Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/14/2015

The billionaire financier George Soros is being publicly taken to task in his native Hungary for promoting the disastrous open-borders policies that are now causing so many headaches for Hungary and other countries in the EU.

In other migration news, the Finnish police union says that more resources will be required if law enforcement is to successfully cope with the influx of migrants, which is currently running at eight times its normal level. Meanwhile, in order to accommodate the “refugees”, Sweden has decided to turn a ski resort in Lapland into an asylum center.

In other news, the Israeli army has deployed six units to patrol major cities in an effort to protect citizens against continuing terror attacks from Palestinians.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Greek Cash Ban Escalates: ‘Permanent’ Stricter “Capital Controls” On 3 Million Pensioners, Civil Servants Imposed
» Italy: Renzi Says EU’s Economic Policy Hasn’t Worked
» Italy: Lifting Contributions for New Hires Cost 1.4 Bn Says INPS
» Italy’s Public Debt Dropped to 2.1847 Trillion in August
» Italy: September Inflation Rate Was 0.2%, Says ISTAT
 
USA
» Gun Shop Found Liable in Cop Shooting
» Indiana Sheriff: I Enforce 2nd Amendment, Not Obama’s Executive Actions on Guns
» New Image Shows Billy the Kid Playing Croquet
» Texas Rancher Fights Back Against BLM Land Grab
» The Tantalizing Links Between Gut Microbes and the Brain
» US Jury Finds Apple Infringed on Mobile Chip Patent
 
Canada
» Canada Could be in for a Fundamental Transformation
 
Europe and the EU
» Belgium: Student “Shocked” At Reactions to Pretend Conversion to Islam
» Danish Muslims More Devout Than in Years Past
» Italy: Prosecutors to Seek 11 Terror Indictments
» Italy: Rome Faces Pothole Crisis as Maintenance Contracts Expire
» Italy: Marino Bidding for Pedestrian-Only Forum Road
» Malvertising Hits ‘The Daily Mail, ‘ One of the Biggest News Sites on the Web
» Polish Terminal to Ensure Gas Independence From Russia
» Pope Apologises for Church Scandals
» Portugal Socialists Tell Investors They Are ‘Not Syriza’
» Stonehenge Builders Had Barbecue Feasts at Nearby Party Centre
» Synod Cardinals Deny ‘Blockage’, Highlight ‘Creativity’
» UK: Judges Plan to Outlaw Climate Change ‘Denial’
» UK: London Flat the Size of a Snooker Table Overlooking Harrods
 
Balkans
» Serbia: New EU Condition Denounced: ‘Yes to Kosovo’
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Abbas Blames Israel for Violence, Calls for Peace
» Israel Deploys Army in Cities
» Orthodox Jews Unsheathe Sarcasm Amid Attacks
 
Middle East
» 1,500 Iranian Fighters Enter Syria Under Russia’s Cover, Reports Say
» Interview: Who is This ‘Moderate Opposition’ The US is Arming in Syria?
» Iran Sends “Thousands” of Troops to Syria for Russian-Backed Assault on Key City
» Oil Price Fall ‘Opportunity’ For Saudi Business: Executive
» Putin Calls US, Allies “Oatmeal Heads” On Syria
» Russia’s Superpower Play: Putin Bets Big on Aggressive Syria Policy
» US Brokering Talks for Gulf States to Buy Israeli Anti-Missile System as Iran Defense
 
Russia
» Putin Hopes for More International Cooperation in Space Industry
» Second Time Lucky? France Says it is Ready to Sell New Ships to Russia
» West Embarrassed by Russia in Syria, Now Blaming Russia for MH17 Disaster
 
South Asia
» Bangladesh: Five Muslims Arrested Over Attempts to Slit Protestant Pastor’s Throat
» Indonesia: Aceh: Islamists Attack Churches: One Dead and Four Wounded
» Italy: Taliban Kills 29 Afghan Border Police
» Pakistani Leaders Knew Usama Bin Laden Was in the Country, According to Former Official
 
Far East
» China Hits Back at US in Row Over South China Sea
» Chinese Middle Class Now the World’s Largest
» Teeth From China Reveal Early Human Trek Out of Africa
» The Fukushima Wasteland: “Terrifying” Drone Footage of Japan’s Abandoned Nuclear Exclusion Zone
 
Latin America
» Brazilian President Accuses Opposition of ‘Coup-Mongering’
 
Immigration
» Europe’s Migrant Crisis Grabs Limelight in Swiss Election
» EU’s Tusk Warns Turkey to Cut Refugee Flow if it Wants Favors
» Finland: Police Union Says More Resources Needed to Deal With Asylum Claims
» George Soros Faces Criticism in Native Hungary Over Refugee Stance
» German School Kids Forced to Clean Up After Migrants
» Sweden: Lapland Ski Complex to Become Refugee Hub
 
Culture Wars
» France Recognizes First ‘Gender Neutral’ Person
» Italy: Tension Mounts Between NCD and PD on Civil Unions Bill
» Oxford University Gay Rights Activist Steps Down From Political Roles After Admitting Drunken Sex Without Consent at Student Conference
 
General
» Obama, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini All Wanted Gun Control
 

Greek Cash Ban Escalates: ‘Permanent’ Stricter “Capital Controls” On 3 Million Pensioners, Civil Servants Imposed

In a stunning move towards the elites’ endgame of ‘banning cash’, Greek authorities unveiled stricter capital controls for civil servants and pensioners this weekend. By drastically limiting cash withdrawals and forcing the more ‘controllable’ compulsory use of plastic money, Greek authorities hope to stop tax evasion through the use of ‘fake cash registers’.

A shock-measure: civil servants and pensioners will be subject to stricter capital controls than the rest of the Greeks. They will be able to withdraw only €150 per week — with the cash withdrawal cap being €420 per week — that is a total of €600 per month. The rest of their wage or pension they will have to spend by using debit or credit card.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Renzi Says EU’s Economic Policy Hasn’t Worked

Premier says reforms give Italy right to raise governance issue

(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Wednesday that the European Union’s economic policy in recent years has failed. “Every day that Italy puts a piece in the complicated reform mosaic, it wins more right and credibility to say that the issue of governance can be contemplated,” Renzi told the Lower House ahead of this week’s summit of EU leaders.

“European economic policy in recent years has not worked”. Renzi has repeatedly called on the EU to allow for greater flexibility in its budget rules to allow for growth-stoking investments after years of economic crisis-

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Lifting Contributions for New Hires Cost 1.4 Bn Says INPS

Social security agency still collected 76.5 bn Jan-Sept

(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — The government’s decision to suspend social-security contributions for some groups of young low-paid workers hired on permanent open-ended contracts cost the State 1.4 billion euros in revenue that was not pocketed between January and September this year, INPS Director Gabriella Di Michele told the Lower House on Wednesday. Nevertheless, Di Michele said that the pensions and social security agency collected 76.5 billion euros in the first nine months of 2015, up one million, or 1.36% on the same period last year.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy’s Public Debt Dropped to 2.1847 Trillion in August

Tax revenues up

(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — The Bank of Italy said Wednesday that Italy’s public debt dropped to 2.1847 trillion euros in August, down 15.5 billion euros on the previous month.

