The Radisson Blu hotel in Brussels was put on lockdown today after a specific threat. Guests were instructed to remain in their rooms. The hotel in Mali that was recently attacked by jihadis was also a Radisson Blu, but there’s no indication that the jihad is singling out the Radisson chain for special attention.
In other news, the rate of migrant arrivals in Sweden has dropped by about a third since border controls were temporarily reintroduced. However, the onset of bad winter weather may also have contributed to the decline.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, DV, Insubria, Ivan Winters, JD, MC, Nidra Poller, RR, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Gold Dives Close to Six-Year Low
Gold sank Wednesday close to the lowest level in nearly six years, as the dollar rallied on prospects for a December interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.
The price of gold slumped in Asian trading hours to $1,063.55 per ounce, forging the lowest level since February 2010.
“Gold slumped to fresh lows … as expectations mounted around the Fed taking action to increase interest rates in the December meeting,” said FXTM analyst Lukman Otunuga…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Bank ABS Becomes First to Hit Savers With Negative Interest Rates
Alternative Bank Schweiz told customers they face a -0.125 per cent rate on their money from 2016 — and a -0.75 per cent rate on deposits above 100,000 Swiss francs.
[Comment: Customers should withraw ALL their money in cash from ABS. This is clearly a test run to see if convenience of electronic banking is worth the negative interest rate and see if the concept is palatable to customers. When people start leaving in droves banksters will change their minds quick. This negative interest rate (more looting) is the real reason why they want to eliminate cash. Then you will have no way to remove your money from their clutches unless you spend it.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chilling Video Shows Good Samaritan Escaping Death After Gunman Tries to Shoot Him in Head
Peter Gold, a fourth-year medical student at Tulane, was driving down a New Orleans street early Friday when he spotted a woman in distress.
It was 4 a.m. and the woman was being dragged into a car against her will by a man in a hooded sweatshirt, according to the Advocate.
Gold, 25, slammed on his brakes, hopped out of the car and rushed toward the woman. But by the time he reached her, she was lying on the sidewalk, according to the Advocate. Before he had a chance to call police, the man who had been dragging the woman stepped out of a light-colored sport utility vehicle and pointed a semi-automatic pistol at Gold, the paper reported.
As Gold raised his arms in surrender, his back facing a brick wall, the man pointed the gun at Gold’s head and demanded money, according to the Times-Picayune.
“The victim explained to the suspect, repeatedly, that he did not have any cash,” New Orleans police said in a news release. “The suspect became enraged and shot the victim once in the stomach and attempted to shoot him a second time, but the gun jammed.”
Wow, Tulane med student Peter Gold is a hero. Watch: https://t.co/OF8ANPTJiE Photo: Gold family via @AnastasiaElyseW pic.twitter.com/8fjmkJzCwM
— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) November 21, 2015
As Gold writhed in pain, the assailant attempted to shoot Gold in the head, glancing “furtively over his shoulder, shaking the malfunctioning weapon,” according to the Advocate.
Eventually, the gunman gave up, went back to his car and drove away, leaving his victim bleeding on the sidewalk. The entire heart-pounding incident was captured from above by a private security camera, according to police.
Gold survived the shooting and remains in “guarded condition” at University Medical Center, where he is expected to recover fully, according to the Advocate…
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Coca-Cola’s Five Darkest Secrets
The Coca-Cola soft drink became completely cocaine-free in 1929, but coca leaf extract is still used to this day as an active ingredient in the internationally popular soda. The ecgonine alkaloid, which gives cocaine its accelerating effect on the brain, is extracted from the coca leaf before processing.
The Stepan Corporation, a New Jersey-based chemical processing company, performs the extraction on the coca leaves. Stepan has an arrangement with the DEA and is the only group allowed to import the coca leaf into the United States. 175,000 kilograms of coca leaves are imported into the United States each year by Stepan. That is a street value equivalent to roughly $21 billion of cocaine, according to the United Nations.
So what happens to the actual cocaine processed by Stepan? It is hauled away from the facility in armored trucks and then sold to Mallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical company whose United States headquarters are based in St. Louis, Missouri. The coca leaf extract is referred to as Merchandise No. 5.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
FCC Sells American Airwaves to Arabs, Russians, Chinese
It’s the story our media doesn’t cover: foreign ownership and control of our Big Media. Remember when Al Gore made $100 million by selling current TV to the terrorist-supporting Middle Eastern dictatorship of Qatar? The result was another Al Jazeera spin-off in American homes via cable and satellite TV. Other owners of media properties are now looking at selling out to billionaire Arabs and Arab governments. The FCC is preparing to make it possible. Even the governments of Mexico and Russia could buy radio and TV stations through foreign cutout corporations. ASI TV producer and co-host Jerry Kenney talks about his column, Obama’s FCC Plans Sale of U.S. Media to Foreigners. Yes indeed, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to remove the barriers to broadcast station ownership by foreigners, a move that would enable American broadcasters to sell out to foreign interests, just like Gore did. The public must respond to what the FCC is planning to do by December 21.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
From Ocean to Ocean: Bernie Sanders Wants Russia to be Part of NATO
Relations between the United States and Russia would change dramatically if Bernie Sanders becomes the next US President, as the Democratic candidate wants Russia to be a part of NATO.
Sanders called for a radical shift in US foreign policy by creating what he called a “new NATO,” which would include Russia.
“We must work with our NATO partners, and expand our coalition to include Russia and members of the Arab League,” Sanders said Thursday during his speech at Georgetown University in Washington.
The Democratic presidential candidate added that the world needs a new military organization to effectively deal with all the security threats of the 21st Century, including the rise of violent extremism.
Sanders also lashed out on US allies in the Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, stating that they don’t contribute enough in the global fight against ISIL.
“All of this has got to change,” Sanders said. “Wealthy and powerful Muslim nations in the region can no longer sit on the sidelines and expect the United States to do their work for them.”
The United States and its Western allies created NATO in 1949 with the primary goal of containing what they thought was the Soviet Union’s growing regional expansion. The Soviet Union responded by joining with its Eastern European allies and forming the Warsaw Pact. NATO member states are supposed to defend each other’s security, based on Article 5 of the organization’s charter.
Currently, relations between Russia and NATO are far from being friendly, especially after the start of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014. Western states and Kiev accused Russia of involvement in the military conflict in eastern Ukraine and introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions. Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations.
NATO military reinforcement along Russia’s western border has also been souring relations between the alliance and Moscow, with Russian authorities saying it increases tensions and threatens regional and global security.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
I realized this morning, in the middle of my first cup of coffee, that I should be classified as a terrorist! I mean who knew?
Thinking back, Janet Napolitano accused veterans of being potential terrorists. I’m a veteran who spent two fun-filled years in Viet Nam, so the worthy Ms. Napolitano has declared me to be a terrorist.
Are you a member of the Tea Party (or even fellow traveler of those good folks)? When the answer is a resounding “Yes I am,” Janet labeled you, too, as a potential terrorist. That seems to be another Democrat “hate-bomb” tossed in my direction as well.
Does anyone reading this actually own a gun? You know, those scary looking instruments of murder and mayhem that appear to be able to move themselves from place to place and fire themselves at unsuspecting and absolutely innocent passersby? If so, welcome to the club of being terrorist wannabes.
Just to avoid charges of sexism, it should be noted that our Vice-President, Joe Biden, mentioned in passing the idea that Tea Partiers are “dangerous extremists”. Thanks Joe. Your mind, as always, is as sharp as a rubber mallet.
In March 2009 the story of the infamous Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) report, leaked by two concerned Missouri police officers, came to light. The report listed Ron Paul supporters, libertarians, people who display bumper stickers, people who own gold, or even people who fly a U.S. flag and equates them with radical race hate groups and terrorists. I would have to guess that America is a veritable hotbed of anti-government terrorists who are hiding in plain sight.
It certainly seems that all these “potential” terrorists appear to have one thing in common — the current government of the United States is really starting to annoy them. These ridiculous accusations of ordinary men and women from every state of the union seem to share one common trait — we all seem to view the government as being wrong.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Journalist Ben Swann Rips Apart Gun Control Idiocy in Stunning New Video
(NaturalNews) Many experts, pundits and constitutionalists in the past have made impassioned and historically accurate defenses of the Second Amendment, but a recent one by independent investigative journalist Ben Swann was particularly poignant.
In this recent episode of Reality Check, Swann correctly notes that the Second Amendment in these modern times has proven to be one of the most controversial, and there’s little question he’s right about that: Left-wing presidents and lawmakers for decades have attempted to control or limit individuals’ rights to access firearms, including the implementation of a Clinton-era 10-year ban on so-called “assault weapons” (which are really nothing more than semi-automatic rifles that resemble “scary” military models) that Congress and the Bush Administration allowed to sunset in 2004.
“Much of the root of [the] contention [over the Second Amendment] is an understanding of what the founders and the framers actually meant,” he begins. “What is the Second Amendment really about? You may not like it, but this is a reality check you won’t see anywhere else.”
He goes on to say that there are so many questions nowadays surrounding the Second Amendment, though most often the controversies surrounding the constitutionally recognized right to keep and bear arms is artificial — ginned up by tyrant wannabes who seek to control the American people with an iron fist.
Which, as Swann notes, gets to the crux of the issue.
Swann really nails it, historically and accurately. See the entire segment four-minute segment below:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Los Angeles Airport Plans Special Terminal for Rich and Famous
Los Angeles International Airport officials have approved opening a special terminal for the rich and famous to wait for their flights far from the paparazzi and riffraff.
