Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/19/2017

Martin Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, is now leading Angela Merkel in the polls and may become the next German chancellor after the election in September of this year. Mr. Schulz is a member of the Social Democrat Party, which is currently leading Mrs. Merkel’s CDU by 12 points.

In other German news, the city of Cologne has decided to close its downtown area to trucks during the upcoming Carnival, in order to prevent a truck jihad attack like the one that happened in Berlin.

In other news, anticipating a financial collapse, panicked Greek citizens have withdrawn €2.5 billion from banks in the past 45 days.

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

Thanks to Dean, Fjordman, GW, Insubria, LP, 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
» Greece in Panic: Citizens Withdraw £2.1bn From Banks in 45 Days
» Italy: Youth Without Jobs Drawn to Terror, Drugs — Pope
 
USA
» Breakthrough Books on Islamic Threat in U.S. Now in Paperback
» Donald Trump vs. The Deep State
» Flynn Leaks Ignite Surveillance Debate
» John McCain Just Systematically Dismantled Donald Trump’s Entire Worldview
» Limbaugh Blasts News Media Attacks on Trump as Pointless, ‘Kind of Comical’
» New York Bomb Plot Mastermind Omar Abdel Rahman Dies in Prison
» Report: Trump to Sign Executive Orders Related to EPA’s Climate Work Once Pruitt is Confirmed
» Surprise: At the End, Obama Administration Gave NSA Broad New Powers
» Who’s Really Behind the Soft-Coup? Obama-Founded Activist Group Offers Anti-Trump Protest “Guide”
 
Europe and the EU
» Alps Terror Fears: Police Hit the Slopes Amid Fears Jihadis Are Targeting Ski Resorts
» France: Marine Le Pen ‘Set for Victory’ As Macron Slammed Over Algeria Apology
» Geert Wilders Was Hailed Like a Rock Star in Spijkenisse, Rotterdam
» German Election 2017: Martin Schulz Overtakes Angela Merkel in Polls
» Germany: Cologne Carnival Issues Truck Ban for City Centre
» ISIS Jihad Brides to Attack UK as Mums and Children Return
» Juncker: The EU is ‘Beautiful’ And Britain Will be Weaker Outside
» Le Pen Slams Hollande for Leaving France on Brink of ‘Civil War’
» Netherlands: Wilders Launches PVV Election Campaign Surrounded by Police and Press
» Netherlands: Wilders Pulls Out of Second TV Debate, Calls Broadcaster RTL ‘Scum’
» Sweden Wants Trump to Explain Mysterious ‘Last Night in Sweden’ Incident
» UK: Female Headteacher is Forced to Work From Home Following Death Threats From Muslim Parents Over Her ‘Offensive Clothes’ Amid Fears There is a ‘Trojan Horse’ Plot to ‘Islamicise’ The School
 
Russia
» Pragmatism in Italy-Russia Ties, Lavrov Tells Alfano
 
South Asia
» Malaysia Searches for 4 North Korean Men Who Fled Country the Day Kim Jong Nam Died
» Malaysia Recalls Its Ambassador to North Korea Following Assassination of Kim Jong-Nam
 
Far East
» Korean Peninsula Set to Become More Volatile After China Stops Buying Coal From North
 
Australia — Pacific
» Pope Sends Cardinal Burke to Probe Abuse Claims in Guam
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Death Toll in Somalia Marketplace Blast Rises to 34
 
Latin America
» Ecuadorian Election Looks Set to Swing Assange’s Way
» Naica’s Crystal Caves Hold Long-Dormant Life
 
Immigration
» A Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Germany: January 2017
» France: Migrants Catch Bus to Dunkirk in Latest Bid to Reach Britain
» Professor’s Anti-Immigration Comments on Social Media Fuel a Day of Action on Campus
» Sweden Accepted 162k Refugees in 2015. Guess How Many Have Jobs?
» Trump is Right: Sweden’s Refugee Policy Has Led to Problems it Never Imagined
» Welcome to Sweden, Eldorado for Migrants!
» What the US Could Learn From Sweden’s Refugee Crisis
 

Greece in Panic: Citizens Withdraw £2.1bn From Banks in 45 Days

GREEK citizens have taken more than £2billion out of their bank accounts in just 45 days as they fear the economy is set to crash.

