A 12-year-old migrant boy in a Swedish asylum center was repeatedly raped by two full-grown men who had lied about their age — they said they were 15 — and were assigned to share a room with the unfortunate boy. Grown “refugee” men who pretend to be children are becoming increasingly common in Europe, since children get better benefits and are less likely to be deported than adult migrants.
In other news, the Italian birth rate in 2015 was the lowest annual rate that has been recorded since the unification of Italy in 1861.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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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.
The US Economy Has Not Recovered and Will Not Recover
The American “New Economy” is the American Third World economy
The US economy died when middle class jobs were offshored and when the financial system was deregulated.
Jobs offshoring benefitted Wall Street, corporate executives, and shareholders, because lower labor and compliance costs resulted in higher profits. These profits flowed through to shareholders in the form of capital gains and to executives in the form of “performance bonuses.” Wall Street benefitted from the bull market generated by higher profits.
However, jobs offshoring also offshored US GDP and consumer purchasing power. Despite promises of a “New Economy” and better jobs, the replacement jobs have been increasingly part-time, lowly-paid jobs in domestic services, such as retail clerks, waitresses and bartenders.
The offshoring of US manufacturing and professional service jobs to Asia stopped the growth of consumer demand in the US, decimated the middle class, and left insufficient employment for college graduates to be able to service their student loans. The ladders of upward mobility that had made the United States an “opportunity society” were taken down in the interest of higher short-term profits.
Without growth in consumer incomes to drive the economy, the Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan substituted the growth in consumer debt to take the place of the missing growth in consumer income. Under the Greenspan regime, Americans’ stagnant and declining incomes were augmented with the ability to spend on credit. One source of this credit was the rise in housing prices that the Federal Reserves low interest rate policy made possible. Consumers could refinance their now higher-valued home at lower interest rates and take out the “equity” and spend it.
The debt expansion, tied heavily to housing mortgages, came to a halt when the fraud perpetrated by a deregulated financial system crashed the real estate and stock markets. The bailout of the guilty imposed further costs on the very people that the guilty had victimized.
Under Fed chairman Bernanke the economy was kept going with Quantitative Easing, a massive increase in the money supply in order to bail out the “banks too big to fail.” Liquidity supplied by the Federal Reserve found its way into stock and bond prices and made those invested in these financial instruments richer. Corporate executives helped to boost the stock market by using the companies’ profits and by taking out loans in order to buy back the companies’ stocks, thus further expanding debt.
Those few benefitting from inflated financial asset prices produced by Quantitative Easing and buy-backs are a much smaller percentage of the population than was affected by the Greenspan consumer credit expansion. A relatively few rich people are an insufficient number to drive the economy.
The Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy was designed to support the balance sheets of the mega-banks and denied Americans interest income on their savings. This policy decreased the incomes of retirees and forced the elderly to reduce their consumption and/or draw down their savings more rapidly, leaving no safety net for heirs.
Using the smoke and mirrors of under-reported inflation and unemployment, the US government kept alive the appearance of economic recovery. Foreigners fooled by the deception continue to support the US dollar by holding US financial instruments.
[Comment: Read it all. Planned economic collapse and looting of the America economy — perpetrated by bankster owned Federal Reserve — which is not Federal and has no reserve. The idea that a nation has to go into debt to private banksters in order to create the nations currency is the greatest scam in the world.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In 2014 a new Federal law made it possible for pension funds to cut benefits for their recipients. Much to the protest of pensioners, the government and numerous unions supporting the change cited pension plans that were in imminent danger of collapse, saying that the only way to save the funds was to cut benefits to potentially millions of recipients. Six months later, the U.S. Supreme Court took things a step further when they opined that the government has the right to fully seize 401(k) and pension funds that were being poorly managed.
Of course, most Americans were either not paying attention or completely ignored the ramifications of the new rules set forth by their government because, well, anyone who talks about the potential for a collapse of pension funds or the economy is, as President Barack Obama so eloquently noted in his recent State of the Union Speech, “peddling fiction.”
Except in October of last year the canary in the coal mine fell over and died when Illinois announced that the State was posting pension payments because it ran out of money.
Fast forward a few more months and things have been taken to the next level. The Central State pension fund in Kansas became the first such fund to take advantage of the 2014 law as 400,000 Americans who depend on their monthly pension income to pay for such things as their mortgage, groceries and medical expenses saw an average of $1,400 per month sliced of their monthly benefits.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Short History of Climatism in Google Ngrams
Here’s a summary of my findings:
1. The alarmists first declared “scientific consensus” in 1988, and have been digging their heels in, persecuting skeptics, and constantly suppressing scientific inquiry since then, just as Richard Lindzen reported in 1992. They have been repeating their mantras and persecuting all other viewpoints.
2. The term “climate change denial” entered the language in 2004 suddenly and without identifiable real-world cause. This is consistent with the existence of a centralized (like Sovinform) or semi-centralized (like al-Qaeda) body, which determines the party line and issues marching orders to writers and activists. Of course, a single phrase does not prove this, but there is multiple other evidence to that effect.
3. As the alleged “scientific consensus” has grown in the last 30 years, the national consensus has declined.
4. Before global warming hysteria, there was a global cooling hysteria.
5. “Greenhouse gases” is an Orwellian Newspeak phrase, popularized by the alarmists to confuse the public, and thus does not belong in the English language. Infrared absorbing gases might be better. On the other hand, the greenhouse effect is an old scientific term, which became misinterpreted by people who are familiar with neither agriculture nor science.
6. An even worse offender is the term “carbon pollution,” which seems silly rambling at first sight, but acquires a very ominous meaning when used by the Obama administration with John Holdren as science czar.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Bee-Pocaclypse Called Off, Bees Doing OK, Global Warming Was Never a Cause
It’s only slightly less ridiculous than the other bee killing theory that year — cell phones.
I published a story about the loony idea that was proposed by some researcher in Europe about “cell phone radiation may be killing bees”. I pointed out that it was garbage then, as it is now…
As you can see, the number of honeybee colonies has actually risen since 2006, from 2.4 million to 2.7 million in 2014, according to data tracked by the USDA. The 2014 numbers, which came out earlier this year, show that the number of managed colonies — that is, commercial honey-producing bee colonies managed by human beekeepers — is now the highest it’s been in 20 years.
So if CCD is wiping out close to a third of all honeybee colonies a year, how are their numbers rising? One word: Beekeepers.
A 2012 working paper by Randal R. Tucker and Walter N. Thurman, a pair of agricultural economists, explains that seasonal die-offs have always been a part of beekeeping: they report that before CCD, American beekeepers would typically lose 14 percent of their colonies a year, on average.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Black Lives Matter Activist-Professor Threatens Ben Shapiro and Conservative Students at Csula
Melina Abdullah — professor and chair of Pan-African Studies at CSULA — is a Black Lives Matter organizer. According to Lauren McCue at YAF, Abdullah took to Facebook Thursday, urging a call for action to counter Shapiro’s event. Abdullah was also recently criticized for making radical calls to #AbolishThePolice.
McCue reports that in the comments following Abdullah’s post, one person, referring to Shapiro, wrote, “‘[he] won’t be talking or lookin so nice no more’ after the event.”
She adds:
Abdullah is also spreading fabricated rumors that conservatives are threatening to bring guns to the event. Despite multiple claims of such threats, CSULA YAF and Young America’s Foundation have been unable to uncover any evidence.
The only threats with supporting evidence have come from leftists, including Professor Robert Donald Weide who challenged conservative students to a wrestling match, telling one commenter, “I lift, bro.” He also cryptically threatened to “macroaggress” campus conservatives in a bizarre message on his office door.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats’ Intellectual Dishonesty is Montana’s Biggest Problem
For those who need a crash course in the scientific method, here it is. This should be taught in all high schools.
We get an idea or theory. To test our theory, we use our theory to make a prediction. Then we compare our prediction to new data. If our prediction disagrees with new data, our theory is wrong.
Richard Feynman explained the key to the scientific method:
“It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is. It doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.”
