Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/27/2017

Members of the Chinese community in Paris gathered in front of a police station and fought with police after a Chinese man was shot and killed by a police officer during a domestic call. Three rioters have been arrested.

In other news, according to The New York Times, neo-fascists are re-emerging in Slovakia.

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

Thanks to Dean, DV, Insubria, JD, 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.

USA
» Accused ISIS Supporter Sorry for Embarrassing Islam
» Christian Student Suspended After Challenging Muslim Prof’s Claim That Jesus Wasn’t Crucified
» Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I. Apocalypse
» Greenfield: The Civil War is Here
» Here’s Why United Banned Girls With Leggings From a Flight
» MSM Allegedly Spins Yesterday’s Antifa Riots, Places Blame on Trump Supporters
» North Dakota: The 2nd Amendment is Your Concealed Carry Permit
» Socialist Health Care Disguised as Tax
» Thousands of Americans Are Fleeing the Big Cities
» Trumping the State Department
» Vegas Strip Shooting: Authorities Identify Suspect and Victim
» Video: Antifa Thugs Chased Away by Trump Supporters in California
» Wikileaks’ ‘Dark Matter’ Dump Shows CIA’s iPhone, Macbook Hacks
» Yes, The Huma Abedin-Anthony Weiner Breakup Was Fake
 
Canada
» Iqra Khalid Succeeds in Getting the Camel’s Nose of Islamophobia Into the Tent of Free Speech
» Liberals to Announce Marijuana Will be Legal by July 1, 2018
 
Europe and the EU
» EU Approves Hungarian Nuclear Plant Extension
» Karl Marx’s German Birthplace Accepts Marx Statue From China
» NLB Visits UK and US to Meet With Potential Buyers
» Northern Ireland: ‘Leprechaun’ Who Posed With Youngsters is Sex Offender
» Police Warned of Berlin Attacker as ‘Terrorist Threat’ 9 Months Before Assault
» Riots in Paris After Police Kill Chinese Father of Five
» Slovakia: “Europe’s Neo-Fascists Are Re-Emerging”, NYT Says
» Trump Handed Merkel $375 Billion Invoice for NATO Defenses During Recent Visit
» Turks in Germany Start Voting in Referendum to Boost Erdogan’s Powers
» UK Targets WhatsApp Encryption After London Attack
» UK: Police Begin Spying on Motorists From the Top Deck of a Double-Decker in a Bid to Catch Those Who Text Behind the Wheel
 
Balkans
» Exclusive: Opposition Leader: Albania’s Soros-Affiliated Prime Minister is Ruining Our Country
» Kosovo: Belgrade Remembers Anti-Serb Violence 13 Years Ago
» Revealed: Brussels ‘Secretly Promises’ To Quickly Begin EU Membership Talks With Macedonia
 
Immigration
» Brexit Figure: EU States Powerless Over Immigration Security
» Italy, Greece Reach Migrant Saturation Point, Italy Says Some NGO Boats Work With Smugglers
» Rockville School Superintendent Says Parents’ Response to Alleged Rape is ‘Racist’
» Sweden’s “Feminist” Leader Says Foreign Rapists Should Not be Deported
 
Culture Wars
» Judge OKs Petition for America’s First ‘Genderless’ Person
 
General
» What on Earth is Happening to Our Temperature?
 

Accused ISIS Supporter Sorry for Embarrassing Islam

Detroit — An accused ISIS supporter from Dearborn Heights who posted messages about wanting to “skin people like sheep” and shoot up a Detroit church said Monday he wasn’t serious.

Khalil Abu Rayyan said he was an “ignorant, immature, naive kid” and has matured since being arrested by the FBI and pleading guilty to federal crimes.

Rayyan, 22, is awaiting sentencing in federal court in a case that raised questions about whether he was plotting a terrorist act.

“I never intended to hurt anyone,” the Muslim man told U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh during a hearing. “My behavior caused embarrassment to myself, my family, my community and my religion.”

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

Christian Student Suspended After Challenging Muslim Prof’s Claim That Jesus Wasn’t Crucified

A student says he was suspended from Rollins College for challenging his Muslim professor’s anti-Christian assertions, including her claim that Jesus’ crucifixion never took place.

Twenty-year-old Marshall Polston, a sophomore at the private, Florida-based four-year college, said that the professor of his Middle Eastern Humanities class also told students that Jesus’ disciples did not believe he was God.

Polston, an avid traveler and self-described Christian, has toured the Middle East and is familiar with the Muslim culture.

“Honestly, it reminded me of some of the more radical groups I researched when abroad,” Polston told the Central Florida Post about his professor’s comments on Jesus…

The professor, Areej Zufari, as well as a campus spokesperson, could not be reached by The College Fix late Sunday. However, the Central Florida Post reports that it tried numerous times to obtain comment from Rollins College and Professor Zufari to no avail.

Polston claims the situation began after he challenged Zufari’s assertions about Jesus and his disciples. Polston said this challenge led Zufari to file a complaint with a campus dean, claiming he made her feel “unsafe.”

Next, Polston received a 52 percent on a major essay.

