Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/10/2014

According to the latest polls, support for the European Union has dropped dramatically in Greece, Spain, and Cyprus. Those are the countries whose economies are in the worst condition, and upon whom severe austerity has been imposed by Brussels. Young people in particular have now lost a lot of their enthusiasm for the EU.

In other news, China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest trading nation.

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

Thanks to Caroline Glick, Egghead, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, KGS, RR, Seneca III, 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
» 80% of Young Spaniards Depend on Their Families
» Bank Loans in Italy Fell Again in November
» Support for EU Down in Spain, Greece and Cyprus, Gallup Says
» U.S. Economy Added 74,000 Jobs in December, Below Expectations
 
USA
» City Says Using Garage for Anything But Car is Illegal!
» Cruz: Obama “Dangerous and Terrifying”
» Defeat Al Franken: One Less Obama Henchman
» Dueling Sessions in Chicago Triggered by MLA Anti-Israel Academic Boycott Panel
» Ford Motors “Knows Everyone Who Breaks the Law”
» L.A. Woman Sues McDonald’s Over Hot Coffee, 20 Years After Huge Verdict
» Majority of Female Marine Recruits Fail Fitness Test — Will Obama Rethink Sending Them Into Combat?
» Man With Dissasembled Airsoft Gun Shot in Head by Police
» NSA Fallout: Why Foreign Firms Won’t Buy American Tech
» Russian Celebrity Claims She Was “Stripped Naked” By TSA
» W. Va. Chemical Spill: Officials Warn “Do Not Use Tap Water”
» Why Socialism is on the Rise
 
Canada
» Real Gun Control Means Controlling Bad Guys
» York Defends Allowing Student to Snub Working With Women
 
Europe and the EU
» British Far-Right Leader in Athens to Support Golden Dawn
» Cyprus: Region’s Businessmen Support Reunification
» Finland: Security Police Eyeball Fighters Returning From Syrian Conflict
» ISS Slammed for ‘Ethnic Norwegian Only’ Job Ad
» Italy: Lazio Regional Officials Arrested in Garbage Scandal
» Norwegian Mass Murderer Complains About Treatment in Prison
» Scandal-Rocked Legionaries Start Reform Meetings at Vatican
» Sleepy Sun Thickens the Slow Solar Wind
» The Corruption of Britain: UK’s Key Institutions Infiltrated by Criminals
» UK: Six-Month-Old Puppy Zeus Caused Explosion That Shattered Windows and Set Fire to Sofa When it Chewed Through a ‘Can of Lynx Deodorant’saluki Greyhound Cross Chewed Through Can of Lynx at House in Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire
» Young Libyan Footballers to Go to Östersund to Learn About Swedish Democracy
 
Mediterranean Union
» Scholarships in Europe for North African Students Open
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Caroline Glick: Israel and the Death of Pan-Arabism
 
Middle East
» Americans Who Fought in Fallujah Watch Al Qaeda Make Comeback
» Horrors of Al Qaeda Prisons in Syria Exposed
» Russia Blocks Anti-Assad Resolution at UN
» Turkey: Ankara to Impose Strict Controls on Internet Freedom
 
Russia
» French Court OKs Ablyazov Extradition, Likely to Russia
» Hunting Wormholes in a Soviet-Era Science City
 
South Asia
» Elephant Shark Takes Record for Slowest Evolution
» Indonesia: West Java: Islamists Close Down Children’s Public Library
 
Far East
» China in Race to Build First Code-Breaking Quantum Supercomputer
» China to Overtake U.S. As World’s Top Trader
» China Surpasses US as World’s Largest Trading Nation
» Rodman the Perfect Representative for Obama Diplomacy
 
Australia — Pacific
» Australian Doctors Pull Inch-Long Cockroach From Man’s Ear
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Lawn Again Christians: South African Preacher Makes Congregation Eat Grass to ‘Be Closer to God’
» Zulu Weapons Used in the Slaughter of British Troops at the Infamous Battle of Isandlwana Set to Fetch £100,000 at Auction
 
Immigration
» La Chamber of Raza: Bipartisan Elites Push for Amnesty…(Again)
» One in Ten Babies in England is a Muslim
 
Culture Wars
» Is Big Gay Finally Losing Its Grip on America?
» U.S. To Recognize Utah Gay Marriages Despite State Stance
 
General
» Polar Vortexing Around “Glow-Ball Vorming”
 

80% of Young Spaniards Depend on Their Families

60% willing to emigrate in search of jobs

(ANSAmed) — MADRID — Eight in 10 Spaniards aged 18-24 believe they will be forced to work menial jobs in spite of their qualifications, and 60% are willing to emigrate in search of work, according to a Reina Sofia Center survey released Wednesday.

Also according to the survey of 1,000 respondents, 80% said they are being supported by their families in spite of their job training, 70% blamed the length and severity of the recession on government and politicians, 20% said the situation won’t improve for the next two years at least, and 36% said the situation will only get worse.

Overall, the study showed the economic crisis is undermining the survival and integration into society of middle and low-income respondents and of those who quit school, and that it threatens the life goals and expectations of those who come from high-income backgrounds and/or are still enrolled in university.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Bank Loans in Italy Fell Again in November

Recovery risks being choked by lack of credit

(ANSA) — Rome, January 10 — Bank loans to households and firms in Italy continued a long series of drops in November, the Bank of Italy said Friday.

The central bank said loans to households and non-financial firms were 3.7% down in November on October and 4.3% down on the same month in 2012.

The data is a worrying sign as Italy’s attempts to return to growth after two years of recession will be hampered if families and businesses have trouble obtaining credit.

Earlier this week Economy Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni called on Italy’s banks to stop the slide in lending.

Consumer association Codacons said the data was an indictment of the country’s banks.

“It’s incredible that companies and families are going to the wall, but the banks are hanging on to the money,” Codacons said.

“If banks stop doing their job and lending money precisely when the Italian people need loans and liquidity, it’s obvious that the economic system gets jammed.

“In short, the banks are continuing with their old vice of lending money to those who already have it or are too big to go bankrupt”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Support for EU Down in Spain, Greece and Cyprus, Gallup Says

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JANUARY 9 — Support for the European Union leadership has dropped sharply in countries with struggling economies, Greek media reports quoting a Gallup Poll released Wednesday. In Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, support remains relatively high, with more than 50% of respondents approving EU leadership, Gallup said. Germany is currently the strongest country in the EU, while Belgium and Luxembourg are home to many EU institutions. Support dropped precipitously in Cyprus, Greece and Spain, all countries that have had to adopt austerity measures in return for EU bailouts. In Spain, where 59% of respondents in 2008 backed the EU, support was down to 27% in 2013. In Greece and Cyprus, support dropped from 32% and 39% in 2010 to 19% and 21% in 2013. Generally, young people between the ages of 15 and 24 have been most supportive of the EU. But Gallup said high unemployment among the young in some European countries has made them less enthusiastic.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Economy Added 74,000 Jobs in December, Below Expectations

The American economy added just 74,000 jobs in December, well below analyst expectations, even as the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent.