The central bank said the national debt rose by 48.8 billion euros in the first eight months of 2015. It added that tax revenues in August stood at 33.7 billion euros, up 1.2 billion with respect to August 2014. The bank said tax revenues amounted to 258.7 billion euros for the January-August period, up 0.8% on the 256.6 billion collected in the same period in 2014.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: September Inflation Rate Was 0.2%, Says ISTAT

Statistics agency revises down data given in flash estimate

(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — Istat said Wednesday that Italy’s annual inflation rate in September was 0.2%, lower than that the 0.3% given in its preliminary estimate. The national statistics agency added that its consumer price index dropped 0.4% in September with respect to August, compared to a fall of 0.3% given in the flash estimate. It said that its trolley index of every day goods, such as food and household items, rose by 0.6% in September with respect to August and by 1.2% compared to the same time last year.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Gun Shop Found Liable in Cop Shooting

Jurors in Wisconsin ruled a gun shop must pay $6 million to two Milwaukee police officers who were shot by firearms sold at the store — a historic decision that legal analysts say will have a ripple effect on Second Amendment rights around the nation.

As one legal mind said on “ Fox & Friends” on Wednesday: “ For the first time, a retailer is being held responsible for a gun-related crime.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Indiana Sheriff: I Enforce 2nd Amendment, Not Obama’s Executive Actions on Guns

“I will not allow gun confiscation in my county.”

The sheriff said his role in the government of the people doesn’t mean he “checks his mind at the door” and blindly follow orders. If something is asked of him that checks out as unlawful with the Constitution, even a law itself, his conscience wouldn’t permit him to enforce it.

[Comment: America needs more Sheriff’s like this one.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New Image Shows Billy the Kid Playing Croquet

A rare coin dealer in California has concluded that a grainy image of legendary gunman Billy the Kid playing croquet is the real thing and could be worth as much as $5 million.

That is not bad for a photo purchased by Randy Guijarro of Freemont, Calif. for $2 as a part of a miscellaneous lot at a Fresno junk shop in 2010, according to Kagin’s. The company is negotiating a private sale of the photo.

The 4×5-inch tintype — which depicts Billy the Kid and several members of his gang, The Regulators, relaxing in the summer of 1878 — will be the subject of a two-hour documentary airing Sunday on the National Geographic Channel.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Texas Rancher Fights Back Against BLM Land Grab

A Northern Texas rancher says property that’s been in his family for over half a century is now suddenly being targeted for confiscation by the Bureau of Land Management.

Ken Aderholt runs cattle on his roughly 1,250 acres in Harrold, Texas, along the Red River, which forms the border between the Lone Star State and Oklahoma.

Aderholt’s family has had a deed to the land since 1941, and he had hoped to pass the property and the family business on to his sons.

“They come down here a lot and play,” Aderholt told KAUZ News Channel 6. “They help with the cattle and help building fences. They are very interested in hanging round here and helping me out.”

But according to the Bureau of Land Management, the same federal government agency that confronted Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy in 2014, some of that land belongs to the feds, and they want the Aderholts off it.

Furthermore, the BLM claims the deed that proves Aderholt’s ownership of the land, given to his parents by the State of Texas, is worthless.

“The BLM is saying we should have never had a deed to it. That Texas should have never produced that deed,” Aderholt said.

The rancher concedes the BLM is entitled to land “along the gradient boundary,” according to KAUZ, which Aderholt says is dependent on “the way the water washes and cuts into different properties.”

But the BLM argues the real boundary lies a half mile inland from the river, which cuts into 600 acres of Aderholt’s land.

KAUZ reports the BLM’s efforts could leave Aderholt and his family homeless, as his “house is located inside the 600 acres the BLM wants to claim.”

[Comment: BLM has a pattern of using lawfare to seize land unconstitutionally, probably to benefit crooked politicians.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Tantalizing Links Between Gut Microbes and the Brain

Neuroscientists are probing the idea that intestinal microbiota might influence brain development and behaviour.

Nearly a year has passed since Rebecca Knickmeyer first met the participants in her latest study on brain development. Knickmeyer, a neuroscientist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, expects to see how 30 newborns have grown into crawling, inquisitive one-year-olds, using a battery of behavioural and temperament tests. In one test, a child’s mother might disappear from the testing suite and then reappear with a stranger. Another ratchets up the weirdness with some Halloween masks. Then, if all goes well, the kids should nap peacefully as a noisy magnetic resonance imaging machine scans their brains.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US Jury Finds Apple Infringed on Mobile Chip Patent

A US jury found that chips powering coveted Apple mobile devices infringe on technology patented by Wisconsin University researchers.

The case is to proceed to liability and damages phases that could end with the California-based technology giant being hit with a tab in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to court documents.

The case brought by the nonprofit Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation charged that Apple built into its A7 chips technology patented in 1998 for improving efficiency and performance of microprocessors.

“This is an action for infringement of a patent awarded to computer scientists for their work at the University of Wisconsin — Madison,” plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a legal filing…

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

Canada Could be in for a Fundamental Transformation

The federal election to be held on Monday could be one of the most important in Canadian history that could result in, as Barack Obama would say, a fundamental transformation of the country.

Examining the polls, it appears Canada is headed towards either a Conservative or Liberal minority government. If the Conservatives win a minority both main opposition parties have said they will not support the government. If this happens it would result in either another quick trip to the polls or the Governor-General will ask Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to form the government.

Until the last few weeks, the Tories, Liberals and the NDP were in a virtual dead heat. This changed when the wearing of a niqab or full face covering while being sworn in as a Canadian citizen became an issue, led primarily by the left wing media.

Both Trudeau and NDP leader Tom Mulcair think it is perfectly alright for women to be sworn in as Canadian citizens with their face covered. Mulcair’s party dropped dramatically after his niqab pronouncement, mainly in the province of Quebec…

There is little doubt that the loss of a Conservative majority will result in major changes to Canada that will propel the country to become more like Europe; flooded by “refugees” from Syria and a large increase in taxes and spending.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Belgium: Student “Shocked” At Reactions to Pretend Conversion to Islam

A student from Antwerp had planned to live as Muslim for a month. However, Silke Raats, who studies pharmaceutical laboratory technology at the Karel de Grote College of Higher Education in Hoboken stopped her experiment after just ten days. She told VRT News that “I was really shocked how people reacted. They just passed me by and didn’t say hello”.

“A lot of people have an “us and them attitude”.This summer I went to help the refugees in the Maximiliaan Park and I got a lot of strange reactions to my doing that. “Watch out” they said, “they are all jihadi”. To their mind wearing a headscarf was almost automatically the same as going to Syria”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Danish Muslims More Devout Than in Years Past

A new poll finds that Danish Muslims are significantly more religious than a decade ago and more than three fourths of them believe that the Quran’s instructions should be followed completely.

According to a poll conducted by Wikle for Jyllands-Posten, Danish Muslims pray more now than they did in 2006, are more likely to believe in the literal word of the Quran and to support the idea that Muslim women should cover their heads in public.

The survey found that 77.2 percent of Danish Muslims agreed that “the Quran’s instructions should be followed completely”. That is a marked increase from 2006, when just 62.4 percent agreed. The number who think that Muslim girls should wear head scarves also increased significantly, from 28.6 percent in 2006 to 42.7 percent.

Likewise, Danish Muslims are more likely to devoutly practise their faith now then they were nine years ago.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Prosecutors to Seek 11 Terror Indictments

Against Italian jihadi family, Albanian relative

(ANSA) — Milan, October 14 — Milan prosecutors said Wednesday they have completed a terrorism investigation and are set to request the indictments of Maria Giulia ‘Fatima’ Sergio, her sister Marianna, their father, and seven others.

