Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/17/2016

A Saudi airstrike on a town in northern Yemen killed at least 41 people and wounded dozens more. A number of civilians, including children, were among the dead. The town was targeted because it is reportedly a stronghold of the Houthi rebels.

In other news, recent figures released by the Danish government indicated that 84% of welfare recipients in Denmark are non-Western immigrants.

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

Thanks to AF, Blue Ridge Forum, C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, KS, 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.

Financial Crisis
» Italy: FCA Changes U.S. Credit Line Accords
» Retirement Crisis: 20 of the Richest Countries Face a $78 Trillion Pension Shortfall
» The Federal Reserve is Dealing Financial Drugs
 
USA
» America’s Gestapo: The FBI’s Reign of Terror
» Ann Coulter — Voters Deliver Subtle Message: Die, Donor Scum
» Anti-Donald Trump Black Lives Matter Activist is ‘Hell Bent on Inciting Riots’
» Anti-Trump Groups Threaten ‘Largest Civil Disobedience Action of the Century’
» Bolton: Obama, Like EU Advocates, Views Sovereignty as ‘More of a Problem Than a Solution’
» Cruz Assembles an Unlikely Team of Foreign-Policy Rivals
» CT Bill Would Confiscate Guns Before Allegations of Abuse Proven
» Family of Slain Burglar Complains, ‘How Else Was He Gonna Get Money?’
» How the GOP Elite Plan to Rob Donald Trump
» Malware-Infected Ads Hit New York Times, BBC, NFL
» Michigan Shooter Says ‘Mind Controlling’ Uber App Told Him to Kill
» Obama Selects 2nd Amendment Foe for Supreme Court
» ObamaCare Insurers Could Get Billions From Controversial Government Fund
» Plucky Cable Billionaires Defeat Menace of Small-Town Broadband
» Tennessee Bill Would Ban Punishment for Offensive Speech, ‘Microaggressions’ At Universities
» Top Black Lives Matter Activist: ‘We Will Incite Riots Everywhere if Trump Wins’
» Unbound Republican Delegate: Voters Don’t Decide Candidate, Establishment Does
 
Canada
» CF Stabbing Suspect Once Had Restricted Security Clearance at Pearson
 
Europe and the EU
» Alone in Berlin: How Merkel Has Gambled Away Her EU Power
» Bolton: EU Has Made Europe ‘Less Than the Sum of Its Parts’
» Brewer AB InBev Makes Record Euro Debt Issue: Source
» Child Abuse Scandal Casts ‘Spotlight’ On France’s Top Catholic
» First Time Mothers Youngest in Bulgaria and Romania
» French Police Arrest Man Suspected of Planning Terror Attack
» Italy: Blu Destroys 20 Years of Street Art in Protest
» Latvia’s ‘Nazi’ Veterans Stage Controversial Parade
» The Rise and Fall of Spanish Renewable Energy Giant Abengoa
» UK Officials Warn Obama: ‘Butt Out of Britain’s EU Referendum’
 
North Africa
» The Next Disaster: Islamic State Expands as Libya Descends Into Chaos
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Allen West Warns: Look to Israel for What’ll Happen if We Let Liberals ‘Wussify’ America
 
Middle East
» Aleppo Bishop: Two Thirds of Syrian Christians Have Been Killed or Driven Away
» Before When Saudi Arabia Was a Jewish Kingdom
» Five Policy Initiatives Required for Implementation of Kerry’s Genocide Declaration
» In Beirut’s Hezbollah Stronghold, Syrian War Keeps the Peace
» Qatar Sheikh Buys Taormina Hotel for 52.5 Million Euros
» Saudi Raid Hits Yemeni Market, 41 Civilians Killed, 35 Wounded
» The Final Battle? US and Russia to Smash ISIS and Free Christians Amid Religious Genocide
» Turkey’s Erdogan Goes Full-Dictator: Designates Journalists and Teachers as “Terrorists”; Arrests Lawyers
 
Immigration
» “Refugees” 66X More Mentally Ill
» Crime: “Refugees” Fill German Prisons
» EU Officials Don’t Know How Much Taxpayer’s Cash Has Been Spent on Migrant Crisis
» EU Take Note — Australia’s Strict Immigration Policy Sees 600 Days Without Asylum Boats
» Hungarian Leader Orbán Blames EU for Migrant Crisis, Foresees the ‘Destruction of Europe’
» Hungarian PM Blames EU for Migrant Crisis, Foresees the ‘Destruction of Europe’
» In Denmark, 84 Per Cent of Welfare Recipients Are ‘Non-Western Immigrants’
» Migrant Arrivals in Greece Top One Million in a Year
» Only Five Illegal Immigrants Arrested by UK Border Police, Entry Attempts Triple
» U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner: Illegal Immigration Disproportionately Harms Black Americans
 

Italy: FCA Changes U.S. Credit Line Accords

Scraps liquidity ties, frees capital flows among units

(ANSA) — Turin, March 15 — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) on Tuesday changed its accords on credit lines in the US falling due in 2017 and 2018. Contractual limits on the concession of guarantees and the payment of dividends by FCA US to the rest of the FCA Group have been lifted. This is the final step to enable the free flow of capital among the group companies, making available the second 2.5 billion euro tranche of FCA’s 5-billion syndicated revolving credit line. FCA US has also made a voluntary anticipated reimbursement of $2 billion.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Retirement Crisis: 20 of the Richest Countries Face a $78 Trillion Pension Shortfall

The world is facing a retirement crisis. A new report suggests that 20 of the richest countries in the world are facing a pension shortfall totaling around $78 trillion, and this could have disastrous consequences for everybody, both government and non-government workers.

Citi released a report Wednesday (via CNBC) that warned social security systems, government and private sector pensions and individual retirement accounts in 20 countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are “unfunded or underfunded.”

“Government services, corporate profits, or retirement benefits themselves will have to be reduced to make any part of the system work,” the report stated. “This poses an enormous challenge to employers, employees, and policymakers all over the world.”

Nations with immense government pension systems across the Euruope face massive liabilities. Countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Portugal, Italy and Spain maintain public sector pension liabilities that exceed 300 percent of gross domestic product.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Federal Reserve is Dealing Financial Drugs

The Federal Reserve is dealing financial drugs and endangering the world economy by creating a bond bubble of epic proportions.

Rather than sobering up with sound money and fiscal restraint, it instead has chosen the irresponsible and reckless route—so as to create a “wealth effect.” Their deliberate policy decisions have been the financial equivalent of supplying liquor and car keys to teenage boys, hoping that nothing bad will happen. At some point in the future, if this house of cards fails, will any of these masters of the universe be held accountable, or will it be business as usual—where the real criminals get promotions rather than jail time or permanent censure?

