The Belgian authorities have decided to expel a Moroccan-Dutch imam who has been encouraging extremism while residing in Belgium. When forced to leave the country, it is thought that he will return to the Netherlands. The Belgian government is anxious to expel four more radical imams.
In other news, 2,700 migrants were rescued off the coast of Italy in a single day.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, DM, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, K, LP, NG, RRN, 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.
Finnish Parliament in Favour of ‘Grexit’: Report
Lawmakers’ decision to push for a so-called “Grexit” came after the eurosceptic Finns Party, the second-largest in parliament, threatened to bring down the government if it backed another rescue deal for Greece, public broadcaster Yle reported citing sources close to the talks.
In Finland, it is the country’s “Grand Committee” — made up of 25 of parliament’s 200 MPs — which gives the government a mandate to negotiate on an aid agreement for Greece.
Members of the committee met for talks in Helsinki on Saturday afternoon to decide their position, YLE reported…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Sound and Fury Signifying Much
All of Europe, and insouciant Americans and Canadians as well, are put on notice by Syriza’s surrender to the agents of the One Percent. The message from the collapse of Syriza is that the social welfare system throughout the West will be dismantled.
The Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has agreed to the One Percent’s looting of the Greek people of the advances in social welfare that the Greeks achieved in the post-World War II 20th century. Pensions and health care for the elderly are on the way out. The One Percent needs the money.
The protected Greek islands, ports, water companies, airports, the entire panoply of national patrimony, is to be sold to the One Percent. At bargain prices, of course, but the subsequent water bills will not be bargains.
This is the third round of austerity imposed on Greece, austerity that has required the complicity of the Greeks’ own governments. The austerity agreements serve as a cover for the looting of the Greek people literally of everything. The IMF is one member of the Troika that is imposing the austerity, despite the fact that the IMF’s economists have said that the austerity measures have proven to be a mistake. The Greek economy has been driven down by the austerity. Therefore, Greece’s indebtedness has increased as a burden. Each round of austerity makes the debt less payable.
But when the One Percent is looting, facts are of no interest. The austerity, that is the looting, has gone forward despite the fact that the IMF’s economists cannot justify it.
Greek democracy has proven itself to be impotent. The looting is going forward despite the vote one week ago by the Greek people rejecting it. So what we observe in Alexis Tsipras is an elected prime minister representing not the Greek people but the One Percent.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Presenting the “Greek Terms of Surrender” as Annotated by Yanis Varoufakis
The Greek “deal” has already been dubbed “a new Versailles Treaty” for good reason: for Greece, the agreement which effectively abdicates sovereignty to Germany, is precisely that.
And while few if any in Greece — and certainly its parliament — have carefully read the actual contents of the Summit statement, and instead are rushing to pass the deal with hopes that just approving its contents may lead to the ECB blessing a prompt reopening of banks so Greeks can resume withdrawing their frozen deposits before the public realizes it was betrayed by its rulers, one person who has read it is the former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
And not only that: just hours before what may be the most critical vote in Greek history, he has released an annotated version of what the Euro Summit statement really means for Greece.
In his words: The Euro Summit statement (or Terms of Greece’s Surrender — as it will go down in history) follows, annotated by yours truly. The original text is untouched with my notes confined to square brackets (and in red). Read and weep… [For a pdf copy click here.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Protesters Throw Petrol Bombs as Greek Parliament Debates Bailout
Anti-austerity protesters hurled petrol bombs at police in front of Greece’s parliament on Wednesday as lawmakers began debating deeply unpopular reforms needed to unlock a new eurozone bailout.
Riot police responded with tear gas against dozens of hooded protesters who set ablaze parts of Syntagma square in central Athens as they targeted the officers, AFP journalists saw.
The violence erupted on the sidelines of a demonstration gathering 12,500 people in front of the parliament building opposed to the passage of the reforms.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
4 Marines Killed in Attacks on Chattanooga Military
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A gunman unleashed a barrage of gunfire at two military facilities Thursday in Tennessee, killing at least four Marines and wounding a soldier and a police officer, officials told CBS News.
The shooter also was killed. Two law enforcement sources told CBS News that the shooting suspect was identified as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez.
“Today was a nightmare for the city of Chattanooga,” Mayor Andy Berke said. “As a city, we will respond to this with every available resource that we have.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bill Clinton Regrets ‘Three Strikes’ Bill
Former US President Bill Clinton has admitted his “three strikes” crime bill introduced in the 1990s contributed to the problem of overpopulated prisons.
Speaking to a civil rights group, he said: “I signed a bill that made the problem worse and I want to admit it.”
It put 100,000 more police officers on the streets but locked up “minor actors for way too long”, Mr Clinton said.
President Barack Obama launched a renewed effort to reform the criminal justice system this week.
He visited a federal prison in Oklahoma on Thursday, becoming the first sitting president to do so.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Four People and Gunman Killed in Tennessee Shooting That Officials Call ‘Domestic Terrorism’
Four people were killed in a shooting a Naval reserve center in Tennessee on Thursday, along with the suspected gunman, officials said.
The shootings occurred at a Naval base and at an armed services recruiting center on Thursday, authorities said. In addition to the four people killed, the gunman also wounded a Chattanooga police officer and two other people, Mayor Andy Berke said at a news conference Thursday.
“Somebody brutally and brazenly attacked members of our armed services,” Fred Fletcher, the Chattanooga police chief, said at at the same news conference.
Ed Reinhold, the special agent in charge for the FBI, declined to discuss details of the investigation, which he described as in its initial stages.
“We will treat this as a terrorism investigation until we determine it was not,” he said. He added: “We have not determined if it was an act of terrorism or a criminal act.”
Reinhold said that the shooting appeared to be the work of a lone gunman.
The shooting is being viewed as “an act of domestic terrorism,” U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said. However, Killian said the investigation would bear out precisely what kind of crime this was, cautioning people not to get caught up in the label.
A senior FBI official said the shooting did not appear to be related to any larger terrorist group.
Reinhold said that the gunman, who was not identified, appeared to be from the area, or at least lived in the area. The gunman had “numerous weapons” on him, Reinhold said, and was not wearing body armor. This gunman did not work at the facilities involved, Reinhold said.
“I know the whole rest of the state joins me in just a feeling of being sick in our stomach for the lives lost and the senselessness of this,” Gov. Bill Haslam (R) said earlier in the day.
Police and federal authorities scrambled on Thursday in response to an active shooter situation that locked down schools and closed roads throughout the area.
The shootings began at 10:45 a.m. and ended within 30 minutes, Reinhold said. He said that the gunman opened fire at one facility before driving to another, where he continued to shoot.
The U.S. Navy had said it was investigating the shooting at the recruiting center. It said it was also looking into a report of a shooting at a different building…
| — Hat tip: DM | [Return to headlines] |
Gunman in Shootings in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is Dead: Report
A gunman was reported dead after shootings on Thursday at several places in Chattanooga, Tennessee, including a U.S. military recruiting center, and a police officer was hit by gunfire, authorities and local media said.
CBS News reported the gunman was dead a couple of hours after the shootings began, quoting police sources. In a tweet, the Chattanooga Police Department said that the situation was over and that details would be forthcoming.
The shootings appeared to have occurred in at least two locations including the recruiting center and a U.S. Navy Reserve center about six miles (10 km) away.
“We’ve got an officer down,” Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke told reporters, calling it a “very terrible situation.”
A witness at a glass company near the Navy center said the area was on lockdown, with the shooting there starting at about 11 a.m. (1500 GMT).
“We have heard multiple shots fired,” said Marilyn Hutcheson of Binswanger Glass installation and repair service.
The emergency department at Erlanger Medical Center, a major hospital in the southeastern Tennessee city, was also on lockdown, hospital spokeswoman Susan Sawyer said.
Local media reports said the shooter appeared to be firing from an automobile. A photo of the recruiting center broadcast on cable TV news station CNN showed its entrance riddled with bullet holes…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Jade Helm Begins: “Massive Direct Training for Future Civil Unrest in America”
After months of speculation, the controversial multi-state urban military training drill known as Jade Helm is set to begin today in what many believe is direct training for future civil unrest in America.
