Happy New Year, everybody! There are a lot of interesting stories going into 2015 — such as the fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel felt compelled to criticize PEGIDA in a speech, saying that its leaders have “prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts”. Why would a sitting chancellor choose to say such inflammatory things about thousands of her own citizens who simply mounted a peaceful protest over legitimate political issues?
Also, the Italian coast guard rescued nearly a thousand migrants who were abandoned by traffickers in a cargo ship in Greek coastal waters.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to DS, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, K, 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.
Eurozone No Longer Obliged to Save Greece, Merkel Ally Says
Eurozone politicians are not obliged to rescue Greece as the country is no longer of systemic importance to the single currency bloc, a senior member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party was quoted as saying.
In an interview with Rheinische Post newspaper published on Wednesday. Michael Fuchs also said Greek politicians could not now “blackmail” their partners in the currency bloc.
“If Alexis Tsipras of the Greek left party Syriza thinks he can cut back the reform efforts and austerity measures, then the troika will have to cut back the credits for Greece,” he said. “The times where we had to rescue Greece are over. There is no potential for political blackmail anymore. Greece is no longer of systemic importance for the euro.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Spread Closes at 128 Points, Down 37% in 2014
Bond yield at record 1.82% low
(ANSA) — Rome, December 31 — The spread between Italy’s benchmark BTP bond and its ultra-safe German counterpart closed out the year Wednesday at 124 basis points, down 37% from 203 points at the beginning of 2014.
The yield on Italy’s 10-year paper ended trading at a new all-time low of 1.82%.
The spread is a key measure of Italy’s borrowing costs and of investor confidence in the country’s ability to weather the eurozone crisis.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Reminds Greeks of Europe Debt
Spain said Tuesday it hopes Greeks will recall that European aid helped keep their public services running when they vote in a snap election next month.
The fresh vote was called for January 25 after Greek lawmakers failed three times to elect a successor to 85-year-old President Karolos Papoulias, whose five-year term ends in March.
Equity markets fell across Europe and the United States amid market fears that an election victory for the anti-austerity far-left Syriza party could roll back measures set by the “troika” — the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF — under the terms of Greece’s bailout.
“Greece must stick to its commitments not only because the troika imposes them but also because it is good for the future of the Greek economy,” Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told radio Cope.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Here Are 10 Outrageous ‘Zero Tolerance’ Follies of 2014
by Lenore Skenazy
Are your children safe at school? That depends on if you’re worried about bullies or administrators. Here are 10 of the most infamous “zero tolerance” punishments handed down to kids—and even some adults—this year.
1. Student, 13, shares lunch, gets detention
A 13-year-old boy at Weaverville Elementary School in California shared his school lunch (a chicken burrito) with a hungry friend. For this, he got detention. Superintendent Tom Barnett explained, “Because of safety and liability we cannot allow students to actually exchange meals.”
2. Sunscreen not allowed on field trip—kids might drink it
A San Antonio, Texas, school forbid students to bring sunscreen on a field trip. Why? According to spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor, “We can’t allow toxic things to be in our schools.” The children, “could possibly have an allergic reaction (or) they could ingest it. It’s really a dangerous situation.”
3. Kindergarten cancels its year-end show to allow more time for college prep
A letter home from the Harley Avenue Primary School in Elwood, New York, read, in part: “The reason for eliminating the Kindergarten show is simple. We are responsible for preparing children for college and career with valuable lifelong skills and know that we can best do that by having them become strong readers, writers, coworkers and problem solvers.”…
| — Hat tip: DS | [Return to headlines] |
Idaho Woman Accidentally Shot and Killed by 2-Year-Old in Walmart
An Idaho nuclear research scientist who had taken her young relatives to Walmart to spend their holiday gift cards was killed Tuesday when her 2-year-old son pulled a loaded pistol from her purse and shot her.
