In the wake of three attacks on mosques since Christmas Day, concerned citizens have staged rallies all across Sweden in support of Muslims. Demonstrations protesting the vandalism and arson against mosques took place in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö.
In other news, a Spanish policeman was killed when he was pushed under a train at a station in Madrid after asking a man to show his identity papers.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, K, Papa Whiskey, RL, 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.
Draghi Says Price Risks Rising in Eurozone
The eurozone faces a growing risk of unstable prices, the head of the European Central Bank said in an interview Friday, at a time when concerns are mounting the bloc could slip into deflation.
“The risk that we do not fulfil our mandate of price stability is higher than six months ago,” ECB chief Mario Draghi told German financial newspaper Handelsblatt.
Eurozone inflation slipped to 0.3 percent in November, an alarmingly low level that the ECB warned could drop even further this year due to a slump in oil prices.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Draghi Signals ECB is Preparing New Stimulus
The European Central Bank is preparing to expand its stimulus programme to avoid deflation, Mario Draghi told Handelsblatt in an interview published Friday. “We are in technical preparations to adjust the size, speed and compositions of our measures in early 2015,” said Draghi. The measures could include purchasing government bonds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Draghi Comments Send Euro to Lowest Level Since 2010
The value of the euro has fallen to its lowest level since the middle of 2010, following comments from Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB).
In a newspaper interview, he hinted again that the bank might soon start a policy of quantitative easing to try to stimulate the eurozone economies.
The aim would be to stop the continued fall in the general level of prices.
The euro fell 0.4% to $1.2034 after Mr Draghi’s comments were made public.
Recently, the official eurozone inflation rate has fallen to just 0.3%.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Draghi Warns of Unstable Prices, Demands Reforms
Price stability in the eurozone is more at risk than six months ago, according to ECB President Mario Draghi in an interview with the business daily Handelsblatt. He urges member states to speed up reforms.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Euro Flirts With Lows Not Seen in Four Years
Single-currency drops to about $1.20
(ANSA) — Milan, January 2 — The euro fell to lows not seen in more than four years in early treading Friday when it dropped to a low of $1.2035 US. The single currency was last at that level in June 2010, according to traders. The latest slide came after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi suggested in an interview with a German newspaper that deflation risks in the eurozone were worse now than six months ago.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France Bond Yields Hit Fresh Historic Lows
Borrowing rates in France, Spain and Italy fell to fresh historic lows on Friday in thin holiday trading, as investors eyed possible new anti-deflation measures from the European Central Bank.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Far-Left Threatens to Halt Debt Repayments
Three MPs from the far-left Syriza party have threatened to stop international debt repayments if the party comes into power after January’s elections. “We might not pay because we will negotiate and say that this (bailout) programme is not sustainable”, Yiannis Milios, a key Syriza economic thinker, said on TV.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Apple Sued Over ‘Shrinking’ Gadget Storage
Apple is facing a lawsuit for not telling users about the amount of memory required by its flagship operating system. The legal complaint revolves around iOS 8 and the amount of memory it reserves for itself on iPods, iPhones and iPads.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bono Bike Accident: ‘I May Never Play Guitar Again’
U2 frontman Bono says he fears that he may never play guitar again following a bike accident last November.
He made the comment in his A to Z of 2014, published on the band’s website.
Bono broke his arm in six places and fractured his eye socket, hand and shoulder blade in what he called a “freak accident” in New York.
In the letter to his fans, he said he was unable to move around physically and would have to “concentrate hard” to be fit for U2’s next tour.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Most Cancer Types ‘Just Bad Luck’
Most types of cancer can be put down to bad luck rather than risk factors such as smoking, a study has suggested.
A US team were trying to explain why some tissues were millions of times more vulnerable to cancer than others.
The results, in the journal Science, showed two thirds of the cancer types analysed were caused just by chance mutations rather than lifestyle.
However some of the most common and deadly cancers are still heavily influenced by lifestyle.
And Cancer Research UK said a healthy lifestyle would still heavily stack the odds in a person’s favour.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The National Security ‘Not Top 10’ of 2014
By Patrick Poole
With the world descending into chaos driven in no small measure by the incoherent, contradictory and frequently non-existent foreign policy of the Obama administration, it was difficult this year to narrow the field for this year’s biggest national security blunders. The task seemed so formidable, I nearly abandoned the endeavor.
But undaunted, I present to you the National Security “Not Top 10” of 2014, in no particular order.
1) Befriending “moderate Al-Qaeda” in Syria:
There are some ideas so at war with reason and reality they can only exist in the fetid Potomac fever swamps of DC think tanks and the foreign policy community. Such was the case in January when three of the best and brightest from those ranks published an article in Foreign Affairs (the same publication that in 2007 brought us the “Moderate Muslim Brotherhood”) contending that the US needed to “befriend” the Syrian jihadist group Ahrar al-Sham as some kind of counter to more extreme jihadist groups, like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra. The precedent they cited was the US failure to designate the Taliban (!!!) after 9/11.
Mind you, at the time they wrote this, one of Ahrar al-Sham’s top leaders was a lieutenant for Al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri who openly declared himself a member of Al-Qaeda. After most of their leadership was wiped out in a bombing in September, they gravitated closer to the jihadist groups they were supposed to counter and their positions have been bombed by the US — much to the consternation of other “vetted moderate” rebel groups. So ridiculous was their proposition that the original subtitle of their article, “An Al-Qaeda Affiliate Worth Befriending,” was changed online to “An Al-Qaeda-Linked Group Worth Befriending” in the hopes of minimizing the absurdity of their case.
2) Obama administration deploys three hashtag divisions in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As Ukrainians made their bid to free themselves from Russia’s interference, Putin responded by deploying tanks and troops into Ukraine in violation of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. Obama’s rejoinder was to give a speech and to deploy three divisions of State Department employees all armed with a #UnitedForUkraine hashtag. Hilarity ensued as the Russian Foreign Ministry counterattacked by hijacking the hashtag, prompting State Department spox Jen Psakito decry, “Let’s hope the Kremlin will live by the promise of hashtag,” leaving many asking: Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
3) Obama: ISIS is the “JV team.”…
| — Hat tip: RL | [Return to headlines] |
Ottawa Police Find Inactive Explosive Device in Taxi
Caller reported a suspicious package in a south-end parking lot
Ottawa police are investigating an inert explosive device found in a south Ottawa parking lot Thursday night.
Police were called to a parking lot on Walkley Road between Heatherington Road and Baycrest Drive around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, empty except for a taxi with a suspicious package inside.
Officers closed Walkley Road as they investigated, but later found the device wasn’t active.
There are no details on the type of device it was as police said they don’t want to interfere with the ongoing investigation.