Their mother, Assunta Bonfiglio, had also been under investigation but died recently in hospital. The 11 suspects — five of whom are still at large — were detained in July this year and are accused of terrorist conspiracy and organizing trips abroad for terrorist purposes.

Among the fugitives is Canadian national Haik Bushra, 30, who is accused of recruiting Fatima and Marianna to the Islamic State (ISIS) fundamentalist militia, as well as running five “indoctrination groups” on Skype with over 300 Muslim women members.

Also on the wanted list are Fatima’s husband, Albanian national Aldo Kobuzi, and his 19-year-old sister, Serjola. The three were allegedly recruited to ISIS by Bushra and are believed to be in Syria.

Investigators also probed three of Kobuzi’s relatives, named as Donika Coku, Baki Coku and Arta Kakabuni.

Albanian couple Lubjana and Dritan Gjecaj were investigated but not jailed.

Digos anti-terror police intercepted Fatima’s parents and sister as they were about to leave for Syria.

Police said they were nailed by phone calls with their daughter Fatima, who exalted the greatness of Allah and the need to fight the “infidels”, and promised them a house with a big yard and a vegetable garden if they came.

The couple were originally from the southern Campania region, and had lived for years in the town of Inzago northeast of Milan.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Rome Faces Pothole Crisis as Maintenance Contracts Expire

Procedures to allocate new contracts ‘underway’ — city

(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — Rome faces a potential pothole crisis following the expiry of road maintenance contracts on October 1, sources said Wednesday. The process to award new contracts is underway. “The procedures for assigning new contracts are ongoing and it will not be possible to ensure continuity in road monitoring, rapid intervention and maintenance services,” the urban maintenance department said.

Insurance cover for eventual damage sustained as a result of the potholes will be provided by Assicurazioni di Roma Spa. The halt in road maintenance services comes at a critical time for the city as it prepares to welcome millions of pilgrims for the special Jubilee on Mercy starting December 8 amid a political and institutional crisis that saw the city mayor Ignazio Marino step down over an expenses scandal last week after months of pressure from his own Democratic Party (PD) and the opposition. Expiry of the road maintenance contract means Rome’s municipal police are “powerless” to intervene when holes open up in the roads, while the present heavy rainfall “could aggravate everything”, the Ospol-Csa union reprensenting the force said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Marino Bidding for Pedestrian-Only Forum Road

Key election pledge

(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — Outgoing Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino aims to complete one of his dreams, banning all traffic including buses and taxis from the Via dei Fori Imperiali from the Colosseum to Piazza Venezia, before confirming his resignation after an expenses scandal on November 2, sources said Wednesday. The mayor was said to be hard at work on the project, a key part of his electoral platform two and a half year ago.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Malvertising Hits ‘The Daily Mail, ‘ One of the Biggest News Sites on the Web

Daily Mail readers in danger of downloading ransomware.

The internet is a dangerous place, so much so that browsing popular news websites can lead to your computer automatically being infected with malware, without you even noticing.

The latest victim is perhaps one of the biggest targets yet: The Daily Mail website, which apparently has around 156 million monthly visitors.

The attack was discovered by researchers at MalwareBtyes, and is part of a previous malvertising campaign affecting the Microsoft Azure ad network, which was uncovered by the same researchers earlier this year.

Malvertising is when an attacker uploads a malicious advert to an ad network, which then pumps the dodgy content into legitimate websites.

[Comment: Would not be surprised if this was an attempt to reduce the number of Daily Mail readers. Generally the Daily Mail is against EU and the mass migration taking place, but stupidly demonizes UKIP at every chance.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Polish Terminal to Ensure Gas Independence From Russia

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz on Monday opened a maritime liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Baltic coast to ensure the EU member’s energy independence from Russia.

The 720-million-euro ($820-million) investment in the northwestern city of Swinoujscie comes at a time when Poland has built hundreds of kilometres (miles) of pipelines and underground gas reservoirs over the last few years.

“Poland has achieved its strategic goal: we’re independent when it comes to gas,” Kopacz said at the opening ceremony, adding that this independence affords Warsaw the option of negotiating prices…

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

Pope Apologises for Church Scandals

Specific cases not referred to during general audience address

(ANSA) — Vatican City, October 14 — Pope Francis apologised on behalf of the Catholic Church for recent scandals in the Vatican and in Rome at his general audience on Wednesday.

“Jesus is realistic and it is inevitable that scandals occur,” the pope said. “Woe to the world because of scandals. For if must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.

“Before I start this catechism, I’d like to ask you for forgiveness, in the name of the Church, for the scandals that have occurred both in Rome and in the Vatican in recent times”.

The pope did not specify which scandals he was referring to.

Vatican spokesman father Federico Lombardi said he was referring to acts by “men of the Church” and, therefore, not to the expenses furore that recently led Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino to quit or other problems to afflict the administration of the Italian capital.

The papacy of Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, was badly hit by cases of sexual abuse of children by clergymen, financial scandals at the Vatican and the so-called VatiLeaks case regarding to the leaking of confidential Church documents, which saw Benedict’s butler convicted.

Months after Francis was elected head of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, a senior Vatican prelate arrested for trying to illegally smuggle cash into Italy.

More recently, the Vatican defrocked former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic and former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski for child abuse before he died this year.

The day before the start of this month’s synod on the family, Polish priest and theologian Krzysztof Charamsa announced that he was in a relationship with a man and said he had come out to challenge the Church’s “backwards” attitude to homosexuality.

In recent weeks the Church in Rome has been rocked by the case of clergymen belonging to the Barefoot Carmelites order being transferred from a parish following reports of them being linked to a gay prostitution ring. During Wednesday’s audience, the Argentine pontiff said said that defence of the family is protection of humanity. “Only if we look at children with the eyes of Jesus can we understand how in defending the family, we’re protecting humanity,” Francis said. Francis appealed to the faithful to pray for the Synod on the Family so that bishops will make “the decisions that best serve the family”. He also said that mothers and fathers transmit a “spark of God” to their children.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Portugal Socialists Tell Investors They Are ‘Not Syriza’

Portugal’s Socialist Party leader Antonio Costa in a bid to reassure investors told AFP Tuesday that a left-wing government would respect trade commitments and would avoid any new crises in the eurozone.

“Europe can rest easy, the Socialist Party is not Syriza,” Costa said, in reference to Greece’s radical-left ruling party which earlier this year saw the country edge very near a chaotic fallout from the eurozone.

Costa’s party and its potential Communist and Left Bloc coalition partners “have clearly said that an exit from the euro and renegotiating debt are not on the negotiation table,” he said…

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

Stonehenge Builders Had Barbecue Feasts at Nearby Party Centre

Moving 50-tonne rocks is hungry work. The people who built Stonehenge were duly fuelled by feasts of barbecued pork and beef, according to a major study of pottery and animal remains from a nearby settlement.

The Durrington Walls village, about 2 miles north-east of Stonehenge, is thought to have been inhabited during the monument’s main construction period — about 2700-2300 BC — and probably housed the people who built it.

The site includes waste heaps, known as middens, and pits containing large amounts of animal bones and pottery fragments.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Synod Cardinals Deny ‘Blockage’, Highlight ‘Creativity’

Ouedraogo, Nichols, Salazar Gomez say valid synthesis possible

(ANSA) — Vatican City, October 14 — Cardinals participating in the synod on the family denied Wednesday that the meeting has run aground, claiming rather that there is greater creativity than in the past.

