Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/14/2013

Hundreds of BBC viewers and listeners have complained about the broadcasting service’s disproportionate coverage of Nelson Mandela since the former president of South Africa died. More than one hundred BBC programs on the subject will have aired before Mr. Mandela’s funeral takes place.

In other news, China has successfully landed a lunar rover, the first soft landing on the moon in 37 years.

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

Thanks to DS, Fjordman, Frontinus, JD, Jerry Gordon, Papa Whiskey, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» How the Paper Money Experiment Will End
» What is a “Living Wage?”
 
USA
» A Government of Wolves & The Electronic Concentration Camp (Radio)
» Google Buys Boston Dynamics, DARPA Funded Robot Corp.
» Gov . Brownback in Wichita: “In the Ongoing War on Terrorism, The Good Guys Won One Today”
» House GOP Has Nothing to Offer Conservatives
» Listen: Creepy AI Telemarketer Sounds Human, Denies Being a Robot
» Little Girls Kicked Out of Grocery Store for ‘Offending’ Customers With Christmas Carols
» Many Questions Loom in the Death Loretta Fuddy
» New ObamaCare Mascot Announced
» New Rap Music Parody is the Worst Piece of Pro-ObamaCare Propaganda Yet …and That’s Saying Something (Video)
» Obama Says CIA Probe Into Bay of Pigs Should be Kept Secret
» Obama Marks Sandy Hook Anniversary With Calls for More Gun Control
» Reid: ‘Shameful’ That Senate Cannot Pass Gun Legislation
» Report: VA Lobotomized 2,000 Disturbed Veterans
» Thousands of Healthcare.gov Enrollment Records Haven’t Reached Insurers
 
Europe and the EU
» Brits With Holiday Homes in Spain and France May be Banned From Renting Them Out to Tourists
» Editorial: British MPs Unite to Put Persecution of Christians on “Political Map”
» Inside the British University Where Muslims Were Segregated by Sex
» UK: Drivers Aren’t Switching on: Publicly Funded Electric Car Charging Points Barely Used
» UK: Gang Who Dressed in Police Uniforms and Used Fake Search Warrants to Carry Out Vicious Robberies Are Jailed for 31 Years [In Total]
» UK: Muslim Protestors Demand Restaurants and Shops Stop Selling ‘Evil’ Alcohol Warning Them They Face 40 Lashes if They Carry on
» UK: Rapist Attacked a Woman With Learning Difficulties Just Five Days After Being Released on Bail
 
North Africa
» The Cat and Mouse Game Between the Egytian Government and the Muslim Brotherhood!
 
Middle East
» Al-Qaeda Leaders Say “Jihad is Being Paid for by Europe”
» Iran Says it Has Detained ‘MI6 Spy’
» Levinson’s Dubious Iran Connection: African American Hitman Dawud Salahiddun
» Snow in the Middle East? Amazing Photos Tell the Story
» U.S. Moves to Support Al-Qaeda Lite in Syria
 
Far East
» China Lands on the Moon: Historic Robotic Lunar Landing Includes 1st Chinese Rover
» Chinese Warship Nearly Collided With USS Cowpens
» N. Korea Wipes Kim Jong-un Uncle From Web
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» BBC Accused of ‘Losing All Proportion’ Over Mandela’s Death After Dedicating 100 Programmes About Him in Just One Week
» Remembering Mandela, Without Rose-Colored Glasses
» Ron Radosh: The Search for Nuance About Nelson Mandela — As the World Celebrates His Legacy
 
Immigration
» EU in Court Threat Over English Tests for Migrants: Brussels Warned Britain Over ‘Xenophobic’ Plans
» Fake Bride ‘Had Baby Just So She Could Stay in Britain’
 
Culture Wars
» UK: Apologists for Paedophiles
» UK: Witch Sacked for Taking Halloween Off Work to Attend Wiccan Ceremony Wins £15,000 After Claiming Religious Discrimination
 

How the Paper Money Experiment Will End

A paper currency system contains the seeds of its own destruction. The temptation for the monopolist money producer to increase the money supply is almost irresistible. In such a system with a constantly increasing money supply and, as a consequence, constantly increasing prices, it does not make much sense to save in cash to purchase assets later. A better strategy, given this senario, is to go into debt to purchase assets and pay back the debts later with a devalued currency. Moreover, it makes sense to purchase assets that can later be pledged as collateral to obtain further bank loans. A paper money system leads to excessive debt.

This is especially true of players that can expect that they will be bailed out with newly produced money such as big businesses, banks, and the government.