Police also said they’re doing their “due diligence” to see if there is any connection to a mosque in that area.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Cologne Cathedral to Turn Out the Lights in Protest at Anti-Muslim March
One of Germany’s most famous landmarks, Cologne Cathedral, will be plunged into darkness on Monday evening in protest at a march by a growing grass-roots anti-Muslim movement through the western German city, cathedral authorities said.
The rise of the group, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA), has shaken Germany’s political establishment, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to say in her New Year address that its leaders were racists full of hatred and citizens should beware being used.
PEGIDA’s last weekly rally in the eastern city of Dresden attracted some 17,000 people, and the movement plans further marches in other cities, including through the center of Cologne on Monday night with a rally by the cathedral.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark Prepares to Wage Cyber Warfare
After seeing defence secrets and sensitive business information fall into the hands of foreign hackers, Denmark is ready to strike back.
The Danish Defence Intelligence Service (Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste — FE) is preparing Denmark to be able to attack foreign states and organisations in cyberspace, Politiken reported on Friday.
According to the report, some 465 million kroner ($75 million) is being invested through 2017 to build an offensive cyber attack unit.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Draghi Says No Interest in Being Italian President
ECB head says deflation risks higher than 6 months ago
(ANSA) — Milan, January 2 — European Central Bank President Mario Draghi says he does not want to take on the job of being Italian president when incumbent Giorgio Napolitano steps down. “I do not want to be a politician,” Draghi said in an interview published Friday in German newspaper Handelsblatt.
The ECB chief, who is Italian, was one of those rumoured as a possible replacement for Napolitano, who has said that at 89, he is too tired to continue the job.
In his traditional New Year’s Day speech, Napolitano did not say when he would step down from his second seven-year term that he began in April 2013.
But it will create trouble for Premier Matteo Renzi, who will have to forge alliances to find a consensus among the 1,000 delegates who will be able to vote for the next president.
Meanwhile, Draghi warned in the interview that risks of deflation are higher now than they were last summer. Draghi said the “risks of not meeting our mandate on price stability are higher now than six months ago”.
The ECB aims to hold inflation at about 2%, but a sluggish economy in much of the eurozone in recent months has pushed inflation to near zero.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Referendum Would Harm UK Businesses, Warn Economists
A referendum on EU membership would hurt the UK economy by reducing investor confidence and business investment, a Financial Times survey of 85 economists has found. Thirty eight economists said a vote would make their economic forecasts more pessimistic, while 12 said there would be little or no impact.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Christmas Tourism to Lapland Boasts Fifth Year of Growth
Holiday tourism to the north of Finland has exceeded expectations this year. Charter flights to airports in Rovaniemi, Kittilä and Kuusamo brought in more foreign travellers than had been predicted in November. Lapland Safaris, a tour operator in Rovaniemi offering snowmobile, reindeer and dog sled adventures, attracted more British tourists in 2014 than in the previous year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Sees Drop in New Year Car-Burning Rituals
The French government on Thursday reported a 12-percent drop in the number of cars torched on New Year’s Eve — a ritual among revellers in the country’s high-rise suburbs.
The number of vehicles set alight on the night of December 31st fell from 1,067 a year ago to 940, the interior ministry said in a statement.
This year also saw fewer arrests for disturbances on New Year’s Eve, falling from 322 in 2013 to 308.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Cyprus Warns Turkey Against Any New Energy Moves
Greek Cyprus warned Turkey Jan. 2 that if it re-entered the exclusive economic zone where Nicosia has licensed exploratory drilling there would be no chance of resuming stalled UN-brokered peace talks.
Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said any such a move would be a “worrying development” and would only “validate the reason for not returning to the talks”.
Greek Cyprus had announced in October the suspension of peace talks as a result of a crisis in the eastern Mediterranean, which was sparked after it accelerated oil exploration drills off Cyprus. Turkey sent the seismic research vessel Barbaros to areas nearby for its own oil exploration and deployed a warship to closely follow the activities of a Greek Cyprus platform in the island’s disputed economic zone.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome Police Leave Probed as Renzi Hails Achievements
Authority investigates if police absenteeism a wildcat strike
(See related) (ANSA) — Rome, January 2 — The Strike Guarantee Authority opened an inquiry Friday to determine if reports that 83% of Rome local police called in sick on New Year’s Eve amounted to an unofficial strike, officials said.
The Authority said it “will not hesitate to adopt sanctions” if it finds “a causal link between the mobilisation of unions,” and the overwhelming absence from duty.
Premier Matteo Renzi commented in a Twitter post that “I read of 83 police out of 100 who weren’t working ‘because of illness’ December 31”. “This is why in 2015 we will change the rules of public employment,” he added.
Public Service Minister Marianna Madia for her part tweeted that her ministry’s “inspectorate” had been “immediately activated to ascertain violations and solicit disciplinary actions” against the relaxed police officers.
Reform of the public sector would go forward, she pledged, “to reward the excellence that there is and punish the irresponsible”.
Rome officials also said they would probe the reports.
The UIL union warned on Friday that police in Rome intended to ramp up protests and were headed for a strike.
Police and government have clashed for months over changes planned to their working condition and salaries.
Meanwhile, Renzi also tweeted a summary of government work in progress as well as such 2014 highlights as a major investment by Etihad Airways into troubled Alitalia.
“Constitution, electoral law, taxation, civil justice, civil service, culture,school, Rai, Green Act, work. We are seriously doing this, it will be a ‘Good 2015’,” the premier posted.
He added that “Alitalia and Etihad are flying together.
After years of failure a new story begins for a strategic sector of our economy”.
The premier climaxed his tweet by writing “18 billion less” in taxes … baby bonus, open-ended contracts … one can do more but meanwhile for the first time in years less taxes”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Families of Hostages Ramelli, Marzullo Wait Word After Video
Recording first news of two young women in five months
(ANSA) — Rome, January 2 — Families of two young Italian women held hostage by Islamist terrorists anxiously awaited word Friday after the two appeared in a dramatic video breaking five months of silence on their plight.
The video published on YouTube evidently proved that Greta Ramelli and Vanessa Marzullo were still alive, encouraging their families.
However, Italian secret service sources said the prolonged kidnapping that started when the two women were snatched in the Syrian city of Aleppo on July 31 was “a very delicate situation”. The Syrian version of Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Speaking English with eyes lowered, Ramella was recorded on the video saying: “We beg our government and its mediators to bring us back home by Christmas”.
“We are in extreme danger and could be killed” she added. “The government and its mediators are responsible for our lives,” she said as Marzullo, holding a placard with the date December 17, looked briefly at the camera without speaking.
The two young women were videotaped wearing long dark tunics that covered their bodies and hair, leaving only their faces visible.
They seemed thin and their features were drawn and haggard from their ordeal.
Nevertheless, relatives said they were encouraged by the video.
“They seem fairly well even if a difficult condition,” said Salvatore Marzullo, father of Vanessa, underscoring that both families are in constant contact with the Italian Foreign Ministry and that they hope “to have good news soon”.