A fundamental principle is we can never prove a theory true. Yet Democrat climate addicts claim they have proved our CO2 causes dangerous global warming. Nonsense.
We can only prove a theory is false. When we prove our ideas are false, we discard fiction. When we discard fiction, we approach truth. But we can never know if we have found the truth.
Therefore, real scientists must try to prove their ideas are false. Those who promote their idea as true and try to make it part of a political agenda are pseudo scientists.
Einstein famously said,
“Many experiments may show me right but it takes only ONE experiment to prove me wrong.”
Many experiments have proved the Democrat’s “Climate Lysenkoism” is false but they ignore such proof. Like Energizer Bunnies, they beat their drums to drown out truth. Their political agenda is more important to them than truth.
Here are two examples that prove the Democrats’ version of climate change is false. Climate models use the Democrat’s climate theory to predict future climate.
Today, 37 years after their predictions, we find climate models way over-predict future temperature. They are over by 2.5 times on average. This is unacceptable in physics. Therefore, following Feynman, the Democrat’s version of climate science is wrong.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hey, Democrats, Guess What? AP Reports Hillary is Crushing Bernie Sanders Right Now
I’ll be the first to admit we’ve had a lot of fun with Hillary’s losses around here. Because we feel that she is — without question — the worst possible candidate to sit in the Oval Office, we delight in her failures. However, thanks to the way the DNC works, her disastrous 2016 campaign is actually demolishing rival Bernie Sanders, and it would take something of a miracle to reverse that trend.
As the AP reports, Hillary has a staggering 481-55 delegate lead. …If you include her pledged superdelegates.
Basically, Hillary owns her party like few candidates in history. Yes, superdelegates can change their minds, but we all know they probably won’t. The “tight race” we’re all watching is little more than political theater.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A couple of days ago, I highlighted a worst of the worst NOAA climate monitoring station in Arizona with the help of a scientist from the University of Washington.
My friend Jim Goodridge, former California State Climatologist continues to be busy in his retirement, and sends this along today. He’s been tracking a group of weather stations in California, and has been doing so for over 20 years. In fact, it was Jim who first introduced me to that light bulb moment where I realized that global warming wasn’t really all it was cracked up to be when he made this short publication in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society in 1996.
I guess you could say it was the graph that launched a thousand blog posts, because as we all know, CO2 can’t heat differently based on county population.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
How Not to Measure Temperature (Or Climate Change) #96
Here is a great example of how NOT to measure the climate! On our way back to Tucson from Phoenix on Monday we stopped by to see the Picacho 8 SE coop site at Picacho Peak State Park. Note the white MMTS temperature monitor 1/3 of the way in from the left. The building is surrounded by the natural terrain of the Sonoran Desert, but instead the worst possible site adjacent to the paved road and SW facing brick wall was chosen in 2009 as the location to monitor temperature.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
New Hampshire Introduces US-First Bill Over Tor Privacy Software
The Department of Homeland Security emailed the local police about Kilton Public Library’s use of the anonymous internet browsing service
The legislation comes after last year’s incident in Lebanon, New Hampshire, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) caused a Tor relay to be removed from the Kilton Public Library.
Tor allows internet traffic to be bounced over three relays, using three layers of encryption, making the original IP address undetectable. The traffic passes through a final “exit relay” before reaching its final destination, and the IP address of that last relay is signaled as the source of the traffic (rather than its actual source IP address).
As they conceal the original IP address, Tor exit relays are sometimes used for illegal activity online, drawing the attention of law enforcement agencies.
The Department of Homeland Security emailed the local police about Kilton Public Library’s use of the anonymous internet browsing service last September, leading to a meeting between local law enforcement, city officials, and the library.
The Tor relay at the library was suspended for a week before being restored after a vote by the library board of trustees…
This first of its kind bill was put forward by Republican Representative Keith Ammon in a response to that incident, and sponsored by six other lawmakers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Oddities of Texas Criminal Code and the Bizarre Story of Scalia’s Death
Are we skeptics over-reaching? Scalia was 79 years old. He was overweight, though still physically active. We must concede that a heart attack, absent any signs of foul play, would by no means be implausible.
Red flags there are, however. Scalia died while staying at wealthy Obama donor John Poindexter’s ranch, and it is Poindexter who is reported to have discovered Scalia unresponsive with a pillow over his head. According to Texas Judge David Beebe, in an email cited by Snopes:
Mr. Poindexter called a hospital and, without identifying Justice Scalia, reported what had happened. A hospital official, Mr. Poindexter said, assessed that it would be impossible to resuscitate Justice Scalia, and ranch officials contacted the United States Marshals Service.
I’ve seen it argued that “lots of people sleep with their head under a pillow”. I can’t find a single study or survey establishing a statistic on this. Suffice it to say that pillows are designed to support the head, not to stifle and smother it. The pillow detail, if not incriminating, is certainly very odd.
As for Mr. Poindexter’s call to the hospital, why would he not identify Scalia? How could a “hospital official” determine the impossibility of resuscitating the unnamed subject via telephone line? How could Poindexter himself, no physician, be so sure that Scalia was beyond saving, and above all else, how is it that his word on the matter could be taken as authoritative under Texas law?
Let’s look at the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 49. Art. 49.02 states that this section is applicable to counties without a medical examiner’s office. So, it applies to Presidio County, in which Scalia’s death took place. There appears to be no medical examiner’s office within that county, but it is served by those nearest by.
Under Art. 49.04, “(a) A justice of the peace shall conduct an inquest into the death of a person who dies in the county served by the justice if … (6) the person dies without having been attended by a physician.”
Since no physician had been attending Scalia, the Texas criminal code mandates an inquest into his death. Now here is where things get somewhat murky.
[…]
Here’s another detail that begs clarification. How was it that Scalia — such a devoutly conservative Catholic that he repudiated Vatican 2 — had willed that his body should be cremated, in direct violation of the tenets of his faith?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Senator Drafting Bill to Criminalize Apple’s Refusal to Aid Decryption
Lawmaker says FBI needs access to iPhone to investigate terrorism links.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, reportedly will introduce legislation soon to criminalize a company’s refusal to aid decryption efforts as part of a governmental investigation. The news was first reported Thursday afternoon by the Wall Street Journal.
Burr’s office did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
755 Croatian Laws Aligned With EU Acquis
Additional 75 in programme for 2016
(ANSA) — TRIESTE — Croatia has aligned 755 of its national laws with the EU regulations since the beginning of the process of joining the EU, Hina agency reported. The country aims at adapting additional 75 laws in the course of 2016, including the legislation on sanitary protection and assisted reproduction.
Croatia became an EU member country on 1 July 2013.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Births in 2015 Lowest Since Italian Unification
Deaths up by 54,000 last year
(ANSA) — Rome, February 19 — Istat said Friday that 488,000 babies were born in 2015, eight for every 1,000 residents, making it the lowest level since the unification of Italy. The figure was 15,000 births down on the number for 2014.
The national statistics agency added that there were 653,000 deaths in Italy last year, up by 54,000 (9.1%) on 2014.
The mortality rate was 10.7 per 1,000, among the highest registered in the post-war period, with fatalities concentrated in the 75-95 age range.
Istat said Friday that 100,000 Italian citizens were removed from the registry of residents in 2015 after moving abroad, a 12.4% increase on 2014.
The national statistics agency said 28,000 Italians returned to Italy from abroad. It said 245,000 foreign nationals registered as residing in Italy last year, while 45,000 others left the country.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Europe and Germany Need New Government ASAP… ‘Without Angela Merkel’
Angela Merkel’s migration policy is doomed to failure, and her decisions on the issue indicate her “infinite arrogance and political incompetence”, according to Frauke Petry, head of the right-wing, Eurosceptic party Alternative for Germany.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel prefers to turn a deaf ear to criticism related to her migration policy, which is doomed to flop, RIA Novosti quoted Frauke Petry, head of the right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD), as saying.
“Europe and Germany need to form a new government quickly — without Merkel,” Petry said.
She condemned Merkel’s statements that self-isolation cannot be a solution to the migration crisis, and called on the German Chancellor to heed the criticism.