The Federal Reserve is often spoken about as if it possesses some divine intelligence. Reminiscent of the old EF Hutton commercials, the CNBC crowd behaves similarly, falling all over themselves to dissect every word for some hidden message or insight—when, in fact, there isn’t one. Most of the Fed’s statements can be best surmised by Shakespeare:

It is a tale. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. —Macbeth Act 5, scene 5

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

America’s Gestapo: The FBI’s Reign of Terror

This is how freedom falls, and tyrants come to power

“Don’t Be a Puppet” is the message the FBI is sending young Americans.

As part of the government’s so-called ongoing war on terror, the nation’s de facto secret police force is now recruiting students and teachers to spy on each other and report anyone who appears to have the potential to be “anti-government” or “extremist.”

Using the terms “anti-government,” “extremist” and “terrorist” interchangeably, the government continues to add to its growing list of characteristics that could distinguish an individual as a potential domestic terrorist.

For instance, you might be a domestic terrorist in the eyes of the FBI (and its network of snitches) if you:

  • express libertarian philosophies (statements, bumper stickers)
  • exhibit Second Amendment-oriented views (NRA or gun club membership)
  • read survivalist literature, including apocalyptic fictional books
  • show signs of self-sufficiency (stockpiling food, ammo, hand tools, medical supplies) fear an economic collapse
  • buy gold and barter items
  • subscribe to religious views concerning the book of Revelation
  • voice fears about Big Brother or big government
  • expound about constitutional rights and civil liberties
  • believe in a New World Order conspiracy

Despite its well-publicized efforts to train students, teachers, police officers, hairdressers, store clerks, etc., into government eyes and ears, the FBI isn’t relying on a nation of snitches to carry out its domestic spying.

There’s no need.

The nation’s largest law enforcement agency rivals the NSA in resources, technology, intelligence, and power. Yet while the NSA has repeatedly come under fire for its domestic spying programs, the FBI has continued to operate its subversive and clearly unconstitutional programs with little significant oversight or push-back from the public, Congress or the courts. Just recently, for example, a secret court gave the agency the green light to quietly change its privacy rules for accessing NSA data on Americans’ international communications.

Indeed, as I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the FBI has become the embodiment of how power, once acquired, can be easily corrupted and abused.

When and if a true history of the FBI is ever written, it will not only track the rise of the American police state but it will also chart the decline of freedom in America.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ann Coulter — Voters Deliver Subtle Message: Die, Donor Scum

It is no longer a question of what the party wants. The voters — remember them? — keep showering Trump and Cruz with Ceausescu-like percentages. The combined vote for Trump and Cruz is a ringing chorus of what this party wants: a wall, deportation, less immigration and no job-killing trade deals.

In other words, what the party wants is the diametric opposite of what the donor and consultant class wants. One would have to search the history books to find a party establishment so emphatically rejected by the voters as today’s Republican Party has been.

Trump and Cruz don’t agree on everything — Cruz is more interventionist on foreign policy, and Trump is more aggressive on bringing manufacturing home. But there’s not much daylight between them on the crucial issue of whether to dissolve America’s borders. By now, they both say build a wall, reduce immigration and protect American jobs…

Now we’re going into the presidential election with our 80 percent thunderous will of the people against immigration. I’m not sure someone who is more preacher than president is the most electable expression of that will, but whether Trump or Cruz, make no mistake about what the will is.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Anti-Donald Trump Black Lives Matter Activist is ‘Hell Bent on Inciting Riots’

“Young niggas such as myself are fully hell bent on inciting riots,” and Donald Trump’s election in November would mean there “aint no more rules,” say messages on Twitter to “white people,” from Tef Poe, a noted pro-Palestinian rap-artist and Black Lives Matter activist.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Anti-Trump Groups Threaten ‘Largest Civil Disobedience Action of the Century’

“We will demand that Congress listen to the People and take immediate action to save our democracy”

With little fanfare and almost no news media attention, some of the same radical groups involved in shutting down Donald Trump’s Chicago rally last week are plotting a mass civil disobedience movement to begin next month.

They intend to march across the East Coast in order to spark a “fire that transforms the political climate in America.”

The operation, calling itself Democracy Spring, is threatening “drama in Washington” with the “largest civil disobedience action of the century.” The radicals believe this will result in the arrest of thousands of their own activists.

“We will demand that Congress listen to the People and take immediate action to save our democracy. And we won’t leave until they do — or until they send thousands of us to jail,” the website for Democracy Spring declares, channeling rhetoric from the Occupy movement.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Bolton: Obama, Like EU Advocates, Views Sovereignty as ‘More of a Problem Than a Solution’

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton tells Breitbart News Daily about “Brexit” — Britain’s potential exit from the European Union — and President Barack Obama’s plans to interfere in the process.

Bolton published an article at the UK Telegraph arguing that Obama should let the British people make up their own minds about continued membership in the EU.

Host Stephen K. Bannon asked Bolton about the letter sent by five members of Parliament, plus a member of the European Parliament, asking Obama to stay away. Bolton said he added his voice to the effort because he worries that Obama’s view of sovereignty for the United States “looks a lot like what the people in the European Union who want what they call ‘ever-closer union’ think about the national sovereignty of the EU members — that they view it as more of a problem than a solution.”

“I worry that the United States, through various international commitments, and international organizations, could drift into situations where our ability to do what we decide through our representative government, and Constitutional processes, ends up being precluded,” he continued.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Cruz Assembles an Unlikely Team of Foreign-Policy Rivals

In a year when the Republican Party is breaking apart because of Donald Trump, the only man left with a chance to beat him is trying to build a big tent — by GOP standards — when it comes to foreign affairs.

On Thursday, Senator Ted Cruz is set to announce his campaign’s national security advisory team, and it includes many foreign-policy insurgents and a few more establishment types. The list includes conservatives who disagree on one of the most pressing issues facing the next president: defining and confronting radical Islam.

The first name on the advisory list that stands out is Frank Gaffney, a former Reagan administration Pentagon official who has emerged as a lightning rod in the Obama era, accused by the Southern Poverty Law Center of being one of the nation’s leading Islamophobes.

When Trump proposed a temporary ban on all Muslim immigration, he quoted from a 2015 survey of American Muslims commissioned by the think tank Gaffney founded, the Center for Security Policy. It concluded that a quarter of U.S. Muslims supported violent jihad against the U.S. This led to speculation in the Washington press that Gaffney was advising Trump.

But Gaffney is a Cruz man. In an interview, he said that he met Cruz when he was running for Senate in 2012, and that he has briefed him on the FBI’s investigation into a Muslim Brotherhood-linked charity known as the Holy Land Foundation and on how Sharia law is a threat to America. “I hope that some of that went into his decision to introduce legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization,” Gaffney said.