The group holding the women, Fronte al Nusra, said in a statement it acted because “Italy supports the raids in Syria against us”.
A third Italian hostage, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, was kidnapped at the end of July 2013 and is believed to be held by Isis at Raqqa.
The video was the first public information on Greta and Vanessa since September 20 when the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar denied reports that they were being held by Isis.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Vikings Among the First to Raid British Isles
TRONDHEIM, NORWAY—A new examination of ninth-century A.D. burial sites in the central Norwegian region of Trøndelag has revealed they contain many more artifacts from Britain, such as brooches, drinking horns, and swords, than had been previously believed. “These graves are some of the earliest proof that we have of contact between Norway and the British Isles,” archaeologist Aina Margrethe Heen Pettersen told Science Nordic.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
People Opposing the Policies of Hungary’s Leader Protest in Budapest
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Thousands of Hungarians have held a rally in Budapest to protest the policies of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The demonstrators waved large red socialist flags and banners calling for Orban to represent the interests of the public in his policies.
Rallies against Orban’s government have been held regularly over the past two months, sparked by a failed government attempt to tax Internet use, the prime minister’s increasingly close economic ties with Russia, and suspected corruption among top officials.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: 19-Year-Old Girl Wakes Up During Brain Surgery, Asks Doctors ‘How’s it Going?’
A teenage girl in Poland woke up during brain surgery and asked her doctors how the operation was going, The Daily Mirror reported.
Iga Jasica, 19, had been undergoing the procedure to have a cancerous growth removed from her brain. Doctors say she woke up halfway through the surgery when the anesthetic wore off. Her brain was exposed, but surgeons say the southwest Polish girl’s health was not in jeopardy.
“Despite coming round, she didn’t feel anything and was never in danger,” neurosurgeon Dawid Larysz told The Daily Mirror. He added that Jasica wouldn’t have been able to see or feel anything. Jasica doesn’t remember waking up during the surgery.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police Officer Killed in Spanish Capital After Being Pushed onto Train Track
A 28-year-old National Police officer was killed on Friday after being run over by a train at the Embajadores station in Madrid.
The incident is reported to have taken place at around 12pm, after the policeman requested to see the identification papers of a man in the station. Sources from the authorities say that the man “intentionally” pushed the officer, and fell down onto the tracks with him. Both were hit by a train, but the citizen escaped with injuries.
The incident was the second to cause disruption to Madrid’s transport networks on Friday, after a false bomb alert in Atocha station earlier in the morning.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Protests Across Sweden in Solidarity With Muslims
Demonstrations took place in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö on Friday to protest against the recent string of fires and acts of vandalism at mosques in Sweden, including in Uppsala on New Year’s Day.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rallies Across Sweden After Mosque Attacks
Police have tightened security around some of Sweden’s main mosques after three arson attacks since Christmas Day. Rallies in support of the muslim community were scheduled to take place in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö on Friday.
Muslim groups have called on politicians to join the vigils to show their opposition to racially-motivated violence.
Around 6000 people promised to attend Friday’s demonstrations on Facebook and the main rally in Sweden’s capital was set to get underway at 1.30pm at Gamla Stan’s Mynttorget.
Swedish police are still searching for suspects linked to what was the the third arson attack against a mosque in a week, which took place in Uppsala amid growing tensions over the rise of a far right anti-immigration movement.
The mosque has since been covered in paper hearts from people pledging their support to muslims.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Super-Powered Oven’ Suggests Venus Once Had Continents
VENUS is Earth’s bad-tempered and secretive twin. Despite being similar to Earth in size and mass, Venus is a noxious pressure cooker with surface temperatures that can melt lead. What’s more, it hides its surface in perpetual clouds of sulphuric acid — despite decades of spacecraft visits, no one really knows what Venus’s surface rocks are made of.
That’s beginning to change, thanks to a powerful oven in a lab in Germany. Jörn Helbert at the DLR Institute for Planetary Research in Berlin and colleagues have used it to make the first analogue studies of Venus’s surface. The results could help explain how Earth’s twin went bad.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Survey Finds One in Three Germans Supports PEGIDA ‘Anti-Islamization’ Marches
An opinion poll has found that one in eight Germans would join a march against “Islamization” if one were held in their hometown. A series of rallies in the city of Dresden have drawn growing numbers, with more planned.
The poll of 1,006 people by German newsmagazine Stern found that 13 percent would attend an “anti-Islamization” march if it were held near their home.
It also found that 29 percent of people thought the marches by the group PEGIDA, which translates to “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West,” were justified because of the degree of influence that Islam was having on life in Germany.
Support for the marchers was particularly strong among supporters of the euroskeptic party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which recently has increasingly campaigned on an anti-immigration platform. The poll found that 71 percent of AfD supporters felt the rallies were justified.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Sweden’s Islamophobia is Getting Stronger’
Omar Mustafa, President of Sweden’s Islamic Association, speaks to The Local about the recent spate of mosque attacks and the rise of Islamophobia across Sweden.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: “Love Bombing” At Uppsala Mosque
Paper hearts have been pasted on to the doors of a mosque in Uppsala following the suspected arson attack there Thursday and hundreds have joined a demonstration in solidarity with Swedish Muslims.
Among those demonstrating in Uppsala was Sweden’s minister for public administration, Ardalan Shekarabi.
Speaking to Swedish Radio in Uppsala, Shekarabi said: “We’re seeing a wave of Islamophobic propaganda. It’s obvious that we have to take a stand against Islamophobia and for the equal value of every person. All people, no matter what their faith, should feel safe in Sweden.”
The Uppsala incident followed fires during the Christmas holidays at mosques in the towns of Eskilstuna and Eslöv. Demonstrations to protest what many see as hate crimes and growing Islamophobia are planned Friday in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Protest After Three Mosque Fires in One Week
Swedish anti-racism campaigners have staged a big rally in central Stockholm after three arson attacks on mosques.
Demonstrators held leaflets saying “Don’t touch my mosque” at the 1,000-strong rally outside parliament.
A petrol bomb was thrown at a mosque in Uppsala, eastern Sweden, on Thursday. The building did not catch fire.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Mosque ‘Love Bombed’ After Attacks
Swedes expressing solidarity with Muslims have staged manifestations after a series of recent attacks on mosques.
In the city of Uppsala, where anti-Muslim rhetoric was scrawled onto a mosque wall on Thursday, hundreds of people pasted red paper hearts and messages of support onto the building’s entrance ahead of Friday prayers.
A day before the so-called love bombing, police said a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the mosque without causing a fire.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Constipated Goldfish Operated on by North Walsham Vet
A goldfish lover from Norfolk paid hundreds of pounds in vets’ fees when his pet became constipated.
The owner took his ailing fish to Toll Barn Veterinary Centre in North Walsham where vets told him it was constipated and an operation would cost about £300.