“Merkel’s statements are nothing but an indication of boundless arrogance and political incompetence. She takes decisions that are doomed to failure instead of taking the advice of [her] European partners,” Petry added.
Her remarks came after the German news network Deutsche Welle reported that the Bundestag does not rule out Merkel’s resignation because she “always said she wants to avoid a scenario of her losing the elections like Helmut Kohl and that she may step down on her own.”
Elections in three of Germany’s federal states will be held in mid-March, and Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party runs the risk of losing the vote, which will be blamed on the Chancellor, according to Deutsche Welle.
Merkel, who enjoyed high popularity ratings early last year, has grown increasingly isolated in recent months and public pressure has skyrocketed for her to abandon the country’s open-door policy toward refugees arriving from the Middle East and Africa.
An opinion poll conducted in late January revealed that at least forty percent of Germans are not satisfied with the country’s migrant policy and want Merkel to resign.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Farage for Breitbart: Enemies Unite
On Friday I surprised, perhaps even stunned, some of my long term supporters by introducing a surprise guest: George Galloway.
On a whole host of political issues George and I are diametrically opposed. We could not have a cosy chat over coffee about Israel, economic policy or a host of other issues. But sometimes in life an issue comes along that is bigger than anything else and traditional opponents become allies.
Churchill despised Uncle Joe Stalin as much if not more than he did the German corporal. But they joined together to defeat a common enemy. It is that same understanding that George and some in GO have today.
We believe in our country and that it should be run by our own people through the ballot box.
We will all fight side by side to win this referendum and then to get back to opposing each other.
It’s called democracy. It’s worth fighting for. Come and help us.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Shocked diplomats caught a pair of European officials having sex in a toilet at the crucial summit where David Cameron was battling for a renegotiation of Britain’s membership in the EU.
It is claimed the couple were found locked in a cubicle at the Lex Building in Brussels while continental leaders were thrashing out the UK’s future in the organisation.
The elicit encounter apparently took place on Thursday night with rumours circulating around the Belgian capital yesterday that those involved were from Germany.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Salvini to Rally Against Renzi ‘Regime’ on April 25
Northern League leader says premier controls media, schools
(ANSA) — Rome, February 18 — Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said Thursday that he is organizing a rally on April 25, Italian Liberation Day, to protest against what he described as Premier Matteo Renzi’s “regime”. “Under Renzi there is control of the media, of the schools, of the courts, of the banks,” Salvini told a press conference at the Senate.
“I smell the stench of the Soviet Union, of a regime.
“We’ll hold a big march bringing together all of the Italians who don’t want to live as slaves”. April 25 is a national holiday marking Italy’s liberation from Nazi occupation and Benito Mussolini’s Fascist regime at the end of World War II.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Finance Police Stage Searches in Rome Corruption Probe
Real-estate entrepreneur Bonifaci among 11 probed
(ANSA) — Rome, February 18 — Finance police on Thursday searched 12 sites in Rome to seize evidence for a probe into alleged corruption and other crimes, ANSA sources said.
Real-estate entrepreneur Domenico Bonifaci is under investigation along with two city of Rome officials, three professionals and five employees of the Bonifaci group. The sources said that Thursday’s operations were linked to a branch of the so-called Vitruvio investigation into alleged bribes for officials to turn a blind eye to illegal construction.
The Vitruvio probe led to 39 arrests last year.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Teacher ‘Ignored Teenage Girl’s Cries for Help’ as She Was Gang Raped at School in Austria
The teacher is being investigated by police for allegedly failing to stop the abuse
A teacher is being investigated by Austrian police for allegedly ignoring a 15-year-old girl’s cries of help as she was gang raped at school.
Six boys, then aged 15 and 16, have been charged with the attack at a secondary school in Graz and the investigation continues.
The Kleine Zeitung newspaper reported that the victim was raped in the medical room in May last year but did not report the abuse until she felt able to confide in a member of staff at a new school.
A police investigation has since revealed that it was not the only attack on the girl, who reportedly screamed as she was harassed by the same group of boys in the school toilets just two weeks before the rape.
“Students allegedly alerted her teacher and asked her to do something,” the Kleine Zeitung reported.
“Instead, she reportedly blamed the 15-year-old for turning up late to class.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Up to 5,000 Daesh Terrorists Wandering in Europe: Europol
3,000 and 5,000 Daesh militants have slipped back into Europe after completing their training in the Middle East
Up to 5,000 trained members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group are at large in Europe, the European Union’s criminal intelligence agency says.
Europol Director Rob Wainwright said on Friday that between 3,000 and 5,000 Daesh militants have slipped back into Europe after completing their training in the Middle East.
“Europe is currently facing the highest terror threat in more than 10 years,” Wainwright told Germany’s Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper.
He also said that Europe could expect Daesh or other terror groups to stage an attack somewhere in the continent “with the aim of achieving mass casualties among the civilian population,” warning that the increasing number of these wandering militants would present EU member states with “completely new challenges.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
David Cameron today confirmed the EU referendum that will determine the future of Britain and define his career will take place on June 23.
Following a landmark Cabinet meeting that lasted more than two hours, the Prime Minister addressed the nation in Downing Street.
But within minutes of the speech, six of Mr Cameron’s Cabinet ministers appeared at a Vote Leave rally to sign on to the campaign against the Prime Minister.
Commons leader Chris Grayling said Mr Cameron’s deal had failed to secure power over Britain’s borders or allow the Government to strike trade deals around the world — insisting a ‘sovereign country should be able to do that’.
And Justice Secretary Michael Gove said he had wrestled with his conscience but had to back Brexit despite the Prime Minister’s view.
Mr Cameron told Britain today: ‘You will decide and whatever your decision I will do my best to deliver it.
‘The choice is in your hands but my recommendation is clear: I believe that Britain will be safer, stronger and better off in a reformed European Union.’
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Albania Extends Vote Right to Foreign Residents
Emigrants could represent up to 50% of electorate
(ANSA) — TRIESTE — The Albanian Parliament has extended the right to vote to emigrants, allowing them to participate in the next year elections. Out of a total of 140 seats, 73 deputies were in favour, while 24 voted against. Emigrants could represent up to 50% of total voters in near future. It is estimated that over 1.5 million Albanians live abroad, while Albania’s current population is around 2.8 million.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Four-Year-Old Boy Sentenced to Life in Egyptian Prison on Murder Charge
Perhaps proving Egypt is “ruled by lunatics,” as the child’s defense lawyer put it, a four-year-old boy has been sentenced to life in prison on multiple counts of murder for crimes allegedly committed when he was just two years old.
Ahmed Mansour Karni, who is not even old enough for elementary school, was convicted in absentia this week in a mass military trial of 116 people in Western Cairo. The very young child was convicted of murder, disturbance of the peace, and damaging state property, stemming from a protest that took place in January 2014.
In full, Karni was charged with four counts of murder, eight counts of attempted murder, vandalising property belonging to the Egyptian Health Administration, threatening soldiers and police officers and damaging vehicles belonging to security forces, the Middle East Eye reported.
“There is is no justice in Egypt,” one of his lawyers, Mohammed Abu Hurira, told the Jerusalem Post. “No reason. Logic committed suicide a while ago. Egypt went crazy. Egypt is ruled by a bunch of lunatics.”
Another defense lawyer, Faisal a-Sayd, presented the child’s birth certificate in court, but the judge did not read it. All 116 people were sentenced to the same fate of life in prison.
“The child Ahmed Mansour Karni’s birth certificate was presented after state security forces added his name to the list of accused, but then the case was transferred to the military court and the child was sentenced in absentia in an ensuing court hearing,” a-Sayd told the Jerusalem Post. “This proves that the judge did not read the case.”
Amnesty International reports that Karni is not the first child to be sentenced to life in prison, or even death, in the Egyptian judicial system, violating both Egyptian and international laws.
The organization reports that in November, a court in Alexandria sentenced 78 children to prison terms of between two and five years after convicting them of participating in an unauthorized protest in support of Mohamed Morsi. In April, a court in El-Minya, Upper Egypt, also sentenced 37 defendants to death including at least two children.
