Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/9/2016

The Greek Coast Guard rescued 74 migrants off the coast of Lesvos and Farmakonisi over the past three days. Meanwhile, the German migration agency says it expects to process more than a million asylum applications in 2016.

In other news, according to a recent poll, almost half of Italians want Italy to leave the EU.

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

Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Diana West, Fjordman, JD, 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
» Study: Sanders’ Economic Plan Piles $18T on Federal Debt
 
USA
» First Global Mercury Map Shows Its Hills and Valleys in Detail
» Innocent Man Stands Up to Entire SWAT Team Raiding His Home With No Warrant — He Wins
» Mercury Finishes Its Run Across the Sun
» Paul Nehlen Tours Border With Breitbart Texas’ Brandon Darby: ‘Agents Need a Fighter’
» Police Surveillance System Downloads Your Cellphone Images, Sends Them to Investigator
» Roger Stone: Ryan & Priebus Planning to “Extort” Trump at RNC
» Ron Paul: What Happened to the Revolution?
» The Racist Trees of Our National Parks
 
Canada
» Giant Fort McMurray Fire is the Worst Blaze in Canadian History
 
Europe and the EU
» “Worst Crisis for Austrian Social Democrats Since WWII”
» Almost Half of All Italians Want to Leave EU: Poll
» An EU Army on 24 Hours Notice
» British Universities Slip Down World Table ‘Because They Are Forced to Focus on Diversity’
» Dr. Johnson Was Wrong: For the First Time in 30 Years, I Desperately Want to Leave London
» Erdogan Seeks Injunction Against German Media Boss for Backing Böhmermann
» EU Referendum: Cameron Warns UK Exit Could Put Peace at Risk
» European Parliament Orders MEP to Take Down a Video About His Attempt to Visit the ‘Reading Room’ For Trade Documents
» Flash: British Court Imposes Gag Order on Bukovsky Libel Proceeding
» Game of Bones: First Europeans’ Shifting Fortunes Found in DNA
» Germany: ‘You Mustn’t Touch Me, You Mustn’t Touch Me’: New Footage of Cologne New Year Sex Attacks Shows Screaming Woman as Overwhelmed Police Struggling to Control Crowds of Migrant Men
» Hadron Collider Set to Resume Search for the ‘Unthinkable’
» ISIS Beheader “Free in Belgium”
» Man Arrested on Suspicion of Recruiting Terrorists in Italy
» Thomas McKelvey Cleaver: The Heroic True Story Behind the ‘Catch-22’ Bomb Wing
» Threats Over ‘Erdogan Burger’ Force Cologne Eatery to Close
» UK: Cameron’s Latest Desperate Threat: Vote Remain or Get World War III
» UK: Now David Cameron Warns Brexit Would Lead to War: Furious Backlash Over PM’s Project Fear
» UK: These 4 Charts Show Why a Brexit is Highly Likely
 
Balkans
» What is Cooking in the Bosnian Pot? CIA Director’s Visit to the Balkans
 
Middle East
» Bin Laden’s Son Urges Jihad Against Jews, US Interests
» Saudia Arabia and Iran: The Cold War of Islam
» Step by Step Toward a ‘One Man’ Regime in Turkey
 
Russia
» WWII Historical Revisionism Holding Sway in West
 
Far East
» “Love the Communist Party” — China Threatens Its Entrepreneurs Not to Become “Trumpeters of Western Capitalism”
» Football in China: Meet the People Turning Government’s Dream Into Reality
 
Latin America
» Approval of Venezuelan Leader Drops as Crisis Bites: Poll
» Luis Fleischman: End Venezuela’s Agony of Chaos and Collapse
» Panama Closes Border to Cubans, Flies Others to Mexico
 
Immigration
» Austria: Police APC Protects Right-Wing Vigil for Murder Victim
» Germany to Process Over One Million Asylum Claims in 2016
» Greece: Coast Guard Officers Save 74 Migrants off Lesvos, Farmakonisi
» Slovak Police Fire on Invaders
» Sweden: ‘It’s Like a War Zone’: TV Crew Forced to Flee Migrant Youths
 
Culture Wars
» North Carolina Officials Sue U.S. Justice Dept Over Challenge to Bathroom Law
 

Study: Sanders’ Economic Plan Piles $18T on Federal Debt

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ tax and spending proposals would provide new levels of health and education benefits for American families, but they’d also blow an $18-trillion hole in federal deficits, piling on so much debt they would damage the economy.

That sobering assessment comes from a joint analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute Health Policy Center, well-known Washington think tanks.

The bottom line: Democratic presidential candidate Sanders would raise taxes by more than $15 trillion over 10 years, with most of that paid by upper-income earners. But that wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost of his proposed government-run health care system, along with free undergraduate college, enhanced Social Security, family and medical leave, among other new programs.