           — Hat tip: Blue Ridge Forum [Return to headlines]
 

CT Bill Would Confiscate Guns Before Allegations of Abuse Proven

A new bill introduced in Connecticut changes state law so that guns are confiscated from the subject of a protective order the moment the request for the order is filed rather than waiting until the accused has an opportunity to have his or her case heard by a judge.

The measure is supported by state senator Mae Flexer (D-Killingly), who says, “The minute a woman comes forward and asks for a temporary restraining order is the most dangerous moment of her life.”

Opponents of the measure point out that the request for a protective order on the accusation of criminal behavior and the issuance of said order in light of a judge’s decision are two different things. They argue that it completely flips the scales, forcing gun owners into a position of being guilty until proven innocent.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Family of Slain Burglar Complains, ‘How Else Was He Gonna Get Money?’

Could have been Obama’s son.

The sister and cousin of a black teen shot and killed by a Miami homeowner protecting her property are complaining that people need to see the break-in from the teen’s point of view: “How he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school?”

The home had been burglarized in the past, and the homeowner had put up security cameras which alerted her to the break-in by 17-year-old Trevon Johnson. The 54-year-old homeowner rushed home in time to see Johnson exiting the home. There was a confrontation, say detectives, and a single shot was fired, killing Johnson.

Trevon Johnson’s sister and cousin spoke with local CBS reporters and complained that it didn’t need to come to this — which indeed it didn’t. Had Johnson not chosen to break into someone’s home, he would still be alive. This reasoning seemed to escape his family members:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

How the GOP Elite Plan to Rob Donald Trump

Shhhh. I’ve just come from a meeting of the Republican Establishment. You know, those guys who want to replace what the voters want with what they want. That Republican Establishment. I’m not supposed to tell you what was said, so don’t quote me. I’ve been to every Republican National Convention since 1964 and I’ve worked the floor in every convention since 1972 including for Ronald Reagan in 1976, the last time we had a contested GOP Convention. So let’s just say I know the ropes.

Despite his historic run in the primaries, Trump will never, repeat never, get the nomination if this bunch can stop him. Forget about them conceding Trump the victory once he gets to the magic 1237 (Fifty percent of the available delegates). They’ve cooked up a strategy to be employed at all costs to steal delegates from Trump so that he’ll fall below the 1237 on the first ballot, and then, before the second ballot to present one of their group (Mitt Romney, call your office) as the Savior of the Grand Old Party. While each state’s individual law governs, most delegates are not bound to the candidate that brought them once the first ballot is over. Stall Trump on the first ballot and the Bush-Romney-Rubio-Kasich-Ryan-McConnell combine can go really to work

Cleveland, ladies and gentlemen, won’t be for the faint of heart.

The insiders have poured over the rules of the Republican Party (well, heck, they WROTE those rules in the first place) and they have found a way to lie, cheat and steal Trump out of enough delegates to force a second ballot. Here is how they plan to do it: Rule 16 (d). This byzantine concoction of legalese, simply put, says that nobody can be a delegate if he is from a state where voters who are not registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. Like Massachusetts, where Trump got 22 delegates. Not like New Hampshire, where Democrats and Independents can officially re-register as Republicans going into the polling booth, vote on a Republican ballot, and re-register as a Dem on their way out, all on the same day. But like Arkansas, where Trump racked up 16 delegates.

Let me put it another way: in New Hampshire, Republican primary ballots are only given to registered Republicans, even if the voter registered as a Republican exactly 7 1/2 seconds before getting the ballot and switched back to Democrat 12 seconds after he voted Republican. The point is the voter was an official Republican when he got the ballot and voted. Other states omit this nicety and just ask voters which ballot they want when they walk in, regardless of their registration. The GOP bigwigs plan on challenging Trump’s delegates from those states.

Missouri is an example of another opportunity for the establishment to practice chicanery. Missouri’s rules regarding delegate selection are clear and simple to follow: the winner in each of the state’s eight congressional districts gets 5 votes. The winner of the entire state then gets an extra 12 votes. Easy, peasey, right? WRONG. Missouri law doesn’t require county election authorities to report votes by congressional district, only by county. But ever since Baker v. Carr (the “one man, one vote” case) congressional districts don’t mirror county lines, because all 435 congressional districts have to have roughly the same number of people in them, and county lines don’t change as easily as congressional district lines. So, the Secretary of State of Missouri, Jason Kander — The youngest statewide elected official in America — a DEMOCRAT- will make the decision how many delegates to certify to each candidate, Trump, Cruz and Kasich. That sound you hear is of lawyers busily writing lawsuits to file if the county election officials refuse to report by congressional district, and we’ll see what happens in the next few days. But back to the convention steal.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Malware-Infected Ads Hit New York Times, BBC, NFL

Attack aims to encrypt user’s hard drives, forcing them to pay a bitcoin ransom

Advertisements on sites such as The New York Times, BBC and The Hill were altered to deliver readers “ransomware” by an unknown group of cybercriminals.

Known as “malvertising,” the attack is designed to exploit vulnerabilities on a user’s computer before encrypting their hard drive and demanding a bitcoin ransom in order to unlock it.

“If a user’s computer is vulnerable, the ad will download the Angular exploit kit and injects it into the webpage, providing the ransomware’s creators with the ability to lock the computer user’s files,” writes James Walker of Digital Journal.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Michigan Shooter Says ‘Mind Controlling’ Uber App Told Him to Kill

The man accused of killing six people during a shooting rampage in Michigan last month says an “artificial intelligence” controlled by the Uber mobile app was to blame.

45-year-old loon Jason Dalton stands accused of committing a series of murders in the city of Kalamazoo on the night of February 20th, accepting ride fares through Uber in-between the shootings and prior to his arrest. Passengers had reported Dalton behaving and driving erratically during the various trips.

According to police documents obtained by local news station WDIV, shortly after his arrest Dalton told police that the rampage was triggered by the Uber mobile app, which acted “like artificial intelligence that can tap into your body.”

Dalton went on to describe how he believed the Uber app within his iPhone was able to control him at various points in the evening, including when the app controlled him “like a puppet” by changing a symbol on the phone’s screen from “black to red.” He goes on to tell police that he only vaguely remembers the shootings and that he never attempted to aim his gun during the rampage.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Selects 2nd Amendment Foe for Supreme Court

Expected to overturn Scalia ruling on 2nd Amendment if confirmed

Judge Merrick Garland, Obama’s pick to replace the late Antonin Scalia, “has a very liberal view of gun rights,” according to Judicial Crisis Network (JNC), a judicial group run by a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Garland is the chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was nominated by Bill Clinton. Garland’s nomination languished in the Republican controlled Senate until after the 1996 election.