We are now in a situation that looks like a dead end for the paper money system. After the last cycle, governments have bailed out malinvestments in the private sector and boosted their public welfare spending. Deficits and debts skyrocketed. Central banks printed money to buy public debts (or accept them as collateral in loans to the banking system) in unprecedented amounts. Interest rates were cut close to zero. Deficits remain large. No substantial real growth is in sight. At the same time banking systems and other financial players sit on large piles of public debt. A public default would immediately trigger the bankruptcy of the banking sector. Raising interest rates to more realistic levels or selling the assets purchased by the central bank would put into jeopardy the solvency of the banking sector, highly indebted companies, and the government. It looks like even the slowing down of money printing (now called “QE tapering”) could trigger a bankruptcy spiral. A drastic reduction of government spending and deficits does not seem very likely either, given the incentives for politicians in democracies.

So will money printing be a constant with interest rates close to zero until people lose their confidence in the paper currencies? Can the paper money system be maintained or will we necessarily get a hyperinflation sooner or later?

There are at least seven possibilities:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

What is a “Living Wage?”

In a centralized socialist or communist economy, the “living wage” was subsistence level remuneration decided by ideologues/bureaucrats, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

The liberal argument is that the minimum wage is not high enough; workers are not paid enough, and are thus forced into poverty. But there is silence when American jobs and investments are legally shipped overseas with Congress’ blessing — it is a global economy. Liberals have little to say about local businesses that hire illegal cheap labor under the overused excuse that these are jobs that Americans won’t do.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

A Government of Wolves & The Electronic Concentration Camp (Radio)

John W. Whitehead is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law and human rights. Whitehead’s concern for the persecuted and oppressed led him, in 1982, to establish The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties and human rights organization. Whitehead has filed numerous amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has also been co-counsel in several landmark Supreme Court cases. He joins us to discuss his book, A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State.

We’ll discuss the shocking cases of police state brutality upon civilians, even upon children, the elderly and pregnant women. America was once a society that valued individual liberty and privacy. But in recent years it has turned into a culture that has quietly accepted surveillance cameras, police and drug-sniffing dogs in our children’s schools, national databases that track our finances and activities, sneak-and-peek searches of our homes without our knowledge or consent, and anti-terrorism laws that turn average Americans into suspects. In short, America has become a lockdown nation, and we are all in danger.

Sadly, the police state has gone global and there is no place to go to escape it. In the second hour, we discuss the role of media and education in teaching compliance to government violence. We’ll also discuss John Carpenter’s prophetic visions of the American police state and talk about other fiction writers and visionaries who predicted this would happen. Today the U.S. government and Supreme Court blatantly violate the U.S. Constitution and America has transitioned from a society governed by “we the people” to a police state governed by a strong arm of law and corruption and it will only get worse if “the people” remain compliant.

[Comment: First Hour is free to listen.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Google Buys Boston Dynamics, DARPA Funded Robot Corp.

BigDog, Cheetah, WildCat and Atlas have joined Google’s growing robot menagerie.

Google confirmed on Friday that it had completed the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that has designed mobile research robots for the Pentagon. The company, based in Waltham, Mass., has gained an international reputation for machines that walk with an uncanny sense of balance and even — cheetahlike — run faster than the fastest humans.

It is the eighth robotics company that Google has acquired in the last half-year.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Gov . Brownback in Wichita: “In the Ongoing War on Terrorism, The Good Guys Won One Today”

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback at a press conference in Wichita, Kansas today with US Attorney Bill Grissom lauded FBI and Kansas law enforcement saying “in the ongoing war on terrorism, the good guys won one today”. He was referring to the culmination of a six month investigation by the FBI that led to the arrest today of 58 year old Avionics technician Terry Loewen, a self actualized jihadi and devotee of the late American-born Sheikh Anwar al Awlaki.

Loewen a potential Shahid or martyr, was caught as he was driving a van loaded with inert explosives, provided in an FBI sting operation He was primed to commit a suicide bombing wreaking as much mayhem and death at Mid-Continental Airport in Wichita, one of Kansas’ busiest airports. […]

At one point, Loewen acknowledged not knowing whether he could trust his contact. But it wasn’t enough to discourage him from pursuing an attack. “my greatest fear is not being able to complete an operation because I was set up,” he wrote.. “I hate this government so much for what they have done to our brothers and sisters that to spent (sic) the rest of my life in prison without having taken a good slice out of the serpents head is unacceptable to me.”…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

House GOP Has Nothing to Offer Conservatives

Here’s the situation: You’re in a high-stakes negotiation with an untrustworthy opponent. The opposition has violated every agreement the two of you have made in the past. Enforcement mechanisms are weak or non-existent.