“I do not see this blockage either in the assembly or in the group discussions,” said Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo, archbishop of Ougadougou.

“I believe that the language groups have been an opportunity for important exchange, and we have the presumption to say that something good will come out of all this work,” he continued.

Cardinal Ouedraogo was echoed by his British counterpart Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster.

“I don’t think it is right to talk about a blockage,” the cardinal said. “There is truly a lot of energy, a lot of creativity: we are families with difefrences of opinion, that’s normal, and the way we address these themes must be such that we do not let ourselves be guided by the hermeneutics of conflict, this is not the spirit we must pursue, I do not believe there is such a blockage,” Nichols insisted. “In a synod it is not a question of comparing theories or ideologies, but of trying to understand the richness of the manifestation of God, each one of us starting from his particular situation,” Cardinal Ruben Salazar Gomez of Colombia said. The greater “creativity” noted by Nichols with respect to past synods is allegedly due to the correlation between the work of the small groups and that of the assembly, suggesting that the new methodology introduced by Pope Francis, which apparently found criticism in a letter from 13 conservative cardinals leaked to the press earlier this week, is working. The synod is far from over and it is difficult to anticipate the outcome.

However, Ouedraogo, Nichols and Salazar Gomez are not the only synod fathers to believe a valid synthesis is possible; similar views have also been expressed by Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal George Pell, among the alleged signatories of the leaked letter to the pope.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Judges Plan to Outlaw Climate Change ‘Denial’

Last week I mentioned that the Prince of Wales had sent a message to this conference calling for the UN’s forthcoming climate meeting in Paris to agree on “a Magna Carta for the Earth”. But only a series of startling posts by a sharp-eyed Canadian blogger, Donna Laframboise (on Nofrakkingconsensus), have alerted us to what a bizarre event this judicial gathering turned out to be (the organisers even refused to give her the names of those who attended). It could be made illegal for any government, corporation (or presumably individual scientist) ever to question the agreed “science” again

Including senior judges and lawyers from across the world, the three-day conference on “Climate Change and the Law” was staged in London’s Supreme Court. It was funded, inter alia, by the Supreme Court itself, the UK government and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

As one of the two UN sponsors of its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, UNEP has been one of the main drivers of alarm over global warming for 40 years. The organiser and chairman of the conference was the Supreme Court judge Lord Carnwath, a fervent believer in man-made climate change, who has worked with the Prince of Wales for more than 20 years, and with UNEP since 2002.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: London Flat the Size of a Snooker Table Overlooking Harrods

The 10th-floor studio in London’s Knightsbridge has a kitchen and shower room as well as a living room that converts into a bedroom, and ‘ample and practical storage’.

[Comment: This is the kind of accomodation the elites want all the useless eaters to have.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Serbia: New EU Condition Denounced: ‘Yes to Kosovo’

Dacic, ‘very difficult’ talks with Kosovo in Brussels

(ANSA) — BELGRADE — Belgrade has denounced renewed strong pressure from Brussels under which Serbia’s further progress in Europe depends on whether it recognizes directly or indirectly Kosovo’s independence. Marko Djuric, head of Serbia’s government office for Kosovo, has told public television Rts that Germany proposed the new condition — which is in the draft negotiating chapter 35 concerning Kosovo — backed by Great Britain and Croatia.

“Along with all the bad news we have heard over the past days on chapter 35, we have been informed of the existence of a further amendment to continue European integration, at the proposal of Germany, with the support of Great Britain and Croatia”, said Djuric. “The EU must clearly state if it wants us or not”, he added.

Last night, the new meeting between Serbian and Kosovan premiers, Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa, with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini ended in Brussels as part of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

An informal dinner was held to discuss progress in the normalization of relations between the two sides and further steps in the implementation of agreements signed in Brussels in April 2013.

Neither of the two premiers issued statements. According to Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, who was also in Brussels, the talks were “very difficult” and the only thing on which the two sides agreed was the intention of implementing all accords reached so far.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Abbas Blames Israel for Violence, Calls for Peace

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for peaceful resistance against Israeli aggression. His televised address comes as Israel resorts to fiercer security measures to stem the violence.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Deploys Army in Cities

Bodies of attackers will not be handed back to families

(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, OCTOBER 14 — The Israeli army has been ordered to deploy six units across Israel’s major cities to boost security in the country, military radio reports.

The soldiers are members of military police and will be operating alongside police officials and border guards.

Last night, the defense council of the Israeli government decided to seal off some Palestinian areas in East Jerusalem “according to need”. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaqed added that the attackers’ homes will be demolished and their assets seized.

In addition, the deployment of 300 civil guard members to protect public transport has been approved with immediate effect. The defense council will be summoned today to discuss punitive measures against the Islamic movement in Israel, considered as one of the sponsors of recent attacks.

And amid emergency measures to stem Palestinian violence, the Israeli government has decided not to give the bodies of attackers back to their families.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Orthodox Jews Unsheathe Sarcasm Amid Attacks

Targeted, they rattle off jokes online

TEL AVIV — “How frightening, all these stabbings happening around. I only hope they don’t come for my mother-in-law! Levy family, in Ashdod, Trumpeldor Street 60, eighth floor, first door, the one with the ‘hamsa’, the good-luck handle. The poor woman lives alone and doesn’t have any weapons. She would be such an easy target if she were attacked.” It was the night of October 12, at the end of the latest day of violence, when ‘Benyomin’ wrote this satirical text for readers of the Orthodox website Behadrey Haredim, which targets mostly rabbinical students. It can be seen as a way to exorcise fear after seeing Palestinian attackers in the most recent incidents often attack Orthodox Jews, recognizable from their attire.

After only a few hours the website was filled with sarcasm and an almost jovial, mocking tone. One suggested photographing a new white shirt with a huge bloodstain on the front and the caption “I have already been stabbed. Thank you.” ‘ShalDag’ noted to readers that the wave of attacks has also an ‘aesthetic’ and ‘praiseworthy’ aspect: “finally,” he said, “people have begun to lift their faces up from cell phones”. In light of the state of emergency, a husband in one ‘joke’ told his wife to “be very attentive when you go out”. Not long afterwards, the wife called him to say that “you wouldn’t believe it. I have discovered two very nice new boutiques very close to our home.” “Today,” wrote ‘Kushi’, “I saw a husband and wife holding hands, they were so afraid.” Normally, Orthodox Jews of different sexes would need to maintain distance between each other. “I,” another wrote, in an entirely different tone, “support a final separation between the Israelis and the Palestinians: us above, and them underground.” Another lamented that “last month the price of tomatoes was sky-high. Now its knives that are becoming expensive. In conclusion: you just can’t make a decent salad in this country.” In the evening of October 12, ‘Sayeret Maran’ instead wrote: “I was in hospital. Suddenly, an Arab nurse comes and tells me ‘it’s only a light injection (‘dkira’, in Hebrew, also means a stabbing). I didn’t think twice before shooting him.” The sense of humor seen is mocking in tone, something akin to the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. However, on Tuesday it was discovered that the police were also reading the site, and ‘Sayaret Maran’ was identified and officers arrived at his doorstep. Taken to the police station, it emerged that he had only recently left the army. He was released after lengthy questioning after posting bail. The incident did not stop the others posting on ‘Benyomin’, and sarcasm continues to flow amid days that are anything but pleasant.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

1,500 Iranian Fighters Enter Syria Under Russia’s Cover, Reports Say

Iran has sent around 1,500 fighters to Syria over the past few days, a regional official and Syrian activists claim.