From the very moment the military announced the training, complete with multiple states listed as “hostile”, the alternative media and freedom minded individuals across the country began to expose its possible real intentions.
Right on the que the corporate controlled mainstream media went to work attacking critics of Jade Helm as crazed conspiracy theorists and possible racists.
In their attacks the mainstream media made sure to purposefully misrepresent what most alternative media outlets were reporting, insisting that conspiracy theorists were claiming Jade Helm was a martial law takeover when in reality most credible independent news outlets were reporting that the training was most likely being conducted to be ready for a near future martial law scenario rather than being the actual reason for it.
Despite these attacks, literally hundreds of thousands of Americans have expressed worry over Jade Helm in one way or another. From Facebook pages dedicated to monitoring activity in the lead up to the exercise, to groups dedicated to monitoring theactual training, Americans throughout the country made clear that they would not blindly accept the military PR machines claims.
The mainstream media is 100% guaranteed to attack the entire alternative media if Jade Helm comes and goes without martial law being declared (this despite the fact that websites such as Intellihub have NEVER claimed that this would happen) so it is important to document all the strange military movements and increased urban military training that has happened since the announcement of Jade Helm 2015.
After seeing the sheer amount of evidence of military equipment and urban military training, one can fully understand why the alternative media has been so worried about Jade Helm regardless of whether or not martial law specifically happens in the next three months.
The following list of suspicious activity in the lead up to Jade Helm starts with the most recent report and includes a small summary with a link back to the original article. This information proves without a doubt that, at the very least, there has been increased preparation for some “unknown” reason.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
NASA to Release New Pluto Images, Science Findings at July 17 NASA TV Briefing
This new image of an area on Pluto’s largest moon Charon has a captivating feature — a depression with a peak in the middle, shown here in the upper left corner of the inset. The image shows an area approximately 240 miles (390 kilometers) from top to bottom, including few visible craters. The image was taken at approximately 6:30 a.m. EDT on July 14, 2015, about 1.5 hours before closest approach to Pluto, from a range of 49,000 miles (79,000 kilometers).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As eight-year-old boy continues to fight for his life in hospital
These are two of the four people who were found shot dead in a remote South Carolina home on Wednesday — as police have tracked down a vehicle that was likely stolen by the fugitive killer.
Krystal Hutto, 28, and Shamekia Sanders, 17, were discovered murdered in two bedrooms of the house outside Holly Hill, Orangeburg County, at around 7am alongside 14-year-old Tamara Perry.
A fourth victim, a black male who has not yet been identified, was found shot dead in the two-story property’s front yard, while an eight-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.
The youngster is undergoing treatment, officials said. His current condition remains unknown.
Following the grim discovery, police launched a hunt for a 1990’s green Mercedes which is thought to have been stolen and used to escape the scene by the murderer, according to ABC News 4…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Rebel Flags Waved Outside Obama’s Hotel in Oklahoma
People waving Confederate flags have greeted President Barack Obama as he arrived at his hotel in Oklahoma.
As his motorcade rolled into Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, about 10 rebel flags were in the crowd, alongside some US flags.
Critics of the emblem, used in battle by southern states in the US Civil War, say it is a symbol of slavery.
A backlash against the flag has grown since a gunman killed nine black people at a church bible study last month.
Dylann Roof, who was charged with the killings, was pictured holding the flag.
The incident comes a week after the flag was removed from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol grounds in Columbia, after years of bitter argument.
Large retailers like Walmart have also been clearing their shelves of any trace of the emblem.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, Alleged Tennessee Killer, Is Kuwaiti UT Chattanooga Grad
Abdulazeez, who was killed by police during the shootings, is from Hixson, Tennesse, where he owns property appraised at $206,100. According to the Times Free Press:
A single shooter, described by witnesses as a white man driving a silver Ford Mustang convertible, began firing shots at 10:45 am at the Lee Highway recruiting center, then led police on a chase to the Amnicola Highway location, where further shots were fired.
A U.S. official says the gunman in the shootings in Tennessee has been identified as 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, according to the Associated Press.
He was believed to have been born in Kuwait, and it was unclear whether he was a U.S. or Kuwaiti citizen. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing, sensitive investigation. It was not immediately clear whether the gunman’s first name was spelled Muhammad or Mohammad.
A man named Youssuf Abdulazeez attended UTC, spokesman Chuck Cantrell said, and graduated in 2012 with a degree in engineering.
Abdulazeez is from Hixson, Tennessee, which is just a few miles across the river from Chattanooga.
Police in Hixson kicked a reporter out of the neighborhood that contained a house apparently owned by Abdulazeez. The reporter saw a SWAT team and FBI agents staging at a nearby strip mall. The house, which Hamilton County records is owned by Youssuf S. Abdulazeez, is appraised at $206,100 by the Hamilton County Assessor of Property…
| — Hat tip: NG | [Return to headlines] |
Shari’ah Law the Islamic Threat to Civilization
The differences between shari’ah law and United States law is as separate as night is from day. Contrary to the overbaring all-consuming nature of shari’ah and the muslim’s efforts to force it upon everyone worldwide. U.S. law is fundamentally territorial and is mostly contained within it’s geographic boundaries. Laws created in the United States (until more recent years) are positive laws (as opposed to divine laws), enacted by Congress or other United States authorities.
Further, it is a longstanding principle of legal construction that positive law is territorial in nature. As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., wrote, “The general and almost universal rule is that the character of an act as lawful or unlawful must be determined wholly by the law of the country where the act is done.” This principle is axiomatic to the American legal system.
Therefore, while shari’ah travels with a muslim wherever he goes and is expected to be enforced universally over the law of any other nation. That is why bigoted muslims try to take over wherever they move to.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium Eager to Expel 4 More Imams
The Belgian authorities are monitoring the activities of four imams, who they believe are encouraging young people to become extremists. The four risk being expelled from the country as has just happened with an imam from Verviers.
Belgian Asylum Secretary Theo Francken has told lawmakers that he would like the imams to be expelled. The Asylum Secretary informed MPs that the residence permit of an imam holding joint Moroccan Dutch nationality from Dison has been revoked. The imam was active in radical circles in the Verviers area, the scene of the killing of two Muslim extremist terrorist suspects last January.
The Immigration Department is examining the papers of four other imams suspected of preaching radicalism. They include two Moroccans, an Algerian and an Afghan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: MIVB Manager Fired in Racism Case
The Brussels public transport company MIVB has fired one of its managers for making racist remarks on Facebook. The man also regularly posted anti-Islam messages, at the same time making it clear he was employed by the MIVB.
Various MIVB employees informed the general management of the transport company. “The proximity manager was shown the door for sharing extremely racist and islamophobic messages. We as a company are taking this very seriously. It was impossible to continue to cooperate with him”, MIVB spokeswoman Françoise Ledune explains.
The man was at the helm of different teams that had to intervene in the case of incidents. One of his tasks was to meet people from various communities and (religious) groups, which made the situation even more serious.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium Expels Dutch Radical Imam
Belgium has revoked the residence permit of a Moroccan-Dutch radical imam, Belgian media report on Tuesday. It is the first time the country has taken such action. The imam lives in Dison in Luik province and has been under surveillance by Belgian police for some time. He is said to be active in radical circles around Verviers where two suspected terrorists were shot dead by police in January. It is not known where the imam will go, but he is likely to return to the Netherlands, according to press reports. He can still appeal the decision.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Ramadan Under the Midnight Sun
Muslims around the world are observing Ramadan, abstaining from food and drink during the daylight hours with a fast from dawn until sunset. In Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, where the sun briefly dips below the horizon at this time of year, tradition often adjusts to geography.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: No More Mohammed Comics, Says Charlie Hebdo Editor Sourisseau
“Charlie Hebdo” editor Laurent Sourisseau has told “Stern” magazine he will no longer draw cartoons of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Souriseau’s statement comes six months after a deadly attack on the magazine’s offices.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Explosions: Devices Found Near Berre-L’Etang Plant
Two devices have been found by investigators near a petrochemical plant in southern France, after explosions caused fires at two tanks in the early hours of Tuesday.