In other areas of mutual interest your opponent regularly violates the law and dares you to do something about the violation. Your weak and vacillating leadership can’t be counted on in a pinch. And, finally, the opposition lies shamelessly to the state media, doing its best to paint you as a fanatic and pathological liar.

So what do you do?

Bomb Iran is a good answer, but it’s not the answer for this question, because I’m talking about negotiating a budget deal with Democrats.

The Republican House leadership decision in this case was to sell out their conservative base in a brazen attempt to insure their own re-election at the expense of the nation’s fiscal future…

Let’s start at the top. Ace negotiator Ryan was able to restore $2 billion in Pentagon spending next year in return for letting Democrats increase wasteful social spending by $ 22 BILLION! That’s a ratio of 11 to one in welfare to warfare spending.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Listen: Creepy AI Telemarketer Sounds Human, Denies Being a Robot

It’s pretty shocking to hear just how far this technology has come. Most people would probably NOT realize they were talking to a machine that is gathering our verbal cues to use against us. These recordings are demonstrably creepy, and a good reminder that just because we experience something through our five senses, it doesn’t mean it’s ‘real’.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Little Girls Kicked Out of Grocery Store for ‘Offending’ Customers With Christmas Carols

Christmas is offensive. At least a WinCo grocery store in Vancouver, Washington, was afraid that a pair of little girls would “offend” customers if they sang Christmas carols outside the store. So they told the two tykes to take a hike.

The two girls, Ayla Bascom and Kaitlyn Manseau, started singing songs outside the grocery store including both secular and religious songs, such as “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Silent Night.” But the store managers got all afraid of “offending” customers with the songs.

“(The store said) our policy is like we don’t allow carolers or something like that,” little Kaitlyn said.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Many Questions Loom in the Death Loretta Fuddy

Loretta Fuddy, plane crash, COLB, Obama

Loretta Fuddy was the sole fatality of the nine occupants of a 2002 Cessna Grand Caravan single-engine turboprop aircraft that crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff from Kalaupapa Airport on the island of Molokai in Hawaii. The reports surrounding her death are as murky as the reports of her alleged involvement in the creation of a falsified federal document of unprecedented significance, the Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) of Barack Hussein Obama.

It is alleged that Ms. Fuddy played a key role in the authentication, and perhaps even in the creation of the document that was presented to America as being the certified birth record of a sitting U.S. president. It is that certified record that has been determined by many experts, including those retained by a commissioned law enforcement investigative body, to be a forged and fraudulent document. At the very least, Loretta Fuddy would have been a critical witness in a high crime of treason and other felonies against all Americans. Under these circumstances, is it not mandatory for responsible citizens to question the circumstances of her mysterious death? Do we not have a responsibility as Americans to insist on the truth, considering the current state as well as the fate of our nation?

Research into the death of Loretta Fuddy must begin with her life following her appointment as the director of the Hawaii Department of Health. She was appointed as director by Governor Neil Abercrombie on March 2, 2011. Ms. Fuddy had been acting health director from January, 2011 when the governor’s original nominee, Dr. Neal Palafox, withdrew his name at Abercrombie’s request. The circumstances of that political decision remained mired in controversy as well.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New ObamaCare Mascot Announced

In an effort to glamorize Obamacare and cater to the kids The Obama Administration has released a new mascot in order to get young children into the act of giving their personal information to untrained and sometimes criminal strangers. This information could get sold to telemarketers.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New Rap Music Parody is the Worst Piece of Pro-ObamaCare Propaganda Yet …and That’s Saying Something (Video)

Holy moley. This is just awful

It’s no secret that the pro-ObamaCare folks are desperate to get young people to sign up for insurance. From college ‘recruiting’ tours, to speeches, to online ads, they’ve been gearing all their efforts in that direction…

America’s new favorite song was created by “Get Covered America,” a national organization trying to promote ObamaCare. Evidently, they hope to do this by making making sure young people are aware of all the amazing “provizzles” it offers.

Here it is, in all its glory…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Says CIA Probe Into Bay of Pigs Should be Kept Secret

Over 50 years after the Bay of Pigs invasion went awry, the US federal government is still attempting to keep secrets about the failed overthrow of the Cuban government, with an Obama administration lawyer arguing this week to keep a document classified.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Marks Sandy Hook Anniversary With Calls for More Gun Control

Recognizing that Congress has zero interest in passing more gun control, Obama used his weekly radio address to reflect on the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary and encourage communities and community-level gun control activists to rally behind the cause.