The latest data from the Labor Department suggests that the economy lost some momentum as the year drew to a close. But the gains for November were revised up significantly.

The payroll gain in December was much slower than the pace of job creation in the previous three months, when the economy added roughly 200,000 jobs per months. Economists polled by Bloomberg had estimated the economy would add the same in December, with the unemployment rate expected to be flat at 7 percent.

[Return to headlines]
 

City Says Using Garage for Anything But Car is Illegal!

“(b) Use. Private and public storage garages in apartment houses and hotels shall be used only for storage of automobiles.”

[…]

“Liberalism claims to be the defender of minority rights, when in reality it is constantly at war with the ultimate minority… the individual.”the defender of minority rights, when in reality it is constantly at war with the ultimate minority… the individual.

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

Cruz: Obama “Dangerous and Terrifying”

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has told a conservative conference that President Barack Obama is lawless, providing the right wing rhetoric that makes him so popular in his home state.

The conservative Republican laid out his reasoning for why he thinks the president is “dangerous and terrifying.”

According to the Statesman, Cruz also slammed the POTUS for what he referred to as a pattern of “lawlessness on a breathtaking scale.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Defeat Al Franken: One Less Obama Henchman

Many are outraged that Obama would nominate a cop killer advocate to head the DOJ Civil Rights Division. When will people realize that Obama is a lawless Chicago thug politician who surrounds himself with henchmen?

One such Obama henchman that we have a golden opportunity to defeat is Senator Al Franken. Franken’s numbers are tanking. Only 39% of Minnesota voters have a favorable opinion of Al Franken.

Franken has become notorious on Capital Hill for numerous over-the-top angry outbursts against Republican Senators and staffers; behavior unbecoming of a U.S. Senator[link]. Minnesota voters deserve much, much better than Franken.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Dueling Sessions in Chicago Triggered by MLA Anti-Israel Academic Boycott Panel

Yesterday, at the Modern Language Association (MLA) annual meetings in Chicago there was Panel 48, one of more than 800 on this year’s program. The MLA has a membership of more than 30,000 university and college academic specialists in English, literature and history. This panel in particular has drawn media attention and controversy because of the theme, “Academic Boycotts: A Conversation about Israel and Palestine”. It is reflective of the furor raised over recent resolutions favoring Academic Boycotts passed by both the 5,000 member American Studies Association (ASA) and even smaller 1,700 member Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) in mid-December 2013. These academic groups are a distinct minority in the groves of American Academia. Moreover the Academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions is a two edged sword, as it would bar contact with a number of similarly minded Israeli academics. The uproar has led to formal rejection of the academic boycott of Israeli institutions by more than 150 American Universities, including some of the universities where MLA Panel 48 members are affiliated. Six of the objecting Universities have withdrawn department affiliations with the ASA. Further the 47,000 member American Association of University Professors (AAUP), with 500 local campus and 39 state chapters, has opposed the ASA and NAISA Israel academic boycotts on the grounds of denial of academic freedom as contained its 1940 protocol and 2005 restatement.

Former AAUP President and University of Illinois professor, Cary Nelson, who appeared at yesterday’s second panel, published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Another Anti-Israel Vote Comes to Academia” in which he laid out the issues confronting academia. His conclusion was:

A truer indication of the real goal is the boycott movement’s success at increasing intolerance on American campuses. Junior faculty members sympathetic to Israel fear for their jobs if they make their views known. Established faculty who grasp the complexity of Middle East politics hold their tongues for fear of harassment by those who are more interested in offering lessons in contemporary demonology than in sound history. The politically correct stance in many academic departments is that Palestinians are victims and Israelis are oppressors. Period.

The fundamental goal of the boycott movement is not the peaceful coexistence of two states, one Jewish and one Palestinian, but rather the elimination of Israel. One nation called Palestine would rule from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Those Jews not exiled or killed in the transition to an Arab-dominated nation would live as second-class citizens without fundamental rights.

There is no political route toward a one-state solution. But some American professors are too blinded by hatred of Israel—or too naive—to see that they are inadvertently advocating for armed conflict.

Less than 125 of the 4,000 conference attendees were at the Israeli Academic Boycott MLA Panel 48. Perhaps, that may be a forecast of a possible defeat for the misguided resolution at Saturday’s plenary session of the MLA…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

Ford Motors “Knows Everyone Who Breaks the Law”

In yet another push by the corporatocracy to prepare the population for mileage taxes, automatic speeding tickets and unaffordable car insurance if you choose not to purchase one of their self-driving cars, a Ford executive bragged about knowing everything about your driving but promised not to tell. It was more of a threat than a revelation since traffic data has been collected for Google maps for several years to show congestion and traffic conditions.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

L.A. Woman Sues McDonald’s Over Hot Coffee, 20 Years After Huge Verdict

A woman has filed suit against McDonald’s Corp., saying she was burned by hot coffee that spilled on her at one of the fast-food chain’s Los Angeles restaurants.

The lawsuit comes 20 years after a jury awarded $2.9 million to a woman who was badly burned after she spilled hot coffee into her lap at a McDonald’s in Albuquerque. That verdict was widely criticized and became a rallying cry for advocates of legal reform. A judge later reduced the verdict to $640,000 and the case settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

The new case was filed by Paulette Carr, who said she was injured Jan. 12, 2012, after ordering the coffee at the drive-through window of a McDonald’s on Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys. She seeks unspecified monetary damages in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. “The lid for the hot coffee was negligently, carelessly and improperly placed on the coffee cup … resulting in the lid coming off the top of the coffee at the window, causing the hot coffee to spill onto the plaintiff,” Carr said in the lawsuit.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Majority of Female Marine Recruits Fail Fitness Test — Will Obama Rethink Sending Them Into Combat?

Reality and social engineering recently collided, and reality lost. Beginning in 2014, female U.S. Marines were supposed to meet a minimum standard of three pull-ups for their annual physical fitness test. Unfortunately, when that standard was tested at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in South Carolina last year, only 45 percent of the women could meet it.

As a result, that part of their fitness requirement has been delayed until 2015. The change, quietly announced during a November report on its TV show, “The Corps Report,” raises serious questions about the push to put women soldiers in front-line combat roles beginning in 2016.

The need for upper body strength in military situations is non-negotiable. Scaling walls, climbing ropes, carrying heavy weapons, as well as being able to rescue one’s fellow soldiers, are all realistic scenarios with regard to combat operations. But apparently such realities were not the the primary consideration for delaying the requirement. Marine spokeswoman Capt. Maureen Krebs noted that while officials felt there was no medical risk involved with making the new standard a requirement, the risk of losing recruits, and hurting efforts to retain women already serving the Marines was “unacceptably high.” Thus it would appear that quotas are more important than competence.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Man With Dissasembled Airsoft Gun Shot in Head by Police

Newly released information has shed light on the Sunday death of a Yakima, Wash. man who was shot and killed in his vehicle after police mistook his dissembled airsoft gun for a real firearm.