The blasts went off at the Berre L’Etang almost simultaneously 500m (1,600ft) apart.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said it was a criminal act but the motive was unknown.
The local prosecutor said nothing had been ruled out, including terrorism.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Terror Suspects Plotted to Behead Military Staffer, Prosecutor’s Office Says
(CNN) Four terror suspects detained by French intelligence agents were plotting to behead a senior military staffer at a military site in southern France, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
The alleged plot centered on the national commando training center in Port-Vendres, near Perpignan, said Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, and was due to be carried out in late 2015 or early 2016.
The suspects planned to film the scene with a GoPro camera, she said.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Wednesday that the suspects, ages 16 to 23, were arrested in four parts of France at dawn Monday on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack against “military installations.”
One of them is a former sailor in the French navy, he said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Jihadi Gets 11-Year Prison Sentence
A man who fought in Syria and took part in an attack on Aleppo’s central prison was convicted in Germany. In court, he pleaded guilty and chatted about his fellow fighters — much to the delight of the prosecutors.
The trial was an absolute godsend to the German federal prosecutor general and his team of terrorist hunters. Harun P. divulged extensive information in court: His lists of names of other jihadis became part of the public record, and furthermore, he also gave precise details of responsibilities and the hierarchical positions within the terrorist group al-Sham. Harun P.’s revelations have already been used in two other terrorism trials. Security experts listened closely as the scope of the German jihadi’s confession was unprecedented and will provide prosecutors with a great deal of material for further criminal cases.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Scientists Discover First Stone Age Dentist
A group of Italian scientists have published a report in the journal Scientific Reports that shows evidence of an operation to relieve a dental cavity was performed 14,000 years ago.
The study was carried out by scientists from the Italian universities of Bologna and Ferrara, who analyzed a dental cavity found on a 14,000-year-old skeleton at Riparo Villabruna, in the Venetian Dolomites, in 1988.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: More Schilderswijk Rioters Jailed
Five more people have been given jail sentences of up to 42 days for their role in the recent riots in The Hague district of Schilderswijk. Four of the five were also banned from going into the area for a six-month period because they do not live there. An 18-year-old youth was not banned from the district because it is his home but was given a 13-day suspended sentence. None of the five will spend more time behind bars because they have served the non-suspended parts of their sentences in jail ahead of the trial.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Suspect Detained Over Warsaw Muslim Centre Pig Incident
A woman has been detained four days after she allegedly left parts of a pig both within and outside a newly opened Muslim centre in Warsaw.
About 25,000 Muslims live in Poland at present. The centre provides the headquarters of the Muslim League of the Polish Republic. Arabic language courses as well as courses on Islamic culture are due to held within the complex.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Schaarbeek Hosts Belgium’s First Islamic Secondary School
Belgium’s first Islamic secondary school is to open in Schaarbeek (Brussels) in September. That’s according to a report in the Francophone daily La Libre Belgique. The school will be French-speaking and will be part of the network of schools that receive funding from the Francophone language community. The new school should receive 660 pupils in the longer run.
The school will receive the name “La Vertu” (Virtue) and is situated at the Haachtsesteenweg. It will receive 120 pupils in the first grade (first and second year) in the short term. The plan is to offer a complete secondary education including a second and third grade as well, offering a total of 660 places.
The project seems to be a success, as 90 pupils have enrolled already. The school starts from the normal set of courses for state-funded schools, but will add Islam courses. Flanders has no Islamic school yet, but there are plans for one in Mechelen.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Social Security Benefit, Student Loan Ban Looms for Dutch Jihadis
Ministers have finalised legislation which will stop people who join terrorist organisations in Iraq or Syria being given social security benefits and student loans, the Telegraaf says on Wednesday. Social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher hopes the move will remove a potential source of income for jihadis and make youngsters think twice about joining terrorist organisations, the paper says. The new law, which introduces an immediate ban on payments, will also affect women who travel to Syria and Iraq to marry jihadis. Current rules to stop payments take too long to apply, the Telegraaf says. Returnees will be entitled to claim benefits, which Asscher hopes will improve their reintegration into normal society.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Town Brings in Compulsory Siesta Law
A Valencian town is living up to the Spanish stereotype by bringing in a law that ensures each citizen has the right to enjoy an afternoon kip.
Between the hours of 2pm and 5pm you will struggle to find anyone in the Valencian town of Ador; the town’s inhabitants will have taken to their beds to catch their mandatory forty winks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Drunk Squirrel Causes Hundreds of Pounds Worth of Damage at Private Members Club
A drunk squirrel caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage at a private members club when it turned on a beer tap and knocked over glasses and beer bottles.
Sam Boulter, 62, thought the bar in Evesham, Worcestershire, had been ransacked by burglars when he opened up at 8pm on Sunday evening.
But the branch secretary at Honeybourne Railyway Club was stunned when a squirrel emerged from a box of crisps ‘staggering around’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Viking Sword Linked to Canute’s England Raids
An ornate viking sword on display for the first time at Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History may have belonged to one of the Viking warriors Denmark’s King Canute hand-picked to attack England.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What We Know About France’s Foiled Terror Plot
The French government revealed on Wednesday night that specialist counter-terror police had thwarted a plot to kidnap and behead a military chief and film the barbaric act on a go-pro camera. Here’s what we know about the latest foiled terror plot in France.
France is on high alert for more terror attacks with the French PM Manuel Valls recently declaring that it was a question of when, and not if, another atrocity would take place on French soil.
After the January shootings in Paris and the beheading of a local businessman in an attempt to blow up a factory near Lyon last month, French counter-terror police have been expecting more attacks.
This week it emerged they had foiled another gruesome plot, this time to strike at the heart of the French army.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Rome is ‘On the Verge of Collapse’ With Their City Hall Paralysed by the Mafia
Fiumicino, Italy’s largest airport, is still struggling to bounce back from a fire that broke out in May, while metro drivers have staged go-slows which have brought the transport network to a standstill.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Yes, In Finland You Can Have Sex With Your Pet
Finland stands alongside Romania and Hungary as one of the last three EU countries in which sexual intercourse with an animal remains legal.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A high-level meeting on intercultural and interreligious dialogue will be held at the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona on 22-23 July, in partnership with the EU, the Anna Lindh Foundation, the UN Alliance of Civilizations, and the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Dialogue.
The meeting represents a unique occasion to map and evaluate the existing instruments and institutions for interreligious and intercultural dialogue, to position such dialogue as a central goal within a renewed multilateral policy approach to the Mediterranean, as well as set out a roadmap involving main institutions for a shared strategy around the theme.
The event seeks to:
- raise awareness of the importance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue.
- map existing initiatives with a view to scaling-up their visibility and resourcing;
- consolidate an alliance of partners seeking to leverage the impact of their initiatives;
- set up an action plan for future activities, based on a common agenda and calendar of activities framed around major initiatives over the coming years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria Mobilises Army in Wake of Deadly Ethnic Clashes
Algeria was mobilising the army on Thursday after 22 people were killed in the worst ethnic clashes between Berbers and Arabs in years, as more details emerged of the violence.
The fighting erupted late on Tuesday in the town of Guerara in the M’zab valley, a UNESCO world heritage site on the edge of the Sahara that has seen mounting tensions between its Berber and Arab communities.
An AFP photographer who toured the town on Thursday saw makeshift barricades of tyres and wheelbarrows erected between the rival neighbourhoods and burned out homes, shops and cars…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State-Linked Group Destroys Egyptian Navy Vessel
The attack marks the first time during a two year insurgency in the Sinai peninsula that the jihadists have struck at sea. The vessel caught fire leaving the crew to scramble overboard to safety.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Extremists loyal to the Islamic State in Egypt have attacked a naval patrol ship in the Mediterranean Sea, causing it to burst into flames.