In a transcript carried by UPI, Obama mentioned the sadness that engulfed Americans following Sandy Hook. He said this sadness brought “a sense of resolve…[that] we must change.”

This means gun control:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Reid: ‘Shameful’ That Senate Cannot Pass Gun Legislation

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that the push for gun control is not over, one day before the anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“At a time when more than 30,000 Americans are killed by guns each year, it is shameful that the United States Senate can’t pass gun safety legislation that would protect our most vulnerable citizens — our children,” Reid said in a floor speech on Friday, citing the “activism” of the family members in “raising awareness about gun violence and mental health issues.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Report: VA Lobotomized 2,000 Disturbed Veterans

The U.S. government lobotomized roughly 2,000 mentally ill veterans — and likely hundreds more — during and after World War II, according to a cache of forgotten memos, letters and government reports unearthed by The Wall Street Journal.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Thousands of Healthcare.gov Enrollment Records Haven’t Reached Insurers

The Obama administration said Saturday that the rate of inaccuracies in a key enrollment records from HealthCare.gov is declining, but a federal analysis shows about 15,000 consumer sign up forms were never sent to insurance companies due to technical problems with the website.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Brits With Holiday Homes in Spain and France May be Banned From Renting Them Out to Tourists

Villa-owning Britons, such as Philip Edwardes-Ker and Nina Bailey pictured, may not be able to rent properties to travelers under controversial new laws.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Editorial: British MPs Unite to Put Persecution of Christians on “Political Map”

By Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund

“Let us be honest: if this were happening to almost any other religious group it would be something of a national scandal.. That makes it all the more important to put the ongoing persecution of Christians in many parts of the world on the political map.”

Mark Field, Conservative MP for Cities of London and Westminster

The persecution of Christians around the world was the subject of an impassioned debate in the House of Commons last week.

The debate was secured by Jim Shannon of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)

The well-attended three-hour session on 3 December followed a number of other key debates and statements on the topic by British politicians in recent weeks.

On 16 November, Baroness Warsi, the UK’s first Minister for Faith, made the persecution of Christians the subject of a pivotal speech at Georgetown University in Washington DC, describing it as “a global crisis” that requires an international response.

This was preceded by debates involving both MPs and Lords on the plight of Christians in the Middle East.

Last week’s debate was secured by Jim Shannon, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP for Strangford. As with the previous ones, Barnabas Fund was able to provide MPs with material to inform their contributions, and it was clear that they had taken note of its content, as well as of reports supplied by other Christian organisations.

In opening the debate, Mr Shannon outlined how “Christianity is the most persecuted religion globally” with “reports that one Christian is killed every 11 minutes somewhere on earth for their faith”. His motion called on the Government “to do more both in its foreign policy and through its aid work to defend and support people of Christian faith”..

The motion attracted cross-party support, with numerous MPs speaking out in strong and uncompromising terms against the wayChristians are being targeted for their faith.

Sir Tony Baldry, Conservative MP for Banbury, said:

There is now practically no country — from Morocco to Pakistan — in which Christians can freely practise their religion. That must be a matter of real concern to this House.

A number of comparisons were drawn with the Holocaust. Sammy Wilson, DUP MP for East Antrim, said:

When the Nazis carried out such acts in concentration camps we pursued the prison guards and those responsible to the ends of the earth, to prosecute them and to make sure they were brought to justice, yet it seems there is not the same response when it comes to the persecution of Christians.

He said that this was not to do with just the Government but with the media also, adding:

I thought it was striking that when 80 Christians were blown up at the beginning of November (sic) as they worshiped in Pakistan, the BBC found it so important that it came below the Emmy awards in the news agenda. That seems to be the level of seriousness that is attached to such issues.

I was particularly impressed with comments made by Rehman Chishti, Conservative MP for Gillingham and Rainham, who comes from a Muslim background; his father was an imam. He spoke emphatically, denouncing the persecution of Christians that is taking place in 130 of the world’s 190 countries as “completely and utterly unacceptable”.

Mr Chishti focused his speech on Pakistan, where he was born, and in particular the country’s controversial “blasphemy laws”. I will return to his specific comments about that in my editorial next week.

           — Hat tip: Frontinus [Return to headlines]
 

Inside the British University Where Muslims Were Segregated by Sex

Shocking picture shows how men were reserved front-row seats while women had to sit at the back

Photograph was taken earlier this year at a Leicester University seminar

With women obliged to sit yards behind chairs reserved exclusively for men, the photograph above shows the shocking reality of gender segregation at a British university.