“I was upset, understandably. I’ve never gotten anything less than straight A’s, so I was really interested in figuring out how to possibly improve or at least understand the grade,” Polston told the Post.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I. Apocalypse

Elon Musk is famous for his futuristic gambles, but Silicon Valley’s latest rush to embrace artificial intelligence scares him. And he thinks you should be frightened too. Inside his efforts to influence the rapidly advancing field and its proponents, and to save humanity from machine-learning overlords.

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

Greenfield: The Civil War is Here

The left doesn’t want to secede. It wants to rule.

A civil war has begun.

This civil war is very different than the last one. There are no cannons or cavalry charges. The left doesn’t want to secede. It wants to rule. Political conflicts become civil wars when one side refuses to accept the existing authority. The left has rejected all forms of authority that it doesn’t control.

The left has rejected the outcome of the last two presidential elections won by Republicans. It has rejected the judicial authority of the Supreme Court when it decisions don’t accord with its agenda. It rejects the legislative authority of Congress when it is not dominated by the left.

It rejected the Constitution so long ago that it hardly bears mentioning.

It was for total unilateral executive authority under Obama. And now it’s for states unilaterally deciding what laws they will follow. (As long as that involves defying immigration laws under Trump, not following them under Obama.) It was for the sacrosanct authority of the Senate when it held the majority. Then it decried the Senate as an outmoded institution when the Republicans took it over.

It was for Obama defying the orders of Federal judges, no matter how well grounded in existing law, and it is for Federal judges overriding any order by Trump on any grounds whatsoever. It was for Obama penalizing whistleblowers, but now undermining the government from within has become “patriotic.”…

The choices of this civil war are painfully clear.

We can have a system of government based around the Constitution with democratically elected representatives. Or we can have one based on the ideological principles of the left in which all laws and processes, including elections and the Constitution, are fig leaves for enforcing social justice.

But we cannot have both.

Some civil wars happen when a political conflict can’t be resolved at the political level. The really bad ones happen when an irresolvable political conflict combines with an irresolvable cultural conflict.

That is what we have now.

[Comment: Highly recommended reading.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Here’s Why United Banned Girls With Leggings From a Flight

The United Airlines leggings ban that sent online outrage soaring on Sunday is part of the company’s dress code — one that apparently isn’t so friendly to women travelers.

After a traveler tweeted about girls being barred from a Minneapolis-bound flight for wearing leggings, United tried — and failed — to explain away the ensuing vitriol.

First the airline pointed to its rules for general customers, which allows United to refuse transportation “for passengers who are barefoot or not properly clothed.” But as Twitter users noted, there’s nothing there making clear that leggings — or anything else in particular — are not proper.

United then reversed course and revealed that two young girls who were turned away from the flight were “pass travelers” — relatives of United employees, who fly for free or on discount but also with certain expectations…

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

MSM Allegedly Spins Yesterday’s Antifa Riots, Places Blame on Trump Supporters

Following yesterday’s Antifa riots against Trump supporters, the mainstream media is under fire for allegedly spinning the story to blame Trump supporters.

Many media outlets apparently don’t feel the need to discuss the fact that Antifa actively organized to violently disrupt Trump supporters yesterday.

The Orange County Register, for example, ran an article titled “Pro-Trump rally draws 2000 marchers, some protesters, and a violent brawl.”

Referring to yesterday’s Huntington Beach rally, the outlet states about “30” protesters showed up and suggests their mere “presence triggered a violent melee.”

Social media accounts of the event appear to suggest otherwise.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

North Dakota: The 2nd Amendment is Your Concealed Carry Permit

Must “have a valid ID and notify law enforcement of the weapon during instances such as a traffic stop”

North Dakota residents to carry a handgun concealed for self-defense without a permit.

The legislation-House Bill 1169-passed the House on February 21 by a vote of 83-9. It passed the Senate on March 21 by a vote of 34-13.

USNews reports that the permitless carry law allows law-abiding citizens 18 and over to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense as long as they “have a valid ID and notify law enforcement of the weapon during instances such as a traffic stop.”

According to the West Fargo Pioneer, upon signing the bill Governor Burgum said, “North Dakota has a rich heritage of hunting and a culture of deep respect for firearm safety. As a hunter and gun owner myself, I strongly support gun rights for law-abiding citizens. House Bill 1169 allows citizens to exercise their Second Amendment right under the U.S. Constitution.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Socialist Health Care Disguised as Tax

Nobody really believed that Obamacare, deplorably named the Affordable Care Act, would be amended to benefit the wishes of the American people, much less repeal it. Once a bureaucracy has been ensconced and billions and billions of dollars have been spent and trillions earmarked to be spent in the future, it cannot be walked back. The welfare dependency mentality of half of the country will prevent that.

Congress does not represent the middle class that pays taxes for Obamacare; it represents the interests of the major corporatist donors. Half of the country wanted and cheered when the Democrat Obamacare was passed in the dead of night, Christmas 2010, without any input from Republicans.

But Republicans are now in control of Congress and the White House and they are still doing the bidding of the Democrats and of their anti-America constituents — they want that shiny piece of plastic that says they have “free” insurance, it is demanded by their “social justice” platform. Never mind that this piece of plastic is worthless when it comes to providing them with world class healthcare or any healthcare at all once rationing of care commences.

Look at Venezuela’s healthcare if you can stomach the malpractice, filth, blood, decay, bugs, rats, neglect, abuse, and rust in their free clinics. Castro and Chavez never sought medical care for themselves in their own free medical care system, they came to see the best and the brightest doctors in the U.S. or had them flown in.