The Egyptian military said earlier a coastguard vessel had exchanged shots with militants just two miles off the coast of northern Sinai, an area bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.
There were no fatalities among the vessel’s crew in the shootout with the terrorists, according to a Facebook message posted by military spokesman, Brigadier General Mohammed Samir.
ISIS declared their presence on Sinai — a peninsula popular with British holidaymakers — last November when up to 2,000 members of the already established jihadi group Ansar Bait al-Maqdis swore allegiance to ISIS’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Can the Nuclear Deal With Iran be Derailed?
The mainstream media are celebrating, as a deal has been reached between Iran and the P5+1 nations. It appears, however, to be a complete capitulation by the West. CNN described it as “historic,” along the lines of Richard Nixon’s deal with China, which certainly must be music to President Obama’s ears.
But even as terms of the deal are starting to emerge, the holes in the agreement are becoming clear.
“Initial readings of the deal also indicate that Iran will be given the right to veto so-called ‘anywhere, anytime’ inspections of Iranian nuclear sites,” reports Adam Kredo for The Washington Free Beacon. “This concession has caused concern that Tehran will be able to continue hiding its nuclear work and potentially continue in secret along the pathway to a bomb.”
“In one of the most controversial concessions made by the Obama administration, a United Nations embargo on arms will also be lifted within around five years as part of the deal…” he writes. “A similar embargo on the construction of ballistic missiles, which could carry a nuclear payload, also will expire in around eight years under the deal.” So much for this deal being strictly about Iran’s nuclear program, as Secretary of State John Kerry has frequently asserted, such as when he was asked why the four Americans being held by the Iranians were not part of this agreement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
German Vice Chancellor Gabriel to Visit Iran From Sunday
Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel will lead a business delegation to Iran from Sunday, his ministry said a day after world powers and Tehran reached a historic nuclear deal.
Gabriel, who is also economy and energy minister, “will travel to Iran from July 19 to 21 with a small delegation of industry and science representatives,” a ministry spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP.
Bilateral trade between Iran and Germany was once strong but fell as a result of the sanctions, declining from €4.7 billion in 2010 to €2.1 billion last year, according to German figures.
“There is great interest on the part of German industry in normalising and strengthening economic relations with Iran,” especially after the nuclear agreement, the ministry has said.
Ulrich Grillo, head of the Federation of German Industries, has predicted two-way trade could surge to over €10 billions annually in coming years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
How Israel Might Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program
by Daniel Pipes Jul 16, 2015 Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner
The Vienna deal has been signed and likely will soon be ratified, which raises the question: Will any government intervene militarily to stop the nearly inevitable Iranian nuclear buildup?
Obviously it will not be the American or Russian governments or any of the other four signatories. Practically speaking, the question comes down to Israel, where a consensus holds that the Vienna deal makes an Israeli attack more likely. But no one outside the Israeli security apparatus, including myself, knows its intentions. That ignorance leaves me free to speculate as follows.
Three scenarios of attack seem possible:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In the last two weeks four community members were kidnapped in the capital; for two of them their kidnapping ended with the death, despite the payment of ransom. In a statement the Patriarchate denounces deteriorating security and appeals to the government for the protection of persons and their property.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) — With “deep regret” the leaders of the Iraqi Chaldean Church denounce a worsening situation in terms of security in the country, in which “groups and individuals” target “innocent people” killing them or extorting money. Even the Christian community is now being targeted, which in two weeks has seen four people kidnapped and two of them killed, despite the payment of ransom.
In an official statement the leaders of the Chaldean Patriarchate remember the death of Qais Abd Shaya and Saher Hann Sony, two members of the Christian community in Baghdad kidnapped and murdered despite the attempt of the families to release them on payment of a sum of money. Instead, the kidnapping of Bashar Ghanem Al Akrawi and Saad Galyana Shaba, ended with their return home.
Christians are “fully fledged citizens of the state,” recalls the Patriarchate, and “hundreds and hundreds of years they have contributed to its civilization and its culture.” This is why “we appeal to government authorities and security forces in Baghdad, to protect the lives and property of our people.” Below the official press release of the Chaldean Patriarchate Department of Communication sent to AsiaNews:
It is unfortunate that the security situation continues to deteriorate, and that some individuals and groups exploit it to carry out the kidnapping of innocent people in order to gain sums of money and to terrorize civilians. In less than two weeks, they kidnapped four Christians: among them, Dr. Bashar Ghanem Al Akrawi, who was later liberated by the local police, and Saad Galyana Shaba. And the other two Christians kidnapped were killed: Qais Abd Shaya and Saher Hanna Sony, despite the fact that their families had paid ransom for their lives.
This is not the first time that Christians have been kidnapped since the fall of the regime.
There are also incidents where evil people are falsifying the documents of Christian homes and seizing them and their household goods. They also send them threatening messages through their mobile phones ordering them to leave their jobs. This outrageous behavior causes anguish and destroys the national mosaic of Iraqi society, weakening the prestige and authority of the state.
Christians are indigenous citizens, and everyone praises their morality, their patriotism, and their roots in this country. For hundreds and hundreds of years they have contributed to its civilization and culture.
These frightening methods lead to their emigration, and this is a great loss to the strength of the national components. We call upon the governmental authorities and the security forces in Baghdad to protect the lives and the property of our people, and to issue a decision to ban the sale of Christian homes, except by a recommendation of the Church. We also call upon the aggressors to remember that such forbidden behavior cannot continue.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS: 15,000 Suspected Foreign Fighters on Turkish List
Turkey has barred from its territory some 15,000 suspected would-be ‘foreign fighters’ wanting to join the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju Bilgic said. Other security measures have been brought in by Turkey, including the expelling of over 1,500 suspected ‘foreign fighters’ and 1,200 sent back to their home countries after checks in airports by special risk analysis units. Often accused of being an easy transit point for would-be jihadists, in recent times Turkey has carried out several counterterrorism operations that targeted ISIS members and supporters in several provinces. Bilgic did not comment on press leaks claiming that ‘Jihadi John’, a British-accented executioner of the US journalist James Foley and Steven Sotloff, had managed to enter Turkey from Syria in recent days.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS: US Provides Jordan With $79 Million Military Equipment
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, JULY 16 — US weapon manufacturer Raytheon has delivered Jordan with military operational capability under a $79 million deal signed between the kingdom and Washington to secure borders with Iraq and Syria, officials said today.
Raytheon will be providing radars, electro/optical infrared cameras, communications, and command and control software, 18 quick reaction team vehicles, solar-based renewable power systems, said a company statement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Ambassador: The Four Major Problems With the Iran Deal
By Ron Dermer July 14
Ron Dermer is Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
Israel has long been concerned that the “P5+1” powers would negotiate a bad deal with Iran. But the deal announced today in Vienna is breathtaking in its concessions to an Iranian regime that is the foremost sponsor of terror in the world, is on a march of conquest in the Middle East, is responsible for the murder and maiming of thousands of U.S. soldiers, and vows and works to annihilate the one and only Jewish state.
There are four major problems with this deal. First, it leaves Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure. This is not the hoped for “dismantle for dismantle” deal, in which the sanctions regime would be dismantled in exchange for the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear-weapons making capability. Rather, this deal leaves Iran’s nuclear capabilities essentially intact (the conversion of the Arak heavy-water facility being the notable exception). In fact, this deal allows Iran to improve those capabilities by conducting research and development on advanced centrifuges and building intercontinental ballistic missiles, whose sole purpose is to carry nuclear warheads.
To keep Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions in check over the next decade, the P5+1 countries — the five U.N. Security Council members plus Germany — are relying on intelligence and inspectors. Here, the historical record does not bode well. The United States and Israel have two of the finest intelligence agencies in the world. But it was years before either knew that Iran had secret facilities at Natanz and Fordow .
