Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/20/2014

A 39-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman were sentenced to prison terms of nine months and twelve months respectively for putting bacon inside Edinburgh’s central mosque. The court determined that putting bacon on the door handles and throwing it inside was a form of desecration.

In other news, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has withdrawn his support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and called for a new government.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Egghead, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, 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.

Financial Crisis
» ECB Ready to Begin Broad Asset Purchase Program, Says VP
» Greek GDP Per Capita at 75% of EU Average in 2013
» Obama’s Brainless “No-Brainer” on Student Loan Debt
» Richest 10% of Italians Have 24.4% of Income
 
USA
» 15 Indicted in Alleged Orange County Workers Comp Fraud Scheme
» Alleged Child Rape Victim Reportedly Says Hillary Clinton Lied About Her in ‘75 Case
» American Muslims Flocking to Jihadist Group
» Arresting the President of the United States
» Burial Site for Muslim Families at the Mosque in Murfreesboro Gets the Green Light
» Defendants in Beating of Driver in Detroit Take Plea Deals
» Detroit Teen Pleads Guilty to Assault in Mob Attack on Steve Utash; Ethnic Intimidation Dropped
» The First Electric Harley-Davidson: A Quieter Hog
» The Non-Compete-Driven Church (i.e., Empire Business)
 
Europe and the EU
» British Values ‘Could Bar Muslims’
» Christians ‘Suffer Most Discrimination’ Says Pope
» Italy 10th for Number of World’s Millionaires
» Italy: Novartis Suspected of 2.7 Mn Fraud
» Italy to Pay Compensation to Inmates
» Italy: Berlusconi Investigated for Insulting Magistrate
» Kuwait Donates USD 140,000 to Islamic Center in Switzerland
» Merkel Wants Schulz Back as EP Speaker
» Radical Sunni Islamists Face Jail for Attack on Group of Shi’ites ‘In First Case of Muslim Sectarian Violence in Britain’
» Spain Moves to Protect Juan Carlos From Paternity Suits
» Sweden: Rise in Female Genital Mutilation, Inspectors Find Entire School Classes Victims
» UK: Colchester Murder: New Arrest in Saudi Student Case
» UK: Islamic Relief Launches Ramadan ‘Pound for Pound’ Campaign
» UK: Pair Jailed for Edinburgh’s Central Mosque Bacon Attack
» UK: Sheffield Muslims Take Part in Youth Rally
» UK: Saltley School Governors Resign En Masse in Wake of ‘Trojan Horse’ Inquiry
» UK: Two More Prisoners Disappear From Open Jail
» Why Icelanders Are Wary of Elves Living Beneath the Rocks
» Wooden Cross Hung at Mosque in Bulgaria
 
North Africa
» Egypt: Salafists Criticize Ban on Religious Bumper Stickers
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Israel Bans Islamic Charity’s Operations in West Bank Over Hamas Ties
» Israel Vows to ‘Tighten Ring Around Kidnappers’ as it Targets Hamas Infrastructure
» Israeli Media Report Ban on Operation of International Charity Islamic Relief
» Six Palestinians Injured in Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza
» Tunnel Cave-in Kills Five Hamas Militants in Gaza: Security Officials
 
Middle East
» Blast Kills 34 in Syria’s Hama
» Britons Fighting for ISIS in Recruitment Video
» Caroline Glick: The Threat is Blowback
» Diplomats Begin Drafting Final Iran Nuclear Deal
» Iraq Crisis: Top Shia Cleric Sistani Withdraws Support for PM Maliki — Live
» Iraq Crisis: Fierce Battles for Baiji and Tal Afar
» Is ISIS Iran’s Proxy to Achieve Regional Hegemony?
» ISIS Advance in Iraq Forces Gulf Donors to Rethink Their Patronage
» Islamic Army of Iraq Founder: ISIS and Sunni Islamists Will March on Baghdad
» Kuwaiti Shoots Indian to Test His Accuracy
» Syrian Refugees in Turkey Exceeds One Million: Official
» Tracking Syria Fighters Now Main Task for MI5
» UAE: Well-Known Clerics to Lead Prayers at Mosque
» Union Says Alitalia Pilots Could Go to Abu Dhabi
 
Russia
» Ukraine: Kiev Offers Temporary Ceasefire in Battle With Eastern Separatists
 
South Asia
» Bangladesh Police Arrests 24 Islamic Radical Females
» India Rejects Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Resolution on Jammu and Kashmir
» Sri Lanka: Muslims Ignore Rajapakse’s Plea to Keep Shops Open
 
Australia — Pacific
» “Symbol of Hatred” Leaves Councillor Shaken
» “This is Bendigo”: Community Stands Up in Face of Intolerance
» Canberra’s Islamic Community Condemns Opposition to Bendigo Mosque
» Not a Fan of Islam: Elise Chapman
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Ebola Called ‘Out of Control’ In West Africa
» Kenya: ‘The Lions Are Inside’: The Text Message Jermaine Grant Used to Warn Samantha Lewthwaite
» Nigeria: Boko Haram Insurgents Mount Roadblocks for Food, Fuel
» Tanzania: State on Alert to Avert Possible Bomb Attacks
 
Immigration
» House Speaker Accuses EU of Not Helping Save Migrants’ Lives
» Italy: Migrant Boat With 283 Passengers Rescued Off Sicily
» Over 50 Million Refugees Worldwide, Says United Nations
» UN: 51 Million Refugees Worldwide in 2013
» Wave of Central American Migrants Strains Border Patrol, Reducing Number of Drug Busts
 
Culture Wars
» Gay USA: Here Come the Flags
» Universities’ Totalitarian Agenda
 

ECB Ready to Begin Broad Asset Purchase Program, Says VP

Constancio says central bank preparing tool against deflation

(ANSA) — Rome, June 19 — The European Central Bank (ECB) is prepared to launch the purchase of financial assets on a “large scale” as a tool to deal with the risk of deflation, the vice-president of the ECB said Thursday. “The ECB stands ready to undertake a securities purchase program on a large scale to deal with any prolonged period of low inflation,” said Constancio. His comments echoed those of ECB President Mario Draghi earlier this month, that the central bank was preparing to launch quantitative easing if that is judged necessary.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Greek GDP Per Capita at 75% of EU Average in 2013

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JUNE 19 — Actual individual consumption per capita in Greece totaled 82% of the EU average in 2013, while the country’s average per capita GDP totaled 75% of EU average in the same year, as Ana-Mpa reports quoting last figures from Eurostat. In a report, the EU executive’s statistics office said that actual Individual Consumption is a measure of material welfare of households. Based on first preliminary estimates for 2013, AIC per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) varied from 49% to 138% of the EU28 average across the Member States. The highest level of Actual Individual Consumption per capita in the EU-28 was recorded in Luxembourg with a level of almost 40% above the EU-28 average. Germany was 25% above the average and Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, France and the United Kingdom recorded levels between 10% and 20% above the average, while the Netherlands was just below 10% above. In Ireland, Italy, Cyprus and Spain, the levels were up to 10% below the EU-28 average, while Malta and Greece were between 10% and 20% below.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s Brainless “No-Brainer” on Student Loan Debt

At a time when college graduates are awash in student loan debt, Barack Obama just signed a presidential memorandum easing their burden by transferring some of their debt to the American taxpayer.

