Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/22/2017

According to the U.S. Attorney, most of the 230 anti-Trump demonstrators arrested in Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day will be charged with felony rioting. The Antifa activists and their allies may be facing ten years in prison and a $25,000 fine for their violent acts.

In other news, the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a Shi’ite market in Parachinar in northwest Pakistan, which killed at least twenty people and injured dozens more. The Taliban said that the Shi’ites will continue to be their target as long as they keep supporting the Assad regime in Syria.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, JD, Matt Bracken, Reader from Chicago, 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
» Bernier’s Radical Bid to Stabilize Consumer Prices (And Make the CAD Good as Gold)
» Liberate the Bank of Canada, Intrepid Think Tank Urges
» Rothschild Family Wealth is Five Times That of World’s Top 8 Billionaires Combined
 
USA
» Billionaire George Soros Has Ties to More Than 50 ‘Partners’ of the Women’s March on Washington
» Former House Speaker Says Child He Raped Should Pay Back Hush Money Since He Broke His Silence
» Hating America Through Anti-Trump Movement
» It Looks Like WikiLeaks is Turning on Trump
» Let’s Talk About Those Side-by-Side Images of the Obama and Trump Inauguration Crowds
» Majority of 230 Protesters Arrested on Inauguration Day Will Face 10 Years in Prison and $25K Fine as US Attorney Says They Will be Charged With Felony Rioting
» Trump Calls Out Time Magazine for Fake News Story About Removing MLK Bust — From Oval Office
» Women’s March Organizer Linked to Hamas
 
Canada
» Canadians Enroute to D.C. Women’s March Denied Entry
 
Europe and the EU
» A New Era of Mass Surveillance is Emerging Across Europe
» Exposing the “Fake News” Censorship Industry
» France Election: Hamon and Valls in Run-Off for Socialist Candidacy
» German Press: “That Was No Presidential Speech; That Was a Declaration of War”
» Hungarian NGOs Prepare for Government Crackdown
» Man in Sweden ‘Live-Streamed Gang Rape on Facebook’
» Most Wanted French Jihadist Charged With Terrorist Offences in France
» Swedish Woman Gang-Raped Live on Facebook, 3 Men Arrested — Reports
» UK: Passengers Arrested for Watching Porn on Their Journeys
 
Middle East
» Mattis Celebrates First Day by Blowing Up ISIS 31 Times
» Saudi Grand Mufti Against Cinema and Concerts: A Source of Depravity and Immorality
 
South Asia
» Indonesia: Muslims Against Chinese Pig Food Festival in Semarang Because it is Haram
» Pakistan: Taliban Hit a Shiite Market in “Revenge Against Assad.” the Condemnation of the Church
 
Far East
» Official Statistics: China Grows by 6.7%, But a Lot of Data Manipulated
 
Immigration
» Borders Across Europe to Stay Sealed for Months as Schengen Dream Found Too Risky
» Fencing Unfairly: German Begrudges Trump’s Wall While Barricading Russia
» Germany: Migrant Allegedly Murdered 70-Year-Old Because She Was an ‘Infidel’
» Migrant Bomb Plot Thwarted as Police Raid ISIS Bolthole in Germany
 

Bernier’s Radical Bid to Stabilize Consumer Prices (And Make the CAD Good as Gold)

Inflation at 2% (the BOC’s current target) may seem small, but it means prices double every 35 years. Bernier’s commitment to ask the Bank of Canada to study the benefits of adopting a 0% inflation target, has attracted surprisingly little attention. But if enacted, it would make the loony a store of value almost as good as gold.

A stable dollar would also make essentials like food, housing and consumer products more affordable to ordinary Canadians.

The higher interest rates needed to implement such a policy, would also boost savings and help to stabilize pension plans, which are increasingly underfunded, due to their inability to generate returns on their fixed income investments.

Bernier’s approach flies in the face of almost all conventional economic thinking. Led by Paul Krugman, governments, tenured university professors and the big banks almost all agree , that GDP growth is best generated though a mix of increased spending financed by rising taxes, borrowing, and most recently central bank financing.

Bernier, who cut his teeth at the free market-oriented Montreal Economic Institute , prior to entering politics, will have none of it.

“You cannot create and grow wealth simply by printing more money and encouraging people to borrow and spend,” says Bernier. “The only way to create wealth is by investing more, working more and producing more.”

Bernier is a particularly strong critic of the Bank of Canada, which, under Stephen Poloz’s leadership (and others before him), has sharply increased the cost of living for ordinary Canadians.