Republicans did not specifically object to Garland’s liberal views, but rather said the DC court did not need another judge and objected to the additional “cost to taxpayers of $1 million a year,” according to Senator Chuck Grassley…

According to JNC chief counsel Carrie Severino, Garland’s judicial record “leads to the conclusion that he would vote to reverse one of Justice Scalia’s most important opinions, D.C. vs. Heller, which affirmed that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to keep and bear arms.”…

If Merrick Garland is nominated there will be little guarantee the highest Court will uphold the Constitution. It is now up to Republicans to reject Garland and force Obama to find another candidate or delay the appointment until a new president is in the White House.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ObamaCare Insurers Could Get Billions From Controversial Government Fund

Health Republic Insurance of Oregon filed $5 billion class action lawsuit against Obama administration

A $5 billion lawsuit filed by a nonprofit insurer against the Obama administration for a program implemented under Obamacare is raising questions about the use of a fund available for settlements with the government and whether Congress can, and should, intervene.

According to legal experts, if the Obama administration decided to settle its class action lawsuit with Health Republic Insurance of Oregon, one of 23 co-ops started under Obamacare, and other insurers for all or part of the $5 billion it’s seeking, the money would come from the Judgment Fund, an indefinite appropriation created by Congress and administered by the Department of Treasury.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Plucky Cable Billionaires Defeat Menace of Small-Town Broadband

Tennessee kills bid to expand muni fiber network

The city of Chattanooga in Tennessee has been told it cannot expand its broadband service to other counties. The state’s legislature has effectively canned a bill that would have allowed Chattanooga’s municipal broadband service into neighboring Hamilton and Bradley counties.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Tennessee Bill Would Ban Punishment for Offensive Speech, ‘Microaggressions’ At Universities

The state legislature of Tennessee is considering a bill which will ensure universities and colleges are powerless to punish students on the basis of making mean or offensive comments.

The proposal, named The Tennessee Student Free Speech Protection Act, would ban institutions from creating systems that allow students to report incidents with the expectation of disciplinary action, unless it involves a “genuine threat or harassment.”

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Top Black Lives Matter Activist: ‘We Will Incite Riots Everywhere if Trump Wins’

“Dear white people…niggas such as myself are fully hell bent on inciting riots everywhere we go”

UPDATE: Poe deleted his tweet and then claimed that he never made the comments. The tweet is archived here and a screenshot of it appears below.

He’s now whining about “slander”. Talk crap, then play the victim when you get challenged on your crap. Same process EVERY time with social justice warriors.

Prominent ‘Black Lives Matter’ activist and rapper Tef Poe has a message for “white people”: If Donald Trump wins the presidency, “niggas” will ‘incite riots everywhere’.

“Dear white people if Trump wins young niggas such as myself are fully hell bent on inciting riots everywhere we go. Just so you know,” Poe tweeted today.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Unbound Republican Delegate: Voters Don’t Decide Candidate, Establishment Does

“That’s just the way it is”

On Monday Infowars reported on remarks made by Curly Haugland of the Republican National Committee. He said delegates may “vote according to their personal choice in all matters to come before the Republican National Convention, including the vote to nominate the Republican Candidate for President” and disregard voters.

On Wednesday Haugland expanded on his remarks.

He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” voters are irrelevant when it comes to selecting a candidate for the presidential nomination.

“The media has created the perception that the voters choose the nomination. That’s the conflict here,” the North Dakota Republican said.

Haugland also questioned why primaries are held.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

CF Stabbing Suspect Once Had Restricted Security Clearance at Pearson

The suspect in a stabbing attack at a Canadian Forces recruiting office in North York was once permitted to work in restricted areas at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Greater Toronto Airport Authority spokesperson Siobhan Desroches said the 27-year-old man “worked for a third-party tenant” of the airport and carried a restricted area identification card, allowing him to enter secure areas of the facility between December 2008 and March 2009.

Sources tell CP24 the man worked as a groundskeeper at the airport.

In a statement provided to CP24 Wednesday night, Transport Canada said that the suitability of applicants to obtain security clearance to restricted areas is based on a “rigorous program” of background checks provided by both the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in addition to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

“Transport Canada grants a security clearance to applicants who do not pose a risk to transportation security,” the statement reads.

“If the department obtains credible information indicating that an applicant or an existing clearance holder poses a transportation security risk, the department responds immediately to review the clearance of the individual in question and will suspend it as required.”

Speaking with CP24 Wednesday night, Toronto’s top cop provided few new details on the investigation.

“We’re still trying to look for witnesses with respect to the incident that occurred,” Chief Mark Saunders said.

“We’re working with other agencies to try to determine if we can establish a motive.”…

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

Alone in Berlin: How Merkel Has Gambled Away Her EU Power

There were times when interactions between the German chancellor and European Council President Donald Tusk were more congenial. When Angela Merkel entered the conference hall at the European Council building in Brussels, Tusk would bow deeply and clasp Merkel’s hand. He would then kiss it so intimately that even Merkel, who is used to all manner of obsequiousness, would look in quizzical confusion at the former Polish prime minister’s bowed head.

On Wednesday, Merkel got to know a different Tusk. Once again, he sent Merkel a greeting, but this time he opted to use Twitter instead of his lips. He sent out a tweet thanking the countries of the Western Balkans for closing their borders to refugees and “implementing part of EU’s comprehensive strategy to deal with migration crisis.”

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

Bolton: EU Has Made Europe ‘Less Than the Sum of Its Parts’

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton tells Breitbart News Daily host Stephen K. Bannon about his UK Telegraph piece advising the British to ignore President Obama’s interference and exit from the European Union.

Bolton argues that such an exit would strengthen both the “special relationship” between the US and UK, as well as improve European security.

“Americans are very sensitive when foreigners try to influence our elections,” Bolton noted. “I think in Great Britain, they’re equally sensitive when we see this happen.”

He compared Obama’s efforts against the British exit to the way Prime Minister David Cameron helped to line up US House and Senate support for “the wretched deal they made with Iran on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.”

Bannon noted that advocates of keeping Britain in the EU have been attempting to frighten British voters by telling them an EU exit would also somehow remove the UK from NATO — a tactic that might succeed, because so many average citizens don’t understand how NATO is structured, or how and why it came into existence.

Bolton thought UK and US citizens probably had a better handle on the difference between the EU and NATO than many continental Europeans, particularly Germans. He worried they don’t understand how NATO, and the economic assistance rendered by the United States through the Marshall Plan, “saved them from being overrun by the Communists” after the “devastation of World War II.”

