Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/20/2016

The International Organization for Migration said that 179,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean and landed in Europe so far this year. 85% of the arrivals were in Greece, 14% in Italy, and the rest in Cyprus and Malta.

In other news, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the Front National in France, is planning to visit the UK between now and the EU referendum to show solidarity with those who favor Brexit.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, MC, MM, 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
» Brussels Not Tough Enough on Italy — EU Audit Court
» Italy: Generation 1980 May Not Retire Till 75 — Pensions Chief
» Italy: New Full-Time Jobs Down 74% Over 2015
» Pay Attention to the Economy Right Now, Because a Disturbing Series of Events Seems to be in Motion
 
USA
» Andrew Jackson, Who Fought Central Bank, Removed From $20 as “Public Concern for Liberty” Erased
» Get Ready for a “Viral Pandemic of Global Unrest”… They Warn it’s Coming
» No Matter Who Wins, The American People Lose: “The Election Will Only Determine Who Will Continue the Erosion”
» Ohio Boy: 15, Is Electrocuted to Death While Trying to Recreate Dangerous YouTube ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ Experiment
» Pelosi’s Husband Invested in Solar Firm Weeks Before Lucrative Expansion
» Suspected Killer Brothers Headed to Mexico, Investigators Believe
» The Texas Secession Debate is Getting Kind of Real
» White Voter Rebellion Crushes Cruz
 
Canada
» Saskatoon Firefighters Battle Scrap Yard Blaze, 2 in Police Custody
 
Europe and the EU
» 1,500 Planes Have Been Targeted by Lasers Over UK in Last Year
» Breivik Wins Over Norway in Prison Lawsuit
» EU Says Google Violated Antitrust Rules With Android System
» France: Paris Students Invited to Wear Muslim Veils for ‘Hijab Day’
» German Police Swoop on Patriots
» ISIS Plan to Carry Out Tourist Massacre Using Bombs Buried Under Sun Beds, Italian Intelligence Warns
» Islamic Rape Wave in Norway
» Italy: Renzi Denies Govt Sold Out to Oil Lobbies
» Italy: BP Vicenza to Increase Capital by 0.10-3 Euros Per Share
» Marine Le Pen to Head to UK in Push for Brexit
» More ISIS ‘Combatants’ Sent to Europe — Belgium
» UK: Shocking CCTV Footage Shows Schoolboy, 13, Put Up a Brave Fight as a Gang of Thugs Rob Him of New £1,000 Bike He Got as Bar Mitzvah Present
» UK: Teachers Told to Advise Muslim Exam Pupils Not to Fast During Ramadan
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Op-Ed: Obama Redefines Palestinian Terrorism; Israel Will Pay the Price
» UNESCO Changes History, Denies Existence of Jerusalem Temple
 
Middle East
» PLO Reports ISIS Atrocities in Yarmouk Refugee Camp
 
South Asia
» India Says it Won’t Try to Reclaim Crown Jewel From Britain
 
Immigration
» 5 Million US Immigrants Fear Supreme Court Will Overrule President Obama
» Almost 179,000 Med Arrivals in 2016 — IOM
» EU Migrants Who Are ‘Waved Through’ British Border Security Should Have Thorough Checks
» Hungary: First Year of Quotas Would Cost Eur 644 Mln
» Intel Lays Off 12,000 People After Lobbying for More Foreign Workers
» ‘Italy Must Not be Left Alone on Migration, ‘ Grasso Says
» Luton Police Station on Lock-Down Over Fears Migrants Brought Contagious Disease to Britain
» Merkel Stance on Migration Compact ‘Angers Renzi’ — FT
» Most Segregated Town in UK Gets Police Officer to Deal Exclusively With Foreigners
» ‘No Reason’ For Ankara to Launch Threats — Juncker
» Pope Asks Refugees to Forgive ‘Closure, Indifference’
» SCOTUS to Throttle Obama ‘Upside Down’ Tyranny?
» Univision Promotes Trump Hate Movie
 
Culture Wars
» UK: Children Are Asked to Choose What Gender They Are Before They Start School
 

Brussels Not Tough Enough on Italy — EU Audit Court

Budget rules scantly applied, reforms not monitored

(ANSA) — Brussels, April 19 — The Europran Commission is not tough enough on Italy as regards budget rules, the EU Audit Court said Tuesday. Last year, it noted, the EC did not open infringment proceedings by invoking three “significant factors” including the economic cycle, low inflation and reforms, “all debatable because they are not fully compliant with the norms”.

The EU Audit Court made the accusation in a report on applying debt and deficit rules. Italy has obtained some flexibility or wiggle room on budget parameters because of the migration crisis.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Generation 1980 May Not Retire Till 75 — Pensions Chief

Boeri calls for reform to make it easier to retire

(ANSA) — Rome, April 19 — Tito Boeri, the head of State pensions and social security agency INPS, on Tuesday called for reforms to make it easier for people close to retirement age to quit work, saying Italy risks having entire generations miss out in the labour market. Boeri said this reform was needed in a “tight” time frame as “young people are penalized in a major way and there is the risk of having entire generations lost inside our country”.