Deputies who responded found Veronica Rutledge, 29, dead in the Hayden store’s electronics department in what Kootenai County sheriff’s spokesman Stu Miller described as a “tragic accident.” Rutledge, who worked at the Idaho National Laboratory, was from Blackfoot in southeastern Idaho, and her family had come to the area to visit relatives.
Rutledge had a concealed weapons permit. Miller said the young boy was left in a shopping cart, reached into his mother’s purse and grabbed a small-caliber handgun, which discharged once.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ottawa Police Arrest Man in Boxing Day Mall Shooting
OTTAWA — A man faces several firearms charges following a Boxing Day shooting at an Ottawa mall, the first of three shootings in the city in less than a week.
The record-high level of shootings in the nation’s capital has prompted fears of escalating violence among the city’s gangs.
On Boxing Day, a man in his 20s was treated in hospital after being shot in the foot at the crowded Tanger Outlet Mall in the city’s west end.
Police have said the incident was a targeted shooting and involved members of the same gang.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Danes Less Fearful of a Terror Attack in Denmark
In a decade, the number of Danes who think a terror attack will occur in Denmark has fallen significantly despite warnings from security police and jihadists.
Despite the assessment of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) that Denmark faces an increased risk of a terror attack, Danes are less fearful of terrorism today than they were a decade ago.
An opinion poll carried out by Epinion for broadcaster DR showed that one in three Danes fear that Denmark will be targetted by a terrorist attack within the next year. That is down from nearly half of all Danes in August 2005.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: HoGeSa Demo Planned for Essen
The violent “Hooligans Against Salafists” (HoGeSa) movement have announced plans for a major rally in Essen in January — just two months after a similar rally saw 44 police injured.
The group claim up to 4,000 people will turn up for the demonstration, in front of the main train station on January 18th.
A similar rally by self-proclaimed hooligans, largely from the violent “ultrafans” football scene, in Cologne saw 44 police officers injured, as the used water cannon and tear gas to contain the demo.
The police are examining possible grounds for banning the demonstration, he added, saying there should be “cooperative negotiations” with the event organiser. Officers will be asking the unnamed man exactly what is planned for January 18th.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Angela Merkel Issues New Year’s Warning Over Rightwing PEGIDA Group
German chancellor Angela Merkel in a New Year’s address deplored the rise of a rightwing populist movement, saying its leaders have “prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts”.
In her strongest comments yet on the so-called Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (Pegida), she spoke of demonstrators shouting “we are the people”, co-opting a slogan from the rallies that led up to the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago.
“But what they really mean is: you are not one of us, because of your skin colour or your religion,” Merkel said, according to a pre-released copy of a televised speech she was to due to deliver to the nation on Wednesday evening.
“So I say to all those who go to such demonstrations: do not follow those who have called the rallies. Because all too often they have prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts.”
The nationalistic and xenophobic Pegida movement, only formed in late October, has since drawn more than 17,000 protesters on to the streets of the eastern city of Dresden, sparking heated debate and deep soul-searching in the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Merkel Deplores New Far-Right Group’s ‘Hatred’
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a New Year’s address deplored the rise of a right wing populist movement, saying its leaders have “prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts”.
In her strongest comments yet on the so-called “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident” or PEGIDA, she spoke of demonstrators shouting “We are the people”, co-opting a slogan from the rallies that led up to the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago.
“But what they really mean is: you are not one of us, because of your skin colour or your religion,” Merkel said, according to a pre released copy of a televized speech she was to due to deliver to the nation on Wednesday evening.
“So I say to all those who go to such demonstrations: Do not follow those who have called the rallies. Because all too often they have prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy to Lower VAT on e-Books to 4%
Culture minister defends move
(ANSA) — Rome, December 30 — Italy’s value added tax (VAT) on e-books will decrease on January 1, from the current 22% to 4%, bringing the tax in line with the reduced tax on printed books despite the potential risk of violating European Union (EU) law. The reduced tax comes from an amendment included in the government’s 2015 budget bill.