[His memorandum caps] student loan payments at ten percent of income. The difference between ten percent and what is actually owed, of course, will be paid by American taxpayers—many of whom never even had an opportunity to go to college.

What’s next on the president’s list of vote buying strategies: forgiveness of credit card debt, car payments, or home mortgages?

Students who spend four or more years in college majoring in fields with no market potential will cost the American taxpayer for the rest of their lives in unemployment and government entitlement expenses. My message to college students is simple: If you want to major in some easy but useless degree program so you can spend four or more years hedonistically enjoying the college experience, do it on your own dime. Further, if you take out loans to finance four or more years of partying, don’t ask me to pay the loans back for you.

[Note: I have heard that student debt already comprises 1/3 of current American debt.. Is the American taxpayer now going to write off endless extravagant student loans for six years of college and unending graduate school for all of the unqualified and/or unemployed in America — and everyone else in the world who can cross the border into the USA?! Think about it: There is NO reason to graduate if you can get unending student loans that give you a BETTER standard of living than a minimum wage job or being unemployed. There is also MORE reason for colleges to encourage perpetual students.]

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

Richest 10% of Italians Have 24.4% of Income

Young people more at risk of poverty now than 30 years ago

(ANSA) — Paris, June 19 — The share of total disposable income of the richest 10% of Italians is ten times higher than that of the poorest 10%, according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) based on 2011-2012 figures released Thursday.

The richest 10% of Italians had 24.4% of national disposable income, compared to the 2.4% of the poorest 10%, the OECD said.

The study also found that the elderly are less at risk of poverty now than they were 30 years ago.

Instead among young people the risk has grown.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

15 Indicted in Alleged Orange County Workers Comp Fraud Scheme

The Orange County Grand Jury has indicted 15 people — including a major donor to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, 10 doctors and a pharmacist — for their alleged involvement in a multi-million dollar workers compensation fraud scheme. The alleged ringleader and two others also face one charge of involuntary manslaughter.

The sealed indictment — obtained by KPCC — accuses Obama donor Kareem Ahmed of orchestrating the elaborate operation.

Ahmed was a top donor to Democratic efforts in 2012. He gave more than $1 million, with most of it going to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

Alleged Child Rape Victim Reportedly Says Hillary Clinton Lied About Her in ‘75 Case

The [now 52 year old] victim’s claim that Clinton smeared her following her rape is based on a May 1975 court affidavit Clinton wrote on behalf of Thomas Alfred Taylor, who Clinton agreed to defend after being asked by the prosecutor. Taylor had specifically requested a female attorney.

“I have been informed that the [12 year old] complainant is emotionally unstable with a tendency to seek out older men and engage in fantasizing,” Clinton, then named Hillary D. Rodham, wrote in the affidavit. “I have also been informed that she has in the past made false accusations about persons, claiming they had attacked her body. Also that she exhibits an unusual stubbornness and temper when she does not get her way.”

On the tapes, Clinton seems to acknowledge that she was aware of her client’s guilt, boasts about successfully getting the only piece of physical evidence thrown out of court, and laughs about it all whimsically.

“He took a lie detector test. I had him take a polygraph, which he passed, which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs,” Clinton says on the recording, failing to hold back some chuckles.

[Note: What about lawyer-client confidentiality? She got her client off, and then she bragged to the world that he was guilty?!]

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

American Muslims Flocking to Jihadist Group

Radicalized young American Muslims — including as many as 15 Somali-born Minnesotans — have flocked to a jihadist group in recent months, lured by rap videos and hip social-media propaganda…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Arresting the President of the United States

On the orders of the Senate, the SAA [Senate Sergeant At Arms and Doorkeeper (SAA)] is the only person who can arrest the president of the United States. Additionally, the SAA can compel senators to come to the Senate Chamber to establish a quorum.

I have posted this to emphasize the substantive nature of the earlier posts regarding the most critical time in American history. It is that time when the elections of this year have determined the fate of the Senate and before the new session is seated (November 4th until January 20th). It is in this period of time that Obama is most likely to try to install martial law having created a massive crisis across America. It is in his nature to do so, because with the change of the Senate majority to Republicans and with a courageous leadership, the Sergeant At Arms could be instructed by a vote of the Senate to arrest the President. This presumptive President will double down as he has in the past rather than face the music of his fraud and criminal actions. The courage needed to arrest him will be contingent on a commitment to the Rule of Law on the part of the majority of Senators. I look forward to seeing Democrats repenting of their past errors and joining Republicans in righting this wrong done to the Republic.

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

Burial Site for Muslim Families at the Mosque in Murfreesboro Gets the Green Light

The case involving the burial sites for Muslim families on the property of the newly built mosque in Murfreesboro is now closed. Senior Judge Paul Summers dismissed the case that challenged the burial site on property owned by the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Defendants in Beating of Driver in Detroit Take Plea Deals

The remaining three men accused in the brutal beating last April of Steven Utash on Detroit’s east side admitted guilt Thursday morning through plea deals with prosecutors.

Latrez Cummings, 19; James Davis, 24, and Wonzey Saffold, 30, all said they hit Utash at least once as the April 2 beating commenced near Morang and Balfour.

“It was a crowd beating on Steven Utash,” Davis said Thursday morning. “I pulled up to the scene, and I kicked him a couple times.”

Saffold, who has multiple previous felony convictions, is to receive a prison sentence of six years and four months if Judge James Callahan accepts the agreement with Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. His lawyer, Ray Paige, said one or two punches or kicks by each defendant was not intent to kill.

Saffold, who was seen showing his middle finger to cameras at an earlier court hearing, was scolded by Callahan on Thursday for not pulling his pants up.

“He has a certain swagger in the courtroom that people don’t understand, but he’s remorseful,” Paige said. “He regrets it.”