It was taken earlier this year at a training course at Leicester University organised by its Islamic Society. The course was entitled Call Of Duty and it featured a guest speaker from a hardline Islamic group.

Rupert Sutton of campaign group Student Rights, which monitors campus extremism, said: ‘The obvious discrimination in this picture is what segregated seating can mean in practice — women pushed to the back of the hall, while men are given the best seats to see and hear the speaker.’

The disturbing image emerged at the end of a week in which Universities UK — the vice-chancellors’ association — backed down from guidelines it had previously given that apparently allowed campus Islamic societies to impose segregated seating at meetings.

The guidelines have been withdrawn while Universities UK consults with the Equality and Human Rights Commission about the appropriate position. It is expected to be forced to back down permanently.

More…

A recent report by Student Rights found that over a quarter of visits by Islamic speakers to British universities resulted in segregated meetings. Last week the controversy over gender segregation prompted the Prime Minister to intervene.

Mr Cameron said: ‘I’m absolutely clear that there should not be segregated audiences for visiting speakers to universities in Britain.. That is not the right approach, the guidance should say that universities should not allow this.’

The Leicester University event in February was billed as a ‘Dawah Training Course’. Dawah is the word Muslims use to mean ‘preaching’ or ‘invitation to Islam’.

It was held on a Sunday in the oak-panelled Queen’s Hall and featured guest speaker Saleem Chagtai from the Islamic Education and Research Academy (IERA).

Mr Chagtai said: ‘Separate seating for men and women is not something we ever enforce.

‘It happens naturally and if Muslim women were disadvantaged they would be the first to complain. They are forthright, not meek and mild as those who do not understand Islam assume.

‘This photo must have been taken at the start of the meeting because by the end there were many more women at the talk.

‘We have consulted with Liberty and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to ensure that we stay within the law and we do this by providing a mixed seating area for those who prefer this.

‘I think David Cameron has failed to do his homework. He is trying to make capital out of a problem that isn’t there.’…

           — Hat tip: Steen [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Drivers Aren’t Switching on: Publicly Funded Electric Car Charging Points Barely Used

They were hailed as the future of environmentally friendly motoring and millions of pounds of tax payer subsidies were spent enrolling them — but the electric car has failed to spark any enthusiasm for drivers.

Out of a total of 1,392 installed on London streets, just 349 charging points were used between July and September.

Installed at a cost of £8.3 million, 75 per cent failed to attract a single driver, latest figures released under a Freedom of Information request revealed.

There are 8,600 publicly funded charging points across the UK, The Times reported, but only 16,546 electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles registered in the country.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Gang Who Dressed in Police Uniforms and Used Fake Search Warrants to Carry Out Vicious Robberies Are Jailed for 31 Years [In Total]

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

A gang who posed as police officers to carry out a string of violent robberies have been jailed.

The thugs wore police uniforms and used fake IDs to make their way into people’s homes and claimed they were executing official search warrants before beating and tying up their victims so they could flee with their valuables.

They even kidnapped one of their victims and sexually humiliated him with barrel of a shotgun in a bid to get him to phone his friends and ask for more money.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Muslim Protestors Demand Restaurants and Shops Stop Selling ‘Evil’ Alcohol Warning Them They Face 40 Lashes if They Carry on

Dozens of Muslim protestors gathered to demand that businesses stop selling alcohol in a popular East London area yesterday. The group, led by former Al-Muhajiroun leader Anjem Choudary, warned restaurants and shops in the Brick Lane area that they face 40 lashes if they continue to sell the product, which is banned under Sharia Law.

Around 60 men and women in burkhas handed over warning letters to Muslim-owned businesses in the area after the protest was initially delayed by a small number of English Defence League members staging a counter-protest.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Rapist Attacked a Woman With Learning Difficulties Just Five Days After Being Released on Bail

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

A man raped a vulnerable woman only five days after being freed on bail, pending trial on other rape charges.

David McDougall raped another of his victims in front of her young son, a trial heard.

McDougall, 31, is now facing a long spell in prison after being found guilty of six rapes as well as other serious sex offences and physical assaults, which included kicking a pregnant woman.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Cat and Mouse Game Between the Egytian Government and the Muslim Brotherhood!

Cairo, Egypt-Although only brief in time, the Muslim Brotherhood reign in Egypt has caused a great rift in Egyptian society leaving a gaping wound difficult to heal. Beside the negative economic, political, security conditions in Egypt now, the most serious drawbacks resulted from the breakdown of social relationships.

