The employee of the Emergency Management Agency of Hawaii who caused yesterday’s ballistic missile panic is distraught over what happened. The employee, who “pushed the wrong button” and triggered the alert, is said to “feel terrible”.
In other news, anti-capitalist demonstrators have taken to the streets of Bern, Switzerland to protest Donald Trump’s intended visit to next week’s Davos conference.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Charles Low, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, 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.
Bitcoin Shouldn’t Become the New ‘Swiss Bank Account’: Mnuchin
Dominant digital currency bitcoin should not be allowed to become the Swiss bank account of the modern era used to hide illicit activity, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Public Employees Retirement System Pers Could Bankrupt Oregon
The Statesman Journal showed on 2/14/2017 hundreds if not thousands of workers and retirees taking center stage before the Capitol and later giving testimony before the Senate Committee on Workforce. Two proposed bills— one that would change the calculation used to determine final average salary, and a second that would direct employee contributions away from individual account programs and would have the potential to reduce the unfunded liability by billions of dollars. This sounds like more hocus pocus to a layman.
In order to cover the “unfunded liability” which is around $20 billion, a November 2, 2017 Statesman article reported a PERS 7-member task force was finding more than a dozen routes to raise up to $5 billion over the next five years which includes privatizing public universities and selling SAIF, the state’s worker’s compensation insurance agency.
Allen Alley Describes PERS Dilemma
Our local Christian talk show host on KPJC (1220) in Salem and also an Oregon legislator, Bill Post had businessman Allen Alley, 63, as a guest for an hour trying to describe what must happen for the Oregon Public Employee’s pension to remain solvent emphasizing repeatedly those that have been in the system since its unconstitutional creation in 1945 under Democrat governor Earl Snell, are safe but legislation must be passed that all new public employees will be given 401Ks. In 1975 legislators became eligible for PERS under Democrat Governor Robert Straub; however, Bill Post says a couple years ago that was rescinded and he is not eligible. As early as 2002 Republican legislators tried to “reform” PERS but Democrats promised a staged walkout if the bill was brought up for a vote even though the legislature had a $482 million shortfall. While the PERS was unconstitutional in the first place, it got worse when the COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT was included in 1963.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela: A Country in Meltdown
Venezuela’s inflation rate is already the highest in the world but is set for a new record. Even in the capital, people are struggling to afford basic goods and services on incomes once regarded as more than adequate.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The news the past few days has been about Donald Trump’s supposed verbiage used to describe nations known by all civilized societies to be hell holes. The President theoretically used a different word… but I wouldn’t believe anything Democrat Senator Durbin from Illinois said if my life depended on it.
There were six members of Congress in the room. Dick Durbin is the only one who heard President Trump say “s**t holes.” I find it interesting that Durbin had nothing to say about Barrack Obama when he called Libya a “s**t show.” There is evidently a difference in Durbin’s mind between a “s**t hole” and a “s**t show.”
In this instance, Donald Trump is the realist to whom John Galt refers; Dick Durbin is the con man… and panic motivates this kind of behavior, as Rand’s John Galt said it would.
The fact is, Trump is right in his assessment. And it has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with poverty, dependency, violence, poor health, and the drain the natives of hell holes place on our economy when millions of them enter our country illegally every year.
If one seeks truth, one cannot ignore a significant fact about which no one speaks. It is this: All of the nations of the world being invaded are white-dominated societies; all of the invaders are non-whites. If that simple fact makes me a racist, so be it. It makes the fact racist, too.
A second fact is this: The only race of people in history that has consistently avoided or quickly thrown off the bonds of slavery is the white race. This may lead you to recognize a third fact.
That third fact is this: It is a distinct possibility that the reason all white nations on this planet are being invaded by non-white populations is not because the invaders are in any way inferior. Nor is the invasion of white worlds occurring because corrupt politicians worldwide want to hold out a compassionate hand to those in need. It’s quite possible the invasion is because as long as whites dominate by number any nation, it is impossible to enslave that nation. And the world government theme is based on precisely that: enslaving the labor class to serve an elitist class… the planned oligarchy. History tells us that non-whites do not defend against slavery as determinedly as whites do. It’s as simple as that. Pick up a history book and check it out.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
FCA to Put 1 Bn Into Michigan Plant to Bring Pickups Back
Ram Heavy Duty pickup production to return from Mexico
(ANSA) — Rome, January 12 — Fiat Chrsyler Automobiles said Thursday it was set to invest over one billion dollars in its plant at Warren in Michigan, where it will move from Mexico the production of the next generation of Ram Heavy Duty pickups.
The company said the move will add 2,500 jobs in Metro Detroit by 2020, when the plant retooling is completed.
It also said it would give 60,000 US workers a 2,000-dollar bonus, also thanks to President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
God Forbid; Oprah as President?
The American Left’s Oprah-mania about her running for president in 2020 is truly absurd. What on earth qualifies Oprah to run our country? I do not consider myself White House material. But if Oprah qualifies, I am a far superior candidate.
Years ago when Oprah became a national phenomenon, I coined the phrase, the Oprah-lizaton of America. It seemed like Oprah seduced many Americans into placing feelings above facts and logic.
Fake news media and most politicians have become Oprah-rized, behaving as though feelings trump everything. For example. Rather than honestly dealing with the negative consequences of illegals invading our country, Leftists and politicians are most concerned with the emotional side of the issue. God forbid we hurt the feelings or harm the self-esteem of illegals who do not give a rat’s derriere about our country or assimilating.
So now, the American Left is giddy over the thought of Oprah becoming our first queen. We’ve seen this horror movie before titled, “Eight Years of Obama”. Fake news media and wimpy republicans would allow Oprah to behave as queen, free to overrule the Constitution; given full reign to cram extreme liberalism down our throats. Opposing or disagreeing with Oprah would be deemed racist and sexist.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hawaii’s False Missile Threat: Worker ‘Feels Terrible’ After Pushing the Wrong Button
After Hawaii emergency officials confirmed that an alert about an inbound ballistic missile was a mistake, they said the employee who pushed the wrong button feels awful about the panic-inducing incident.