And they are stashing the cash under their mattreses, in safes and in furniture amid a new run on the banks, it has been claimed.

Greece faces running out of money in just five months as it faces repayments of more than £5.1bn (€6bn) which they will not be able to achieve without help or restructuring.

Despite capital controls preventing individuals withdrawing more than £1,540 (€1,800) per month from their accounts, money has been vanishing at an expedited rate, with projections the Government will default when their next payment is due in July.

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

Italy: Youth Without Jobs Drawn to Terror, Drugs — Pope

Take life like goalkeeper tale a ball,tells university students

(ANSA) — Rome, February 17 — Jobless young people may be drawn to terrorism and drugs, Pope Francis told students and staff at Roma Tre University Friday. “In the end the bitterness of their hearts leads to addictions,” he said, “or it leads to me…enlisting in a terrorist army, at least that way I have something to do and I give meaning to my life”.

Francis urged young people to “take life like a goalkeeper takes the ball, wherever it comes from”.

One of the greatest dangers facing the world is a “unity without differences”, the pope said. “There is a risk of globalisation that fosters uniformity”, he said. Rapid communication “does not prevent us saying No,” the pontiff added, urging his listeners to “get used to dialogue at speed”. The pope also said EU youth unemployment levels were “not fit for civilised countries” and that “perhaps not all the statistics on youth suicides are known”.

Jobless young people may be drawn to terrorism and drugs, the pope said. “In the end the bitterness of their hearts leads to addictions,” he said, “or it leads to me…enlisting in a terrorist army, at least that way I have something to do and I give meaning to my life”.

Europe was “born of migrants” but today the Mediterranean has become a “tomb” for too many desperate people seeking a better life, the pope said. He urged his listeners not to “fear migrations” since they were a “challenge for the growth of society”.

Francis told his audience that countries should “make peace and make investments” on migrants. The “ideal” solution for migrants, he said, was to “welcome and integrate” them.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Breakthrough Books on Islamic Threat in U.S. Now in Paperback

It was an unprecedented undercover operation, a daring six-month penetration into one of the most aggressive Muslim organizations in the country.

It resulted in the collection of thousands of pages of smoking-gun documents from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a terror-linked Muslim Brotherhood front group.

And now the whole sensational story is available in paperback form.

WND Books has published a paperback version of the courageous expose “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America” by P. David Gaubatz and Paul Sperry.

Copies are now available for preorder at the WND Superstore ahead of the book’s official Feb. 21 release.

What’s more, WND Books has also published a paperback edition of Pamela Geller’s “Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance.” This wake-up call is also available at the WND Superstore ahead of its Feb. 21 release.

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

Donald Trump vs. The Deep State

By Andrew Klavan

I’ve made no secret of my objections to Donald Trump, and I haven’t hidden my impatience with those who are willing to support him in anything even at the expense of truth and principle. But in any major conflict involving the fate of the nation, there comes a point when you have to choose sides. No sophistry can get you around this binary responsibility.

When one of two forces is going to win, if there’s any moral difference between them at all, you have to stand for the better. That’s why I overcame my objections and voted for The Donald when the choice came down to him and a corrupt leftist who would surely have imperiled the American experiment at every level of government. It was a painful decision but not a difficult one.

There’s a similar choice to be made now. The President or the Deep State.

The Deep State is that collection of influential people in the bureaucracies and intelligence agencies who largely remain in place no matter who wins an election.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Flynn Leaks Ignite Surveillance Debate

The FBI’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn is spurring fresh debate about a controversial law on foreign surveillance that is set to expire at the end of the year.

Republicans have expressed outrage over reports that Flynn’s calls to a Russian ambassador were intercepted by law enforcement.

That’s music to the ears of civil liberties and privacy advocates, who have long argued that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and particularly Section 702, should be curtailed.