Vet Faye Bethell used anaesthetised water to knock out the goldfish before removing the blockages.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour Under Fire Over Alleged Birmingham School Islamic Coup
LABOUR was last night embroiled in the Trojan Horse row after it was revealed that a former Birmingham grammar school was at the centre of an alleged Islamic coup back in 2008.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia’s Outgoing Prime Minister Sees the Main Threat to His Country From Chaotic Libya
TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia’s outgoing prime minister says the greatest threat to his country, which recently completed its transition to democracy, comes from chaotic neighboring Libya.
Mehdi Jomaa — who became interim prime minister at the start of the year and guided the country through presidential and legislative elections — will soon be stepping down to the newly elected government.
He told The Associated Press Friday, on the eve of his trip to France, that terrorism remains a real threat and most of it is coming from Libya, which he described as being in a state of war among rival militias.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fatah Promotes Violence and Martyrdom-Death to Mark Its 50th Anniversary
On occasion of the 50th anniversary yesterday of “the Launch” of the Fatah movement in 1965 when the organization carried out its first terror attack against Israel by attempting to blow up the National Water Carrier, Fatah is still promoting violence as “legitimate resistance” and Martyrdom-death as an ideal to strive for.
During December, Fatah posted several items on its official Facebook page that either promote the use of arms to fight Israel or encourage Palestinians to seek death for Allah. One text compared Mecca with Jerusalem.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Administration in 2015 Faces Veto Dilemmas at UN and in Congress
As 2014 was closing a vote on a draft resolution introduced by the Jordanian UN Ambassador at the Security Council hit what may be a temporary speed bump for PA President Abbas. He is striving to impose a draconian solution to the long simmering dispute on the Jewish nation of Israel. The draft resolution failed to achieve the requisite 9 votes, losing by one vote. The US and Australia voted no. Five others abstained including the UK, Lithuania, South Korea and Nigeria. France, Luxembourg, Russia, China, Jordan, Chile, Argentina, and Chad voted in favor of the draft resolution. The draft resolution sought to fix a one year deadline for negotiations on declaration of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem based on the infamous War 1949 Armistice line. What fabled Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban deemed the “Auschwitz line”. The draft resolution would require the end of the alleged ‘occupation’ of the West Bank by Israel losing its control over the Jordan Valley approaches and protection of over 350,000 Israelis in both Samaria and Judea. As former US UN Ambassador John Bolton in a Wall Street Journal op Ed published today, “The U.N. Vote on Palestine Was a Rehearsal,” wrote, “An influx of new Security Council members means a likely ‘yes’ vote — and a veto dilemma for Obama.” Obama, as we have noted previously in Jeffrey Goldberg’s Atlantic interview gave a broad hint that the US might abstain.However, this is not the only veto dilemma facing the Administration in 2015. On Tuesday, December 30, 2014, Reuters reported that Undersecretary of The Treasury for Finance and Terrorism, David Cohen issued new financial sanctions “against nine targets who Washington says have helped Tehran avoid existing sanctions or commit human rights abuses.” The IRNA news agency noted these comments by an Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham saying: “At a time negotiations are underway with P5+1, such a move raises doubts about America’s intentions and violates the good will principles” “This action is for mere publicity and will have no bearing whatsoever on our commercial policies,”
Just prior to the onset of Republican control of the 114th Session of Congress on January 6, 2015, Illinois Senator Mark Kirk gave an interview on December 28, 2014 on Fox News Sunday following statements by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham that new sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program may be brought up for an early vote.
That followed an NPR interview with President Obama that he might be prepared to use his veto authority on specific legislation passed by the new Congress. Kirk in the Sunday Fox interview indicated that 17 Democrats, including New Jersey’s Bob Menendez and New York’s Charles Schumer may have the requisite votes to pass new stronger sanctions legislation against Iran’s nuclear program in view of the Islamic regime fobbing off failed P5+1 negotiations. We shall shortly see whether President Obama will issue vetoes at the UNSC against a reprise of the Palestinian draft resolution and another against tougher sanctions legislation passed on a bi-partisan basis in the new Republican controlled Congress against the Iranian nuclear program.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
2015: What Jihadists Will Try to Achieve in the Upcoming Year
By Ryan Mauro
From manufacturing an oil crisis to Iran’s nuclear aspirations and lone-wolf attacks, jihadists will be looking to exploit our weaknesses.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iran, 6 Powers Move Closer to Nuke Talks Deal
Iran and the United States have tentatively agreed on a formula that Washington hopes will reduce Tehran’s ability to make nuclear arms by committing it to ship to Russia much of the material needed for such weapons, diplomats say.
In another sign of progress, the two diplomats told The Associated Press that negotiators at the December round of nuclear talks drew up for the first time a catalog outlining areas of potential accord and differing approaches to remaining disputes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
IS Seizes Dozens in Northern Iraq
The Islamic State jihadist group seized dozens of men from two villages in northern Iraq on Friday while searching for people who burned its flag, officials and residents said.
An intelligence officer said that a total of 170 men were taken from the villages of Al-Shajara and Gharib in Kirkuk province, after two IS flags were burned in the area, an account confirmed by other officials from the province.
“Members of the (IS) organisation who were driving around 30 vehicles took the kidnapped (people) to the centre of Hawijah,” a nearby town where they have a court and a prison, the officer said.
A resident of Al-Shajara said that women pleaded with the IS militants not to harm the men, to which the fighters responded that they would investigate and only punish those responsible for the flag burning in the village.
A resident from Gharib said they took around 90 people from that village, and that the fighters said they were searching for 15 men who burned their flag there.
It is not the first time IS has turned to mass detentions as it seeks to quell resistence in the swathes of territory in Iraq that it has overrun since June.
It seized 50 people in Kirkuk province after residents burned one of their positions and flag in September, and 20 more the following week for allegedly forming a resistance group.
Some of those seized by IS have been subsequently released.
But the group has also executed thousands of people in areas it controls in Iraq and Syria, sometimes in grisly beheadings it videotapes and posts online.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Fighters ‘Have Contracted Ebola’
World Health Organisation investigating reports militants showed up at Iraqi hospital with lethal disease
The World Health Organisation is investigating reports that ISIS militants have been showing up at an Iraqi hospital with Ebola.
According to three media outlets an undisclosed number of militants displaying signs of the disease attended a hospital in the ISIS-held city of Mosul, 250 miles north of Baghdad.
While the reports, from Kurdish and pro-Iraqi sources, remain unconfirmed, WHO spokesman Christy Feig said the group are trying to reach out to officials in ISIS-held areas to offer help.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Fighter Accidentally Reveals His Location in Tweets
A New Zealander who left home to fight with ISIS in Syria made it pretty easy for authorities to track his movements—he tweeted happily away as “Kiwi Jihadi” with his geotag tracking turned on, reports the Guardian.