Vern Miyagi, who oversees the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (EMA), said at a news conference late Saturday that the civil defense employee who pushed the wrong button regrets what took place.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Media’s Propaganda of Biblical Proportions and Barack Obama
Breitbart recently reported that former President Barack Obama took the title of “Most Admired Man” for the tenth consecutive year in a row, and former first lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton is the “Most Admired Woman” for the 15th consecutive year in a row, according to a Gallup poll.
This is clearly nothing short of propaganda.
Propaganda, in this case, is an attempt to cause the readers to believe that they have the support of the masses, which they do not.
Remember their tactics America:
“Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” — Saul Alinsky, “Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals,” p. 126
The truth of the matter is that the headline should have stated, Barack Hussein Obama (Soetoro Sobarkah), the “Most Despised Man” in America, and Hillary Clinton, the “Most Despised Woman” in America…
Don’t you remember that in the 2010 elections, 63 Democratic representatives were unseated?
Do you remember that Barack Hussein Obama had to move the 2012 Democratic Convention from a 74,000-seat arena to a 20,000-seat arena, and he still couldn’t fill the seats by giving away free tickets?
Do you remember when it was reported in Milwaukee that people filled up an 18,000-seat arena to see Barack Hussein Obama, when in fact there were only 5,000 seats available?
Do you remember that 70 percent of Obama’s Twitter followers were found to be fake accounts, created out of thin air?
Do you remember when Stevie Wonder couldn’t get 200 people to show up for a fundraiser for Barack Hussein Obama?
Did you forget that during the re-election inauguration there weren’t even enough people in Washington, D.C. to fill up the hotel rooms?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Barack Obama, envious of President Donald J. Trump’s legacy after just one year in the White House and the elimination of his unconstitutional and anti-American executive orders attacked Fox News and its viewers again.
According to the malignant narcissist, viewers of Fox are “living on a different planet.” Obama wants to keep Americans in their dark about his criminal cabal and activities during the time that he besmirched the Oval Office. If only Fox viewers would watch NPR instead.
NPR, like CNN, is part of the Communist media complex who along with their comrades spews anti-Trump propaganda and lied to Americans for two years about the 2016 presidential election claiming until the final moments that Hillary Clinton would become the 45th president of the United States. Fakes news, propaganda, smear campaigns and espousing deep state talking are what Obama ordains real news. It’s not.
Look at it this way, Americans who do not watch Fox are in the dark about Obama’s unmasking, members of the Trump campaign and one only knows how many Americans.
The likes of NPR hides the sins of Hussein Obama from his body count to Uranium One, Operation Fast and Furious to his role in the non-existent Trump/Russia collusion narrative.
The left does not want to know because they can’t handle the truth.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump in ‘Excellent Health,’ Doctor Says After First Physical
President Donald Trump is in “excellent health,” according to presidential physician Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, who examined the president on Friday after a week of fresh questions about whether the 71-year-old commander in chief is mentally fit for office.
“The president’s physical exam today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland went exceptionally well,” Jackson said in a statement on Friday. “The president is in excellent health and I look forward to briefing some of the details on Tuesday.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Angela Merkel’s Conservatives Rule Out Amendments to Preliminary Coalition Deal
Angela Merkel’s conservatives have insisted they won’t make any more concessions to the Social Democrats before formal coalition negotiations begin. SPD delegates are set to vote next week on the preliminary agreement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Trump Protest in Swiss Capital Ahead of Davos Visit
Several hundred anti-capitalist demonstrators marched in Switzerland’s capital Bern on Saturday to protest against US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
With placards reading “Eat the rich” and “Fight WEF, Trump, capitalism”, the protesters also targeted the annual meeting of the world’s political and business elite at a luxury Swiss ski resort.
Davos often draws small protests against its famous participants and global trade agenda, but with the surprise announcement this week that Trump will attend this year’s January 22nd-26th meeting, Swiss authorities warned “a high potential for violence must be assumed” at demonstrations across the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austrians Demonstrate Against Far-Right Coalition
More than 20,000 people rallied on Saturday in Vienna against Austria’s new conservative-far right coalition over its hardline stances on immigration and social policy, police said.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgaria to Take First Steps Towards Euro
Bulgaria will take the first steps towards joining the euro before the summer, its finance minister said on Thursday (11 January).
Vladislav Goranov told a group of journalists in Sofia that Bulgaria will “most likely apply in the first semester” to the EU Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), the mandatory phase before effectively adopting the EU single currency.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cambridge to Set up Regeni Scholarship, ‘Fully Cooperating’
To honour Italian student tortured and murdered in Cairo
(ANSA) — Cambridge, January 11 — Cambridge University is to set up a scholarship in the name of Giulio Regeni, the Italian student tortured and murdered in Cairo while doing research for the British university early in 2016, university press office spokesman Angel Gurria told ANSA Thursday. Gurria said the university was working on the initiative to honour the PhD student who was doing research on Egyptian streetseller trade unions when he was abducted. Regeni’s former supervisor, Dr Maha Abdelrahman, is “fully cooperating” with Rome prosecutors in their probe into his death, the university told ANSA in a statement Thursday. Dr Abdelrahman answered “all the questions” put to her by the prosecutors on Tuesday, and said she had “voluntarily handed over the documents requested” when her home and office were searched Wednesday. The university said it, too, would fully cooperate with the probe.
The university had been criticised in Italy for allegedly being tight-lipped on the case.
Italiam media also reported Thursday that Abdelrahman’s files were seized because she had again failed to answer questions. Regeni was abducted on January 25, 2016, the heavily policed fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled former strongman Hosni Mubarak. His tortured body was found on the road to Alexandria on February 3. Egyptian security forces, who are frequently accused of brutally repressing opponents, have said they had no part in the death of the Friuli-born researcher, whose work on trade unions was politically sensitive.