[Comment: Article is a little pessimistic. Obamacare was voted on many times before the final “successful” vote via trickery (dead of night etc). Trump will likely keep pushing and it will be replaced.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Thousands of Americans Are Fleeing the Big Cities

Why are so many people suddenly moving away from major U.S. cities?

Why are so many people suddenly moving away from major U.S. cities? Recently, I wrote about the mass exodus that is happening out of the state of California, but the truth is that what is happening there is just part of a national phenomenon.

The populations of some of our largest cities are steadily shrinking, and many experts are completely mystified by the seismic demographic shifts that we are now witnessing. Of course there are a whole host of reasons why people would want to move away from huge cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore and Cleveland. For some families, it simply comes down to wanting a better life for their children. But as you will see below, there are others that believe that things in this country are about to take an apocalyptic turn, and the big cities will not be a place that you want to be when economic collapse, rioting, looting, civil unrest and crime are all spiraling out of control.

According to data just released by the U.S. Census Bureau, Chicago took the prize for the biggest population loss from 2015 to 2016, and it was followed by Detroit and Baltimore…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trumping the State Department

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) is to the State Department what the Teacher Unions are to public education. It exists to protect tenure and to prevent any accountability or reduction among the State Department drones.

The Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance (AVC) is a uniquely harmful part of State. This Bureau’s main mission has been to create photo ops of treaty signings. The arms control treaties have usually been unenforceable with sworn enemies of America. The Bureau’s agreements with the Soviet Union undermined U.S. security. Its bureaucrats developed elaborate procedures for justifying the minimizing or overlooking of blatant treaty violations. They are using this same play book for the Iranian Nuclear deal.

Headquarters waste and dysfunction are just the beginning of State Department ineffectiveness. In the mid-1980’s, I viewed State Department field operations personally while serving as Director of the U.S. Peace Corps in Malawi. Un-American culture that permeates career Foreign Service Officers

The most egregious problem was the un-American culture that permeates career Foreign Service Officers. Except for toasting America at the July 4th Embassy party each year, being pro-American is viewed as unprofessional. Long serving Americans would advise me that rising above nationalism and acting “world wise” was the mark of a seasoned diplomat.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Vegas Strip Shooting: Authorities Identify Suspect and Victim

LAS VEGAS — A man sitting at the back of a public bus on the Las Vegas Strip opened fire “for no apparent reason” as passengers got off at a stop in the heart of the tourism corridor, police said Sunday.

Gary Breitling, 57, of Sidney, Montana, was shot and killed Saturday before the gunman barricaded himself in the vehicle, shutting down the Strip for hours, the Clark County coroner’s office said. He died at a hospital.

Rolando Cardenas, 55, has been accused in the shooting, and he surrendered peacefully after a standoff inside the double-decker bus that lasted more than four hours, police said.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Video: Antifa Thugs Chased Away by Trump Supporters in California

Commie agitators get a taste of their own medicine in Huntington Beach, CA.

Antifa thugs get a taste of their own medicine in Huntington Beach, CA.

We condemn all violence, but the left set the standard that punching people for having different opinions is honorable, so they can’t complain.

[Comment: Video quickly removed by youtube for violating youtube’s “standards on harassment and bullying”. Note all the videos of antifa bashing conservatives remain on youtube.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Wikileaks’ ‘Dark Matter’ Dump Shows CIA’s iPhone, Macbook Hacks

Tools designed to target Apple firmware, allowing persistent compromise of devices

CIA documents published by WikiLeaks Thursday reveal hacks used by the agency against Apple cellphones and computers.

Dubbed “Dark Matter,” the documents, a new addition to WikiLeaks’ ongoing “Vault 7” dump, detail hacks developed for iPhones and MacBooks as far back as 2008.

“These documents explain the techniques used by CIA to gain ‘persistence’ on Apple Mac devices, including Macs and iPhones and demonstrate their use of EFI/UEFI and firmware malware,” a WikiLeaks press release says.

By targeting the firmware, CIA hackers can remain in control of an infected device even if the target wipes the data and re-installs the operating system.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Yes, The Huma Abedin-Anthony Weiner Breakup Was Fake

Now we learn from Daniel Greenfield citing the New York Post that the mid-election cycle breakup between Hillary Clinton lieutenant Huma Abedin and her perv husband Anthony Weiner was fake.

The newspaper reports:

“Huma has been working hard on her relationship with Anthony,” said a source close to the Abedin family. “He has been spending 80 to 90 percent of his time at the [Irving Place apartment] they share … If there is a disagreement, he goes to his mother’s apartment in Brooklyn.