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Brewer AB InBev Makes Record Euro Debt Issue: Source

The world’s leading brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, raised 13.25 billion euros ($14.7 billion) on the markets Wednesday, a record amount in euros, a source told AFP.

The debt issue by the Belgium-based brewer comes only days after the European Central Bank said it would begin buying corporate bonds as part of its asset purchase programme.

The source said the ECB announcement “aided” the success of the bond issue by the company, even “if it wasn’t the only reason”.

The previous record euro bond issue was the nearly 10 billion raised Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche in 2009…

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

Child Abuse Scandal Casts ‘Spotlight’ On France’s Top Catholic

“Are we seeing the makings of a French ‘Spotlight’?” asked French daily Le Figaro on Tuesday, referring to the Oscar-winning movie that charts the disclosure of a massive cover-up of child abuse by the Roman Catholic Church in the US. While the comparison with the nascent French investigation is tempting, it is obviously a long stretch — if only because of the absence, in the French case, of a Spotlight-like team of investigative journalists uncovering the facts.

Still, the allegations have the potential to profoundly rattle the Church in a country where half the population continues to consider itself Catholic. In particular, they threaten to derail the career of France’s most prominent clergyman, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, a man long touted as a possible candidate for the papacy.

The 65-year-old prelate has fiercely denied charges that he covered up paedophilia crimes by failing to remove a priest in his diocese known to have abused boy scouts decades before he took up his post in 2002. Barbarin is also accused of failing to act against another Lyon priest when it emerged in 2009 he had abused a boy in the past…

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

First Time Mothers Youngest in Bulgaria and Romania

Largest increase of fertility from 2001-2014 in Latvia

(ANSA) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 15 — On average in the EU, women who gave birth to their first child in 2014 were aged nearly 29 (28.8 years). Across Member States, first time mothers were the youngest in Bulgaria and the oldest in Italy.

These are the latest data of Eurostat. In 2014, the mean age of women at birth of their first child stood at 27 or below in Bulgaria (25.8), Romania (26.1), Latvia (26.3), Estonia (26.6), Poland (26.9), Lithuania and Slovakia (both 27.0). In contrast, this age was 30 or above in Italy (30.7), Spain (30.6), Luxembourg (30.2) and Greece (30.0).

The largest increases in the fertility rate in the EU from 2001 to 2014 were observed in Latvia (from 1.22 in 2001 to 1.65 in 2014, or +0.43), the Czech Republic (+0.38), Slovenia (+0.37), Lithuania (+0.34), Bulgaria (+0.32) and Sweden (+0.31).

For EU as a whole, the fertility rate increased from 1.46 in 2001 to 1.58 in 2014 (+0.12).

In 2014, France (2.01) was the only EU Member State with a fertility rate above 2.0, followed by Ireland (1.94), Sweden (1.88) and the United Kingdom (1.81). Conversely, the lowest fertility rate wase observed in Portugal (1.23), ahead of Greece (1.30), Cyprus (1.31), Spain and Poland (both 1.32), Italy and Slovakia (both 1.37).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

French Police Arrest Man Suspected of Planning Terror Attack

François Hollande says terrorist threat in France is high as police arrest three men and one woman

François Hollande has warned that the terrorist threat in France remains very high after four people believed to have Islamist militant ties were arrested in dawn raids in the Paris area on suspicion of planning attacks in the French capital.

Three men and a woman were arrested in the north of Paris. But the investigation was focused mainly on one of them: a 28-year-old French man who had been placed under house arrest since 29 February under the special provisions of France’s ongoing state of emergency.

He had been sentenced to five years in prison in March 2014 after he was arrested two years earlier trying to leave France for Syria. The French TV station TF1 reported that he had been released in October last year.

The man was arrested with his partner in Seine-Saint-Denis on the edge of Paris. Two French brothers of Turkish family origin were also arrested at the same time in a northern arrondissement of Paris.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Blu Destroys 20 Years of Street Art in Protest

Le Monde publishes article on eve of show’s opening

(ANSA) — Rome, March 16 — French daily Le Monde on Wednesday published an article on the protest by Blu, a street artist who this week systematically painted over 20 years’ worth of his public work in Bologna in a demonstration against a museum show on street art set to open there tomorrow.

Blu, named by The Guardian in 2011 as one of the world’s top 10 street artists, covered his work with gray paint to protest against the commercialisation and the ‘museumification’ of his work, some of which will be on display without his authorisation in the show “Street Art: Banksy & Co.” at Bologna’s Palazzo Pepoli.

The show was organised by Fabio Roversi-Monaco, president of the city’s Genus Bononiae museum group, with the Carisbo bank Foundation, and includes 250 works, some of which were removed from their original locations on various city walls.

Organisers said the aim of the show is “to start a reflection on how to save, conserve, and display these urban experiences in museums”.

On his blog, Blu wrote: “there’s no more Blu in Bologna” and linked to a protest article at the Wu Ming Foundation website, which called Blu’s protest “action against the rich and powerful who take street art off the street”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Latvia’s ‘Nazi’ Veterans Stage Controversial Parade

Latvian veterans who fought for Nazi Germany against the Soviets in World War II staged a controversial march through Riga Wednesday to mark a key 1944 battle.

Police said more than 1,000 people paraded through the Latvian capital’s Old Town amid a heavy security presence.

Jewish groups, Moscow and many in Latvia’s large ethnic Russian minority see the parade as glorifying Nazism because the Latvian Legion, founded in 1943, was commanded by the Waffen-SS, the Nazi party’s elite police force.

A quarter of Latvia’s two million people identify themselves as Russian…

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

The Rise and Fall of Spanish Renewable Energy Giant Abengoa

Abengoa went from fixing electrical installations in war-torn Spain in the 1940s to building the world’s largest solar power plant in the US — a remarkable success story until its uncontrolled growth pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy.

The struggling renewable energy giant on Wednesday presented a debt restructuring plan which will see its creditors wrestle control of the firm from the family that founded the company 75 years ago.

It is an unexpected ending for a company which just six years ago was praised by US President Barack Obama after it announced it would build the world’s biggest solar plant in Arizona…

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

UK Officials Warn Obama: ‘Butt Out of Britain’s EU Referendum’

Five Members of the British Parliament and a Member of the European Parliament have written to U.S. President Barack Obama urging him to stay out of Britain’s referendum on the country’s membership of the European Union (EU).

Peter Bone (Conservative), Kate Hoey (Labour), Kelvin Hopkins (Labour), Tom Pursglove (Conservative), Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party), and UKIP leader Nigel Farage have co-authored a letter to President Obama warning him that an intervention by a foreign leader could have the opposite effect than intended.

The letter states: “With so much at stake, it is imperative that the question of exiting the European Union is not one answered by foreign politicians or outside interests, but rather by the British people who must ultimately live with change or the status quo.