The lounge, which was given the green light on Thursday, eclipses even the business class and first class areas available at major airports.
“I am very excited about this service for celebrity and VIP guests at LAX,” said Deborah Flint, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
A man arrested for disrupting a rally Wednesday night in Worcester, Massachusetts by leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison for a 2005 attempt to blow up a Marine Recruiting Center in Worcester.
[Comment: If you watch the video you see him do the raised fist clench — the traditional communist useful idiot salute.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Open Letter to State Legislators: The Other Side of the Article V Convention Issue
If there is an Article V convention, we will lose the Constitution we have, and another Constitution will be imposed.
You are not getting both sides of this issue. Throughout the Country, those of us who are warning of the dangers of an Article V convention are marginalized, ridiculed, smeared, shut out of meetings, and barred from speaking in public forums. THIS short essay from the Principled Policy Blog describes what we face every day.
THIS article is an account by Donny Harwood, a Citizen of Tennessee, describing how he was shut out of the public meeting which the Convention of States people held on October 19, 2015 at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. According to The Leaf-Chronicle, a number of Tennessee Legislators were at the meeting. A prominent Tennessee radio talk show host was also present.
And everyone at the meeting was prevented from hearing the other side of this issue.
The reason convention proponents forbid dissenting voices is that we prove, by means of Facts and original source documents, that the claims and promises of the convention proponents are false. HERE are some of the original source documents Legislators would hear about if they were presented with the other side of this issue.
We are in the final stage of a takeover. Leftists of every variety want a new Constitution to legalize our transformation from the constitutional Republic created by our existing Constitution to a dictatorship.
To get a new Constitution, they need a convention. So they are telling conservatives that our Constitution is causing our problems and we need to amend the Constitution. And they say we can only make the amendments they say we need at a convention…
National conventions are dangerous because the Delegates have the plenipotentiary power to impose a new Constitution with a new mode of ratification.
The Left has been pushing for a convention for 50 years — ever since the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations produced the Constitution for the Newstates of America. They need a convention to get it imposed.
Several other Constitutions are already prepared and waiting for a convention.
[…]
Our existing Constitution really was a 5,000 year miracle. We delegated only a handful of enumerated powers to the federal government — you can see what we delegated HERE. Our Constitution doesn’t need “fixing” — we need to restore the Constitution we already have.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Shocker: Avis Car Rental Bars Israeli Executive From Renting
Upper West Side clerk and manager defy company policy, decline Israel passport and license
On Saturday evening, Dov Bergwerk arrived at the Avis branch on West 76th Street and Broadway. Accompanied by his wife Ruth, the Bergwerks were planning to join friends for dinner in Westchester. Mr. Bergwerk, a senior vice president and general corporate counsel at the Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva, got out his driver’s license, reservation number and “Wizard” loyalty card — he’s rented from Avis dozens of times before — and anticipated the usual smooth transition into a nondescript mid-sized sedan.
That’s when the trouble started.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Southwest Plane Diverted as Passengers Act ‘Unruly’
(CNN)A Southwest Airlines flight from Indianapolis to Los Angeles was diverted to Kansas City on Sunday morning because of suspicious behavior by some passengers, according to Kansas City airport officials.
“We are characterizing (the behavior) as unruly,” airport spokesman Joe McBride told CNN in a statement.
Several passengers did not follow “crew instruction upon takeoff and continued to exhibit suspicious behavior inflight,” according to Southwest Airlines.
The passengers were taken off the plane and questioned by law enforcement, according to the FBI.
All other passengers deplaned as police dogs searched the plane as a safety measure, McBride said.
The passengers reboarded and Flight 5929 continued to Los Angeles.
After questioning, the three “unruly” passengers were rebooked on a later flight.
Their nationality has not been released.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
The Chickens of Communism Have Come Home to Roost
If people fail to understand the concept of Big Brother Government and the Welfare State, forgetting patriotism, cultural heritage, and history, all freedoms will vanish.
The chickens of intolerance and communist social justice have come home to roost on the American campus. Decades of Marxist indoctrination by the vaunted communist academia are finally paying off—our cultural heritage is replaced by cultural Marxism and primitive cultures that are deemed superior to ours and worshipped.
Academia has been blotting out the past and revising history for a while but with increased vengeance since Jimmy Carter founded the U.S. Department of Education on October 17, 1979. Our children’s education has depreciated considerably as evidenced by test scores and the quality of mis-educated youth in our country who can barely read or write a complete and coherent paragraph. But their fingers fly on Twitter in hashtags and 140 characters, staring constantly like robotic drones into illuminated smart devices.
The urban dictionary defines cultural Marxism as “The gradual process of destroying all traditions, languages, religions, individuality, government, family, law and order in order to re-assemble society in the future as a communist utopia. This utopia will have no notion of gender, traditions, morality, God or even family or the state.”
There is no shortage of Lenin’s “useful idiots” with brains addled by drugs and agitated by paid Alinsky-style community organizers. “Useful idiots” are easily manipulated individuals without a compass, without a country, with allegiance to global citizenship and Mother Gaia, humans ruled by emotion and devoid of rational thinking. They are used skillfully to implement cultural Marxism, to disseminate poisonous ideas, chaos, decadence, and worthless entertainment parading as art.
Spreading around the country, the Black Lives Matter, on the payroll of elitist billionaires who want to change society in their utopian global Marxism, have taken over campuses around the country making outrageous demands of administrators who shockingly acquiesced without a whimper or resigned with a golden parachute. The university, the bastion of freedom of speech and assembly, of tolerance, of diversity, caved like a house of cards to the demands of a few crazed lunatics, rusted 60s wheels squeaking the loudest the same worn-out communist drivel.
[Comment: Read it all and watch the video.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trans-Pacific Partnership — Wall-Mart is Hurting America
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a secretive, multinational trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement. The focus of this trade agreement is between the countries of US, Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, and Brunei Darussalam. The TPP also contains a chapter on intellectual property covering copyright, trademarks, and patents.
Dangers: 1) Intellectual Property Chapter: Leaked draft texts of the agreement show that the IP chapter would have extensive negative ramifications for users’ freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples’ abilities to innovate.
(2) Lack of Transparency: The entire process has shut out multi-stakeholder participation and is shrouded in secrecy.
This country does not need any more trade agreements especially those that will move more jobs out of the country. But the TPP goes further than just trade agreements raising significant concerns about citizens’ freedom of expression, due process, innovation, the future of the Internet’s global infrastructure, and the right of sovereign nations to develop policies and laws that best meet their domestic priorities. In sum, the TPP puts at risk some of the most fundamental rights that enable access to knowledge for the world’s citizens.
Recently Elizabeth Warren has come out swinging against Obama (she is not one of my favorites but she is right on this issue) on the TPP deal. The whole deal itself has been treated like the largest national security agreement to ever hit our shores. But it is NOT a national security agreement, but it IS the largest secret in recent years. We haven’t heard details about it because even most of the elected Congress doesn’t know what is in it. We aren’t even sure the President knows, just that he is agreeing with the corporations pushing for it…
This massive deal is not about increasing trade that would benefit or help American workers in any way. It is not about making things better or easier for you or me. These deals aim to MAXIMIZE CORPORATE PROFITS and RUIN THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE. It is COLLECTIVISM versus INDIVIDUALISM.
This massive deal is actually not about trade. It’s about 14 things we’ve been able to learn about and trade is the smallest piece of it.
One strong hint is buried in the fine print of the closely guarded draft. Take the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provision in which corporations can sue government if they pass laws that affect their bottom line. The suit is then resolved not by a court of law, but by an external body. Agreeing to ISDS in this enormous new treaty would tilt the playing field in the United States further in favor of big multinational corporations. Worse, it would undermine U.S. sovereignty.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Calls for the Return of Waterboarding by US
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump called Sunday for the return of waterboarding, a near-drowning interrogation technique widely denounced as torture, saying it was “peanuts” compared to what Islamic State is doing.
It was the latest in a series of inflammatory Trump responses to the threat of terrorism in the wake of the Paris attacks that appear to have bolstered his poll numbers.
A new Washington Post/ABC News national poll showed Trump leading the Republican presidential field with 32 percent, a 10 point lead over his nearest rival, Ben Carson…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Congresswoman Introduces Bill to Stop “Illegal” War on Assad; Says CIA Ops Must Stop
Last month, US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard went on CNN and laid bare Washington’s Syria strategy.
In a remarkably candid interview with Wolf Blitzer, Gabbard calls Washington’s effort to oust Assad “counterproductive” and “illegal” before taking it a step further and accusing the CIA of arming the very same terrorists who The White House insists are “sworn enemies.”
In short, Gabbard all but tells the American public that the government is lying to them and may end up inadvertently starting “World War III.”
For those who missed it, here’s the clip:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vast Majority of ISIL-Linked Terrorist Suspects Charged in US Are Americans
As politicians and pundits scramble to stoke fears of refugees following the devastating attacks in Paris last week, the truth is 81% of Islamic State-linked suspects charged in the United States have been US-born citizens, and none have been from Syria.
So far, there have been 68 people indicted for their alleged involvement with the terror organization: 55 of them were US citizens, and 44 were born in the United States, research published by the Center on National Security at Fordham University revealed.
While the majority were born in the US, six were born in Bosnia, four in Uzbekistan, three in Somalia, and two in Sudan. None were from Syria.
The report noted that the average age for those charged is 26, and approximately a third are under 21. Ten of those indicted are female.
Karen Greenberg, the center’s director, called the fear mongering about refugees the US has seen over the last week misguided, and noted that the majority of refugees are grateful to be treated kindly.