As a result, Sanders would add $18 trillion to federal debt over a decade.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

First Global Mercury Map Shows Its Hills and Valleys in Detail

The innermost planet is ready for its close-up. The team behind NASA’s MESSENGER mission to Mercury has released the first global topographic map of the small, cratered world — just in time for its biggest show of the decade.

MESSENGER orbited Mercury from 2011 until 2015, and took more than 10 terabytes of data, including 300,000 images and millions of spectra. A laser altimeter measured the heights of hills and depths of craters, but because the spacecraft had a highly eccentric orbit, this was not possible for the southern hemisphere.

Now, the team have combined more than 100,000 images to create a model of the whole planet’s topography. It includes the highest point — 4.48 kilometres above average elevation, located south of the equator in some of Mercury’s oldest terrain — and the lowest point — 5.38 kilometres below average elevation, at the floor of the volcanic Rachmaninoff basin.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Innocent Man Stands Up to Entire SWAT Team Raiding His Home With No Warrant — He Wins

On Thursday morning, an Odessa man and his family were rudely awakened by a dozen militarized DEA and SWAT officers with AR-15s at their front door. Instead of cowering to the men who were clearly not authorized to be there, this man stood his ground and sent them on their way.

“We were rudely awakened, they just started banging on the door,” said the man who wishes to remain anonymous in an interview with KEPJ News, “I just didn’t like the way they did it.”

Ector County SWAT team was assisting the DEA in a raid on Tripp Avenue when they simply decided to move to the next house and attempt to enter without a warrant. The next house belonged to this innocent man, who was angered by such a vulgar display of incompetent power.

As the SWAT team tries to enter the man’s home without a warrant, he began filming and giving them a piece of his mind.

After their verbal beating, the cops finally left but not before one of them flipped him off.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Mercury Finishes Its Run Across the Sun

Citizen skywatchers, amateur astronomers and scientists alike looked skyward today (May 9) to see Mercury pass across the face of the sun, an event that will not happen again until 2019.

The solar system’s smallest planet made a slow passage across the bright solar disc — an event that astronomers call a transit — starting at about 7:16 a.m. EDT (1116 GMT), according to NASA. The planet started on the left side of the sun’s disk and took a downward path to the right. Mercury finally exited the sun’s disk at about 2:38 p.m. EDT (1838 GMT). The event was visible from all of North and South America, Europe, Africa, and much of Asia.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Paul Nehlen Tours Border With Breitbart Texas’ Brandon Darby: ‘Agents Need a Fighter’

Paul Nehlen, the Wisconsin businessman who has launched a primary challenge to Rep. Paul Ryan, is currently touring the U.S.-Mexico border alongside Brandon Darby, the top editor of Breitbart Texas.

On the border with @brandondarby. Blowing my mind. Agents need a fighter. I commit. #DumpRyan

— Paul Nehlen (@pnehlen) May 8, 2016

Nehlen accused Ryan of failing to fight for border patrol agents during his time in Washington. The Republican Speaker of the House has come under fire for pushing open-borders policies with Rep. Luis Gutierrez, going so far as to say the United States is “more than a country… [and] more than our borders.”

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Police Surveillance System Downloads Your Cellphone Images, Sends Them to Investigator

Police departments across the United States are beginning to operate state-of-the-art crime fighting equipment that could lead to live-streaming surveillance from virtually everywhere.

Today, when police departments in Fresno, New York, and Seattle receive a high-priority call of an in-progress crime, that call is immediately filtered through a hi-tech computer system that will assign a threat score to the individual and home involved in the incident. This will contribute to local law enforcement’s assessment on how to tackle top-priority scenarios.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Roger Stone: Ryan & Priebus Planning to “Extort” Trump at RNC

GOP establishment still scheming to steal nomination from New York billionaire

Donald Trump campaign confidante Roger Stone warns that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and RNC chairman Reince Priebus are planning to “extort” Trump at the RNC after Ryan refused to endorse the presumptive Republican nominee.

During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Trump said that he would not rule out an attempt to remove Ryan from his role at the convention, vowing consequences if the former Wisconsin Congressman continued to withhold his support.

“I will give you a very solid answer, if that happens, about one minute after that happens, O.K.?” Mr. Trump said. “There’s no reason to give it right now, but I’ll be very quick with the answer.”

After initially indicating that he was opposed to a Trump candidacy on several occasions, Reince Priebus appeared conciliatory after Trump’s success in Indiana, tweeting that it was time to “unite” the GOP behind an effort to defeat Hillary Clinton.

However, according to Trump confidante Roger Stone, Ryan and Priebus are working on a plan to “extort Trump” at the RNC.

Stone says the two are scheming to “thwart Trump control of the Republican National Committee,” and has vowed to “expose their outrageous plan.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ron Paul: What Happened to the Revolution?

The socialist philosophy has at its core the desire to run people’s lives. It is by design an authoritarian system.