[Note: Where are the hate crimes charges that would be surely visited on a white crowd that beat up a defenseless black man? Per another article, the hate crimes charges were dropped in the plea.]

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

Detroit Teen Pleads Guilty to Assault in Mob Attack on Steve Utash; Ethnic Intimidation Dropped

A teen who threw the first punches in a mob beating of a Detroit-area motorist has pleaded guilty to assault.

In exchange, prosecutors dropped an ethnic intimidation charge against the 17-year-old as part of the plea deal Wednesday in Wayne County Juvenile Court.

The teen is black and was one of five people charged with beating Steve Utash when the white man got out of his pickup to help a boy who was hit by his vehicle in Detroit in April.

Utash spent days in a coma and was sent home in May after six weeks in hospitals.

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

The First Electric Harley-Davidson: A Quieter Hog

Hells Angels just froze over. Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) on Thursday introduced its first electric bike, called Project LiveWire.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Non-Compete-Driven Church (i.e., Empire Business)

For quite a while now, I’ve been arguing that influential movements within the American church have gone off the healthy, Jesus-centered rails and entered into the realm of empire business.

Enter Mars Hill Church (Seattle) and the spiritualized non-compete agreement that they have, in recent months, been requiring their elder-level leaders to sign.

The veneer of spirituality around the agreement is perhaps the most troubling thing of all. It would appear that this is all supposed to preserve the unity of the local church; to provide good guidance and counsel; to not cause undue “confusion or harm”; etc. There is even a seemingly generous offer of support for the future ministries of those who sign! But the behind the scenes firings and threats, along with the inherent definition of a non-compete agreement, tell a different story. This is about safeguarding financial growth by doing everything legally possible to prevent members from leaving (because of their loyalty to a departing leader’s ministry) and maintain the desired rate of revenue expansion.

[Note from Egghead: The non-compete agreement is available at the link and is worth reading. I think that Jesus is having a heart attack in heaven.]

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

British Values ‘Could Bar Muslims’

New rules for academies and free schools that compel them to promote British values are “dangerous” and could effectively stop Muslims becoming trustees or governors, it is claimed. Education Secretary Michael Gove has drawn up funding agreements that will allow him to shut down schools or kick out governors if he believes a member of the academy trust is “unsuitable” because of “relevant conduct”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Christians ‘Suffer Most Discrimination’ Says Pope

(ANSA) — Vatican City, June 20 — Pope Francis on Friday said he was “pained” to see Christians around the world “suffer the most discrimination” because of their religious beliefs. “The persecution of Christians today is even more virulent than in the first centuries of the Church, and there are more Christian martyrs today than in that era,” Francis told a conference entitled International Religious Liberty and the Global Clash of Values. The pope closed by saying he hoped the meeting “might illustrate, with eminent scientific rigor and depth, the reasons that oblige every legal authority to respect and defend religious freedom”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy 10th for Number of World’s Millionaires

‘Super rich’ also multiplying, study shows

(ANSA) — Milan, June 18 — Italy’s millionaires are growing in numbers not seen since before the global economic crisis, putting it in 10th place worldwide, a study showed Wednesday. According to the Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management world wealth report, some 203,200 Italians were worth $1 million or more in 2013, up 15.6% since 2012. The number is also 12.5% above the European average, and just slightly behind 2007 levels of 208,000. Researchers cited tax shields and an increase in stock values as the primary causes.

The number of so-called ‘super rich’, or people with money and assets worth a total of $30 million or more, is also on the rise, recorded at 3,000 in 2013.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Novartis Suspected of 2.7 Mn Fraud

Investigators believe vaccine prices were inflated

(see related) (ANSA) — Siena, June 20 — Prosecutors in Siena in charge of a suspected fraud case at Swiss multinational Novartis believe that its vaccine division swindled the Italian health ministry out of 2.7 million euros in 2012 by inflating the price of a component of its H1N1 swine flu vaccine, investigators said Friday.

The health ministry ordered the suspension of vaccine supplies in 2010 after the swine flu emergency abated.

A vaccination campaign to immunize up to 40% of Italy’s 60 million people began in November 2009 after Italy reported six deaths related to swine flu over the previous months.

The CEO of Novartis’s vaccine division, Francesco Gulli, is under investigation and two Italian plants of the Swiss multinational were searched Friday.

Prosecutors have also accused the multinational’s division Novartis Vaccines Diagnostics of failing to adopt precautions to prevent the suspected fraud.

The probe is connected to another investigation in Siena over a suspected tax fraud at the company.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy to Pay Compensation to Inmates

To avoid EU infraction procedure

(ANSA) — Rome, June 20 — The government is to pay compensation to wronged and crowded prison inmates to comply with the European Court of Justice and avoid an EU infraction procedure, Reform Minister Maria Elena Boschi said Friday.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Berlusconi Investigated for Insulting Magistrate

(AGI) Naples, June 20 — Prosecutors in Naples may take legal steps against former premier Silvio Berlusconi for insulting a magistrate. The decision will be taken on Monday, when the prosecutor’s office receives the full transcript of the bribery trial of former Berlusconi associate Valter Lavitola, in which the former prime minister testified on Thursday. During his testimony, Berlusconi allegedly insulted Judge Giovanna Ceppaluni.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Kuwait Donates USD 140,000 to Islamic Center in Switzerland

GEVENA, June 20 (KUNA) — Kuwait’s Zakat House has donated USD 140,000 to the Islamic cultural center in Switzerland to fund building a center for raising awareness about Islam. Kuwaiti Ambassador to Switzerland Bader Al-Tunaib presented the donation to head of the Islamic Cultural center in Switzerland Dr. Mohammad Karmous.

The Kuwaiti diplomat told KUNA, Friday, that the donation comes in line with Kuwait’s philanthropic support to Muslims, not only in Switzerland but also in many parts of the world. An estimated 450,000 Muslims, mostly Turks, Bosniaks and Albanians, are living in Switzerland. They are well integrated with the Swiss society.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Merkel Wants Schulz Back as EP Speaker

Germany won’t endorse S&D leader for European Commission

(ANSA) — Berlin, June 20 — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday voiced her party’s support for Martin Schulz to serve another term as speaker of the European Parliament, by extension withdrawing Germany’s endorsement of Schulz for a role in the European Commission. “The German group in the European People’s Party (EPP) gives its support to the proposal of Martin Schulz as speaker of the European Parliament,” Merkel told a press conference with Estonian Premier Taavi Roivas.