In the search of Dr Abdelrahman’s home and office, Rome prosecutors seized a PC, pen drive, hard disk and cellphone. Dr Abdelrahman reportedly told the prosecutors Tuesday Regeni had freely chosen his PhD subject.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: The Terror Attack Survivors Who Refuse to be Silenced
Gathered in the Danish capital for a conference of terror attack survivors, artists and journalists vowed to continue fighting for free speech, despite a wave of violence targeting critical voices.
“We are all targeted, indiscriminately, and the more of us choose to stay silent, the more dangerous it becomes for the few who continue speaking out, like me,” said Zineb El Rhazoui, a 35-year-old journalist from French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
She was on holiday on January 7, 2015, when jihadists broke into the Paris offices of the magazine, massacring 12 people in an attack that shook France and the world.
Her commitment to her beliefs has not come without a cost; everywhere she goes, she is accompanied by security guards.
Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who in 2007 sparked controversy with his drawings of Muslim Prophet Mohammad, said nothing would change if he stopped working.
“If you stop, the things going on will not stop,” Vilks said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark Faces ‘Serious’ Terrorism Risk — Security & Intelligence Agency
The terrorist threat in Denmark remains “serious,” with some jihadists who left Europe to join Islamic State now returning and possibly planning attacks at home, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) said in a report.
Military action against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Syria and Iraq has reduced the terrorist group’s capacity, PET said. Nevertheless, people in the West are being asked to commit terrorist attacks; at least 150 Danish nationals have joined IS since 2012, according to the report.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Earliest Fossil Evidence of Butterflies and Moths, Dating Back 200 Million Years, Found in Germany
An international group of paleontologists has found the oldest fossilized remains of insects from the order Lepidoptera known to date. The fossils, mostly wing scales, are more than 70 million years older than the oldest fossils of flowering plants, and they shed new light on the so-far presumed co-evolution between flowering plants and pollinating insects.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
First Scandinavians Came From North and South
Scandinavia has been a melting pot of cultures ever since the first people arrived after the last ice age, new DNA analyses show.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gallus and the Irish Monks: Grandfathers of European Culture?
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages. It might have fallen further had it not been for the epic efforts of a band of Irish monks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Berlin’s Police Problem
by Stefan Frank
According to reports, frequent, habitual and sometimes criminal misconduct by Berlin’s police cadets, especially those with a migrant background, is rampant in the Berlin-Spandau police academy.
Recently, an Arab intern, working at a Berlin police precinct, copied confidential data from investigations into a Lebanese organized-crime clan, and sent it to unidentified recipients.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s SPD at Odds Over Coalition Plan
Leading members of Germany’s Social Democrats voiced scepticism Sunday over a preliminary coalition agreement reached with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, days after the hard-fought deal was hailed as a breakthrough.
Berlin’s SPD Mayor Michael Müller said he was “very critical” about entering into another government with Merkel’s CDU/CSU bloc after all three parties slumped to their worst results in decades in last September’s election.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany is Brainwashing Children to Become Muslim Since More Than a Decade
Last week we told about a German children’s program that was encouraging a relationship between a young German girl and a Muslim migrant of at least 25-years-old.
But looking back at history the brainwashing started much earlier. According to our German source, this was a 2006 series about a woman who became Muslim and told her son that every child is a Muslim. Decide for yourself what you see and how this will influence the viewpoints of children.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Braces for Life After Merkel as Coalition Worries Put Chancellor’s Future in Doubt
A recent poll by YouGov and DPA showed 47 per cent of respondents thought Merkel would not complete a fourth term as chancellor and her position has not been helped by the coalition talks which have rumbled on for months.
The chancellor appeared before the media on Friday to announce that she’d finally reached an agreement with her old coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD).
However, there is a way to go before the new coalition can be confirmed and leading members of the SPD have vowed to press for improvements to the blueprint agreed at the end of last week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Golden Boy Macron Pushes Brussels Agenda: ‘EU Cannot Move Forward Without France and Germany’
Mr Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have a close relationship, although cracks have begun to show in recent weeks as Germany is still without a government.
But the French President threw his support behind Germany again this week as he insisted the European Union would not be able to progress without the support of the two major powers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Is Germany’s Political Left Coming Apart at the Seams?
The Social Democrats are fighting about their future, while others want a new party to unite the left. The disunity has been long in the making and uncomfortably recalls Germany’s past, says DW’s Jefferson Chase.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 2 Hera Workers Nabbed in Graft Probe
‘Demanded cash from companies’
(ANSA) — Ravenna, January 12 — Two office workers at Bologna-based multi-utilities company Hera were arrested Friday for allegedly demanding money from companies subcontracting work with the group. Police said they asked for money from companies they were supposed to monitoring for their performance in supplying public services.
Among the other charges, against one of the employees, is setting up two sponsorships for the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in the Tuscan city of Massa Carara.
The worker in question was a councillor there until 2013, police said.
In 2015, they said, he induced the heads of two companies working for Hera to sponsor PD events. Hera (Holding Energia Risorse Ambiente, Energy Resource Environment Holdings) operates in the distribution of gas, water, energy, and waste disposal in the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì-Cesena, Modena, Ravenna, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, and in some municipalities of Florence and Ancona.
Hera said in a statement that it had “nothing to do” with the probe.
It said the workers implicated had been suspended.
When it was first informed of the probe in March 2016 it filed suit to be the injured party, the company said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Teacher Faces Trial for Molesting Pupils
At top liceo in Rome
(ANSA) — Rome, January 12 — A teacher at a top Rome liceo risks trial for molesting girl students, sources said Friday.
Maurizio Gracceva, a history and philosophy teacher at Liceo Classico Tasso, has been accused by several students, sources said.