As for inspections, Iran has been deceiving the International Atomic Energy Agency for years and has consistently refused to come clean about the possible military dimensions of its nuclear program — a commitment that Iran has once again been permitted to dodge before signing this agreement…
| — Hat tip: K | [Return to headlines] |
By Noah Pollak
To cut through the rhetoric surrounding the Iran deal, and to better understand what the two sides conceded and gained, I’ve compiled a balance sheet on the Iran deal. It’s simple and non-technical; a basic list comparing what the U.S. gets versus what Iran gets. The reader is free to make up his own mind about the merits of the deal and the extent to which it advances U.S. interests and U.S. security, and that of our allies.
Forget how far away the terms of the deal may be from the ones President Obama insisted on two years ago, last year, or even last month. The saga of U.S. concessions to Iran is what’s known as a “process story,” and one thing the Obama years should teach us is that process stories — stories about how the administration achieves its policy objectives, as opposed to the policies themselves — have increasingly little purchase on our political debates. So, without further ado:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Relatives of MH17 Victims File $900 Million Lawsuit Against Former Rebel Leader
Victims’ family members of the MH17 crash have filed a lawsuit totaling nearly $900 million against Igor Strelkov, former leader of the Ukrainian separatist movement. According to the court papers, Russia is complicit.
Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 — from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam — crashed after traveling over eastern Ukrainian airspace, where more than 4,000 people have been killed throughout the conflict on the ground.
It is believed that the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile. Both the Ukrainian and Russian government have accused each other of orchestrating the attack, which left all 298 passengers -mostly Dutch citizens — dead, although no suspects have arisen.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India: Catholic School Accused of “Forcing” Muslim Pupils to Break Their Fast
Approximately 40 girls, including some of the Islamic religion, waited seven hours in the heat for the headmaster. Three of them became ill and drank water. A Muslim politician threats “legal retaliation.” Jesuit scholar of Islam: “Dishonest to transform an administrative issue into a religious problem”.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — “It is dishonest to turn an issue that is purely administrative into a problem of a religious nature”, Fr. Victor Edwin SJ, theologian and expert on Muslim-Christian relations comments to AsiaNews following a dispute that involves a Catholic school in Mumbai.
Parents of some Muslim students at St. Agnes High School in Byculla staged a protest yesterday against the institution, guilty of “forcing” their daughters to break the Ramadan fast. They were joined by some politicians of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, who have threatened “legal retaliation.”
The adults were angered that three girls out of 40 have had to drink water after remaining more than seven hours in the sun. The principal, Sister Louisa D’Mello, admitted that she was not aware that students were waiting outside the building, but has refused to take responsibility for breaking of the fast.
The incident took place on Friday, July 10. Two days before, the parents say “we had the prayers of Lailatul Qadr and we stayed awake all night. For this reason, the next day [Thursday, ed] our daughters did not go to school. On Friday they went to the principle with the justification, but were not received. “ “One of the teachers — said the father of one of the three who was unwell — even said that, if we met with similar problems, then we had to send our daughters to a Muslim school.”
The 40 girls — most of them ethnic Bohra Muslim — remained outside waiting from 8:30 am to 15:30. The principal explained the error that sparked the controversy. “According to the disciplinary rules of the institute — she said — those who are absent must obtain the signature of the principal on the school register to mark their presence and enter the classroom. That Friday many students were missing and not all could fit all in the hallway in front of my office. Thus, by their own choice, they decided to wait outside the building. “
That morning Sister D’Mello was busy with admissions to the 11th class, and therefore did not pay attention to the girls waiting outside. Moreover, no other member of the school staff noticed their presence. “Frankly — she added — there was no malice in their waiting outside. Among them were girls of all religions, including Catholic. We respect all religions. “
Fr. Edwin, who heads the Institute of Islamic Studies Vidyajyoti (Vidis), told AsiaNews: “The Catholic Church respects all religious traditions and every ritual linked to them. The principal has already made this clear. For this reason you cannot point the finger at her, saying that she has no respect for the Muslim faith”.
On the other hand, adds the Jesuit, “it is regrettable that a teacher told the Muslim students to leave and find an Islamic school. His attitude is typical of a prejudice that must be countered. The service offered by Christians to other religions, in particular Islam, in the fields of education and health is a fact. Muslims should recognize the dedication with which the service is provided”.
According to Fr. Edwin “such matters should be addressed with sensitivity and responsibility. The parents and the school administration must discuss and find a solution to the problem. The parents marching on the institute with politicians was an irresponsible act on their part”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines to Station Fighter Jets at Former US Base in Subic Bay to Counter China Moves
The Philippines will station new fighter jets and two frigates at the former US naval facility in Subic Bay from early next year, officials said, the first time the massive installation has functioned as a military base in 23 years.
Using Subic Bay would allow the Philippine air force and navy to respond more effectively to Chinese moves in the disputed South China Sea, security experts said. Subic Bay’s deep-water harbour lies on the western side of the main Philippine island of Luzon, opposite the South China Sea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: Filipino Bishops Call for Coexistence and Respect for Everyone in Islamic Bangsamoro
In a statement, the Bishops’ Conference calls for a law setting up the new region that would bring “lasting peace” and “mutual respect.” The protection of ethnic and religious minorities in the Muslim region should be in the foreground. Hence, the legal system must be based on “moral principles.”
Manila (AsiaNews) — Last Saturday, at the end of its three-day Plenary Assembly, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a press release presenting their views about the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which would establish a special region for Muslims on the island of Mindanao.
In their statement, the country’s Catholic bishops reiterated that any law should be based on “social justice” and “moral values”. The crux of the matter is reaching a deal on the bill between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a former Islamist terrorist group that pursued a bloody war for decades in order to achieve independence for its Mindanao.
The Senate and the House of Representatives are now vetting the much criticised draft bill, which would allow for an autonomous 50-member legislature, a prime minister and the partial implementation of Sharia.
“We want a BBL that effectively addresses the injustices suffered by the Bangsamoro as well as the injustices suffered by indigenous peoples and various religious minorities within the proposed Bangsamoro area,” the bishops said.
“We want a BBL that concretely achieves the self-determination of the Bangsamoro in an identified area that remains part and parcel” of the Philippines, maintaining its “territorial integrity under the national sovereignty of the Philippine Republic,” they added.
Noting diverging opinions expressed by legal and constitutional experts, the CBCP said it was hoping that ad hoc legislative committees would seriously and reasonably consider all views to avoid jeopardising “the requirements of social justice for the Bangsamoro.”
In the press release, the CBCP also called for “A BBL that effectively protects universal human rights, particularly that of the indigenous peoples and the rights of Christian minorities who fear harassment and further marginalisation”.
For the bishops, the ultimate purpose of the law must be “lasting peace” based “on mutual trust, openness and respect”.
“Christianity and Islam are religions of peace,” the CBCP said. “Most Muslims, Christians and indigenous communities want peace.”
Hence, the moral imperative for lasting peace is for “Christians, Muslims, Lumads and members of other faiths to begin trusting one another,” said the bishops.
Finally, the bishop entrusted efforts for “a just and lasting peace” to Mary, who is eminently “honoured in the Qur’an and the Bible as Jesus’ mother, whom Christians call ‘Our Peace’.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Report Claims Chinese Chip Maker Bids $23B for Micron
If a deal did go through, it would be the largest Chinese takeover of any foreign company
China’s largest state-owned computer chip design firm, Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. has offered $23 billion to buy Micron Technology, one of the largest U.S. memory makers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If Micron accepts, the deal would be the biggest Chinese takeover of a U.S. company on record.
[Comment: China looking to exchange soon to be worthless US dollars for hard assets.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Children Going Hungry in South African Prisons
Children in juvenile centres are going without food for more than 14 hours on weekends.
JOHANNESBURG — The Department of Correctional Services has admitted that children in juvenile centres across the country are going without food for more than 14 hours on weekends as a result of staff shortages.
The latest correctional services inspectorate report has found that most of those affected are teenagers.
In its 2013-2014 annual report, the inspectorate revealed the appalling conditions under which incarcerated children, especially those awaiting trial, are held.
It says the feeding schedules on weekends are unhealthy and it hopes a solution is found to the problem.