“They are young, they are spread over a wide geography, they are impervious to profiling in many ways,” Greenberg told the Guardian.
As many have pointed out since the attacks on the French capital that left 130 people dead, the majority of mass killings in the United States have been committed by white American males with absolutely no ties to IS whatsoever.
Attacks like the ones in Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Tucson, Charleston and Roseburg were all committed by white male protestants.
On Thursday, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio told WAKR radio that “Since the beginning of the Bush administration when we were attacked, September 11th, we’ve not had any major terrorist attacks in this country. We’ve had individual crazy people [who] look more like me than they look like Middle Easterners. They are generally white males, who have shot up people in movie theaters and schools. Those are terrorist attacks, they’re just different kinds of terrorists.”
And yet, conservative politicians, pundits, and social media commentators refuse to acknowledge that the real threat to the safety of Americans looks just like them, may come from their own places of worship, and have access to weapons of mass destruction thanks to ineffective gun control laws in the US.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Why a Vote for Carson is a Vote for Rubio
Wasserman shows why the GOP always nominates a more moderate president than the Republicans it sends to Congress. The system is rigged. The GOP’s distribution of presidential delegates gives more weight to voters in the blue states than to voters in the red states.
Under RNC’s delegate geography, an average vote in a blue state gets twice as many delegates as an average vote in a red state. In the extreme, a GOP vote cast in the bluest part of the Bronx is worth 43 times as many delegates as the reddest part of Alabama.
As you would expect, GOP voters in blue states vote for more moderate presidential candidates while GOP voters in red states vote for more conservative presidential candidates.
Since blue state votes get twice as many delegates per vote as the red state votes, the GOP bias favors moderate candidates over conservative candidates by 2 to 1.
Rubio will very likely get the moderate 1/3 of GOP votes. Carson and Cruz will compete for the conservative 1/3 of GOP votes. It does not matter whether Cruz or Carson wins these votes. The total of their votes will not be more than the total votes for Rubio. The GOP 2 to 1 delegate bias will nominate Rubio over either Cruz or Carson.
Bottom line: Neither Cruz nor Carson can beat Rubio
The only candidate who can beat Rubio is Trump because Trump draws support from Rubio’s moderate base as well as from independents and conservative Democrats.
To understand this, we must understand the demographics of the Republican Party.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why Outsiders Are Polling Stronger Than Republican Elites
This election cycle we are seeing two outsiders, ones that have not been involved in the political arena before, taking center stage in the election process. The Republican elites are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to bring them down. I guess that the elites have forgotten that we have a representative government and we elect people that we want to represent us. The Republican elite want us to elect people they want us to elect and they get upset if we don’t cow-tow to their demands.
It is obvious that the Republican elite want Jeb Bush as the candidate and it is obvious that the people don’t want Jeb Bush. It isn’t hard to figure it out. Jeb Bush represents the established Republicans, who have done nothing to help the American people when given the opportunity specifically in the 2014 election. The establishment Republicans cried to us that if we gave them a bigger majority in the House and a majority in the Senate they would stop Obama’s amnesty program and slow him down in other areas. We gave them what they asked for and Obama’s amnesty went through both houses like greased lightning. Nothing has been slowed. His spending continues. He is still decimating our military. He won’t do anything about terror groups, he won’t even call them terror groups! With this kind of performance is it any wonder why the American people get excited about a candidate that talks about the issues the American people are concerned about?
When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President the first thing he brought up was the illegal immigration problem. No other candidate wanted to talk about it but the American people know that it is a major problem. He has stated that the Syrians coming here now should not come because there is no way to vet them. He also stated that he would send them back.[1] He was lambasted for making that statement but what we are seeing in France today makes that a pretty good plan. The majority of Congress in both Houses have been saying for years that we have a ‘broken immigration system’. We don’t have a broken immigration system, we have an immigration system that authorities will not enforce! That is the only reason it isn’t working.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Yellowstone Set to Kill 1 in 5 Bison This Winter
Yellowstone National Park, home to one of the largest wild bison herds remaining on Earth, is considering killing some 1,000 animals this winter.
According to the national park’s officials, they have no other recourse but to deliver around 20% of the park’s bison to Native American tribes for slaughter.
That’s because winter annually drives the animals beyond the park’s boundaries to the southwest of Montana, where they may infect cattle herds with brucellosis, a bacterial disease that can cause pregnant animals to miscarry their young.
In 2000, the US federal government signed a pact with Montana, and that controversial agreement obliges Yellowstone to conduct yearly bison culling in order to control their numbers.
This summer Yellowstone estimated there to be about 4,900 bison on its territory, which significantly exceeds the park’s target bison population of 3,000. That’s taking into account that hundreds of bison are been killed each year. In the hopes of reducing the population’s reproductive rate, officials have proposed slaughtering mostly females and calves this time.
Federal, state and tribal officials managing the bison deliberated to move on Thursday, but the final decision hasn’t been announced yet.
“No formal decision has been made, but the park proposal is for 1,000 fewer bison,” Yellowstone spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said, according to Reuters.
300 of those doomed are expected to be killed this winter by hunters, including from tribes that have treaty rights in the Yellowstone area. Others will be captured and killed or used for research.
“Through the legal agreement, the National Park Service has to do this,” a Yellowstone spokeswoman explained. “If there was more tolerance north of the park in Montana for wildlife, particularly bison… to travel outside the park boundaries, it wouldn’t be an issue.”
Not everyone in Montana, however, supports the culling.
“Killing these buffalo is shameful,” said Jimmy St. Goddard, a spiritual leader of the local Blackfeet Tribe.
He added that the plan reminded him of the time when similar extermination campaigns pushed bison to the edge of extinction. At the turn of the 20th century, there were only about two dozen bison in Yellowstone park. Conservation efforts and augmentation from private herds replenished the animal’s numbers.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Canada Sued Over Genetically Modified Salmon Calamity
In a sneaky plan to get around regulatory approval, one US-based company tried to ship genetically modified salmon eggs to Prince Edward Island in Canada, which were then meant to be sent to Panama to be used in what activists are calling a ‘huge, live experiment’ which could have permanently damaged non-GM salmon. The Canadian government will have to answer for its part in the scheme in a lawsuit mounted by environmental groups.
GM salmon were created by altering their growth rates through gene splicing of Chinook salmon DNA — growth hormones. If you can recall, the ‘success’ of bovine growth hormones, also promoted as completely safe by the biotech industry, later made cow’s utters swell and become infected.
Environmentalists will present their case in Canada’s federal court on Tuesday to argue that there is a real risk of mixing between the GM salmon and wild fish. Furthermore, they attest that the Canadian government was wrong to approve the production of the eggs on Prince Edward Island.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
52% Italians Don’t Feel Safe Against Terror — Poll
More than 8 out of 10 wd swap freedom for security
(ANSA) — Rome, November 20 — Some 52% of Italians don’t feel safe from terror attacks while 47% are not afraid according to an Ixé poll for RaiTre, State TV’s third channel, released on Friday.
More than eight out of 10 Italians would gladly give up some of their individual freedom for greater security, the poll showed.
Some 25% are in favour of closing borders, 18% would like to be more closely controlled and 16% would like to see special laws introduced — while 25% are for all these measures together.
Some 14% said personal freedom is sacred and cannot be sacrificed in the name of security.
Another poll found 56% were not afraid of Islam and 51% saying a moderate Islam existed.
A third poll found 50% of Italians against war against terror.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Brussels Radisson Blu Hotel in Lockdown
Guests at the Radisson Blu in Brussels have been told to stay inside as the hotel goes into lockdown.
Armed soldiers have been pictured outside the building this evening.
Guest have been asked not to leave the hotel for their own safety, according to reports by local media.
A spokesperson for the hotel told DeMorgen: ‘There is no imminent threat, but we want our guests to keep as safe as possible.’
The surrounding area appears to have been evacuated…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
by Nidra Poller
Paris 20-21 November 2015
Friday: Steady cold rain is falling as the truth starts to sink in. Rain extinguishes the memorial candles and flattens the bouquets in front of the grieving restaurants and the horrified Bataclan and piled in terraces around the Marianne at Place de la République. The streets of Paris are forlorn, the boutiques are empty, there’s no line waiting for a seat at the falafel joints, Christmas merchandise lies on the shelves, dumbstruck.
There was a brief moment of satisfaction at the news that the “mastermind” of last week’s attacks was indeed dead several times over and beyond recognition after the 7-hour siege of his last hideout. DNA or some other tracer was matched to some shreds or drippings of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, junior Daesh executive in charge of planning jihad attacks in France and the Benelux countries. The so-called mastermind was caught by CCTV at the Croix de Chavaux métro station in Montreuil last Friday night at around 10 PM. The black Seat used by the easy riders who had finished executing people on restaurant and café terraces had been abandoned less than two blocks away. And the Big Chief ducked into the metro and jumped the turnstile. Punk!