In a recent interview I was asked why Bernie Sanders, a self-described “democratic socialist” had seemingly attracted so much support among young people. In fact polls suggest Sanders is the most popular candidate among people aged 18-29, and 51 percent of that same age group appears fed up with “capitalism in its current form,” according to a recent Harvard study. It was just four years ago that so many young people turned out to hear and support my message of personal liberty, non-aggression, and non-intervention at home and abroad. I was thrilled that so many young people were attracted to a candidate whose main message was “I don’t want to run your life.”

Socialism, of course, is the opposite philosophy. The socialist philosophy has at its core the desire to run people’s lives. It is by design an authoritarian system. Who would willingly give up so much of their own property to the state to redistribute to others? That is where the use of government force comes into play. Socialism tells how much of your money you can keep, how you can spend it, if you can spend it, which of your personal habits must be modified in order to qualify for your “free” healthcare, what course of study you must pursue to qualify for your “free” education, and so on.

But we also know the false promises can be very seductive. Socialism preys on that human fault that would like to have something for nothing. You deserve an education, the socialist tells young people, so I will give you one for free. He never tells the student that he will pay for that education many times over in the hidden tax called inflation. Or the student may “pay” for that education with unemployment after college as his potential employer was forced to shut down over the high taxes required to pay for all the things the socialist promises.

So am I surprised that it seems so many young people have fallen for the seductive lies of socialism? Well I don’t really believe they have. They are frustrated by a system they are told is capitalism. They are angry over the same things I have been talking about for years.

Our current system is far from the free-markets that we in the Austrian school of economics espouse. We have a system of cronyism, corporatism, inflationism, regulated and managed trade to the benefit of special interests, and the criminality of central banking. Unfortunately because of our faulty and biased education system and the relentless propaganda of the mainstream media, many young people are taught that the mess they see all around them is all caused by “capitalism.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Racist Trees of Our National Parks

Trees are America’s newest racist symbol.

by Daniel Greenfield

Mickey Fearn, the National Park Service Deputy Director for Communications and Community Assistance, made headlines when he claimed that black people don’t visit national parks because they associate them with slaves being lynched by their masters.

Yellowstone, the first national park, was created in 1872 in Wyoming. Slavery was over by then and no one had ever been lynching slaves around Old Faithful anyway. But false claims of racism die very hard.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Giant Fort McMurray Fire is the Worst Blaze in Canadian History

The gigantic wildfire that has forced the evacuation of the entire city of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta has been nicknamed “the Beast”, and mainstream news reports are telling us that it is now approximately 25 percent larger than New York City. 88,000 people have already been forced out of their homes, at least 1,600 buildings have been destroyed, and smoke from the fire has been spotted as far away as Iowa. To say that this is a “disaster” is a massive understatement. Northern Alberta is “tinder dry” right now, and authorities say that high winds could result in the size of the fire doubling by the end of the weekend. One-fourth of Canada’s oil output has already been shut down, and the edge of the fire is now getting very close to the neighboring province of Saskatchewan. This is already the most expensive natural disaster in the history of Canada, and officials fully expect to be fighting this blaze for months to come.

At this point, only rain is going to stop this fire. Canadian authorities insist that they are not going to be able to defeat this raging inferno no matter how many resources they throw at it. The best that they can hope for is to try to steer it away from heavily populated areas until the rain comes.

Nobody knows precisely how this tragedy is going to end, but everyone agrees that it is going to last for quite some time. According to the Washington Post, this fire has the potential to keep on burning “for months”…

[Commenter Paul: “Meanwhile the Canadian Government allocates 1.8 billion for the fake Syrian migrants, but only matches donations pledged to the Red Cross for the people of Fort McMurray. Simply pathetic!!!” ]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

“Worst Crisis for Austrian Social Democrats Since WWII”

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, who has resigned, only stayed in office so long because he had no clear successor, says political scientist Reinhard C. Heinisch. His resignation doesn’t solve Austria’s problems.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Almost Half of All Italians Want to Leave EU: Poll

Almost half of all Italians would vote to leave the EU if given the opportunity, according to a poll published on Monday.

The data come from UK pollsters Ipsos MORI and reveal that anti-EU sentiment in Italy is far higher than in European neighbours Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, Belgium Hungry and Poland.

In the economic powerhouse of Germany, just 34 percent of people would vote to leave — compared to 41 percent in France, 39 percent in Sweden and 26 percent in Spain

In order to arrive at those figures, between 500 and 1,000 people, aged 16 to 64 in each country, were polled between March and April.

In addition to nearly half of all respondents wanting to leave the EU, 58 percent of all Italians would like to see their country hold a referendum on the issue.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

An EU Army on 24 Hours Notice

he UK Column has been highlighing the creation of an EU Army for several years. This agenda has been pushed through under the radar, with no public debate and no Parliamentary approval.

Today’s Daily Express confirms what we have been reporting, but we can also report that the EU Army is now established and can be activated in 24 hours if necessary. We reveal where the command and control centre will be.

This has a bearing on the EU Referendum vote, so please share widely.

