’ With US

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly told the army to prepare for war with the United States and its allies, state media reported Saturday, according to AFP.

“The prevailing situation where a great war for national reunification is at hand requires all the KPA (Korean People’s Army) units to become (elite) Guard Units fully prepared for war politically and ideologically, in military technique and materially,” he said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

Kim reportedly told the army to train to “tear to pieces the Stars Stripes.”

According to AFP, Kim’s comments came after a recent joint naval drill between South Korea and the U.S., and ahead of large-scale military exercises.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Jihadi John: Mohammed Emwazi’s School Attended by Three Terrorists

A second Islamist from the same west London school as “Jihadi John” died fighting with terrorists abroad, it can be disclosed.

Choukri Ellekhlifi, a contemporary of Jihadi John at Quintin Kynaston academy, was killed in Syria in 2013 after joining up with an al-Qaeda terror group. The disclosure comes after The Telegraph reported another pupil at the school, Mohammed Sakr, had died fighting for al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, in Somalia.

Their deaths and the fact that Mohammed Emwazi, the real name of “Jihadi John”, went to the school will inevitably raise questions over what measures had been put in place to tackle the radicalisation of Muslim teenagers. On Saturday night the Government announced a review into the matter.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US Officials Called ‘Terrorists’ By Venezuelan President Mock New Travel Ban

CARACAS, Venezuela — Conservative U.S. politicians banned from traveling to Venezuela by socialist President Nicolas Maduro are taking the restriction as a badge of honor.

Maduro laid out a series of measures against U.S. diplomats and tourists Saturday night, including a promise to limit the size of the embassy here and impose a tourist visa requirement.

Maduro also gave a list of conservative U.S. officials who would be barred from entering Venezuela. He named former President George W Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and several congressmen.

“They can’t come to Venezuela because they’re terrorists,” Maduro said before a crowd that had gathered to protest imperialism. “Out of here, terrorists.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Venezuela Imposes Visa Requirement for US Tourists

Venezuela will shrink the size of the U.S. Embassy staff, limit the activities of U.S. diplomats and require American citizens to apply for visas if they want to come bask on the beach.

Speaking before a crowd that rallied to protest imperialism, President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday that “gringo” meddling had forced him to adopt the series of restrictive measures, which include requiring U.S. diplomats to seek approval from the Foreign Ministry for meetings they conduct here.

Maduro said he was imposing the new tourist visa requirement for national security reasons, saying that in recent days authorities had detained several U.S. citizens who he alleged were involved in espionage, including an American pilot.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Colleges Using Coffers for Financial Aid to Illegal Immigrants Stirs Debate on Immigration Reform

Several U.S. colleges are giving financial aid directly to students who are young illegal immigrants, extending the debate about helping people in the United States illegally at the expense of Americans who are in need of similar opportunities.

Such opportunities have opened up since President Obama’s 2012 executive action that deferred deportation to millions of young people brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. However, they still are largely ineligible for state or federal student aid.

New York University — which receives federal, state and city money — says the aid given to illegal immigrants is not at the expense of American students.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Michelle Rodriguez: Fast & Furious Actor Apologises After Telling ‘Minorities’ To Stop Taking on ‘White’ Roles

Racial equality may be a major issue in Hollywood, but somehow Michelle Rodriguez managed to cause offence by petitioning for ethnic parity.

The Fast & Furious actor, who enjoyed a renaissance in the media last year after dating British model Cara Delevingne, called the fact non-white actors were cast in “white” roles “stupid”.

“Because of this whole ‘minorities in Hollywood’ thing… it’s so stupid. Stop stealing all the white people’s superheroes,” she said in a video obtained by TMZ. “Make up your own.”

Rodriguez was branded insensitive, and later posted a video of herself apologising on Facebook.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Should Women Watch Fifty Shades of Grey? Sexual Abuse and Humiliation Go Mainstream

The most popular movie in America is about bondage, sexual domination and violent sex. Fifty Shades of Grey, the best-selling novel about a sexually abusive relationship between an extremely wealthy businessman and a young female college student, has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide since it was first released. This past weekend, it pulled in an astounding 81.7 million dollars at the box office. Clearly, it has struck a chord with the American people. But should women actually be watching Fifty Shades of Grey? It has been said that if you put garbage in, you get garbage out. The novel has been described as ‘pornography for women’, but the movie is supposedly toned down. But even with the editing, the film still contains 20 minutes of sex scenes. And of course we aren’t just talking about normal sex scenes. Fifty Shades of Grey goes to great lengths to explore the twisted world of sexual abuse, bondage and humiliation. It makes violent sex seem ‘mainstream’, and it is deeply affecting our culture. So what does it say about our society that it is so wildly popular?