“It shows the need for restrictions on sharing and restrictions on use,” Nathan White, senior legislative manager at Access Now, told The Hill. “You don’t want to build the wall again, but it shows that information that is collected for a legitimate purpose can be used in ways that you may not agree with.”…

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

John McCain Just Systematically Dismantled Donald Trump’s Entire Worldview

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) hit out at President Trump in a speech on Feb. 17 at the Munich Security Conference, saying, “this administration is in disarray.” (Reuters)

John McCain is increasingly mad as hell about President Trump. And on Friday, he went after Trump — hard.

During a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, the Republican senator from Arizona delivered a pointed and striking point-by-point takedown of Trump’s worldview and brand of nationalism. McCain didn’t mention Trump’s name once, but he didn’t have to.

And even considering the two men’s up-and-down history and the terrible things Trump has said about McCain, it was a striking display from a senior leader of a party when it comes to a president of the same party.

In his speech, McCain suggested the Western world is uniquely imperiled this year — even more so than when Barack Obama was president — and proceeded to question whether it will even survive.

“In recent years, this question would invite accusations of hyperbole and alarmism; not this year,” McCain said. “If ever there were a time to treat this question with a deadly seriousness, it is now.”

In case there was any doubt that this was about Trump. Here’s what followed:…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Limbaugh Blasts News Media Attacks on Trump as Pointless, ‘Kind of Comical’

Conservative radio star Rush Limbaugh on Sunday assailed the news media, suggesting its efforts to “destroy” Republican President Trump are “comical” and dismissing stories about Russia purportedly influencing the 2016 White House race in Trump’s favor.

“The media did not make Donald Trump, and they can’t destroy him,” Limbaugh said on “Fox News Sunday.”

He suggested some major, liberal-leaning news agencies “have a formula … a blueprint for destroying Republican political officials they don’t like.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

New York Bomb Plot Mastermind Omar Abdel Rahman Dies in Prison

The mastermind of numerous bomb plots in New York in the early 1990s has died in prison in the US, his family says.

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind cleric who preached at mosques in New York, was sentenced to life in 1996 for planning the attacks.

He was accused of inspiring the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, but was not convicted over that attack.

The judge at his trial said that if his plans had been enacted, thousands of people would have died.

Sheikh Rahman’s death was announced in the Egyptian capital Cairo by his family.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Report: Trump to Sign Executive Orders Related to EPA’s Climate Work Once Pruitt is Confirmed

Inside EPA reports that President Trump plans to sign executive orders involving climate change at an EPA swearing-in ceremony set to take place once his nominee to head the agency, Scott Pruitt, is confirmed. From the Hill:

At that event, an administration source told Inside EPA that Trump will sign executive orders related to the agency’s climate work and that they could “suck the air out of the room,” according to the report.

The official did not say how many orders Trump will sign or what they will address. But the planned event could be similar to one Trump held at the Pentagon after Defense Secretary James Mattis was sworn in.

Inside EPA is a subscription site but the opening paragraph of the story states Trump will, “visit EPA headquarters to sign executive orders (EOs) aimed at scaling back the agency’s climate change and other work.” It’s not clear what “scaling back” means.

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

Surprise: At the End, Obama Administration Gave NSA Broad New Powers

By Michael Walsh

This story, from the Jan. 12, 2017, edition of the New York Times, was little-remarked upon at the time, but suddenly has taken on far greater significance in light of current events:

In its final days, the Obama administration has expanded the power of the National Security Agency to share globally intercepted personal communications with the government’s 16 other intelligence agencies before applying privacy protections.

The new rules significantly relax longstanding limits on what the N.S.A. may do with the information gathered by its most powerful surveillance operations, which are largely unregulated by American wiretapping laws. These include collecting satellite transmissions, phone calls and emails that cross network switches abroad, and messages between people abroad that cross domestic network switches.

The change means that far more officials will be searching through raw data. Essentially, the government is reducing the risk that the N.S.A. will fail to recognize that a piece of information would be valuable to another agency, but increasing the risk that officials will see private information about innocent people.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Who’s Really Behind the Soft-Coup? Obama-Founded Activist Group Offers Anti-Trump Protest “Guide”

Trump must reinstate the national security procedures that have been in place since Ronald Reagan and fire everyone in intelligence appointed by Obama. Clean the swamp must start right there and NOW! Obama knew he would set up a shadow government and refuse to leave Washington. He seems to be working harder now while as President he may have played golf more than any other president.