The British politicians declare: “issues of national sovereignty must be decided exclusively by the people of the United Kingdom”. They state: “even a passive diplomatic recommendation in the matter of our national decision will receive the opposite of the intended effect.”

“The referendum vote is an act of democracy in its most direct form, and the question of whether or not to leave the EU is a rare political topic that is not owned by any one political party. This is a chance for the British people to choose the path of their country. Interfering in our debate over national sovereignty would be an unfortunate milestone at the end of your term as President.”

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

The Next Disaster: Islamic State Expands as Libya Descends Into Chaos

By Christoph Reuter

With two separate governments waging war against each other, Libya is crumbling. Islamic State is taking advantage of the turmoil to put down roots in the country. The US is weighing intervention.

The brass band starts playing. The musicians march along the Corniche, their blue uniforms starched and instruments polished and shining. The foreign minister has arranged for the celebration of several grand openings. Shops and cafe’s have opened their doors and red-black-green flags have been strung up all over, marking the fifth anniversary of the revolution.

Nothing in the capital city of Tripoli hints that Libya is in the throes of a civil war.

Still, an advance car equipped with a signal jammer that is supposed to block the detonation of any remote controlled explosives drives ahead of the foreign minister’s motorcade. And there are only a few consuls from neighboring countries walking along with the parade. After a brief address, the foreign minister plants an olive tree and then inaugurates a new low-rise government building. As he does so, secret service operatives dressed in civilian clothing go after a cameraman from the US TV station HBO. His offense is having filmed one of their white automobiles parked on the side of the road, though around three-quarters of all cars in Libya are white. They jerk the camera away from him amid the loud protestations of his crew. The band continues playing and then cake is served.

The scene is reminiscent of an operetta. Ali Abu Zakouk is the foreign minister of a government that is not recognized internationally. Politicians in Tripoli act as though they are running a state — but it is one that has in fact already broken into three pieces and is now on the verge of coming undone completely. The militaries of two Libyan governments are threatening each other, an array of militias and clans are involved as well, and the population is divided. Meanwhile, amidst this chaos, Islamic State (IS) is expanding.

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

Allen West Warns: Look to Israel for What’ll Happen if We Let Liberals ‘Wussify’ America

TEL AVIV — Colonel Allen West compared President Barack Obama to Israeli left-wing NGO head Yariv Oppenheimer, saying, “Oppenheimer and Obama are the reason why we have ISIS beheading, crucifying, slaughtering, enslaving, raping, and committing acts of genocide.”

In an article published Tuesday on West’s website, the former congressman slammed Oppenheimer’s claim that Israelis are “executing” terrorists, and warned that U.S. society was also in danger of breeding “miserable creatures” like Oppenheimer.

On Thursday, Breitbart Jerusalem reported that Peace Now head Oppenheimer had blasted a stabbing victim’s act of self-defense in a terror attack on Tuesday, calling it an “extrajudicial killing.”

Despite having been stabbed multiple times, the victim, Yonatan Azarihab, managed to pull the terrorist’s knife from his own neck and use it to stab his attacker to death.

Oppenheimer also condemned police for shooting and killing the Palestinian terrorist who went on a stabbing spree in Jaffa later the same day, wounding 10 and murdering tourist and U.S. Army veteran Taylor Force.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Aleppo Bishop: Two Thirds of Syrian Christians Have Been Killed or Driven Away

The Chaldean bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, reported Wednesday that in only five years of conflict and persecution, the Christian population in Syria has been reduced by two thirds, from 1.5 million to only 500,000 today.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Before When Saudi Arabia Was a Jewish Kingdom

The discovery of the oldest-known pre-Islamic Arabic writing in Saudi Arabia, from ca. 470 CE, evidently caused some consternation, given its Christian and Jewish context.

In 2014, researchers from a French-Saudi expedition studying rock inscriptions in southern Saudi Arabia announced they had discovered what could be the oldest texts written in the Arabic alphabet. But they did so very quietly, perhaps because the context of the texts is something of an embarrassment to some.

The dozen or so engravings had been carved into the soft sandstone of the mountain passes around Bir Hima — a site about 100 kilometers north of the city of Najran, which over millennia has been plastered with thousands of inscriptions by passing travelers and officials. Conveniently, at least two of the early Arabic petroglyphs that were discovered cited dates in an ancient calendar, and expert epigraphists quickly calculated that the oldest one corresponded to the year 469 or 470 CE.

The discovery was sensational: the earliest ancient inscriptions using this pre-Islamic stage of Arabic script had been dated at least half a century later, and had all been found in Syria, which had suggested that the alphabet used to write the Koran had been developed far from the birthplace of Islam and its prophet.

Yet the announcement of the discovery was subdued. A few outlets in the French and Arab media tersely summarized the news, hailing the text as the “missing link” between Arabic and the earlier alphabets used previously in the region, such as Nabatean. Most of the articles were accompanied by stock photos of archaeological sites or other ancient inscriptions: it is almost impossible to find a picture of the inscription online or a reference to the actual content of the text…

           — Hat tip: KS [Return to headlines]
 

Five Policy Initiatives Required for Implementation of Kerry’s Genocide Declaration

Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom in Washington, DC is a long term friend and advocate for relief and protection of threatened Middle East Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East. All threatened with extinction by the genocidal Salafist barbarity and havoc wreaked upon them by the Islamic State, Daesh in Arabic. As you will read in her National Review on-line article of today’s announcement by Secretary Kerry, she pragmatically judges this as a necessary, overdue, but useful action, “John Kerry’s Righteous Genocide Designation and Policy Challenges Ahead.” It is only the second time this has occurred in over a decade since former Secretary Colin Powell accused Sudan of Genocide in Darfur. As she noted it almost didn’t happen.

Watch Secretary Kerry’s announcement of the Genocide Declaration:…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

In Beirut’s Hezbollah Stronghold, Syrian War Keeps the Peace

Many locals in Lebanon’s capital are firm Hezbollah and Assad loyalists, seeing the Islamist militia that supports the Syrian regime and fights ISIS on the ground as their ultimate protector against the civil war raging across the border

In the neighborhood of Mouawad, the Syrian war never feels very far away. Yet locals see Hezbollah, the Shia political party that has an armed movement in Lebanon, as keeping them safe from the civil war raging across the border — even more so since Hezbollah’s recent victories on the battlefield in Syria.

“Our men fight in Aleppo to keep Beirut safe as well,” says Hassan al-Haji, a local fruit vendor on the main road of this outlying neighborhood of the Lebanese capital. “The takfiri of ISIS would like to cut all our heads off too.”