Just a couple of years ago, the novel that the film is based upon was considered to be ‘extreme’ in this country. But these days seemingly everyone is talking about it. The following is an excerpt from a recent article in the New York Post:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The “Dependent Victim” Psyop on Planet Earth

by Jon Rappoport

Any person who comes out of an “officially designated victim-group” — and then succeeds in life on his own — and then goes one step further and refuses to identify his entire existence with his group — but instead stands as a unique individual why, that person, at the very least, must be a criminal, if not a terrorist, right?

That’s the crux of the issue: never leave your group.

That’s how society, civilization, and culture are promoted these days.

“Groups have needs, agendas, and problems, and the solution will come from government.” That’s the all-embracing formula.

Who would invent and expand that formula? The beneficiary. Government.

The fake appearance is: victim groups are fighting for recognition and special status, and the government is pushing back — but that’s now a ruse. That’s a cover story. In fact, victim groups and government have the same goal: a relationship based on dependence. One side depends and the other side gives and protects.

The individual is out of the equation. He is portrayed as the greed-obsessed reason these victim groups exist and need help in the first place.

Banks, Wall Street, and mega-corporations are depicted as the end result of individualism, whereas the government is valiantly striving to solve this endemic problem.

In fact, government, banks, Wall Street, and mega-corporations are joined at the hip. They brush each others’ teeth first thing every morning.

Political correctness and the burgeoning movement to outlaw “offensive language” are merely tactics to: preserve groups’ separate identities; foment conflict between them; and ultimately foster their dependence on government authority…

This downgrading of the individual human spirit is far from accidental. It’s launched as a sustained propaganda campaign, the ultimate purpose of which is top-down control over billions of people organized into groups.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Left’s War on White America

Folks, I pray that what I am about to say will help open your eyes to the evil coming from the Left in our country (Democratic Party, Hollywood and the mainstream media). When you start teaching innocent little children to feel guilty for being born white, it can only be described as a war on white America.

I am black and very pleased with who God made me to be. Imagine the Left’s reaction to a white person saying they are grateful for God’s choice for their life. According to the Left, everyone (gays and minorities) are encouraged to be proud of who they are except white people.

I brought this up at dinner with white friends. I wonder how white America is dealing with the Left relentlessly trashing all things white? When will it reach a tipping point? My friends laughed, ‘Oh my gosh, Lloyd is becoming David Duke (white nationalist, former Grand Wizard of the KKK).’ My friends were having a little fun with me. But one does have to wonder when whites begin saying, ‘Enough!’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The News: Mind Control Through “Cognitive Dissonance”

by Jon Rappoport

“When professionals broadcast one absurdity after another, they begin to see the effects are actually strengthening their own position of authority. It’s a revelation. It’s also a continuation of the tradition of the Trickster archetype. For example, with just a few minor adjustments, Brian Williams can be seen as the sly Reynard the Fox.” (The Underground, Jon Rappoport)

From the viewpoint of elite television news, controlling the minds of its audience depends on what’s politely called “cognitive dissonance”:

As the anchor recites a news story, the viewer sees an obvious hole through which he could drive a truck.

The story makes no sense, yet it’s being presented as bland fact. The trusted anchor clearly has no problem with it.

What’s the viewer to do? He experiences a contradiction, a “dissonance.”

For example, this year’s flu vaccine. The US government has admitted the vaccine is geared to a flu virus that isn’t circulating in the population. Therefore, even by conventional standards, the vaccine is useless. But the kicker is, the CDC says people should take the vaccine anyway.

The anchor relays all this information — and never seriously questions the situation, never torpedoes the government for recommending the vaccine.

The average viewer feels a tug, a pulse of discomfort, a push-pull. The vaccine story is idiocy (side one), but the trusted anchor accepts it (side two).

Dissonance.

The top chiefs of news — and top propaganda operatives — anticipate cognitive dissonance. In a real sense, they want it to happen. They make it happen. Over and over.

