Monthly Archives: February 2014

Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/21/2014

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After an unprecedented escalation of political violence, opposition leaders in Ukraine struck a deal with President Viktor Yanukovych brokered by the EU. The president promised to install a new government that includes opposition leaders, arrange for the writing of a new constitution, and call early elections. The Ukrainian parliament then voted to release Mr. Yanukovych’s imprisoned rival, Yulia Tymoshenko.

In other news, a European think tank has released a study concluding that Greece will require yet another Eurozone bailout, this one of €40 billion.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, 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.

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Olympia and the Ancient Olympic Games

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If you appreciate this essay by Fjordman, please consider making a donation to him, using the button at the bottom of this post.

Olympia and the Ancient Olympic Games
by Fjordman

In ancient Greece there were four so-called Panhellenic Games, open to all (free male) Greeks. They included the Nemean, Isthmian and Pythian Games. However, the Olympic Games were apparently the oldest of them.

Outsiders sometimes confuse Olympia with Mount Olympus. Olympia, where the original Olympic Games were held, is situated in the western parts of the Peloponnese, the large peninsula in southern Greece.

Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in the country at 2,917 meters, is located in northern Greece. In ancient Greek mythology, this was believed to be the home of the Olympian gods: Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hera and Hermes. Hades, the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, ruled the Underworld.

There are traces of older buildings at Olympia, but according to tradition, the first Olympic Games took place there in 776 BC.[1] They were initially mainly of local importance, but gradually grew in significance. The games were held every four years. Whenever they took place, an Olympic truce of peace was supposed to hold force between the various Greek city-states.

The ancient Olympic Games continued from 776 BC until at least 394 AD. They were suppressed in Late Antiquity, after Christianity had been established as the state religion of the Roman Empire. The Olympic athletic competitions had formally been held in honor of Zeus, the mightiest of the Greek deities. As such, Christians were partly associated them with pagan gods.


The central part of Olympia was dominated by the majestic Temple of Zeus, with the Temple of Hera parallel to it. If you visit the Archaeological Museum of Olympia today, it houses remains from the workshop of the great sculptor Phidias (or Pheidias). These include tools such as bronze spatulas and awls as well as clay moulds. He stayed with his assistants at Olympia, after having worked for years on the magnificent Acropolis of Athens.

His great statue of Zeus was erected at the Temple of Zeus at Olympia shortly before Phidias died around 430 BC. It was his final masterpiece, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is now lost, but we have written descriptions of it plus smaller images preserved on coins.

The statue may have been as high as 13 meters. The huge chryselephantine statue had a core of wood, on which gold sheets were fitted depicting the god’s himation (mantle), hair and shoes. The unclothed parts of the god, such as his face, torso and arms, were made of ivory.[2] The cedar wood throne upon which Zeus was sitting was ornamented with ebony, ivory and gold and decorated with precious stones. The bearded god was crowned with an olive wreath, his left hand holding a scepter next to an eagle. The statue was regularly oiled, in order to maintain the materials.

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/20/2014

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The protests in Ukraine are now verging on civil war, with estimated body counts for the clashes between demonstrators and police in Kiev ranging from 33 to 70, with hundreds wounded. The protesters reportedly captured some 67 police officers and paraded them around as prisoners. They are also alleged to have fired at the media.

In other news, entrepreneurs in Pakistan are using images of Barack Hussein Obama to help sell black-market knock-offs of Viagra. Mr. Obama is said to be a symbol of potency and manliness in Pakistan.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Diana West, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, Srdja Trifkovic, Vlad Tepes, 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.

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Death Threats for Opening a Wine Bar

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Consider the following news story:

Alabama man threatened with death over bar and grill

The Alabama entrepreneur Earl McTeague (40) is being threatened with death because he opened a bar and grill in Tuscaloosa this weekend.

McTeague is from a strict Baptist family. His father is a preacher. After his marriage to a woman in his church went wrong, he decided to change course. Since then, McTeague has been a passionate entrepreneur.

He fulfilled a dream by opening his own bar and grill, but the death threats he has received have put a damper on his initial excitement.

“I want to be who I am” he tells Metro. “I also teach my children that they should be someone rather than no one. The opening of a bar and grill may go against the Baptist culture I grew up with, but it feels good. I want to do what I want, am different and independent.”

The police are keeping a close eye on McTeague’s case. Mayor DuPree communicates via a spokesperson that he finds it difficult to understand that people can send such threats.

No, it’s not a real story. The real story is below the video. I just made a few carefully chosen global search-and-replace changes to the article from Rotterdam about the woman who opened a wine bar.

Some secular people who don’t care for Christianity are quick to assert that Muslims and Southern Baptists are a lot alike. They’re strict about their religion and don’t approve of alcohol — so they’re basically the same, right?