The mistake by Mark Taylor, also known as Abu Adbul-Rahman, was revealed by a Canadian open-source intelligence group called iBrabo. It was able to pinpoint his movements in Kafar Roma in October and in al-Taqbah last month.
In fact, iBrabo even zeroed in on the house he stayed in the week of Dec. 3. Taylor apparently figured out that he was leaving a trail of digital breadcrumbs and eventually deleted 45 tweets.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State (ISIS) Releases Pamphlet on Female Slaves
The Research and Fatwa Department of the Islamic State (ISIS) has released a pamphlet on the topic of female captives and slaves. The pamphlet, which is dated Muharram 1436 (October/November 2014) and was printed by ISIS’s publishing house, Al-Himma Library, is titled Su’al wa-Jawab fi al-Sabi wa-Riqab (“Questions and Answers on Taking Captives and Slaves”). It was presumably released in response to the uproar caused by the many reports this summer that ISIS had taken Yazidi girls and women as sex slaves. Written in the form of questions and answers, it clarifies the position of Islamic law (as ISIS interprets it) on various relevant issues, and states, among other things, that it is permissible to have sexual intercourse with non-Muslim slaves, including young girls, and that it is also permitted to beat them and trade in them.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Brotherhood Leader Declares That There is No God But Allah and That Buddha is His Messenger
The famous Muslim missionary Tareq Al-Suwaidan, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait is calling on Muslims to believe in Buddha as a messenger of Allah.
A Tweet by Sweidani in which he stated “some Salafi scholars that Buddha was a prophet but that some of his teachings has been corrupted …”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Envoy John Allen: No ‘Short-Term Solutions’ For Stopping Islamic State
In an interview, US General John Allen, Washington’s special envoy for countering the Islamic State, discusses why he believes the recent military campaign has reversed the terrorist group’s momentum but warns the battle to stop its ideology could take years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Advisers in Iraq Stay Out of Combat But See Fighting Edging Closer
In Iraq’s western Anbar province, more than 300 U.S. troops are posted at a base in the thick of a pitched battle between Iraqi forces, backed by tribal fighters, and well-armed Islamic State militants.
The militants, positioned at a nearby town, have repeatedly hit the base with artillery and rocket fire in recent weeks. Since the middle of December, the U.S.-led military coalition has launched 13 airstrikes around the facility.
U.S. troops have suffered no casualties in the attacks. But the violence has underlined the risks to American personnel as they fan out across Iraq as part of the expanding U.S. mission against the Islamic State, even as President Obama has pledged that U.S. operations “will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.”
[Barry Hussein’s 2012 campaign trope about the tide of war receding — repeated daily on the stump — now looks about as true as LBJ’s in 1964: “Ah’m not gonna send American boys eight or nine thousand miles from home to do what Asian boys oughta be doin’ for themselves.” — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
France: Ukraine Peace Before Russia Arms Sale
France would only deliver two warships ordered by Russia if there were concrete signs of lasting peace in Ukraine, the French defence minister said Thursday.
Russia has been accused by the West of arming and bankrolling a rebellion in eastern Ukraine, a charge Moscow denies.
But sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States on Russia have complicated France’s commitment to the 1.2 billion euro deal to deliver the two Mistral-class warships — even though the order was made long before the crisis erupted.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India Outrage Over Mock ‘Muslim’ Terror Drills
There has been outrage in India after police in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat conducted mock security drills using fake “militants” dressed as Muslims.
A video of a drill in Surat district showed police restraining men wearing long tunics and white skullcaps.
Another video shot in the Narmada district had the “militants” shouting “Islam Zindabad (Long live Islam)”.
Muslim leaders have called the videos “atrocious and highly condemnable”.
Critics say the videos stereotype Muslims, who make up nearly 14% of the country’s 1.2 billion population.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Indian Police Arrest 3 for Gang Raping Young Japanese Research Scholar
Police say they have arrested three Indians for allegedly gang raping a young Japanese research scholar in a Buddhist pilgrimage center in eastern India.
Police officer Akhilesh Singh says police are looking for two more suspects who also allegedly kept the Japanese woman as a hostage for nearly two weeks in Bodh Gaya, a town nearly 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Patna, the capital of Bihar state.
India has a long history of tolerance of sexual violence. But a series of high-profile rape cases have triggered a strong public outrage in recent years, leading to tough anti-rape laws.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Online Bride, Suicidal Bomber? Malaysian Youths Arrested for Links With Islamic State
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 ? Two youths, a woman and a man, were detained by police on suspicion of attempting to join the militant group Islamic State (IS) in Syria, in separate operations at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on December 24 and 28.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar in a statement today said the first arrest involved a 27-year-old woman from Negri Sembilan, who was a former private institution of higher learning student in the Klang Valley.
“The suspect who was influenced to join the IS group in Syria after watching the group’s propaganda video through Youtube and interacting with IS members via Facebook, was detected in November 2014,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Has Someone Hacked Kim Jong-un’s Eyebrows?
North Korean leader looks to have overdone it with the plucking as he reveals shrunken brows in New Year speech
Fashion icons such as Cara Delvigne may have created a trend for prominent eyebrows this year, but it seems nobody told North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
While giving his annual New Year speech in Pyongyang yesterday, the dictator’s brows appeared significantly smaller than when he gave the same address in 2013.
Images captured from both events show the brows have become further apart and significantly shorter in what appears to be a case of severe over-plucking.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
No Fiance? No Problem! Japanese Travel Agency Offers Women Chance to be Solo Bride for the Day
(and for an extra fee you can even hire a groom for the pictures)
Does everything appeal to you about getting married, apart from the bit where you tie the knot?
If so, you’re in luck. A Japanese tour operator is giving wannabe brides the chance to create their perfect Japanese or white wedding by providing a dress, flowers and photographs — without the need for a groom.
Cerca Travel is offering the two-day solo bridal package in the city of Kyoto in Japan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Sanctions North Korea Over Sony Cyberattack
The United States imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea on Friday in its first public act of retribution for a crippling cyberattack against Sony.
The stepped-up sanctions, authorized by executive order from President Barack Obama, will affect three North Korean entities, including a government intelligence agency and a North Korean arms dealer. The U.S. is also sanctioning 10 individuals who work for those entities or the North Korean government, the Treasury Department said.
Although the U.S. already has tough sanctions in place against North Korea over its nuclear program, these are the first sanctions punishing Pyongyang for alleged cyberattacks. The White House said this is just the first part of the U.S. response to the Sony incident.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
One Hundred Years of Jihad in Australia
by Mark Durie
One hundred years ago today, a lethal jihad attack was staged against New Year’s Day picnickers in Broken Hill, Australia. This attack and the recent Martin Place siege, events separated by almost exactly a century, show striking similarities.