Why?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Woman to Woman

[These are my views as a woman living in England, on how the culture and spirit of my country has changed over 50 years. Why the country does not feel protected or strong any more, how it has lost, and is losing it values and decency, and how we are daily losing our free speech.]

Many of the advocates of compulsory sex education in schools continually emphasize the ‘age appropriate’ mantra. The above findings however are obviously disturbing if it is considered age appropriate to implant contraception into under age children who are as young as 10.

Undermining the parent’s responsibility, and ignoring the obvious results of how promiscuity and sexually related diseases has increased in the UK over the many years of sex education rather than decreased, seems to be side stepped by those who are adamant that parents are ignorant on such matters.

Does too much knowledge of sex equate to too much interest in sex, and do the countries decision makers who are meant to serve and not dictate to the electorate, really have an understanding?

Is there another agenda being implanted under the skin?

Many of the discoveries which are being made in our schools are a reflection of some of the proposals put forward in a ‘Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights’ called The Estrela Report, which was rejected overwhelmingly by the European Parliament.

The Estrela Report was put forward by Edite Estrela who was a Member of the European Parliament for the Socialist Party. Some of the proposals were:-

1.   To make sex education a human rights concern.
2.   Enforce compulsory sex education for children inside and outside of school.
3.   Make Liberal abortion laws, sex education, and contraception as the ideal.
4.   The rejection and overriding of all pro life laws.
5.   Adolescent-friendly abortion services in schools without the consent of parents or guardians.
6.   The report attacked conscientious objection for healthcare professionals.
 

[Comment: Rejected by European Parliament, yet still implemented through the back door approach. Western society is under psychological attack — the end goal being to remake society (and not in a good way). Research Tavistock Institute. Psy-op techniques on society at large — television plays a significant role in the reprogramming of ideas.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sign of Judgment? Total Solar Eclipse on March 20th Falls in the Middle of the Four Blood Red Moons

The total solar eclipse on March 20th falls on Nisan 1, which is the first day of the first month of the Biblical calendar. According to Jewish tradition, a solar eclipse on Nisan 1 is a sign of judgment. And this has certainly been true in the past. For example, there was a solar eclipse on Nisan 1 in 70 AD. Later that year, the Romans attacked Jerusalem and completely destroyed the Temple. What makes all of this even more interesting is the fact that the solar eclipse on March 20th falls right in the middle of the blood moon tetrad, and it also happens to fall during the Shemitah year. If you are not a believer, you may be tempted to dismiss all of this as some sort of extremely bizarre coincidence. If you are a believer, you also might be skeptical. But by the end of this article, at least you will understand what so many people are talking about right now.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Aral Sea and Green Energy; Licence to Kill

Laced with lies and fueled by delusional dreams of a return to Shangri-La, modern environmentalists and green energy gurus are creating a crisis of epic proportions with the wholesale slaughter of birds and bats under the guise of fighting global warming. In their war to destroy affordable energy, modern environmentalists sacrifice birds and bats to the tune of tens of millions every year. The slaughter is so bad that in Germany, the yearly butchery of 200,000 bats is depleting the population up to 2,000 miles away.

When did the wholesale slaughter of birds and bats become acceptable to those sworn to save the earth? There is mounting evidence that many of these birds and bats are in danger of becoming extinct. Yet the western governments and the green energy zealots continue to ignore the body count and push for more wind mills and solar farms. Why will they not learn from history that you cannot continue to destroy nature and have it constantly rebound? Just like the central planners did to the Aral Sea in the 1950’s under Nikita Khrushchev, we are creating an ecological disaster of epic proportions through deliberate choices, unintended consequences and just plain bad science…

The destruction of the Aral Sea — a freshwater ecosystem the size of Ireland — was no accident. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union undertook a major water diversion project under Nikita Khrushchev’s Virgin Lands Program on the arid plains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The region’s two major rivers, fed by snowmelt and precipitation in faraway mountains, were used to transform the desert into farms for cotton and other crops. They built an enormous irrigation network, including 20,000 miles of canals, 45 dams, and more than 80 reservoirs, all to irrigate sprawling fields of cotton and wheat in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Although irrigation made the desert bloom, it devastated the Aral Sea.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

7 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/1/2015

  1. Re the dailymail article on the Pegida rally in Newcastle UK. I live near Newcastle. The article talks about a “march”. The Pegida Rally was a static rally held in a very small physical area called The Bigg Market. They didn’t march – the antis did. The article talks of violence yet only 5 people were arrested. There would likely be that many arrested, for similar offences (D&D, breach of the peace, one on one fighting), on any Friday or Saturday night in the Bigg Market. It is one the centres of Newcastle “night life”. Northumbria Police say there was no real trouble and both the rally, and the march by those protesting the rally, were peaceful. Just so that you know that this has been somewhat “bigged up” by the media.