For example the average cost of buying an existing home has shot up by 34% since 2013, the year that Poloz took office, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. “Prices don’t increase because businesses are greedy,” says Bernier. Ultimately only the central bank is responsible for creating the conditions that cause inflation.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Liberate the Bank of Canada, Intrepid Think Tank Urges

Canadians have been fleeced for billions, but no traction in media for complex banking case.

I am speaking here of the fact that instead of the Canadian government borrowing money from its own bank, our bank — the Bank of Canada — it has, since 1974 chosen instead to borrow exclusively from private international and domestic financial institutions providing them with enormous, absolutely risk free profits for almost four decades.

The result, according to economist Ellen Brown: “By 2012, the government had paid C$1 trillion in interest — twice its national debt. Interest on the debt is now the government’s single largest budget expenditure — larger than health care, senior entitlements or national defense.” While some of that interest was paid to holders of Canada Savings Bonds, the vast majority was paid to private lenders. In the early 1990s, at the height of the media’s deficit hysteria and rhetorical nonsense about hitting a “debt wall,” 91 per cent of the $423 billion debt was due to interest charges. Our real debt — revenue minus expenditures — was just $37 billion.

Think tank ignored

COMER has been trying to draw attention to this outrageous situation for so long, and have been ignored for so long, that their campaign is often portrayed as an eccentric sidebar, complete with conspiracy theories, to what is happening in the real world. But if you think having squandered $1 trillion that could have been spent on the public good is a side issue, feel free. And if you think conspiracy theories are unappealing, then you’ll have to come up a compelling argument for a coincidence theory that explains why a nation would deliberately impoverish itself in the interests of international finance capital.

The Bank of Canada was established as a private bank in 1935 under private ownership but in 1938, recognizing that money should be created in the public interest, the government amended the Bank Act and turned the Bank into a public institution. The Bank was almost immediately harnessed to finance not only Canada’s war effort (we ranked fourth in production of allied war materiel) but a long list of infrastructure projects including the Trans-Canada highway, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and over the decades, hospitals and universities across the country.

It was mandated to lend not only to the federal government, but to provinces and municipalities as well with a limit of one-third of federal budget and one-quarter of a province’s…

“They have to justify why the minutes of these meetings in Zurich are kept secret. They have to justify why the Minister of Revenue is not tabling the true figures of revenue coming in. They have to justify this in law.”

Galati argues that not only may the Bank of Canada lend interest free to the government, it is obliged to.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Rothschild Family Wealth is Five Times That of World’s Top 8 Billionaires Combined

Oxfam’s assertion is that world economies are mismanaged in favor of the wealthy, which is largely true; however, the report failed to hit the mark on this serious issue by not acknowledging the greatest problem with the world’s economy, which is the global central banking model of privately owned debt-based fiat currencies.

The current banking model is the product of hundreds of years of planned development, structuring, manipulation, force and trickery which began in earnest with Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who first established banking and finance houses in Germany in the 18th century.

The careful cultivation of his wealth with the assistance of his five sons allowed Rothschild to profit immensely during the French Revolution by providing financing and war materials to Austria, which in turn allowed the budding family empire to evolve into a multi-national organization, henceforth becoming a major financier of industry and war…

At $2 trillion plus, the family’s reported wealth is closing in on five times as much as the combined wealth of the world’s top 8 individual billionaires, meaning that the Rothschild family alone controls more wealth than perhaps three-fourths or more of the world’s total population.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Billionaire George Soros Has Ties to More Than 50 ‘Partners’ of the Women’s March on Washington

This was NOT a grassroots demonstration.

[Comment: This is getting really ridiculous now… when will the government start using RICO statutes to put this toad in jail.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Former House Speaker Says Child He Raped Should Pay Back Hush Money Since He Broke His Silence

In April of last year, Dennis Hastert, former Speaker of the House and admitted child rapist, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for paying his victims to keep quiet. Hastert was sentenced, not for raping children, but for illegally structuring bank transactions in an effort to cover up his sexual abuse of young members of a wrestling team he coached. Now, this sicko pedophile is trying to get back that hush money. Because one of the boys he raped broke his silence, in spite of the $1.7 million in hush money Hastert gave him, this pedophile politician wants his money back…

Hastert, who happens to have a long and friendly past with none other than the Podesta family, is currently serving his sentence at the Federal prison hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. Although Hastert wasn’t sentenced for the pedophilia, because the statute of limitations had run out, the judge labeled him a “serial child molester” and ordered him to enroll in a sex-offender treatment program. Hastert also admitted to, and apologized for, being a child rapist.