Well… How many times have you seen a story like the imaginary one above?

But the story of Elou Akhiat and her wine bar is, sadly, not at all surprising. It’s what we’ve come to expect in culturally enriched places like Rotterdam, especially when apostasy is part of the mix.

Many thanks to SimonXML for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

The real article from NLTimes:

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I May be Tolerant and Inclusive, But at Least I’m Not White

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Amarra Ghani is a 24-year-old woman of Pakistani background who is interning at National Public Radio. She was born in Brooklyn, and remembers suffering greatly as a child from the intolerance expressed towards her family by non-Muslim Americans in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Before she joined the cadres at NPR, she was a student at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, and a member of the Muslim Students’ Association on campus. While she was at UNC in 2012, she guest-blogged at “Breakfast at Night: A Ramadan Photo Project” about her fellowship with the other two “Abrahamic faiths”.

In March 2012 she took part in a UNC event to commemorate Trayvon Martin:

Members of the Black Student Association (BSA) and the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at the University of North Carolina at Asheville have joined forces to call attention to the murders of Shaima Alawadi and Trayvon Martin in their community.

The groups are asking school mates and community members to attend a rally on Thursday wearing black hoodies and black scarfs.

“This is a rally in solidarity for both Trayvon and Shaima,” Amarra Ghani, president of the MSA says in a YouTube promoting the rally. “Your headgear should not be a threat.”

“This is not a weapon of mass destruction,” Ghani says in the video as she points to the hijab around her head.

Last December, in one of her posts on the NPR blog, she talked about the hijab:

The hijab is a physical symbol of God-consciousness for everyday life. The women in the video all wear hijab, but they embrace their own unique style. And the video was meant to spark an important conversation: Muslims are not monolithic.

Ms. Ghani also has a YouTube channel. As far as I can determine, it contains only two videos, one about Occupy Asheville, and the other about Martin Luther King Day at UNC.

As you can see from the above examples, Amarra Ghani is a sterling example of openness, inclusiveness, tolerance, and interfaith understanding… in English. In Urdu — the language of her ancestors from the Indian subcontinent — it’s another matter entirely.

On Twitter yesterday, Amarra Ghani posted a tweet that included a snippet of Urdu. A reader and Twitter user named Rashid Saif understands the language, and sent us a note this morning about Ms. Ghani’s tweet:

Amarra Ghani puts up a face of inclusiveness and Muslim integration when writing for NPR (one example) .

However, when she switches to Urdu on twitter, she is a racist:

thankin the Good Lord like 90x a day that main nahin gori. ~praiSes~

“Main nahin gori” means “that I’m not a white woman”.

So her tweet is really: I thank god 90x a day that I’m not a white woman.

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/19/2014

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On a state visit to Saudi Arabia, Prince Charles participated in the traditional sword dance with members of the Saudi royal family. The Prince of Wales — jocularly known by certain irreverent wags as “Barmy Prince Charlie” — donned a long flowing robe and carried a sword for the dance, as did the British ambassador and other males in the prince’s entourage.

In other news, according to official inspection certificates, a dead mechanic in the Italian city of Naples has certified 1,600 vehicles as safe to drive. An estimated 40% of the cars on the road in Naples are uninsured.

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

Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, 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.

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The Führer and “His” Prophet

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JLH has translated an article about the deep affiliation between German National Socialism and Islam, and especially the Nazi regime’s relationship with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The translator includes this note:

I’ve added a reference to “The Turban and the Swastika” because this “leftish Islam-critical” writer gives examples and opinions as if he is in a bubble and believes that others know even less than what he has learned just by observing. For the seriously interested (and possibly those who can be entertained by a visual presentation) the video is more substantial stuff, and it seems like a good idea to advertise it while it is still available.

The translated article from Citizen Times:

The Führer and “His” Prophet

By Dr. Daniel Krause
January 30, 2014

On the 80th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s taking power, it is important to remember the cooperation between National Socialism and radical Islam.

81 Years ago today, Adolf Hitler seized power in Germany. No other German head of state has been a greater Islam booster than he. “Christianity is vapid,” he contemptuously gave his opinion of the “well-meaning” Protestants and Catholics. His wish for an alternative: “If only we had chosen Mohammedanism instead, the doctrine which teaches the reward of heroism. To the warrior alone belongs seventh heaven!” And Heinrich Himmler agreed, adding that Islam was “very similar” to the philosophy of National Socialism.