He has declined to comment on the case.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Leonardo Lands European Maritime Security Contact
15 countries, 42 partners involved in OCEAN2020
(ANSA) — Milan, January 12 — A consortium led by Italian defence and aerospace giant Leonardo has landed ‘OCEAN2020’, an major European tender competition for maritime security via the integration of pilot-free platforms in surveillance and interception missions, sources said Friday. The OCEAN2020 team features the participation of 15 countries with 42 different partners, including the defence ministries of Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Lithuania, and the support of the defence ministries of Sweden, France, Britain, Estonia and the Netherlands.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Grand Coalition if Left Accepts Programme — Berlusconi
‘Possible, but I don’t think so’ says ex-PM
(ANSA) — Rome, January 11 — A grand coalition government is possible after the March 4 general election if the centre left “accepts our programme”, ex-premier and centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday. He said this was “possible, but I don’t think so.” He said the centre left would have to “totally” accept the centre right’s programme. Berlusconi was answering a question on the likely stalemate after the March 4 vote.
If this happens, as most polls show now, the three-time ex-premier said a German-style grand coalition could be tried as it was after the inconclusive result in 2013.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: De Benedetti-Renzi Call Leak Probed
Businessman-broker call on bank reform leaked from panel
(ANSA) — Rome, January 11 — Rome prosecutors have opened a probe into a leak of a 2015 phone conversation between businessman Carlo De Benedetti and his broker in which the left-leaning financier says he has heard from then premier Matteo Renzi of the government’s plans to reform ‘popolari’ cooperative banks, judicial sources said Thursday. De Benedetti allegedly took advantage of the alleged tip-off to profit from investing in the popolari. The call was among documents presented to a parliamentary commission of inquiry into Italy’s banking crisis, from which it was allegedly leaked. Prosecutors said they were proceeding against “person or persons unknown”.
Prosecutors shelved a case of alleged conflict of interest over the Renzi-De Benedetti call. Renzi, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said that news of the reform had already been reported, in any case.
But critics of Renzi have jumped on the case to claim the then premier was involved in a conflict of interests with PD backer De Benedetti, who owns the leaft-leaning la Repubblica newspaper.
Former premier and media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, a longtime political and business rival of De Benedetti’s, said Wednesday he had been “caught with his hand in the cookie jar”. Anti-establishment 5-Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio said the case was a “scandal”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Diaw 30 Yr-Term for Olsen Murder Upheld
American woman strangled in Florence in January 2016
(ANSA) — Florence, January 10 — Senegalese national Cheik Diaw, 27, on Wednesday had his 30-year prison term upheld for the murder of American artist Ashley Olsen in Florence on January 9 2016.
The prosecutor in the Florence appeals case had requested life imprisonment.
Diaw was arrested January 14 2016 after he was identified with help from surveillance camera footage as leaving a club with the victim and subsequently accompanying her to her home.
Olsen, 35, was found by her Italian artist boyfriend Federico Fiorentini in her flat with trauma to the head and signs of ligature strangulation on January 9.
She had been out of touch with Fiorentini for a few days following an argument, and had spent the night with Diaw.
According to initial reports, the Senegalese man admitted under interrogation to being responsible for her death but said it was not intentional.
Olsen, originally from Florida, was living in Florence where her father, an architect, works at an art school.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lufthansa Wants Major Alitalia Cuts Before Buy
Reuters reports on CEO Spohr letter to Calenda
(ANSA) — Rome, January 11 — Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr has sent a letter to Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda telling him that the German airline would only be willing to acquire Alitalia after major restructuring, Reuters reported Thursday.
“While recognising the valuable measures that have been undertaken to date… we strongly believe that there remains a considerable amount of work to be achieved before Lufthansa would be in the position to enter comprehensively into the next phase of the process,” Spohr said in the letter, according to Reuters.
Under Lufthansa control the company would be smaller in terms of both staff and fleet, it said.
Alitalia was put into extraordinary administration last year after workers voted against a restructuring plan. Calenda has said the government is considering three offers for the former flag carrier.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Malta: EU Island of ‘Impunity and Fear’
Corruption allegations are not being properly investigated in Malta, MEPs have said, highlighting a case on EU passport sales and a top official.
Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), a government agency, wrote two reports in 2016 on Keith Schembri, the chief of staff of Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Man Arrested After Swedish Pizzeria Shooting
A 19-year-old man has been arrested after two people were injured during a shooting at a pizzeria in the Flogsta neighbourhood in Uppsala.
The man gave himself in to police voluntarily and was placed under arrest on Saturday night, reports TT.
“One person was arrested during the afternoon. The 19-year-old man came to police of his own volition,” police spokesperson Lisa Sannervik said.
Sannervik confirmed that the man was suspected of two counts of attempted murder, but did not go into detail regarding why he had chosen to turn himself in.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mohammed Most Popular Name for Newborn Boys in the Netherlands for Second Year in a Row
Dutch mainstream media reported that Noah was the most popular baby name for boys in the Netherlands, but a little digging turned out a different finding.
The author says, it is the second year in a row that Mohammed is the most popular name for baby boys: In 2016 there were 724 baby’s named Mohammed (or one of it’s Arabic alternatives) in the Netherlands.
He also mentions that the same tendency was seen in England in 2016: It is not Oliver, but Mohammed (with all its permutations), that is the most popular name for baby boys.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: 13-Year-Old Muslim Tries to Kill His Mother Because “Women Are Not Allowed to Divorce”
A thirteen-year-old boy from Arnhem, the Netherlands, stabbed his mother in September last year, because she recently divorced his father. The attempted murder trial started today and will be resumed in March.
According to his mother the reason for the divorce was physical abuse. The woman therefore lived with her youngest child at a secret address.