Another source, who worked closely with Bill and Hillary Clinton for several years, corroborates this, saying the breakup was “more for optics for the campaign and [under] pressure from Hillary’s camp.” [emphasis added]

As I wrote here at Bombthrowers on Nov. 30 amid reports that Abedin and Weiner had reunited after separating during the summer, it was all a setup:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Iqra Khalid Succeeds in Getting the Camel’s Nose of Islamophobia Into the Tent of Free Speech

Dear Ms. Khalid;

My first two open letters, HERE & HERE, like the legitimate concerns of tens of thousands of Canadians, have fallen on deaf ears and you have succeeded in getting the Camel’s nose of Islamophobia under the tent of Free Speech to start spitting and belching its offensive cud. Your Muslim Brotherhood compatriots must be wild with ‘celebration’ and I wonder now what sheikh’s ransom, time and governmental resources will be spent in committee pandering to your self-identified consistency group which appears to not include Christians since their most significant holidays of Good Friday or Easter Sunday do not appear in your constituency calendar, nor for that matter does Victoria Day. Printing mistakes or deliberate slights?… Ms. Khalid, you seem strangely silent when genuine instances of vile Anti-Semitism and hate speech occur in Canadian Mosques. Like that reported in the CBC article “Imam calling for Jews to be killed in sermon at Montreal mosque draws police complaint” Figure 1 “O Muslim, O servant of Allah, O Muslim, O servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” Jordanian cleric Sheikh Muhammad bin Musa Al Nasr

It is my understanding that such controversial clerics have been given the bully pulpit in a number of Canadian mosques, and the following statement from the aforementioned CBC article is most revealing:

“A Montreal mosque is facing a police complaint and rebukes from the larger Muslim community after a video of an imam delivering a sermon in which he asks for Jews to be killed surfaced online.”

What I find very disturbing is that the complaint and rebukes occurred AFTER the video surfaced online! Since no one appeared to object to what the imam was preaching nor did anyone walk out, and there was no complaint until they were caught in the act after the video was posted!

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Liberals to Announce Marijuana Will be Legal by July 1, 2018

CBC News has learned that the legislation will be announced during the week of April 10 and will broadly follow the recommendation of a federally appointed task force that was chaired by former liberal Justice Minister Anne McLellan.

[Comment: Globalists WANT a docile drugged up population too “out of it” to resist their plans for a global tyranny. Soros funds groups that push for the legalization of marijuana in the States also.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

EU Approves Hungarian Nuclear Plant Extension

The operation will be partly financed by Russia

(ANSA) — TRIESTE — The European Commission approved the extension of the Paks Hungarian nuclear plant, which is being financed by Russia, Euronews reports. For European officials some conditions must be fulfilled in order to avoid the operation being considered state aid. For example, one third of the electricity must be sold on the open market. The EU officials, Euronews added, made no reference to where the money is coming from. Critics say the project is another example of the Hungarian government looking to strengthen ties with Russia.

The expansion of Hungary’s nuclear power plant will be financed mostly with a loan from Russia of 10 billion euro and carried out by Russia’s Rosatom, The Independent reports.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Karl Marx’s German Birthplace Accepts Marx Statue From China

6.3 meters tall, leading to criticism from some in the city

(ANSA-AP) — BERLIN — The German city of Trier has decided to accept a statue of Karl Marx from China, marking the 200th anniversary of the father of communism’s birth.

The city council voted 42-7 with four abstentions Monday night to accept the gift, according to news agency dpa. The statue’s precise location and size are to be decided following further negotiations with China.

Initial plans by Chinese sculptor Wu Weishan called for the statue and its pedestal to be 6.3 meters tall, leading to criticism from some in the city.

Statues and streets named after Marx were common in communist East Germany. Many survived the collapse of communism, unlike tributes to more contemporary socialists.

Trier, near the border with Luxembourg, was in West Germany.

Marx was born there May 5, 1818.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

NLB Visits UK and US to Meet With Potential Buyers

Today started a roadshow to sell Slovenia’s biggest bank

(ANSA) — LJUBLJANA — Top representatives from the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH) started today a tour in the United Kingdom and the United States to meet with potential investors and promote the sale of Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), the country’s biggest bank. NLB, which was bailed out in 2013 and has since cost taxpayers approximately 2 billion euros, is still in public hands despite European Commission’s input to privatize it. According to a written note from SDH, the state is not interested in finding a single strategic investor, but it will instead try to sell the majority share to several big investors through the initial public offering (IPO) method. According to SDH’s plans, the deal should be closed by May 10th, otherwise the European Commission could decide to sell the bank’s subsidiary companies. The estimate of NLB’s value is being prepared by PriceWaterhouseCoopers consultants.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Northern Ireland: ‘Leprechaun’ Who Posed With Youngsters is Sex Offender

A dwarf who was booked to perform as a leprechaun at a teen disco has been revealed to be a sex offender who broke into a woman’s house and exposed himself.

Andrew Collins, 32, who used to call himself the ‘smallest person in Enniskillen’, appeared at the alcohol-free St Patrick’s celebration and posed for pictures with kids as young as 14.

But organisers were shocked to discover that he is a registered sex offender, who was made to sign the official register in October 2014 after forcing his way into a home and exposing his private parts.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Police Warned of Berlin Attacker as ‘Terrorist Threat’ 9 Months Before Assault

Terrorist sent messages that he was planning an attack

German criminal police tipped off the interior ministry of a potential “terrorist threat in form of a suicide-attack” by Anis Amri nine month before he ploughed a truck into a crowded Berlin Christmas market, Bild am Sonntag reports.

The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) apparently shared intelligence (indicating that Amri was plotting a terrorist attack in Germany) with the local federal interior ministry office in Dusseldorf in March 2016 — over half a year before the December attack.