According to statements from Department Spokesman Capt. Rod Light, Yakima Police Officer Casey Gilette observed a “suspicious” vehicle parked outside a 24-hour car wash while on a routine 3 a.m. patrol.

After reportedly surveying the situation for one hour, Gilette decided to approach the vehicle, occupied by 23-year-old Rocendo Arias.

“Approached on foot on the driver’s side, moved around the vehicle to the passenger side of the vehicle,” Light explained to the KNDU News.

Instead of knocking on Arias’ window to further investigate the situation, Light admits the officer swung the passenger side door open without informing the driver. After noticing the disassembled gun, Gilette fired four shots, striking Arias once in the head.

“It appeared that he had some accessories to the handgun that he was trying to install on it or put pieces of this gun together,” Capt. Light said.

The airsoft gun, which shoots plastic pellets, reportedly had a bright orange plastic tip as well, used to clearly identify the item as a toy…

A check of court records by the Yakima Herald revealed Arias to have no felony convictions on his record. Gilette was placed on paid administrative leave for the duration of the investigation.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

NSA Fallout: Why Foreign Firms Won’t Buy American Tech

Mounting evidence points to billions of dollars in lost US business thanks to the NSA’s collect-everything mindset.

The United Arab Emirates, which signed a $926 million contract last year with two French firms to buy two intelligence satellites, said this week that the deal would be cancelled unless the firms (Airbus Defense & Space and Thales Alenia) removed US-built components. The UAE’s fear was that the equipment would contain back doors that would allow data sent to ground stations to be intercepted.

Facing a major customer defection, will the French firms — or, for that matter, anyone else trying to land a foreign contract — continue to work with American component builders? Mounting evidence suggests otherwise.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Celebrity Claims She Was “Stripped Naked” By TSA

TV beauty says “large black woman” performed “sexual act”

Russian TV celebrity turned political activist Ksenia Sobchak claims she was “stripped naked” and searched by a female TSA agent at Miami International Airport.

After TSA workers wrongly detected explosives on her fingers, the 32-year-old television presenter says a “large black woman” performed a “pervy” strip search on her which Sobchak regarded as a “sexual act”. The glamorous socialite was returning from a Christmas party in Miami.

“Sobchak said she had a spa massage with jojoba oil mixed with glycerin before boarding her flight that might have triggered the airport’s security equipment. She said she was told that this happens two or three times a day at the airport,” reports RIA Novosti.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

W. Va. Chemical Spill: Officials Warn “Do Not Use Tap Water”

A federal disaster declaration has been issued for a West Virginia chemical spill that may have contaminated tap water and prompted officials to order residents in nine counties not to bathe, brush their teeth or wash their clothes.

The declaration, made overnight, allows for direct federal assistance in dealing with the spill, Bill Hines of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said early Friday. It remained unclear how much of the chemical spilled into the river and at what concentration, or how long the advisory would last.

The federal move came shortly after Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency Thursday when the spill from Freedom Industries hit a river and a nearby water treatment plant.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Why Socialism is on the Rise

It took capitalism half a century to come back from the Great Depression. It’s taken socialism half that time to come back from the collapse of the Soviet Union. In New York City, avowed socialist Mayor Bill de Blasio has declared that his goal is to take “dead aim at the Tale of Two Cities” — the gap between rich and poor.

In Seattle, newly elected socialist city Councilmember Kshama Sawant addressed supporters, explaining, “I wear the badge of socialist with honor.” To great acclaim from the left, columnist Jesse Myerson of Rolling Stone put out a column telling millennials that they ought to fight for government-guaranteed employment, a universal basic income, collectivization of private property, nationalization of private assets and public banks.

The newly flowering buds of Marxism no longer reside on the fringes. Not when the president of the United States has declared fighting income inequality his chief task as commander in chief. Not when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said that America faces “no greater challenge” than income disparity.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Real Gun Control Means Controlling Bad Guys

Why does Prime Minister Harper treat innocent hunters, farmers and sports shooters worse than criminals just because they own guns? He has repeatedly promised the Conservatives would get tough on criminals — not decent, law-abiding Canadians.

And so, why are licensed gun owners, who have done nothing wrong in their whole lives, subject to a penalty of up to two years in jail simply for failing to report their change of address to police while those convicted of violent crimes are not? Why are licensed firearms owners required to open their homes for inspection by the police without having been accused of any crime while those prohibited from owning firearms by the courts are not?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

York Defends Allowing Student to Snub Working With Women

Toronto university official says student’s request was granted because course was online

An official with York University in Toronto says although a male student asked to be excused from a group project with women for religious reasons, that’s not why his request was granted — a decision that has stirred widespread controversy.

The student, whose name has not been released, cited religious grounds for his request to be excused from a group project in his sociology class. His religion is unclear.

Prof. Paul Grayson originally rejected the man’s request that he be allowed to skip the group project and the student went on to meet with his female classmates as scheduled.

But Grayson said he was later told by the dean of the faculty of liberal arts and professional studies that the student should have been accommodated, since the request did not have a “substantial impact” on the rights of other students.

¦Listen to the full Metro Morning interview

Rhonda Lenton, Provost and vice-president academic for York, was interviewed about the controversy Friday on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning.

Lenton told host Matt Galloway the student’s request for accommodation was supported because the class was billed as an online course and no interactions with other students would be required.

“The course had been advertised as an online course and the student had signed up for the course on the understanding that he would not be required to attend on campus,” said Lenton. “If it had been an in-class on-campus course, the likely response here would have been that an accommodation would not have been provided.”

The decision has raised the ire of some MPs, with many arguing the university’s decision gives tacit support to a negative view of women.

Lenton said she understands the controversy but believes the university made the right decision.

“I fully appreciate and understand that in our culture, that the notion that a student finds it problematic to intermingle with female students is a problem,” she said. “I understand why that has raised upset in this case. If this had not been an online course, an exception would not have been accommodated.

“We are committed to gender equity; we do not prioritize one set of rights over the others. If we had made the accommodation based on the student’s request around the religious accommodation, I could understand why people might feel that way, but that was not the defining factor.”

           — Hat tip: RR [Return to headlines]
 

British Far-Right Leader in Athens to Support Golden Dawn

BNP’s Nick Griffin to address neonazi meeting

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JANUARY 10 — The leader of a British far-right party will be in Athens today to speak in support of neonazi Golden Dawn, as daily Eleftherotypia online reports.