In December, Amnesty reported on the case of Mazen Mohamed Abdallah, a 14-year-old boy whose family claims he was repeatedly tortured while in custody, including being raped by officers with a wooden stick, and being shocked by electricity to his genitals while officials tried to get him to confess to protesting without authorization.
“That such abuse is meted out against children in detention is utterly deplorable,” Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Recognised Libya Govt Condemns US Strike on Jihadists
Libya’s internationally recognised government Saturday condemned a US air strike west of Tripoli believed to have killed a top Islamic State group operative and dozens of others the previous day.
In a statement, the government, based in the far east of the country, denounced the raid targeting an IS training camp in Sabratha, saying it was not coordinated with the authorities and was “a clear and flagrant violation of sovereignty of the Libyan state”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza Bombing Targets Home of Shiite Leader
A bomb attack targeted the home of a leader of a Palestinian Shiite Muslim movement in the Gaza Strip Friday, causing damage but no injuries, the group and security sources said.
The pre-dawn blast caused extensive damage at the home of Sheikh Hisham Salem, his Al-Sabirin group said in a statement…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
NATO Warns Turkey it Can’t Count on Support in a Conflict With Russia as Tensions Escalate
European diplomats have warned the Turkish government that it cannot count on the NATO support should the conflict with Russia escalate into an armed conflict, according to German media.
Ankara has called for a joint ground operation in Syria with its international allies, insisting it is the only way to stop the country’s five-year war. Saudi Arabia has said it would be ready to take part in an international force to be deployed in Syria.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
‘Obama Has a Bee in His Bonnet About Putin and Keeps Denying Reality’
Commenting on Barack Obama’s recent statement that “Russia’s involvement in Syria won’t solve the problem of stabilizing Syria”, Professor Stephen F. Cohen noted that the US head of state might have somewhat of “a bee in his bonnet about Putin” which greatly impedes his vision of reality in Syria.
“Yes, Russia is a major military. Obviously, a bunch of rebels are not going to be able to compete with the hardware of the second most powerful military in the world. But that does not solve the problem of actually stabilizing Syria. And the only way to do that is to bring about some sort of political transition,” the US president said this week at the US-ASEAN Leaders Summit at the Sunnylands Center in Rancho Mirage, California.
The comments referred to the Russian air campaign in Syria against the Daesh militants.
Commenting on the statement that Russia’s involvement in Syria isn’t actually helping the situation, Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton University said that such a vision of a reality in Syria is purely due to President Obama’s personal attitude towards the Russian president.
Cohen put forward his own view of what is happening on the ground.
“Russia and the US are not going to put combat troops on the ground in Syria. You can’t finish off Islamic State (Daesh) in Syria — no matter how much bombing the Russians and the Americans do — without ground forces,” he suggested
“There is one ground force capable of doing that and that’s the Syrian Army. This is not my opinion. General [Martin Edward] Dempsey, who is the former Chief of Staff, told Obama that he, Dempsey, agreed with Putin that you had to protect the Syrian Army. The retired head of the British General Staff said two days ago “Putin is right, we’ve got to protect, bolster the Syrian Army.”
“President Obama has a bee in his bonnet about Putin and he keeps denying this reality,” Professor Cohen therefore stated.
The expert also commented on the negotiations between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the Ukrainian and Syrian crises, calling them two “Cold Wars” which have all the potential to develop into hot war fronts.
“One, of course, is in Ukraine, the other is in Syria,” he acknowledged.
The professor explained that there is plan to negotiate an end to the Ukrainian civil war, put forward by the French and by the Germans. Secretary Kerry backed it and worked very hard to get that to come to the negotiating table.
“He has not gotten there yet — there is a lot of resistance,” the professor said.
The same is true regarding Syria, he added. There is a proposal, which came forward after the terrorist attacks in Paris by French President Francois Hollande, saying that there should be a grand coalition, which would include Russia, against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL). Kerry has been negotiating that with Lavrov.
“But, I don’t share the position that we can be sure that President Obama is the dove in this case, because I assume that President Obama controls NATO and the Department of Defense,” Professor Cohen said.
“NATO and the Department of Defense have, basically, stabbed Kerry in the back. Every time he gets five feet closer to bringing about these negotiations, we end up with what we’ve just discussed — moving weapons to Russia’s borders.”
The last phrase comes in reference to Professor Cohen’s comments on the statement of US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
In the Democratic debate at MSNBC in Durham, N.H. on February 4, she claimed that Russia is “putting constant pressure” on US allies in Europe, “trying to move the boundaries of the post-World War II Europe,” and, also, “set European countries against one another.”
Professor Cohen has ruled this claim as an “entirely factually wrong.”
“Russia is not threatening any country on its border and is not turning European countries against each other. What Russia wants is a stabilized European Union,” he stated.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Backs Turkey Against Syrian Government, PKK in Call to Erdogan
US President Barack Obama warned the Syrian Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG) not to seize additional territory in Syria, and pledged support for Turkey against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) guerrillas in a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, the White House said.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Obama also emphasized the unwavering commitment of the United States to Turkey’s national security as a NATO Ally, and agreed to deepen cooperation in the fight against all forms of terrorism, including the PKK and Daesh, the read out said.
[Comment: This is the bad part about NATO — the attack one attack all philosophy can be easily manipulated, as in this case, to create the conditions for WWIII.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Roberto Cavalli Store Opens in Tehran
Versace to open in Iranian capital next month
(ANSA) — Tehran, February 19 — The first sign of Italy in post-sanctions Iran comes in the guise of fashion, with a Roberto Cavalli store now open in Tehran to be followed next month by Versace, ANSA sources said on Friday.
The two-storey Cavalli store was inaugurated Thursday and carries the label’s collections for women, men, and children, as well as accessories, footwear, and home furnishings. The openings are part of an initiative by a group of Iranian businessmen who contacted the two Italian fashion labels and obtained exclusive franchising rights in the country.
One of the entrepreneurs is Medhi Firouzan, president of the KelideTalaei group, who told ANSA that the group’s plan is “to build a via Montenapoleone” — Milan’s luxury shopping street — “in the wealthy neighborhood of Zafaraniyeh in the northern area of the capital”. “Iran needs quality of life,” Firouzan said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia crossed the line into open criminal activity this morning when its Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the Kingdom will provide missiles to Syrian opposition groups.
Arming rebels in another country for the purpose of overthrowing its government is a criminal act.
Jubeir said that ground-to-air missiles would “allow the moderate opposition to destroy helicopters and aircraft of the (Syrian) regime” and thus “change (the regime) the balance of power in Syria.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Scepticism on Blame for Turkey Attack Exposes Growing Split
Turkey has pinned the blame for a deadly attack in Ankara on Syrian Kurdish fighters — but its assertions have been greeted with scepticism from chief NATO ally the United States in a rare and increasingly acrimonious split.
Just a day after Wednesday’s attack on a convoy of military buses left 28 people dead, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said investigators had already worked out it was a joint operation by Turkey-based Kurdish militants and their counterparts in Syria…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
German Exports to Russia Set to Fall to 10-Year Low
German businesses are expecting to see a further drop in exports to Russia this year to their lowest level in 10 years, even if companies continue to regard it as a market with enormous potential, a specialist trade organisation found on Friday.
German exports to Russia plummeted by 25.5 percent last year, weighed down by the plunging ruble and the economic crisis in Russia, according to data published by the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Kota Kinabalu: Islamic Proselytizing of Children in Catholic Schools
Sister Rita Chew, president of the Educational Commission of the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu, denounces episodes of forced conversions in elementary schools: “Some parents have found that their children are being taught Islamic prayers.” The government denies this, but “we know that they want to decrease the number of Christians where there are so many.”