‘SECRET PLOT EXPOSED: EU in stealth plan to set up ARMY by merging German and Dutch forces’

AN EU armed forces is being set up “by stealth” with the merger of the German and Dutch armies and navies, it has emerged.

By DAVID MADDOX PUBLISHED: 03:37, Wed, Apr 20, 2016 | UPDATED: 07:17, Wed, Apr 20, 2016

‘The plan is for the two countries to create a nucleus of an EU armed forces to fulfil the long term goal spelt out by German defence minister last year of having an EU army.

Ukip defence spokesman Mike Hookem is to ask the Commission what role it has played in talks to bring the new German/ Dutch force together as a nucleus for an EU military.

He pointed out that the developments are part of the centralisation by stealth going on in the EU which Britain will be dragged into if it votes to remain in the EU.

[Comment: EU = coup d’etat in slow motion. Doing in incremental bureaucratic steps what Hitler tried to do by force. Soon EU will use force too.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

British Universities Slip Down World Table ‘Because They Are Forced to Focus on Diversity’

BRITAIN’S top universities are losing ground in the world university rankings because they are forced to focus on diversity and recruiting from disadvantaged backgrounds, experts say.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Dr. Johnson Was Wrong: For the First Time in 30 Years, I Desperately Want to Leave London

It is not that Mr. Khan is a Muslim that upsets me. It is the kind of Muslim he is that upsets me. It is a kind of Muslim that is becoming normalised due to foreign influences and an inability for our Western leaders to face Islamisation and radicalisation head on.

No, I won’t sit idly by and pay my taxes and frequent London’s pubs, and let Mr. Khan reap the rewards of people like me who bring money and jobs and some semblance of moral and philosophical grounding to this city. I won’t do it.

London will be run (further) into the ground during his tenure. More mass migration, more expensive, stupid government projects combined with Labour’s ability to overspend at every turn (and lump me with the bill), and more PC-culture that tries to shut people like me up when I complain about it.

Lest we forget what the last Islamist-sympathetic mayor of a London borough did.

Dr. Johnson’s quote from 1777 actually begins: “Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London”.

A lot of things have changed since then, and in 2016 I would argue that you should find no man, at all intellectual, who is not willing to leave London.

N.B. Dr. Johnson also once remarked, “I am willing to love all mankind, except an American”. Again, I disagree. I find myself effectively only willing to love freedom-defending Americans (you may culturally self-identify if that helps) any more. Mankind, sadly, is neither manly, nor kindly, anymore.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Erdogan Seeks Injunction Against German Media Boss for Backing Böhmermann

Turkey’s president is pursuing legal action against the head of one of Germany’s biggest publishing houses. Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner defended comedian Jan Böhmermann over a poem that allegedly insulted Erdogan.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Referendum: Cameron Warns UK Exit Could Put Peace at Risk

Peace in Europe could be at risk if Britain votes to leave the European Union, David Cameron has warned.

The UK has regretted “turning its back” on Europe in the past, the PM said, arguing the EU had “helped reconcile” countries and maintain peace.

Was leaving the union a “risk worth taking”, Mr Cameron asked.

But ex-London mayor Boris Johnson hit back, saying the EU’s “anti-democratic tendencies” was “a force for instability and alienation”.

The Vote Leave campaign said: “During the renegotiation the PM said he ‘ruled nothing out’. Now he thinks leaving the EU would lead to war. What changed?”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

European Parliament Orders MEP to Take Down a Video About His Attempt to Visit the ‘Reading Room’ For Trade Documents

According to a news report, the EU Parliament claims it wants the video taken down to protect the name of a staffer, but Flanagan points out that staffer names are already public.

“The reason given (for removing the video) is that no permission for filming was received from the parliament,” Flanagan told TheJournal.ie.

An assistant of MEP Bernd Lange appears in the video, and Lange wants her name removed, the MEP claimed.

“It’s important to note that all assistants are already openly identified on the EP website,” Flanagan added.

It seems pretty clear that the EU Parliament isn’t pleased with the contents of the video. Of course, in demanding it be taken down, it’s only served to drive that much more attention to the video. I doubt I would have heard about it otherwise. Funny how that works.

Either way, it continues to raise questions about what kind of democratic process there is when these kinds of regulations are written in secret, with the help of lobbyists, and even the legislators themselves are basically barred from seeing or understanding what’s in them. And then when those legislators highlight how ridiculous this is, the powers that be try to silence them.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Flash: British Court Imposes Gag Order on Bukovsky Libel Proceeding

by Diana West

As with all legal wrangles, the details are a little complicated, but the essence of this case is clear. Vladimir Bukovsky, the legendary Soviet dissident, has once again pitted himself against a state power. It is not, of course, the old Kremlin; it is the British legal system, which last April charged him with serious crimes: five charges each of making and possessing indecent images of children; one charge of possessing a forbidden image.

Those are the facts. That is, it is a fact that the Crown Prosecution Service made public both these charges and their intent to prosecute Bukovsky one year ago online at their “news centre.”