Schulz was EP speaker until stepping down Wednesday to resume his old job as head of the Socialists and Democrats. The German MEP has also voiced interest in serving in the European Commission after missing out on the the European Commission presidency when his group finished second behind the EPP.

The centre-right group has picked former Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker as its candidate.

Some said Schulz’s bid for a seat in the EC was strong given he is a member of Germany’s Social Democrats, Merkel’s coalition partners.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Radical Sunni Islamists Face Jail for Attack on Group of Shi’ites ‘In First Case of Muslim Sectarian Violence in Britain’

Radical Sunni Muslims are facing jail for attacking a group of Shi’ites in what is believed to be the first case of Muslim sectarian violence on the streets of Britain.

Violence broke out on London’s Edgware Road, a well-known Shia area, on May 10 last year during a protest organised by radical preacher Anjem Choudary calling for jihad in Syria…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Spain Moves to Protect Juan Carlos From Paternity Suits

Spain’s politicians admitted Friday that they are rushing to pass new legislation to shield former King Juan Carlos from two paternity suits. Juan Carlos, 76, lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, following a 39-year reign.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Rise in Female Genital Mutilation, Inspectors Find Entire School Classes Victims

School health services in the small Swedish city of Norrköping have found 60 cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) among schoolgirls since March, with evidence of mutilation found in all 30 girls in one class, 28 of the most severe form.

In Sweden, where the EU’s Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) says that FGM “is considered to be a serious problem,” the law enables genital examination of children to be carried out without parents’ consent.

Now the daughters of immigrants are in danger of undergoing FGM. According to the Local, the risk of becoming a victim of the procedure increases in the summer when many schoolgirls visit their parents’ home country: “We’re working to inform parents that they could face prison if they come back and their children have undergone female genital mutilation,” said Petra Blom Andersson, student health coordinator in Norrköping.

[Note from Egghead: If the Somalis and Eritreans truly require asylum, then why are the ‘refugees’ dragging their young girls back and forth to their ancestral homelands for major surgery during summer ‘vacation’?! Here’s a thought: Examine each Muslim girl BEFORE she leaves the West and make any return of the family CONTINGENT on each girl returning with intact female parts.]

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Colchester Murder: New Arrest in Saudi Student Case

A man has been arrested over the death of a Saudi Arabian student in Essex.

Nahid Almanea was found with 16 stab wounds on a path near Avon Way, Colchester, on Tuesday.

Essex Police said a 19-year-old from Colchester was arrested at 16:00 BST in connection with the death…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Islamic Relief Launches Ramadan ‘Pound for Pound’ Campaign

Donations to Islamic Relief in the UK this Ramadan will be matched pound for pound by additional funding from the UK Government it has been announced.

The charity’s new partnership with the Department for International Development is being announced by its UK Director, Jehangir Malik, at a fundraising dinner in association with Manchester City Council at Manchester’s Old Trafford today…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Pair Jailed for Edinburgh’s Central Mosque Bacon Attack

A teenage girl and 39-year old man who desecrated an Edinburgh mosque by attacking it with strips of bacon have both been jailed.

Chelsea Lambie, 18, from Paisley, was sentenced to 12 months and Douglas Cruikshank, from Galashiels, to nine months. They attached bacon to door handles and threw strips inside Edinburgh’s Central Mosque on 31 January 2013…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Sheffield Muslims Take Part in Youth Rally

More than 100 young men from Sheffield and South Yorkshire will be taking part in the UK’s largest Muslim youth rally this weekend.

The three-day event is being held in the Surrey countryside, with about 5,000 British Muslims expected to attend. The annual gathering will promote a message of peace and the importance of serving Britain.

It has been organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, an organisation that has the backing of both Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy PM and Sheffield Hallam MP Nick Clegg…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Saltley School Governors Resign En Masse in Wake of ‘Trojan Horse’ Inquiry

Board quits in protest over treatment by Ofsted and local council and voice ‘grave concern’ over remarks made by Michael Gove

The governors of Saltley school, one of the Birmingham schools placed in special measures after an investigation into an alleged plot involving Islamist extremists, have resigned in protest at the way their school has been treated by Ofsted and Birmingham council…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Two More Prisoners Disappear From Open Jail

Convicted robber and burglar walk out of HMP Sudbury, taking the total number of absconders from the facility to four this week

Two more criminals have gone on the run from an open prison which has now seen four escapes in just five days. Convicted robber Marcus Brotherson, 27, and 24-year-old Jordan Hall, who was jailed for grievous bodily harm, became the latest prisoners to disappear from HMP Sudbury in Derbyshire…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Why Icelanders Are Wary of Elves Living Beneath the Rocks

Plans to build a new road in Iceland ran into trouble recently when campaigners warned that it would disturb elves living in its path. Construction work had to be stopped while a solution was found.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Wooden Cross Hung at Mosque in Bulgaria

A two-meter tall wooden cross was hung in a mosque in a provocative act by unknown intruders on Friday. The incident took place at Karaca Pasha mosque in the southern town of Gotze Delchev, 200km from Bulgaria’s capital Sofia…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Salafists Criticize Ban on Religious Bumper Stickers

Gov’t wants them removed as they ‘foment sectarian tensions’

(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, JUNE 20 — Civil rights defenders and Salafist Islamists have criticized a ban on religious bumper stickers, which the government introduced two days ago.

Police will remove any such adhesives on sight because they might “foment sectarian tendencies”, the interior ministry announced.

A common sight on bumpers and shop entrances, the stickers recite phrases such as “Have you recited your prayers to the Prophet today?” And while officially police are supposed to remove all bumper stickers including non-religious ones, and though this is not the first time such a campaign has taken place, according to some local media the measure is mostly aimed at repressing the Muslim Brotherhood, which is already blacklisted as a “terrorist” organization.

The sticker ban will “stir up the religious sentiment of the people” and “cause grave tensions”, warned Yasser Burhami, who is the vice president of Daawa Salafiya (Salafist Call).

The ministry’s move agitates the specter of “a war on religion”, he added. “This is a provocation against the sentiment of most Egyptians”, stated the Salafist al-Nour party’s official spokesman, Sherief Taha.

“The stickers are widespread among the millions of Egyptians who love their religion and their Prophet”, he said on the party’s Facebook page.

This is an attack “on freedom of expression”, remarked Menna el-Masry, a researcher at the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.

On Facebook and Twitter, pan-Arab broadcaster Al Arabiya pointed out that messages against the ban have gone viral.

“Only in Egypt it is a crime to pray to the Prophet Mohamed”, lamented one Twitter user. On the opposite front, the interior ministry reiterated that the ban is not just against religious stickers.