The department’s Vuyo Ndlovu said, “We looked at the report and we will try to improve. The numbers are few, so we will try and implement a system that accommodates them.”
| — Hat tip: RRN | [Return to headlines] |
The Vaccine Matrix: Covert Birth Control, Female Sterility
Let’s dig a little deeper. In fact, a lot deeper.
Here is a blockbuster article published at lifesitenews, a month after the BBC article posted above. Written by Steve Weatherbe, it reveals, among other things, that the Kenyan government and a teacher’s union were taking the Catholic Doctors Association charges very seriously. The headline reads: “Kenyan gymt [government] launches probe into claim UN is using vaccines for ‘mass sterilization’“:
“The health committee of Kenya’s National Assembly has ordered an independent inquiry into the Catholic Church’s claims that a national anti-tetanus vaccination campaign is covering for a sterilization scheme aimed at suppressing the country’s population.
“The news comes as health ministry officials have called for professional discipline against Dr. Stephen Karanja, head of Kenyan Catholic Doctors Association, who raised the alarm about the vaccine.
“At the same time, a teacher’s union has called for a boycott of the vaccination campaign until Catholic claims are disproven.
“The Health Ministry, which is conducting the five-injection, two-year vaccination project on female Kenyans aged 14-49, and the vaccine’s supplier, the World Health Organization, deny the claims of the Church, which has called all along for an independent inquiry.
“Robert Pukose, the government MP who is vice-chairman of the National Assembly’s health committee, explained, ‘We are at loss about who to believe since both sides have tabled [submitted] conflicting results. That is why we need new tests conducted jointly for us to give final and conclusive results,’ according to the Nairobi Standard.
“The inquiry will consist of submitting vaccine samples to a committee of Catholic, government, and independent medical experts. What they will be looking for are traces of HCG, a female hormone produced during pregnancy, which if injected along with traces of tetanus, will produce antibodies. And just as these antibodies will react to a real tetanus infection, so will they react to a pregnancy, causing a miscarriage.
“The Health Ministry submitted its test results on the tetanus vaccine to the committee last week, showing no trace of HCG.
“This week the Catholic bishops’ doctors presented their own test results, all of which showed traces of HCG. Karanja told the committee, ‘The hormone, Beta HCG, is neither a byproduct of, nor a component required for, the manufacture of the tetanus vaccine. It being part of the vaccine is nothing short of a scheme to forcefully render our women incapable of bearing children.‘
[…]
Here is additional background on attempts to develop a vaccine that would cause pregnant women to miscarry.
An astonishing journal paper. November, 1993. FASEB Journal, volume 7, pp.1381-1385. Authors—Stephan Dirnhofer et al. Dirnhofer was a member of the Institute for Biomedical Aging Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
A quote from the paper:
“Our study provides insights into possible modes of action of the birth control vaccine promoted by the Task Force on Birth Control Vaccines of the WHO (World Health Organization).”
A birth control vaccine?
Yes.
A vaccine whose purpose is to achieve non-pregnancy where it ordinarily could occur. This particular vaccine was apparently just one of several anti-fertility vaccines the Task Force was promoting.
Yes. There is a Task Force on Birth Control Vaccines at WHO. This journal paper focuses on a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin B (hCG). There is a heading in the FASEB paper (p.1382) called “Ability of antibodies to neutralize the biological activity of hCG.” The authors are trying to discover whether a state of non-fertility can be achieved by blocking the normal activity of hCG.
[…]
The diphtheria and tetanus vaccines would function as a social and political mask—to hide the sterilizing intent, as millions of women in the Third World would receive vaccines they’re told would protect them against infections and disease.
A letter to a medical journal, The Lancet, p.1222, Volume 339, May 16, 1992. “Cameroon: Vaccination and politics.” Peter Ndumbe and Emmanuel Yenshu, the authors of this letter, report on their efforts to analyze widespread popular resistance to a tetanus vaccine given in the northwest province of Cameroon.
Two of the reasons women rejected the vaccine: it was given only to “females of childbearing age,” and people heard that a “sterilizing agent” was present in the vaccine.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rigged: Buenos Aires Censors and Raids the Technologists Fixing Its Flawed e-Voting System
Like many e-voting systems before it, the security and accountability of MSA’s Vot.ar has long been questioned by local computer technicians, lawyers, human rights defenders and Internet users. But instead of addressing the flaws or postponing Vot.ar’s deployment, the Buenos Aires authorities have chosen instead to silence and intimidate critics of the system’s unfixed problems. A local judge demanded ISPs block web pages, and ordered a raid on the home of one technologist, Joaquín Sorianello, who disclosed to MSA a key insecurity in their deployed infrastructure. Even as the election continues with its troubled technology, online information on the problems is legally censored from online readers, and Sorianello’s property remains in limbo.
Vot.ar’s system relies on a paper ballot with an embedded RFID chip. Each voter places one of these ballots into a polling machine and makes a choice on a touch screen. The selection is printed onto the ballot by the machine, and (in theory) also stored on the accompanying RFID chip. The voter drops this completed “e-ballot” into an ordinary ballot box. Totals are tallied from the collected RFID ballots using the same MSA computer, and transmitted from the polling place to a central server, with the e-ballot being kept for auditing and recounts.
Sorianello reached out in late June to MSA to report that the private SSL certificates used in the secure transmission of data between the polling centers and the central servers were publicly accessible. An attacker with access to these certificates could monitor or manipulate the results being sent to the authorities. Another group of independent researchers discoveredthat with a normal, NFC-ready smartphone, multiple votes for the same candidate could be added to the e-ballot’s embedded RFID chip, invisibly distorting the electronic count.
The authorities’ response was not to investigate and fix these problems, but to cover up the evidence and punish the whistleblowers. On July 3rd, two days before the election, the computer crimes division of Buenos Aires’ Metropolitan Police, under the orders of Judge María Luisa Escrich, raided Sorianelllo’s home. The officers took his computers, e-book reader, and other devices. Sorianello was not present for the raid, but in a telephone conversation with a local newspaper, he pointed out that “if I wanted to do something harmful or hack, I wouldn’t have told the company”.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the same judge, in an apparent attempt to limit the spread of the leaks, ordered Argentinian Internet service providers (ISPs) to “immediately block” access to five URLs on justpaste.it, one of the sites where information on the Vot.ar system was being collected. News of the censorship order became public only after the first round of the election was completed.
[Comment: Of course, this method was how the elitists were planning to rig the system even more. These plans could not be exposed. Hence the persecution of these technical people.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
2,700 Migrants Rescued Off Italian Coast
Around 2,700 migrants were rescued on Wednesday off the coast of Italy, as Europe struggles to deal with a swelling tide of arrivals from across the Mediterranean.
The migrants were saved in 13 separate operations near Sicily as they sailed for Europe mainly aboard inflatable boats, the coast guard said in a statement.
Around 75,000 migrants have arrived on Italy’s shores since the beginning of the year, compared to 64,000 during the first six months of 2014.
The International Organization for Migration said on Friday that some 150,000 migrants and refugees have made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year, and more than 1,900 of them have died.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Disappointment Awaits Migrants Fleeing to Crisis-Hit Greece
They arrive full of hope and ambition to idyllic Greek islands, having fled war and other perils. However, once in Athens the migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq discover a country in crisis with little to offer them.
At 6:00 am, with the sun rising over the Athens port of Piraeus, hundreds of grateful migrants disembark from ferries in the midst of summer holidaymakers.
Despite their fatigue, the relief is palpable among the migrants made up of relatively young men, but also families whose only luggage is a sleeping bag and a back-pack…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration Invasion: Only Trump Speaks Up for Americans
The fact remains: illegal aliens kill thousands of Americans while raping our women and stealing from all of us. They distribute drugs, shoplift and displace our working poor. They get away with it because of 276 “sanctuary cities” along with our Congress and president twiddle their thumbs while the big corporation money pays bribes to keep it going. Top firms like FairUS.org show that an average of 500,000 to 700,000 illegal aliens STILL jump our borders every year. Obama makes sure none of them face deportation and continues his amnesty agenda.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, The Center for Immigration Studies, www.cis.org, has now revealed that 276 “sanctuary cities” in America released over 8,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records or facing charges, despite federal requests that they be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.