He added that levels of youth unemployment, with over 40% of 15-to-24-year-olds who are on the labour market out of work, were unacceptable. Boeri gave the example of “generation 1980” people now in their 30s, many of whom have contributions “holes” and, as a result, risk not being able to retire until they are 75.

“I don’t want to terrorize (anyone). I just want to make you aware of the importance of contributions continuity,” he said at the graduation day of Rome’s Università Cattolica.

Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, meanwhile, said there are “margins” for rethinking the existing pensions system to “improve” things for people entering and exiting the job market.

“There are margins for reflecting on the instruments and incentives, and on the links between the pension system and job market,” Padoan said during a hearing on the government’s economic and financial blueprint (DEF), adding that he was “certainly” in favour of “complex reasoning” on the issue. The minister also said he was “open to sources of complementary financing”, including a possible role for the credit system. The pensions system “is one of the pillars of sustainability” but “there are margins”, Padoan said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: New Full-Time Jobs Down 74% Over 2015

Work voucher purchases +45.2%

(ANSA) — Rome, April 19 — Pensions and social security agency INPS said Tuesday that 291,387 new permanent open-ended contracts were stipulated in the first two months of 2016 (including temporary contracts turned into steady jobs) while 254,274 were terminated for a net rise of 37,113. This is 74% down on the net rise of 143,164 steady contracts in the first two months of 2015, and can be linked to reduced breaks in social security contributions for newly hired workers. The figure is also down on the net increase of 87,180 in the equivalent period in 2014. Steady job contracts were up by 911,000 in 2015 compared to the end of 2014, with 61% of steady hires benefiting from a break on contributions. As well, INPS said over 19.6 million 10-euro vouchers for occasional work hours were sold in the first two months of 2016, a rise of 45.2% on the 13.5 million sold in the same period in 2015. Trade unions have blasted the vouchers, saying they are being widely abused by unscrupulous employers to mask regular, full-time workers.

Premier Matteo Renzi has said his Jobs Act labour-market reform has boosted the job market.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pay Attention to the Economy Right Now, Because a Disturbing Series of Events Seems to be in Motion

Tick. Tock.

Do you hear that? It’s the clock on the time bomb, and it appears to be ticking relentlessly toward our economic collapse.

It seems like every day, there is a new threat to the financial well-being of the disappearing middle class in America. Of course, less affected are the members of Congress and their buddies on Wall Street. You know, the ones that put the politicians in office to get favorable decisions made on their behalf in Washington.

But if you happen to have been ignoring the folks Obama calls “peddlers of fiction” who have been warning us all of an impending economic crisis along the lines of the last financial collapse, you might want to pay attention now, because a disturbing series of events is in motion.

First of all, the Fed just issued a terrifying warning to the biggest bank in the country.

Finally, the Fed has admitted that we just can’t take another hit without incurring an epic disaster.

And by “admitted” I mean they’ve issued a chilling warning to JP Morgan Chase, the biggest bank in America.

The letter is addressed to Teflon-coated Jamie Dimon, the leader of the bank (who seems to have made a deal with the Devil to become completely immune to prosecution, no matter what he does.)

It is 19 pages and heavily redacted, but here are some excerpts that should send a chill down your spine. The emphasis is mine.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Andrew Jackson, Who Fought Central Bank, Removed From $20 as “Public Concern for Liberty” Erased

It will be “removed in favor of a female representing the struggle for racial equality,” according to CNN, while an early proposal to remove Alexander Hamilton’s bill will be scrapped, though the proposal includes a redesign on the backs of his and several other notes with scenes from the Woman’s Suffrage Movement, Susan B. and all the gals.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is expected to announce this week that Alexander Hamilton’s face will remain on the front of the $10 bill and a woman will replace Andrew Jackson on the face of the $20 bill, a senior government source told CNN on Saturday.

Dramatically, it seems that there was a backlash to counter the coup against Hamilton, including support from former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke:

The decision to make the historic change at the expense of Hamilton drew angry rebukes from fans of the former Treasury Secretary. The pro-Hamilton movement gained steam after the smash success of the hip-hop Broadway musical about his life this year. Those pressures led Lew to determine that Hamilton should remain on the front of the bill.

And there’s a reason for Bernanke’s bias towards Hamilton.

Here’s the scoop from the Economic Policy Journal, who called it a “despicable decision”:

It was Hamilton, who from the early days of the nation clamored for a central bank and a strong interventionist federal government.