I coined the term “punk jihadis” in November of 2005 when the banlieues went on a three-week torching spree. The pretext back then was the death of two youths running from the police; the boys took refuge in an electric power station, and got electrocuted. Last Friday night punk jihadis killed 130 people in Paris, to punish them for being depraved Crusaders who listen to music, eat, drink, and make merry…
…for tomorrow we shall die? The truth sinks in and you assimilate it. In the immediate aftermath people light memorial candles…to forget the dread that has befallen them. They leave bouquets of flowers, hand scrawled notes, ribbons and flags and badges and other signs of life that will not die. After checking to make sure immediate family members are alive and intact, Parisians enlarged the scope and quickly touched the grief of bereaved friends and acquaintances. The media publish unbearable photos and accounts of first responders and survivors. The savagery screams in your ears like the sirens that wailed all night long…
| — Hat tip: Nidra Poller | [Return to headlines] |
British Cinemas Refuse to Screen Lord’s Prayer to Avoid Giving Offense
The 60 second slot features a range of people, including a farmer, a weightlifter, gospel singers, children, and the Archbishop of Canterbury reciting the Lord’s Prayer. It is designed to promote the Church’s new website Just Pray, which promotes the practice and power of prayer, the BBC has reported.
The Church hoped to reach a wide audience, some of whom may not have encountered Christianity before, by screening the advert before the new Star Wars film.
One of the people who feature in the advert is Ian McDowall, a former bouncer and a weightlifter who was moved to found a Christian charity, Tough Talk, after finding his faith.
He said: “I don’t think people know a lot about Christianity these days anyway, and the opportunity to share the Lord’s Prayer in a cinema environment would make people think — and realise that Christians come in all shapes and sizes.”
The advert was passed uncut by the British Board of Film Classification, which gave it a “U” certificate, meaning that it is suitable for all ages. The Cinema Advertising Authority also granted it clearance for distribution.
But the Digital Cinema Media (DCM) agency, which handles cinema advertising for three of Britain’s largest chains, Odeon, Vue and Cineworld, have refused to pick up the advert, as it didn’t want to risk upsetting or offending non-Christians.
In a statement, DCM said it has a policy of not accepting political or religious advertising in its cinemas.
| — Hat tip: Ivan Winters | [Return to headlines] |
Crowdfunding in Italy Generates 56.8 Mln Euros in 2015
Docufilm, restoration project, Sardinia flood victims benefit
(ANSA) — Rome, November 18 — Crowdfunding initiatives in Italy have generated 56.8 million euros since the start of the year, a study released on Wednesday said. This is an 85% rise over the whole of 2014, when the practice of funding a project or venture usually of a social or civic nature through mass donations generated 30.6 million euros, according to Crowdfunding in Italy. 2015 Report: statistics, platforms and trends. “We can begin to talk about a Crowd Economy because this phenomenon is becoming increasingly common and with rather typically Italian characteristics,” research coordinator Ivana Pais of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore said. “While for example in other countries donations are made by credit card and Paypal in Italy bank transfers are still frequently used,” she explained.
“Furthermore, alongside contributions made through digital platforms, here events that have a physical visibility for example with street collections still work well.” Crowdfunding in Italy can count on some 82 internet-mediated registries offering potential funders a range of options from charity fundraising involving a simple donation to rewards-based crowdfunding involving the pre-sale of a service or product. Other less common options for giving include equity crowdfunding and debt-based or peer-to-peer crowdfunding. Examples of successful crowdfunding projects in Italy include production of the documentary film ‘Io sto con la sposa’ by Antonio Augugliaro, Gabriele Del Grande and Khaled Soliman Al Nassir, presented at the Venice film festival in 2014; restoration of the 3,796m-long San Luca portico in Bologna; and ‘E’ l’ora della solidarietà’ to raise money for victims of flooding in Sardinia.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
German Department Store Boycotts Israeli Products
KaDeWe in Berlin removes Israeli products from its shelves following EU decision to label Israeli products.[…]
[Now where have we seen this before? — Heil Merkel!]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
German Department Store Insists No Boycott of Israel
Facing accusations of anti-Semitism, the German department store KaDeWe rushed to explain on Sunday its decision to remove Israeli products from its shelves.
“KaDeWe offers an international assortment and we are very proud of it,” the store wrote in a Facebook statement. “Of course our assortment contains many products from Israel.”
“As part of periodic inspections in the store, some products are taken off the shelves for a short period of time. After completing the tests we return the products to the shelves immediately,” KaDeWe continued, in an apparent bid to distance itself from charges of a boycott against Israel.
“Unfortunately these facts were mislead in some media. We deeply regret this,” it added. KaDeWe stands for cosmopolitanism and internationality. We reject any form of discrimination and intolerance.”
Following a report in Der Spiegel that KaDeWe had removed the Israeli products, Israelis and Jews living in Germany, as well as worldwide Israel supporters lashed out at the store. […]
[So KaDeWe, which other country’s products have you done this to, or do special rules apply to Israel (and Jews by implication)?]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
German Luxury Store Brings Back Israeli Wine After Uproar
Berlin luxury department store KaDeWe said Sunday that it would resume selling Israeli wines it had pulled from its shelves over new EU labelling guidelines for products from Jewish settlements.
The decision to stop carrying the wines, reported Friday in the German media, had sparked fury in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasting a “boycott” by the German company.
But in a quick about-face, the store’s management said it regretted the decision to pull the eight wines from its selection and would begin offering them again “immediately”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Plans to Start Expansion of Nuclear Plant in 2018
Construction of two reactors by Russia Rosatom with Russian loan
(ANSA-AP) — BUDAPEST, Hungary — The Hungarian official in charge of expanding the country’s only nuclear power plant says the construction of two new reactors should start in 2018.
Attila Aszodi said Tuesday the new reactors are expected to begin supplying electricity in 2025 and 2026.
The expansion of the Soviet-built plant in the city of Paks will be completed by Russia’s state-owned Rosatom and is being financed mostly with a Russian loan of 10 billion euros ($10.7 billion).
Aszodi said the five reactors in Paks currently provide 36 percent of Hungary’s electricity supply but have to be shut down between 2032 and 2037. On their own, the new reactors would boost the plant’s output by nearly 20 percent.
Critics say the project is too expensive and draws funding away from renewable energy sources.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Center Right to Rally in Rome February 7
Repeat of Bologna event
(ANSA) — Rome, November 18 — The centre right will rally in Rome February 7, sources said after a meeting in the capital Wednesday between Northern League leader Matteo Salvini, Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi and Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) leader Giorgio Meloni.
The rally will be a repeat of a recent anti-government event in Bologna at which the three leaders vowed to run together in local elections next spring and general elections by 2018.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Over 15,000 Civil Servants Reassigned as Provinces Scrapped
Most transferred, some to take early retirement, 1,957 laid off
(ANSA) — Rome, November 20 — The civil ministry said Friday over 15,000 provincial employees are to be reassigned or otherwise phased out as part of a government measure to scrap provinces altogether. Of these, 5,575 staff will be reassigned to regional posts, over 5,000 will be transferred to the labor ministry, 2,889 will take early retirement, and 1,957 are to be laid off.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Leaks Journalist Defies Summons to Vatican ‘Inquisition’
Gianluigi Nuzzi, one of two Italian journalists facing a criminal probe over leaks from the Vatican, said Monday he would defy a summons to be interrogated by Holy See prosecutors.
Under the hashtag #Noinquisition, Nuzzi said on his website that he had decided not to appear as requested on Tuesday because Vatican law did not guarantee his right to publish news in the public interest while protecting his sources.
ADVERTISING”Revealing secret news (in the Vatican) does not earn a medal, as happens for the free press in the entire democratic world, instead it is always, and in every case, a crime,” Nuzzi wrote…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The French Army was last night protecting water facilities around Paris amid fears of a chemical attack by Islamic State terrorists.
Scientists were carrying out tests on the city’s water supply after equipment used to guard against chemical products, including protective suits, was stolen from a Paris hospital…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Six British Men Arrested in Belgium Amid ‘Imminent’ Terror Threat
Six Pakistani born British men were arrested in Belgium after being spotted in ‘old ambulances’ (pictured) near a petrol station used by Paris terrorist Salah Abdeslam, it was reported.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Paris Attacks: More Than Meets the Eye
ISIS is composed of mostly radicalized Saudi Arabian Sunni Muslims. The goal is to dispose of President Assad’s government in Syria as a stepping stone to conquering both Syria and Iran, thus turning those Shia Muslim nations into Sunni Muslim nations. The result of which means Saudi Arabia’s King Salman will become the de facto king of the entire Middle East. It would also mean that King Salman (already the richest man in the world) would single-handedly control the oil of the entire Middle East. And as everyone should already know, King Salman is in the harlot’s bed with virtually the entire western banking and petroleum worlds.
The refugee crisis is a tool of globalists to destabilize the West and help usher in a global Police State. Again, the goal is a global economic system. The Federal Reserve has taken the U.S. and European economies to the brink of collapse. The only thing that globalists can do to circumvent this inevitable collapse is create global panic, global war, and a global Police State. A Europe and America invaded with angry Muslims is just the antidote.
Please understand that the vast majority of refugees are NOT terrorists. They are persecuted Muslims and Christians (and others) who are literally fleeing for their lives. But there is no question that CIA-backed Sunni terrorists have infiltrated these refugees.
[…]
But there is another element to the Paris attacks: remember that France — and most of Europe — is a giant gun-free zone. Think about it: a handful of armed terrorists sent tens of thousands of French males into panic like kitty cats in a thunderstorm. European governments (except for Switzerland) have successfully stolen the manhood from the male citizens of that continent. The Natural instinct of men is to FIGHT for their families, their friends, and their communities. But for more than a half-century, socialist governments have indoctrinated men to believe that they must depend on government to protect their families, friends, and communities. Men are not allowed to defend themselves. They are stripped, not only of the means of self-defense, but of the mindset of self-defense. They are like a thousand Wildebeests running away from a half-dozen lions. And that’s exactly what globalists want to see happen in the United States. And in many respects, it has ALREADY happened in the United States…
At about the same time that a disarmed Paris was being turned into a bloodbath, the Greensboro, North Carolina, Police Department was teaming up with Destiny Christian Center to ask residents to sign a “Pledge of Non-Violence” and to turn in their guns. Once again, we find American police agencies and state churches (via their 501c3 non-profit organization status) teaming up to try and disarm the American citizenry. No doubt, the pastor of this so-called church quoted Romans 13 to justify this Hitlerian conduct.