During the trial, Hastert admitted that he “mistreated” and “took advantage” of former students who came forward to say they were molested — three of them anonymously.

“What I did was wrong and I regret it,” he said at the time.

Disgustingly enough, this child rapist became speaker of the house after he’d raped these boys. Given the admitted and exposed widespread pedophilia among those in power, it is entirely possible, and indeed likely, that Hastert continued his disgusting abuse while serving as the house speaker.

[Comment: Elite’s society is infested with pedophiles.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hating America Through Anti-Trump Movement

They are like the bully in the schoolyard lashing out against everyone because he has gotten to the point that he believes his own bull, and is so corrupt he could cheat at solitaire and not understand how it could possibly be cheating

Tools. Mindless and obedient automatons. Those are the most accurate words that come to mind when it comes to the foaming-at-the-mouth liberal left hysteria movement following the election and inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. The liberal left loons believe the ridiculous and obviously erroneous propaganda being spouted by the liberal media, Democrat politicians, and completely out-of-their-mind entertainment lefties, and like good little minions the Hillary Clinton supporting screaming-heads are acting out in a violent and vulgar manner against the election and inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. In truth, they remind me more of petulant children who didn’t get their way because a knowing parent who understands the folly of their demands decided otherwise, than they do of anyone with any common sense or common decency.

My son, after attending a film at the local mall in Temecula, California, last night, came home to tell me about the twenty-somethings running around with desecrated America flags (shredded and torn) in the space between the mall and the movie theater shouting profanities about Trump, and anyone who supports his couple-days-old presidency. Fresh out of high school, or likely in college, these children refuse to do their own research and instead have taken the hysterical leftist teachings of their educators to heart. Through media and the entertainment industry, they have been taught to be angry, and to lash out when they don’t get their way. So, like hypnotized lackeys, they are out there making fools of themselves with their idiotic, and immature, rants and failed attempts at Saul Alinsky-style agitation. A lifetime of indoctrination by a leftist educational system has done its damage. Recent polls show the younger millennials leaning towards supporting communism, even though they really don’t understand what the Marxist philosophies are really all about, and have no clue about the massive failure, and murderous atrocities, of Marxism not only in the Soviet Union, Cuba and Venezuela, but in places where the media has been more successful in hiding or glossing over the truth such as China, southeast Asia, and Central America.

The moronic and mindless temper tantrums are not only being seen committed by members of the younger generation who, fortunately, does not represent everyone in their age group, but also among the remainder of the liberal left progressive socialist commie bastard community.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

It Looks Like WikiLeaks is Turning on Trump

The honeymoon between WikiLeaks and President Donald Trump appears to be over.

The group, founded by Julian Assange, published two tweets on Sunday criticizing Trump over his failure to release his tax returns.

In one of those tweets, WikiLeaks said that Trump broke a promise to release the documents.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Let’s Talk About Those Side-by-Side Images of the Obama and Trump Inauguration Crowds

This is all over social media this morning. Your liberal friends are very excited about posting it. And if you’ve seen it in raw form, you’ve probably felt a little discouraged by what you saw. OK, sure, maybe Trump will do good things, but dang, people sure aren’t excited about him.

Now, there is truth to that, and there’s no question that the crowd for Obama’s inaugural was bigger than the crowd for Trump’s. But you’re being very misled if you’re reading much into the following video, offered to you by the pretentious young liberals at Vox who think you need them to “explain the news” to you:

Pay attention to the time stamps on the two images. The time stamp for the Trump inaugural was 11:04 a.m., nearly a full hour before the actual swearing-in. The time stamp for the Obama inaugural was 11:30 a.m. Now that doesn’t mean that in the ensuing 26 minutes the Trump crowd swelled to the same size, but it’s obviously not an apples-to-apples comparison. Any crowd for any event gets bigger as you get closer to event time.

There’s also another detail you’re not being told. With the caveat that this comes from a totally untrustworthy bunch of liberal “fact-checkers,” let’s look at the historical numbers for recent inaugurals — particularly noticing the difference between Democrat crowds and Republican crowds:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Majority of 230 Protesters Arrested on Inauguration Day Will Face 10 Years in Prison and $25K Fine as US Attorney Says They Will be Charged With Felony Rioting

Most of the 230 rioters arrested after violent protests erupted in Washington D.C. following Donald Trump ‘s inauguration will be charged with felony rioting, federal prosecutors said on Saturday.

The charge carries a punishment of up to ten years in jail and a $25,000 fine.