In a confidential letter, seen by Bild am Sonntag, police stated that “according to the data available so far, the forecast can be made that Amri poses a terrorist threat in the form of a (suicide) attack,” citing as evidence some messages the future attacker sent in a chat on February 2, which was monitored by law enforcement.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Riots in Paris After Police Kill Chinese Father of Five

TENSIONS have flared in Paris as hundreds of angry protesters throw “projectiles” at police officers, to denounce the police killing of Shaoyo Liu.

The demonstrators from Paris’s Asian community grouped in front of the 19th arrondissement police station at 10pm GMT (before 9pm local time) before they began to unleash a flurry of attacks against officers.

Three people have been arrested after a police source told Le Parisian, three officers have been “slightly injured by jets of projectiles”.

Shaoyo Liu, 56, was killed by anti-crime police after they were called to his family home in the wake of a family disagreement.

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

Slovakia: “Europe’s Neo-Fascists Are Re-Emerging”, NYT Says

American newspaper investigates on Slovak’s far right

(ANSA) — TRIESTE — “Once in the shadows, Europe’s neo-fascists are stepping back out”, New York Times said, reporting what is happening in Slovakia, where “neo-fascists are winning regional offices and taking seats in Parliament”. “In Slovakia, a party with an established neo-fascist leader, Marian Kotleba, demonstrated surprising strength in last year’s parliamentary elections, winning 14 seats in the 150-member chamber”, Nyt added. Pre-election polls showed the People’s party our Slovakia getting less than 3% of the vote, but the final result (8%) was built on strong support from young people and other first-time voters. In 2013 the party had won the governorship of Banska Bystrica, one of Slovakia’s eight regions. More recent polls show support nearing 13%, Nyt said.

Kotleba used to appear in uniforms reminiscent of those worn in Slovakia during the wartime. Once he and his party got into Parliament, the uniforms disappeared and he shifted his attacks from Jews to immigrants and Roma minority. The populist mood energized the most extremist right-wing groups: “Before, pro-fascist sentiments were kept hidden. Now, you can say things in the public space that you couldn’t say before”, said Gabriel Sipos, director of Transparency International Slovakia. “Now, extremists and fascists are part of the system”, added Grigorij Meseznikov, president of the liberal Institute for Public Affairs.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Handed Merkel $375 Billion Invoice for NATO Defenses During Recent Visit

A couple of weeks ago we wrote several notes about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s painfully awkward visit to the White House. After meeting in private, the pair sat down in the oval office for a brief press conference where you could cut the tension with a knife. At one point someone from the media asked for a handshake but the request was promptly ignored.

Now, a couple of weeks later, we learn what may have prompted some of the tension in the room between Merkel and Trump that day. According to a new report from The Times of London today, Trump apparently took advantage of Merkel’s visit to Washington D.C. to pass her a $375 billion invoice for ‘overdue’ NATO defense expenses. Per The Hill, Merkel largely ignored the invoice though it certainly seems to have accomplished it’s goal of ruffling some feathers.

“The concept behind putting out such demands is to intimidate the other side, but the chancellor took it calmly and will not respond to such provocations,” a German minister told the newspaper.

Trump during his presidential campaign railed against the NATO alliance and has called for member countries to increase defense spending to support the organization. Merkel “ignored the provocation,” the Times said.

As reported, the invoice was based on a 2014 pledge from NATO countries to spend 2% of their GDP on national defense. As such, Trump allegedly instructed aides to calculate how much German spending fell below that 2% target for the past 12 years, added interest and created an invoice which he hand delivered.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Turks in Germany Start Voting in Referendum to Boost Erdogan’s Powers

Turks living in Germany began casting their ballots on Monday in a referendum that proposes changing Turkey’s constitution to increase President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers.

The controversial vote takes place amid increasingly strained ties between Turkey and Europe, home to an estimated 2.5 million Turkish citizens eligible to vote.

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

UK Targets WhatsApp Encryption After London Attack

“Completely unacceptable” police and security services unable to crack heavily encrypted service, UK home secretary says

The British government said Sunday that its security services must have access to encrypted messaging applications such as WhatsApp, revealing it was used by the killer behind the parliament attack.

Khalid Masood, the 52-year-old Briton who killed four people before being shot dead in a rampage in Westminster on Wednesday, reportedly used the Facebook-owned service moments before the assault.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd told Sky News it was “completely unacceptable” that police and security services had not been able to crack the heavily encrypted service.

“You can’t have a situation where you have terrorists talking to each other — where this terrorist sent a WhatsApp message — and it can’t be accessed,” she said.

[Comment: The perp was already on the radar of intelligence services — yet they did nothing. Never let a crisis go to waste…so now they demand that everybody’s private communication should be readable by the State…]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Police Begin Spying on Motorists From the Top Deck of a Double-Decker in a Bid to Catch Those Who Text Behind the Wheel

Police have started spying on motorists from the top of double-decker buses in a bid to catch those who use their phone behind the wheel.

A team commandeered a regular service bus to spy on drivers in Plymouth, Devon, from above in what is thought to be the first scheme of its kind in the country.

From their vantage point they could look down into cars and see motorists on their mobile phones or committing other traffic offences.