And in Islam, too, there was some enthusiasm for the new, pompous German leader. “The friendship and cooperation between Muslims and Germans after the takeover by the National Socialists has become much stronger, because National Socialism’s philosophy is in many ways parallel to Islam.” This praise comes from Grand Mufti Amin al-Husseini, summing up his speech in Babelsberg in 1943. The author Zvonimir Bernwald dedicated a long chapter to this close friend of Himmler in his book, Muslims in the Waffen-SS Numerous speeches of al-Husseini are documented there, excerpts from which show the ideological proximity of political Islam and National Socialism:

“Germany is battling Judaism, the hereditary enemy of Islam. In the conflict with Judaism, Islam and National Socialism have grown very close. The battle against the enemies of Islam who have offended against the Muslims and set the march of world Jewry in motion is an obligation for every Muslim. […] Muslims, who have to endure harsh attacks and oppressions by their enemies, will never have a better ally than the Greater German Reich. But also, among all its friends, National Socialist Germany will never have a better and more faithful partner than the Muslims.”

Hitler’s coup gave an immense lift to the bloodthirsty tendencies within Islam. Then as now, they derived their anti-Semitism from the Koran. In it, the Prophet Mohammed commanded them to be wary of the Jews and — depending on the situation — to fight against them. With that, we come to the byword “battle” — a key concept in National Socialism as in parts of the Koran. Bernwald confirms in his book that “Heinrich Himmler had a gushing enthusiasm for the loyalty and bravery of the Bosnian Muslims in the army of the First World War.” With reference to diverse Koran passages, among others Sura 2, Verses 154 and 216, Grand Mufti al-Husseini, too, came to an unmistakable conclusion:

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Breivik’s Letter to the Media in German

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Last month we published a letter written to the media by Anders Behring Breivik from his prison suite in Norway. In it Mr. Breivik repudiated any support for the Counterjihad. He confessed that his apparent affiliation with it, as expressed in his “manifesto”, was actually a ruse designed to distract the authorities and the media from his real ideology — neo-Nazi racial hygiene — and send them haring after Fjordman, Robert Spencer, Bat Ye’or, et al.

As we all know, the little trick played on us by the Butcher of Utøya was quite successful. The media hounded Fjordman into exile and cost an undetermined number of peaceful Counterjihad activists their jobs (besides Fjordman in Norway, at least three people of my acquaintance in Britain were sacked after Breivik’s massacre caused the newspapers to “out” them).

The significance of Mr. Breivik’s letter was such that it needed to be translated into German so it could reach a wider audience. In a herculean effort JLH translated the entire text of the letter, plus my accompanying post, and the result has been published at Politically Incorrect.

Readers who read German may want to drop by PI and see the result. JLH deserves our gratitude for accomplishing this most difficult task.

Previous posts about Anders Behring Breivik’s letter to the media:

2014   Jan   11   Breivik Repudiates the Counterjihad
        24   Breivik’s “Double-Psychology”
        25   The Breivik Ideology and Media Disinformation
        25   Between the Glacier and the Fjord
        27   Breivik’s Confession and the Media’s Silence
        28   Breivik and the Wicked Leftist Media
 

Fjordman: The Folly of Open Borders

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Fjordman’s latest essay has been published at FrontPage Mag. Some excerpts are below:

Ceuta is one of two small Spanish enclaves in North Africa, the second being Melilla. They provide the only possible entry to European territory without leaving Africa. Ceuta is separated from the Iberian Peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, and lies at the strategically important boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. 1300 years ago, Muslims used it as a staging ground for their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and their aggressive inroads into Europe. The tide took centuries to turn, but in 1415 the Portuguese conquered Ceuta. This event marked the beginning of half a millennium of European dynamism and global expansion.

It is ironic that Ceuta is now once again at the front lines. This time we are witnessing the retreat and decline of Europe, and the demographic expansion of Africa and the Islamic world. As one member of Spain’s maritime rescue services commented in late 2013: “ It has been a very busy summer, because we’re now also rescuing Africans who not only cross in a toy boat but haven’t even spent money on buying proper oars.”

Apart from scaling the fences at Ceuta and Melilla, other common routes into Europe are by boat, sometimes via Spain’s Canary Islands off the Atlantic coast of North Africa, but more frequently to Mediterranean islands such as Italy’s Lampedusa. Some also enter Europe from the east, via the Greek islands. Greece has a huge problem with illegal immigrants, many of them Muslims coming from as far east as Afghanistan.

The tiny island of Malta, which is a member of the EU, has already received tens of thousands of illegal immigrants coming in by boat. Many of the arrivals hail from the poorest and most war-torn parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Their arrival constitutes a heavy burden for such a small nation.

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Vasil the Lionlike

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As reported here in several earlier articles (see the bottom of this post for the links), a demonstration against a mosque broke out last Friday in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. One of the issues that enraged the demonstrators was the reopening of a mosque in Karlovo almost across the street from the birthplace of Vasil Levski, the great hero of Bulgarian independence. Levski gave his life for the cause in 1873, when he was hanged by the Turks.