Thousand of protesters launched a violent rampage just blocks away from the White House as anti-Trump demonstrators smashed store windows, set fire to cars and threw bricks at police…

           — Hat tip: Matt Bracken [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Calls Out Time Magazine for Fake News Story About Removing MLK Bust — From Oval Office

Trump went after a Time Magazine reporter for falsely reporting that Trump removed MLK bust.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Women’s March Organizer Linked to Hamas

Linda Sarsour, one of the organizers behind Saturday’s Women’s March, being held in Washington, D.C., was recently spotted at a large Muslim convention in Chicago posing for pictures with an accused financier for Hamas, the terrorist group.

Sarsour, the head of the Arab American Association of New York and an Obama White House “Champion of Change,” was speaking at last month’s 15th annual convention of the Muslim American Society and Islamic Circle of North America.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Canadians Enroute to D.C. Women’s March Denied Entry

Would-be protesters heading to the Women’s March on Washington have said they were denied entry to the United States after telling border agents at a land crossing in Quebec their plans to attend the march.

Montrealer Sasha Dyck was part of a group of eight who had arranged online to travel together to Washington. Divided into two cars, the group — six Canadians and two French nationals — arrived at the border crossing that connects St Bernard de Lacolle in Quebec with Champlain, New York, on Thursday.

The group was upfront about their plans with border agents, Dyck said. “We said we were going to the women’s march on Saturday and they said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to pull over’.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

A New Era of Mass Surveillance is Emerging Across Europe

The world was a different place when, in October 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) struck down the “Safe Harbour” data-sharing agreement that allowed the transfer of European citizens’ data to the US. The Court’s decision concluded that the indiscriminate nature of the surveillance programs carried out by U.S. intelligence agencies, exposed two years earlier by NSA-contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden, had made it impossible to ensure that the personal data of E.U. citizens would be adequately protected when shared with American companies. The ruling thus served to further solidify the long-standing conventional wisdom that Continental Europe is better at protecting privacy than America.

However, Europe’s ability to continue to take this moral high ground is rapidly declining. In recent months, and in the wake of a series of terrorist attacks across Europe, Germany, France and the United Kingdom — Europe’s biggest superpowers — have passed laws granting their surveillance agencies virtually unfettered power to conduct bulk interception of communications across Europe and beyond, with limited to no effective oversight or procedural safeguards from abuse.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Exposing the “Fake News” Censorship Industry

Name a single person or organisation you trust to control your speech. Whom would you trust to control what you can read, or make decisions on what is true and what is false for you? Whom do you trust to police what you think?

The German government thinks it knows exactly who should be the arbiter of truth and what articles you should be allowed to post. Itself! After a bill was proposed by German lawmakers, which threatened fines of up to 500,000 euros ($522,000) for publishing “fake news,” Facebook decided to use an organisation called Correctiv, described as a German fact-checking non-profit organisation, to decide whether reported stories are “real” or “fake.”

This system would then encourage individual Facebook users to report other users’ posts to Correctiv. Facebook would then have Correctiv label any of the articles “fake news,” as they see fit.

Even then, this proposed response by Facebook was not harsh enough for some German lawmakers, who want articles deemed to be fake by the government to be removed within 24 hours, or else fine Facebook 500,000 euros. That move would undoubtedly lead to individuals abandoning Facebook for other social networks, or more probably, Facebook abandoning them. German attempts to police the Facebook could end up useless; to many, the plan looks suspiciously like a money-making stratagem.

A centralized “speech police” would also create a monopolisation of the media industry. One or two large platforms would dominate the public debate; fringe voices would be ignored and cast aside…

News sources dismissed by governments may often speak the truth. What if they are right? Valuable news may come from outside the mainstream media.

At a time when the established media are not particularly trusted to begin with, how could censorship not harm faith in the news even more? In the event of any dispute, smaller companies would not be able to afford expensive lawyers to fight the German government. How long until the war chests of social media users empty, compared to the virtually inexhaustible resources of the German state?

Furthermore, how do all these policing networks ensure the neutrality of their staff, who are supposedly determining the accuracy of articles? Who is to police the police? Facebook, caught out, already had to dismiss those compiling their trending stories, when it was revealed that they had a runaway political bias and were routinely suppressing (conservative) material with which they did not agree.

Facebook’s “Trending News Team” banned people exposing jihadists, but allowed pages glorifying anti-police violence and pages promoting anti-Israeli terrorism. That is quite a track record.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

France Election: Hamon and Valls in Run-Off for Socialist Candidacy

Left-wing ex-Education Minister Benoit Hamon and ex-PM Manuel Valls will contest a run-off to become the Socialist candidate in France’s presidential election in April.