I have quoted Thomas DiLorenzo on the evil Hamilton before:

Hamilton was a compulsive statist who wanted to bring the corrupt British mercantilist system — the very system the American Revolution was fought to escape from — to America. He fought fiercely for his program of corporate welfare, protectionist tariffs, public debt, pervasive taxation, and a central bank run by politicians and their appointees out of the nation’s capital…

Hamilton complained to George Washington that “we need a government of more energy” and expressed disgust over “an excessive concern for liberty in public men”…

The Philadelphie Federal Reserve publication. A History of Central Banking in America, reports:

Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, urged Congress to also assume the war debts of the individual states and then create a national bank to help refinance all these debts. Hamilton’s proposal faced major opposition. Critics said that Hamilton’s bank was unconstitutional, would be a monopoly, and would reduce the power of the states. Although Hamilton won, the bank’s charter was limited to 20 years.

And that’s right where Andrew Jackson’s legacy with the banks picks up.

With the charter of the first “Bank of the United States” ending, Jackson was determined to stop the charter of the second “Bank of the United States” and famously stated:

“You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out.” (Andrew Jackson, to a delegation of bankers discussing the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States, 1832)

President Jackson likened their agents to the hydra-beast, with its many heads, and even survived an assassination attempt, by staving off an attacker personally.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Get Ready for a “Viral Pandemic of Global Unrest”… They Warn it’s Coming

by Paul Joseph Watson

Top insurer Lloyds warns that a “pandemic” of global civil unrest could go viral, threatening international stability.

Lloyds commissioned leading global risk management consultancy the Risk Advisory Group to produce a report analyzing what factors could prompt the spread of civil unrest around the world.

The report found that, “Instances of political violence contagion are becoming more frequent and the contagion effect ever more rapid and powerful,” with head of exposure management and reinsurance, Trevor Maynard, warning that global outbreaks of violence are increasingly likely to develop into “pandemics” of civil unrest.

This transformation will lead to “widespread disruption yet prove extremely difficult to anticipate,” and threaten “international stability,” according to the report.

The inquiry found that the potential for mass civil unrest represents a “highly important dimension of political risk” and that preparations for such scenarios are currently insufficient.

As we have recently highlighted, the ultra-wealthy are highly concerned about civil unrest and have made moves to prepare for social disorder.

Elitists are buying luxury bomb-proof survival bunkers, with one of the companies behind the underground units, Vivos, revealing that they are for the “protection of high net worth individuals” against the threat posed by the “general public”.

“This is for wealthy people who are concerned about various disaster scenarios, but a common theme among them is a fear of civil unrest, a fear of an uprising from the 99%,” said journalist Lynn Parramore, who visited one of the facilities in Indiana.

Millionaires are fleeing Chicago and other major cities due to concerns over racial tensions and rising crime rates.

“About 3,000 individuals with net assets of $1 million or more,” left Chicago in just the last year alone according to the Chicago Tribune.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

No Matter Who Wins, The American People Lose: “The Election Will Only Determine Who Will Continue the Erosion”

The things that cripple us the most as a nation are our complacencies combined with the inability to accept the ever changing, shifting paradigm that governs American society. We are in a transitory state as we “morph” from a soft, socialist dictatorship into a full-blown totalitarian state. All of the trimmings are not “garnishing” the platter, as the proverbial goose is not completely cooked. We are heading in that direction daily, make no mistake about it. Simply put, we simply will not believe what is happening to us before our eyes.

Sometime next year the TSA and the airlines are going to require Real ID for all flights (domestic and abroad); the new proposal before the weekend was (as an action to be taken in response to the Brussels, Belgium terrorist attack) in the United States for Viper teams to be in every airport, railway station, and bus terminal. These Viper teams (basically paramilitary police teams) are already in many of the major metropolitan areas. The plan is for them to be not only in the New York’s and Chicago’s but also in the small towns.

The federalization process of the local police forces is almost complete in the U.S., with only the sheriffs departments remaining to reign in under control. Akin to the proverbial “frog in the kettle,” the feds are moving with incremental (almost glacial) slowness that seems to be not in the field of vision of most Americans. Daily we hear rhetoric from these politicians, Obama for example, trying to draw similarities between Capitalism and Communism.

There has been a tremendous push in the schools in the last two decades and more, to develop the “socially-conscious” mindset that in any other time would be labeled as “groupthink.” Curriculum in the schools isn’t: it is indoctrination, plain and simple, as they bombard the post-school generations with a never-ending steady stream of canned media replete with politically correct groupthink.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ohio Boy: 15, Is Electrocuted to Death While Trying to Recreate Dangerous YouTube ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ Experiment

A 15-year-old Vermilion Township boy was killed Tuesday when he was electrocuted while trying to recreate an experiment he had seen on YouTube.

Emergency crews were called to the house of Morgan Wojciechowski on the 5800 block of W. Lake Road at about 6pm, Erie County sheriff’s officials told The Sandusky Register.

Wojciechowski’s body had been found in the garage by his family after his parents ‘heard a lot of noise,’ a Sheriff’s Office official told The Daily Mail.