Here is the report: Greensboro Police Asks Residents To Sign Pledge, Turn In Guns
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New York Times, Monday, Nov. 16, 2015: “BRUSSELS — The French authorities have concluded that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year-old Belgian man who has fought in Syria for the Islamic State, was the mastermind of the Paris terrorist attacks.”
Franco-Belgian yet cosmopolitan in culture, Abaaoud’s great-grandfather, Anselmus Aaster, opened the first chocolate shop on the Rue des Bouchers, Brussels. Abaaoud claimed to be a distant relation of the 17th-century Baroque artist, Philippe de Champaigne, who painted Cardinal Richelieu eleven times …
Give me a break, New York Times. The Paris terrorists were 100 percent Middle Eastern, although most were born in Muslim ghettos in Europe.
After 50 years of the most backward, dysfunctional cultures pouring into the civilized world, the media are forced to blatantly lie to us whenever immigrants attack: This has nothing to do with refugees! Ismail Omar Mostefai is “a Frenchman.”…
Why should we act as if our cultures are better than those that haven’t made advanced scientific discoveries, such as that women are human beings? That would be “xenophobic”! Successful countries must allow themselves to be overrun by backward cultures so that no country thinks it’s better than another.
This psychosis runs so deep that even a father who was with his 12-year-old son at the Bataclan theater during the attack refused to notice anything distinctive about the shooters. Asked to describe one assailant’s face on CNN, the man replied, “He looked like a young fellow.”
He was young! Fantastic — bring the police sketch artist!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Moroccan Law Bans Plastic Sacks
Every citizen currently uses 900 per year
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, NOVEMBER 19 — The Moroccan parliament has unanimously voted to outlaw plastic sacks beginning in July 2016. The law prohibits the production, importation, sale and use of plastic shopping sacks. Transgressors will have to pay heavy fines, totaling as much as 100,000 euros for producers. The promoter of the law, Trade Minister Mohammed Abdou, called it a “collective realization” of the damage wrought by plastic sacks. Every Moroccan uses 900 per year. Disposing of them causes extremely bad effects on the environment and human health, and waste management is virtually non-existent in Morocco. Abandoned sacks end up in open-air rubbish dumps, and they are caught up in branches and thrown about fields by the slightest wind. They are known as the ‘flowers of the Sahel’, but the consequences of the ‘flowers’ include a high percentage of animals that die suffocated by them, lessened fertility of fields and drainage pipes blockages.
The new law introduces a number of regulations for producers and distributors of thermal sacks, black rubbish sacks and industrial and agricultural plastic packaging. The regulations will come into force in 2016. Meanwhile, the government will promote initiatives to raise awareness on alternatives and to help plastic sack producers shift to other types of activities. The market for biodegradable sacks — which entered Morocco through French distributors in 2010 — has thus become rosier.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Seeks to Strip Citizenship of Those Who Join IS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he is seeking to have Arab Israelis stripped of their citizenship for joining the Islamic State group to fight in the Syrian conflict.
Last week, Israeli police said six Arab Israelis were arrested on suspicion of planning to travel to Syria to join IS in a case sparked by a man’s paraglider journey.
On October 24, a 23-year-old entered Syria illegally on a paraglider from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, prompting an investigation by Israeli security forces…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Assad Says Syria Troops Advancing Thanks to Russia Strikes
Syrian government troops are advancing on “nearly every front” thanks to Russian air strikes that began in September, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Chinese television released Sunday.
The embattled president also said he favoured new peace talks to be hosted in Moscow, but stressed that the Syrian conflict could not be resolved with “defeating terrorism”.
In the interview with China’s Phoenix television, Assad said the situation in Syria had “improved in a very good way” since Russia began air strikes on September 30…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Friend in Need: Russia is Becoming ‘Indispensable Global Power’
The Paris massacre of November 13 marked a watershed moment in terms of how American and European leaders view Russia and its role in fighting ISIL — Moscow is increasingly seen as an indispensable ally in what is the greatest challenge all nations have to meet.
Gone are the times when the US president could refer to Russia as a “regional power.”
“Syrian peace talks in Vienna put Russia front and center as an indispensable global power,” Berlin-based journalist Lucian Kim noted. “Now, with a settlement for Syria more pressing than ever, Obama has no choice but to take Putin seriously.”
Some sings suggest that the US and Russia are on the way to reestablishing normal relations. The Russian president and his US counterpart met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Turkey. US defense and intelligence agencies “also started talking with their Russian counterparts,” the reporter added in an opinion piece for Slate.
Should this be the case, the next logical step would be to create a truly global coalition tasked with defeating a ruthless common enemy.
An anti-ISIL coalition, which would include the US, Russia and other major stakeholders, is “an immediate imperative,” Ingo Mannteufel wrote for Deutsche Welle. “French President François Hollande and his US counterpart Barack Obama seem to be thinking along these lines.”
Hollande has been a vocal supporter of joint anti-ISIL efforts since the brutal group carried out a series of deadly attacks in Paris last week. Next week, the French leader will travel to Washington and Moscow to push for a broad coalition. But cooperation, albeit limited at the moment, is already a reality.
Earlier this week, France and Russia agreed to coordinate military activities of their naval forces in the Mediterranean, which could signal the beginning of larger counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries, who recently suffered devastating ISIL attacks.
In late October, the brutal group blew up a Russian passenger jet over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. Earlier this week, Russian authorities confirmed that the crash was an act of terrorism. Putin pledged to punish those responsible for the atrocity.
In addition, France sent a clear signal to the US that the Elysée wants more vigorous military engagement in Syria. There are limits to what airstrikes can achieve. Winning a war requires sending ground forces, French envoy to the US Gérard Araud told MSNBC.
“The ambassador’s words signal Hollande’s deep dissatisfaction with President Obama’s Syria strategy. This interview hints, too, at a broader strategic consequence of the Paris attacks: After witnessing the American president’s ludicrous reaction to the atrocity, France is sidestepping Obama on the Islamic State. And it’s not just France,” Tom Rogan wrote for the National Review.
Despite repeated calls for more foreign troops on the ground in Syria, many experts say that the fighting force capable of standing up against ISIL is already there. Indeed, Damascus-led forces were able to mount an offensive in key provinces as soon as they received aerial assistance from Russia and are gradually taking areas previously seized by militants under control.
In addition, the European Union seems to be warming up to Russia. The EU Commission wants to promote cooperation with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union. In addition, the EU Parliament invited two senior Russian MPs, Aleksey Pushkov and Konstantin Kosachev, as well as a Kremlin advisor, Mikhail Fedotov, to a hearing.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
“…there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist Principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran).”
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it as many times as it takes for the naive, largely aloof American public to catch on: the quote excerpted above isthe smoking gun when it comes to Washington’s ISIS “strategy.”…
Importantly, you don’t have to believe alien corpses are stored at Roswell to grasp what’s going on here. That is, the declassified documents and leaked diplomatic cables clearly indicate that the US planned to play on the Sunni/Shiite divide in Syria and subsequently acquiesced to the establishment of a hardline, Salafist dominion because the CIA and The Pentagon knew that such an outcome was the worst nightmare for the government in Damascus and also for Shiite Iran, whose link to Hezbollah would be cut and whose influence in Iraq would be in jeopardy if a Saudi-backed, Sunni militant group could somehow manage to take and hold large swaths of territory.
That’s it. That’s the whole ISIS story in a nutshell. There’s no need to speculate on whether the creepy guy lurking in the background of the photos John McCain took with Syrian fighters was in fact Bakr al-Baghdadi. There’s no need to suggest that CIA operatives are on the ground assisting ISIS as we speak or that the US is paradropping weapons to Islamic State in Iraq. And there’s no need to ask whether the US government directly trained and armed ISIS once it became clear who the group was and what they intended to do. That’s not to say that some or even all of those storylines aren’t compelling and/or worth pursuing. It’s just to say that you needn’t posit anything that even looks like it might be a conspiracy theory to understand that at the end of the day, the bottom line — the almost irrefutable truth — is that the US and its regional allies were all-in on the “use Sunni extremists to bring about regime change in Syria” strategy from the word “go”, and the direct result of that strategy is ISIS.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Renews Its Call on Canadian Muslims to Kill Disbelievers in Canada
The Islamic State, also known as IS or ISIS, sent once again a threatening message to Canada. In its monthly online magazine Dabiq published on November 18, ISIS urges Canadian Muslims to join the jihad by indiscriminately killing disbelievers. The following are the relevant excerpts from Dabiq magazine:…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
MP Humoud Al-Hamdan filed an inquiry to the Minister of Education Dr Bader Al-Essa over a visit by US soldiers who took part in Kuwait’s liberation war to a secondary school for girls on November 2. The lawmaker questioned why a girls’ school was specifically chosen for the visit instead of a boys’ school.
| — Hat tip: RR | [Return to headlines] |
Some 760 German Citizens Joined Militants Fighting in Syria, Iraq
According to Germany’s interior minister, 760 of the country’s citizens have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State or terror groups.
BERLIN (Sputnik) — Around 760 German nationals have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside militant groups there, including the violent Islamic State (IS), Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said.