“I’m well aware that Italy risks an EU infraction, but I’m convinced that this is a battle of civility and common sense,” said Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.
“A book is a book, no matter what format it comes in or the platform it’s transmitted across,” Franceschini said.
EU law allows member nations to charge reduced VAT on printed books, but not digital books.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Spumante Exports Hit Record High in 2014, Says Coldiretti
Consumers to pop 170 mn corks abroad, 50 mn at home
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 29 — New Year’s celebrations around the world will feature the popping sound of 170 million bottles of Italian spumante, Coldiretti farmers association said Monday.
The group said that Italian exports of spumante rose 24% in the first nine months of 2014, with overall sales to close the current year at a record high of just under 300 million bottles.
The biggest jump was seen in China, where spumante exports skyrocketed 110% over last year.
The UK remains the top importer of Italian spumante, increasing 49% this year, followed by the United States with a 21% increase.
In Italy, about 50 million bottles will be popped for the year-end festivities, with 89% of Italians preferring spumante to champagne, Coldiretti said.
The group noted that the boom in bubbly has also created a market for copycats, with drinks like Kressecco and Meer-Secco in Germany imitating the iconic Italian prosecco.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lausanne Scientists Step Up Search for Alien Life
Swiss and Belgian researchers said on Monday they have devised the first tiny motion detector that could help find microscopic life forms on distant planets.
Until now, scientists have tried to find signs of extraterrestrial life by listening for sounds that might be emitted from an alien world, by scanning the skies with potent telescopes and by sending robotic probes and rovers to analyze the chemical fingerprint of samples from comets and planets.
But researchers in Switzerland and Belgium were interested in a new method.
Taking advantage of movement, which they call “a universal signature of life,” they would aim to sense on a nanolevel the tiny motions that all life forms make.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lentils, Spumante Italian New Year’s Favourites: Coldiretti
Two-third intend to spend evening at homes, not in restaurants
(ANSA) — Rome, December 30 — A rise in the sale of lentils and grapes, traditional symbols of good luck to be eaten on New Year’s Eve, has been reported as Italians prepare to see in the New Year, farm group Coldiretti said Tuesday.
It released the results of a survey showing that two out of every three Italians intend to eat New Year’s Eve dinner at home, planning to spend an average of 76 euros. Of the 64% of Italians celebrating at home, rather than in an restaurant, the numbers are evenly split between those staying at their own home, and those celebrating at the homes of friends or relatives. The survey, conducted by Ixe for Coldiretti, also found that of those Italians celebrating the end of the old year and welcoming 2015, about 9% intend to go to a restaurant and about 5% plan to visit a rural inn or agriturismo.
While sparkling wine and panettone are traditional New Year’s fare, some 78% say they will also eat lentils for luck and almost three-quarters will also eat sausage.
Coldiretti said that consumption of local products, particularly those drawn from within one kilometer of the diner, has increased by 9% while 43% said they will favour products from close to home.
Some 50 million bottles of spumante will be consumed, favoured by 89% of those surveyed while only a little of 10% said they would prefer champagne.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lithuanians Back New Euro Currency Amid Russian Tensions
Lithuania on Thursday (1 January) will adopt the euro with a majority now supporting the currency change amid heightened tensions with their former Russian masters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Murder Spotlights Polygamy Among British Pakistanis
Pakistani police are investigating whether a jealous wife ordered the recent murder of an elderly British man in Kashmir, in a case that spotlights polygamy among dual nationals in the region.
Jumma Khan, 70, was shot on the doorstep of his home in Mirpur, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the ancestral hometown of much of Britain’s large Pakistani community.
Khan’s family claim the second of his three wives — who was in England at the time — arranged the October hit.
Senior police official Raja Azhar Iqbal said that Khan’s eldest son from his marriage to his second wife, as well as two of the wife’s brothers, have been arrested and bailed in connection with the killing.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedes Donate 15,000 Weapons in Amnesty
Swedish police have released fresh statistics about the country’s latest weapons amnesty — with officers surprised by the sheer volume of firearms and ammunition that were turned in.