Nick Griffin, who heads the British National Party (BNP) and is a member of the European Parliament, is scheduled to address a Golden Dawn press conference to present the party’s plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights over what it claims is a government’s crackdown on it. Golden Dawn claims that the remanding in custody of its leader, deputy leader and another party MP as “illegal and unconstitutional” and says it will present documents showing how the “scheme against Golden Dawn was set up”. In September, after the arrest of Golden Dawn leaders in the aftermath of the stabbing of a antifascist rapper by a party supporter, Griffin expressed his “full solidarity with Greek patriots, being persecuted by the system as a consequence of their fast growing support among ordinary Greeks”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Cyprus: Region’s Businessmen Support Reunification

Turks, Greeks, Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots issue joint appeal

(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, 10 GEN — The business associations of Turkey, Greece, the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (the latter is recognized only by Turkey, and not at the international level) have issued a joint statement to urge their respective governments to start talks for a peaceful resolution of the longstanding issue on the division of the island, the northern part of which has been occupied by the Turkish military since 1974.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Finland: Security Police Eyeball Fighters Returning From Syrian Conflict

Finland’s intelligence gathering police unit Supo says it’s very worried about extreme Islamists returning to Finland from fighting in Syria. Supo would not comment on which rebel groups the combatants joined, but is trying to put an end to the conflict tourism.

           — Hat tip: KGS [Return to headlines]
 

ISS Slammed for ‘Ethnic Norwegian Only’ Job Ad

“The current job posting is in breach of the discrimination law on ethnicity,” he told Nettavisen. “As it stands now, the advert states that people who are not ethnically Norwegian will be excluded from applying for the position. In the ombudsman’s view, there is no reason to have such a requirement, as this is not a criterion to obtain security clearance.”

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Lazio Regional Officials Arrested in Garbage Scandal

Malagrotta landfill crisis triggers criminal investigation

(ANSA) — Rome, January 9 — Police said Thursday that seven people, including a former official from the Lazio region, were arrested in connection with an alleged waste disposal scandal around Italy’s iconic city of Rome.

The owner of the Malagrotta landfill near Rome, Manlio Cerroni, and the former president of the Lazio region Bruno Landi were among those arrested in an alleged scandal involving the handling of waste.

They are being held under house arrest.

Several other local businessmen and regional officials were arrested in the investigation and about 18 million euros in assets seized as part of the ongoing probe.

Serious problems in the handling of waste in the Lazio region led the European Union to announce last year that it was taking Italy before the European Court of Justice for failing to resolve the trash situation.

The correct rubbish treatment procedures were not implemented in landfills including Malagrotta and elsewhere in Lazio, according to the EU.

In 2012, rubbish started piling up in Rome’s streets in a crisis reminiscent of the problems Naples has had in recent years due to lack of landfill areas around the southern city.

Rome’s huge dump at Malagrotta is filled well beyond capacity; however, local administrators, environmental groups and residents unable to agree on an alternative at the time.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Norwegian Mass Murderer Complains About Treatment in Prison

Anders Breivik Sends Letter to Media, Government Officials and European Torture Watchdog

Confessed Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik sent a signed 30-page letter to media organizations, various officials in Norway and a European torture watchdog complaining about his treatment in prison. Tord Jordet, an attorney for Mr. Breivik, confirmed his client sent the letter and said it had been delayed while prison officials reviewed its contents.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Scandal-Rocked Legionaries Start Reform Meetings at Vatican

Seen as key test of Francis’ ability to rebuild

(ANSA) — Rome, January 9 — A scandal-rocked Catholic movement close to Pope John Paul II whose founder was a child sex abuser began reform meetings at the Vatican on Thursday. The meetings, known as an Extraordinary General Chapter, are the first since the Legionaries of Christ were put under Vatican oversight in 2010 after its founder, Mexican priest Marcial Maciel, was removed from leadership for inflicting decades of sexual abuse on boys and fathering several children, two of whom he also abused.

The scandal tainted the pontificate of John Paul, a friend of the charismatic founder who publicly endorsed the Legionaries, sparking accusations of ignoring public reports as early as the 1990s of abuse that began in the 1980s. Maciel was stripped of his leadership role and ordered to a life of prayer and penitence by John Paul’s successor Benedict XVI in 2006 and died two years later in disgrace.

Church probes have since confirmed nine other priests sexually abused children and at least 10 more are still under investigation. Some Vatican watchers have suggested John Paul’s canonisation, scheduled for the spring this year, may have been held up by his friendship with Maciel. The meetings, which will go on for six weeks, are being watched as an important chapter in the reform drive of Pope Francis, who has called for a major reworking of the group’s internal structure, said to be very secretive in order to prevent whistle-blowing, according to internal probes. Known to encourage joining the priesthood and recruit new followers, the Legionaries count over 950 priests and 70,000 lay members worldwide, primarily in Latin America, the Argentine pope’s home. The Chapter is being overseen by Pontifical Delegate to the Legion Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, under Francis’s close watch.

“The Pope has been very attentive, very close, and he rightly wants to follow the journey we are undertaking,” said De Paolis in an interview with Vatican Spokesman Federico Lombardi for Vatican Radio.

“Because — and these are (the pope’s) words — ‘he feels a great responsibility, as the Successor of Peter, to accompany religious and consecrated life’“.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Sleepy Sun Thickens the Slow Solar Wind

Even the sun needs a break. A slowdown in solar activity has given us the first real clue about a period of dramatic solar behaviour 350 years ago.

To find out how severe such slowdowns might be, Mike Lockwood and Matt Owens at the University of Reading, UK, used the 2008 measurements to model the belt’s thickness during the most extreme solar minimum on record: the Maunder Minimum. This lasted from 1645 to 1715 and corresponded to a minor ice age.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Corruption of Britain: UK’s Key Institutions Infiltrated by Criminals

The entire criminal justice system was infiltrated by organised crime gangs, according to a secret Scotland Yard report leaked to The Independent.

In 2003 Operation Tiberius found that men suspected of being Britain’s most notorious criminals had compromised multiple agencies, including HM Revenue & Customs, the Crown Prosecution Service, the City of London Police and the Prison Service, as well as pillars of the criminal justice system including juries and the legal profession.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Six-Month-Old Puppy Zeus Caused Explosion That Shattered Windows and Set Fire to Sofa When it Chewed Through a ‘Can of Lynx Deodorant’saluki Greyhound Cross Chewed Through Can of Lynx at House in Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire

A six-month-old puppy chomped through a can of deodorant which caused a window-shattering explosion.

The saluki greyhound cross called Zeus chewed through the can of Lynx and caused a blast so intense that it shattered his owner’s double glazed bay window, broke the floorboards and set fire to the sofa.

Kerry Leech, 20, and her partner Matthew Heckler, 22, said they were lucky not to have been in during the freak accident at their home in Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire, on Saturday.

Firefighters first told the couple that the explosion must have been caused by leaking gas pipes.

But after no evidence of a leak was found, they now believe that Zeus chewed through the deodorant can right next to the home’s back boiler, located directly behind the living room fire.