The Iranian soldiers, bolstered by Russia’s airstrike campaign, are preparing for a grand offensive against militants in the northern Aleppo province, which would be announced in the coming days, the official told the AP. They’re also accompanied by a new wave of Hezbollah fighters.

The soldiers were arriving at Damascus airport and transported to a military base in the coastal town of Latakia.

The presence of Iranian troops could strengthen Russia’s mission of empowering Syrian President Bashar Assad’s embattled government.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Interview: Who is This ‘Moderate Opposition’ The US is Arming in Syria?

Various Islamist militant groups are hiding behind different names, but they are all fulfilling the same functions as ISIL, and Washington is set to arm the ‘Syrian opposition’ without being able to tell one group from another, the founder and editor of International NSNBC news portal Dr. Christof Lehmann told Radio Sputnik.

Lehman does not believe that giving arms to the Syrian opposition, a policy of the US government, can possibly help stabilize the situation in the region, he said in an interview on Tuesday.

“I think, the US should answer [a] series of questions. Number one: who exactly is this opposition? Are they wearing military uniforms, insignia, who is commanding them, what exactly is the command structure, are they adherent to the rules of warfare, etc? All that we don’t have any answers [to],” the expert revealed.

By refusing to provide the Russian military with ISIL’s coordinates in Syria, the US-led coalition is conducting its own strategy, Lehman explains.

“It’s an attempt to spread the belt of low-intensity conflicts from the Mediterranean to Baluchistan along the soft and resource-rich underbelly of Russia and former Soviet republics … to China, Lehmann describes. “That’s an attempt to destabilize that region and to weaken the Russian Federation and other Central-Asian countries,” he points out.

“[The] Russian government’s assessment … that airstrikes in Syria would be necessary also to maintain Russian national security interests is a correct one,” Lehman stated.

Commenting on a recent announcement by a spokesman of al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda branch in Syria, calling for a crusade against Russia to avenge their airstrikes, Lehman shed light on the affiliations and purpose of this organization.

“Al-Nusra [Front] is … Saudi, in part Qatar, in part pro-Israeli proxy… These statements are basically a proxy’s statements towards Russia within the context of creating the belt of low-intensity conflicts [across the region],” Lehman described.

There little difference between the various Islamist militant groups, currently waging war in Syria, the expert points out.

“These organizations, al-Nusra [Front], ISIL, Liwa al-Islam, Southern Shield, and others — all can easily swap names, be exchanged, have a slight change in command structure, but the function remains the same,” Lehman revealed.

Defeating ISIL won’t be enough, he believes.

“It doesn’t really matter, whether one would defeat ISIL, or whether ISIL disintegrates… There will be others who have exactly the same function,” Lehman added.

The expert sees a reconfiguration of the Middle East unavoidable.

“There are issues like the drawing of borders by former colonial powers, there is a Kurdish question, the latest national group that doesn’t have a state,” Lehmann explained, and concluded “There are a lot of issues there.”

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

Iran Sends “Thousands” of Troops to Syria for Russian-Backed Assault on Key City

As those who follow Mid-East affairs are acutely aware, the regime in Syria has enjoyed both military and financial support from Iran for the duration of the country’s civil war. Syria cannot fall to the West if Tehran intends to preserve the regional balance of power and an Iran-friendly Damascus ensures the supply lines remain open between the IRGC and Hezbollah. Lose Syria, and suddenly, the Mid-East tide turns in favor of the Saudis and Qatar and that, clearly, is an unacceptable outcome.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Oil Price Fall ‘Opportunity’ For Saudi Business: Executive

A fall in Saudi oil revenues opens greater opportunities for the private sector by promoting a shift in spending to domestic companies, the head of the kingdom’s chambers of commerce said Tuesday.

“I call it not crisis but opportunity,” Abdulrahman al-Zamil told AFP on the sidelines of the 2nd Saudi-French Business Opportunities Forum.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest exporter of oil, which makes up about 90 percent of government revenue…

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

Putin Calls US, Allies “Oatmeal Heads” On Syria

[…]things took an even more surreal turn late last month when, after Russia stormed in via Latakia and started bombing anti-regime targets, Washington was forced to claim that somehow, Moscow’s efforts would be detrimental to the war on terror.

To be sure, there really wasn’t much else the US could say. After all, you can’t simply come out and say “well, we need to keep ISIS around actually and we’d much rather them then Putin and Assad, so no, we’re not going to help the Russians fight terror.” The only possible spin to avoid blowing the whole charade up was to claim that somehow, The Kremlin is helping terrorists by killing them (and not in the whole 72 virgins kind of way).

Now as we’ve said before, Putin is there (along with Iran) to shore up Assad. There’s no question about that and Moscow hasn’t been shy about saying it. But at the end of the day, when you are trying to wipe out your friend’s enemies and some of those enemies are terrorists, well then, you are fighting a war on terror by default and that’s not good for terrorists by definition. By denying this, the US is effectively arguing against a tautology which is never a good idea, and we’re running out of ways to describe the ridiculousness of it.

Fortunately, Vladimir Putin is not running out of colorful descriptors.

Here’s Bloomberg with some amusing excerpts from a speech he gave at an annual conference organized by VTB Capital in Moscow on Tuesday:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Russia’s Superpower Play: Putin Bets Big on Aggressive Syria Policy

The US and Europe have long opted to stay largely on the sidelines in Syria. But now Russia has begun carrying out airstrikes in the country in support of autocrat Bashar Assad. The move is likely to have far-reaching consequences.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US Brokering Talks for Gulf States to Buy Israeli Anti-Missile System as Iran Defense

Bahrain and other Persian Gulf states are in negotiations to buy the Israeli-developed Iron Dome anti-missile system to defend against “a growing arsenal of Iranian missiles”.

The Israeli weapon, which has reduced the effectiveness of rockets fired out of Gaza into Israel by about 90% would be bought through Raytheon and other American contractors who developed the Iron Dome with Israeli arms giant Rafael.

A deal for the entire Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, would be worth tens, perhaps hundreds, of billions of dollars.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Putin Hopes for More International Cooperation in Space Industry

Vladimir Putin said that he hopes for international cooperation in the space industry at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome.

VOSTOCHNY COSMODROME (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that he hopes for international cooperation in the space industry at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome in the country’s Far East.

“Of course, we hope for international cooperation, it is already pretty large-scaled today, but we need that our partners to be sure that the Vostochny Cosmodrome is one of the best places for joint work. We will increase its capacity,” Putin said during a meeting.

Vladimir Putin on Wednesday gave his permission to make the first launch from the newly built Vostochny Cosmodrome in the country’s Far East in 2016.

“Plan for the first launches in 2016, somewhere in the spring. If we do this before Cosmonaut Day [April 12], that would be great,” Putin told Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the space industry.

Rogozin promised the first launch would be held in April of next year.

“We’ll make it by mid-April,” Rogozin told Putin during a meeting.

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

Second Time Lucky? France Says it is Ready to Sell New Ships to Russia

French president Francois Hollande says Paris is looking to sell new ships to Russia; the announcement comes after France cancelled a long-standing deal for Mistral-class helicopter carriers originally built for Russia, eventually re-selling the warships to Egypt.