Egyptian society now is deeply divided. This division is no longer limited to political parties or political rivals, but evident right down to the family level.

Divorce based along political lines is now common in Egypt where husbands defend the Brotherhood and women criticize them, or vice versa. A father expels his son because of their different opinions of the Brotherhood, or a Mother boycotts her daughter because of their constant arguments on politics or the army and the Brotherhood or ongoing verbal battles in defense of el Sisi or Morsi.

Just read the newspapers to see a brother assault his brother and almost kill him because their political discussion ended with a physical clash.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Al-Qaeda Leaders Say “Jihad is Being Paid for by Europe”

European governments are financing jihad through ransom payments made to kidnappers. And that is one of the points of kidnapping Infidels in the first place. Islamic law stipulates that Muslim captors may choose to kill, enslave, or ransom their captives, or free them outright, and that the decision should be made based on which would be most beneficial to Islam. In this case, the ransom money is most beneficial to Islam, as it finances jihad.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Iran Says it Has Detained ‘MI6 Spy’

Authorities say they have arrested an individual who has confessed to working for British intelligence and is currently being tried

Iran’s media says authorities have detained a spy working for the British intelligence agency MI6 in the town of Kerman in the south east of the country. The semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA reported that the individual had confessed to working as an agent for British intelligence and was currently on trial.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Levinson’s Dubious Iran Connection: African American Hitman Dawud Salahiddun

Today the New York Times’ (NYT) released its version of the Levinson CIA Rogue mission to Iran triggered by his disappearance on March 9, 2007, “A Disappearing Spy, and a Scandal at the C.I.A.”. The NYT article elaborates on the Washington Post/AP story we posted on yesterday, “Unanswered Questions Follow the Levinson CIA Rogue Mission Expose”. The NYT story has been awaiting the authorization of the Levinson family for release, they had no objection to publication.

The Times article fills in some missing blanks about the involvement of shadowy Russian Mafia and arms dealers with alleged connections in Iran and the family’s travels there endeavoring to obtain information leading to the release of former FBI agent and CIA contractor. […] What is clear from the NYT account was that Levison was motivated to undertake the Iran mission through his friendship with former NBC investigative producer, Ira Silverman. Silverman had interviewed the shadowy African American Muslim convert and hitman for Ayatollah Khomenei, David Belfield a.k.a. Dawud Salahiddun. Silverman’s profile of Salahuddin appeared in a New Yorker May 2002, article “An American Terrorist”.

Bob Levinson didn’t check out Salahiddun’s intelligence rap sheet with his contacts at the CIA before he had Silverman set up the session on Kish Island in March 2007. He was determined to use Silverman’s Iran contact to enable him to collect intelligence information. He was apparently ignorant of the risks involved. Unfortunately for both he and his family, his gamble may have resulted in the loss of his life…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

Snow in the Middle East? Amazing Photos Tell the Story

It wasn’t magic, but some did consider it magical. Snow covered much of the Middle East for the first time in decades on Friday, covering everything from pyramids and camels.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Moves to Support Al-Qaeda Lite in Syria

Islamic Front shares same violent jihadist ideology as al-Qaeda

The United States will engage in talks with radical Islamist forces fighting to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Talks over the next few days are expected to center on direct support for the newly formed Islamic Front, according to Reuters.

A source with the organization said discussion will be held in Turkey and will center on whether the United States will arm the front and recognize its authority in areas of Syria held by Salafist mercenaries.

U.S. Syria envoy Robert Ford will travel to Istanbul and participate in the talks…

Uprisings in the Middle East were fomented by the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, and Freedom House, organizations responsible for spawning “color revolutions” in the third world and doing work formerly assigned to the CIA. The ongoing effort to subvert governments disfavored by the global and financial elite is sponsored by USAID, NED, the CIA’s Ford Foundation, Soros and other foundations…

In other words, now that the Free Syrian Army is a historical relic, the United States has decided to create the illusion of a non-al-Qaeda aligned group of Islamic mercenaries it can parade as acceptable and viable in the ongoing effort to topple al-Assad and his military. In fact, the Islamic Front is al-Qaeda without al-Qaeda; it shares the same radical ideological, fanatical religious precepts, and violent response to secular and religious pluralism.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

China Lands on the Moon: Historic Robotic Lunar Landing Includes 1st Chinese Rover

China has landed its first robotic lander on the moon, a historic lunar arrival that makes the country only the third nation to make a soft-landing on Earth’s celestial neighbor.