Police and fire department crews administered treatment but were unable to save the teen, who was pronounced dead in hospital.

The official said he was trying to recreate a ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ — an experiment in which a high-voltage arc of electricity travels upwards between two long wires.

He said the teen saw the experiment on YouTube and tried it in his garage while his family was at home.

Wojciechowski’s family were aware of the video and his experiments, he said…

           — Hat tip: MM [Return to headlines]
 

Pelosi’s Husband Invested in Solar Firm Weeks Before Lucrative Expansion

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s husband bought up to a quarter million dollars of stock in a now financially troubled green energy company just weeks before it announced a major 2014 acquisition that sent stock prices soaring, public records show.

SunEdison told regulators last week that it is eyeing bankruptcy under the weight of $11.7 million in debt. But in late 2014, investors were bullish on the company, which manufactures and operates solar and wind power facilities.

Its 2014 purchase of wind energy company First Wind “further bolstered the reputation of the company,” wrote one market-watcher at the time. “Perhaps unsurprisingly, SunEdison’s stock soared an astounding 29% on news of this acquisition alone.”

Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, had invested just in time. He bought between $100,000 and $250,000 in SunEdison stock on Oct. 24, 2014, according to congressional financial disclosures. The company announced its First Wind acquisition on Nov. 17.

Pelosi’s office did not respond to questions about the timing of the purchase and whether she or her husband had any advance knowledge of the deal…

In addition to her stock trades, Pelosi steered more than $1 billion in federal subsidies to a light rail project that likely improved the value of the San Francisco headquarters of cloud computing company Salesforce, in which her husband had invested up to $1 million.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Suspected Killer Brothers Headed to Mexico, Investigators Believe

The convicted felons suspected of murdering a missing Washington state couple last week have dumped the car they were using in their desperate escape and are now in a new vehicle headed for Mexico, investigators said Tuesday afternoon.

Brothers John Reed and Tony Reed are now thought to be driving a 2002 Gold Acura 32T with Arizona plate BNN-9968, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. A license plate reader detected the vehicle in Calexico, Calif. on Monday. The Volkswagen EOS Coupe they had initially driven was found abandoned in Phoenix on Monday, deputies add.

“The exact location of the Reed brothers is unknown, but there is reason to believe they may be trying to flee to Mexico,” the news release said.

The brothers were officially charged with murder by Snohomish County prosecutors Tuesday afternoon.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

The Texas Secession Debate is Getting Kind of Real

When Texas Republicans assemble for their state convention next month, it’s possible they will debate whether Texas should secede from the United States.

There’s almost no chance Texas Republicans will actually vote in favor of seceding, mind you — not least because most of the party wants nothing to do with this — but the fact we’re even mentioning secession and the Texas GOP convention in the same sentence suggests that the once-fringe movement has become a priority for at least some conservative grass-roots Texans.

To be sure, that seems to be a relatively small group. The Texas secession movement says 22 out of the 270 county GOP conventions passed some kind of independence resolution this spring. A party official said he’d be surprised if that were the case, and the Houston Chronicle was able to confirm only 10 counties. But 10 is a lot more than the one county that passed an independence resolution in 2012.

Texas Republicans say these independence resolutions are just a handful of tens of thousands various resolutions to be considered at their convention. But it does seem like the secession movement is growing, or at least organizing, and may have become too big for party officials to ignore.

“It’s cropped up in a major way just in this last year,” Paul Simpson, chairman of the Republican Party of Harris County, told the Houston Chronicle.

Here’s a rundown of what you should know about it:…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

White Voter Rebellion Crushes Cruz

White voter rebellion at the corruption of the Republican Party’s nomination process dealt Ted Cruz a crushing defeat in the New York state primaries and entrenched Donald Trump as the popular choice of that party’s supporters. Exit polling also showed that nonwhites have overwhelmingly rejected the Republican Party, meaning that Trump needs to take 65% + of the white vote to win a presidential election.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Saskatoon Firefighters Battle Scrap Yard Blaze, 2 in Police Custody

The Saskatoon Fire Department is currently on scene battling a large industrial blaze at an auto wrecking yard on the city’s west side.

Saskatoon police and fire were called to a vehicle scrap yard on Avenue P South and 14th Street West at 5:30 p.m. CST. Witnesses reported seeing two youths lighting a tire on fire at the auto wreckage yard. Police said they’ve taken two youths into custody.

Assistant fire chief Dave Bykowy told CBC News he thinks the fire has spread to 100 cars in the scrap yard, adding the thick black plumes of smoke coming from the fire is all the burning plastic car parts.

Bykowy added the loud pops coming from the fire are pressurized canisters exploding under the heat. Bykowy said the canisters are used to fill airbags in the vehicles.

Officials from the Ministry of Environment are on scene testing the air quality to make sure it’s safe.

Bykowy said he expects the firefight to last hours, at least, as his department is taking a defensive approach to the blaze.