It was clear the pair would advance from a field of seven after half the votes were counted in Sunday’s primary.

The run-off will be held next Sunday.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

German Press: “That Was No Presidential Speech; That Was a Declaration of War”

Following yesterday’s openly confrontational, deliberately protectionist presidential address by president Trump, which in various circles has been dubbed the “American carnage” speech for obvious reasons, some of Obama’s closest foreign friends are scrambling to find a role in a world that has drastically changed in less than 24 hours. One of them is the foreign leader whom Obama spoke to last before vacating the White House, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who vowed on Saturday to seek compromises on issues like trade and military spending with Trump, adding she would work on preserving the important relationship between Europe and the United States.

“He made his convictions clear in his inauguration speech,” Merkel said in remarks broadcast live, a day after Trump vowed to put ‘America first’.

Speaking at a news conference in the south-western town of Schoental, Merkel — – and finding herself in a world where many of her “established” friends have been swept away by the tide of “populist anger” — suddenly struck a more conciliatory tone toward Trump than Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who on Friday said Germany should prepare for a rough ride under the new U.S. president.

“I say two things with regards to this (speech): first, I believe firmly that it is best for all of us if we work together based on rules, common values and joint action in the international economic system, in the international trade system, and make our contributions to the military alliances,” Merkel said. Judging by Trump’s fiery sermon, he disagrees.

[Comment: Communist German media looking for Merkel not to compromise with Trump. It seems in all western countries the mainstream media is operating from the same communist playbook…perhaps becasue the same trillionaires at the top of the media conglomorates own them all?]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hungarian NGOs Prepare for Government Crackdown

Viktor Orban’s government has denounced NGOs funded by George Soros for trying to “illegitimately” influence political life. The groups are gearing up for an assault from politicians who once saw them quite differently.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Man in Sweden ‘Live-Streamed Gang Rape on Facebook’

The men have been arrested in Sweden on suspicion of gang-raping a woman, after one allegedly live-streamed the crime on a closed Facebook page.

According to Sweden’s Aftonbladet tabloid, the alleged crime took place in an apartment in the city of Uppsala early on Sunday morning, with police receiving a tip-off just before 9am.

The victim was apparently close to unconscious at the time the act was perpetrated.

“The first thing you think is “How can you do such a thing to a girl? and how can you do it live when you know that you are going to go there?” a former member of the closed Facebook group told Sweden’s Expressen. “I think of course that it is screwed, totally sick.”

Nina Dahlström, duty officer at the local police, refused to confirm any information beyond the fact that several men had been arrested.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Most Wanted French Jihadist Charged With Terrorist Offences in France

One of the UN’s most wanted jihadists has been charged with terrorist offences in France after being transferred from Turkey where he had turned himself in.

Kevin G., 24, is a high-profile French jihadist who converted to Islam 10 years ago, and who was placed on a blacklist in 2014 and is suspected of being a major recruiter for Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL).

The suspect’s reported role was to attract young French people to join IS in Syria and Iraq. The jihadist is also thought to have had connection with some of the perpetrators who carried out the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Swedish Woman Gang-Raped Live on Facebook, 3 Men Arrested — Reports

Three men have been arrested in Uppsala, Sweden over suspicions of gang rape. Local media report police were alerted after being tipped off that the crime was being streamed on Facebook.

The crime allegedly took place early Sunday morning, with the police reportedly receiving a tip-off around 9:00am.

Aftonbladet daily spoke to some of the members of the closed Facebook group in which the “aggravated rape” was reportedly broadcast live. Witnesses said the girl being gang-raped was close to unconscious at the time.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Passengers Arrested for Watching Porn on Their Journeys

Earlier this week, the British Transport Police urged people who feel ‘uncomfortable or distressed’ to contact them if they see train passengers watching pornography.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Mattis Celebrates First Day by Blowing Up ISIS 31 Times

Newly minted Secretary of Defense James Mattis celebrated his first full day at the Pentagon by overseeing 31 strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Mattis entered the Pentagon Saturday with a smile for his first full day of work, and for good reason, considering the significant bombardment ISIS forces received.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Grand Mufti Against Cinema and Concerts: A Source of Depravity and Immorality

Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the highest religious authority in the country, against forms of entertainment that encourage mingling of sexes. Films are “libertine, obscene, immoral, and atheist” because they are founded on an “imported culture”. Concerts promote promiscuity, corrupt morals and values. An appeal to citizens and institutions: “Do not open the doors to such evil.”