For Australians, the anxious question about the Martin Place attack, which has grabbed the attention of everyone, is whether this atrocity is but a harbinger of a further series of deadly attacks on Australian soil, or whether it will pass into memory as an exceptional one-off event, much as the 1915 New Year’s Day massacre in Broken Hill did…
| — Hat tip: K | [Return to headlines] |
Sydney Siege Jihadi to Packed House at Mosque: “Society Should Behave in an Islamic Manner”
MARTIN Place terrorist Man Haron Monis delivered a chilling lecture decrying religions other than Islam and calling for an “Islamic society” to a packed prayer hall in Western Sydney.
The fake sheik — speaking in parables littered with violent references — called for Islamic justice and for a caliphate with one religion.
The tapes were recorded in 2009, the same year Monis dropped off the national security watch list amid a string of stunning lapses before last month’s siege during which he held 18 Lindt cafe workers and customers hostage.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ebola Outbreak Will End in 2015 — UN’s Anthony Banbury
The deadly Ebola outbreak will be ended in 2015, the head of the UN team fighting the disease has said.
Anthony Banbury said the number of Ebola cases would be brought down to zero by the close of this year, but admitted that the end was “not close”.
“We are engaged in an epic battle,” he said.
The virus has killed nearly 8,000 people, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, where the disease started in December 2013.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: More Investigations Into “Bogus Relationships”
Since October of last year the authorities have carried out no fewer than 3,681 investigations into suspected bogus relationships involving people living together. Add to this the number of investigation into suspected bogus marriages and a record 10,000+ investigation have been carried out into suspected bogus partnerships during the past 14 months.
These are couples that obtain the legal status of officially living together in order to obtain leave to remain in Belgium for one of the partners that has come here from a non-EU country. Since the new rules came into force these couple have been subject to the same level of investigation by the Immigration and Asylum Department as those that have got married.
The Secretary of State responsible for Immigration and Asylum Theo Francken (Flemish nationalist) told the paper that “For years now my department has received indications from local authorities that living together has become a new method of fraudulently obtaining papers for foreigners with ill-intent.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Tone of Debate Makes Immigrants Want to Leave
A recent opinion poll shows that three fourths of immigrants have considered leaving Denmark because of the tone of the immigration debate but a leading politician says that the debate is only addressing real problems.
An opinion poll of Danish-Turks residing in Denmark revealed that three quarters of them have considered leaving Denmark altogether to escape the negative debate about immigration.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Syrian Men Brave North Karelia’s Freezing Cold in Asylum Bid
Finnish border guard officials have confirmed that three Syrian men illegally crossed the eastern border in Kangasjärvi, Kitee late Monday night. The men, who were seeking asylum in Finland, were forced to seek help at a Kitee guest house for one of their company, who suffered frostbite on his feet.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: CSU Wants Failed Asylum-Seekers Deported Faster
Asylum applications should be processed in six weeks, not the current eight months — and failed applicants deported quicker, according to a draft resolution from the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Migrant Smugglers Raising the Stakes With ‘Ghost Ships’
People traffickers have dramatically raised the stakes by using freighters to carry hundreds of migrants to Europe at a time, then jumping ship as the vessels steam towards shore.
Italian coastguards have narrowly prevented two disasters this week off the country’s southern coast involving so-called “ghost ships”, which seem to have originated in Turkey.
With thousands of dollars to be made from every person desperate to escape war-torn and poverty-hit areas in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, smugglers are constantly changing tactics.
Easy access to cheap vessels also appears to be a factor, with industry sources claiming that aged freighters can even be picked up on Ebay.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Hails Highest Immigration Figures in a Decade
The number of Jews moving to Israel leapt in 2014 to its highest figure in a decade, with western Europe leading the way, the immigration ministry said Wednesday.
Immigration hit a 10-year high, with the arrival of some 26,500 new residents, according to a joint statement with the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental organisation tasked with encouraging Jews to move to Israel.
This marks a significant 32 percent increase over last year’s approximately 20,000 immigrants, the statement said.
This “was a year of record-breaking aliyah,” Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky said, using the Hebrew word for immigration to Israel.
It “also saw a historic shift: for the first time in Israel’s history, the number of immigrants who came to Israel from the free world is greater than that of immigrants fleeing countries in distress.”
For the first time ever, France provided the biggest number, as more than 6,600 Jews moved to Israel. That was nearly twice the 3,400 who arrived in 2013.
Overall, immigration from Western Europe increased 88 percent, with the arrival of some 8,640 people, compared with 4,600 a year earlier.
Some 620 arrived from Britain, compared with 520 a year earlier, and the number from Italy doubled to 340. Around 240 arrived from Belgium, a slight decrease, and the number from Germany remained stable, at approximately 120. Immigration from former Soviet Union countries saw a 50 percent increase, with the arrival of some 11,430 people, compared with 7,610 in 2013.
That was largely driven by an exodus from conflict-wracked Ukraine, where the number surged 190 percent to 5,840.
More than half of all people moving to Israel in 2014 were under 35, among them 5,300 children and some 8,200 adults aged between 18-34.
Tel Aviv was the city which received the highest number of immigrants, at around 3,000. It was followed by the northern coastal city of Netanya and then Jerusalem.
More than three million Jews have immigrated to Israel since its creation in 1948 — including one million from former Soviet states since 1990 — under the Law of Return, which offers citizenship and benefits to Jews from anywhere in the world.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Highest Number of Asylum Seekers in Two Decades
Last year just over 81,000 asylum seekers arrived in Sweden, according to the Migration Board. But around two-thirds of that number also left the country.
In 2014, Sweden received the largest number of asylum seekers since the 1992 Balkan war.
Nearly half of those seeking refuge here last year were from Syria. Many also came from Eritrea and Somalia. Around 77 percent, or some 62,000 people, of those applying received asylum last year.
Virtually all of those from Syria or Eritrea were given permission to stay, while those from the Balkans had very little chance of getting asylum in 2014.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Lone Child Migrants Double in 2014
Around 7,000 unaccompanied refugee children arrived in Sweden in 2014, twice as many as the year before. And some parts of the country aren’t coping, according to reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Asylum Seekers End Bus Occupation
After two days of protesting, some 30 asylum seekers have now left the bus they were occupying outside a refugee center near Östersund in northern Sweden.
Claiming they had been misled by the Swedish Migration Board about where they were taken, the refugees refused to leave the bus on New Year’s Eve.
They objected to the cold weather in the north, and the location of the center in the countryside far away from any urban area.
Swedish Radio News says that the migration authorities persuaded the asylum seekers by showing them a contract saying they would be moved within three months.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islam Will Not Have Its Own ‘Reformation’
Stop expecting a Muslim Martin Luther. No two religions follow the same historical path.