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Catholic school pupils are being pressured to convert to Islam, according to Sister Rita Chew, president of the Educational Commission of the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu (Sabah Region, East Malaysia). The religious denounces an increasingly aggressive presence of Muslims in schools run by the Church: “Some people seem very interested in bringing forward Muslims programs in our elementary schools. “
Local sources said that Islamic proselytism activities take place in all schools of the country, with the exception of private schools, and do not even spare Catholic institutions. Several episodes also show a widespread prejudice against non-Muslim students. “Our fear — continues Sister Chew — comes from the fact that conversions take place, but the government denies this fact. Some Christian parents have found that their children are taught Islamic prayers. “
According to the religious, these proselytizing activities are aimed at a “recovery” of the Islamic regions of Sabah and Sarawak, where Christians account for a good percentage of the population and where there are the most Catholic schools. Of the 448 Christian and missionary institutions in Malaysia, 130 are in Sarawak and 98 in Sabah.
Catholic schools, however, are greatly respected in Malaysia. A retired teacher, interviewed by UCAN, states that Muslim parents often choose schools run by the Church for their children, as they are considered centers of excellence when compared to those state: “In those — says the man , who wants to remain anonymous — the only focus is on exams and results, it is not an open and well-rounded education, which is what parents want for their children”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Myanmar: Burmese Army and the Police “Preventing Destruction of Opium Fields”
Pat Jasan anti-drug activists targeted: three workers injured by a mine, another shot dead. The group, affiliated to the Kachin Christian movements, has been banned. Myanmar is the second largest producer in the world after Afghanistan. Crops are a major business and a commodity of political exchange between the military and ethnic groups.
Yangon (AsiaNews) — The Burmese army and the police are preventing the destruction of opium fields in northern Myanmar, particularly in the Shan and Kachin regions, where production of the poppy from which heroin is derived is concentrated.
The country of South-East Asia is the second largest in the world behind Afghanistan and, in recent years, has experienced continuous growth not only in cultivation of the drug, but also in its consumption especially among the young.
The Pat Jasan Group, a movement against drugs affiliated with the Kachin Christian Churches, has mobilized more than a thousand people in the campaign of eradication of the plant that began in early January. However, operators have so far met with fierce resistance not only among the peasants, but also among the militias who profit from the drug trade. And they have been banned by the authorities.
In recent days, three Pat Jasan activists were injured in the explosion of anti-personnel mines; a 19-year-old boy was shot dead. The group also reported that the military no longer guarantees the safety of workers involved in clearing the fields, because it “is not a registered organization.”
In 1999 the Burmese government had launched a biweekly plan to eliminate opium cultivation. However, last year it was extended until 2019. Moreover, opium is not just a big business, but over time it has even become a political bargaining chip in a game of alliances and conflicts between the army and ethnic groups.
A report by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2013 reported that the “Golden Triangle” (the area that includes the territories of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos) covers “at least 18%” of the cultivation and sales of opium worldwide. And the year before Myanmar was placed second, behind Afghanistan, for global production of opiates due to a growth of crops among Shan and Kachin ethnic minorities who are often at war with the central Burmese government.
Questioned on the matter at the time of publication of the document, Catholic AsiaNews sources in the region spoke of a “growing phenomenon.” There are historical reasons that go back to the times of the British colonialism, when “the cultivation was legal”; a factor which led to heavy imbalances, because “the people used to opium, while there was no rice”. Over time, continued the source, the drug “has become big business, as well as economic support for ethnic minorities of Myanmar” at war with Naypyidaw.
For poor families drugs has become “a sort of possibility for redemption. But the consequences are devastating: arrests, broken families, abandoned children, and in the villages addicts who look like real walking dead. “A cause for major concern, concluded the source, is the consequences on “young people, for whom it promises a dark future “. Over the years the Catholic Church and the missions have initiated rehabilitation centers, which support educational projects for children and adults.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Blow up Girls’ School in Pakistani Tribal Area
Militants said Saturday they had blown up a girls’ school in Pakistan’s restive northwest, the latest in a string of attacks on educational institutions.
There were no casualties, but the bomb destroyed three out of five classrooms of the government girls’ primary school in Tiarza village of tribal South Waziristan, a local security official told AFP…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China Set to Ban All Foreign Media From Publishing Online
China is set to ban foreign media companies from publishing any content online without the government’s approval from next month, it has been announced.
A new directive issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has said that companies which have, at least in part, foreign ownership will be stopped from publishing words, pictures, maps, games, animation and sound of an “informational and thoughtful nature” — unless they have approval from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
This means only companies wholly Chinese owned will be able to publish online, subject to strict self-censorship in line with the government’s views.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Cardinal George Pell Denies Abusing Children
Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell on Friday dismissed accusations he sexually abused boys during his time as a priest which are reportedly being investigated by Australian police.
“The allegations are without foundation and utterly false,” a statement issued by Pell’s office in Rome said after the Melbourne-based Herald Sun newspaper reported that a police taskforce in the state of Victoria have been investigating Pell for the last year over allegations that he abused between five and 10 boys…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
“Hatred of Whites” Fueling South Africa Protests
A “hatred of white people” is the fuel behind ongoing protests at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, a student has told a newspaper in that city…
South African “universities” have been in a constant state of chaos for months, after years of steady decline and collapse in academic standards.
In October last year, for example, it was revealed that the failure rate among all “students” at South African universities was a massive 85 percent.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Uganda’s Museveni Wins Election, Opposition Cries Foul
President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday won Uganda’s disputed presidential election, cementing his 30-year grip on power in the East African nation despite criticism of the poll by European and Commonwealth observers.
Museveni won 60.8 percent of the vote, while his main challenger Kizza Besigye secured 35.4 percent, the electoral commission said.
Besigye’s camp had been disputing results before the final announcement. Besigye was arrested on Friday and appeared to be under house arrest on Saturday…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Bolivia Leader Seeks 19-Year Rule Via Tense Referendum
Bolivians vote Sunday on whether to let their first indigenous president Evo Morales extend his term to 19 years, in a divisive referendum marred by corruption allegations and deadly violence.
Morales, a 56-year-old Aymara Indian, grew up in a home without running water but rose to become Bolivia’s longest-serving president…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
With the deal to help keep Britain in the EU secured, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has swiftly refocused her sights on pressing ahead with a joint EU solution to the refugee crisis.
Tackling Europe’s migrant crisis in collaboration with Turkey was a top priority for Merkel at a two-day EU summit in Brussels that ended late on Friday.
With the approach of warmer weather, however, the problem in Europe is only predicted to get worse.
Photographs from Greece and Macedonia today show that the tide of human suffering is far from waning.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
For EU’s Sake! Germany Must Deport Refugees, Says Finance Minister
Markus Söder, finance minister for the southern German state of Bavaria, says the European Union is closer to failure than many are willing to admit and is calling for 350,000 refugees to be deported.
In an interview with Die Welt, Markus Söder says Europe will only work if its external borders are properly protected. The Bavarian finance minister also says the reality of the situation is that between 2,000 and 3,000 refugees arrive daily in Bavaria.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
French Authorities Order Expulsion of Hundreds of Calais Migrants From ‘Jungle’
Authorities issued an expulsion order Friday for hundreds of migrants living in a huge swath of the Calais camp in northern France, demanding that they remove their makeshift homes and possessions within four days.
Residents of the southern sector of the camp, known locally as “The Jungle,” must clear out by 8 p.m. Tuesday so it can be razed, according to the order by the state authority for Calais. Police will remove those who refuse to clear out, the order said.
Authorities estimate that 800-1,000 migrants live in that sector, crammed with shops, cafes, mosques and churches. They want the migrants — mainly Syrians, Iraqis, or Afghans escaping conflict, or Africans fleeing countries with poor human rights records — to move to nearby heated containers or welcome centers around France to reconsider their dreams of reaching Britain on the other side of the English Channel…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds Pack Meeting — Demand ‘No Refugees’ In Montana
Obama plan to bring Muslim migrants draws fierce opposition
To see more than 500 people at a government meeting usually means one of two things — a major tax hike is on the agenda or something akin to a nuclear waste dump is being proposed.
So what was it that had the townspeople of rural Ravalli County, Montana, so stirred up?
The answer is simple: Syrian refugees.
They don’t want any.