This is where Hezbollah-controlled Beirut begins, home to its political leadership, which has bet almost everything on victory in Syria. In his latest speech, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah went so far as to say that his men will remain in Syria “for centuries” if necessary. Other leading figures agree, explaining that they are in Syria because they were “invited by the government, which is legitimate whether you like it or not — unlike the Turks and Saudis, who send thousands of unwanted terrorists.”…

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

Qatar Sheikh Buys Taormina Hotel for 52.5 Million Euros

Offer was below minimum sought, deal still needs approval

(ANSAmed) — Catania, March 15 — Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani has purchased the historic San Domenico Palace Hotel in Taormina, Sicily, local media reported on Tuesday.

The ex-Dominican monastery is set to be sold for about 52.5 million euros, according to media reports. That price includes management of the hotel.

Several investors had presented offers for the hotel in a tender that closed on December 18, Catania daily “La Sicilia” reported. The 52.5 million offer was below a minimum sought of 53.377 million euros. Lawyers therefore still need to give final approval for the deal, which is expected to be decided by the end of March, the newspaper reported.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Raid Hits Yemeni Market, 41 Civilians Killed, 35 Wounded

Raid targets Mustabaa town, in the northern province of Hajja, a stronghold of the Houthi rebels. Local sources said that the death toll “is going to increase.” A site close to the rebels speak of 65 dead and 55 wounded, all civilians. The medical facilities of the neighboring area on brink of collapse. Over past year the Saudi coalition repeatedly targeted civilian sites.

Sanaa (AsiaNews / Agencies) — The death toll from an Saudi-led coalition air strike on a Yemen market town in the northern province of Hajja, considered a stronghold of the Houthi rebels, is of 41 dead so far. However, according to a local hospital source, under the responsibility of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the structure received the bodies of 41 people; in addition there are 35 others injured, some of them seriously.

A health official in the Yemeni province of Hajja confirms that there are numerous civilians among the victims, some of whom are children. He adds that the death toll “is likely to increase” in the coming hours.

Local sources and tribal leaders in the area explain that the planes of the Saudi coalition have hit the market town of Mustabaa several times and they must have known that civilians would be killed by their actions.

The sabanews.net web site, close to Houthi rebels, reports that the air strikes hit the market and a restaurant, causing 65 deaths and 55 wounded, all civilians. In the area medicines and health workers are scarce.

In over a year of war the Saudi coalition has frequently struck at civilian targets, causing deaths and injuries.

Recently, NGOs and international activists have accused the alliance of using cluster bombs supplied by the United States. An independent committee added that the coalition has made 119 raids in violation of international humanitarian law, hoping at the same time that an investigation will be held to punish those responsible.

Since January last year, the Gulf nation has been in the throes of a bloody internal conflict pitting the Sunni leadership, backed by Saudi Arabia, against Shiite Houthi rebels, close to Iran. In March, Saudi Arabia launched air strikes against the rebels in an attempt to free the capital Sana’a and return the country to the president (who at first fled in exile and later returned) Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.

For Saudi Arabia, the Houthis, allied to the forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, are supported militarily by Iran; a charge that Tehran rejects. Extremist groups linked to al Qaeda and jihadist militias linked to Islamic State are also active in the country, which has increased the spiral of violence and terror.

According to sources of the World Health Organization (WHO) more than 6,200 people have been killed in the war; for the United Nations Yemen is on the brink of a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

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

The Final Battle? US and Russia to Smash ISIS and Free Christians Amid Religious Genocide

THE US has vowed to crush Islamic State (ISIS) in order to liberate Christians and other religious minorities living under the terror group’s barbaric rule.

In a sharp condemnation of the twisted extremists, US Secretary of State John Kerry said ISIS — also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh — was responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

The top US diplomat singled out the Yazidi, Christian and Shi’ite Muslim populations in Iraq and Syria as having suffered under the group’s two-year rule.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey’s Erdogan Goes Full-Dictator: Designates Journalists and Teachers as “Terrorists”; Arrests Lawyers

We have no doubt that Erdogan will succeed one way or another in his bid to rewrite the constitution

Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan said on Monday, in an attempt to convince parliament to include journalists, politicians, academics, and activists under the country’s anti-extremism laws.

Erdogan’s comments came a day after the latest in a string of suicide bombings ripped through Ankara, killing 34 and wounding more than 100 in Kizilay. Since then, Turkey has arrested nearly 50 people with “suspected ties” to the PKK against which Erdogan is waging a highly personal crusade.

Apparently, the President doesn’t think parliament is moving fast enough on his “request” to expand the definition of “terrorist” because in a speech on Wednesday, he effectively instructed lawmakers to get moving before also urging parliament to deal with “the issue of immunities.”

Erdogan desperately wants to prosecute HDP members who he says are guilty of “inciting terrorism.” “We must swiftly finalize the issue of immunities,” he said. “Parliament must take steps on this issue swiftly,” he added, as if the first statement was in some way unclear.

But frankly, we’re not even sure why he bothers parliament with these things. Erdogan is going to do whatever Erdogan wants to do. We’re talking about a man who arrested two of the country’s preeminent journalists and had the nerve to charge them with “deliberately aiding a terrorist organization” when what they were in fact doing was exposing Erdogan for… wait for it… deliberately aiding a terrorist organization.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

“Refugees” 66X More Mentally Ill

Third World “refugees” flooding into Europe are sixty-six times more likely to suffer from psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia than Europeans, a new study has found.

As these diseases are genetic, this means that the nonwhite invasion is literally importing hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people into Europe.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Crime: “Refugees” Fill German Prisons

More than half of the criminal inmates of Germany’s largest prison are nonwhite “asylum seekers,” and “refugees” are three times more likely to commit crimes than Germans, official figures have revealed.

In addition, at least four prisons are now filled to 110 percent of their capacity because of the nonwhite invader crime.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

EU Officials Don’t Know How Much Taxpayer’s Cash Has Been Spent on Migrant Crisis

EU AID to tackle the migration crisis is so poorly managed that Brussels officials have no idea how much taxpayer’s cash has been spent, a scathing report warned last night.

European Commission chiefs had “no clear strategy” for returning migrants to their home countries, expert auditors found.

And a lack of co-ordination and inadequate management meant total spending aid spending in the border crisis “could not be established”.

Published by the EU’s own financial watchdog, the withering report sparked fury last night and is expected to inject fresh momentum into the campaign for Britain to quit the EU.

It was released as European leaders were wrangling over a £4.6billion aid package, including £500million from British taxpayers, to Turkey to try to halt the influx of asylum seekers and other migrants into the EU from Syria and other parts of the Middle East.

The analysis of the EU’s aid spending on the migration crisis in the Southern Mediterranean and on Europe’s Eastern borders was released by the Luxembourg-based Court of Auditors yesterday.