By Nick Danforth
So if even Ataturk couldn’t do it, is there any hope for creating a consensus on the role of religion in public life sufficient to facilitate liberal democracy in Muslim-majority countries? Or at least sufficient to forestall some of the violence we saw in 2014? Looking optimistically toward the new year, one lesson from several millennia of church-state conflict in Europe is that even without following any particular model, Muslim countries might just succeed in blazing their own paths, much like the Vatican managed to do, even without a Catholic Martin Luther of its own.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
It Takes 7 and a Half Hours to Solve the World’s Largest Rubik’s Cube
That regular old 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube you could never crack? The world’s fastest solvers can tackle that one in 5.55 seconds. But the world’s largest Rubik’s Cube is a more involved endeavor. Solving this 17x17x17 cube took Oskar van Deventer seven and a half hours.
That’s not a bad time considering the 66.9 quinquagintatrecentillion (translate that to “a whole lot of zeroes”) possibilities. Apparently, the way to solve this monstrosity is just like any Rubik’s Cube: start at the center and move your way out.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Two Empires We Must Defeat
by Daniel Greenfield
To empires, people are interchangeable. If the natives have a low birth rate and a long lifespan, then workers with high birth rates and lower lifespans are brought in to replace them. If the natives are reluctant to pay higher taxes, immigrants from countries that are fine with voting for high taxation are imported. That is how empires, not nations, do business.
This is what the political establishment in most countries believes. This is what tearing them apart.
The only way for the nations to survive is for the empire, in all its forms, the ideological revolutionary empire of the left and the centrist empire of international law, to to be cast off.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Other topic
Nobel Medal to be auctioned
in New York on Thursday
Science is un-islamic, and knowledge about DNA must not be widely known
What other conclusion can we draw from a scientist returning in his Nobel prize in medicine, for the discovery of DNA? In the civilized world science is normal. For a totalitarian ideology like islam, science and development is threatening, because it goes beyond its ideology and puts it to shame and shortcoming.
Dr James Watson..therefore has put his Nobel medal up for sale.
In principle, he has said that some people are more intelligent, and others are not, although that was not the way he may have put it. But saying such a thing, creates difficulties for you, and therefore, best to get rid of the Nobel medal.
“He told the Financial Times: “I apologise … (the journalist) somehow wrote that I worried about the people in Africa because of their low IQ – and you’re not supposed to say that.”
” “There are a lot of personalities in history we’d find fault with – but their discoveries transcend human foibles,” he said.
The medal is expected to be auctioned in New York on Thursday with a reserve price of £1.6 million pounds. ”
thecourier
UPDATE: James Watson’s Nobel prize was purchased for just over $4 million by a Russian billionaire — one of the s0-called “oligarchs” — who intends to return the medal to Watson. Damn those cagey oligarchs!
I don’t believe Dr Watson’s financial difficulties are connected with Islam, reply; his views are just un-PC, so he can’t get work.
Yes Mark. I saw an interview with him where he said he is broke because of his statements on intelligence, no one will hire him.
I don’t think it has anything to due with Islam.
As an aside, while Watson and Crick were discovering DNA I was a 5-7 year old in summer camp at the Cold Spring Harbor labs where they made their discovery.
We were running around catching butterflies and examining horse shoe crabs while they were inside changing the world!
And just to say how the world has changed… I would no more catch a butterfly and pin it to a board, as I did back then, than to cut off one of the legs of my dog…
Horse shoe crabs were always revered, even back then, as one of the oldest living species on earth. Up until a few years ago they were harvested by fishermen right off the beaches by which I live and cut up for bait. That is now illegal.
Thanks for that, Babs. Before my late father went into the RAF in 1942, he was in the Merchant Navy (to escape working for his awful parents, who also opposed his marriage to my mother- best decision he ever made, and not just because I wouldn’t have been here).
In late 1939, his ship was in Montevideo harbour when the German battleship “Graf Spee” was sheltering in the neutral waters of the River Plate estuary. Some of his crew, and some of the Germans, were in the same bar; voices were raised, insults hurled, and a fight broke out; all were jailed overnight.
I mention this because he brought back a souvenir, which I still have; two tiny pictures made from butterfly wings, hardly acceptable now. Sometimes attitudes change for the better!
Islam had absolutely nothing to do with Dr Watson’s career demise. He was ostracized for his refusal to kowtow to PC shibboleths by not suppressing his findings on matters of race, genes and intelligence. He wasn’t overly “right on” on matters of gender equality either. Regrettably he stubbornly and very unfairly did not acknowledge the critical contribution of Rosalind Franklin to his and Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA. In fact he nicked the fruits of her research from her and a colleague of hers Raymond Gosling.
Nonetheless, I’m very pleased some Russian oligarch has bought his Nobel Prize medal for a sum that should keep Dr Watson well fed and housed (and leave his kids something) AND is going to give him the medal back. Delighted.
I agree with you, Mark
However, on the larger scale, science IS threatening to islamic ideology, and dumbing down western civilization in every way possible, will help islam expand.
Evil comes in many a shape, and can often be difficult to unmask.
One way of dumbing down the civilized world, tying up its resources and weakening the West, is to create tremendous noise about “racism” in every way possible. Africans, and descendants from Africans, are a useful tool for islam in this way.
This is a complicated and difficult issue, reply. If research into relative intelligence shows that, say, the average white, northern European like myself is less clever than an east Asian or Ashkenazi Jew, but ahead of some others, I may not feel especially threatened or belittled, since the same research places me above some others; I need to try a bit harder.
But place yourself among the “others”, especially those near the “bottom” and, even without encouragement from outraged PC people, you may see yourself as a “victim” requiring special consideration. I don’t have a solution; just making the point.
No reformation in islam
Mohammedan ultimate goal is global empire, the caliphate.
How could a maximum evil barbaric totalitarian global imperialistic military strategy be reformed?
Fake narrative big scale
Muslims are always the victims. The records for future “history” is being written now, telling how innocent(…) muslims are being persecuted
The more Christians that are being persecuted and killed, in the Middle East, the more fake islamic victimization we are seeing in the West, and the louder the MCs are screaming and the more theater they are putting on stage.
– Mohammedan barracks on fire in Sweden
– Marches “against islamophobia” in Germany
– And what not
This is serious, and we are witnessing a future fake history in the making. Intellectual terrorism.
Most shocking news about
Daily life and
Nightlife in Damascus
Hair-raising, to say the least
Most partygoers in Damascus now leave the nightclubs around midnight. At the maximum! They used to stay until the early hours, but not these days, explains local to BBC .
Probably better the nightlife in Damascus, than in the North of Sweden, though..
But the Syrians who threatened to start a hunger strike in order for their demands to be met, among them, being taken back to Malmö, will likely, have their apartments shortly.
– Otherwise, we will have to move on to another country, Norway or Finland, or wherever. We cannot stay here.”
I share your views relating to the purposes and eventual outcome of Muslim immigration into Western society. The conquest of Europe by Islam is an openly stated goal, repeated often and substantiated by concrete actions. It is no fantasy born of fear-mongering. It is documented, it is real, it is happening. Their little propaganda book, the “House of Islam” clearly states that all non-Muslims are of the “House of War” and are to be converted, subdued, or slain outright.