“This decree is against all stickers on all cars, no matter their written content”, specified deputy minister in charge of media, Abdel-Fattah Osman.

“Only license plates will be tolerated”. The ministry move has the support of Abdallah al-Naggardi, a professor at Al-Azhar University, which is one of the main centers of Sunni Islamic teaching, and of the religious endowments ministry.

The stickers are spread about by unknown subjects with possibly “evil aims”, said Religious Endowments Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa, who exhorted Egyptians to profess their religion in appropriate places, and not on cars.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Bans Islamic Charity’s Operations in West Bank Over Hamas Ties

JERUSALEM, June 19 (Xinhua) — Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon signed a decree on Thursday banning a British-based charity from operating in the West Bank over its ties with the Hamas, expanding an intensive crackdown on the Islamic group…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Vows to ‘Tighten Ring Around Kidnappers’ as it Targets Hamas Infrastructure

IDF arrested 25 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank; Palestinian medics said a 15-year-old was killed by Israeli forces conducting searches in the village of Dura, near Hebron.

The IDF arrested 25 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank overnight Thursday, and searched 200 homes on Thursday night. Nine raids were launched against Da’wa social services centers, used by Hamas to entrench itself in Palestinian civilian society.

Palestinian medics said Mohammed Dudin, 15, was killed in the village of Dura, near the city of Hebron in the West Bank. The Israeli military said troops had fired live ammunition when rocks and firebombs were thrown at them during an arrest raid…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Israeli Media Report Ban on Operation of International Charity Islamic Relief

In a crackdown on Hamas over abduction of Jewish settlers, Israeli media reports charity Islamic Relief is banned from operating on its territories

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon signed an order on Thursday banning Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), a Muslim charity, from operating in the country over alleged links to Palestinian resistance group Hamas, Israeli media has reported. According to Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post, the Israeli government believes IRW, a Britain-based charitable agency that solicits donations from around the world, funnels cash to Hamas…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Six Palestinians Injured in Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza

GAZA, June 20 (Xinhua) — Six Palestinians were injured early Friday in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, medical sources and eyewitnesses said. Eyewitnesses and security sources said Israeli warplanes targeted a dairy factory in Gaza City and a military site used by militants in the southern Gaza Strip…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Tunnel Cave-in Kills Five Hamas Militants in Gaza: Security Officials

GAZA, June 19 (Xinhua) — Five Islamic Hamas militants have been killed in a tunnel cave-in close to the borders between eastern Gaza city and Israel, a security official in Gaza confirmed on Thursday.

The five killed, who were on a military mission in one of the tunnels early on Thursday morning, belong to the Hamas movement’s armed wing al-Qassam Brigades, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Blast Kills 34 in Syria’s Hama

DAMASCUS, June 20 (Xinhua) — At least 34 people were killed and over 50 others wounded in a blast that rocked the central province of Hama in Syria on Friday, the state news agency SANA said.

The blast was carried out by a booby-trapped car that tore through the al-Hurra town in al-Ghab area in the countryside of Hama, according to SANA…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Britons Fighting for ISIS in Recruitment Video

Three jihadists apparently from Britain urge others to martyr themselves as they head for Iraq

British jihadists are encouraged more young Muslims to head to Syria and Iraq to martyr themselves in a chilling new recruitment video for the terror group Isis. The men urge their fellow countrymen to “answer the call” and to “fight for Allah”, while one claims “you are going to die anyway”.

Posted online on Thursday, they also claim they are about to cross the border from Syria in to Iraq to fight there — the clearest indication yet that Britons are involved in the renewed Iraqi civil conflict…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Caroline Glick: The Threat is Blowback

Watching the undoing, in a week, of victories that US forces won in Iraq at great cost over many years, Americans are asking themselves what, if anything, should be done.

What can prevent the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) — the al-Qaida offshoot that President Barack Obama derided just months ago as a bunch of amateurs — from taking over Iraq?

And what is at stake for America — other than national pride — if it does?

Muddying the waters is the fact that the main actor that seems interested in fighting ISIS on the ground in Iraq is Iran. Following ISIS’s takeover of Mosul and Tikrit last week, the Iranian regime deployed elite troops in Iraq from the Quds Force, its foreign operations division.

The Obama administration, along with Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, views Iran’s deployment of forces in Iraq as an opportunity for the US. The US, they argue should work with Iran to defeat ISIS.

The idea is that since the US and Iran both oppose al-Qaida, Iranian gains against it will redound to the US’s benefit.

There are two basic, fundamental problems with this idea…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

Diplomats Begin Drafting Final Iran Nuclear Deal

Diplomats in Vienna say they have begun drafting the text of a final comprehensive deal to settle the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities.

But the Iranian foreign minister says key issues remain “unresolved”. It follows five days of talks between Tehran and the so-called P5+1 — the US, UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany — in a bid to meet a 20 July deadline for the deal…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq Crisis: Top Shia Cleric Sistani Withdraws Support for PM Maliki — Live

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of Shia Islam’s leading voices, has called for creation of new government that ‘avoids past mistakes’ in comments seen as a devastating blow to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki…

Latest

19.35 George W Bush left office with an approval rating of 34 per cent, a number that reflected the corrosive effects of Iraq on his presidency. Today, his approval rating is 53 per cent — six points higher than Obama, the man today struggling with Iraq’s intractable problems…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq Crisis: Fierce Battles for Baiji and Tal Afar

Islamist-led militants and pro-government forces are engaged in fierce battles for the Baiji oil refinery and Tal Afar airport in northern Iraq.

Baiji, Iraq’s biggest refinery, is surrounded by the rebels, who say they have seized most of Tal Afar airport.

The fighting comes a day after the US said it would send some 300 military advisers to help the fight against the insurgents…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Is ISIS Iran’s Proxy to Achieve Regional Hegemony?

Pinhas Inbari is an astute analyst of rof Arab affairs and regional dynamics at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) in Israel. Periodically, we have published his analysis as it confounds conventional wisdom about the conflicts and actors in a multi-dimensional chess game of geo-politics in the region. Such is the case with his analysis of the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) whose blitzkrieg has rent asunder the artificial map of both Iraq and the Middle East, “ISIS: Iran’s Instrument for Regional Hegemony.” Inbari presents evidence to support a thesis that ISIS is really a creation of the Syrian Mukhabarat (Intelligence) and Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence with the dual purposes of defeating the rebel opposition in Syria and forcing the breakup of Iraq. There is more to support Inbari’s thesis in a new book to be published next week by Ken Timmerman, Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happened in Benghazi:

The group that took credit for the Benghazi attack, Ansar al Sharia, was trained and equipped by the Quds Force.