France is looking to sell new ships to Russia in the future, French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday during his visit to the shipyard of Saint-Nazaire in western France.

“Things went well with Russia, which has agreed to cancel the contract. And I even think we’ll get partnerships for new ships,” Hollande said.

He didn’t specify whether they would be military ships. Neither did he say if Russia is willing to buy anything from France in the future.

The French president came aboard one of the warships, originally named the Vladivostok, in reference to the Russian port. The inscription on the hull has been erased and replaced by grey paint.

The Mistral sale was supposed to be the biggest arms sale ever by a NATO country to Russia, until the deal fell apart because of the Ukraine crisis.

France refunded the 950 million euros ($1 billion) already paid by Russia and sold the ships to Egypt, which signed a 950 million-euro contract last week.

Egypt emerged as France’s replacement customer for the Mistrals in September 2015.

“I had to sell them to a country that needed to ensure its own security but didn’t threaten anyone,” Hollande said.

The ships are supposed to arrive in Egypt in summer 2016 but first they should be de-equipped of Russian-developed command, control and communication systems.

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

West Embarrassed by Russia in Syria, Now Blaming Russia for MH17 Disaster

Today, the Dutch Safety Board released a report blaming a ‘Russian-made BUK missile’ as the cause of the destruction of MH17.

However, they begrudgingly admit that they cannot say who fired the missile.

As we mentioned above, the timing of the release of this report is more than suspicious…

Russia has just dramatically embarrassed the West in Syria, destroying 40% of the terrorist infrastructure in just one week and causing a terrorist exodus.

Its release comes alongside comments from ‘anonymous officials’ that CIA-backed rebel fighters were making progress before the Russian air campaign. Therefore, it fits into a continuing narrative seeking to demonise Russia that has gone into overdrive since the successful Russian intervention in Syria began.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Bangladesh: Five Muslims Arrested Over Attempts to Slit Protestant Pastor’s Throat

They are members of an outlawed Islamist group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh. Among them are the three perpetrators of an attack on a pastor. Local police chief: “The Islamic fundamentalists are trying to destabilize the country and to pressure the government.” Officers deployed to protect churches during Sunday Mass.

Pabna (AsiaNews) — Police in Pabna have arrested five Muslims involved in the attempted murder of Pastor Luke Sarkar, assaulted last week while he was at home, near the police station of Ishwardi, about 200 km from the capital of Bangladesh .

Those arrested included the three perpetrators. Alamgir Kabir, superintendent of the local police, reports that men are part of the outlawed Islamist group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is attempting to destabilize the country and to pressure the government in Dhaka.

The detainees have already confessed (see photo). Rakibul Islam Rabbi, 25, is one of the three attackers who approached the pastor, pulled out a knife and tried to cut his throat on October 5 last. The man confessed to having fled with the other two accomplices — Rabik and Shakil — when Sarkar started screaming, calling the attention of his wife and relatives.

The criminals said that in the past were part of two other Islamic fundamentalist groups banned by the government, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Islami Chhatra Shibir (the youth wing of the first), before being recruited by the JMB.

They revealed that for about a year and a half the radical group has been trying to restore operations in the district and its members meet three times a week under the leadership of the regional chief Rakibul Islam. During these meetings, they decided to attack the pastor as a demonstrative act.

For years activists and intellectuals critical of radical Islam are being targeted in the Asian country. Recently fundamentalists have killed two foreigners: the Italian volunteer Cesare Tavellaand Japanese Hoshi Kunio, both engaged in agricultural projects for the development of Bangladesh.

Religious minorities, especially Christians, fear more attacks. Local police are deploying agents in defense of the churches during Sunday Mass. Fr. Rozario Uttom, assistant parish priest at the parish of Mothurapur in Pabna, told AsiaNews: “The police is here with us to guarantee our security. We are happy to see that the local police is honest. “

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

Indonesia: Aceh: Islamists Attack Churches: One Dead and Four Wounded

The mob of fundamentalists set fire to a church, claiming it was illegal and without building permits. Attempts to set fire to a second triggered clashes with the local population. Several Christian families flee in fear of more violence. In the coming days another 10 Christian places of worship will be demolished.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) — One person was killed, four were wounded and a church burned down in sectarian clashes yesterday in the district of Singkil, Aceh province, western Indonesia, the most “Islamic” of the world’s most populous Muslim nation and dubbed “The door to Mecca.”

Local witnesses report that hundreds of Muslims attacked a first place of Christian worship because “illegal” (without the required building permit), setting it on fire. Later, the crowd moved on to a second church, resulting in violent clashes that killed one person and injured several others.

A few weeks ago there was an increase of tension in Aceh, in the context of increasing pressure from local Islamic fundamentalist fringe. Last week a group of protesters held a demonstration demanding the demolition of what they call “unlicensed churches”.

In response, the local government consented to demolishing but delayed “too long” causing resentment among extremist movements. There are at least 10 Christians places of worship considered “irregular” because they do not have the infamous IMB (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan, the construction permit); the beginning of the demolition was scheduled for October 19 and would end in two weeks. The Churches that have been spared — 14 in all — have been given six months to regularize their position.

Husein Hamidi, chief of police in Aceh, reports that “after burning the church, the crowd — made up mostly of members of the Muslim Youth Forum — tried to attack another but ran into opposition from Christians.” Following clashes between extremists and the villagers of Dangguran (sub-district of Gunung Meriah), adds the official, “a man was killed when he was shot in the head” and four others were wounded.

According to sources, the police made several arrests, but there is currently no official confirmation; Meanwhile calm has returned to the district — a Christian enclave in an overwhelmingly Muslim majority nation — although tension could return in the coming days 10 other “illegal churches” will be demolished. Some Christian families have already fled, fearing an escalation of violence.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, is often the scene of attacks or acts of intolerance against minorities, Christians, Ahmadi Muslims or of other faiths. In Aceh — unique in the Archipelago — applies the Islamic law (Sharia), following a peace agreement between Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and in many other areas (such as Bekasi and Bogor West Java) is becoming more extreme and radical vision of Islam.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has seen a rise in the number of attacks or acts of intolerance against minorities, including Christians, Ahmadi Muslims and others. In the province of Aceh — the only in the Archipelago to apply Islamic law ( Sharia ) — following a peace agreement between the central government and the Free Aceh Movement ( GAM ) , the application of a radical form of Islam among citizens is becoming more extreme

However, the decision to toughen laws, regulations, rules and customs has failed to find favour with a large proportion of the local population, forced to change long held customs and habits.

Many in Aceh oppose greater restrictions, especially with regards to women wearing jeans and tight skirts , travelling astride motorcycles, or dancing in public because they “stir desire” and a ban on St. Valentines Day. The latest case concerns the decision to introduce a “curfew” for women, officially to reduce sexual harassment.

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

Italy: Taliban Kills 29 Afghan Border Police

In Helmand

(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — An Afghan provincial official said Wednesday that a total of 29 border police officers have been killed after the Taliban overran two check points in southern Helmand province.

Bashir Ahmad Shakir, a provincial council member in Helmand province, said that the police officers were killed after a three-day battle, when reinforcements failed to arrive.

Shakir said the Taliban initially killed 21 officers and took eight hostage, but later killed the eight prisoners.

Shakir says the Nawzad district of Helmand province, where the battles took place, is a particularly volatile area that is regularly targeted by insurgents.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistani Leaders Knew Usama Bin Laden Was in the Country, According to Former Official

A former Pakistani official told Indian television Tuesday that both his country’s senior military and civilian leadership knew of Usama bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan when he died in 2011, New Delhi Television online reports.