Proof that Obama is behind the civil unrest is the fact he has taken to Twitter.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Alps Terror Fears: Police Hit the Slopes Amid Fears Jihadis Are Targeting Ski Resorts

Anti-terror police are patrolling airports, bars and restaurants as part of a major security procedure to try and protect holidaymakers at popular resorts.

Dubbed Operation Sentinel, the measures are designed to allay fears of another terror incident in France following attacks in Paris and Nice in recent months.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: Marine Le Pen ‘Set for Victory’ As Macron Slammed Over Algeria Apology

MARINE Le Pen’s French Presidential campaign has been boosted after socialist rival Emmanuel Macron caused fury by calling French colonialism a “crime against humanity”.

The 38-year-old, who is married to his former high school teacher, spoke about France’s control of Algeria this week but his remarks have backfired spectacularly and he’s been forced to apologise.

Now he’s all but certainly handed Front National candidate Marine Le Pen an electoral gift as the pair go head to head in the France presidential election in April and May.

The independent En Marche! candidate was in Algeria when he made the comments which were immediately slammed back home.

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

Geert Wilders Was Hailed Like a Rock Star in Spijkenisse, Rotterdam

With only three weeks left, The Party For Freedom, PVV, kicked off the campaign.

The first stop was in downtown Spijkenisse. The city is a faithful PVV voting stronghold, so Geert Wilders decided to honor the town with his highly appraised presence.

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

German Election 2017: Martin Schulz Overtakes Angela Merkel in Polls

ANGELA Merkel is set to be ousted as German Chancellor by former EU chief Martin Schulz, a bombshell new opinion poll suggests.

The survey puts the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) one point ahead of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU).

The SPD has now gained a record-breaking 12 points since unveiling Mr Schulz as its candidate for the Chancellery last month.

[Comment: Although from what I can tell, Schulz is not that much different from Merkel on the EU and migrants.]

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

Germany: Cologne Carnival Issues Truck Ban for City Centre

Authorities have issued a ban on all trucks in the city centre ahead of the upcoming Cologne carnival in an effort to prevent a repeat of the Berlin Christmas market attack.

Organisers of the carnival, which is set to take place between the 23rd and 28th of February, are looking to increase security at the event and hope the ban on trucks weighing more than 7.5 tonnes will make a radical Islamic terror attack, like that which occurred in Nice or Berlin, impossible.

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

ISIS Jihad Brides to Attack UK as Mums and Children Return

JIHADI brides are plotting to return to Britain to carry out lone-wolf terror attacks as droves of ISIS wives and children return home, a secret intelligence report warns.

The classified analysis for Prime Minister Theresa May says women and children who have travelled to be with ISIS fighters — or have been born — in Syria and Iraq, will be able to escape terror prosecutions if they convince police they were coerced into travelling to the Middle East by husbands or parents.

According to the report, seen by The Mail on Sunday, their return poses an unprecedented threat to the UK and Europe.

Counter-terrorism forces across the continent are preparing for violent jihadi men to return to Britain after their anticipated defeat by Western allies in the terror stronghold of Raqqa.

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

Juncker: The EU is ‘Beautiful’ And Britain Will be Weaker Outside

Jean-Claude Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg who now serves as president of the European Commission, has told TIME magazine that the European Union (EU) is “beautiful” and admired around the world, and says Barack Obama was right to claim the UK would be weaker outside it.

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

Le Pen Slams Hollande for Leaving France on Brink of ‘Civil War’

MARINE Le Pen has lambasted President Hollande and a union of Judges for tolerating the Paris protests in response to the police rape of a young black male.

The Front National leader said the Government has been quick to “rush to the bedside of the very few victims of police violence without even waiting for… justice” — but are unable to quash the risk of a “real civil war” on the streets of Paris.

In a ruthless rant, Le Pen wrote: “In a state of emergency, it is completely irresponsible to let a protest against the police and alleged police violence take place.