“As of now, 760 people, one-fifth of whom are women, have gone to Syria and Iraq to take part in military action alongside IS or other terror groups, or assist them in other ways,” de Maiziere told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
Of those, around 120 have died, the minister added. German security agencies are monitoring around 70 IS-linked jihadists that came back to Germany. Many of them are facing prison terms.
De Maiziere added the vast majority of Germans fighting in Syria and Iraq were men in their 20s who were raised in Germany and had German or double citizenship.
Germany has been providing logistical assistance to the US-led international coalition bombing IS positions in Syria and Iraq. But 48 percent of Germans now support the country’s active military involvement, according to the latest YouGov poll.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Christian Town Becomes Frontline With IS
On the outskirts of the Syrian Christian town of Sadad, children play in front of a cannon fired just hours ago in an ongoing battle against the Islamic State group.
Soldiers and pro-regime militiamen nearby look on with amusement at the children, who appear oblivious to the fact that their ancient town is now in the sights of the jihadist group.
Sadad is majority Syriac Orthodox Christian, and it is believed to be the same town referred to as Zedad in the Old Testament’s “Book of Kings”.
Its ancient churches have been caught in the crossfire before, with regime and rebel forces battling for control of the town in October 2013…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Media Shows Footage of Russian Airstrikes Passed Off as American
PBS NewsHour, a daily US television news program shown on the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), used footage of Russian airstrikes against ISIL targets, claiming that they were US airstrikes, an Information Clearing House article revealed.
Earlier this week, the US government said it would intensify anti-ISIL airstrikes and bomb the terrorist organization’s oil infrastructure, which is ISIL’s primary source of income.
After that, on November 16, the US military said it destroyed 116 trucks carrying illegal oil in ISIL-controlled territories.
“On Monday, 295 trucks were in the area, and more than a third of them were destroyed, United States officials said. The A-10s dropped two dozen 500-pound bombs and conducted strafing runs with 30-millimeter Gatling guns. The AC-130s attacked with 30-millimeter Gatling guns and 105-millimeter cannons,” the New York Times colorfully described the US military operation that allegedly took place on November 16.
Well, it sure sounded like a major anti-ISIL operation in the wake of the Paris attacks. But so far, these are just claims, not backed by any evidence.
Two days later, on November 18, the Russian Air Force destroyed 500 oil trucks that had been illegally transporting oil from ISIS-controlled territories.
Unlike the US Air Force, which didn’t provide any video evidence from their alleged operation, the Russian Defense Ministry promptly released videos of what exactly happened to terrorists and how the operation unfolded.
On November 19, PBS NewsHour ran a program on ISIL and “showed” how their oil trucks were destroyed by US airstrikes.
It’s all fine and dandy, but the US public broadcaster used the footage of Russian airstrikes, passing them off as US airstrikes, without revealing the true source.
“For the first time the US is attacking oil delivery trucks,” the voice-over said between 2:30 — 2:35, while showing a clip of exactly the same video published by the Russian Defense Ministry the day before.
The PBS program neither mentioned the Russian military operation nor revealed the source of the footage.
What the US channel did was just outright lying, because millions of viewers would certainly think the video footage showing the explosions of oil trucks was from US airstrikes about which the New York Times ran an article on Monday.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Military May Have ‘Cooked’ ISIL Intel, Exaggerating Own Success
Whistleblowers accused the US military of manipulating intelligence data on its operations against ISIL and the Taliban, prompting an investigation regarding the assessments.
The US military may have manipulated intelligence reports to create a more positive picture of its campaigns in Afghanistan, as well as against ISIL, according to recent reports.
Many of the concerns appear to be coming from intelligence officials inside the Defense Department, including Gregory Hooker, who resigned after blowing the whistle on the reports. The apparent manipulation has drawn parallels to the 2003 Iraq War, in which both intelligence and press reports were often manipulated or falsified to justify the US invasion.
“A lot of the analysts at Centcom feel the high command has been sugarcoating their assessments,” former senior intelligence official Gregory Hooker told Foreign Policy.
Many of the documents investigated are classified and some are said to have been destroyed before being forwarded to investigators. According to Hooker, the manipulations may have been made to such an extent that they even crossed a customary boundary between the military and intelligence agencies.
The cited manipulations included labeling Iraqi army retreats as “redeployments,” according to the New York Times. The Iraqi army suffered considerable blows in 2014, when it lost Mosul, the country’s third-biggest city, in just six days.
Rebelling analysts said that the military assessments glossed over important factors in ISIL’s rise, such as political and religious divisions in Iraqi society.
Afghanistan ‘Success’ Questioned
One of the probes launched focuses on the manipulation of US military successes in Afghanistan. Although the US military has maintained that its campaign has been successful, the Taliban has managed to launch major offensives in recent months, including the takeover of the regional capital of Kunduz.
According to a former US military intelligence chief on Afghanistan, the military manipulated reports to “sugarcoat” conclusions regarding the situation.
“If you have an assessment that undermines the commander’s objectives, that’s not going to go well for that [Joint Staff intelligence director],” the analyst told FP.
The Obama administration has denied that the conflict is a result of considerable manipulation by military chiefs. The Obama and other officials have however previously said that they were surprised by ISIL’s rapid rise.
Chasing Russia?
The investigation may also undermine statistics released by the US Defense Department on its campaign against ISIL. The US military began publishing infographics detailing its successes against ISIL after Russia began a major airstrike operation against the group in Syria after a request by the country’ government.
The US military initially responded with warnings against the Russian operation against ISIL in Syria, although the two bodies now have a direct line to coordinate their operations.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Where things get very interesting is what the Navy Times says next:
ISIS is not the only challenge that awaits the flotilla, which includes the cruiser Anzio, Carrier Wing Air 7, and destroyers Bulkeley, Gravely and Gonzalez. Russian, Chinese and Iranian marines have established their presence in Syria, and Russian warships from the Black Sea have relocated to the eastern Mediterranean to protect fighter jets conducting airstrikes in support of Syria’s Assad regime. In preparation, the strike group’s Composite Training Unit Exercise focused on adversaries that more closely resembled those of the Cold War.
Russians and Iranians we knew about, but Chinese? Does the US Navy know something that has not been made public previously?
[Comment: Banksters and their puppet politicians seek to trigger WWIII.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Crimea Without Power After Pylons ‘Blown Up’
A state of emergency has been declared in Crimea after pylons carrying electricity from Ukraine were blown up, cutting off power to almost two million people, media and the Russian government said on Sunday.
The Russian Energy Ministry didn’t say what had caused the outages, but Russian media reported that two pylons in the Kherson region of Ukraine north of Crimea had been blown up by Ukrainian nationalists.
The attack, if by Ukrainian nationalists opposed to Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year, is likely to further increase tensions between Russia and Ukraine…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
CyberBerkut Group Claims Kiev in Talks on Supplying Missiles to Qatar
A group of hackers referring to themselves as CyberBerkut said Saturday, citing alleged documents of the Ukrainian Ukroboronprom state defense conglomerate, that the company’s employees were in talks over supplies of the Pechora-2D missile systems to Qatar.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier media reports claimed that an extremist cell suspected of financing and arming ISIL terrorist group was purchasing arms in Ukraine. Kiev denied the reports, claiming it did not have weapons the media had listed.
According to the documents leaked by CyberBerkut, the Qatar’s Defense Ministry was looking for a supplier of missile systems in September.
The group also claims that Qatari officials were in talks with Ukroboronprom over supplies of S-125-2D Pechora-2D (NATO reporting name SA-3 Goa) in September at an international arms exhibition in Kiev.
There have been no official comments on the issue, and the documents uploaded by the hackers have not been verified.
CyberBerkut is a Ukrainian hacktivist group. The hackers have repeatedly targeted the websites of the Ukrainian government throughout 2014 as a reaction to the ongoing armed conflict in the country’s southeast.
The Pechora-2D is a surface-to-air missile system used to target aircraft and cruise missiles on low and medium altitudes.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Expects Prepayment for Gas Deliveries From Ukraine
Moscow is waiting for a prepayment from Kiev for its winter-time natural gas deliveries.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow is yet to receive a prepayment from Kiev for its winter-time natural gas deliveries to Ukraine, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Saturday.
“We have not received any money yet, the last tranche came in on November 5,” Novak told reporters.
This is not the first time that Kiev falls behind on gas payments to Russia. Its state gas company Gazprom estimates that Ukraine’s energy major Naftogaz owes it $256.5 million in arrears for gas delivered to southeastern Ukraine for 2015, according to the company’s financial report published last week.
Moscow renewed gas deliveries to Ukraine after receiving $234 million in prepayment out of the agreed $500 from Naftogaz.
In September, Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission initiated a winter package deal for supplies during the peak consumption period between October 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016. It will ensure the delivery of 2 billion cubic meters of gas to Ukraine’s underground storage at discounted prices.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Central Asian Recruiters and Jihadis Detained, Convicted and Sentenced
Central Asian governments try to counter radicalisation among young Muslims. Russian sources estimate that 3,000 Central Asians have joined the ranks of the Islamic State. Recruiters “accompany” extremist to Turkey. Young Tajik man is convicted for calls of Holy War against non-Muslims.
Bishkek (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Authorities in some Central Asian nations have taken steps to contain the spread of Islamic terrorism. In southern Kyrgyzstan, a 19-year-old man was detained on suspicion of recruiting fighters for the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and Iraq. In Uzbekistan, the Supreme Court convicted a 23-year-old Uzbek for fighting with Jihadis in Syria. In Russia, a Tajik man was sentenced to three years in prison for “terrorist propaganda”.