Both the CIA and US Delta and Special Operations Forces in Tripoli were actively monitoring Iranian operations in Benghazi, and warned their chain of command- including the late US Ambassador Stevens- that the Iranian were preparing a terrorist attack on the U.S. Compound in Benghazi…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Advance in Iraq Forces Gulf Donors to Rethink Their Patronage

Gulf donors who backed rival militants in Syria’s civil war are being drawn to ISIS by its success in Iraq, whose government accuses Saudi Arabia of supporting a Sunni rebellion.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic Army of Iraq Founder: ISIS and Sunni Islamists Will March on Baghdad

Exclusive: Founder of Islamic Army of Iraq who was once described by the US as a top terrorist target, explains how the fight against ‘American or Iranian occupation’ has united Isis and other Sunni Islamists in the Battle for Baghdad

A top commander of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq has told The Telegraph how his men are fighting alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham to take back Baghdad, even if it means pushing the country to civil war.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Dabash, 47, a founder of the Islamic Army of Iraq, who fought the allied invasion in 2003, has told how thousands of his men are participating in the Isis-led insurgency that swept across northern Iraq, and which now threatens the gates of the capital…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Kuwaiti Shoots Indian to Test His Accuracy

KUWAIT: The citizen who was arrested for gunning down an Indian in Omariya reportedly gave an absurd justification for committing the murder. “I wanted to check how accurate my aim was and found no other target!”, said the 23-year-old murderer, a weapon collector who found no other prey but the poor man who was about to enter his house.

Breweries busted Bad odor spreading in Jaber Al-Ahmed area led the capital police to three liquor factories (breweries), said security sources. On patrolling the area, policemen smelt bad odors emanating from three shags outside a site under construction. On searching the shags that were used by Chinese construction workers, the police found three factories and the tools they used in making the alcohol.

Gun attack A female citizen reported that an unidentified person had fired an air-pressure gun at her windows smashing the glass. A case was filed and further investigations are in progress.

           — Hat tip: RR [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian Refugees in Turkey Exceeds One Million: Official

ANKARA, June 19 (Xinhua) — The number of Syrian refugees who fled the war-torn country to neighboring Turkey has reached 1.05 million, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told reporters on Thursday.

Some 218,632 Syrian refugees are currently living in the 22 camps set up by the Turkish government, while the rest are spreading in cities and towns across Turkey, the minister said, adding that the Turkish government has maintained an “open border” policy to Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict and also provided free education and medical treatment for them, Atalay said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Tracking Syria Fighters Now Main Task for MI5

Tracking British jihadists fighting in Syria is now the top priority for MI5, the BBC has learned.

It comes after a video appeared to show UK jihadis in Syria trying to recruit people to join them there and in Iraq. The Home Office said counter-terror police were working to get the video — posted by internet accounts linked to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) militants — taken off line…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UAE: Well-Known Clerics to Lead Prayers at Mosque

Taraweeh and Tahajjud prayers during the holy month of Ramadan at Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque will be led by leading clerics from the region. Among them will be Sheikh Abd El Wali Al Arkani, imam of the King Abdullah Mosque in Jeddah; and Sheikh Saad Said El Ghamedi, former imam of the Prophet’s Mosque in holy city of Madinah…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Union Says Alitalia Pilots Could Go to Abu Dhabi

Deal could see Italians working from Etihad base

(See related) (ANSA) — Rome, June 19 — More than 100 airline pilots with Alitalia could be offered a chance to move to Abu Dhabi to fly for Etihad Airways under its proposed deal with the Italian carrier, a union said Thursday.

As many as 122 pilots could be among the 2,251 layoffs that Etihad is demanding from Alitalia if it proceeds with its investment of 560 million euros in the cash-strapped carrier.

Marco Veneziani of Uiltrasporti, representing pilots, said that talks have begun on transferring some pilots from Alitalia to fly for Etihad from its base in the United Arab Emirates.

“There is a discussion about sending redundant pilots from Alitalia on a voluntary basis,” he said, adding that Etihad needs as many as 500 pilots. Unions representing Alitalia workers have said they will not accept Etihad’s demands for job cuts.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine: Kiev Offers Temporary Ceasefire in Battle With Eastern Separatists

President Petro Poroshenko announces unilateral week-long ceasefire, but rebel leaders sceptical of his peace plan

Ukraine’s president announced a unilateral seven day ceasefire on Friday as a first step in efforts to de-escalate the conflict with pro-Russia separatists in the country’s east. President Petro Poroshenko made the announcement while speaking with residents in the town of Svyatogorsk in the Donetsk region, which has declared independence from his government in Kiev…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Bangladesh Police Arrests 24 Islamic Radical Females

The girls are members of the female wing of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student front. They’re all university students. According to policemen, they were plotting several attacks.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) — Yesterday a Dhaka court sent to jail 24 Islamic radical females, arrested while they were planning subversion. All of them — aged between 22 and 24 years old — are university students. The girls are members of the Islami Chhatri Sangstha, female wing of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student front Islami Chhatra Shibir. Jamaat is Bangladesh Islamic fundamentalist party.

Last June 18 police broke in a flat at Goran, neighborhood of Dhaka. They were holding a secret meeting. Officials said the extremists were plotting ways to thwart the trials of 1971 war criminals.

In 2013 War courts judged mostly leaders of Jamaat. Created to “give justice” to the victims of the conflict, in fact they have been a tool to decimate the leadership of Islamic party. Which took advantage of the lack of transparency of these trials to launch numerous hartal (strikes), which degenerated into clashes and violence.

The Chhatri Sangsta members threatened to burst bombs and hurled abuses while they were being arrested. Into the flat police found laptops, a projectors, anti-government leaflets and several book, including some by Jamaat leader Ghulam Azam.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

India Rejects Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Resolution on Jammu and Kashmir

NEW DELHI: India Friday rejected an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) resolution on Jammu and Kashmir, saying the organization has “no locus standi on matters concerning the internal affairs of India”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Sri Lanka: Muslims Ignore Rajapakse’s Plea to Keep Shops Open

COLOMBO: Several hundred Muslim-owned businesses shut down in Sri Lanka’s capital on Thursday to protest against deadly riots by extremist Buddhists, defying President Mahinda Rajapakse’s plea to stay open.