  2. Re: “UK: Woman to Woman”. I think I understand the writer’s viewpoint, but how should we teach pre-pubescent children which adult approaches are or are not appropriate, without informing them about adult sexuality, including homosexuality?

  3. You know Mark, I am 60 years old and I didn’t even know about perversion and homosexuality until I was 18 and happened upon a magazine in one of my art school buddy’s home.
    What I did know was that something that makes you feel creepy is not OK.
    What I did know was that a man in a car that stopped me while I was on my bike who had a very swollen penis needed medical attention and that my mother would help him if he came up to the house…
    Imagine being able to navigate to 18 years old without even knowing about these things…
    I feel sorry for children today. They are being forced to give up their childhood for the sake of “alternative lifestyles.”

    • Babs– You knew more than a lot of young women today are even permitted to know or understand. When you say “something that makes you feel creepy is not OK” I think of the many women I counseled over the years who silenced that inner voice in order to fit in, and found themselves in a world of hurt. Irredeemable hurt.

      “Peer pressure” has geometrically increased to the point that one isn’t permitted to call anything “perversion”. That may have become an impermissible word by now. Beastiality is a big topic right now.

      So parents wanting to protect their children have to be very careful how they word their own prescriptive rules for their children or they could find themselves facing legal battles – especially as this current American administration encourages children to report their parents or other adults. You know, that ugly “if you see something, say something” rule…or suggestion.

      The current p.c. climate in colleges – pardon me, UNIVERSITIES. We’ve big-sized everything from french fries to education – makes it an unsafe place for many of the kids I know. We live in a small rural community – spread out among large tracts of timber but people are never more than one degree of separation from each other around here. Many of these kids are getting ready to go to college and I’m freaking over the sheltered 17 year-old preparing to attend a school with 45,000 students (our county has 12,00o residents).

      This is a smart kid and attractive in the way only the freshness of youth can be: clear-eyed and full of energy. Smart, but not an intellectual. She’ll do grad work in physiology so she can become a physical therapist. It’s a shame she has to go to college for that. What a waste of her time and her and her parents’ money.

      Her parents don’t drink (Momma sneaks a beer on occasion), the family goes to church at least once a week, and social events are either church or family-related. The young woman has friends who drink and a few who try drugs but she’s not interested. However, she does want to fit in – so given the high rate of alcoholism, drug abuse, and the hook-up culture for young people at the college of her choice, what chance does she have against a tsunami of ridicule for her beliefs and behavior?? How long before she’s trapped and raped?

      I am giving her this book:

      The Gift of Fear

      And I’ll try to talk the family into a smaller school. A school with a conservative ethos more in keeping with that of this family.

      • That is a good book. Here is another one that may be even more relevant to the situation that you describe:

        Unprotected by Miriam Grossman, MD

        I’d encourage everyone to read that before going off to college, especially girls.

  4. Have you ever heard of Teddy Ruxpin? He sends a pretty clear message that if anyone wants to talk or touch what is covered by a swimsuit you should stay clear…
    Funny thing, my son Nick kept dissecting Teddy! We went through three of them.

    • Oh my. I had forgotten him. Since Google search is my BFF – at least until I find a better engine – researching ol’ T.R. was fun.

      http://www.cnet.com/news/its-evil-kids-react-to-teddy-ruxpin-taking-bear/

      21st century kids generally don’t like him. But one observant child said:

      One of the kids figured out why Teddy was so popular in the ’80s. “People back in the day probably thought this was fun,” Sydney, age 7, said in the video. “‘Let’s give our kids a toy that talks. And it will read stories for them so we don’t.'”

      I think there were lots of boys like your Nick – i.e., taking that sucker apart to see what made him go.

      Here’s modern ADD:

      “This is like three minutes wasted!” Emma R., age 9, complained when the song went on too long — suggesting, perhaps, that today’s kids have much shorter attention spans.

      Is little Emma jaded or what?

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