In Afghan culture, the mother “dishonoured the family” with the divorce and she was at risk of being killed. The father reacted to the divorce by leaving the Netherlands with their two children without the mother’s consent. He taught his son that a mother should never divorce her husband according to Afghan tradition.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway’s Liberals to Join Conservative-Led Government
Norway’s Conservative-led government has agreed to include the small centrist Liberal Party in the cabinet, expanding it to three parties from two and promising further tax cuts, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Sunday.
In a joint statement, Solberg’s Conservative Party, the smaller right-wing Progress Party and the Liberals also said they will continue to reform Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, but stopped short of promising specific change.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland’s Government Reshuffle Boosts Support for Ruling Party
WARSAW: Public support for Poland’s ruling conservatives has risen while backing for the biggest opposition party fell as a recent government reshuffle helped ease voters’ dissatisfaction with Warsaw’s clashes with the EU, an opinion poll showed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Soros Donation Helped to Boost Amnesty’s Revenue by 8%
The controversial €137,000 donation from a George Soros funded organisation to Amnesty International Ireland contributed to a 8 per cent boost in human right’s group’s revenues in 2016.
Amnesty International Ireland is standing firm in refusing to adhere to a request from the Standards in Public Office Commission to return the money. Ireland’s campaign finance laws prohibit foreign donors giving money to groups involved in elections, or referendums here.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden to Re-Issue Booklet of World War Precautions
A booklet containing advice on how to cope with the outbreak of world war is set for a re-release after 30 years.
An updated version of the pamphlet Om kriget kommer (If War Comes) will be sent to Swedish homes in May or June, reports newspaper Aftonbladet.
First released in the 1940s during the Second World War, the booklet contains tips for citizens on what to do should Sweden become involved in a war.
The most recent version of the war advice book was produced in the 1980s. But with regional security considered to have worsened in recent years, and terrorism also having emerged, authorities have decided to re-issue the book with new content to reflect today’s national security circumstances.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Police Officer Admits Hand Grenades Are Easy to Find for Criminals
Grenade attacks in Sweden are becoming increasingly more common and, according to a police officer and a former criminal, the small explosive weapons are readily available and inexpensive.
Police officer Gunnar Appelgren, the coordinator of the Stockholm police force’s gang conflict programme, has admitted that hand grenades are easy to find in Sweden and that many young men involved in organised crime buy them to “shock” their rivals, Expressen reports.
“In 2017, until the end of November, 22 hand grenades were found in Stockholm, of which 12 had exploded,” Appelgren said, and added that criminal networks who employ deadly violence often have easy access to hand grenades.
Appelgren said the reason for the demand for hand grenades was due to the fact that gangs often wanted whatever their rivals could purchase.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Destruction of Paris: How the City of Light Became the City of Garbage
Soon, Paris became the new Calais camp replete with tents, mattresses and mountains of garbage on the streets. Their mere presence changed large swathes of the French capital from a city that was once Europe’s cultural centre, a beacon of civilisation, into an almost literal Third World migrant jungle.
Several ghetto camps formed throughout the city, it was as if the banlieues (suburbs) where rioting and car burnings occur with little pretext had moved themselves into the centre of the city; entire neighbourhoods were transformed into garbage dumps. Near canals, metro tracks, train stations, parks and even near a road in the 19th arrondissement of Paris vast mountains of rubbish accumulated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Hunt Down Facebook Users Who Made ‘Offensive’ Comments About Muslim Grooming Gangs Online
Northumbria Police have warned that “offensive” comments on the Internet will not be tolerated, tracking down users who made “potentially criminal” posts on social media about grooming gangs.
The force launched an investigation into comments left on its Facebook page in response to articles about the Operation Shelter scandal, in which young white British girls in were groomed, sexually abused and trafficked by mostly Muslim men of South Asian descent in Newcastle.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trevor Phillips has made a documentary delving into the beliefs of Muslims living in Britain. Politicians speak a lot about how important integration into society is when it comes to immigration.
Certainly, a big part of integrating into a society is taking on the set of beliefs of that society. After all, the beliefs and values form a great part of a country’s culture.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Urges Caution, Warns of Possible Terror Attacks in Kosovo
The United States is warning its citizens to “exercise increased caution in Kosovo due to terrorism” and listed some areas Washington thinks are at increased risk.
The State Department warning issued Friday said that “terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in the Balkans region, including Kosovo.”
It also advises that politically motivated violence occurs throughout Kosovo. The warning lists four regions where members of Kosovo’s Serb minority live as experiencing tensions that could lead to violence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fresh Protests in Tunisia on Anniversary of Arab Spring Uprising
The anti-austerity rallies are the latest to hit Tunisia since the beginning of January. Sunday marks seven years since the North African country’s peaceful transition to democracy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia Protests: Reforms Announced Amid New Rallies
The Tunisian government has announced a wave of social reforms, reacting to days of demonstrations by anti-austerity protesters.
There were fresh protests on Sunday, the seventh anniversary of the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
Emergency government meetings have been held in response to the protests, which have seen more than 800 arrests.
President Beji Caid Essebsi visited a district of Tunis on Sunday, saying he understood the people’s suffering.
Protesters have taken to the streets again following calls from opposition parties.
They argue conditions have not improved since Ben Ali was deposed as president at the start of the so-called Arab Spring uprisings.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jerusalem Embassy: Abbas Says Trump Plan ‘Slap of the Century’
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has described US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace efforts as the “slap of the century”.
At a meeting of Palestinian leaders, he stressed he would not accept any peace plan from the US after it recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
He also accused Israel itself of putting an end to the Oslo Accords, which began the peace process in 1995.
Mr Trump has threatened to cut aid if the Palestinians reject peace talks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinian Leader Abbas Rips Trump, Vows ‘We Will Slap Back’ At President
The Palestinian president railed at President Donald Trump in a fiery, two-hour-long speech on Sunday, saying “shame on you” for his treatment of the Palestinians and warning that he would have no problem rejecting what he suggested would be an unacceptable peace plan.