“We’re not actively going right in and right up to the face of the plume, we’re staying back,” he said. “We’re shuttling water, we’re using everything we have at our disposal, we’re bringing in a fifth engine.”

The owners of the scrap yard estimate the value of the inventory on fire is about $250,000.

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

1,500 Planes Have Been Targeted by Lasers Over UK in Last Year

An average of four planes a day have been targeted in laser attacks in Britain in the last year, said a group of leading eye specialists, who warned there could be ‘devastating’ consequences.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Breivik Wins Over Norway in Prison Lawsuit

Anders Breivik’s prison conditions are a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits “inhuman or degrading” punishment, an Oslo court ruled on Wednesday.

The court sided with the convicted terrorist’s claims that being held in solitary confinement in the Skien prison violates his human rights under Article 3.

“The court… has concluded that the prison conditions constitute inhuman treatment,” the Oslo District Court said in a written statement, noting that the rightwing extremist had been held in isolation for almost five years.

As part of the ruling, the state will have to pay Breivik’s case costs of some 330,000 kroner ($41,000, €36,000).

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Says Google Violated Antitrust Rules With Android System

‘Abused its dominant position’ by restricting device makers

(ANSA) — Brussels, April 20 — The European Commission on Wednesday said that Google has violated EU antitrust rules with strategies that it said take advantage of its dominant position in the marketplace in order to promote and grow the use of its Android operating system and apps on mobile phones.

“We believe that Google’s behaviour denies consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services and stands in the way of innovation by other players,” said EC Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

In a “Statement of Objections”, the EC said Google “has abused its dominant position by imposing restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators” and “has implemented a strategy on mobile devices to preserve and strengthen its dominance in general internet search”.

The document is the first step in a formal legal procedure that could bring sanctions if the company doesn’t work with the EU to resolve the concerns.

In a post on the Google Europe blog on Wednesday, Google Senior Vice President & General Counsel Kent Walker said the company “looks forward to working with the European Commission”.

“Our partner agreements have helped foster a remarkable — and, importantly, sustainable — ecosystem, based on open-source software and open innovation”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

France: Paris Students Invited to Wear Muslim Veils for ‘Hijab Day’

The Sciences Po University in Paris hosted a “Hijab Day” on Wednesday, as student organizers attempted to end the stigma around women who wear the veil. But not everyone is playing along.

The group’s Facebook account invited fellow students to cover their hair on Wednesday in a bit to to “demystify the veil”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

German Police Swoop on Patriots

German police have arrested five patriots on terrorism charges in a series of raids aimed at an organization accused of attacking invader centers in the eastern part of Germany.

The “Freital Group” (Gruppe Freital), stands accused of being behind at least three confirmed bombings of invader centers, with plans to commit many more.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Plan to Carry Out Tourist Massacre Using Bombs Buried Under Sun Beds, Italian Intelligence Warns

Video footage has emerged of the man, who was not named, being snatched by masked security officers and led away in broad daylight.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic Rape Wave in Norway

At least one member of Parliament, André Oktay Dahl of the Conservative Party, calls the situation “critical” and is brave enough to acknowledge that many of the perpetrators come from cultures “with a reprehensible attitude toward women.”

[Comment: From 2012…Did anything change? Fabina socialist jsut ignore citzens and keep proceeding with decontruction plan of nation state.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Renzi Denies Govt Sold Out to Oil Lobbies

‘We are shutting down coal plants’

(fixes slug)(ANSA) — Rome, April 19 — Premier Matteo Renzi on Tuesday rejected accusations his administration sold out to oil industry lobbies. “We believe coal-powered plants need to go,” he told the Senate in reply to two no-confidence motions from center-right parties over an oil industry probe. “We shut two of them down, we announced a third is being shut down, and we put a stop to two more that were switching from oil to coal — this administration has blocked five power plants without losing a single job”. The center-left premier also denied accusations his government is against clean energy. “We (Italy) is a leader in the renewable energy sector and we will be able to continue being the leaders on the path to our 2020-2030 targets,” Renzi said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: BP Vicenza to Increase Capital by 0.10-3 Euros Per Share

Post-operation capitalisation 1.51-1.8 bn euros

(ANSA) — Milan, April 19 — Banca Popolare di Vicenza will increase its share capital by a minimum of 0.10 euro cents and a maximum of three euros per share, the lender said in a statement Tuesday. The interest that emerged during pre-marketing and investor education activities was “insufficient to allow the determination of a specific interval of indicative appreciation according to normal market procedures”, the statement said. Consequently capitalisation after the capital increase will vary from approximately 1.51 billion to 1.8 billion euros.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Marine Le Pen to Head to UK in Push for Brexit

France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who famously said she wanted to “explode the EU”, will head to Britain in the run up the referendum to give her backing to the Brexit campaign.