Shops and restaurants in central Colombo were shuttered following the riots in two mainly Muslim coastal resorts popular with international tourists that left four people dead and Muslim homes and businesses razed…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

“Symbol of Hatred” Leaves Councillor Shaken

A BENDIGO councillor has woken to a “strong symbol of hatred” from anti-Muslim protesters following his support for the region’s first mosque.

Black balloons have twice been hung on Cr Mark Weragoda’s fence — including after the City of Greater Bendigo council meeting on Wednesday…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

“This is Bendigo”: Community Stands Up in Face of Intolerance

BENDIGO residents are drowning out the voices of intolerance by vowing to stand up in the face of anti-Islamic protests.

Hundreds of residents have fought back against anti-Muslim sentiment that has hit the town in recent days, saying “the world needs to know that Bendigo is for multiculturalism and diversity”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Canberra’s Islamic Community Condemns Opposition to Bendigo Mosque

Canberra’s Muslim community members have condemned heated opposition to a Victorian mosque and said they were fortunate they hadn’t faced similar anger towards plans to expand their own places of worship.

Outcry over the first mosque approved for the city of Bendigo reached fever-pitch this week when residents and anti-Islamic group members spoke out at a highly charged council meeting…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Not a Fan of Islam: Elise Chapman

CITY of Greater Bendigo councillor Elise Chapman says she does not have a problem with Muslims praying in Bendigo, but could not list a location she deems appropriate for a mosque…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Ebola Called ‘Out of Control’ In West Africa

The deadliest-ever outbreak of the Ebola virus has surged in West Africa after slowing briefly, and the pandemic is now “out of control,” according to Doctors Without Borders.

Nearly 600 infections and 340 Ebola-related deaths have been recorded in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the most since the virus was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan almost 40 years ago, the World Health Organization said this week. There’s no cure or vaccine for the highly contagious disease, which has mortality rate of up to 90%.

“The reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave,” Bart Janssens, the medical charity’s operations director, told the Associated Press on Friday. “And, for me, it is totally out of control.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Kenya: ‘The Lions Are Inside’: The Text Message Jermaine Grant Used to Warn Samantha Lewthwaite

The text message Jermaine Grant used to warn “White Widow” Samantha Lewthwaite she was minutes away from being arrested

Samantha Lewthwaite, the “White Widow”, escaped arrest by minutes after her terror conspirator Jermaine Grant warned that police were nearby with a text message saying: “The lions are inside”, The Telegraph has learned.

The alert, in December 2011, gave her time to escape as officers closed in on Grant and arrested him alongside his Kenyan wife and another alleged local accomplice…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: Boko Haram Insurgents Mount Roadblocks for Food, Fuel

The federal government has disclosed that the Nigerian military has dislodged a roadblock mounted by Boko Haram insurgents who were in frantic search for food, fuel and lubricant for their vehicles.

Coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr Mike Omeri made this known on Thursday during an update on the efforts of the security agencies. He said the soldiers dislodged a roadblock mounted between Damboa and Biu by insurgents in search of food fuel and vehicle lubricants…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Tanzania: State on Alert to Avert Possible Bomb Attacks

Dodoma — THE government will work with local and international organisations to investigate incidents of bomb attacks in Zanzibar and arrest those suspected of responsibility.

The Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda said in Parliament on Thursday that the government is keen to contain the situation in the Isles and had bolstered both reactive and proactive enforcement tactics to thwart incidents of crime…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

House Speaker Accuses EU of Not Helping Save Migrants’ Lives

Rescuing immigrants at sea must be joint effort, Boldrini

(ANSA) — San Giorgio Navy ship, June 20 — The European Union is playing a key role in welcoming refugees but not in helping rescue migrants at sea, Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini said Friday while visiting an Italian Navy ship taking part in a rescue-and-surveillance operation in the Mediterranean.

“Europe plays its part in welcoming refugees”, said Boldrini aboard the San Giorgio vessel deployed in the so-called Mare Nostrum operation launched by the Italian government in October last year after several rafts carrying migrants shipwrecked off the country’s coasts, resulting in some 400 deaths. “In 2013, 110,000 applications were presented in Germany, 60,000 in France and 26,000 in Italy”, noted the House speaker.

However, “Europe does not fulfill a role in saving human lives at sea”, noted Boldrini, stressing that such a responsibility “cannot be given to just one country” because “the area is Europe’s border”.

Overall, Boldrini asked for European border agency Frontex to be granted more funding and a more significant role in operations.

Italy’s Mare Nostrum operation includes amphibious ships, unmanned drones and helicopters with infrared equipment.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Migrant Boat With 283 Passengers Rescued Off Sicily

(AGI) Palermo, June 20 — A total of 283 migrants were on board a boat rescued by the Italian navy in Sicilian waters, south of Capo Passero (Siracusa) on Friday. The boat was assisted by the “Zephyr” and “Bergamini”, the latter picking up the refugees, who had been sailing in a large wooden vessel, and then transferring them to the “Zephyr”. The group included 63 women and 89 minors.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Over 50 Million Refugees Worldwide, Says United Nations

UN says number of worldwide refugees and displaced people soared by six million last year to top World War Two peak amid crises in Middle East and Africa.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UN: 51 Million Refugees Worldwide in 2013

Up from 45 mln in 2012, due to Syrian civil war

(ANSAmed) — GENEVA — The global number of refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons has exceeded 50 million for the first time since World War II, according to the latest report by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). As of the end of 2013, a total of 51.2 million people were uprooted by persecution, crisis or armed conflict, the UN agency said. This is six million more people compared to the total of 45.2 million refugees registered at the end of 2012, mostly because of the Syrian civil war, according to the UN.

“These numbers tell us that there is a dangerous peace deficit in the world”, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.

“They are made possible because we have a multiplication of new crises, while the old crises never seem to die off”.

The 51.2 million total includes 16.7 million refugees, 33.3 million internally displaced persons, and almost 1.2 million asylum seekers, according to the UN.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Wave of Central American Migrants Strains Border Patrol, Reducing Number of Drug Busts

With the Border Patrol distracted by a surge of Central American migrants crossing into south Texas, Mexican cartels have had an easier time smuggling illegal drugs across the border, according to agents and state officials here.

The arrival of large groups of women and children on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande is pulling agents away from their patrol stations elsewhere along the border, creating gaps in coverage that the traffickers can exploit, according to Chris Cabrera, the Border Patrol union representative here.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Gay USA: Here Come the Flags

Mr. Obama is very effective and committed when he wants to be for those causes he thinks merit his attention. Iraq can’t pull him from his vacation resort; he just released more terrorists in Saudi Arabia because he’s not committed to safety; the southern border is porous because of policies like the DREAM Act; and he went ahead and had a White House celebration yesterday to laud the success of a a few DREAMers, ignoring the criminal ones. What he does care about is the militant arm of LGBTQ and he is committed to it.