Thirty-six tonnes of ammunition and over 15,000 weapons were given up in the first nationwide weapons amnesty for seven years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Reshapes New EU, Between Moscow & Western
Review 2014: EU integration slows down, but China counts too
(ANSA) — TRIESTE — The Ukraine crisis and the new confrontation between Russia and the Western Countries have definitely dominated the scene in 2014 in the New Europe. Talking about elections, this year recorded Poland’s leadership with the Polish Presidency of the Eu Council (former president Donald Tusk was appointed chairman), and it is no coincidence that Poland was among Moscow’s sharpest critics.
On February 22, Viktor Yanukovich fled from Kiev. On March 16, Crimea chose independence by voting in a referendum, but the clashes would continue at least until September 20, when the Minsk Agreement was signed. Not only the conflict, however, but also economic sanctions have changed the relations among the countries. Russia, hit by a strong decline in oil prices, has thus reacted.
The outcome of a tense year was finally recorded in December, when Vladimir Putin announced Russia’s withdrawal from the South Stream gas pipeline project.
As a consequence, many changes have occurred, all around the new Europe. In Budapest, Viktor Orban decided to support Moscow and cut gas supplies to Ukraine. Belgrade pursued integration with the EU but welcomed Putin with a massive military parade. Riga and Tallinn did not hide their fears and Tbilisi gained the ratification of the Association Agreement with the EU.
Being economically self-sufficient proved to be the only way to avoid being treated like a conquered land. The Central European area is growing more quickly than the eurozone, and Poland has proved to be a dynamic protagonist. The economy grew by 3.2% and will grow by 3.3% in 2015, according to the International Monetary Fund. Croatia continued to experience some difficulties and Slovenia kept on taking measures to save banks and privatize the economy, before voting to form a new government. Serbia is dipping back into a recession, also affected by the floods which hit the country in May.
Romania is regarded as a ‘surprise’ in 2014, according to some observers, a sort of declaration of democratic maturity. Prime Minister Victor Ponta — favourite to win -, was defeated in the second ballot in the presidential poll. Klaus Johannis, conservative, physicist, mayor of the German minority, conquered Cotroceni Palace.
Throughout the whole area of the New Europe, coalition governments did not go out of style and won in Serbia (with the Conservative Aleksandar Vucic), in Bulgaria and Austria.
The European integration process has not stopped this year, but has slowed down, despite the fact that general election took place in Brussels. The EC praised the progress made in Belgrade in terms of reforms, and harshly criticized the unresolved issues in Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In terms of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, which is among the crucial issues to be resolved in order to join the Union, 2014 was a lost year, made even heavier by the diplomatic incident due to the drone which flew over the stadium in Belgrade. It will be Federica Mogherini’s job to revitalise dialogue. Albania became an official EU candidate country in June, and the EU Parliament ratified Georgia’s association in December.
The first issue to be tackled is that the European Union is not the only party which is interested in the Balkans. In a typical conflict of interests, Germany runs to strengthen its dominant position. Russia’s moves are predictable. But there is even China: Premier Li Keqiang has recently spent three days in Belgrade, and Beijing will build the new railway from Belgrade to Budapest.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The long wait is over: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will reboot in March after a two-year shutdown. The machine at CERN, Europe’s particle-physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, will restart with collisions at 13 trillion electronvolts — almost double the current record. Scientists hope that the extra firepower will help the collider to unearth phenomena that fill in gaps in the standard model of particle physics. The popular theory of supersymmetry, already in doubt, could lose further favour if the upgraded LHC cannot find evidence of the many heavy particles that the theory predicts.