The county held a public hearing Feb. 18 on a proposed letter to be sent to the Obama administration, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and the state’s congressional delegation making one point abundantly clear — no Syrian refugees will be welcomed in Ravalli County.
The county commissioners voted unanimously to send the letter.
Many people who could not make it to the meeting had called or wrote their commissioners. Commission Chairman Ray Hawk said the content of those calls and letters was 50-to-1 in opposition to allowing refugees to be resettled in Ravalli County, the Missoulian reported.
A few people spoke in favor of welcoming refugees to Ravalli saying they were embarrassed by the tone of the meeting. They were booed and heckled, the newspaper reported.
The pushback was sparked by an announcement recently by two nonprofits — Soft Landing Montana and WorldMontana — that they plan to work with the federal government to bring Syrian refugees to Big Sky Country. The plan is to resettle the Syrians in the Helena area and in Missoula County, a neighboring county to the north of Ravalli County.
[Comment: Is Soros footing the bill for these “non-profit’ groups? NGOs are funded by banksters (and manned by many useful idiots) to “guilt” the public into aquiesing to the banskter agenda. NGOs are not grassroots movements.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Shuts Three Railway Crossings With Croatia
Measure in force for 30 days, ‘interest of national security’
(ANSA) — BUDAPEST — As for the migrant crisis, Hungary will shut three railway border crossings with Croatia Sunday, the Austrian news agency APA reported, citing Hungarian media. For the time being, this strict measure is expected to remain in force for 30 days.
The measure signed by Interior Minister Sandor Pinter is motivated by “the interest of public security”.
Murakeresztur-Kotoriba, Gyekenyes-Koprivnica Magyarboly-Beli Manastir are the border crossings involved.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Invader Rapes After “Don’t Rape” Course
A nonwhite invader has raped a white woman inside an invader center in Belgium just two weeks after attending a “how to treat western women” course put on by that country’s government, the Belgian VTM news channel has reported.
According to the report, the Afghani, who claims to be sixteen years old, raped the woman in the Red Cross refugee shelter in Menen. He was arrested shortly thereafter and has been detained in Everberg awaiting trial.
The victim works for the catering company which supplies the shelter, the VTM report went on to reveal. When the victim went to get new supplies for the invaders from the basement, she was attacked and raped by the Afghani.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Leading Euro Scientist Takes Stand Against Third World Invasion
A leading German scientist has revoked the license to his widely-used bioinformatics software for researchers in eight European countries because those countries have promoted the Third World invasion of Europe.
In a statement on his website, informatician Gangolf Jobb, author of the Treefinder software — which has been used in hundreds of scientific papers to build phylogenetic trees, or diagrams showing the most likely evolutionary relationship of various species drawn out of sequence data — said that researchers in Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark would be forbidden from using his software from October 1, 2015.
The reason, Jobb said, was that these “countries together host most of the non-European immigrants.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mom Whose Son Was Tortured to Death by Illegal Endorses Trump, Says ‘Pope Doesn’t Care About Me’
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Pope say one thing about our families…”
In an exclusive telephone interview with Breitbart News, Laura Wilkerson, whose son was tortured to death by an illegal alien, explained why she cast her early ballot today for GOP frontrunner, Donald Trump.
“Trump will get in there and do something about [immigration]. I believe him. I want someone in there who has said they’ll do it and will do it… So many people stay home because it doesn’t affect them,” Wilkerson said. “And I understand that. I was the same way until [my son] Josh was murdered. But at some point, we have to close the door and deal with who we have here before anyone else comes.”
By contrast to her support for Trump, Wilkerson said that she “gave no consideration to voting Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)… I do not trust him for one second… He does not speak to the victims [of illegal alien crime],” Wilkerson explained. “Obviously, Rubio wants more immigration, no borders. That’s what his backers want and that’s the way he’s going to vote.”
Wilkerson, who described herself as a deeply religious person, defended Trump from the attacks by Pope Francis.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Most Italians Nix Austria Border Controls, Poll Shows
71% against, 26% in favor
(ANSA) — Rome, February 19 — A majority of Italians are against Austria’s increased controls along its Italy border in a bid to keep migrants out, according to an Ixé poll for RAI public broadcaster out Friday. At least 71% of respondents said they are against such a move, 26% approved it, and 3% said they don’t know what to think.
Austria has set up controls on its side of the Alpine Brenner Pass and capped at 37,500 the number of asylum seekers it is willing to take in this year. It also said it fixed daily entry quotas at 80 for people seeking asylum in Austria and at 3,200 for people passing through on their way to another country.
On Thursday, two Italian and one Austrian regional governor representing Alpine districts on both sides of the border appealed for better management of the controls, which they say are damaging the local economy.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Pope ‘Not Targeting Trump’ Says Vatican Spokesman
‘Not a personal attack or a voting indication’ says Lombardi
(ANSA) — Vatican City, February 19 — Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Friday the pope was not targeting US presidential hopeful Donald Trump per se in comments yesterday that those who would build walls not tear them down are not Christian.
“The pope said…we must not build walls, but bridges,” Lombardi told Vatican Radio. “He has always said so. all the time, and he has said so many times concerning the issue of migration into Europe — so it is not at all a specific issue limited to this case”.
“In no way did (the pope’s comments) intend to be a personal attack, or an indication of how to vote,” Lombardi said.
Republican real estate tycoon Trump has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border to keep undocumented migrants out if elected. The pope made his comments Thursday on his way back to the Vatican after an apostolic visit to Mexico.
Also on Friday, Trump appeared to backtrack from the apparent tiff with the pope when he called Francis “a wonderful guy”, CNN reported. The billionaire reportedly said he is ready to meet the pope “whenever he wants” and that Francis’ comments were probably not as harsh as media reported them.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Renzi Threatens EU Funding Cuts Over Migrant Crisis
Hungary accuses Italian premier of political blackmail
(ANSA) — Brussels, February 19 — Premier Matteo Renzi warned some EU states at a special summit in Brussels overnight that they risked losing EU funding if they fail to do their bit to address the asylum-seeker crisis. “Solidarity cannot just be about taking,” Renzi said, according to ANSA sources. “The phase of planning 2020 funds is starting. Either you show solidarity in taking and giving or we bet contributor countries will stop showing solidarity too”. The comments were praised by fellow EU founder members France and Germany, the sources said.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacc was quoted by the Tanjug agency as saying later in the day that Renzi’s comments were tantamount to “political blackmail”.
Also on Friday, Austria enacted announced caps on migrant and asylum seeker entries, over strong EU objections.
It set up controls on its side of the Alpine Brenner Pass at the border with Italy, and capped at 37,500 the number of asylum seekers it is willing to take in this year — a quota it expects to reach by May, according to Austrian Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner. Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner has fixed daily entry quotas at 80 for people seeking asylum in Austria and at 3,200 for people passing through on their way to another country. Such moves “would be clearly incompatible with (Austria’s) obligations under EU and international law,” European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos wrote Mikl-Leitner in a letter of which ANSA obtained a copy on Thursday. Avramopoulos came out against quotas for asylum seekers traveling through the country and urged Austria to “reconsider the unilateral measures proposed”.
On Friday, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann defended the move.
“If every country were to decide the same (as we did, in proportion to their population), we could distribute over two million refugees,” he explained.
“Our country has always been pro-Europe, we have always given aid when necessary — during the Hungarian crisis, during the old Yugoslavian crisis” the chancellor continued. “Last year, we took in 90,000 people. Now we did not say that because of this, we wouldn’t take in anyone else this year — we said we would accept more than 37,000,” Faymann said. “The rest is up to others”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Young Boy Repeatedly Raped After He Was Billeted With Migrant Men
Two migrant men masquerading as teenagers are being prosecuted after raping a young child at a Swedish asylum centre, attacking him “ruthlessly” and even filming the assault.
The 12 year old boy was made to share a room with two others, who were said at the time to be 15 years old at the Alvesta asylum centre in Sweden. The child was subjected to at least one attempted rape, and a number of rapes by one of his room mates and another migrant at the centre, which the authorities became aware of in early January.