The Al Qaeda chief was killed after his compound was raided by U.S. Navy SEALs.

The admission by Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, who was Pakistan’s defense minister at the time of the raid, contradicts the country’s official claim that it was unaware of bin Laden’s presence.

“Some people knew, people in the Pakistan army as well as people in the other forces they also knew it and they were on the lookout for somebody of the stature of Osama bin Laden,” Muhktar told CNN-IBN. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari was also privy to bin Laden’s presence.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China Hits Back at US in Row Over South China Sea

China has hit back at the US in a row over marine territorial claims.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying alluded to the US when she blamed “some countries” for flexing “their military muscles again and again” in the South China Sea.

Last week, US officials said they were considering sailing warships in an area around the Spratly island chain which China claims as territory.

It has sparked tit-for-tat warnings between the two powers.

China has been worrying its neighbours — and the US — by enlarging the series of tiny islands, reports the BBC’s China analyst Michael Bristow.

Washington believes Beijing is constructing military facilities, designed to reinforce its disputed claim to most of the region — a major shipping zone.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Middle Class Now the World’s Largest

China’s middle class has overtaken the United States to become the world’s largest, Credit Suisse said Tuesday in its latest report on global wealth.

Asia will be the scene for the greatest expansion of the world’s middle class, it predicted.

The Swiss bank said with 109 million adults “this year, the Chinese middle class for the first time outnumbered” that in the United States at 92 million.

While the number of middle class worldwide grew last year at a slower pace than the wealthy, it “will continue to expand in emerging economies overall, with a lion’s share of that growth to occur in Asia,” Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam said in a statement accompanying the bank’s annual Global Wealth Report.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Teeth From China Reveal Early Human Trek Out of Africa

“Stunning” find shows that Homo sapiens reached Asia around 100,000 years ago.

Teeth from a cave in south China show that Homo sapiens reached China around 100,000 years ago — a time at which most researchers had assumed that our species had not trekked far beyond Africa.

“This is stunning, it’s major league,” says Michael Petraglia, an archaeologist at the University of Oxford, UK who was not involved in the research. “It’s one of the most important finds coming out of Asia in the last decade.”

Limestone caves pockmark Daoxian County in Hunan Province, China. Recent excavations of a cave system there extending over 3 square kilometres discovered 47 human teeth, as well as the remains of hyenas, extinct giant pandas and dozens of other animal species. The researchers found no stone tools; it is likely that humans never lived in the cave and their remains were instead hauled in by predators.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Fukushima Wasteland: “Terrifying” Drone Footage of Japan’s Abandoned Nuclear Exclusion Zone

While the world has had decades of opportunities to observe nature slowly reclaiming the consequences of human civilization, particularly at the site of the original nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, there has been far less media coverage for obvious reasons, of that other nuclear disaster, Fukushima, where as we reported last night, one year after giving up on its “ice wall” idea Tepco has renewed the strategy of encasing the radioactive sarcophagus in an ice wall.

It was not precisely clear why this time the idea is expected to work after it was nixed last summer.

What is clear is that something has to be done, because as renewed interest in the aftermath of the results of the 2011 disaster once again builds ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the public is realizing just how vast the Japanese wasteland truly is.

And capturing just that, is this eerie drone overflight of the Fukushima graveyard shown in the clip below:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Brazilian President Accuses Opposition of ‘Coup-Mongering’

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff accused the country’s political opposition of seeking to oust her government by “coup-mongering” and called on the citizens to jointly fight such “political intrigue,” local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Last week, an audit court ruled that Rouseff had illegally managed the 2014 budget, leading the opposition to urge Rousseff to bear responsibility for the crime, calling for her to be impeached.

“[There is] a relentless pursuit among the opposition to shorten their route to power. They want to jump, causing a blow… the artificiality of the arguments is absolute. The desire to undermine the smooth functioning of laws and institutions is obvious. They play shamelessly, the worse the better,” the Brazilian leader was quoted by the Brazilian Exame magazine as saying on Tuesday.

The president said that the opposition’s attempt to undermine the government is not simply targeted against her, but “against…what made Brazil a country without poverty.”

Rousseff has been facing rising discontent over the country’s struggling economy and a major corruption scandal in the state-owned energy corporation Petrobras. Rousseff headed the company for seven years, between 2003 and 2010, the period during which most of the corruption reportedly took place.

She was re-elected less than a year ago but her popularity ratings are currently at critical low, at levels unseen in the country since the early 1990s.

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have taken to the streets across the country in recent months, demanding that impeachment procedures be started against Rousseff.

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

Europe’s Migrant Crisis Grabs Limelight in Swiss Election

“We should be helping our own people before giving them handouts,” says Gianpaolo Ferrari, glancing towards the African men clustered around Chiasso’s main square.

The 58-year-old restaurant worker in this small southern Swiss town on the Italian border echoes sentiments held by many here and across Switzerland, where migrants and asylum policies top the concerns of voters ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

The populist, right-wing, anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party (SVP) looks set to strengthen its position as the country’s largest party, with the latest polls suggesting it enjoys nearly 28 percent support.

That would mark an increase on the 26.6 percent of the vote it won in 2011, and nearly reach its record high of 28.9 percent in 2007…

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

EU’s Tusk Warns Turkey to Cut Refugee Flow if it Wants Favors

European Council President Donald Tusk warned Turkey on Tuesday that it will only win concessions from the EU, such as easier travel visas, if it successfully reduces the flow of refugees reaching Europe.

In a letter to EU leaders setting the agenda for a summit he will chair in Brussels on Thursday, Tusk noted the start this month of negotiations on the migrant crisis with Turkey, which EU officials say wants more visa waivers, more EU funding and progress on its longstanding application to join the bloc.

“An agreement with Turkey makes sense if it effectively reduces the inflow of refugees,” Tusk wrote on the eve of a visit by senior European Commission officials to Ankara. “Concessions will only be justified when this goal is achieved.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Finland: Police Union Says More Resources Needed to Deal With Asylum Claims

Finnish police are struggling to deal with the number of asylum applications currently in the system, and their union say they need more resources to process all the claims. Asylum applications are currently running at levels eight times greater than last year.

The surge in the north is down to people from crisis countries using the Tornio route to cross from Sweden to Finland at the very end of a long journey to Europe. Many of the new arrivals are from Iraq and Somalia, and made Finland their destination as the country has treated Iraqi and Somali claims more favourably than neighbouring Sweden—an interpretation that is set to end after a review by the Immigration authorities.

Decisions on claims from those two countries are currently suspended pending the conclusion of the review of asylum guidance. That review has been the focus of protests by Iraqi asylum seekers.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

George Soros Faces Criticism in Native Hungary Over Refugee Stance

Billionaire George Soros has been slammed by politicians in his native country Hungary for his pro-illegal immigration stance during a historic refugee crisis in the region.

Soros, who was born in the country and lived there until his late teen years, has been vocal with his support to take in these asylum speakers and provide them with a head start in the form of $16,800 annually for two years. Soros wrote an op-ed in The Financial Times excoriating the European Union, which “failed to act collectively” and forced countries to take matters “into their own hands.”