France’s most powerful Eurosceptic Marine Le Pen will wade right into the Brexit/Bremain row gripping the UK by crossing the English Channel to join the campaign trail at some point in the run up to the June 23rd referendum.

Le Pen, who is backing Brexit in the hope that it could trigger a similar referendum in France and then her dream a “Frexit”, will lend her support to MEP Janice Atkinson (photo on left), formerly of UKIP, as she campaigns for Britain to leave the EU.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

More ISIS ‘Combatants’ Sent to Europe — Belgium

Risk of new terror attack ‘possible’, ‘plausible’

(ANSA) — Brussels, April 19 — Belgium’s Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (OCAM) said Tuesday it has received information suggesting that ISIS has sent other ‘combatants’ to Europe. The unit consequently decided to maintain the terror alert level in Belgium at 3 on a scale of 4.

This means the risk of fresh attacks is still considered ‘possible’ and ‘plausible’ a month after multiple attacks in Brussels left 32 dead and hundreds injured. Meanwhile, OCAM director-general Alain Lefevre said security would be beefed up at airports and railway stations, on public transport and at nuclear power stations.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Shocking CCTV Footage Shows Schoolboy, 13, Put Up a Brave Fight as a Gang of Thugs Rob Him of New £1,000 Bike He Got as Bar Mitzvah Present

This is the heartbreaking moment a 13-year-old boy had his new bicycle snatched from him by two hooded thugs.

CCTV footage shows the teenage victim struggling with the older youths before they wrench the bike from his hands and cycle down the street in Cheetham Hill, Manchester.

The schoolboy, who is identified only as Colin, tries to give chase but the thieves get away.

It was the first time the teenager had ridden the £1,000 bike, which was given to him by his parents as a bar mitzvah present.

[Comment: No description of attackers.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Teachers Told to Advise Muslim Exam Pupils Not to Fast During Ramadan

The guidance also says pupils in England and Wales should take their studies into account when deciding how to observe the festival, as ‘Islam does not require them to put their futures in jeopardy’.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Op-Ed: Obama Redefines Palestinian Terrorism; Israel Will Pay the Price

By Stephen M. Flatow

When does Palestinian terrorism against Israelis not count as terrorism? When the Obama administration redefines it for political purposes.

The State Department’s annual report on human rights around the world was released this past week, and it included an unprecedented denunciation of Israel. The Israeli security forces are guilty of “excessive use of force” against Palestinian Arabs, according to the State Department.

Obviously the State Department has a right to condemn Israel’s security tactics if it believes those tactics are unjustified. No country, not even America’s staunchest ally, should be above criticism. But the administration does not have a right to redefine some types of Palestinian terrorism, in order to classify them as non-violence, so that Israel’s response to them qualifies as “excessive.”

The State Department does not deny the principle that Israeli soldiers are justified to shoot at Palestinians who are attacking them. But it is now redefining what constitutes an “attack.” As examples of “excessive force,” the report points out that during the past year, there were “numerous” instances of “the ISF (Israel security forces) killing Palestinians during riots, demonstrations, at checkpoints, and during routine operations…”

So if an Israeli soldier kills a Palestinian “during riots” or “demonstrations,” that automatically constitutes “excessive force,” according to the Obama administration. In other words, “riots” and “demonstrations” are not in the category of actions which could justify a lethal Israeli response.

Anyone who has ever seen footage of Palestinian “riots” and “demonstrations” —and the footage is freely available on YouTube— knows that they typically consist of mobs of Palestinians hurling Molotov cocktails, bricks, and rocks at Israeli soldiers.[…]

           — Hat tip: MC [Return to headlines]
 

UNESCO Changes History, Denies Existence of Jerusalem Temple

Fraught with “deniers” of every stripe, the latest and most egregious is UNre-E-unSCO (as in re-education, unscientific), whose UN resolution wipes away the focal point of ancient Jewish worship, the Temple of God, that graced Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem for 1000 years. Ludicrous as it seems, a body of 58 board members, evidently unschooled in ancient history, decided to clean the slate of time by rejecting the existence of a building proclaimed a wonder of the ancient world because of its extraordinary opulence.

Has UNESCO consulted the Encyclopedia Britannica about removing references to the Temple of Jerusalem? Doubtful. It will take more than a gang of international political hacks simply renaming the Temple Mount with latecomer muslim nomenclature to rewrite history. They seem to have set aside recorded accounts of Seleucid emperor Antiochus Epiphanes desecrating the Temple which led to the Maccabean uprising. Or the accounts of Titus destroying the Herodian Temple in 70 A.D. documented by Roman historians Suetonius and Tacitus, and witness to the siege, Flavius Josephus.1

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

PLO Reports ISIS Atrocities in Yarmouk Refugee Camp

Beheadings, summary executions and rape

(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, APRIL 20 — The Palestinian inhabitants of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus have suffered atrocities at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS), the Palestinian new agency MAAN was told by PLO envoy to Syria Anwar Abdel Hadi.