The speech by Mahmoud Abbas ratcheted up what has been more than a month of harsh rhetoric toward Trump since the president’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Relations between Washington and the Palestinians have sunk to a new low, boding poorly for a peace plan the White House has promised to present.
Speaking to the Palestinian Central Council, a decision-making body, Abbas repeated the Palestinians’ opposition to Trump’s Jerusalem recognition and censured Trump for accusing the Palestinians of refusing to negotiate.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The year was 2011, and a freshman in Newton South High School, in Newton, Massachusetts, asked her father if it was true that the “Israeli occupation forces” had “imprisoned, tortured and killed” hundreds of Arabic women who had been “active in the Palestinian resistant movement.” Her father, Tony Pagliuso, asked for the source of this misinformation. It was her 540-page Arab World Studies Notebook, a highly explosive textbook filled with fabrications, shown to contribute, at least in part, to the marked decrease, from 84 to 57 percent, in student sympathy for Israel. In another textbook, The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography, a question reads, “If a Palestinian suicide bomber kills several dozen Israeli teenagers in a Jerusalem restaurant, is that an act of terrorism or wartime retaliation against Israeli government policies and army actions?” These are not unique.
The editor, Audrey Park Shabbas, employed by Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services, authored the volume to improve the Arab image because the truth is unpalatable in Western society, and the Israeli image is scapegoated in the process, consistent with the 1400-year Islamic war against Jews and Western civilization. Schools also distribute Scholastic’s maps that omit Israel from the modern Middle East.
Other education sources used across America are the Internet’s Flashpoints: Guide to World Conflicts, which identifies Jerusalem as the capital of (the non-existent) Palestine; handouts that omit the numerous and deadly Arab terrorist attacks on Israel; and A Muslim Primer that presents a deceptive, sugar-coated version of the subjugated Muslim woman’s life. Biased textbooks in use throughout America are World History: The Human Odyssey; World History: Human Legacy; World Civilizations: The Global Experience; A Muslim Primer: Beginner’s Guide to Islam, and more. I have personally reviewed four textbooks and written expose’s accordingly, and many concerned professionals and members of the public are working hard to combat the manipulation of our youth, but the disinformation continues to proliferate…
The textbooks elevate Islam over Judaism and Christianity, one being John Esposito’s Islam, the Straight Path, in which he declares that revelations given to the Jews and Christians were false. By contrast, he cites as truth, rather than belief, that God sent Muhammad as his final messenger and that God’s sacred language is Arabic. Students write about Moslem pilgrimages, including to Jerusalem as “your homeland,” when Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran. Many textbooks explain the rise and spread of Islam as being a successful acceptance of ideas, rather than the result of persecution and wantonly destructive conquerors who beheaded the non-believers, kidnapped the women for forced conversion and sexual slavery, and enriched themselves with appropriated bounty.
The textbooks’ definition of jihad varies from the benign, the spiritual struggle within oneself against sin, to the traditional, the struggle against the enemies of Islam, but the goal is always the same — that of bringing the whole world under Islamic law, as explained by Bernard Lewis. Omitted is the account of hundreds of members of the Jewish Meccan tribe, the Quarayza, beheaded in 627 AD for rejecting Muhammad as Prophet, and the more than 109 verses in the Quran that decree violence and death to Jews and Christians, and the destruction of Israel.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Delivers Jordan €18 Million in Military Equipment
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the equipment would help bolster Jordan’s border surveillance. She said Germany and Europe “have an interest in Jordan’s stability.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Iran Investment 5 Bn Accord Signed
Between Invitalia Investment and Iranian banks
(ANSA) — Rome, January 11 — Italy’s Invitalia Global Investment and the Iranian banks Bank of Industry and Mines and Middle East Bank on Thursday signed a Master Credit Agreement setting terms and conditions for future investment contracts worth up to five billion euros. The contracts will span the sectors of energy, infrastructure, chemicals, petrochemicals and metallurgic, the two sides said. The contracts will be covered by a sovereign guarantee issued by the Iranian government, the parties said. Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan and Iranian Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khazaee hailed the deal.
Khazaee is also head of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
A passenger jet carrying 168 people came within metres of plunging into the sea after it skidded off an icy runway as it landed at a Turkish airport.
Panic spread through the Boeing 737-800 as it stopped at the edge of the Black Sea — with its nose dangling precariously off a cliff edge.
Luckily, flight PC8622’s wheels became stuck in icy mud as it left the runway at Trabzon Airport, which may have preventing it from entering the sea.
Pegasus Airlines confirmed in a statement there were no injuries among the 162 passengers onboard as well as two pilots and four cabin crew after they were evacuated.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Qatari Royal Says He is ‘Being Held Against His Will’ In UAE
A Qatari royal says he is being held against his will in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali al-Thani — who played a role in negotiating with Saudi Arabia during the Qatar diplomatic crisis last year — made the claims in a YouTube video released on Sunday.
He claims he is being held by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince, who will be “fully responsible” if anything happens to him.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Legacy of the ‘Islamic State’
The terrorist organization “Islamic State” has largely been defeated in a military sense. But its ideologies live on, for example, in children who grew up under its regime, and other challenges remain as well.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Possible Scythian Tomb Found in Siberia
Newsweek reports that an undisturbed kurgan thought to hold the tomb of a Scythian prince has been found in southern Siberia by archaeologist Gino Caspari of Bern University. Caspari spotted the kurgan in a remote, swampy area in the Uyuk River Valley with high-resolution satellite imagery. Preliminary excavations, conducted with researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences and the State Hermitage Museum, suggest the burial dates to around 3,000 years ago, or the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. And the scientists are hopeful the tomb is situated below a layer of permafrost.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Senator Lying on Russia Meddling in Italy Vote — Moscow
Democrat Ben Cardin ‘a liar’ says foreign ministry
(ANSA) — Moscow, January 10 — A US Senator who claimed Russia was set to meddle in Italy’s March 4 general election “is a liar”, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said of Democrat Ben Cardin Wednesday. Speaking to ANSA, she said “it’s up to the Italians who to elect as their leaders”. Cardin’s staff said in a report that “with elections coming in 2018.