In March, NASA’s Dawn probe will arrive at protoplanet Ceres, the most massive body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres is thought to have water ice beneath its crust. And after travelling 5 billion kilometres, NASA’s New Horizons craft will finally reach Pluto, making its closest approach on 14 July. The encounter promises the first intimate look at that rocky world and its moons, and new data on Pluto’s atmosphere.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Could Israel Lose the Energy Prize in the Eastern Mediterranean?
In December 2011, we published what might have been a prescient prediction of Israel’s emerging energy independence, Will Israel Win the Energy Prize in the Levant Basin? We drew attention to the geo-political opportunities and security risks to the Jewish nation from the discovery and development of significant off shore gas deposits in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Levant Basin. These have been developed by Houston, Texas-based Noble Energy, Inc. and its Israeli partner, Delek Group, Ltd. (hereafter referred to as “the Consortium”). In 2009 came the discovery of the Tamar gas field with estimated reserves of 7.9 trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) by the Consortium followed by the giant Leviathan field a year later in 2010 with estimated reserves of 21.9 TCF. Production from Tamar began flowing in April 2013 with immediate economic benefits to Israel. A third major gas field discovery in Israel’s offshore EEZ, the Royee, with estimated reserves of 3.2 TCF was announced in mid-December 2014 by Ratio Oil. The potential significance of these energy developments for Israel is huge.However, these prospects of an energy independent future may have been thrown in jeopardy by a ruling in late December 2014 by Israel’s independent Anti-Trust Authority (IAA) essentially declaring the Consortium a monopoly and reneging on prior compromise deals with the Consortium partners. Noble Energy, Inc. and Delek Group had agreed in the compromise to sell interests in smaller developed offshore gas fields in exchange for retaining ownership of both the Tamar and Leviathan gas fields in Israel’s EEZ. The Consortium partners have requested an early 2015 hearing on the IAA ruling. Many believe this unprecedented IAA ruling may have been a political maneuver aimed squarely at the caretaker government of Israeli PM Netanyahu in the midst of a campaign for a snap election on March 17, 2015. The question before us is could Israel lose it’s much sought after energy prize in the Eastern Mediterranean?
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Horrifying ISIS guide for mothers instructs them to ban TV to ‘protect little ears’, tell bedtime stories about fighting and give toddlers weapons training with toy guns
A guide for jihadi mothers on how to raise extremist children has surfaced online as influential watchdog warns of the risks posed by a new generation of ‘Caliphate cubs’ trained for war.
The sick ‘handbook’, called Sister’s Role in Jihad, recommends showing children jihadi websites, reading tales of jihad at bedtime, and encourages sports such as darts to improve their aim.
It explains that women should start training children ‘while they are babies’ as waiting until they are toddlers ‘may be too late’, adding: ‘Don’t underestimate the lasting effect of what those little ears and eyes take in during the first few years of life!’
The book was highlighted by the U.S-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) ahead of a new report condemning how children are being indoctrinated into radical Islam.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Op-Ed: Hamas is Worse Than the Islamic State
“The Shoah was unprecedented; but it was a precedent, and that precedent is being followed” (Yehuda Bauer). Hamas must be subjected to a publicity campaign that unmasks its true goals.
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
The word “Islamo-Nazism” is largely taboo, yet it well represents the ideology of a number of Muslim terrorist organizations. The dominant and most horrible of these criminal bodies, so far, is the Islamic State (IS). The German author and former Christian Democrat parliamentarian, Jürgen Todenhöfer, recently visited IS in Iraq and Syria, where he exchanged views with some of its leaders and followers.
After his return, Todenhöfer said that the IS people are fully convinced, “that they fulfill a historic mission. They think that they live the only true religion, and want to spread it with the sword in the entire Middle East, and then in the entire world.” Apart from “the religions of the book”, i.e., Muslims who follow the IS version of Islam, as well as Jews and Christians, IS wants to destroy all other religions. Todenhöfer explained that there were no further exceptions among people meant to be killed by IS.