Mr. Obama is drawing up a new executive order to make it impossible to not hire LGBTs. LGBTs should not be discriminated against, however, how will Obama define “discrimination” or how will it be defined by the courts and his government agencies since they all legislate illegally?

My problem with this is he is violating constitutional law by circumventing congress and writing legislation and congress is letting him do it.

[Note: Communist China used to forcibly send its teens to far away camps with rampant homosexual relations occurring among teens who lacked the presence of normal familial love, who were actively disallowed from heterosexual relations, and who were denied access to religion and religious values.]

           — Hat tip: Egghead [Return to headlines]
 

Universities’ Totalitarian Agenda

A university that does not protect free speech and opposing views is not a university but a totalitarian instrument.

“Universities have been taken hostage by activists with totalitarian strategies… Talk about safe spaces almost always becomes a tool to enforce compliance, and silence those who disagree.”

There is no university in Canada more restrictive of free speech than the University of Ottawa, known by inmates as the “U of Zero.” Its President is Allan Rock, a former Liberal Minister of Health and Minister of Justice. In both these portfolios, he was a disaster and left behind him a long, sad trail of calamities: Canadians are still experiencing their effects. Mr. Rock is locked into a left- wing mind-set which contributes to his impulsive, mindless reaction to anyone or situation that doesn’t adhere to his politically correct views. For example, Mr. Rock was the mastermind behind the banning of U.S. conservative speaker, Ann Coulter, from the sacred premises of Ottawa University in March, 2010. Mr. Rock advised Ms. Coulter, “to avoid inciting hatred, not to single out individuals or identifiable groups for calumny or abuse, and to weigh words with respect and civility in mind”. The letter to Ann Coulter stated that, “there is a strong tradition in Canada, including at this university, of restraint, respect, and consideration in expressing even provocative and controversial opinions and urge you to respect that Canadian tradition while on our campus”. Most Canadians saw this letter for the hypocritical idiocy that it was.

Mr. Rock is currently enthusiastically reacting to the “appalling” (his words) problem of a “rape culture” at Ottawa University. The entire men’s hockey team and staff were suspended amid police investigation of an alleged sexual assault in Thunder Bay. No charges have yet been laid. One hockey player protested the “predetermined assumption of guilt” of all 26 players and the coaches with the Ottawa University hockey team. His several attempts to meet with President Allan Rock have not been successful.

As a result of all this talk of the unsubstantiated rape culture at Ottawa University, it seems that one is no longer permitted to question its presence. For example, a professor at Ottawa University, Janice Fiamengo, in a lecture, denied that there is a rape culture in Canada. The lecture was shut down by protesters on March 28, 2014. Security guards moved the speakers and the peaceful students to another room rather than ejecting the extremists, who claim to belong to the Revolutionary Student Movement.

The protestors banged desks, shouted, blew bullhorns and sang the Communist “Internationale” in order to silence the speaker. The noisy protestors followed the speaker, Dr Janice Fiamengo, to the new venue where her lecture was again shut down when disruptive students set off the fire alarm. The mainstream media ignored the entire event.

What could be so controversial that this Ottawa University professor had to be silenced? Simply, as an informed, former radical feminist, her perceptive critique of feminist injustice towards men threatened the dominance of the feminist ideology at the university.

She has dared to claim there is no rape culture in Canada, that Canadians abhor rape, and that it is not in any way culturally acceptable. She stated that “feminists want a hegemony [dominance of subordinates] on campus and that the specter of a rape culture is an ideological tool to silence and shame their opponents and to silence anyone who wants to speak against their [false] statistics.” She also stated that “Universities have been taken hostage by activists with totalitarian strategies… Talk about safe spaces almost always becomes a tool to enforce compliance, and silence those who disagree.”

According to Professor Fiamengo, radical feminists claim that rape is in the nature of male sexuality, that feminists want to impose a collective guilt for rape on men, and that this is damaging to men’s self-esteem and place in the world. There are feminist claims that one in four women is assaulted on campus, which is nonsensical she says.

[Return to headlines]
 

7 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/20/2014

  1. “British Values could bar Muslims.” I was rther hoping that this was the intention.

  2. What a momentous time in American history it would be to see the Senate Sergeant at Arms arrest Barak Hussein Obama for treachery against the United States and its citizens.

  3. @UK: Pair Jailed for Edinburgh’s Central Mosque Bacon Attack

    “The court heard that during a police interview Lambie had admitted being a member of the Scottish Defence League.”

    Are the Scottish Defence League a proscribed organisation that the court can infer guilt from, is the possession of raw bacon rashers within the proximity of a mosk or a muhammadan now criminal offence defined as behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear and alarm that is racially aggravated.

    The witness statement that the bacon rashers were the substance of the fear and alarm then like alcohol why do muhammadans across Scotland have no fear and alarm in touching said products for retail profit – a fact which is contrary to the witness statement of religious offense being caused.

    • Jolie Rouge, your pertinent logic on the process of that court is sorely amiss in the hallowed halls of justice and I predict that unless the establishment does something to mitigate the Islamic invasion of the West those bacon rashers could very well turn into Molotov Cocktails in the not too distant future.

  4. I have to laugh whenever I read “Obama’s brainless” this and “Obama’s brainless” that.
    It’s the people who write such headlines who are brainless. For Obama’s brain functions quite well, and it’s focused on one thing: the biggest, widest, most multifarious Cloward-Piven the world had ever seen.

    The college-loan scam is within the original Cloward-Piven: overloading the U.S. financial base with so much fiscal weight, unpayable debt and unredeemable obligations that it will collapse into a heap of rubble. Indeed, college loans were a bubble as dangerous as the Fanny-Freddy Mortgage insanity had been just a few years before, and the incessant printing of US Treasuries continues to be. And that was before BHO signed the new loan, mashing the accelerator pedal.

    And BHO’s genius is that his C-P extends into demographics, social capital, civil liberties, military capability, international standing, culture, internal peacefulness, education, industry and more — whereas the Marxist profs Colward and Piven conceicved their battering ram in the state finances area alone.

    • Yes indeed, there is a method in his ‘madness’ to those who know the real purpose behind his executive orders.

  5. Re: “Sweden: Rise in FGM”. Happy to endorse your thoughts, Egghead. It’s not just Britain that needs a new Sir Charles Napier.

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