Italy could be a target for the Kremlin’s electoral meddling, which will probably try to boost parties contrary to the renewal of EU sanctions on Russia.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel’s Netanyahu in India to Seal Trade and Defense Deals
Israel and India are trying to build on growing ties as they expand cooperation in multiple fields. But for India, overtly expanding relations involves a balancing act.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sri Lanka’s President Rejects Move to Allow Women to Buy Alcohol
A move to grant women in Sri Lanka the same rights as men to buy alcohol legally has been overruled by President Maithripala Sirisena.
He told a rally he had ordered the government to withdraw the reform, which would also have allowed women to work in bars without a permit.
He said he had only found out about the move from the newspapers.
The government announced on Wednesday it was amending a 1955 law, agreeing that it discriminated against women.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Pakistan Won’t Share Intelligence With the US
Pakistan’s defence minister Khurram Dastgir Khan has announced that he has suspended intelligence sharing with the US — the latest twist in the US-Pakistan row. But how much does it matter?
Relations between Washington and Islamabad have been in the spotlight since US President Donald Trump’s New Year’s Day tweet, where he accused Pakistan of “lies and deceit”.
Since then, Washington announced it would halt all security assistance to Pakistan, and Pakistani politicians have been quick to express dismay — with the foreign minister saying that the two aren’t allies anymore, and the army chief saying he feels “betrayed”.
But behind the rhetoric, both sides are actually responding more cautiously than you might expect.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Silk Road Travelers’ Ancient Knowledge May Have Irrigated Desert
More than 1,700 years ago, ancient farmers in China transformed one of Earth’s driest deserts into farmland, possibly by using ancient knowledge of irrigation passed along by Silk Road travelers, a new study finds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trump on North Korea, From ‘Rocket Man’ To ‘Fire and Fury’
Throughout the first year of his presidency — and even as he campaigned for the office — President Trump’s rhetoric regarding North Korea has been harsh.
He warned earlier this year that America’s nuclear capabilities were “much bigger [and] more powerful” than that of the Asian nation. And at the end of 2017, Trump designated North Korea a state sponsor of terror again — a classification that came with additional sanctions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Authorities in the US have confirmed the violent drug gang MS-13 with the motto ‘kill, rape, control’ is active in Australia.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A huge fight between three men erupted over a humble box of cherries in a Melbourne green grocer earlier this week when two shoppers allegedly disagreed with the store policy.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A Liberal MP has called for road signs on the state boarder warning NSW drivers they are ‘50 percent more likely’ to have their car stolen when they cross into Victoria.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
560 Nigerian Returnees From Libya Arrive in Port Harcourt
The third batch of 560 Nigerian returnees from Libya have arrived Port Harcourt, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
An H&M store in South Africa has been trashed by activists angry at the clothing retailer’s ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’ hoodie advert that featured a black child model.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
10 Slain in Eastern Mexico’s Veracruz State
A state governor in eastern Mexico is confirming the deaths of 10 people in apparent clashes between criminal gangs, saying nine of the dead were dismembered.
Veracruz Gov. Miguel Angel Yunes also announced Sunday that a new federal effort would be launched to reinforce security in the state capital, Xalapa.
The dismembered bodies were found Saturday in a residential neighborhood about 500 yards (meters) from the city’s main bus terminal. Yunes said most have been identified.
The picturesque, oil-rich state has long been plagued by drug gang violence and the new year had already gotten off to a gory start, with the discovery of five heads atop a taxi in a tourist town and four others found in another city.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Thousands Stand Up for a Different Asylum Policy
Some 6,600 people took part in Sunday’s Brussels demonstration against the policies of the Belgium migration and asylum secretary Theo Francken. During an earlier demonstration protesters issued an order for Mr Francken to quit the government accusing him of dispatching migrants to face torture and inhuman treatment at home. Many more demonstrators returned to see whether this order had been implemented. It had not!
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
DNC Litmus Test for Candidates: Back Illegals ‘Or You’re Gonna Have Problems’
“If you are a Democrat who doesn’t like a clean Dream Act, you’re gonna have some problems”
DNC Vice Chair Keith Ellison is making no bones about it: the national party has a litmus test for candidates when it comes to protecting illegal aliens.
Ellison told Pennsylvania Democrats assembled in a church sanctuary that candidates better support a “clean DREAM Act,” or those candidates would run into trouble with the party…
During an event with “Allentown Dreamers” on Friday afternoon, Ellison issued a warning to those who step out of line with the DNC heavies.
“There cannot be one single politician in the state of Pennsylvania who is in a state of confusion about how you feel,” he told the audience.
“We’re going to make it perfectly clear to all of them on a repeated basis,” he said.
“And yes, we have a litmus test,” Ellison declared.
“If you are a Democrat who doesn’t like a clean Dream Act, you’re gonna have some problems,” he warned. “And don’t count on me to protect you. You’re on your own with that!”
The DNC may be taking a hard line with candidates because its future political fortunes are tied to creating new voters.
That was indicated back in 2009, when then-SEIU Executive Vice President and a leader of the Democratic Socialists of America, Eliseo Medina, addressed the “America’s Future Now!” conference, saying:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Those Who Say Stop Migrants ‘Selling Smoke’ — Gentiloni
‘Italy will need these people’
(ANSA) — Turin, January 12 — Those who say migrant flows can be stopped are “selling smoke”, Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Friday. Speaking to youth missionary organisation SERMIG in Turin, he said “to be safer and more secure, it’s no use putting up walls, but you have to find a new form of reception”. He said “those who want to sell the possibility, over the coming weeks (of election campaign), of eliminating migrant flows, are selling smoke, those who sow obsessions sow hatred.” Gentiloni said “the issue is how to manage flows, because our country will need these people”.