Riyadh (AsiaNews) — Music, concerts, movies and cinemas are a source of “debauchery” and, if tolerated, would become elements of corruption throughout the Saudi kingdom according to recent statements by the Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the highest religious authority in the country. He says these forms of entertainment promote the mingling of the sexes and meetings — illicit — between males and females.

In a television interview to al-Majid TV, when asked about future plans of the Saudi General Authority for entertainment on the theme of concerts and film the Grand Mufti said that “concerts and movies are a depravity”. He added that films shown in cinemas are “libertine, obscene, immoral, and atheist” because they are founded on an “imported culture”. However, with respect to music, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said that “there is no good” in attending concerts; these places of entertainment, he warns, whether movies or music, represent a clear “call to the mingling of the sexes.”

In reference to concerts, he says that “initially exclusive areas for women would be assigned “. However, at a later stage “men and women would end up staying in a single sector. Everything would end up corrupting morals and destroy the values” of the country and the Islamic faith. He does not mean, he said, to ban all cultural and scientific “activity”, but urges people and institutions “not to open the doors to evil.”

In the past, the ultraconservative Saudi religious leader, the highest authority on Islamic law, had lashed out at television, launching a fatwa on the popular Turkish soap operas “Nour” and “The Last Years”. He also condemned theater and film as “distractions” and Twitter, because “full of evil and lies.”

The words of the Saudi religious leaders have created disputes and divisions in a young country where 60% of the population under 30 live in the city. Some are in favor, others against and demanding greater freedom and concessions even from the highest Muslim authorities as well as the ruling royal family.

In Saudi Arabia, a Sunni ultra-conservative Wahhabi kingdom, there is a clear division between the sexes, women are not allowed to drive and sharia, Islamic law is applied rigorously. In recent months the government launched a plan for reform and development called “Saudi Arabia Vision 2030”, with goals not only in the fields of economics and energy, but also social sphere.

One of the objectives is precisely to develop the tourism and entertainment industry, but without ending up in conflict with the strict observance of the customs and Islamic traditions. To cite just one recent example, recently taken place: in recent weeks, the Authority sponsored and organized many shows, but one of them fell afoul of the censors. Last month the authorities canceled the shows by American stand up comedian Mike Epps who was due to perform in a University in the west of the country.

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

Indonesia: Muslims Against Chinese Pig Food Festival in Semarang Because it is Haram

Muslim student groups and Islamic organisations slam the event, want its cancellation. They demand respect for the “religious” feelings of the Muslim community. However, the event has been celebrated for years by the city’s large Chinese community without causing any problems.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Muslim student groups and members of moderate Indonesia Islamic organisations are protesting against a “pig food festival”, the only one in the country, in Semarang, Central Java.

The culinary event is associated with the Lunar New Year and is promoted by local Chinese, who represent one of the city’s important communities.

Local Muslim movements mobilised today, calling for the cancellation of the festival dedicated to the pig, an animal deemed impure and haram (prohibited) in Islam. They claim that the initiative, even if it is gastronomical in nature, ends up “promoting” intolerance.

The groups leading the protest, which include the youth wing of Muhammadiyah, and the Indonesian Islamic Students (HMI), went to police headquarters in Semarang to express their displeasure and demand the festival’s cancellation.

The representatives of the Muslim groups asked police, which have the power to stop the event, to:

– cancel the pig food festival because it could spark intolerance since eating pork is banned among Muslims;

– remind city residents to respect the “religious” feelings of its Muslim residents;

– stop issuing permits for events that can potentially promote intolerance in the city.

Local sources point out that the festival, dedicated to the pig, has been celebrated on the eve of Chinese New Year in shopping malls in Semarang for several years without causing incidents or protests.

Protest broke out only this year as part of a rising tide of intolerance and persecution against non-Muslim Indonesians. Some recent controversial episodes evince this trend.

In one case, Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja ‘Ahok’ Purnama, a Christian, has been put on trial for alleged blasphemy.

Another involves a public servant in Bantul, forcibly reassigned from his job because some Muslim extremists did not like the idea of a Catholic holding office in a predominantly Muslim district.

More recently, indigenous Dayak in West Kalimantan prevented a radical Islamic leader with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) from getting off the plane that had flown him to the district.

Festival coordinator Firdaus Ali Nugroho noted that this year’s festival is set to last longer, from 23 to 29 January, and that everyone is invited to taste pork dishes, except Muslims who should stay away to avoid confrontations and protests.