Sergei Smirnov, the first deputy director of Russia’s Federal Security Service, estimates that some 3,000 Central Asians are fighting in Syria and Iraq, 500 from Kyrgyzstan alone. Russian Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika said that citizens of a hundred countries are fighting for the Caliphate.
In the case of Kyrgyzstan, local authorities have been hard pressed to counter the flow of young people trying to reach Syria and Iraq in order to fight with Islamic extremists.
In some cases, recruiters “accompany” young would-be fighters to Turkey, the main point of entry for those who want to join extremist groups, which is what happened with to the young man who was arrested by Kyrgyz authorities.
Recruiters also rely heavily on the Internet to lure young people. This is the case of 20-year-old Shahboz Azimov, a Tajik convicted in Russia for placing materials on the Internet calling on Muslims in Russia to launch jihad in Iraq and Syria.
Azimov is not the first Tajik recruiter in Russia. In recent months, Russian authorities arrested one of his compatriots in Moscow for delivering young people to destination, some of whom did not fully realise the implications of what they were doing.
More broadly, all Central Asian governments are reacting to the threat of Islamic terrorism by banning, for example women from wearing headscarves and men from growing beards long, by preventing people under the age of 35 from making the pilgrimage to Makkah, and by boosting border controls with risk countries like Afghanistan.
Kyrgyz authorities have also decided to subject imams to religious exams to test their real knowledge of sharia. The goal is to prevent “poorly educated” Muslim clerics from spreading radical ideas among young people.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: Survivor of Kandhamal Pogrom: I Lost Everything Except Jesus
The heartbreaking story of Kanaka Rekha Nayaka the National Eucharistic Congress. In the massacres of 2008 was a direct witness of the martyrdom of her husband, dragged by a chain around his neck and beheaded by extremists for refusing to convert to Hinduism. The assailants, who were arrested after the pogroms, are now back into the wild.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — The Church in India “is a vibrant and active Church, and Popr Francis loves her”, said Card. Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, during the Mass that closed the National Eucharistic Congress in Mumbai. Thousands of faithful attended the Mass, the conlcusion of a week of testimonies by bishops and faithful from across the country. Among these Kanaka Rekha Nayaka, who survived the anti-Christian pogrom of 2008.
After her moving testimony, the woman was blessed by the three cardinals (Card. Gracias, Card. Toppo and Card. Cleemis). Her story moved the Archbishop of Mumbai: “Testimonials like this reinforce our faith and show that Christ is with us. The Cross is inextricable from the life of every Christian”. Here is the text read by Kanaka.
I am Kanaka Rekha Nayak, the wife of late Parikhita Nayak. I have two children. It was on 25th August 2008, around 1 p.m. I was with my two children at home. Suddenly a mob of 400 people entered my village with anti Christian slogans. Hearing the noise I run to the forest with my children. I could see the house burning smoke from far. I was worried about my husband. My husband had gone to the other street. The rioters encircled the house where my husband was hiding. They were carrying lathis, axes, knives and guns. They killed two of my husband’s friend. My husband pushed them and ran for his life to the forest.
I could not return to my home as the rioters had burned down my house. Spending whole night in the forest I came the following day to my mother’s house Raikia through forest. I met my husband there and as the place was not safe for us, we went through jungle to go to the nearby town. As we were going through the forest, my daughter felt thirst and cried for water. As we came down to the roadside looking for water the rioters caught my husband. Immediately about 100 people armed with swords, axes and local made guns surrounded us. With abusive language they shouted at us. They took my husband to the nearby temple and tied his hand at the pole. There, they beat him thoroughly and forced him to confess to become Christians. My husband said you may kill me but I will not become hindu. I fell down at their feet and requested them to save him but they would not listen. With cycle chain around his neck they dragged my husband about one kilometer and cut his legs and then his neck and then burnt him. I run with my two children to the nearby police station Raikia and informed the matter. The police came but by that time the rioters had fled. After burning my husband they had buried him there. We got the body and then after post mortam I gave burial to my husband. I knew who had killed my husband. Afterwards they were taken to jail. After seven years in jail now they are released. I am scared to go to my village. They threaten me. I have lost my husband, my home and properties but I have not lost my faith. Jesus is my Saviour.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Uneasy Calm in Pakistani City After Weekend of Sectarian Violence
Officials in a Pakistani city hit by sectarian riots called a meeting of religious clerics Sunday to defuse tensions as scores of Ahmadi Muslims reportedly fled after a weekend of violence.
The unrest began Friday when an angry mob in the eastern city of Jhelum torched a factory after one of its employees, a member of the persecuted Ahmadi sect, was accused of committing blasphemy by burning pages of the Koran.
On Saturday, protesters ransacked an Ahmadi mosque in the congested Kala Gujran area of the city and set fire to some Ahmadi homes…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Links Australian Submarine Bid to Regional Security
Japan’s defence minister urged Australia Sunday to award a huge submarine contract to his country, saying such a deal would help bolster regional security.
Australia has put out to tender a project worth up to Aus$50 billion (US$36 billion) to replace its current diesel and electric-powered Collins Class submarines.
France and Germany are also in the running with Japan to secure the order, with a November 30 deadline to submit final proposals.
Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said picking Tokyo could help ensure maritime security in the Asia-Pacific, alluding to the importance of regional allies such as the US, Japan and Australia working together in the face of China’s growing military might…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said that President Barack Obama “aided and abetted” radical Islamic terrorists by refusing to sell arms to the Nigerians under the Leahy Act, citing human rights allegations.
“Blanket application” of the Leahy Act because of “unproven allegations of human rights violations levelledagainst our forces” denied the country “access to appropriate strategic weapons to prosecute the war,” Buhari said in a speech at the United Institute for Peace.
As the original manufacturer of the helicopters, the United States had veto power, which it used.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Colombia Probing Syrian Islamist Who Traveled to Paris
Migration police escort a Syrian woman after she was detained in San Jose.
BOGOTA: Colombia is investigating a Syrian woman with ties to radical Islam, who traveled to Paris ahead of the attacks on a stolen Israeli passport, sources at the state prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
Seham Al Salkhadi left ahead of Friday’s attacks on a direct flight from Bogota to the French capital’s Charles de Gaulle airport, traveling under the name of Ashira Krieger, the sources said.
Al Salkhadi is suspected of paying off customs officials at the El Dorado international airport in Bogota to be able to travel using a stolen passport, which had been tampered with to modify some details.
She was briefly detained upon her arrival in Paris but was released after a few hours.
“The prosecutor’s services are working together with French authorities to establish her relationship with Islamist groups, but there is no proof that she is linked to the Paris attacks,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The official said the prosecutor was investigating the case in relation to a wider probe into corruption by airport officials, who have been letting criminals travel with forged documents.
Five officials with the Colombian migration services are facing charges in connection with the scandal which broke in September…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
A Christian Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis
“It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.”— Ronald Reagan
What was President Obama’s immediate and instinctive response to this month’s Islamic terror attacks in Paris? Did he offer prayers for the families of the slaughtered and vow to wipe out the global cancer that is Islamic Jihad? Did he pledge to come alongside France and work with our wounded European ally until every last Islamic State barbarian is wiped from the face of the earth?
No, America’s eunuch-in-chief preened like a petty peacock, mocking and berating the very Americans he’s sworn to protect and serve. He stated — vomiting the word “Christians” with sanctimonious disgust — that there will be no “religious litmus test” on Syrian refugees, while hypocritically employing a religious litmus test of his own that favors Muslims over Christians by a rate of 97 to 3 percent.
Indeed, during his post-Paris rant, this Oval Office dhimmi promised business as usual, doubling down on his failed policy of containment and appeasement, and inexplicably swearing to aid and abet our enemies by rapidly increasing his importation of Shariah-compliant Islamic refugees. As even his top security advisers warn, these refugees are marbled through with Muslim terrorist infiltrators hell-bent on doing to you and your family what they did to the people of France.
Yet the court jester continues to juggle.
To be sure, some of the Paris terrorists posed as Syrian refugees, and ISIS has pledged to do the same thing here. The question is not “if” but “when” more Americans will die as a result of Obama’s Pollyannaish response to the threat of Islam. He is either catastrophically naïve, or something far more sinister. At best, Barack Hussein Obama is weak and dangerously obtuse. At worst, he is an enemy within.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Political Fairy Tale Gone Bad: Merkel’s Stately Aura Fades
The appeal of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is fading and she will face tough times ahead, according to the German news network Deutsche Welle.
The German news network Deutsche Welle believes that Chancellor Angela Merkel, once the most influential politician in Europe and even the world, will soon face tough times as her popularity ratings plummet and her “political fairy tale” comes to a close.
According to the Deutsche Welle, Merkel’s reputation was based on her wait-and-see tactics, which helped her take important decisions only after the approval of the majority had been guaranteed.
Deutsche Welle specifically drew attention to Merkel’s vague and sophisticated remarks, adding at the same time that the German Chancellor’s political course was boring but reassuring.
“However, all this changed after millions of migrants arrived in Germany,” Deutsche Welle pointed out.
It added that Merkel’s ability to freeze conflicts and postpone the solution to problems turned out to be irrelevant when she was faced with the migration crisis.
Merkel was widely known for being able to learn lessons from others’ mistakes, but this time she herself made a mistake, according to Deutsche Welle.
The news network believes that the writing is already on the wall and Merkel must decide on the future of millions of refugees in Germany as soon as possible.
If she fails to do so, she will almost certain be asked to resign and Germany will hold snap elections, Deutsche Welle claimed.