We of the West are at war, and have been ever since that Saudi liar had his “vision” of how to become a warlord and make money through religion. It only takes one side to declare a war, and those who then oppose it should not be blamed for defending themselves. Do not expect America to help or understand; Muslim immigrants there are the cream of the crop, mostly interested in making money and unlike the veritable army of insurgents entering Europe, so Americans simply do not understand, and will not, until it is too late for Europe.
Simply put, Islam is a retrograde, absolutist and totalitarian set of “beliefs,” and on that basis has no place in modern society. The best response to Islam is to fortify one’s own understanding and ability to defend the core principles of democracy and individual rights. Many practices of Islam are illegal outright, and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law (mistreatment of women and children, poligamy, public disturbances (ie, street preaching and mosque blaring), verbal threats, frank declarations of disloyalty to the rule of law, mistreatment of animals, distribution and sale of contraband goods, illegal banking practices, unfair/discriminatory labor and hiring practices, and so on).
No Western principles nor laws should be bent or twisted to accomodate a single drop of that red fountain of hateful lies. No changes in our ways to allow bigoted criminals their comforts.
Beyond that, we need to add “freedom from religion” to “freedom of religion” to our list of basic human rights. For anyone, of any religion or political creed, to declare that others must subscribe to and obey the ideas they promote or face death, is a crime. It is an openly declared, fully public, and often repeated death threat, grimly carried out in grisly scenes across the world today. It is made against any and all, regardless. For this reason, Islam, which so preaches, should be banned as the grotesque hate speech that it is. Promoting Islam publicly should be punished as a hate crime, because it is an implicit and explicit death threat… by its own written definition! In prison, no Islamic texts of any kind should be allowed any prisoner, and advocating belief in Islam while in jail should lead to solitary confinement, permanent if the offense is repeated. Let’s not afford them a means for coverting others while detained for their crimes.
However, to recognize the disgusting and horrible nature of Islam for what it is, a throw-back to the worst of moral dim-wittedness in humanity and easily the greatest ongoing tragedy in human history, does not mean one should then give in to all manner of alternative stupidity.
That little list of 16 points by some German speaker posted on this site, as well as everything else I’ve read, smacks of the bigoted, brain-dead hate speech that Muslims are famous for. Fear seems to be the driving emotion in these articles, fear and distrust of everything.
No. Let us not become like our enemies, claiming absolutes and driven by ignorance and unfounded pride. Don’t start bashing gays as part of your own religious extremism, or misunderstand economics, or misrepresent world history, or classify everything as a sissy-liberal conspiracy. That kind of moral and intellectual cowardice is for small men with smaller minds and hearts, and is archi-typical of the Islam we oppose.
Men of the West stand for truth and reason, even when it can harm their own personal interests, and welcome life in a plural society that respects diversity; indeed, defending it with their lives and honor. What they do not do, however, is remain silent when threatened, or lie down before naked aggression. So let’s not panic and run around like chickens, and rather let us further prepare the law to fully recognize and harshly deal with the crime that is Islam, and do it now. It can be done without recourse to other madnesses, remembering full well who we are and why we hold the beliefs we do.
Thomas Jefferson would salute you, William.
Islam by its very nature is not a true religion as in the Western sense. That can be easily proven so it is not necessary to change the constitution.
William, your reference to ‘hate crimes’ is so typical of those who cannot permit some people’s opinions to be aired in the arena of public opinion. So why do you demur to collectivist simplicities?
I agree with most of what you have commented on, but propping up the ‘law’ by ‘Western Men’ will no longer work in a world where insanity reigns supreme and the Truth tellers are persecuted by the state. We are in a fight for our very survival and while I agree to point that we should never become like our enemies, the ‘law’ will have to take a back seat until the fight is over.
Also, causing ad hominem attacks on those who stand up in the fight against the creeping Islamization of their country by the Traitor Class makes for a contradiction of what you write about.
You need to do some more thinking.
Freedom of religion – Freedom from religion
The twisted Human Rights Declaration
Here is what sharia rights, Cairo 1990 Declaration, says about religion and freedom
“ARTICLE 10:
Islam is the religion of true unspoiled nature. It is prohibited to exercise any form of pressure on man or to exploit his poverty or ignorance in order to force him to change his religion to another religion or to atheism.”
One “choice” only. In other Words, no freedom of religion in the “Sharia Rights”
” ARTICLE 24:
All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari’ah.
ARTICLE 25:
The Islamic Shari’ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration. “
reply, I wrote up a definition of what a true religion entails for a website called, Restore Australia, which I have been informed will be adopted into their idea for an Australian Constitution. I wish I had written it down so I could quote it here, but your points I believe adequately highlight the supremacist/totalitarian ideology that is Islam.
“In the wake of three attacks on mosques since Christmas Day, concerned citizens have staged rallies all across Sweden in support of Muslims.” Beyond belief!
Faint echoes of the general public showing up to support the Nazis and Hitler after the Czech patriots assassinated Heydrich. I think we are a little upside down and back to front in the freedom department.
And I understand from Vlad’s blog that one of those fires was a kitchen fire. Not an attack.
– Orchestrated!
Besides, “Democracy Minister” Alice Bah Kuhnke is playing an important role, reading loud and clear, her lines in favor of islam, telling the Swedes that they need more information about islam, so they better can understand and appreciate it in the Swedish society.
The fact that Muslims are even bring discussed beyond closing mosques and which Islamic cesspool these reprobates will cleared to is itself a very tragic statement of defeat. The Muslims have declared their intent to convert and butcher our populations as soon as they have been sufficiently infiltrated, corrupted and abused. Yet our response is the same. We are the facilitators of our own demise.
Muslims even being discussed
Report from Sweden about Islamophobia getting stronger. That report should read instead; The patriot movement is beginning to stir.
Science, progresss and islam
Cultural psychology: How Islam managed to stay medieval for 1,400 years
By:
Nicolai Sennels, psychologist
“While non-Muslim scientists invent new fantastic medicines and technologies daily, discover the most amazing things about the universe, its building blocks and inhabitants, and Western voters and politicians have created the most humane, rich and free societies in world history, most Islamic countries are still amputating limbs for theft, stoning women and homosexuals, heavily inbred, denying people free speech and democracy, and contributing absolutely nothing when it comes to science, human rights or peace.
What are the cultural psychological factors making Islam able to stay medieval for 1,400 years?”
Also GOV
Here is an excellent article on Islamic terror on a blog I follow. The author is not a knee-jerk anti-anything; rather, he holds a nuanced view on the contributions of religion to society, not just the harm it may do. In other words, this is no “new atheist” rant, but a take-down of militant Islam on its own terms, with rich historical reference. Enjoy.
The link: http://rjosephhoffmann.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/humiliating-god-the-real-cost-of-islamic-terror/