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

Pakistan: Taliban Hit a Shiite Market in “Revenge Against Assad.” the Condemnation of the Church

The explosion took place in Parachinar market, in one of the semi-autonomous tribal areas. The provisional toll is 20 dead and over 40 injured. The area is known for clashes between Sunnis and Shiites. Anglican bishop calls for prayers for the wounded.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) — At least 20 people were killed and another 40 injured in an attack took place this morning in a vegetable market in Parachinar, in the tribal area of northwest Pakistan Shiite majority.

The homemade bomb exploded at around 8:50 am (local time), at a time when the area was crowded with customers and vendors. A faction of the extremist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack, perpetrated “to avenge the killing of our comrades by the security forces and teach a lesson to the Shiites for their support in Bashar al-Assad. “

Speaking to AsiaNews Anglican Bishop of Peshawar, Earnest Jacob, condemns violence. “The government — he says — claims to hold off terrorism, but incidents like these happen every month.” The Anglican Bishop invites all “to pray for the wounded.”

In a message released soon after the attack, even the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif condemned the violence and expressed sorrow for yet more bloodshed. Meanwhile, the authorities report that the toll is set to rise, given that at least 12 injured were hospitalized in critical condition.

Ashiq Hussain was in the market at the time of detonation of the bomb, hidden in a box of vegetables. Slightly injured, he told the Dawn newspaper that in the area there was not even an ambulance and the injured were transported to the hospital by private vehicles and in the back of the vans used by vendors.

Qari Saifullah, Hakimullah Mehsud spokesman, the Taliban cell that claimed responsibility for the attack, warned that his Sunni Islamist group will continue to target Shiites if they will continue to support the Syrian Assad regime, involved since 2011 in a war civil that caused more than 310 thousand victims.

The explosion took place in the capital of Kurram Agency, a tribal district bordering Afghanistan, one of seven semi-autonomous areas of Pakistan where local customs and laws apply. In the past, the district has already been a target for attacks, and is known for conflicts between the Shiite and Sunni communities. In December 2015 a similar bomb caused 25 deaths. Even then the attack was claimed by two extremist groups. The territory is one of the main routes of militants crossing the border, and is an area where there are frequent kidnappings for ransom.

(Kamran Chaudhry collaborated)

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

Official Statistics: China Grows by 6.7%, But a Lot of Data Manipulated

Growth figures published today. Domestic consumption grew by 10.4%. But the biggest contribution came from construction, infrastructure, credit. The data inflated in Liaoning. Perhaps a more realistic figure is an increase of 4%.

Beijing (AsiaNews) — The Chinese government today released the official statistics according to which the country grew by 6.7% in 2016. The data is within the leadership’s forecast, even if it is the lowest for over a quarter of a century.

The publication of the statistics coincides with the emergence of some scandals of manipulated growth data in Liaoning (inflated by up to 23%), which pose further questions to investors who are already doubtful about health of the economy in China.

Data published by the National Statistics Office show that growth was 6.8% in the last quarter, while in the rest of the year it was 6.7. Contributing to this growth — enviable for any Western country — was the construction, infrastructure construction and credit boom, all very worrying elements, as it would point to a speculative bubble in China where property and infrastructure lies already unused (buildings, roads, airports, etc …). The attempt to break away from this state supported economy is still timid, although domestic consumption increased by 10.4%.

Many China watchers doubt, however, the published data. For years the provinces have inflated the their growth figures in the hope of being noticed by the central leadership and obtaining career promotions.

In 2012 for example, the sum of the GDP of all the provinces was a much higher than the national total. Yesterday the manipulation of figures in the so-called “rusty belt” of the North-east of the country, which is in crisis, was denounced.

In this situation, many observers are trying to access more accurate data by calculating the electricity consumed, or container traffic. According to these measurements China’s growth should be around 4%.

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

Borders Across Europe to Stay Sealed for Months as Schengen Dream Found Too Risky

THE EUROPEAN dream of open borders is continuing to fall apart as controls are set to be EXTENDED again.

Struggling Schengen was all-but destroyed in 2016 when countries began blocking their borders to stop illegal immigration.

Under the arrangement European citizens can travel without a visa through the designated zone, covering most of the bloc.

However, as scores of migrants from Syria, Africa and all over the Middle East began making their way through Italy and Greece to inland Europe, borders were sealed.

The introduction of border controls was a divisive issue but member states stood their ground, with Hungary and Austria erecting huge fences to stop entry.