They alerted colleagues in waiting patrol cars or motorbikes to the offenders who were then pulled over.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Exclusive: Opposition Leader: Albania’s Soros-Affiliated Prime Minister is Ruining Our Country

The leader of the free-market opposition in Albania told Breitbart News Friday that democracy in his country is in great danger, as the left-wing prime minister Edi Rama has allowed corruption and crime to flourish there.

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

Kosovo: Belgrade Remembers Anti-Serb Violence 13 Years Ago

In March 2004, killings, houses and Orthodox churches destroyed

(ANSA) — BELGRADE — Serbia remembers on Friday with several initiatives the victims and the destruction of violent inter-ethnic clashes and anti-Serbian pogroms occurred 13 years ago in Kosovo, committed by the Albanians (majority population).

In schools all over the country, the first lesson was dedicated to remembrance and to debate on the violence. In a school in Belgrade the Education Ministers Mladen Sarcevic and Labour and Social Affairs Minister Alerksandar Vulin gave a speech, reiterating their request for seeking justice against perpetrators of violence and attacks against Serbs. In a dramatic escalation of violence and ethnic clashes that erupted in Kosovo 17 March 2004 and continued for three days, Kosovo Albanian extremists torched and destroyed about 35 Orthodox churches and monasteries, as well as hundreds of homes inhabited by Serbs, schools, public offices. Ten Serbs were killed, and eleven Albanians were killed in clashes with international forces, a thousand people were injured, dozens of vehicles of the UN mission UNMIK were damaged, while more than 4,000 Serbs were expelled and a dozen villages were subjected to ethnic cleansing. Marko Djuric, head of Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, said that the situation today is not hugely different from 13 years ago.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Revealed: Brussels ‘Secretly Promises’ To Quickly Begin EU Membership Talks With Macedonia

SENIOR eurocrats have secretly promised the leader of Macedonia’s opposition party that they will soon open talks on the country joining the EU, it emerged today.

Brussels foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini told Zoran Zaev that the bloc will start accession proceedings swiftly if he manages to take power in the coming days.

She is the second top EU Commission figure to have made the assurance to the social democrat chief, despite the fact that only the heads of the 28 member states have the power to begin negotiations.

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

Brexit Figure: EU States Powerless Over Immigration Security

European Union member states have no power over their own borders, according to a senior figure of the Brexit campaign.

EU leaders signed a “common future” declaration Saturday as the union celebrated its 60th birthday. Several countries have expressed skepticism over the project’s status and leaders have urged unity as the United Kingdom gets ready to leave.

Daniel Hannan, a British member of the European Parliament from the Conservative Party, thinks the EU has failed to create the “shared culture” necessary to run a functioning democracy. Free movement and the Eurozone were meant to bring security and prosperity to the EU, but both “turned out to be fair weather promises,” according to Hannan.

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

Italy, Greece Reach Migrant Saturation Point, Italy Says Some NGO Boats Work With Smugglers

The two southern European countries that absorb nearly all boat-borne refugees from North Africa and Turkey are taking steps to halt the arrivals, with both saying they have reached their limit.

The United Nation’s International Organization for Migration reports that 20,484 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea this year through mid-March. More than 80 percent — 16,248 — of that staggering number arrived in Italy, the second largest-number went to Greece and the third-largest to Spain.

Greek Migration Policy Minister Yannis Mouzalas said that his nation is not able to absorb any more and will not be taking any more refugees.

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

Rockville School Superintendent Says Parents’ Response to Alleged Rape is ‘Racist’

“Far too many have crossed the line with racist, xenophobic calls and emails”

The public outrage toward the illegal alien suspects accused of raping a 14-year-old freshman at Rockville High School has been “racist” and “xenophobic,” according to Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith.

Illegal aliens and Rockville High School student Sanchez Milian, 18, and Jose Montano, 17, allegedly forced the female victim into a bathroom stall on March 16 and “proceeded to rape her orally, vaginally, and anally,” Breitbart News reported.

Reaction to the alleged horror has been fierce. Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan slammed immigration enforcement and Montgomery County Public Schools in an interview with WTTG-TV.

“Why is an 18-year-old man in a class with 13- or 14-year-old girls?” Hogan asked. “Why was his status not known to those folks? Why was he allowed to enter the country after he was picked up for illegally crossing the border — both of them?”

Montgomery County residents’ reaction was also harsh-and, according to Smith, racially motivated.

“While I know this tragic incident has become part of a national political debate, I want to remind community members that the lives of real students have been forever affected,” Smith said in an email Thursday published by Townhall.com.

“While many have chosen to engage civilly in the conversation, far too many have crossed the line with racist, xenophobic calls and emails,” Smith wrote. “MCPS is working with law enforcement to identify those who are making threats toward our students and schools. This behavior will not be tolerated in our community.”

[Comment: Communists seeking to redirect the story of public outrage about illegal immigration into claims of “wacism” and “wacist” and have this fake news dominate the media…]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden’s “Feminist” Leader Says Foreign Rapists Should Not be Deported

Because white Swedes are not deported

This weekend the Feminist Initiative (FI) held its annual congress in Västerà ¥s. Hopes are high of getting into parliament next year, where the party would, among other things, push for absolutely free immigration. During the congress, Victoria Kawesa from Uganda was elected to Sweden’s first black party leader. Now she questions why foreign criminals are deported from Sweden, when “white Swedes” are not.