“[Soros] keeps bombarding the international public with his earth-shattering plans, quite obviously, in the name of true selflessness which he has manifested in so many ways in the countries where his activities have resulted in sovereign default in the past 30 years,” Hungarian Minister János Lázár, who currently heads Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office, said at a press conference earlier this month.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

German School Kids Forced to Clean Up After Migrants

Parents in Germany are up in arms over a school project that requires their children to clean up the deluge of trash left behind by the wave of Muslim migrants pouring into the country.

With 1.5 million migrants set to arrive before the end of the year, children are being made to cook, clean and change beds at special asylum centers that are being set up throughout Germany.

A furious parent posted a letter she received from her child’s school outlining the details of the project.

“The Kiel Ministry of Education confirmed the letter was authentic. Already this week, as described above, the schoolchildren from a school in Lübeck had put fresh linen on the beds, sorted out clothing and helped out in the kitchen in an accommodation centre for refugees passing through,” reports Diversity Macht Frei. “This took place in the context of a project week intended to prepare the eighth-graders [age about 13-14] for practical work experience.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Lapland Ski Complex to Become Refugee Hub

More than 600 asylum seekers are set to move into the world’s most northerly ski resort as Sweden struggles to find enough temporary accommodation for record numbers of new arrivals.

Riksgränsen, which sits 200 kilometres above the Arctic Circle close to Sweden’s border with Norway, is set to welcome the refugees following a deal between the resort’s owner and the Swedish Migration Agency, Migrationsverket.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France Recognizes First ‘Gender Neutral’ Person

A court in central France has officially registered a person as being “gender neutral” rater than either male or female — the first ruling of its kind in France.

A 64-year-old born in the town of Tours can now claim to be the only person in France who is neither legally male or female, according to reports this week.

The person, who was born with a “rudimentary vagina”, a micropenis, and no testicles, was recognized by the High Court in Tours as being gender neutral in a ruling from August that was revealed this week.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Tension Mounts Between NCD and PD on Civil Unions Bill

Giovanardi, Roccella say ‘we feel free to vote no confidence’

(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — Tension rose to new heights on Wednesday between right-wing junior ruling coalition member in Parliament, the New Center Right (NCD) party, and Italian Premier Matteo Renzi’s ruling Democratic Party (PD), as the government’s civil unions bill, which NCD opposes, went to the Senate floor.

In a joint statement issued Wednesday, NCD MPs Eugenia Roccella and Carlo Giovanardi said they felt “free to vote no in a confidence vote, if it comes to that”.

“If PD decides to ignore its own allies, it has to be ready to accept the consequences,” the statement said.

The bill would give same-sex couples many of the same rights and responsibilities as straight married couples, including the right for one spouse in a civil union to adopt the other spouse’s children.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, who leads the NCD, has said he would wage a “loyal” battle against aspects of Renzi’s bill.

“Yes to the recognition of individual property and inheritance rights, no to adoptions,” he said.

Roccella and Giovanardi said, “With obstinance and arrogance PD decided today to hinge the civil unions bill on the Senate floor, eliminating the debate in committee and forcing procedure, despite our availability to find an agreement on timing, and the withdrawal of 80% of the amendments by NCD to avoid manipulative accusations of obstructionism. PD instead preferred to vote the calendar with 5 Star Movement (M5S) and Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) rather than seek mediation”.

They said the new text of the bill “introduces a marriage-like form between people of the same sex, and that with stepchild adoption opens the doors to uterus rental”.

NCD, part of the traditionally Catholic center right, sees the bill as a vehicle that would usher in the legalization of surrogate motherhood in Italy, which it opposes and which the Catholic Church condemns as a sin.

Giovanardi and Roccella also said Parliament isn’t autonomous from the government in this issue.

“We even witnessed a hunger strike, essentially undertaken against the government’s ally, by an undersecretary,” the statement said, referring to openly gay junior minister Ivan Scalfarotto who staged a hunger strike in July in support of the civil unions bill.

On Wednesday, the online version of “L’Occidentale”, which is aligned with NCD, declared on its front page that Renzi “is breaking away from NCD”.

“The time has come to go back to a dialectic on values, one of the few things that in a post-ideological age like today’s remain to define boundaries, identity and belonging,” said L’Occidentale.

“On the one side there are those who believe that a gay couple should be able to get married and have a baby, paying a woman to carry it in her womb and then giving it up, on the other side those who defend the natural family”.

“By tearing away on civil unions (a tear that PD made with that extra useless arrogance that weighs down relations), choosing another majority, Renzi’s Democratic Party shows that it’s a classic American-style ‘catch-all party’, that seeks votes in the centre when it goes to the polls but can’t aspire to represent the values of moderates, liberals, and conservatives,” the article said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Oxford University Gay Rights Activist Steps Down From Political Roles After Admitting Drunken Sex Without Consent at Student Conference

A leading feminist and gay rights activist at Oxford University has resigned from the students’ union after she admitted having sex with someone without their consent.

Annie Teriba, 20, a third-year history and politics student at Wadham College, has been involved in a series of Left-wing campaigns and previously accused other students of promoting ‘rape culture’.

However, she has quit a number of political and campaigning positions after admitting: ‘I become sexually entitled when I am drunk.’

In a self-flagellating open letter, which she posted online with a ‘trigger warning’, Miss Teriba said that she had had non-consensual sex at a National Union of Students conference for ethnic minority students, where she was elected the lesbian rights representative.

She wrote: ‘I failed to properly establish consent before every act. I apologise sincerely and profoundly for my actions. I should have taken sufficient steps to ensure that everything I did was consensual.

‘I should have been more attentive to the person’s body language. In failing to clarify that the person consented to our entire encounter, I have caused serious irreparable harm.’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini All Wanted Gun Control

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a FREE State, the Right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed (violated).

If we could ask President George Washington, “What was the purpose of this amendment?” He would tell us…

“A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.”

We would do well to heed George Washington’s warning, since governments, under the guise of gun control and the pretense of making their citizens “more safe,” have exterminated over 56 million of their own people in the recent 20th century.

One such leader was Joseph Stalin, who conspired, “If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.”

Ben Carson recently reminded Americans of one of Stalin’s equally wicked contemporaries Adolph Hitler, formulating the notion that guns may have stopped the Holocaust. Of course guns eventually did; unfortunately it had to be the guns of the Allied Powers after millions were murdered.

Carson elaborated, saying:

“I think the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed. There’s a reason these dictatorial people take the guns first.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

8 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/14/2015

  1. Soros wants an EU Dictatorship so that the European Central Bank can be re-organised to give it the kind of power the Fed has, which would enable Soros’ investments to be shored up against the Russians. He warned ominously, way back during the Greek crisis, that although he had failed to achieve the economic outcome he wanted for the Central Bank, ‘political crises’ would follow. It is not accidental that many of the invaders came into the EU already armed with Soros’ ‘W2EU’ (Welcome to Europe) guide!

    His plan is to overwhelm and destroy the will of the member nations by a people plague rather than the bubonic variety and install Brunhilde Merkel as the Nazi Diktat!

    My hope is that Putin will ferret him out. He stole big time from the Russians after 1989 and they have a long history of having a long arm with a bullet, dagger, pick-axe or radio-active phial clutched at the end of it!

  2. Soros must be mentally ill. He’s what, 100 years old? How much longer does he expect to live that he can enjoy the payoff of his strategies? I think he just hates all humanity (including his fellow Jews) and relishes the idea of being remembered as a great destroyer.

    • He actually admits to being a megalomaniac. Once Hillary gets the White House, he’ll be setting policy!

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