Are these charges true? Bukovsky is pleading not guilty to all charges, which are to be heard in court on May 16.

Last August, Bukovsky filed an unusual countersuit. He sued the Crown Prosecution Service for libel. After several postponements, he received a court date in July. That’s two months after the criminal trial which is scheduled for May 16. It is Bukovsky’s belief that it is essential to his defense of his reputation to reverse the order of trials. On receiving no accommodation on his request to speed up his libel trial, Bukovsky, 73, still recovering from massive heart surgery last year, embarked on a hunger strike on April 20 — his first in some forty years. He also submitted a formal application on April 26 to the High Court seeking an earlier date for his libel trial.

On May 3, the High Court turned down his application.

The High Court didn’t just turn it down. The court imposed a “reporting ban,” a gag order on the series of events leading up to and including its decision! According to this High Court “reporting ban,” British press is not permitted to report anything about the application or its contents; the fact that the court considered it; or the fact that the court turned down it down — until after the conclusion of the criminal trial.

This is quite extraordinary. It is one thing for the High Court to take the action. But why make it a secret?…

           — Hat tip: Diana West [Return to headlines]
 

Game of Bones: First Europeans’ Shifting Fortunes Found in DNA

A proud lineage with a history stretching back thousands of years is swept aside by newcomers from the south-east — only to rise to dominance once more 15,000 years later.

It’s not the plotline of some fantasy epic, but the real story of prehistoric Europe in the years after modern humans conquered the continent — as a new genetic analysis has just revealed.

We know that modern humans first arrived in Europe about 45,000 years ago when the continent was still a Neanderthal stronghold. Over the next 30,000 years — archaeological work has revealed — a procession of different cultures, each associated with different artefacts and lifestyles, rose in Europe.

Archaeologists tend to think these sort of cultural shifts reflect the spread of new ideas through an unchanging population. But a new analysis of nuclear DNA taken from 51 ancient Eurasians tells a different story. They actually reflected the spread of different peoples.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: ‘You Mustn’t Touch Me, You Mustn’t Touch Me’: New Footage of Cologne New Year Sex Attacks Shows Screaming Woman as Overwhelmed Police Struggling to Control Crowds of Migrant Men

New footage of the infamous Cologne New Year sex attacks show how police officers struggled to contain the large crowds as an alleged hundreds of assaults were committed in the melee.

More than 1,100 criminal complaints were filed relating to the chaos outside the main train station in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, with several hundred alleging sexual offences.

The previously unseen video sees police scuffle with a number of young men, while fireworks are being set off into the crowd, and a woman can be heard shouting ‘you mustn’t touch me, you mustn’t touch me’ in the background.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Hadron Collider Set to Resume Search for the ‘Unthinkable’

The world’s most powerful proton smasher is preparing for its biggest run yet which scientists hope will uncover new particles that could dramatically change our understanding of the Universe.

“We are exploring truly fundamental issues, and that’s why this run is so exciting,” physicist Paris Sphicas told AFP at Europe’s physics lab, CERN, last week.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Beheader “Free in Belgium”

In an indication of the sort of “legal immigrant” being allowed into Europe, a known ISIS beheader terrorist is walking the streets of Belgium after being set free by a court pending sentencing, it has been revealed. The Belgian Het Laaste Nieuws (HLN) newspaper reported that Iliass Khayari, a nonwhite invader who went to fight for ISIS in Syria, was arrested upon his return to Belgium.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Man Arrested on Suspicion of Recruiting Terrorists in Italy

A 26-year-old man was arrested on Sunday, charged with allegedly radicalizing and recruiting terrorists in Italy.

The man, a Slovenian national, is accused of “initiating a process of radicalization and recruitment of aspiring jihadists on Italian territory”, Italy’s Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said.

Italy’s security level remains at level two, the highest possible in the absence of a direct attack.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver: The Heroic True Story Behind the ‘Catch-22’ Bomb Wing

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, author of The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Wing joined Breitbart News Daily SiriusXm host Stephen K. Bannon to discuss his new book.

The men of the 57th Bomb Wing flew out of Corsica during World War II and bombed vital bridges throughout Italy to sabotage German supply routes. Their missions were dangerous and never-ending. One bombardier in the wing was a young New Yorker named Joseph Heller, who would later turn his experience into the classic 1961 war novel Catch-22. Now aviation historian Thomas McKelvey Cleaver takes a closer look at the real-life men of the 57th, whose camaraderie in the face of death inspired the raucous cast of heroes and antiheroes in Catch-22.

“Essentially, they won the war in Italy,” said Cleaver, when asked about the group’s accomplishments, describing the harrowing missions they were tasked with flying one after another and how they coped with it. “Mostly what they did was they didn’t think about it,” said Cleaver. “The guys that I talked to said you thought about ‘the’ mission, you didn’t think about the next one. You thought about the one today and you thought about everything else.”