When the central heating came on just minutes later, a spark ignited the gas and caused the explosion.

Mr Heckler, who is currently unemployed, said: ‘I didn’t even know we had a can of Lynx in the living room…”

           — Hat tip: Seneca III [Return to headlines]
 

Young Libyan Footballers to Go to Östersund to Learn About Swedish Democracy

Libya pumps millions into Swedish football club

Östersund football club is to receive SEK 500 million from the Libyan state in exchange for training and education young footballers from the North African country in the ways of Swedish democracy.

It is a huge amount of money for the northern Swedish club, who play in the second-tier of Swedish football and normally operate on a budget of around SEK 22 million a year. But both sides hope to profit from the deal, with Libya aiming to use football as a goal to unite the country in the post-Gaddafi years.

Australian doctors pull inch-long cockroach from man’s ear

Friends of Darwin man say they have started sleeping with headphones on after insect burrowed into his ear during the night

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Scholarships in Europe for North African Students Open

To nationals from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia

(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, JANUARY 09 — North African students are being invited to apply for scholarships to study in Europe under the Erasmus Mundus — Al Idrisi II Programme. The programme is open to nationals from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, with scholarships for undergraduate, master and doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows as well as academic and administrative staff wishing to join credit transfer or full degree programmes or to perform short stays for research, teaching, training or other cooperation activities.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Caroline Glick: Israel and the Death of Pan-Arabism

The so-called Arab Spring unleashed forces that have been dormant for a century. Like their counterparts throughout the region, Israel’s Arabic-speaking minorities are changing in profound ways. But our leaders fail to grasp the implications of what is happening.

Consider the Christian community.

Father Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth, has become the symbol of this new period. Nadaf is the spiritual leader of an Israeli Christian movement calling for Israeli Christian youth to serve in the IDF. He is responsible for the 300 percent rise in Christian Arab enlistment in the IDF in the past year.

Nadaf does not hide his goal or his motivation. His seeks the full integration of Israel’s 130,000 Christians into Israeli society. He views military service as the key to that integration.

Nadaf is motivated to act by the massive persecution of Christians throughout the Arab world since the onset of the Arab revolutionary wave in December 2010.

As he explained in a recent interview with Channel 1, it is “in light of what we see happening to Christians in Arab countries, how they are slaughtered and persecuted on a daily basis, killed and raped just because they are Christians. Does this happen in the State of Israel? No, it doesn’t.”…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

Americans Who Fought in Fallujah Watch Al Qaeda Make Comeback

The crack of gunfire shattered the quiet following afternoon prayers in Fallujah on Thursday, an Iraqi city that U.S. forces once wrested from al Qaeda-linked forces in fierce and bloody fighting and is now a fresh battleground for the terror group.

Inside the ancient city, just 43 miles from Baghdad, Iraqis are once again braced for a siege and say security has declined precipitously over the past year. On Thursday, Iraqi interior ministry officials declared that half of the city was occupied by a brutal wing of al Qaeda called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

What little peace this city has seen in the past decade came at the expense of dozens of American Marines who fought al Qaeda-backed insurgents in two battles in 2004. They finally eliminated the al Qaeda forces in a house by house, alleyway by alleyway battle in which Marines had to contend with booby traps, roadside bombs and insurgents who fought with near suicidal determination.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Horrors of Al Qaeda Prisons in Syria Exposed

Dozens of detainees tell of torture, indiscriminate killings

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, JANUARY 9 — Torture, indiscriminate killings, and abuse in the manner if not worse than that suffered for decades in the prisons of the Syrian regime have been reported by civilians and rebels on their release from Al Qaeda prisons in Aleppo, in northern Syria. For days, the Al Qaeda fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been under attack in the Idlib, Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir Az-Zor regions by an unprecedented front of nationalist rebels and radical Islamic groups. Some of ISIL’s prisons have been opened by insurgents and the released ‘detainees’ during the clashes.

According to Syrian opposition sources, prior to the recent anti-Al Qaeda offensive, about 1,500 people were being held in ISIL prisons. Some of the survivors of the inferno of Qadi Askar in Aleppo say that many of the detainees were rebels from anti-regime groups — including members of radical Islamic groups — and that many of them had been killed in jail. “They killed them brigade by brigade. They would have continued until the entire country was under their control,” one of the survivors said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Blocks Anti-Assad Resolution at UN

Russia has once again blocked an anti-Assad resolution before the U.N. Security Council, Fox News has learned, in the latest setback ahead of Secretary of State John Kerry’s mission abroad to pursue a Syria peace plan.

[Comment: Kerry et al still trying to trick Western public to support their MB terrorist invasion of Syria.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey: Ankara to Impose Strict Controls on Internet Freedom

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JANUARY 10 — The Turkish government has moved to impose strict controls on the Internet by monitoring the activities of online users and blocking certain keywords, a parliamentary source said on Thursday as reported by Turkish media. A bill has been submitted to parliament in the latest in a string of government moves testing freedom of expression in the aspiring EU member state. The proposed legislation will allow the authorities to block keywords deemed problematic and limit access to video-sharing websites that include them, the source said. It will allow officials to keep a record of all activities of Internet users for two years and monitor which websites they have visited, which keywords they have searched for and their activities on social networking sites. “The draft bill is designed to ‘protect the family, children and youth from items on the Internet that encourage drug addiction, sexual abuse and suicide,” Hurriyet newspaper said. In December, Google released data showing that Turkey topped the Internet giant’s content removal request list.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

French Court OKs Ablyazov Extradition, Likely to Russia

Former opposition politician accused of stealing billions

(ANSA) — Paris, January 9 — A French appeals court on Thursday approved the extradition, likely to Russia, of former Kazakh tycoon and political dissident Mukhtar Ablyazov.

The Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence said he could be extradited to either Russia or Ukraine, but Russia should have priority.

Ablyazov is accused of stealing billions of dollars from the Kazakh BTA Bank, which also operates in Russia and Ukraine.

He was arrested on the French Riviera in July and denies the allegations. His lawyer said he would appeal the extradition order.

In the complex case, his wife Alma Shalabayeva recently returned to Italy, seven months after she and her young daughter had been deported in a controversial operation.

Shalabayeva and her young child Alua were deported on a private jet to Kazakhstan after they were seized in May in a raid on a villa in Rome by Italian police following pressure from Kazakh officials, causing a major international scandal.

Italy repealed her expulsion order after it emerged Shalabayeva had the legal right to reside here. Shalabayeva has since said that she had been afraid her young daughter might be killed during their time back in Kazakhstan.

Ablyazov, a former energy minister, was arrested in France on July 31 at his sister’s house near Cannes.

He had initially fled to the UK in 2011, where he obtained political asylum, but was labeled a fugitive after he failed to attend hearings in an embezzlement case against him involving the BTA Bank he once ran.