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

Netherlands: Wilders Launches PVV Election Campaign Surrounded by Police and Press

In a scrum of more press than supporters, Geert Wilders launched the far-right PVV campaign protesting about Moroccan ‘scum’ in a town near Rotterdam on Saturday. For around an hour Wilders — complete with security guards, police, sniffer dogs, several protesters and reporters from all over the world — offered hands and selfies to 100 or so supporters. In the first day of campaigning before March 15 general elections, Wilders’ platinum hair bobbed in and out of security-hemmed supporters and PVV candidates in the party’s stronghold of Spijkenisse.

Although Wilders was last year convicted of insulting Moroccans and inciting racial discrimination — a judgement he is appealing — he still had strong words for the Dutch ethnic minority he describes as a nationality rather than a race. ‘Look at the Islamisation of our country,’ he told the press, in a speech he had memorised in both Dutch and English. ‘If a Dutch person drives 5km too fast, you will be fined within a minute. But the Moroccan scum in the Netherlands — not all are scum, but there is a lot of scum — make the streets unsafe, mostly young people, and they are not taken seriously.’

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Wilders Pulls Out of Second TV Debate, Calls Broadcaster RTL ‘Scum’

PVV leader Geert Wilders on Sunday pulled out of a second televised election debate, describing one of the organising broadcasters as ‘unbelievable lowlife scum’. The debate, which will take place in the Carre theatre on March 5, was to have featured the eight biggest parties in the opinion polls.

The debate, which will still go ahead without Wilders, is organised by RTL Nieuws, BNR radio and current affairs magazine Elsevier. Wilders said via Twitter that he would not take part in the debate. ‘Bye Bye RTL,’ Wilders said, before going on to restate he would be at two other debates on March 13 and 14.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Wants Trump to Explain Mysterious ‘Last Night in Sweden’ Incident

The Swedish government on Sunday demanded that the White House clarifies what US President Donald Trump meant while speaking at a Florida rally on Saturday during which he referred to what appeared to be a serious incident “last night in Sweden”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Female Headteacher is Forced to Work From Home Following Death Threats From Muslim Parents Over Her ‘Offensive Clothes’ Amid Fears There is a ‘Trojan Horse’ Plot to ‘Islamicise’ The School

A primary school headteacher has been forced to work from home by death threats from Muslim parents who hate her western values.

Trish O’Donnell, head of Clarksfield Primary School in Oldham, has endured ‘harassment and intimidation’ in the form of ‘aggressive verbal abuse’ and ‘threats to blow up her car’ from parents pushing conservative Muslim ideals.

It is feared they are making a ‘Trojan Horse’ attempt to Islamicise the school.

Parents have complained the way she dresses is ‘unsuitable’ and that pictures of her daughters in her office are ‘offensive’.

The school is mostly filled with Pakistani pupils who do not speak English as a first language. A section of its website titled British values only reads: ‘coming soon’.

Since becoming head in 2006, Mrs O’Donnell has taken the school Ofsted rating from needing improvement to good…

           — Hat tip: GW [Return to headlines]
 

Pragmatism in Italy-Russia Ties, Lavrov Tells Alfano

Two FMs discuss Ukraine, Syria, Libya

(ANSA) — Moscow, February 17 — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Italian counterpart Angelino Alfano on the sidelines of the Bonn G20 Friday that “pragmatism should guide our relations and we think this must be so in the future,” according to the Interfax news agency.

Lavrov said he and Alfano discussed “the main issues on the bilateral agenda” and “paid particular attention to multilateral cooperation, as well as the situation in Ukraine, Syria and Libya”, according to Interfax.

“I am happy to have the opportunity to personally congratulate you on taking up the post of foreign minister.

“I’m sure that your experience and knowledge will help ensure continuity in our relations, which we appreciate and which are important for us, also amid current problems”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Malaysia Searches for 4 North Korean Men Who Fled Country the Day Kim Jong Nam Died

Investigators are looking for four North Korean men who flew out of Malaysia the same day Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler’s outcast half brother, apparently was poisoned at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian police said Sunday.

Since Kim’s death last week, authorities have been trying to piece together details of what appeared to be an assassination. Malaysian police have so far arrested four people carrying IDs from North Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Malaysia Recalls Its Ambassador to North Korea Following Assassination of Kim Jong-Nam

Malaysia on Monday said it had recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang, as a spat over the investigation into the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother in Kuala Lumpur intensifies.