Todenhöfer added, “According to the IS ideology, all Muslims which accept democracy have to die. That is because these people put the laws, which in a democracy are made by humans, above those laws given by God. The IS speaks openly about hundreds of millions of deaths of those, which in a ‘religious cleansing’, have to be sacrificed.”
In his conversations with the IS representatives, Todenhöfer told them that he had frequently read the Koran, and that he understood Islam to be a merciful religion. “I asked them, where is your mercy? The reply always was that that [mercy] also existed in the Koran, but nowadays it is the time of the sword.”…
| — Hat tip: K | [Return to headlines] |
Taking Back Crimea Historic Event, Says Putin
(AGI) Moscow, Dec 31 — The “return home” of the Crimea will remain a historic event for Russia, said President Vladimir Putin in a televised end of year speech. “Love for one’s motherland is one of the most powerful and uplifting feelings. It manifested itself in full in the brotherly support for the people of Crimea and Sevastopol, when they resolutely decided to return home,” he said. “This event will remain a very important epoch in domestic history forever.” The speech has been broadcast in eastern regions of Russia and will be broadcast in Moscow before midnight.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
2014 — the Deadliest Year for Afghan Civilians on Record
The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan is to exceed 10,000 in 2014 — the highest since records began.
Many analysts view the latest figures as a worrying sign that the conflict is spreading to more densely populated areas of the South Asian nation.
The UN data comes at a critical time for Afghanistan as NATO recently marked the official end of the military alliance’s ISAF mission in the country after almost 13 years of fighting an insurgency. The ISAF combat mission will now transition to a “training and support” mission — numbering some 13,500 soldiers — under NATO leadership starting on January 1.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Unbelievably’ Steep Climb Recorded Before Airasia Crash, Report Says
Investigators working to piece together what led to the AirAsia Flight 8501 disaster discovered radar evidence indicating that the plane made an “unbelievably” steep climb moments before the crash, Reuters reported Wednesday.
“So far, the numbers taken by the radar are unbelievably high. This rate of climb is very high, too high. It appears to be beyond the performance envelope of the aircraft,” a source close to the investigation told the news agency.
Poor weather conditions Wednesday have prevented divers from carrying out their recovery operations and largely grounded helicopters, though ships were still scouring the area.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Islamic Separatist Threat: An Interview With Dr. Harold Rhode
by Jerry Gordon
When Islam swept along the ancient Silk Road a millennium ago, it found new adherents in what is now the People’s Republic of China. One ethnic group that responded were the Uyghurs (pronounced “wee-ghurs”), an indigenous Turkic-speaking people who adopted Sufism. The Uyghur heartland was contested by Turkic groups, Mongols and China. In the 18th Century the Qing Dynasty in China asserted control over Xinjiang. However, during the 19th Century, the Czarist Russian advance across Central Asia conquered the neighboring Khanates of Kokand and Bukhara. That led to Kokand general Yaqui Bey establishing a de facto Uyghur state in Kashgar in 1865.
Against this background, we arranged to hold an interview with Dr. Harold Rhode who had spent several weeks in China this fall lecturing at universities throughout the country on Sunni Muslim extremism. The Chinese are interested in how Israel contends with this problem, while building one of the most innovative societies in a region known for its instability. This is our third interview with Dr. Rhode who retired as an Islamic Affairs expert in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense in 2010…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
By Jerry Gordon
Neither the late Katrina Dawson, 38, mother of three and a rising star in the Sydney bar or regular patrons thought anything out of the ordinary having a morning coffee at the Lindt Café in Martin Place, the heart of the city’s business and financial district. Neither did the other patrons, whether they were regulars, Christmas shoppers or tourists. At 9:42AM Monday, December 16, 2014 a bearded man wearing a head band with an Arabic inscription, clothed in a long white tee shirt entered carrying a blue bag causing terror. He extracted from the bag a pump shot gun and a Hizb ut-Tahrir black flag with the white inscription of the Islamic Shahada, “There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of GodAgainst this background we reached out to renowned forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Michael Welner, Chairman of The Forensic Panel, to present his professional assessment of the Sydney Lindt Café terror episode. He has been the lead examiner in a range of highly complex and high profile criminal and murder cases, including the Guantanamo military tribunal that convicted Canadian Al Qaeda operative, Omar Khadr.