[Author: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
Title: The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Wing
ISBN: 978-1621574880]

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Threats Over ‘Erdogan Burger’ Force Cologne Eatery to Close

A gourmet burger joint in Cologne added an “Erdogan burger” to its menu, responding to the Turkish president’s attempts to sue a German comedian. After online threats, the owner has shut down the shop.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Cameron’s Latest Desperate Threat: Vote Remain or Get World War III

by James Delingpole

Among the reasons why, of our Oxford generation, David Cameron is the one that ended up as Prime Minister, while contemporaries like Toby Young and I chose more honourable professions is this: it really is given to very, very few sentient creatures to be able to stand up on a stage and lie quite so blatantly with quite such pink-cheeked confidence and authority as our Dave. And we’re not talking politicians’ white lies, either. We’re talking provably wrong untruths: stuff that really doesn’t stand up to more than a few seconds’ scrutiny. Stuff, which, furthermore has already been analysed quite a bit over the last few weeks and found wanting. So how, in God’s name, does he feel able to carry on spouting such utter bullshit? Was he born without a conscience, a shame gland or what?

Let me give you some examples

Claim: Winston Churchill would have campaigned to Remain…

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Now David Cameron Warns Brexit Would Lead to War: Furious Backlash Over PM’s Project Fear

In a highly provocative speech, the Prime Minister will credit Brussels with keeping the peace between former European foes.

He will warn that Britain could end up being dragged into a future European conflict if it triggers the EU’s collapse.

And he will anger Euro-sceptics by claiming that Winston Churchill’s supported the drive for European unity.

“If things go wrong in Europe, let’s not pretend we can be immune from the consequences,” he will say.

His argument is certain to trigger a furious response from “leave” campaigners.

It will be seen as a dramatic escalation of the Government’s “project fear” scaremongering campaign ahead of the in-or-out EU referendum on June 23.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

UK: These 4 Charts Show Why a Brexit is Highly Likely

Britons get to vote on whether the UK will leave the European Union — dubbed a Brexit — on June 23, and no one is sure how the vote is going to go.

In fact, Business Insider pointed out a number of times how the range of polls on the EU referendum are rather unreliable because of the number of variants that come into play when they are conducted.

However, according to Sonali Punhani and her team at Credit Suisse in a research note published this week, when you look at the overall trend of the polls, rather than individual ones that pop up here and there, it gives a clearer view on how the electorate is looking at the moment.

And what does it look like? — that a Brexit is a lot more likely that you would think.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

What is Cooking in the Bosnian Pot? CIA Director’s Visit to the Balkans

The preparations for the new stage of the U.S.-Russia Cold War in S. Europe

On April 21, 2016, under the cover of darkness, a U.S. military plane landed on Sarajevo international airport. The mysterious guest was greeted by Osman Mehmedagic, the chief of the Bosnian intelligence agency — the Intelligence-Security Agency (OSA).

Mehmedagic was appointed to this position recently (November 2015) and replaced the long-time OSA director Almir DÅ3/4uvo who held the position for more than 10 years. Mehmedagic’s appointment was not without controversy concerning his activities during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. He was one of the closest associates of the then-Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic and had allegedly coordinated the arrival of various Islamic militants from the Middle East to fight on the Bosnian Muslim side. These militants later committed some of the most heineous crimes against the Christian (Serb and Croat) civilians. Their recruitment and financing could be linked to the military-intelligence structures of Saudi Arabia and Turkey on one hand and Iran, on the other. Paradoxically, but not surprisingly, it appears that these states, though opposed in other areas of the world, developed an indirect common front in Bosnia.

There are some credible sources who claim that the U.S. intentionally turned the blind eye to these comings and goings of radical Islamists. These sources also directly implicate Michael Hayden, who later became the head of both the NSA (1999-2005) and the CIA (2006-2009), as the key person who let this happen under his watch.[4] At the time, in the early 1990s, Hayden was the director of U.S. European Command Intelligence Directorate which was operationally responsible for the Balkans. Hayden occasionally accompanied the chief U.S. negotiator Richard Holbrooke on his missions to Croatia and Bosnia. Holbrooke’s dealings with the warring Bosnian factions can best be described as Machiavellian. His priority was to insure the permanent U.S. military presence in the Balkans at any price, no matter how this would impact the possibility of the long-term, sustainable peace and stability in the region. Was Hayden’s later leadership position in the NSA and, then, the CIA, a reward for his efforts on this issue as well?

Be that as it may, there is no doubt that the CIA was well-aware of what was taking place in Bosnia in the mid-1990s regarding the strategic positioning of the militant Islamic groups in close proximity to the Western European targets. The ex-CIA officer, turned prolific writer, Robert Baer discussed in detail his Bosnian covert activities in the 2012 book “The Company We Keep: A Husband-Wife True-Life Spy Story.”[5] Obviously, there was much he could not tell as his book had to be approved for publication by the CIA censors.