He was reportedly fined 400 million dollars in damages.

Ablyazov has denied all charges against him, which he claims are aimed at removing him as a political rival to authoritarian Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Hunting Wormholes in a Soviet-Era Science City

THIS isn’t what you would expect a “science city” to look like. They hunt for mysterious cosmic oddities like wormholes and white holes here, but as I step out of the car I see grey concrete-slab buildings that take me back to the drab days of my Soviet childhood.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Elephant Shark Takes Record for Slowest Evolution

It’s a living fossil to beat all others. The elephant shark, Callorhinchus milii (pictured), has the slowest-evolving genome of any vertebrate.

C. milii is not actually a true shark but belongs to a group known as ratfish, which diverged from sharks about 400 million years ago. When a team led by Byrappa Venkatesh of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore compared its genome with those of other vertebrates, they found it had changed less from its presumed ancestral form than any other.

C. milii outstrips the coelacanth, the fish that previously held the slow-evolution record.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Indonesia: West Java: Islamists Close Down Children’s Public Library

After weeks of intimidation and (unfounded) accusations of proselytism, the Taman Bacaan Masyarakat is forced to cease activities . The Executive Director, a Catholic , says that “for some time” a fundamentalist wing has hindered his work on behalf of children in rural areas. An activity open to all, regardless of religious faith.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) — After weeks of pressure, intimidation and (unfounded) accusations of proselytism made by a local Islamic extremist group, the leaders of the Sanggar Rebung Cendani have closed a public library for children recently opened in West Java . The space especially for children, is called Taman Bacaan Masyarakat ( TBM , which stands for “center for free reading”) and Kalimulya is a village in the district of Depock , in Bogor , in the Indonesian province of West Java ..

The Executive Director Yoseph Budisantoso confirmed the shut down of his activity. “It all began in December, just before the Christmas holidays — he told AsiaNews — when some Islamic fundamentalist leaders made false accusations, accusing TBM of being a center devoted to Catholic proselytism.” He adds that for some time now an extremist fringe has promoted attacks and provocations to cast a shadow over its humanitarian efforts and prevent it from promoting “education” in rural areas and among poorer sections of the population ..

The Sanggar Rebung Cendani group, active in rural areas of the province, aims to drastically reduce illiteracy among children, as well as foster a passion for reading among children. The NGO also promotes programs focused on eco-friendly “green” and education policies, again aimed at children of the agricultural areas.

The various threats and demands launched by extremists against Sanggar Rebung Cendani include the demand to make public the names and addresses of all the benefactors and supporters of the various projects, and the amount of their donations. Budisantoso clarifies that all the initiatives undertaken so far by the group have had an interdenominational character, while proudly declaring his own Catholic faith. He also expressed his profound sorrow for the local people who had, on several occasions, shown great support and commitment to his humanitarian project, despite the insults and threats from extremists.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has seen a rise in the number of attacks or acts of intolerance against minorities, including Christians, Ahmadi Muslims and others. After the Aceh province in which Shariah law reigns, West Java is considered one of the most intolerant in the country. In recent years there has been an increase in Islamist anti- Christian movements, which on more than one occasion have committed acts of violence against the local Catholic and Protestant communities . An example are the dozens of assaults against the Yasmin Church in Bogor . The Ahmadi religious sect considered heretical Sunni Islam are also targeted. Catholics are a small minority of about seven million people, equivalent to about 3% of the population. The constitution provides for freedom of religion, but the community is the victim of incidents of violence and abuse.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

China in Race to Build First Code-Breaking Quantum Supercomputer

Researchers in China are pulling out all the stops to create the holy grail of technology — the world’s first code-breaking supercomputer

It is said that the success of British encryption experts in cracking the Nazis’ “unbreakable” Enigma cipher machine probably contributed more to the Allies’ eventual victory than the more famous Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb.

Today China, the US and other major powers are racing to develop another game-changer in intelligence encryption — the first quantum supercomputer, which would become the ultimate code-breaker.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China to Overtake U.S. As World’s Top Trader

China is poised to become the world’s top trading nation, a position long held by the United States. China reported Friday that its total trade for 2013 reached $4.2 trillion, a sharp increase over the previous year. It is the first time the world’s most populous country has cleared the $4 trillion barrier, a feat accomplished despite lackluster numbers for the final month of the year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China Surpasses US as World’s Largest Trading Nation

Beijing describes 2013 figures as ‘a landmark milestone’ as annual trade in goods passes the $4tn mark for the first time

China became the world’s largest trading nation in 2013, overtaking the US in what Beijing described as “a landmark milestone” for the country. China’s annual trade in goods passed the $4tn (£2.4tn) mark for the first time last year according to official data, after exports from the world’s second largest economy rose 7.9% to $2.21tn and imports rose 7.3% to $1.95tn.

As a result total trade rose 7.6% over the year to $4.16tn. The US is yet to publish its 2013 trade figures, but with trade totalling $3.5tn in the first 11 months of the year, it is unlikely to beat China. The shift in the trading pecking order reflected China’s rising global dominance, despite a slowdown in economic growth last year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Rodman the Perfect Representative for Obama Diplomacy

However, my vote for the story of the week is the amateur diplomatic efforts of one of the weirdest people in America, Dennis Rodman. Others may say that Rodman’s whirlwind basketball tour of North Korea, the most repressive country on the planet, along with other washed up players of the game, is a non-story. I say it speaks to the very nature of diplomacy in the Obama administration, for which Dennis Rodman is the perfect representative.

Like Barack Obama, Dennis Rodman bows before tyrants. Obama has bowed to the Wahhabi royal fanatics in Saudi Arabia and the despots in Communist China. Upon arriving in Pyongyang, Rodman bowed to the juvenile tyrant and basketball fanatic Kim Jung Un, who recently turned 120 hungry dogs loose on his own uncle, who was subsequently torn to pieces…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Australian Doctors Pull Inch-Long Cockroach From Man’s Ear

A man in Australia endured a painful hospital visit after a large cockroach burrowed into his ear and his efforts to suck it out with a vacuum cleaner failed. Darwin-based Hendrik Helmer’s ordeal began in the early hours of Wednesday morning when he was woken by a sharp pain in his right ear, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Lawn Again Christians: South African Preacher Makes Congregation Eat Grass to ‘Be Closer to God’

A South African preacher made his congregation eat grass to ‘be closer to God’ before stamping on them. Under the instruction of Pastor Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Centre Ministries dozens of followers dropped to the floor to eat the grass at his ministry in Garankuwa, north of Pretoria after being told it will ‘bring them closer to God.’

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Zulu Weapons Used in the Slaughter of British Troops at the Infamous Battle of Isandlwana Set to Fetch £100,000 at Auction

The war began with a British invasion of Zululand, and ended with almost 8,000 dead, a British victory and Zulu independence.

Now, a Zulu shield from the 1879 war is being put up for auction.