Murders continue: like the one who killed Jamiel Shaw Sr’s son. Who is Jamiel Shaw Sr’s son? A 16-year-old Jamiel Shaw Jr., suffered death by an illegal immigrant with a known violent criminal record who was out on parole. The illegal immigrant murdered Jamiel Shaw Jr. as part of a gang initiation to kill black people. Jamiel Shaw Jr. was simply on his way home walking back from the mall.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Migrants Revolt Over Unpaid Pocket Money
Twelve migrants have been accused of kidnapping and attempted robbery after allegedly storming into the director’s office of a refugee centre in Sicily and locking up two workers in a bid to ‘steal’ the pocket money they hadn’t been paid.
The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon at the state-run Sprar (System for the Protection of Asylum Seekers and Refugees) centre in Vittoria, near Ragusa, Sicily.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Refugees at Turin University Exempt From Fees for Two Years
Pregnant students and new mums to get 50% discount says dean
(ANSA) — Turin, July 14 — Refugees wanting to study at Turin University will be exempt from paying tuition fees for two years, Dean Gianmaria Ajani said Tuesday.
As well, pregnant students or new mothers will get a 50% discount on their fees.
In other novelties, the university plans to hire up to 50 third-year students to tutor 5,000 freshmen. Selected tutors will be hired under part-time contracts, the dean said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly 1,500 Immigrants En Route to Dock in Italy in One Day
Navy ships are bringing migrants from various rescue operations
(ANSA) — Rome, July 16 — Italian navy vessels on Thursday were transporting nearly 1,500 immigrants rescued in various operations and now en route for the ports of Vibo Valentia in Calabria and Augusta in Sicily, with arrival expected Thursday evening.
The Italian navy vessel Dattilo is transporting 835 immigrants to the port of Vibo Valentia, where the local prefect has already conducted an operational briefing for health professionals, law enforcement, and volunteers who will be on hand to assist at the landing.
In Sicily, authorities at the port of Augusta are expecting the vessel Chimera to dock in early evening with 579 immigrants rescued from two different boats.
In Siracusa, meanwhile, law enforcement has identified three suspected human traffickers from Egypt who were allegedly at the helm of a motorboat carrying 335 migrants that was intercepted 138 miles from the port of Augusta on Wednesday.
Those migrants were brought to the port of Augusta on Wednesday by the Bahamian vehicle-carrying ship Hermes Leader, accompanied by two Coast Guard vessels.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Number of Asylum Seekers Grows Again
The number of asylum seekers applying to stay in the Netherlands rose by one-third to 2,937 in June, the justice ministry said on Thursday.
Most of them came from Eritrea (1,248) and Syria (737).
The number of lone children also rose, to 299 in June.
Between March and May the number of asylum seekers rose from 800 to 2,300.
On Wednesday it was announced that two congress centres are being converted into emergency accommodation for the growing stream of asylum seekers entering the Netherlands.
Each will take around 400 migrants on a short-term basis to cope with the ‘an unusual peak in the number of people seeking asylum’, the Dutch refugee agency COA said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Nordic Tourists Shun Bag Offer to Help Migrants
Thousands of tourists from Sweden and Denmark have been invited to donate to migrants arriving on Mediterranean islands by checking in an extra bag of unwanted clothes, but less than 30 are believed to have taken up the offer.
Nordic tour operators including Ving and Spies have emailed thousands of customers scheduled to take charter flights operated by Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia from Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport and Copenhagen Airport since June.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Twice as Many War Criminals Seeking Asylum in Sweden This Year
During the first six months of 2015 the Swedish Migration Bureau discovered 41 war criminals and terrorists attempting to seek asylum in Sweden but there are probably many more, because Sweden is one of the only countries in Europe that doesn’t require that immigrants identify themselves when seeking asylum.
So far this year 41 asylum seekers suspected of war- or terror crimes have been discovered by the Migration Bureau, compared to 20 during last year, according to Ekot.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
22-Minute Video Documents How .01% Use Sex to Sell Children of All Ages
This artistic selection of video also documents pedophilia (and here), and is only one such video that documents federaland state crimes of obscenity involving minors. For example, under California law (Penal Code section 288 (a), page 64):
“… any person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act … with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person or the child, is guilty of a felony…”
Importantly and in context of corporate media’s general standards: •Unlawful and lie-began wars are only possible with corporate media’s criminal complicity to lie by commission and omission. These Emperor’s New Clothes lies are OBVIOUS with a few moments attention, even to a child.
What is used for money is the Orwellian opposite of debt created by .01% banksters to be repaid back to the .01%. This ongoing and increasing total debt (adding negative numbers forever) has OBVIOUS mechanics and is only possible from corporate media lies of commission and omission.
Ongoing intentional poverty kills ~20,000 children daily world-wide in gruesome slow-motion. This intentional Crime against Humanity is only possible with lies of commission and omission from corporate media.
I could go on to literally ~100 areas of crucial concern.
This psychopathic “leadership” (and here) is in contrived Orwellian opposition of what leadership should create.
[Comment: Check the video. You’ll be flabberghasted at the subliminals in Disney cartoons.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
79% of Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinics Target Blacks, Hispanics
As Planned Parenthood marks its 96th anniversary today, new research shows the abortion business targets blacks and Hispanics by putting 79% of its abortion clinics in minority neighborhoods.
New research released by Protecting Black Life (an outreach of Life Issues Institute) reveals that 79% of Planned Parenthood’s surgical abortion facilities are located within walking distance of African American and/or Hispanic/Latino communities.
The group has a new map (http://www.protectingblacklife.org/pp_targets/) which serves as a powerful visual — illustrating in full color on a website portal integrated with Google Maps functionality just how Planned Parenthood targets minorities. This interactive site gives viewers an up close and personal look at just how close these facilities are to their neighborhoods.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Defund Planned Parenthood’ Movement Sweeping Nation
A massive movement to defund Planned Parenthood is sweeping the country in response to a video showing the group’s Senior Director of Medical Services explaining how Planned Parenthood harvests aborted baby organs for profit.
The movement has attracted the support of several Republican presidential candidates, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who called the video “sickening.”
“There is no place for taxpayer funding of organizations that profit from taking away innocent life, much less profiting off the bodies of the lives they have stolen,” he wrote in a statement. “Congress should immediately begin an investigation of Planned Parenthood’s activities regarding the sale and transfer of aborted body parts, including who is obtaining them and what they are being used for.”
“And it should renew efforts to fully defund Planned Parenthood to ensure that its morally bankrupt business receives not one penny of taxpayer money.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) echoed a similar sentiment.
“It’s time for pro-lifers to take a stand,” he stated in a campaign e-mail to supporters. “It’s time to defund Planned Parenthood.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mainstream Media Refuses to Give Planned Parenthood Scandal Legs. The Question is: Why?
Whenever abortion pops into the picture, emotions run high.
But where do mainstream newspapers get off simply not reporting the news?
This is what happened Tuesday when a video of a Planned Parenthood exec discussing the sale of aborted fetus parts over lunch went viral. Who eats salad while discussing fetal livers?
As the story unfolded, the only sites covering it were the ones who were most disgusted by it — Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze, National Review, Breitbart News, TownHall, The Federalist, RedState and my own employer, The Daily Caller.
Lefty sites like Salon, Slate, BuzzFeed, and Gawker followed up late Tuesday and Wednesday to discredit the entire story. It’s not what it seemed. No laws were broken, they reported. “No,” declared Gawker like a stern schoolmarm. “Planned Parenthood is not selling aborted fetal body parts.” On Wednesday night, Media Matters, which operates like an arm of the Democratic Party, had a cluster of stories on its homepage — all debunking the video.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Do a quick Google search and you’ll find it just about everywhere on liberal opinion sites and on dinosaur media sites that aren’t still ignoring the story. It’s one or another variation on the following: “No, Planned Parenthood Isn’t Selling ‘Aborted Baby Parts’.” And how can Planned Parenthood and its media protectors make such a claim when there’s a video out that shows one of the organization’s top medical officials engaged in a three-hour discussion of how Planned Parenthood sells aborted body parts?