UNRWA envoy Chris Gunness said that thousands of civilians in the camp were at risk of dying of hunger and thirst, and that an immediate end to hostilities and resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries was needed. Abdle Hadi said that at least 20 people had been beheaded by ISIS in the Yarmouk camp and that they had immediately been buried without their identities being established. He added that cases of rape had occurred and that ISIS controls roughly 70% of the refugee camp.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

India Says it Won’t Try to Reclaim Crown Jewel From Britain

Surprise statement

(ANSA) — Rome, April 19 — India’s government has told the Supreme Court that it won’t request the return of the 106-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is now part of the British crown jewels, the Associated Press reported.

In a surprise statement, India’s solicitor general told the court on Monday that Britain shouldn’t have to give the diamond back. Ranjit Kumar said the diamond had been given freely to the British in the mid-19th century by the family of Punjab’s Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and had been “neither stolen nor forcibly taken by British rulers.” The court was hearing a petition filed by a rights group asking it to order the government to seek the return of the diamond.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

5 Million US Immigrants Fear Supreme Court Will Overrule President Obama

Millions of undocumented immigrant families fear that America’s highest court will overrule President Obama’s executive order and call for mass deportations.

On Monday, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of United States v. Texas, a challenge by the state of Texas and 26 other US states, against President Obama’s executive orders granting deferred action to up to 5 million undocumented immigrants.

Under the executive orders, signed November 20, 2014, undocumented immigrants who are parents of US citizens or who immigrated to the US under the age of 16, and maintained residency in the country, would be relieved of the threat of deportation and granted social security numbers, making them eligible for driver’s licenses and work permits.

At issue in the case is whether the president exceeded his authority by issuing the executive orders.

The states allege that the executive orders grant individuals a new legal status, forcing states to bear the cost of processing the new status and providing benefits.

The administration argues that immigrants receiving deferred status are not receiving additional legal privilege, but are merely being notified by the US government that, in the exercise of executive branch discretion, they will not be targeted for deportation because they are a lower priority and the United States lacks the resources to target the entire 11 million population of undocumented immigrants.

The federal district court that first heard the case ruled in favor of the states, enjoining President Obama’s executive actions as unconstitutional. On appeal, the case went to the Fifth Circuit Court, which upheld the lower court ruling. The US Supreme Court will now decide whether to uphold those rulings.

On Tuesday, Loud & Clear’s Brian Becker sat down with immigration attorneys Alan Diamante and Zachary Wolfe to discuss the likely outcome of the case and whether the almost five million undocumented immigrants impacted by the executive order will be granted relief from deportation.

What is the impact of this case?

“On November 20, 2014, President Obama issued an executive order expanding the deferred action programs, DAPA and DACA, to grant relief from deportation to over 5 million undocumented immigrants,” explained Diamante. “DAPA applies to immigrant parents of US citizens and DACA applies to childhood arrivals.”

The decision, Diamante explained, expanded the qualifications of these deferred action programs, first instituted in 2012, so that a larger portion of the US undocumented immigrant population would qualify.

“These are individuals who have not committed crimes and have been living in the US continuously since 2010,” said Diamante. “These individuals don’t have other disqualifying factors, such as affiliation with a gang, and so these are people who the Obama administration does not believe are a priority to deport.”

Do you think the court will rule in favor of the Obama Administration?

“It is tough to determine where the court will come down,” argued Wolfe. “The main issue is what happens when an individual is told they are given deferred action — does that have the effect of putting them into a new status?”

“There is a longstanding tradition that the executive branch gets to decide priorities on how it is going to carry out its law enforcement functions,” explained Wolfe, “and there are more than 11 million people who can potentially be deported but not enough resources to do it.”

“There is no question about whether the executive branch has discretion to prioritize who to target for deportation, but the question is whether a formal statement granting an individual deferred action and stating that they are lawfully present has the effect of granting them extra rights,” said Wolfe. “It is a tough question.”

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

Almost 179,000 Med Arrivals in 2016 — IOM

Almost 25,000 in Italy, more than 153,000 in Greece

(ANSAmed) — Geneva, April 19 — Almost 179,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe by sea since the start of the year, the International Organisation for Migration said Tuesday.