Malaysia also summoned the North Korean ambassador over his accusation that Kuala Lumpur was conspiring with “hostile forces” as it investigates the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the foreign ministry said.

The spat has escalated after Malaysia rejected demands from North Korean diplomats to hand over the body of Jong-nam.

“The Ministry emphasised that as the death occurred on Malaysian soil under mysterious circumstances, it is the responsibility of the Malaysian Government to conduct an investigation to identify the cause of death,” a foreign ministry statement said of the meeting with the North Korean ambassador.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Korean Peninsula Set to Become More Volatile After China Stops Buying Coal From North

The situation on the Korean Peninsula may become more unpredictable with North Korea’s economy expected to be hit hard by a Chinese ban on buying its coal, and as the United States and South Korea prepare for joint military drills.

These could push the reclusive state into further provocations, observers said.

The ban, announced on Saturday, signals that Beijing is joining other nations in the region in the effort to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear missile development.

The Ministry of Commerce said China would suspend all imports of coal from North Korea for the rest of the year, in accordance with existing United Nations sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programme.

A UN resolution passed in November limits North Korea’s coal exports for 2017 to 7.5 million tonnes, worth about US$400 million, but down 62 per cent from exports in 2015.

The ban was seen as a response to criticism by the US and South Korea that Beijing was “not doing enough” to modify North Korea’s behaviour.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Pope Sends Cardinal Burke to Probe Abuse Claims in Guam

One of pontiff’s strongest opponents

(ANSA) — Vatican City, February 16 — Pope Francis has sent one of his most vocal opponents, American Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, to the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean to investigate a complicated case of suspected paedophilia by the island’s archbishop, 71-year-old Msgr Anthony Sablan Apuron. Apuron denies the charges, brought forth by a seminarian, of abuse in the 1970s.

Burke will remain on the island for the time needed to oversee canonical proceedings on the case, although at the end of the month he is expected to attend a conference in the US.

Catholic News Service said Burke arrived on Guam Wednesday.

Burke is one of four cardinals who signed the “dubia” letter to Pope Francis expressing doubts on his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, in particular regarding the issue of giving Communion to the divorced.

Two years ago Francis demoted Burke from the Vatican’s highest court to a ceremonial philanthropic post.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Death Toll in Somalia Marketplace Blast Rises to 34

The death toll from a car bomb at a marketplace in Somalia’s capital has risen to 34 with 52 injured, said a police officer.

Many of the dead were carried away by their relatives soon after the blast, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein.

“It was a horrific and barbaric attack only aimed at killings civilians,” he said from the scene of the blast.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ecuadorian Election Looks Set to Swing Assange’s Way

The Ecuadorian presidential race looks set to swing in the Julian Assange’s favour meaning he would not be deported to face rape allegations.

An exit poll by Ecuador’s Cedatos pollster estimated ruling party leftist Lenin Moreno received some 39.4 percent of valid votes versus around 30.5 percent for conservative ex-banker Guillermo Lasso in Sunday’s presidential election.

Lasso was one of two candidates to say on record he would force the Swede to leave Ecuador’s London embassy, but early indications suggest he will be beaten by Moreno, who has previously indicated he would back Assange’s right to stay.

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

Naica’s Crystal Caves Hold Long-Dormant Life

It is a remarkable discovery in an amazing place.

Scientists have extracted long-dormant microbes from inside the famous giant crystals of the Naica mountain caves in Mexico — and revived them.

The organisms were likely to have been encased in the striking shafts of gypsum at least 10,000 years ago, and possibly up to 50,000 years ago.

It is another demonstration of the ability of life to adapt and cope in the most hostile of environments.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

A Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Germany: January 2017

by Soeren Kern

German authorities issued 105,000 visas for so-called family reunifications in 2016, a 50% increase over the 70,000 visas issued in 2015, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 105,000 visas for family members were in addition to the 280,000 new asylum seekers who arrived in Germany in 2016.

Police say Sudanese migrants, many of whom were allowed to enter Germany without having their fingerprints taken, have “created a business model” out of social security fraud. Local officials have been accused of covering up the fraud.