Serious questions over more than £1billion aid spent in Algeria, Georgia, Moldova, Morocco, Ukraine and other countries between 2007 and 2013.

“It was often difficult to measure the results achieved by EU spending,” the report said.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

EU Take Note — Australia’s Strict Immigration Policy Sees 600 Days Without Asylum Boats

Canberra issued the hardline guideline to turn back incoming sea vessels after 1,200 people died trying to get to reach the country between 2008 and 2013.

Since the policy, which Australia said was designed to stop migrant deaths at sea, no successful attempt had been made and 25 boats have been turned back or taken to remote Pacific Island camps.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Hungarian Leader Orbán Blames EU for Migrant Crisis, Foresees the ‘Destruction of Europe’

In speeches on Hungary’s National Day, prime minister Viktor Orbán has lashed out at European leaders for inviting the “destruction of Europe” by causing the migrant crisis and has rejected European Union (EU) plans to resolve the situation.

Warning “Europe will be destroyed”, Mr. Orbán said in Budapest yesterday he wanted to prevent further incidents of “gangs chasing our women”, especially in his own Hungary. Anti-mass migration political movements across Europe have been galvanised by the images and stories coming out of German cities like Cologne over New Year’s Eve, and his remarks reflect a preoccupation with preventing further sexual assault by migrant gangs.

Falling short of actually naming Germany in his Hungarian National Day speech, Mr. Orbán criticised the “incorrigible fighter for human rights” who blindly welcomed migrants to Europe and who in turn brought “crime and terror” to the continent, reports Nachricten. Calling for unity among European peoples, while making a carefully worded attack on the cloistered leaders of the EU, Mr. Orbán said:

“We are calling every citizen of Hungary and every nation of Europe into unity, regardless of political affiliation. Europe’s leaders and citizens cannot live in two separate worlds any-more, we must restore the unity of Europe. The people of Europe cannot be free on their own, if we are not free together.

“If we stand together, we will succeed. Divided we will fall… The future of Europe is at stake. ‘Shall we be slaves, or men set free?’, that is the question”.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Hungarian PM Blames EU for Migrant Crisis, Foresees the ‘Destruction of Europe’

In speeches on Hungary’s National Day, prime minister Viktor Orbán has lashed out at European leaders for inviting the “destruction of Europe” by causing the migrant crisis and has rejected European Union (EU) plans to resolve the situation.

Wrning “Europe will be destroyed”, Mr. Orbán said in Budapest yesterday he wanted to prevent further incidents of “gangs chasing our women”, especially in his own Hungary. Anti-mass migration political movements across Europe have been galvanised by the images and stories coming out of German cities like Cologne over New Year’s Eve, and his remarks reflect a preoccupation with preventing further sexual assault by migrant gangs.

Falling short of actually naming Germany in his Hungarian National Day speech, Mr. Orbán criticised the “incorrigible fighter for human rights” who blindly welcomed migrants to Europe and who in turn brought “crime and terror” to the continent, reports Nachricten. Calling for unity among European peoples, while making a carefully worded attack on the cloistered leaders of the EU, Mr. Orbán said:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

In Denmark, 84 Per Cent of Welfare Recipients Are ‘Non-Western Immigrants’

Migrants of a “non-Western origin” are massively overrepresented in Denmark’s benefits system, according to new figures from the Ministry of Employment.

Of all totally dependent families in Denmark, married couples where both partners are on social assistance — state benefits — some 84 per cent are “non-Western origin” migrants. In total, a third of all cash paid out in benefits every month goes to these non-Western migrants in Denmark, according to the latest figures obtained by Ekstra Bladet.

These figures might be considered especially high, as among Denmark’s working age population non-Western migrants make up just eight per cent of residents. The paper reports experts agree the phenomenon of a minority group of eight per cent of the population making up such a significant part of the claimant count, and concede it is a “large and especially expensive problem”.

It is estimated Denmark’s migrants cost the government some 11 billion crowns (£1.1 billion) a year reports BT, a significant sum for a country of just five and a half million people.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Migrant Arrivals in Greece Top One Million in a Year

“More than one million people, mostly refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have now crossed into Greece since the start of 2015,” UNHCR said in a statement.

Since the beginning of this year, more than 143,000 people have travelled from Turkey to Greece, pushing the total number of land and sea arrivals in that country past the one million mark in the past 15 months, it said

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Only Five Illegal Immigrants Arrested by UK Border Police, Entry Attempts Triple

Port of Dover officers arrested 32 illegals in 2014, equaling an 84 per cent drop in the space of just twelve months

Just five illegal immigrants were arrested by Dover police last year, it has emerged, as the number of clandestine attempts to enter the UK tripled over the same period.

Port of Dover officers arrested 32 illegal migrants in 2014, meaning there has been an 84 per cent drop in the space of just twelve months.

Furthermore, according to figured released to the Express, the number of illegal immigrants detained (rather than arrested) dropped by 34 per cent — from 356 to 234 — amid the biggest migrant crisis since the Second World War.

Shockingly, between June and August last year, when migrants brought the port of Calais to a standstill by storming it en masse and even attempting to walk though the tunnel, officers detained or arrested only 38.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner: Illegal Immigration Disproportionately Harms Black Americans

Illegal and low-skilled immigration disproportionally harms the job prospects and wages of black Americans, Peter Kirsanow, a commissioner on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, told a Senate panel Wednesday.

“Unequivocally, the wages and employment levels of black Americans are disproportionately adversely affect by illegal immigration. Particularly when it pertains to the effect on black males,” Kirsanow testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

11 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/17/2016

  1. As far as the French Cardinal is concerned, there’s always the Cardinal Dolan variety as an alternative.

  2. 84% of welfare recipients are non-Western immigrants in Denmark?

    Okay, I’m starting to realise something. Is it possible that Europe does NOT really have such a high unemployment problem in some places (i.e., NOT Spain, but France) among native Europeans, but that the problem is highly concentrated among more recent arrivals?

        • Well, Countess, if you put it in the newsfeed and I said it was OT, I must have been on drugs…besides which, I LOVE the Canadian cross continent trains.

          A big regret is not having experienced that.

          So if I done you wrong, my deepest apologies.

          • No apologies needed. You said news feed was where it belonged. There be nothing whatsoever “newsy” about it. If anything whatsoever would have been off topic here, that would have been an item.

  3. Re: “Migrants” are 66x more mentally ill.

    Given that we are told random acts of jihad are really due to mental illness, the prognosis is really quite grim.

    • Which raises the question. Are these actually mentally ill, or are they classified as mentally ill due to their cultural beliefs?

Comments are closed.