FI wants to push for scrapping the defense — and that Sweden should have completely free immigration.

– — These are some suggestions that hopefully will bring the Feminist Initiative party into parliament next year.

– — We are for a refugee amnesty, Victoria Kawesa clarifies.

The party also believes that no foreign nationals who commit crimes in Sweden are to be sentenced to deportation, no matter how serious the crime is.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Judge OKs Petition for America’s First ‘Genderless’ Person

First American to gain legal designation as “genderless”…

A Portland student has become the first American to gain legal designation as “genderless”, following a ruling by a Multnomah County judge.

The March 10 decision, reported for the first time on Thursday, involved a 27-year-old who was born male but claimed to identify with no gender whatsoever. Judge Amy Holmes, who approved the petition, also last year approved a “non-binary” gender designation for another Portland resident.

The 27-year-old formerly known as Patrick Abbatiello, now legally designated agender, also got legal approval to change names, now going only by “Patch,” no surname. That name also serves as a pronoun, Patch explained to the local NBC affiliate this week.

“Even gender-neutral pronouns don’t feel as if they fit me,” Patch said. “I feel no identity or closeness with any pronouns I’ve come across. What describes me is my name.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

What on Earth is Happening to Our Temperature?

In the great climate debate, some scientists say that Earth’s temps have remained flat for two decades, while others claim that we are setting records each year. Who’s right?

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

16 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/27/2017

  1. Greenfield: The Civil War is already here. Sadly, I think he is right. Those who have been successful in undermining the United States of America will not give up their gains, and I think we all must realize that and prepare for what is obviously ahead.

    This is one problem that the election of Donald J. Trump cannot rectify or even lessen the impact of, but I am sure he will get the blame for starting it when it all blows up such is the deceit of the Totalitarian.

  2. On those coppers in London hiding out in double deck buses to catch motorists texting.

    Seems the descent into stupidity knows no bounds after all.

    Maybe it is time aspiring motor vehicle drivers took a psyche test as to their vulnerability in taking up texting or anti-social behaviour while in charge of a motor vehicle? Or, maybe it is time that a law was enacted that removed the drivers ability to be able to be in charge of a motor vehicle once caught texting? Suspend the license for 12 months! Only the truly stupid could take to doing such an activity while driving a a now common lethal weapon.

    • Not London, I believe, but Plymouth.

      I’m with you otherwise; a few years back, my brother and I were driving from Vancouver to Seattle, and a woman in the next lane was drifting towards us while texting; she woke up when he hooted.

  3. Communist leaders of the Eu expanding it in violation of its own procedures. That is what commies do, folks. We see it inside the USA with our Marxist Democratic party and its judges.

  4. “Comment: Globalists WANT a docile drugged up population too “out of it” to resist their plans for a global tyranny. Soros funds groups that push for the legalization of marijuana in the States also.”

    Actually, globalists want to be able to lock people up for very little, anytime they want. Making drugs illegal is a great way to do this. The totalitarians the Drug Wars. They started on the Chinese in the 19th century. Legalization of marijuana frees lots of people who never should have been locked up, and who are now no longer living off the taxpayers. The question I am asking — what kind of stupor are the drug warriors in, that they support these kinds of policies, AFTER the Prohibition failed in front of their faces?!

    • Enthusiastically seconded, vera; the drug trade supports a huge criminal network, with massive costs in (attempted) law enforcement, corruption and deaths of innocent people, as in Mexico.

      • Those in the drug trade are generally involved in the manufacture of far more potent drugs than cannabis Mark.

        Most Western countries have de-criminalized the possession of cannabis for personal use and as it is a natural product, it is no longer controlled by organized criminals.

        Alcohol abuse is bad enough without allowing other competition.

    • vera, the cannabis that is now available is way more potent than that which is grown in ground and simply dried before use. Ever wonder why governments never keep statistics on illegal drug use and the social and medical effects such use has on a culture?

      One is able to access data on the effects of tobacco and alcohol abuse, but won’t find any data at all on the social fallout from illicit drug use.

      Instead of promoting more drug use you should be asking yourself what it is about some folk who think they need to use it.

    • Personally, I think the preferred instrument of oppression of the far-left and the globalist scum is the total evisceration of free speech by criminalizing “islamophobia” and “hate speech.”

      Next is the relegation to “ghost” status of too-persuasive thinkers on the web, adjunct to loss of job and loss of children.

      The AntiFa government auxilliary chastisement platoons and Einsatzgruppe Sturmkinderen are available for “special missions” against unrealistic persons.

      The drug war theme is small potatoes in this grand scheme.

      Not to mention that the idea of long sentences “only” for marijuana offenses is deceptive. Two-legged animals often as not enter the criminal justice system with drug crimes AND serious other crimes to their “credit.” They may be persuaded to plead guilty “only” to the lesser drug charge and the prosecutor does not have to waste time proving the more serious crime in court. Criminals don’t agree to serious time in prison for minor crimes.

      However, I think you’re right about the overall futility of sumptuary laws and the plans of the globalist elites. The cost of the drug war is enormous.

      • PS – offenders in the “minor drug possession” category are enthusiastically diverted to special drug programs. State courts and prosecutors are not fools and do not do stupid stuff like persecute stupid kids and overload the prisons, despite what fools may say about the private prison “ripoff.”