[Comment: If you read one article read this one. Compartmentalization in intelligence agencies allows bankster lackey’s to run operations that advance the Socialist New World Order agenda.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Bin Laden’s Son Urges Jihad Against Jews, US Interests

One of Usama bin Laden’s sons urged Muslims to attack Jewish and Western interests and suggested creating a mega-army to attack Jerusalem, in a video released Monday.

In the video, which was created between January and February 2016 and distributed by Al Qaeda supporters, Hamza bin Laden praises the escalating violence by Palestinians against Israelis and calls on Muslims to continue “killing the Jews and attacking their interests everywhere,” according to the Middle East Media Research Institute’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor.

Bin Laden adds that those who support Jews, such as the U.S. and Europe, “must pay the bill in their blood.” He also suggests launching a massive Syrian-based army in order to “defend” Jerusalem from the Jewish people, as he put it.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Saudia Arabia and Iran: The Cold War of Islam

The archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia are battling for supremacy in the Middle East and are carrying out their struggle in proxy wars in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Domestically, though, the two countries are facing remarkably similar problems.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Step by Step Toward a ‘One Man’ Regime in Turkey

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s resignation has created chaos in Ankara. Experts that spoke to DW agree that given Erdogan’s pursuit of a presidial system, Turkey’s transformation into a ‘one man’ regime is imminent.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

WWII Historical Revisionism Holding Sway in West

Recent polls showing that Americans and Europeans are ignorant of the Soviet Union’s key role in the victory over Nazism are symptomatic of a postmodern disregard for historical facts and a desire to portray modern Russia as a threat, US journalist Srdja Trifkovic told Radio Sputnik.

Recent opinion polls conducted by Sputnik in the US and Europe have found that only 15 percent of respondents named the USSR as the country that played the key role in defeating the Nazis in World War Two…

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

“Love the Communist Party” — China Threatens Its Entrepreneurs Not to Become “Trumpeters of Western Capitalism”

China’s leadership is trying to manage a tenuous balancing act between letting the private sector grow the economy, and making sure that its focus remains true to the party message.

In 2002, then president Jiang Zemin welcomed entrepreneurs to the party, and according to Bloomberg, the private sector has since grown to make up more than 60% of China’s economy. As the private sector developed, however, it has done so in a way that is concerning to current president Xi Jinping. Some Chinese have “unwittingly become trumpeters of Western capitalistic ideology”which could lead to “disastrous consequences.” Xi said in a speech at Beijing’s Party School last December.

Thus, through speeches of his own, and through government media outlets, president Xi is setting out to remind the private sector of just what its role is, and what its priorities should be.

Xi’s speeches are very clear about the party message. In March, Xi told businessmen that entrepreneurs shouldn’t simply make money, they must “love the motherland, love the people, love the Communist Party, and actively practice socialist core values.” The media arm of the government is doing its part by picking up the rhetoric as well. China Daily wrote that tycoons colluding “with corrupt officials” have sparked “wide doubt over the private sector and its role.” While the party periodical Red Flag Manuscript joined in, saying “some business people in the nonstate economy, especially some entrepreneurs, are having errors in their thinking.” They “lack faith in Marxism, socialism, and communism.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Football in China: Meet the People Turning Government’s Dream Into Reality

China wants to be a “world football superpower” by 2050 and aims to develop a national team capable of winning the World Cup.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Approval of Venezuelan Leader Drops as Crisis Bites: Poll

Just over one in four Venezuelans approves of President Nicolas Maduro’s governance as a crippling economic crisis weighs on the leftist leader, according to a leading pollster.

Venezuelans are suffering rampant shortages of products including bread and antibiotics, salary-destroying inflation, and increasingly frequent power and water cuts as the OPEC country’s state-led model flounders.

Since Maduro took over, the bolivar has fallen around 98 percent against the dollar on the black market rate. Annual inflation is in triple-digits.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Luis Fleischman: End Venezuela’s Agony of Chaos and Collapse

For some time now, it has been clear that Venezuela is confronted with a crisis of major proportions that is now placing the country in an ever more precarious situation. Due to unsound financial practices over more than two decades, along with the fall in the price of oil (Venezuela’s main export) the economic crisis has resulted in scarcity of food and basic staples as well as a shortage of energy. This in turn has led to a three day work week for most Venezuelans, a condition not seen in many parts of the world and certainly not in a country long known as a major oil producer.

But the economic crisis is only the tip of the iceberg. The root of the crisis is not economic but the totalitarian nature on which the Bolivarian state was designed under the leadership of Hugo Chavez and followed by his successors.

When Adolf Hitler created the Nazi state, from the onset his idea was to conquer Europe and beyond, exterminate the Jews, and impose German rule. It was clear to Hitler’s generals and others that this set of goals would be impossible to fulfill and eventually would be self-destructive. The fact that Hitler ordered Germany to resist as the allies were at the gates of Berlin shows the nihilistic, irrational, anti-national, and careless nature of the Nazi phenomenon.