China’s Chang’e 3 moon lander and its Yutu rover touched down on the moon Saturday (Dec. 14) at about 8:11 a.m. EST (1311 GMT), though it was late Saturday night local time at the mission’s control center in Beijing during the landing. It is the first soft-landing on the moon by any spacecraft in 37 years.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Warship Nearly Collided With USS Cowpens

WASHINGTON — On Dec. 5, a Chinese warship nearly collided with a U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser, according to U.S. Pacific Fleet.

“While lawfully operating in international waters in the South China Sea, USS Cowpens (CG 63) and a PLA Navy vessel had an encounter that required maneuvering to avoid a collision. This incident underscores the need to ensure the highest standards of professional seamanship, including communications between vessels, to mitigate the risk of an unintended incident or mishap,” the Pacific Fleet said in a statement.

A U.S. military official confirmed the incident and said the PLA ship tried to get the Cowpens to stop in international waters. No shots were fired, according to the official, who asked not to be identified.

The Chinese government claims most of the South China as its territorial waters, but the U.S. and most other countries don’t recognize it as such. The PLA Navy’s attempt to stop or impede the Cowpens may have been a symbolic attempt to assert its sovereignty over the area. China expanded its territorial claims in November by declaring an Air Defense Identification Zone over part of the East China Sea that other nations consider international airspace.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

N. Korea Wipes Kim Jong-un Uncle From Web

In a move straight from George Orwell’s “1984,” North Korea is attempting to wipe any mention of executed “traitor” Jang Song-thaek from its state-controlled Internet.

Mr. Jang, the uncle of Kim Jong-un and former vice chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, had roughly 500 mentions of his named deleted as of Friday.

“The scale of what they’re attempting to do here is unprecedented,” said Frank Feinstein, who works for a website of specialists tracking the Hermit Kingdom’s activities. “North Korea’s websites are somewhat of an unknown quantity, and nothing on this scale has been detected before.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

BBC Accused of ‘Losing All Proportion’ Over Mandela’s Death After Dedicating 100 Programmes About Him in Just One Week

The BBC has been accused of ‘losing all proportion’ in its coverage of Nelson Mandela’s death after it emerged more than 100 programmes have been broadcast about him in the past week.

A total of 1,834 viewers and listeners have complained as the airwaves continue to be flooded with tributes disrupting radio and TV schedules.

MPs castigated the corporation for wasting money as it was revealed bosses spent thousands of pounds sending eight staff to Johannesburg for a special edition of Question Time…

According to an analysis by the Daily Mail, a total of 104 special programmes devoted to Mandela will have been aired on the BBC’s main radio and TV channels by the time of his funeral tomorrow.

The news of his death has also topped almost every news bulletin for a week, dominated current affairs shows such as Newsnight, and has been screened almost continuously on BBC News 24.

Mr Burns said: ‘It has got to the stage where we are being told “Breaking News — Mandela is still dead”. They are losing all sense of proportion.’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Remembering Mandela, Without Rose-Colored Glasses

By Andrew C. McCarthy

‘Go safely Umkhonto. Umkhonto we Sizwe. We the members of the Umkhonto have pledged ourselves to kill them — kill the whites.” These are lyrics from the anthem of Umkhonto we Sizwe, or “Spear of the Nation.” The organization is better known as the MK, the military wing of the Marxist African National Congress (ANC). The MK was established by its commander, Nelson Mandela, to prosecute a terrorist war against South Africa’s racist apartheid regime.

Mandela had been out of prison for about two years in September 1992 when, fist clenched in the “black power” salute, he was filmed singing the anthem with a number of his comrades. Interestingly, but not ironically, as Mandela and others repeated the refrain about killing Boer farmers, it was a white man who stood next to him, similarly clench-fisted and singing. The man’s name is Ronnie Kasrils. A Soviet-trained terrorist who helped Mandela found the MK, Kasrils was a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party.

So was Mandela. No surprise there: Communism was, and remains, the animating ideology of the ANC. That makes it the enduring tragedy of South Africa.

I admit to finding this week’s Mandela hagiography tough to take.

[In that you are not alone, sir. — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

Ron Radosh: The Search for Nuance About Nelson Mandela — As the World Celebrates His Legacy

As South Africans mourn the passing of Nelson Mandela, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find any honest and balanced assessments of Mandela’s legacy. Indeed, particularly on the broadcast media, including Fox News, it seems to be all accolades with nary a word of criticism.