The rightwing populist League is among the parties who have vowed, in their electoral campaign for the March 4 general election, to halt illegal immigration into Italy.
The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) has also stressed Italy’s need to regain control of its borders. Migrant crossing from Africa dropped by over a third last year thanks to a deal with Libya.
In other remarks to the young missionaries, the premier also said “the best part of the country is that which helps other people”.
He added that “we must manage transformation” of the workplace “or else we will lose jobs”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Macron Pays Tribute to Italian Work on Migrants
Reduced destabilization last year, says French president
(ANSA) — Rome, January 11 — French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday paid tribute to Italy’s efforts to address the Mediterranean migrant crisis after meeting Premier Paolo Gentiloni in Rome.
“Italy did an excellent job in 2017, which we pay homage to, to reduce the destabilization caused by the migratory phenomenon,” Macron told a news conference.
“It has all my respect for the work done”.
Italy’s reached a deal with Libya for its navy to support the Libyan coast guard to combat human traffickers.
The flow of asylum seekers embarking from Libya trying to reach Europe has fallen significantly since.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Navigate Snowy Cliffs and Icy Ravines as They Cross Alps to Reach France
It took Abdullhai almost three years to get from his home in Guinea to a rocky, snow-covered Alpine mountain pass in the dead of winter, for what he hopes will be the final stage of his journey into France.
The terrain is steep and dangerous and he and a group of five other migrants face risks ranging from losing their footing on steep drops, being struck by falling rocks or succumbing to the —9C (15°F) temperatures in clothing ill-suited to the terrain.
Abdullhai, 38, is one of hundreds of migrants who over the last year have attempted to cross from Italy into France through high mountain passes, in a bid to evade increased border security put in place at easier crossing points. His group crossed into France in December.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Afghan Immigrant Father Rapes Own Daughter, ‘Teaches Her a Lesson’ For Sleeping Around…
In the fourth quarter of 2017, a district court in southeastern Norway has sentenced an Afghan man in his 40s to prison for four years and eight months for having raped his own daughter because she had sexual relations with her fiancé.
The daughter, who is in the early 20’s, has suffered a serious conflict in loyalty and a life crisis during the course of the case and has been hospitalized at a psychiatric hospital. The hideous story gives a little insight into a mentality that is extremely foreign for Norwegians, despite the fact that the convicted person has lived a long time in Norway.
The man came alone to Norway as a refugee fourteen years ago, leaving behind a family at a time when he had a wife and four children. One more child came into the world two years before the wife and now five children came to Norway on a family reunion. The father worked previously, but neither of the parents have had work in recent years.
The circumstances that resulted in the prosecutor’s plea for charges for rape and incest, took place in the fall of 2016. The accused and the victim gave very different versions of the episode, but the court found the aggrieved’s version proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis: Fears of Mass Migration Are ‘Legitimate’ And ‘Fully Comprehensible’
In a nuanced address Sunday for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis seemed to walk back earlier statements denouncing “xenophobia,” acknowledging instead that fears associated with mass migration are logical and justifiable.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Should Bear More of Calais Migrant Costs, Says French Minister
French interior minister Gerard Collomb said Sunday that he wanted London to shoulder more of the costs of dealing with migrants hoping to cross to Britain from the port city of Calais.
In an interview with Le Parisien daily published Sunday, Collomb said he would push to modify the Touquet accords signed in 2003, which effectively moved Britain’s border with France to the French side of the Channel.
“I hope to add a new element to these agreements, and concrete measures regarding the coverage of certain costs by the British and the management of more people, for receiving refugees and unaccompanied minors,” he said.
His comments come as President Emmanuel Macron is to visit Calais on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May in London on Thursday.
Hundreds of migrants are still massed near Calais more than a year after the huge so-called Jungle camp was cleared by the authorities in October 2016.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Serious Gap’ In Cosmic Expansion Rate Hints at New Physics
A mathematical discrepancy in the expansion rate of the Universe is now “pretty serious”, and could point the way to a major discovery in physics, says a Nobel laureate.
The most recent results suggest the inconsistency is not going away.
Prof Adam Riess told BBC News that an unknown phenomenon, such as a new particle, might explain the deviation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The employee of the Emergency Management Agency of Hawaii who caused yesterday’s ballistic missile panic is distraught over what happened. The employee, who “pushed the wrong button” and triggered the alert, is said to “feel terrible”.
Perhaps a hinged cover equipped with a “Break Tab To Open” latch might save everyone the needless panic that occurs when Fredo pushes the wrong button.
What’s wrong with a preparatory drill. We used to have them here in SoCal in school for earthquakes, fires, and incoming.
“In the fourth quarter of 2017, a district court in southeastern Norway has sentenced an Afghan man in his 40s to prison for four years and eight months for having raped his own daughter because she had sexual relations with her fiancé.” less than five years for ruining his own daughter’s life? Should’ve been 50 with mandatory service to the other prisoners.
Should have been a millstone around the neck and the nearest body of water; spare the taxpayers the cost of 50 yrs of all-expense paid vacation in a Swedish prison.
A suggestion, Mr. President, and the rest of us: ‘Honey bucket’ is a perfect word substitution.
You’re welcome.
Re ‘Police Hunt Down Facebook Users’
Here’s more confirmation, as if we needed it, the British police have adopted neo-blasphemy laws; they’re using the Runnymede Foundation’s truly pernicious definition of ‘Islamophobia’, that not only obscures the nature of Islam but also oppresses its critics.
Here it is in black and white.
Facebook are of course ‘Championing’ this neo-blasphemy.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11552/facebook-islam-blasphemy-laws
(Met report)
http://www.report-it.org.uk/files/hate_crime_against_london_highres_print_final.pdf
Orwellian and utterly sickening just doesn’t cover it.