The same applies to Stalin’s communist Soviet Union. The paranoid killing of Soviet officers placed the USSR at a disadvantage when the time came to face the Nazis. The destruction of the farms and the famine that followed killed many people and produced scarcity.

By the same token, Chavez’ domestic and international oil largesse aimed at providing social welfare programs at home and expanding influence abroad was not part of a national project aimed at enhancing Venezuela and its citizens. It was part of a revolutionary project, totalitarian in nature and reckless about the well-being of its citizens…

[Return to headlines]
 

Panama Closes Border to Cubans, Flies Others to Mexico

Panama has closed its border to Cuban immigrants trying to make their way north to the United States and once again is flying Cubans who already made it to the country to the Mexico-U.S. border.

President Juan Carlos Varela said Monday he had agreed with his Mexican counterpart to fly 3,800 Cubans already stranded for weeks while trying to get to the U.S.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Police APC Protects Right-Wing Vigil for Murder Victim

Police drove armoured vehicles into Vienna’s Yppenplatz on Sunday, after members of the far-right Identitarian group, who were holding a ‘vigil’ in memory of a woman who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant last week, clashed with left-wing activists.

The Identitarian group had registered the vigil with the police, and said between 50 and 100 people would attend. In the end, only three people turned up, and organisers tweeted that the event had been cancelled.

However, a group of left-wing activists had heard about the planned vigil and around 120 people turned up at Yppenplatz to protest. “The counter-demonstrators surrounded the three Identitarians. There were reports that they had baseball bats and firecrackers,” police spokesman Paul Eidenberger said.

Police armoured vehicles, a helicopter, special forces officers, and dog-handler teams were dispatched to the square in Vienna’s 16th district. There were no reports of any injuries, although police said they were attacked by some of the protestors.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany to Process Over One Million Asylum Claims in 2016

Germany’s migration agency says it expects to process more than a million asylum applications in 2016. New arrivals are falling, but a backlog of old cases after last year’s record influx is keeping authorities busy.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Coast Guard Officers Save 74 Migrants off Lesvos, Farmakonisi

Greek Coast Guard officers saved a total of 74 migrants off the islands of Lesvos and Farmakonisi over the past three days as the influx of people from neighboring Turkey ebbs. The rescue efforts were relatively unhindered as weather conditons have been good.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Slovak Police Fire on Invaders

Slovak police last night opened fire with live ammunition against nonwhite invaders trying to break through the border with Hungary in an attempt to get to Germany.

One 26-year-old invader was shot in the back after border guards succeeded in stopping a convoy of five vehicles, packed with nonwhites on the road at the town of Velky Meder near the border.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: ‘It’s Like a War Zone’: TV Crew Forced to Flee Migrant Youths

A Norwegian TV crew with an experienced war correspondent was forced to flee a Swedish cafe after they came under threat from young migrants shouting at them in Arabic.

In a scene reminiscent of the attack on Australian journalists in Stockholm, journalists were forced to stop filming yet again in the Swedish capital.

A crew from Norway’s NRK TV channel were planning on interviewing Swedish economist Tino Sandandaji when they were approached by several young Muslim men who threatened them and forced them to leave and stop filming Expressen reports.

Sanandaji brought the incident to the attention of his followers in Facebook when he wrote, “The more aggressive (people) began causing a fuss in Arabic with the Norwegian cameraman who has an immigrant background. When the menacing atmosphere began to be physical, we decided to cancel the interview.” A short one and a half minute clip of the incident was uploaded to NRK’s website which shows the interview being interrupted by several young men. As Sandandaji and the crew are leaving one migrant yells “bang, bang. bang,” an apparent threat to shoot the film makers.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

North Carolina Officials Sue U.S. Justice Dept Over Challenge to Bathroom Law

North Carolina officials accuse DOJ of “baseless and blatant overreach”

North Carolina officials sued the U.S. Justice Department on Monday after the department challenged the state’s law on public restroom access for transgender people, accusing the agency of “baseless and blatant overreach.”

The department’s top civil rights lawyer, Vanita Gupta, last week sent three letters to North Carolina officials, saying the law was a civil rights violation.

It is the newest chapter of a fast-evolving fight over rights for transgender Americans. The law, which went into effect in March, requires transgender people to use public bathrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and the state’s secretary of public safety sued Gupta as well as U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch for their “radical reinterpretation” of federal civil rights law in federal district court in North Carolina.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

2 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/9/2016

  1. It does not shock me the EU falling apart being full of so many cultures and various language groups, many ethnic groups that still dislike each other for past sins. They tried to be like America but unlike America’s long-standing belief out of many one I don’t see that happening in Europe. I tried to find a dollar to find that Latin phrase out of many one, anyone recall. If this helps to stop this Muslim invasion I support Italy. Come to think of it we need to throw the idea of a North American Union in the trash heap as well. The EU falling apart should be a good lesson for us- Trump 2016! 😉

    • I agree the EU was not formed to enrich,aid or improve the lives of the average European, IMHO is was to further enrich those at the top.

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