After police were called it become apparent the men had lied about their age — an increasingly common phenomenon in Europe as child migrants are given greater benefits than adults — and were in fact fully grown migrant males. Prosecuting the case, Emma Berge told the court a dental x-ray proved one of the men was 18 to 19 years old, and the other was certainly over the age of 18.
Investigations into the case have also revealed the raped child was not supposed to be in the home at all, as the building was only licenced to accept migrants in their later teens. Yet he was put into a private room with what they thought were older boys, and the police were not called over an earlier attempted rape.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Where is Our Civilization Headed?
Pundit Patrick J. Buchanan wrote a piece titled, “Tribalism returns to Europe” as he chronicled the devastating aspects of multiculturalism in Germany, France, United Kingdom, Denmark, Holland and much of Europe. Buchanan noted that Islam, the most intolerant and violent ideology on the planet, utilizes Western freedoms and laws to upend and defeat the foundation of free speech, democracy and personal choice.
Does any American think Europeans stand a chance of surviving the Muslim hordes flooding into Europe? You read about the rapes, murders and social chaos weekly. But, guess what, America continues importing hundreds of thousands of legal Muslim immigrants annually and stands in the cross hairs of adding another 200,000 Syrian Muslim refugees-who espouse and follow the most violent religion on the planet.
Take a look at this five-minute video by a Swiss congressman with his examination of Islam’s impact on Western countries. It will disturb you as to how fast Islam invades host countries.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
British Children Manipulated and Robbed of Their Innocence
Currently, British schoolchildren are being heavily targeted and ‘used’ to reform society. Losing their genuine creative ability and the gift to see for themselves, they are having their minds which are connected to the optical lens seriously played with. This was illustrated in a recent survey carried out by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England who recently distributed a questionnaire to schoolchildren in Brighton and Hove.
The questionnaire asked the children, aged from 13 — 18 to choose from over 20 gender options on how it best described their gender, to include: Tomboy, Trans boy, Gender fluid, Agender, Androgynous, Bi-gender, Non-binery, Gender queer, Gender non conforming, Tri gender, In the middle of boy and girl, Intersex.
If like me, you have never heard of these terms, other than Tomboy, (being used as a pre-cursor for the acceptance of the other terms) you can only imagine the type of identity crisis and confusion you would experience when you are just 13, in relation to the suggestion that you should fall into one of these categories.
In an article from the Telegraph it read that the head teacher from one of the schools said:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Islam Can’t be Modernised’ Says World’s ‘Greatest Arabic Poet’
Being raised a Muslim himself and having one of the greatest understandings of the language of the Quran, Adonis said: “You can not reform a religion. If they are reformed, [the original meaning] is separated from it. Therefore, modern Muslims and a modern Islam is already impossible. If there is no separation between religion and state, there will be no democracy especially without equality for women. Then we will keep a theocratic system. So it will end.”
Laying down a heavy critique of the Islamic world, he added: “Arabs have no more creative force. Islam does not contribute to intellectual life, it suggests no discussion. It is no longer thought. It produces no thinking, no art, no science, no vision that could change the world. This repetition is the sign of its end. The Arabs will continue to exist, but they will not make the world better.”
Breitbart London has already reported that attempts to house and integrate Muslim migrants will cost Germans and other European countries billions of euros, and according to Adonis’ opinion it could be a useless endeavour.
When asked if he receives death threats from radical Islamists Adonis said: “Of course, but I do not care. For certain convictions people should risk their lives.”
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Western European governments and their enablers want a civil war ASAP. Surely not?
Comment made by Anne on another post, moved here where it belongs:
Found this article on Flipboard
Guide to being a Secular, Adarsh liberal Commie intellectual
FirstPost Lies again: What their news trading tribe and leftists are not telling you about the JNU Controversy?
Down with Communists, Down with Communism
By Frustmanoos -February 20, 2016
Communists
Over the years, Communism and Leftist thought might have entrenched itself on the national mainstream, posing as ‘humanist’, ‘liberal’, ‘modern’, ‘western’, ‘enlightened’ and all sorts of similar fancy words. The truth is that Communists are biggest race of hypocrites the world has ever produced. There is a reason why Communists have been hounded in many countries, criticized in several others and violently overthrown in countries which they ruled. There are solid reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed, why its East European allies broke free, why China moved towards its own unique brand of Communism (which is Communist only in terms of political repression) and why Communism and Communist parties have been unequivocally rejected the world over. Communists essentially are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They may like to preach about tolerance, equality, internationalism and modernity, but the reality is that Communists are dogmatic, dictatorial and violently intolerant of all those who differ from them. Communism, as an ideology, is in itself so heavily flawed that it cannot be reformed. In the past, all those who have tried to rectify its inherent faults, have been labelled as schismatic and many more have been dispatched to their maker for having expressed dissent.
Communists are not Humanists:
Stalin
Estimates indicate that approximately 100 million people might have lost their lives due to Communist onslaught. Obviously, this number does not include those who were emotionally or physically destroyed by Communist regimes. For starters, sample this. During Stalin’s megalomaniac rule in the Soviet Union, nearly 7 lakh people were killed during the Great purge. The Great Purge made it impossible for anyone to hold any views contrary to the party line. Thousands of First generation Russian Revolutionaries, Petty Bureaucrats, Workers and Peasants met their end with a bullet to the back of their head. Many more rotted for decades in Gulags in Siberia. In China, Chairman Mao’s brand of Communism and intolerance of dissent led to disastrous policies such as the ‘Great Leap Forward’ and ‘Cultural revolution’, which led to famines and state repression, resulting in the death of 6.5 crore Chinese citizens. Cambodian Communist revolutionaries wanted to reform their country into an Agrarian Utopia. During their takeover of the country, they instituted repressive measures including forced marches, starvation and killings, resulting in the death of nearly 20 lakh Cambodian citizens. In North Korea, Vietnam, Poland, East Germany, Albania, Cuba and other Communist ruled countries, hundreds and thousands of opponents were murdered by Communists.
Communists are not Democrats:
Even in the aftermath of the Second World War, most East Europeans looked at Communists with suspicion. This was confirmed during the elections that took place in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania and several East European countries, the Communists fared no better than other political parties in the fray. However, by manipulating and threatening other leaders, Communists took control of key ministries. Once secure in their positions, they subverted the state machinery to push their agenda. Elections were rigged, Referendums were doctored and Opposition was coerced into letting the Communists take power. Once in power, the Communists set up ‘People’s democracy’, where other political parties were outlawed and elections took place on party approved lists. Communist Unions for Workers, Peasants, Students and other sections of the society were used to disseminate Communist agenda. All dissent, for example the 18th June Workers’ revolt in East Germany was violently crushed. Leaders like Stalin of Russia, Ceausescu of Romania, Hoxha of Albania and others typified the scant regard that the Communists had for democracy or popular will.
Communists are not Nationalists:
In fact, it may be wiser to say that Communism is a form of neo-imperialism. Soviet Union and China, for Communists, became the Kaaba around which the world revolves. Communists in Eastern Europe acted as traitors to their own countrymen by letting the Soviet Union ravage their nations. The violent crushing of Prague Spring in 1968, the Soviet war against Hungary in 1956, the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979, were all orchestrated by Quislings in these countries, aided and abetted by their Soviet Handlers. The Warsaw pact nations swore to toe the Soviet line, however inimical that be to their national interests. East European nations, ravaged by the Second World War were forced to bear massive war reparations to the Soviet Union. Cambodian Communists, while petulant for most part, swore allegiance to China. Nepalese Maoists, too swore by the word of Chairman Mao. For the Communists, commitment to the party line takes precedence over patriotism. Indian Communists, in fact, had cheered Chinese incursions during 1962 war, seeing it as a prelude to the establishment of Communist utopia in India.