        My client with an existing record who sold drugs to an undercover officer, however …, well, he was offered 14 years IIRC. I told him he ought to think about jumping on that one! Drugs were a way of life to that man.

  5. There is no such thing as a “genderless” person. Look in your pants to find out what you are if you are that stupid. I’m sure to be castigated for being “uncaring” but I’m really getting tired of this sh*t. Everyone is either a he or a she but some people prefer to be an it and I don’t care. There are far more important problems in the world than this idiocy.

  6. ** “Before, pro-fascist sentiments were kept hidden. Now, you can say things in the public space that you couldn’t say before”, said Gabriel Sipos, director of Transparency International Slovakia. “Now, extremists and fascists are part of the system”, added Grigorij Meseznikov, president of the liberal Institute for Public Affairs. **

    Jose Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Angela Merkel, Chancelloress of Germany, were members of a communist party in their youths. Barroso was even a Maoist, a particularly vile flavor of that putrid political “solution” to what have you. Come to think of it, when it comes to theft, suffering, slavery, and mass political murder, communists took the gold in all events. Not that this is publicized much.

    So when we’re talking about extremists becoming part of the system, let’s get a grip. Or at least strive for an evenhanded view. People change but I’m unaware of Merkel favoring anyone with a repudiation of the vile system she served. Far from it, given her appointment of Ms. Kehane, the Stasi informer, to monitor the speech of frisky Germans. Stasi would be proud. If Kehane and co offered anything by way of truth and reconciliation I’ve not heard about it, though, regretably, that last part covers a lot of territory, it’s true.

    For reasons that I suppose are top secret, the stink of communism is not on these two luminaries (at the highest levels of European government, mind you), despite actual card-carrying and, in Merkel’s case, uniform-wearing communist party membership. (Sometimes she did not wear her uniform, but let’s not go into THAT.)

    HowEVerrrr, scrofulous farrightextremistpopulistNazifascists (sp?) are tarred with the certain, complete, undeniable, down-to-the-last-comma agendas of people whose political heyday lasted something like 15 years and ended 72 years ago. It was a magical period apparently. Something like the political equivalent of ctrl-alt-delete where every prior thought known to man was replaced by a supernova of Austrian thinking irresistably transplanting visions of killing fields, no, wait, concentration camps into impressionable, misguided brains.

    Fortunately, pockets of progressive wisdom and compassion still hold out to guide us in these dark neo-Nazi times.

  7. ** Revealed: Brussels ‘Secretly Promises’ To Quickly Begin EU Membership Talks With Macedonia **

    Brussels should at least have the common decency to wait until Ruritania, I mean Macedonia is inculcated into NATO before pressing ahead with E.U. membership.

    Next stop Singapore!

  8. Noted counter-jihad website abandons business model for try at satire website:

    Karl Marx’s German Birthplace Accepts Marx Statue From China – low-flying aircraft warning issued.

    Northern Ireland: ‘Leprechaun’ Who Posed With Youngsters is Sex Offender – shouldn’t there be a “known leprechauns” list?

    Police Warned of Berlin Attacker as ‘Terrorist Threat’ 9 Months Before Assault – last-minute warnings are useless.

    Riots in Paris After Police Kill Chinese Father of Five – officer safety.

    Trump Handed Merkel $375 Billion Invoice for NATO Defenses During Recent Visit – Visa and Mastercard accepted.

    Turks in Germany Start Voting in Referendum to Boost Erdogan’s Powers – shouldn’t that be “Germans” in Germany start voting…?

    UK: Police Begin Spying on Motorists From the Top Deck of a Double-Decker in a Bid to Catch Those Who Text Behind the Wheel – MI5 surveillance of Paul Weston and Tommy Robinson temporarily suspended.

    Exclusive: Opposition Leader: Albania’s Soros-Affiliated Prime Minister is Ruining Our Country – another dog-bites-man story already.

    Brexit Figure: EU States Powerless Over Immigration Security – you think?

    Italy, Greece Reach Migrant Saturation Point, Italy Says – 500,000,000 is just too much.

    Some NGO Boats Work With Smugglers – shocker.

    Rockville School Superintendent Says Parents’ Response to Alleged Rape is ‘Racist’ – keepin’ it real.

    Feminist” Leader Says Foreign Rapists Should Not be Deported – you can’t make this stuff up!

    Judge OKs Petition for America’s First ‘Genderless’ Person – to do what? I’m afraid to ask.

    Accused ISIS Supporter Sorry for Embarrassing Islam – now that’s hilarious.

  9. Re climate temperatures, here on the BC coast we are also being told we’re experiencing record warm temperatures, yet this winter all the local ponds were frozen over and the kids were playing ice-hockey for over 5 weeks, yet this has happened only once before in our 25 years at the coast.

    Rising sea levels? Where? I’ve been a sailor for most of my retirement and have noticed nothing, but I contacted the Institute of Ocean Sciences and was told:
    “Well it’s actually difficult to find a landmass anywhere which is stable enough to measure from, e.g. North America is moving around, and Scandinavia is rising rapidly, NZ’s south island is rising on the west side and falling on the east side; however we think the oceans MIGHT have risen 2-4 mm, over the last 200 years”.

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