Instead, you have many sites by liberals condemning conservatives for their view of the African National Congress back in the 1980s, during the Reagan years. At the New Republic, Isaac Chotiner [1] argues, for example, that conservatives viewed their struggle through the prism of the Cold War, and hence thought nothing of backing apartheid because that government was our ally against the Soviet Union. Liberals like Chotiner argue that the ANC had to take allies where they found them. Yet their struggle was moral and should have been supported then by the United States…

           — Hat tip: DS [Return to headlines]
 

EU in Court Threat Over English Tests for Migrants: Brussels Warned Britain Over ‘Xenophobic’ Plans

Brussels last night warned it would take Britain to court over ‘xenophobic’ plans to impose English tests on migrants before they can claim benefits.

The plan to require migrants to demonstrate a ‘reasonable standard of English’ was outlined by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith this week.

But Laszlo Andor, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, told David Cameron to drop proposals to tighten the so-called ‘habitual residency tests’ or face legal action.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Fake Bride ‘Had Baby Just So She Could Stay in Britain’

Zambian Leya Mtonga made a ‘ conscious decision’ to conceive after she was arrested by Home Office immigration officials, a court heard.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Apologists for Paedophiles

How Labour Deputy Harriet Harman, her shadow minister husband and former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt were all linked to a group lobbying for the right to have sex with children

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

…it now seems that the Paedophile Information Exchange wasn’t just tolerated by the liberal authorities of the time. There is growing evidence that the era’s Left-wing establishment saw it as a socially acceptable pressure group and actively encouraged its ugly campaigns and sinister public meetings.

Today, almost 35 years later, the contents of The Magpie seem so vile and amoral, and the activities of a lobby group dedicated to advancing the human rights of predatory paedophiles so disgusting, that it’s incredible either was allowed legally to exist at all.

However, it now seems that the Paedophile Information Exchange wasn’t just tolerated by the liberal authorities of the time. There is growing evidence that the era’s Left-wing establishment saw it as a socially acceptable pressure group and actively encouraged its ugly campaigns and sinister public meetings…

Indeed, it emerged this week that the Labour government of the Seventies may even have helped finance the organisation and its morally bankrupt publication The Magpie.

On Sunday, the Home Office announced that it had ordered a ‘thorough, independent investigation’ into shocking allegations that the Paedophile Information Exchange received public funds while James Callaghan was in Downing Street.

It will examine whether tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money was funnelled to it via the Voluntary Services Unit [VSU], a department of the Home Office that gave annual grants to charities and non-profit-making lobby groups.

The probe comes after a whistle-blower had claimed the payments were signed off, over several years, by a senior civil servant who worked under Labour’s then Home Secretary, Merlyn Rees.

Dig beneath the surface of this ugly scandal, however, and you will soon discover that Lord Rees — who died in 2006 — is a long way from being the only prominent Labourite whose good name may be tarnished by it.

For it also raises tricky questions for three of the most senior Labour figures of recent times: deputy leader Harriet Harman, former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, and shadow housing minister Jack Dromey, a former party treasurer and Harman’s husband.

Turn the clock back to the Seventies and this trio had strangely close links to the Paedophile Information Exchange. And the long-defunct organisation’s sudden return to the news pages may very well bring those links back to haunt them.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Witch Sacked for Taking Halloween Off Work to Attend Wiccan Ceremony Wins £15,000 After Claiming Religious Discrimination

A Pagan witch has won a religious discrimination case after claiming she was sacked for attending a Halloween ceremony.

Karen Holland, 45, was awarded more than £15,000 by the courts in what is believed to be the first payout of its kind in Britain.

Her Sikh bosses insisted they fired her after they caught her stealing.

But she accused them of turning on her when they found out she was a Wicca-practising pagan and took them to an employment tribunal, which ruled in her favour…

The Singh brothers are appealing against the court’s decision.

They insist they caught Mrs Holland stealing and showed her CCTV footage to prove what they had seen before sacking her.

Later, the footage was deleted because they did not think they’d have to produce it again.

Tarloch Singh, who also has a shop in Windsor, said the payout would ruin his business. ‘I did not know about her religion.

‘I never ask my staff if they are Christian, Muslim or anything else,’ he said. ‘She made this up. She has no witnesses. I don’t know how I will pay.’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

2 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/14/2013

  1. All the money directed at uplifting the uppity ought to have been used to make sure that China’s first moonshot was greeted on the Lunar surface by a colony of Americans prodding the tin can with probes.

    Now, have we ceded space to the Middle Kingdom?

  2. The impending Chinese dominion on the moon is MLK’s revenge. Well played all you activists! Well played!

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