Merkel had previously signaled her readiness to run for the post of chancellor in 2017 — statements that she made long before the country’s so-called “open doors” policy enticed migrants to come to Germany, Deutsche Welle concluded.
According to a Nov. 20 article in Reuters, over 900,000 migrants have been registered in Germany this year, according to the Bavarian Interior Ministry. This figure that is already higher than the number of children born in the country last year (714,966), and the number of deaths (868,373), according to the state statistics office.
The total number of births in both West and East Germany peaked in 1964 at 1.4 million, and deaths have exceeded births since 1972, according to Reuters.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Critics of Europe’s Open Borders Are ‘Exploiting Suffering of Paris’, Says Jean-Claude Juncker
Terrorists were able to sneak into Europe posing as Syrian refugees but the European Commission president said he would fight to stop countries putting back up the walls of Europe.
[Comment: This repugnant toad wants to win the Kalergi award for doing the most to advance the EUSSR. (award named after Richard Coudenhove Kalergi to advanced a plan to extinguish national ethic groups by mass migration.)]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
President Barack Hussein promised that he would be sending thousands of Syrian refugees to the US. Well, he is keeping that promise!
The first transport of refugees arrived in New Orleans recently and will be resettled in Louisiana and 180 other American communities. See the list below to find a town close to you.
So, it costs $16,000 a copy to resettle these Islamists into the United States. What the hell, we can afford it, right? NOT! We are rapidly approaching $20 trillion in federal debt. Stop the bleeding!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In the First Majority-Muslim U.S. City, Residents Tense About Its Future
HAMTRAMCK, MICH. — Karen Majewski was in such high demand in her vintage shop on a recent Saturday afternoon that a store employee threw up her hands when yet another visitor came in to chat. Everyone wanted to talk to the mayor about the big political news.
Earlier this month, the blue-collar city that has been home to Polish Catholic immigrants and their descendents for more than a century became what demographers think is the first jurisdiction in the nation to elect a majority-Muslim council.
It’s the second tipping for Hamtramck (pronounced Ham-tram-ik), which in 2013 earned the distinction becoming of what appears to be the first majority-Muslim city in the United States following the arrival of thousands of immigrants from Yemen, Bangladesh and Bosnia over a decade.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Macedonia Warns of ‘Security Risk’ Over Migrant Bottleneck
Macedonia warned Sunday of the risk of incidents on its border with Greece where hundreds of migrants are stuck after new restrictions were imposed limiting passage to those fleeing conflict zones.
Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said the checkpoint at the country’s Gevgelija crossing had “become a bottleneck for migrants and refugees” where “security risks are increasing”.
Ivanov said there was a “high risk” of incidents between refugees and economic migrants, as well as between migrants and police and the local population.
More than 1,000 so-called economic migrants — mainly people from Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh — were blocked at the border crossing on Saturday…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Berated Over Refugee Policy by Bavarian Ally
German Chancellor Angela Merkel came under fire on Friday for her welcoming refugee policy from her powerful Bavarian coalition ally, who demanded she cap arrivals “in the national interest”.
Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer berated Merkel’s open-door policy as the chancellor stood on stage beside him at a Munich congress attended by some 1,000 members of his conservative CSU party.
“We want control and order, but we also want a limit — in the national interest,” said Seehofer, whose state bordering Austria has become Germany’s main gateway for people fleeing wars in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
“I can only tell you that we will be talking about this again, and I hope that we will come to an understanding,” Seehofer said before his party faithful, as a visibly uncomfortable Merkel stood beside him, staring at the floor…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Flow Into Sweden Drops After Border Checks Brought Back
The number of new migrant arrivals in Sweden has dropped by a third since it reinstated border controls earlier this month, the country’s migration agency said Saturday.
“The number of (new) asylum seekers has decreased from 1,500 a day to some 900 since border controls were reintroduced” on November 12, the Swedish Migration Agency said in a statement.
Worsening weather conditions may have also contributed to the decline, it added…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) Obviously, not every Republican voter is enamored with the candidacy of billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, but the one issue where he is soaring above his fellow GOP presidential contenders is immigration and, in particular, illegal immigration, as the mainstream media is finally realizing.
During the Nov. 10 GOP debate on Fox Business Channel, Trump doubled down on the issue, claiming that, if he becomes president, he’ll move to deport the estimated 12 million to 15 million people currently residing illegally in the United States, as the audience roared in approval.
Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is doing everything it can to accommodate them.
As reported by Breitbart News, the administration recently released an updated welcome guide for new immigrants — illegal and otherwise — that detailed all the “free” (taxpayer-funded) goodies they were eligible to apply for, including food stamps, various welfare programs and, of course, Obamacare.
‘Come in — take as much as you want’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
States Can Guard Against Fed-Sponsored Refugees
Listening to so many talking heads unequivocally stating that the federal government can fly, bus or sail refugees into the country and unload them in any state is somewhat disingenuous. Yes, the administration can load up planes and boats with refugees overseas and bring them to our shores, but where they are landed at federal ports of entry is where their jurisdiction ends. The federal agencies have no power outside of their domains to force states to accept and settle refugees, particularly if the security of the state’s population is endangered. Again, Title 8 is distinct in stating that the feds must “cooperate” with the states.1
Every governor, state official and law enforcement officer is sworn to defend the people of that state against foreign and domestic threat.
The president and federal officials also take such an oath and, yet, in this circumstance, where it has been incontrovertibly demonstrated that among the refugees fleeing the Middle East nations, they are operating in, what is termed in the insurance industry, bad faith. It could be argued that the administration and any elected or appointed officeholder pursuing the forced resettlement of foreign nationals that could pose a threat to the American People, have abrogated their duty and even placed America in evident peril. The latter point could be construed as hostile action against Americans by those officials sworn to serve and protect Americans.
What is it called when Americans take-up arms or abet harm against their own people? And forcing the settlement of probable enemies within unsuspecting neighborhoods, does that not also come under the same category? The words don’t even require spelling out as anyone with common sense understands the implications of the foregoing. (Admittedly, common sense is no longer common having been educated out of the general populace.)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘I Do: I Do: I Do: ‘ Brazilian Female Trio Get Hitched
Three’s a crowd? Not in Brazil, where three women have defied deeply conservative trends in Congress and wider traditional mores by celebrating a polyamorous civil union.
The happy trio, who reportedly have shared a bed for years and say they want to raise a child, took an oath of love in early October in the presence of Rio de Janeiro notary public Fernanda de Freitas Leitao.
“This union is not just symbolic,” because it defines “how they intend to have children,” attorney Leitao said.
The lovers — a businesswomen and a dentist who are both 32 and a 34-year-old office manager — have been together for three years and wish to remain anonymous. Despite salacious media speculation about their supposed love life, they are in fact shy, their lawyer said…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
United Nations Plans Require Biometric Identification and Birth Registration for All Humans on Earth
Now, as reported by Michael Snyder at Blacklisted News, the UN wants to essentially microchip everyone on the planet so that global elitist “managers” can track us all 24/7/365 by 2030, which is when the elitists undoubtedly believe they will have sufficiently pacified the populace.
Snyder drew in part upon a previous post of his at The Economic Collapse Blog where he discussed 17 new “Global Goals” adopted by UN representatives in late September.
Among those goals is this nugget: “By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.” [See it here and click on item 16, then view the drop-down menu].
“The United Nations is already working hard toward the implementation of this goal — particularly among refugee populations,” Snyder writes. “The UN has partnered with Accenture to implement a biometric identification system that reports information ‘back to a central database in Geneva.’“
Snyder referenced a piece posted at Find Biometrics, a “global identity management” firm, which states:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is moving forward with its plans to use biometric technology to identify and track refugees, and has selected a vendor for the project. Accenture, an international technology services provider, has won out in the competitive tendering process and will oversee the implementation of the technology in a three-year contract.
Snyder points out that according to additional information published by Find Biometrics, the technology will be utilized by the UN to eventually encompass every man, woman and child on the planet — not just refugees.
He also notes that none of the language being used by the planetary masterminds is selected at random. We are referred referred to by the UN and many governments as “global citizens”; our economies are becoming more and more integrated (hence the new Trans-Pacific Partnership — the latest effort to advance economic “globalization”); and the tnternet has created global interconnectivity.
Even worse, Americans — the most “independent” of all people — are going along with it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is it over? Is Europe heading for perdition? Is it its doomsday brought on early by its traitors?
This is Why?
The day after Paris Massacre, the The enlightened and reasonable, renaissanced, brothered and liberated, of the Fifth Republic’s very Secular People rushed to muslima jihadi bookstores, like whirlwind and started to buy and read digest and internalize all it is written about islam, the Pirate and the jihads, old and new.
That’s what happened in USA after 9/11. $2 billion was “donated” to the cause of jihad through buying books to “learn” about islam and those wonderful muslim invaders. The result: Peaceful religion misunderstood by others. Therefore invaders were imported by millions after 9-11- 2001. Because after reading all the books and learned about islam, they blamed their own ignorance for not knowing about islam for 14 centuries.
Do we need books to learn about the achievements of islam. We all know they are excellent artists: They used red color and corpses to decorate hotel lobbies and hall floors with a new style of impressionism. Only understood by the traitor class.
Some Hotel tells me to stay in my room because their is a THREAT of attack to the hotel, NOT an actual attack.
BABY, I would be out the door and finding a way out of the city! Hide at the sewage treatment plant if necessary. GOOD grief!
NO WAY would I stay in my room waiting like scared chicken to get shot!
Revelation….