An employee at a social security office handed her boss a file with 30 cases of suspected fraud. After he refused to act, she contacted the police. She was fired for “overstepping her authority.”

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble revealed that the migrant crisis would cost German taxpayers €43 billion ($46 billion) during 2016 (€21.7 billion) and 2017 (€21.3 billion).

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: Migrants Catch Bus to Dunkirk in Latest Bid to Reach Britain

HUNDREDS of migrants are catching the bus to the French coast in the latest bid to reach Britain.

They travel by public transport through inland France to the sea and tunnel crossings near Calais.

The gangs then gather at unguarded lorry parks, trying to sneak aboard UK-bound trucks.

They prefer buses to trains because they can disembark before the terminus, where police would wait to arrest them.

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

Professor’s Anti-Immigration Comments on Social Media Fuel a Day of Action on Campus

In what seems like the latest installment of the academe edition of the post-Trump culture wars, students and faculty members at the University of Minnesota at Morris are planning a teach-in Monday, following a professor’s harsh criticism of immigrants and refugees on social media. The professor says he wrote about an issue of concern on a private Facebook page and is being punished for being out of step with the politics of his colleagues.

“Illegal immigrants lower the confidence in the rule of law and add people and workers and students we don’t need,” Dan Demetriou, associate professor of philosophy, recently wrote on Facebook, according to screenshots that have been made public. “They on average have IQs lower than natives and low skills. They are harmful to an economy about to automate, especially when it is a welfare state.”

Refugees, meanwhile, are “way worse,” Demetriou wrote, “as most adhere to a religious-political cult with repulsive values at war with the West from its inception. No country who has taken the current crop of refugees has made it work.”

[Comment: What the professor says is true.]

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

Sweden Accepted 162k Refugees in 2015. Guess How Many Have Jobs?

When it comes to the migrant crisis in Europe, the two most important questions that need to be asked is, will these refugees ever return to their homelands, and if not, will they ever be able to function in European societies? So far, the answer to the latter of those two questions is a hard no.

Take Sweden for instance; a country that on a per capita basis, has probably taken in more refugees than any other European nation. In 2015 alone, they brought in 162,000 refugees. Now if these people were making assimilating into Sweden, you would see thousands of them finding jobs, finding homes, and learning the language. But by at least one of those metrics they are utterly failing. Out of those 162,000 refugees, guess how many have found a job since they reached Swedish shores?

Only 494 have jobs now.

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

Trump is Right: Sweden’s Refugee Policy Has Led to Problems it Never Imagined

by Tove Lifvendahl

Trump was right to say they are dealing with problems that they never imagined. Problems that the police admit they simply cannot handle because no one imagined having to deal with them. How do you keep track of the tens of thousands of unaccompanied child migrants, living in hostels? How to save them from the drug dealers, pimps, gangmasters and even jihadists? When children go missing from these homes, the police don’t have the time or resources to investigate.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Welcome to Sweden, Eldorado for Migrants!

by Nima Gholam Ali Pour

From the perspective of a poor migrant, the cash Sweden gives to all who come seems a lot of money, without working a single day to get it. This makes Sweden a paradise for the migrants of the world who do not want to work. The Swedish taxpayer pays for this party.

Recently, the city of Malmö bought 268 apartments, so newly arrived migrants would have a roof over their head. But at the same time, Swedish citizens in Malmö have to wait more than three years in line to rent an apartment.

While Swedish taxpayers are forced to fund all these benefits for migrants, the migrants do not have to adapt to the Swedish way of living.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

What the US Could Learn From Sweden’s Refugee Crisis

Sweden has taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees and rape and violence has since skyrocketed. A journalist took a close look at Sweden’s refugee crisis and at what ‘extreme vetting’ really means

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

8 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/19/2017

  1. Donald Trump’s new twitter attack against Sweden.

    After this weekend’s speech, in which Trump mentioned Sweden and spoke of an event that never took place, the president once again comment on
    Sweden’s allegedly sucessful immigrration from the world’s dysfunctional
    muslim countries.

    Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
    Give the public a break – The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!
    15:15 – 20 feb 2017

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