Communists do not believe in Equality:
Communism essentially inverts the existing Social hierarchy in a nation. It does not try to do away with the hierarchy. For instance, if in Imperial Russia, it was the Kings and the Priests at the top of Social ladder, the Soviet Union reduced them to beggary and penury and instead created a new hierarchy wherein Communists were put at the helm of social pyramid. Former-bourgeois (Kulaks in Russia), Former Royalty, Formal Priestly class, were all labelled as anti-national and were widely persecuted. In countries such as North Korea, families of defectors (who escape to South Korea or China) are deprived of Food, shelter and basic necessities of life. Reports suggest that the Communist Government in North Korea treats generations of a defector’s family as enemies of the state. Communist China widely persecuted intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution. Since many of the early Communists were uneducated peasants and workers, Communist regimes specifically targeted professors, bespectacled people and intellectuals. An umbrella term, ‘Enemy of the State’ was frequently and widely deployed to suppress all free thinking citizens. The social hierarchy put the Communist boss at the top, gave him a luxurious apartment, caviar to feast on, wine to drink, car to travel and coupons which made it easy for him to meet all necessities of life. At the same time, the majority of his fellow citizens struggled with shortages and cursed their lives.
The sordid tale of Indian Communists:
West Bengal and Kerala have primarily born the brunt of Communist administrations in India. In both these states, the level of indoctrination of Communist ideology, makes it impossible for dissent to survive. It was primarily because of this indoctrination that the Communist Party clung to power in West Bengal for nearly 4 decades. Universities and Colleges were converted into dens of political thought. Dissenting students and teachers were hounded and driven into despair. Local Communist chieftains inflicted horrible retribution on those who supported other political parties. Murder, Rape, Arson, Electoral fraud- all served as weapons to maintain Communist rule. In Kerala, feud between Communists and RSS has claimed hundreds of lives. Atheist Communists in Kerala supported the cause of Mopalastan (Country for Kerala Muslims) and birthed a Muslim majority district, Malappuram. Irreligious Communists in West Bengal have supported the cause of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Communists in India have espoused every anti-national cause as their own- Independence of Hyderabad, Opposition to Quit India Movement, Partition of India, Support for China in the 1962 war and so on. They have even supported the global Jihad as a liberating, anti-Imperialist movement in the world. And now, these godforsaken Leftists have even joined hands to oppose Nationalism and patriotism in the country. Flying the national flag is seen as act of provocation, upholding Indian culture is seen as treason. These Communists and Media persons on their payroll would rather have us become a colony of their Masters than live as proud citizens of a free nation.
Ronald Reagan, widely recognized as the man who brought down the Soviet Union, is reported to have said ‘How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.’
Not sure where you’re writing from, Anne, and it does matter because political labels have different meanings and associations depending where you are.
I’m quite happy, here in the UK, to call myself humanist, enlightened, secular, (small-“l”) liberal, western, and possibly intellectual, but I hold no brief for communism and the many evils perpetrated in its name, as listed above.
I absolutely agree that communism is not nationalism; this (apart from some toleration of private enterprise) is how you distinguish fascism (national socialism) from communism, which claims to be internationalist but still manages to incorporate pogroms etc.
“Grown “refugee” men who pretend to be children are becoming increasingly common in Europe” tell me! I work in a museum in Germany and daily see men who are obviouly in their 20s and even 30s who claim to be children to enter for free, it’s not they want to learn about dinosaurs and gems.. they only want to pickpocket the visitors. I know a muslim man from Iraq who’se been living in Germany for 20 years, 20 years during which he has accused everything and everyone of racism (¿is islam a race?) when a workmate asked him about adult men pretenting to be children he answered: “german women lie about their age all the time”
“A 12-year-old migrant boy in a Swedish asylum center was repeatedly raped by two full-grown men who had lied about their age — they said they were 15 — and were assigned to share a room with the unfortunate boy.”
So it seems they don’t discriminate at all in their “unnatural” practices, although for them maybe it is natural. What scum. In this country it would be prosecuted, wouldn’t it? I hope so.
Anyway, this is reason 123, 595 to not allow these people out of their own territory and to deport them very quickly, no matter what the cost.
Angela Merkel will have a very hard time at the Gates of Heaven and will no doubt be sent down the stairs to the Gates of Hell. Where she belongs, what a traitor to her country she is.
sorry, but I have kids — one of each (boy and girl, now adult) and I see these stories, horrifying as they are, through a mother’s eyes and am truly horrified that in this day and supposed enlightened age, we are right back to the non-civilized hordes. AGAIN.
As someone said people who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Unfortunately, when it is our “leaders” we are all condemned to repeat it.
Having just read the article: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/02/19/islam-cant-be-modernised-says-worlds-greatest-arabic-poet/ in the News Feed 20/02 &d also linking in the article headed “Resisting Blasphemy Laws in Egypt” on the 16th, here an outline of an ongoing limited debate on Islam, taking place in the French press. It stems from a couple of articles by Kamel Daoud, an Algerian writer. Extract from the latest article talking about islamophobia by Laurent Bouvet , (translated from French):
“ Is it now impossible to calmly deal with the subject of islam in France? How did we get here?
We do not experience, fortunately, the same conditions as in some Arab and muslim countries in terms of public debate and expression on islam. But pressure exists. Both an extremist fringe, radicalized islam, and especially, a whole bunch of people, whether in universities, in some political activists groups or organisations, or even, sometimes, in the heart of some public institutions. It does not seem possible to speak of islam and, above all, what seems to me more important still, of the place of this religion has within in the Republic, in the social & public space, in the same way as others have, in a secular manner.”
“The term islamophobia is specifically is used as a weapon by all these proponents of Islamic politics and their allies. Under its description aspect that exists and which must be fought with force, words and anti-muslim acts, it primarily serves to disqualify and accuse all those who send out criticisms against this islamic politics and its allies. […]”
“That such totalitarian methods are being used by islamist militants, it explains, even we barely understand it. The fact, however, it is commonplace in public debates in France, it amazes me more so.”
“The term itself is sometimes not even questioned. It is accepted as the equivalent of anti-semitism or racism! Seminars are organized on islamophobia without the term even being questioned. The CCIF, an association activist that promotes islamic politics, is even received officially by the public authorities in the name of the fight against islamophobia, which it has, cleverly, focused its purpose . These are self-delusions and self-denial that speaks volumes and, above all, may be costly.”
Ok, you might think that is really a bit tame, but take note that the French press are known to allow articles published that run counter to the established narrative, so this is a blip, but nevertheless an interesting one, (especially judging by the comments). Just a drip in an ocean, unfortunately. The interesting part is that is centers again on an individual trying to at the situation in a different light.
Links in French:
http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/2016/02/19/31003-20160219ARTFIG00298-cologne-islamophobie-ce-que-revele-l-affaire-kamel-daoud.php
What was the origin of this fuss? This NYT article in part, written as a follow up to the events in Cologne: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/opinion/sunday/the-sexual-misery-of-the-arab-world.html As well as an article that appeared both in the La Repubblica & in Le Monde. (Link in Fr
http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2016/01/31/cologne-lieu-de-fantasmes_4856694_3232.html
“Cologne, a place of fantasies ”
The writer wrote about the main issue behind the assaults in Cologne being the taboo subject of relationships with women in Arab societies, linked to the rise of Islamism.
Of course, subsequently he got heavily criticised by the PC, (as described above) in another article in Le Monde. They accused him of recycyling“ the most stupid worn-out clichés of orientalists” and feed the fantasies of islamophobia in a growing part of the European public, under the pretext of refusing any kind of naive optimism”.
Kamel Daoud then gave another interview
(link in Fr: http://www.marianne.net/kamel-daoud-verdict-islamophobie-sert-aujourd-hui-inquisition-100240340.html)
“I think that it is immoral to use me as fodder for local hate under the verdict of islamophobia that serves today as an inquisition.”
“Denounce the theocracy prevailing here is becoming an islamphobia argument elsewhere.”
Kamel Daoud has a fatwa against him for apostasy and heresy. Not that it seems to bother the PC elites & media.
http://www.lepoint.fr/culture/kamel-daoud-sous-le-coup-d-une-fatwa-17-12-2014-1890421_3.php
Yes, this is tame stuff, but it shows that there is unease at the way Islam is handled so tamely without the ability to question it in France. What it does show, no French person could open the breach, as we have seen that it is an Algerian that voiced his opinion strongly.