Dr. Welner is sought out in particular because of his ability to go beyond the customary bromides served up following major disasters and deaths and complex legal proceedings, including terrorist events. Readers are familiar with our recent interview of Dr. Welner on jihadist recruitment in American prisons in the October NER. (READ MORE)
Watch this recent CNN interview with Dr. Welner discussing whether mental illness motivated the Sydney terror incident and the assassination of two NYPD officers in Brooklyn by a convicted felon. We reflected on Australian Prime Minister Abbott’s depiction of Sheikh Monis as “mentally unstable” and wondered what insights Dr. Welner might have into the evidence now available of the Lindt Café tragedy.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal Gold-Mining Presents New Threat for Brazil’s Isolated Tribes
A single-prop plane carrying two officials from the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) recently flew over a small village in the protected Yanomami Indian reserve in Brazil’s Amazon forest. The community is home to the Moxihatetea, a group of Yanomami families who live isolated from the rest of the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
200 Migrants Storm Border Spanish Enclave
Around 200 migrants stormed the six metre high border fences between Morocco and the Spanish enclave Melilla on Tuesday. 102 managed to climb across, Spain’s interior ministry said, according to Associated Press. In total around 2,000 migrants managed to scale the fences in 2014.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Africans Stage March Through Brussels
26/12/14 — Some 200 people without legal documents to stay here held a march through Brussels on Christmas Day, yesterday. The protesters, mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa, are demanding a legal permit to stay in Belgium. They are requesting the Belgian Church to help them to convince the government to do something for them.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds Rescued From Cargo Ship Abandoned in Greek Waters
Almost 1,000 migrants have been rescued from a cargo ship found adrift in Greek waters, the Red Cross says.
The Blue Sky M, carrying 970 people, had been abandoned and left on autopilot by its crew, believed to be people traffickers.
Italian coastguards later brought it under control and safely docked it at the Italian port of Gallipoli.
The migrants, believed to be mainly Syrians and Kurds, have been taken to local schools and a gymnasium.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants From ‘Drifting’ Ship Arrive in Italy
Some 700 illegal migrants rescued from a ship near the Greek island of Corfu arrived in Italy on Wednesday, after their boat was intercepted while “drifting” towards the coast.
Dozens of official cars met the migrants as they arrived in the port of Gallipoli, in the southeast of Italy, at around 2.30am on Wednesday morning, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
Police and maritime authorities will investigate how the migrants, reportedly mainly from Syria and including a heavily pregnant woman, came to be hidden on the Blue Sky M as it sailed to the Croatian port of Rijeka.
The boat was boarded by Italian coastguards late on Tuesday after initially passing an inspection by the Greek navy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 100 Migrants Enter Melilla After Jumping Border Fence at Dawn
Around 102 migrants managed to jump the border fence at Melilla early Tuesday morning, according to Spanish authorities.
The majority of the irregular immigrants are sub-Saharans, and were part of a larger group of around 200 people who tried to entering the Spanish North African exclave earlier at the border in a district known as Barrio Chino.
The European Union has been critical of Spain’s actions at the border, after a human rights group recently released a video allegedly showing a Spanish civil guard beating a migrant who was trying to scale the fence. Spanish law requires immigrants who make it across from North Africa to be processed by the Spanish authorities. However, Civil Guard officers have regularly been filmed sending them straight back through the border fence, to the Moroccan authorities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel is a [sex worker for the Muslims]. Period.
“Why would a sitting chancellor choose to say such inflammatory things about thousands of her own citizens who simply mounted a peaceful protest over legitimate political issues?”
– Because she does not work for the Germans, but for the New World Order – Ein Volk, Ein Führer – for the muslims.