Nuances, you see! You keep talking about profits! Oh no. Goodness no! No one’s making any profits here! These are donations for humanitarian purposes, and they’re just getting their expenses reimbursed! That’s all! Move along! Nothing to see here!
Uh huh. As this story unfolds, I’m getting to like the Center for Medical Progress more and more. They’re the ones who made the undercover video in the first place and they obviously were smart enough to anticipate this line of defense. In response to the charge that this is not about profit, CMP has released a brochure it obtained from Stem Express. This is an organization that works with individual Planned Parenthood clinics to facilitate the sale of fetal tissue, and its work is endorsed by Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Dorothy Furgerson.
Here’s a link to the entire brochure in PDF form.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Public Schools Want to Change Your Child’s Sex
Outrage of the week (for the time being): Oregon public schools offer sex-change “therapy” to children without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
All right, the Fox News report did make it sound kind of like the schools were rushing a lot of kids into sex-change operations. Liberals fired back by resorting to a Snopes.com refutation of the story, the gist of which was, “Move along, folks, move along—there’s nothing to worry about here,” despite the fact that, admitted by Snopes, “Services already approved for this new, covered line [covered by Medicaid, they mean] include psychotherapy, medical visits, and medications to suppress puberty in gender questioning youth.” Did you get that last bit? “Medications to suppress puberty in gender questioning youth.” Does that strike you as entirely innocuous?
Snopes is all wet on this one, and here’s why.
First, although the actual “gender reassignment” surgery is difficult and very expensive, the ideology behind it isn’t. So a doctor would have to be pretty reckless, financially, to perform such an operation on a 15-year-old without the parents’ consent, based on the extremely small likelihood that the teenager would be able to pay for it (“Honest, doc, I’ll pay you just as soon as I finish working off my college student debt”—at which time the doctor might be on the way to his 100th birthday, presuming he’s still alive).
Indoctrination is cheap, and the schools are big on indoctrination. For instance, there’s a school district in Nebraska where the teachers have been told not to call girls and boys “girls and boys” anymore, but “purple penguins,” because calling them girls and boys would be “uninclusive” of other, largely imaginary, “genders”. [Read]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Stone Cold Proof That America Deserves Judgment
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
What should be done to a nation that has killed more than 56 million babies and doesn’t even feel bad about it?
And why is the U.S. government giving hundreds of millions of dollars each year to an organization that murders hundreds of thousands of babies, harvests their organs, and then sells them to medical researchers? An extremely disturbing video that was just released shows a top Planned Parenthood coldly discussing the sale of aborted body parts over lunch. But now that this has been revealed, will America do anything about it? The purchase and sale of human body parts is a felony according to federal law, and the commercial trafficking of aborted baby parts is “punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of $500,000”. So will anything happen to Planned Parenthood and the executives involved in this illegal activity, or will Planned Parenthood just continue to collect hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government every year? I think that we all know that the answer is going to be, and it will be yet another reason why America will deserve every ounce of the judgment that is about to hit this nation.
Dr. Deborah Nucatola is the senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood. She has held this position since February 2009, and she is responsible for the medical practices at all Planned Parenthood offices throughout the United States. In the video that I am about to share with you, Nucatola explains that medical researchers are charged between $30 and $100 per aborted baby part. The following comes from the LifeSiteNews article that originally broke this story…
While casually sipping wine and eating salad, Dr. Nucatola revealed that she charges $30 to $100 per specimen, and that fetal livers are especially in demand — although “a lot of people want intact hearts these days,” and she has had requests for lungs and “lower extremities.”
Planned Parenthood affiliates “absolutely” want to offer such organs, she said.
Nucatola admitted that Planned Parenthood’s abortionists take great care not to appear to be profiteering off fetal body parts. She said, “They just want to do it in a way that is not perceived as, ‘The clinic is selling tissue. This clinic is making money off of this.’“
If you are not disgusted by that, there is honestly something wrong with you.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Yes, Planned Parenthood’s Founder Margaret Sanger Was a Pro-Nazi Racist
Regardless of how you feel about Planned Parenthood, there is no denying the fact that one of Margaret Sanger’s primary goals was to weed out the undesirables, or as she put it, the “unfit”. And just who were the unfit? She had a pretty broad definition, unfortunately. It ranged anywhere from people with slight genetic health problems to people who were not well-off economically to children who were simply not wanted by their parents.
Now, I do not subscribe to the idea that an entity which has had an imperfect founding or founder should be automatically and necessarily discarded forever. It’s usually much more nuanced and complicated than that. However, if we are, as a society, to remain consistent, if we are going to treat every piece of Confederate history with utter disdain and contempt, shouldn’t we do the same for Planned Parenthood?
Led by a mainstream media in full-emotional racial-blackmail mode, we just had a national debate about the Confederate Flag. With the news that Planned Parenthood is trafficking in dead baby parts — news our mainstream media is almost certain to ignore or downplay — the time seems proper to reexamine the racist, pro-Nazi roots of Planned Parenthood, an organization found by vile racist Margaret Sanger, an organization that receives nearly a half-billion dollars a year in taxpayer dollars.
Sanger was the birth control proponent who founded Planned Parenthood nearly 70 years ago. Her motives had nothing to do with liberating women or women’s rights, she was a eugenicist — someone who believed that through abortion, birth control, and forced sterilization society could “assist the [human] race in the elimination of the unfit.”
In a piece titled “Birth Control and Racial Betterment,” Sanger wrote in part:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Now the United Nations’ Biggest Useful Idiot
Hundreds of municipal councils, mayors worldwide are in league with the United Nations pushing the all-inclusive Agenda 21. Catholics: Don’t let your priest away with excusing Pope Francis. Pope Francis is now the UN’s biggest useful idiot
The Vatican (Lord help us!) has become the main working branch of the Agenda 21-pushing United Nations.
Gathering mayors from around the globe to combat human trafficking and climate change, the cardinals may as well trade in their scarlet birettas for blue helmets.
As the Christian world was reeling in shock yesterday over video proof that Planned Parenthood is making money selling aborted baby parts to the biomedical industry, there was no word about the sale of aborted baby parts from the Vatican and this what was taking place under the unsuspecting noses of he faithful:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
quite an amazing circus with muslim african refugees,
that began on the whims of barak obama, hillary, s powers, s rice
and a cast of millions celebrating the arab spring..
an absolute never ending nightmare disaster ..
So the murderous intimidation DID work! “Charlie Hebdo” editor Laurent Sourisseau announces his magazine will no longer publish cartoons of Mohammed. This will be greeted with joy in mosques everywhere. And the ante will be upped.
Cowardice is the easy road for those who stand for nothing.
They stand for neo-Marxism, just not enough to risk death. Which is why https://ricochet.com/secular-humanism-hasnt-a-chance-in-hell-against-radical-islamism-a-warning-from-eurabia/
Violence works, obviously.
According to the WSJ the U.S. is to increase the MUSLIM legal population to a minimum six plus millions not including the millions who just walk in and no doubt as time passes will add more millions. Islam will have the political clout to do amnesty on an ‘as needed’ basis. Seems kind of a silly plan for any kind of long term survival.
The real name for what is dressed up as “amnesty” is capitulation.
Obama’s ultimate goal:-
Make all Muslims Americans, and all Americans Muslims so as to achieve world peace !
We’re seeing the sequel to Alice in Wonderland play out in front of us : Greece in Euroland.
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
The abortion stats in the Netherlands exceeds 10 million. If it were stopped we would never need another immigrant , ever . So why do we accept the demise of our own , by women , while being replaced by our enemies ? As is the case in the USA , replaced with unskilled immigrants .
Pit may be too late. We already jumped fetus first. I imagine the Muslim war mongering religion of peace is marrying off those first cousins and barely legal kids as fast as they can be imported. Suicide.
It may be …..