By coincidence, today (February 19) is celebrated as the 141st anniversary of the death of Vasil Ivanov Kunchev, more commonly known as Vasil Levski, or “Vasil the Lionlike”. February 18 was the actual date of his death, but in one of those Julian/Gregorian calendar misalignments, the traditional date for the commemoration has become February 19.

The Sofia News Agency reports:

Bulgaria Commemorates Death of National Hero Vasil Levski

Bulgaria commemorates on Wednesday the 141st anniversary of the death of its national hero, freedom-fighter and revolutionary Vasil Levski.

Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (better known as Vasil Levski), was sentenced to death by an Ottoman court and hanged in Sofia on February 18 (February 6 old style), 1873.

Bulgaria honors the national hero on February 19th, despite him being hung on the 18th. The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences explains that this discrepancy is due to an old technical error that has not been corrected in history books.

Memorial services for Levski are taking place around the country, as people pay tribute to the hero at his numerous monuments, including the Levski Memorial in downtown Sofia.

A memorial will be held at 6 pm before the monument of Vasil Levski in downtown Sofia, at the spot where he was hung. The service will be attended by the President Rosen Plevneliev.

Levski was born in 1837 in Karlovo. He went on to become the leader of Bulgaria’s revolutionary movement for liberation from the Ottoman Empire.

Initially preparing to become an Orthodox monk, Kunchev gave this up in order to dedicate his life to fighting for Bulgaria’s freedom.

With relentless and self-sacrificing dedication, Levski created and headed a network of several hundred secret revolutionary committees preparing a national rebellion.

During his participation in the First Bulgarian Legion in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1862, he received the nickname “Levski” (Lionlike).

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Don’t Give Up Bulgarian Land!

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A second video of last Friday’s confrontation in Plovdiv has been subtitled. This one begins earlier, as Bulgarian citizens march up the street to the sound of bagpipes and drums, with a crucifer leading the procession.

My favorite part is when the protesters shout “Gypsies! Gypsies!” at the police. What an insult!

Many thanks to our Bulgarian correspondent RR for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling. RR includes this note:

Part of the scandal prompting the protest concerns the mosque in Karlovo that was recently returned to Muslim control: The building is almost facing the house where Vasil Levski, the hero of the Bulgarian rebellions against the Turks, was born.

The video below partially overlaps the video we posted yesterday. At about 6:20 you’ll see a woman with a loudspeaker walk past, facing the camera. Yesterday’s video shows her at about 1:00, as viewed from the opposite direction. The audio in this one is somewhat different, however, since the microphones were so far apart:

Take a look at what Vlad has to say about the Islamic historical practice of using mosques as symbols and centers of political domination. The citizens of Plovdiv are unusual in their determined resistance to this process. Most of Europe and North America is supine in the face of the mosque-building juggernaut.

Video transcript:

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/18/2014

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Security police in Kiev stormed the main camp of protesters who have been defying the Ukrainian government by camping out there for weeks. At least eighteen people were killed in the resulting fight, including seven policemen.

In other news, China has overtaken India as the world’s largest purchaser of gold.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, RR, 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.

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Little Green Men and the Jews

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Below is another video from Aldo Sterone, the French auto-pundit who grew up in Algeria, “has known Islam”, and warns France about Islamization. This clip is a response to people who complain about Mr. Sterone’s failure to criticize Jews.

Many thanks to Oz-Rita for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Transcript:

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Europe Has a Short Memory

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“The land of Botev and Levski [the two most prominent revolutionaries against the Turkish rule] is a land of slaves again, Bulgarians get to struggle with the corrupt politicians.”

As we reported on Saturday and earlier today, last Friday an anti-Islamic protest broke out in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second-largest city. The protesters were angry that a mosque in Karlovo had been returned to Muslim control, and marched to a mosque in Plovdiv, where they fired bottle rockets, threw stones, and grappled with police.

Several videos of the events in Plovdiv have been posted on YouTube, and one of them was subtitled and posted here this morning. Vlad is in the process of subtitling a second one.

In the meantime, we forwarded the Plovdiv videos to a Bulgarian man of our acquaintance, an engineer whom we shall call Georgi. He lives and works in western EU territory, and is hence subject to persecution by the Star Chamber.

This was Georgi’s reaction:

Thanks for the emails you sent. We watched the videos in great tension. They are shattering/rousing!

They show demonstrations against the Turks in Muslim Plovdiv. The signs and banners read:

  • Slavery Returns
  • The Land of Levski and Botev is in a New Captivity
  • Bulgarians, Fight for Your Independence
  • Bulgarian Politicians Are Purchaseable Fools
  • Bulgarians, Fight for Free Bulgaria, Independence, and Freedom From Politicians-for-Purchase

Hristo Botev and Vasil Levski were Bulgarian patriots who fought for the freedom of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke. They were tortured to death by the Turks.

Description of the situation:

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