It was widely hoped among EU supporters Schengen will be saved but the EU commission has now confirmed an extension of border controls.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Fencing Unfairly: German Begrudges Trump’s Wall While Barricading Russia

Immigrant-friendly Germany is annoyed with Donald Trump’s plans to build a wall along the US border with Mexico; at the same time, Berlin didn’t think twice before ordering German soldiers to protect a new Lithuanian “fence” along the Kaliningrad exclave’s border from “Russian tanks”, according to the German news website NEOpresse.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Migrant Allegedly Murdered 70-Year-Old Because She Was an ‘Infidel’

A migrant born in Saudi Arabia but claiming to have come from Pakistan, is accused of having murdered a 70-year-old pensioner in her home because she was an “infidel.”

Police say that the 27-year old asylum seeker wrote religious themed writing in Arabic on the walls of the murdered pensioners apartment located in the town of Bad Friedrichshall-Untergriesheim, which prosecutors say led them to believe there may be a religious motivation to the murder which took place on the 19th of May last year.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Migrant Bomb Plot Thwarted as Police Raid ISIS Bolthole in Germany

A MIGRANT who has links to ISIS has been arrested in a German city after apparently orchestrating a plan to bomb police officers.

He has links to another would-be 17-year-old jihadi who was arrested in Vienna two days ago.

The 21-year-old Albanian man was arrested in a raid last night during an anti-terrorism operation in Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia.

It has been alleged that he was plotting to bomb police officers as well as being linked to planned Austrian attacks.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

11 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/22/2017

  1. .
    .
    when will the book burning bonfires be lit, in Germany, in Sweden?

    >>> https://youtu.be/F1rNywbym4k <<<

    https://youtu.be/QDlr7MwZXyQ

    https://youtu.be/ahECgqFMPKc
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Warum Udo Ulfkotte ermordet wurde || RT

    Why was Udo Ulfkotte murdered || RT

    https://youtu.be/2bcr2PM5e7M (enlish)

    Publiced 15 jan. 2017
    "Wer die Warheit spricht, wird immer für dumm verkauft, oder getötet." Solange die Menschen schlafen wird sich nichts verändern. Revolution lässt sich nicht alleine machen.

    "Whoever speaks the truth is always sold for dumb, or killed." As long as people sleep, nothing will change. Revolution can not be done by itself.

  2. The article I read was at CBSDFW.com and was linked at Drudge – it stated that the rioters faced a $250,000 fine, not a $25,000 fine. I expect they won’t get the max sentence or the max fine, especially since they were sent home instead of jailed. Still I’ll be watching this story develop and I hope their penalties are significant.

    You don’t wear a mask and carry a crowbar to peacefully demonstrate.

  3. “According to the U.S. Attorney, most of the 230 anti-Trump demonstrators arrested in Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day will be charged with felony rioting”.

    Oh what a Nazi…..Following pre-existing law like that….

    What is the world coming to?

    • “Facebook decided to use an organisation called Correctiv, described as a German fact-checking non-profit organisation, to decide whether reported stories are “real” or “fake.”

  4. “The Antifa activists…”

    I know its due to their self declaration, but actually they should be called “Fascist activists”.
    It fits their political agenda and behavior far better.

  5. That was close.
    Anti-Trump-Fascist sets the Hair of a Trump supporter (another young girl) on fire.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnERQIhsCFc

    It starts in the middle of he video.
    Luckely she was not hurt, but one could get seriously burned or even die by something like this.
    And these are the people who argue about violence…

  6. “Our (the Trump) side” has yet to acknowledge or even accept that the enemy (the ‘other’ side) really (reeallly, realllly) does indeed HATE US.
    Really!
    (Individually–each one of ‘them’ hates YOU!)\
    (Yes——you!!!!)
    The actual fact of a return to something approximating Constitutional rule by actual Citizens is unbearably threatening to our “them” in so many different ways we ordinary folk simply cannot understand…………….
    ………………..In BOTH the US and especially EUrope.
    The sound of breaking their ‘rice bowls’ will soon be deafening.
    This actual threat, both financial and political–is unimaginable to ‘us’–but TOTALLY REAL AND INTOLERABLE to them.

    Gonna get interesting indeed, boys and girls. Prepare and watch your six.

  7. On the subject of everyone’s favourite leftist toad, George Soros; I see George is talking up doom and gloom for the US economy under a Trump administration, despite Warren Buffet saying the complete opposite. Anyone who is having funds managed with Soros should note his financial judgement is clouded by his politics.

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