The rare tribal shield which belonged to a young Zulu warrior is believed to have been used in the infamous battle of Isandlwana, a massacre that claimed the lives of over 1,300 British soldiers.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

La Chamber of Raza: Bipartisan Elites Push for Amnesty…(Again)

These amnesty fanatics won’t stop. They will do everything in their power to ensure that every illegal alien here has an opportunity to work for low wages or (alternatively) simply become dependent upon (and thus supportive of) big government programs. The more we see this immigration “reform” issue unfold, the more we see that there really isn’t a hell of a lot of sunshine between the GOP and Democrat Establishment. Neither is doing what is in the interest of the demoralized American middle class. Neither cares about preserving a unique American culture, language or the rule of law. Perhaps we can name this new political alliance La Chamber of Raza. (Of course what the capitalists don’t understand is that if millions of Americans basically give up hope of becoming prosperous, or just getting a decent paying job, the free market is imperiled.) More folks will just start turning on whatever remains of free market principles, since they aren’t working for them. As one of our exasperated callers said recently: “The government seems to be working against, not for us.”

Side-note: I think the GOP Establishment is desperate to get amnesty through in 2014 so that their Presidential candidate (whoever it is) doesn’t have to talk about the issue in 2016.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

One in Ten Babies in England is a Muslim

Those practising the religion ‘could soon outnumber actively worshipping Christians’

One in ten children under the age of four is now Muslim in England and Wales, the latest statistics show. In the under-fives age group there are nearly twice as many people identified as Muslim as in the general population, census data reveals. The figures suggest a change in the UK’s younger generation of worshippers as less than 0.5 per cent of over 85s in Britain identify as Muslim.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Is Big Gay Finally Losing Its Grip on America?

Recent events have not been kind to the radical homosexual lobby and its efforts to impose “homo-normalization” onto America. For years, Big Gay has given the appearance of being an unstoppable juggernaut as it rolled from one court victory to the next, leaving behind it a wreckage of ruined lives of people who had the temerity to not show enough deference to the gay agenda. Yet, there are a few recent signs that this might be changing. It brings up the question, “Are average, everyday Americans finally tired enough of being bullied, hectored, accused, attacked, shouted at, threatened, and otherwise hounded by groups like GLAAD and other radical homosexual elements in our popular and political cultures that they’re finally willing to openly oppose it?” While the jury is still out on whether it will be a flash in the pan or the start of a trend, the answer seems to be “Yes.”…

What it all comes down to is the fact that the cultural and political power that Big Gay wields is not based on actual numbers. Instead, it is founded upon the psychological sense of “inevitability” it has successfully garnered for itself, coupled with a campaign to attach social stigma to and retribution against anyone who gets out of line, which I touched on in my previous article.

There is actually some scientific basis to all of this. Social psychologists have long known that human beings are wired towards conformity. In 1951, a social psychologist named Solomon Asch performed a series of experiments in which he would take a test subject and place them in a room with several other people, all of whom were working with Asch (unbeknownst to the test subject). He exposed the groups to a series of pictures in which a vertical line appeared, and was then placed next to a picture with three vertical lines (A, B, and C), only one of which was the same length as the test line. Participants were asked to state which line from A, B, or C matched the length of the test line. Varying numbers of Asch’s associates (but always a majority of them) would then disagree with the test subject (i.e. by choosing an obviously wrong answer), and Asch would measure how often test subjects would change their answers to conform to the associates who were purposefully choosing the wrong line.

What Asch found out was that 74% of his test subjects would conform to the majority at least once out of several trials. On average, people would conform about a third of the time, and the amount of conformity increased as more and more of Asch’s associates sided with each other and against the test subject.’

Other experiments along this line have also approached this subject from the opposite direction. It has been shown that when faced with seemingly unanimous opposition from a researcher’s associates in this type of experiment, a test subject is extremely likely to do what social psychologists call “conforming,” the technical definition of which here means that the subject will inwardly disagree with the unanimous opposition, but will outwardly agree so as to avoid the stigma of being in the minority. However, it has been found that test subjects are much less likely to conform to the majority when even one of the research associates would agree with the test subject over and against the others. The level of conformity drops even more when two, three, and more of the plants began to agree with the experimental subject.

What does all this mean?…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. To Recognize Utah Gay Marriages Despite State Stance

The Obama administration on Friday said that it will recognize as lawful the marriages of 1,300 same-sex couples in Utah, even though the state government is refusing to do so.

Wading into the fast-moving legal battle over same-sex marriage rights in one of America’s most socially conservative states, the administration posted a video on the Justice Department’s website. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said that the federal government will grant federal marriage benefits to the same-sex couples who had rushed to obtain marriage licenses after a federal judge last month unexpectedly struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage.

“I am confirming today that, for purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages,” Mr. Holder said in the video. “These families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as the litigation unfolds.”

[Return to headlines]
 

Polar Vortexing Around “Glow-Ball Vorming”

by Dennis Sevakis

The recent Eastern U.S. outbreak of record-setting frigid air has added a new term to the popular lexicon: ‘Polar Vortex.’ Weather Channel meteorologists explained during a mid-freeze broadcast that, strictly speaking, the use of this term in conjunction with the recently passed cold snap is not technically correct. However, these same meteorologists continued by pointing out that the then simultaneous above-normal temps in Europe negated any anti-climate change indications associated with the non-relevant polar vortex blip.

Those living in Scandinavia prefer to use the term ‘glow-ball vorming’ rather than ‘climate change.’ This was pointed out a number of years ago by a fellow who called himself ‘The Diplomad.’ In a short post on his now-defunct blog describing the topics of conversation during a diplomatic dinner he rankled:…

[Return to headlines]
 

8 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/10/2014

  1. The so called EU means death to white native indidgenous peoples and their cultures in europe!! EU is a euphemism for extermination, murder and genocide of hundreds of millions of native peoples of europe, and there cultures, morality, christianity!!!!

    EU equals, the replacement of the native populations and peoples of europe, with 3rd world savages, and muslim murderers, muslim nazis, and the death of our race from this earth!

    The current political phonys have rigged the voting system, simply by importing the 3rd world and giving them voting rights, giving them our tax moneys in housing and benefits, in order to corrupt them, so that they will vote to keep in power the crooked politicians we now have!!

    Its the muslim savages and other 3rd worlders who are controlling the political power in our countrys today!!!

    We must ban outright! Giving foreigners the right to vote!!!

    No foreigner shouod be able to be involved in anyway with the workings of our sovereign nations in europe??

    Islam must be outlawed and banned!!!!

    Burn the koran !!!!

    Sobieski

  2. Any news about growing contempt for the EU is good news. I hope those unelected tyrants in Brussels have trouble going to sleep these nights as they see their job prospects increasingly under fire. After what they’ve done to Europe, a lack of sleep is only the tip of the iceberg of what they deserve.

    Good to see youth increasingly disillusioned with Brussels. Hope they’re also smart enough to see how precarious their future is in their own lands thanks to Islam, and take the appropriate steps to combat that threat (like joining a patriotic movement!)

    About Britain… I’ve seen this news story on various counter-jihad sights today, and no matter how many times I read that article, it never fails to fill me with a fresh wave of despair. I feel hopeless reading statistics like this. Is it really too late to save Europe? Are we fighting a war that’s already been decided? I’m not being rhetorical either. I know many Europeans and Brits especially are active on GoV. I honestly ask you: what can be done to reverse Britain’s fortunes? My ancestors hail from that tiny island, and I would give anything to see it return to a land teeming with English men and women.

  3. Well, as a native Brit who’s lived in “multicultural” London for 44 years, I don’t think this kind of scattergun attack does the antijihad cause any good. Almost all of our South Asian immigrants from Hindu and Sikh backgrounds are well-integrated and hard-working; so are many of our Afro-Caribbeans. We have many people from West Africa, and I’ve hardly met a Ghanaian I didn’t like; can’t quite say the same for some Nigerians, but this is hardly a justification for this kind of blanket condemnation.

    I do believe that people should not be entitled to vote until they become citizens, and citizenship should only be granted to those who understand the language (which I understand used to be the case in Sweden). But wouldn’t it be less likely to alienate potential allies, and a better use of resources, to concentrate on the people who are a problem and a threat?

    • Mark H: I think I should clarify, as I can see how my statement, the last sentence in particular, could be misconstrued.

      I’ll be the first to say (as I’ve said quite a few times on many other counter-jihad sites) that we’re all in this together. I don’t care what people believe or where they come from; if they’re fighting against Islam they are a friend. Many of my closest friends are from lands other than my own, and they’re all well-integrated, hard-working, and friendly to anyone. So, I hope you’ll believe me when I say that I was not trying to suggest anyone who isn’t a native Brit should be thrown out of the country, or that they don’t belong there. I know that some of our staunchest allies over there are Hindus and Sikhs, and I’m grateful we have them on our side in robust numbers.

      When I said “teeming with English men and women”, I was referring specifically to the areas like East London, Birmingham, Tower Hamlets and many others that have experienced “white flight” and look more like a city in the Middle East than in modern day England. Those areas in which Brits really are “strangers in their own lands” to quote Powell, and that really is quite a distressing reality.

    • “…citizenship should only be granted to those who understand the language….”

      First, we have actual Americans in the United States who do NOT even understand the English language because of quite purposeful dumbing down of the public educational system 1) to keep the populace ignorant, and 2) often BECAUSE foreign immigrants speaking a random number of languages must be accommodated and negatively affect the rate of learning for native Americans who already speak English.

      Second, understanding the English language is NOT the same as understanding, accepting, and acceding to English values (i.e., Presumably, Mark himself is English and yet Mark appears to value socialism.) When are white people going to realize that white people are the true minority in the world – and will be easily overwhelmed in our own formerly white nations – in the next few decades?

      You will see how “nice” the immigrant Indians and Africans are to white people when the Indian and African immigrants rule the roost. Here’s a hint: Indians and Africans are NOT even “nice” to each other in their own countries. India has a robust caste system. Africa has an insane rate of rape – including regular kidnap and rape of young girls to violently force them into pregnancy and then marriage.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics

      We have already seen how “nice” the Muslim immigrants are to white people in England (grooming gangs) and France (car-b-ques) where Muslim immigrants rule the roost….

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22617339

      http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4120/islamization-france

      http://www.france24.com/en/20140102-france-car-burning-new-year-tradition-urban-violence-media/

    • Yes it would. Like you, but living in a different country, I have experienced no problems with Sikhs or Hindus: they are characterised by an ethos of hard work. Like you I have had almost exclusively positive experiences with Ghanaians and (Christian) Nigerians.

      The comparatively positive assessment of those above four groups has only consolidated and affirmed my wariness and opposition to Islam over a three decade period. As it has with Christian Lebanese vis-a-vis Muslim Lebanese: a very stark contrast in Australia.

      How is it that Hindu Indians, Christian Nigerians and Christian Lebanese are not socially problematic, yet the people of the same race/ethnicity following Islam are? Islam is the answer.

      It is a little unsettling that so many GoV commentors seem to have a racial/ethnic rather than religious objection – this is an anti-Islamization, anti-Jihad site.

      I would not want my country to be transformed by the importation of 5 million Sikhs, Hindus, Ghanaians or Christian Nigerians ( or 5 million Chinese) because then it would no longer be my country because the national culture would be transformed beyond recognition. However, to create an effective opposition one must keep their eye on the ball and focus on the truly dangerous, body politic threatening, culture corroding, element of contemporary mass immigration to the West: Islam.

  4. der Kanadier- I was responding mainly to Sobieski’s outburst, but you’d already used his (?) “reply” box; should have made that clearer, as I am now. I do take your point about ares becoming “ghettos”, but it depends who lives there. I certainly don’t feel threatened in, say, predominantly Jewish districts, and a few years ago went to mainly South Asian Southall, in west London, to visit the new Sikh temple, and was made to feel welcome.

    There are some social housing estates where I’d be wary, especially at night, but the youth who mugs you for drug money may as well be black as white. Tower Hamlets is a problem (and mainly Muslim) and as my country cousins like to remind me, London isn’t the whole country anyway.

    Egghead- Can’t speak with any great knowledge of your educational system, but is it possible you’re being paranoid about the agenda of those responsible for its decline? I do believe Western governments with immigrant populations should put non-English speaking children on a crash course, and only then integrate them into the schools. If their parents are also incentivised to learn, this will expose them to our media (yes, I know, but they will be better informed about our culture, and women from mysogynistic societies are more likely to question their assumptions).

    Yes, I’m English (with a bit of Scots), but if (democratic) socialism/liberalism can be a feature of a free society, why leave us out? We were one of the pioneers of the trade union movement, and not all of us believe the struggle is over.

    Had a look at your rape statistics: in 2008 South Africa was way out in the lead, but the US, Australia, Belgium and Sweden were all ahead of Zimbabwe. Of course it depends how it’s defined (the Swedes seem to have a very low bar, in addition to their infamous cultural enrichment), and on whether people bother to report it- less likely in societies where women are repressed, or the authorities unhelpful.

    Like Orwell, I’ve no time for people on the Left who praise every culture but their own, and I’m proud of the West’s achievements. But in the wars of the last century, Europeans and their descendants have killed untold millions of their “own” and others; partly due to organisation and technology, no doubt, and we’ve had (relative) peace in our homelands since, but are you certain it couldn’t happen again? I respect your intelligence and erudition, but wonder whether your view isn’t coloured (pun intended) by the US experience with race relations? Come to London and I’ll take you to the non-tourist bits (God, I’m sounding like Ralph McTell!)

Comments are closed.