Almost 25,000 came to Italy, more than 153,000 to Greece, and the rest to Cyprus and Spain, the IOM said. The number of dead in the Mediterranean is 737, not including hundreds from the Horn of Africa who have drowned according to unconfirmed reports this week. Some 400 migrants, mostly Somalis, were reported to have drowned early Monday, and Somalia said 200 had drowned late Monday, but neither report has been confirmed.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

EU Migrants Who Are ‘Waved Through’ British Border Security Should Have Thorough Checks

Ex-police chiefs, counter-terrorism and immigration bosses have demanded the Government reviews its border security procedures — irrespective of the outcome of June’s EU referendum.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary: First Year of Quotas Would Cost Eur 644 Mln

State Secretary:’negative effects on welfare, job market’

(ANSA) — TRIESTE — Hungary would have to spend around 200 billion forints (around 644 million euros) for the services related to the accommodation of migrants introduced in the country through the system of compulsory migrant quotas imposed by Bruxelles during the first year of its entrance in effect, state secretary Bence Rétvári said for the Magyar Idk daily. “The quota system would endanger the social security and the jobs of the Hungarians”, he added. “We must decide whether to spend the money of Hungarian taxpayers on health services, welfare, education or on economic migrants”, he insisted.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Intel Lays Off 12,000 People After Lobbying for More Foreign Workers

One of the top users of foreign workers imported via the H-1B visa program announced Tuesday it’s laying off about ten percent of its global workforce.

Tech giant Intel is laying off some 12,000 workers, although it’s one of the country’s 15 largest users of H-1Bs, which are temporary visas that allow companies to hire foreign workers for American tech jobs. The big-time layoffs come even as the company has called for hikes in the number of foreign workers it is able to hire using H-1B visas.

The chip-making giant said the mass firings are part of a “restructuring initiative” that will further its shift away from the PC business toward smart devices and cloud-based computing.

But the firings stand out in light of Intel’s lobbying to expand the H-1B visa program. In 2013, the company’s government affairs managers complained that Intel simply can’t find enough homegrown workers in technical fields to meet its needs. And in 2014, the company called for allowing the spouses and children of H-1B recipients to automatically qualify for work in the U.S. as well.

Critics accuse Intel and other tech companies of exploiting the visas to drive down labor costs in Silicon Valley, while depriving qualified U.S. workers of jobs. Notably, Intel was also a defendant in a class-action lawsuit that accused several major tech companies, including Apple and Google, of colluding to keep wages low. That suit was settled for over $400 million in 2015.

In 2015, Microsoft, HP, and Qualcomm all made big layoffs despite lobbying for an increase in H-1Bs. Intel itself also had a smaller layoff wave in 2015, which provoked a denunciation from Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

‘Italy Must Not be Left Alone on Migration, ‘ Grasso Says

Senate Speaker calls for shared European asylum policy

(ANSA) — Rome, April 19 — Italy must not be left alone to manage a flow of migrants of “historic” proportions, Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso said on Tuesday.

“It is absolutely essential to encourage close discussion with the European institutions in order for there to be a shared common strategy for reception and integration,” Grasso said. Recent events have shown the lack of solidarity between EU countries and of a strong and shared asylum policy, Italy’s former chief anti-mafia prosecutor said. “If on the one hand I believe it is essential to firmly combat migrant trafficking, on the other I consider a strong common asylum policy and a new European legal immigration policy to be equally essential,” Grasso concluded.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Luton Police Station on Lock-Down Over Fears Migrants Brought Contagious Disease to Britain

Paramedics declared a ‘major incident’ and placed Luton police station on lockdown amid fears that Iraqi migrants (pictured) caught sneaking into Britain in a lorry had a contagious disease.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Merkel Stance on Migration Compact ‘Angers Renzi’ — FT

Italy PM ‘irritated’ by rejection of Eurobonds

(ANSA) — London, April 20 — Italian frustration with Berlin has “boiled over again” after Germany rejected Rome’s idea of funding a new ‘migration compact’ with Eurobonds, the Financial Times said Wednesday.

“The spat reignited tensions between Angela Merkel and Matteo Renzi that appeared to have eased in recent months,” it said.

Italy has asked the EU to offer financial incentives to countries in sub-Saharan Africa for them to curb migrant flows and readmit them after deportation.

The Italian ‘migration compact’ was well received in Brussels, the FT noted, with EU Council President Donald Tusk agreeing to work on an ambitious plan.

But the Eurobond funding idea was rejected by Merkel, “with unusual force and speed”, prompting Renzi to voice his “irritation”.

“The latest dispute between Renzi and Merkel comes after a few months of fragile detente,” the FT said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Most Segregated Town in UK Gets Police Officer to Deal Exclusively With Foreigners

Boston in Lincolnshire — where one in six people are foreign-born — has recruited PC Emma Carlin, who to become the force’s first community beat officer who will work only with immigrant communities.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘No Reason’ For Ankara to Launch Threats — Juncker

I trust end of visas according to criteria

(ANSAmed) — Strasbourg, April 19 — European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday Turkey had no reason to launch threats to end a migration deal with the EU unless visas are issued by June. “We sealed a deal, the deal is being applied. There’s no need to launch random threats,” Juncker said when asked if Turkish Premier Ahmet Davutoglu had been threatening. Juncker said the Turkish premier had reminded him of the liberalisation of the visas “but there was no need”. He said “I already told the assembly that it will take place “as Turkey meets the conditions, and that it what it is doing, therefore I trust it will happen on the basis of the criteria”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pope Asks Refugees to Forgive ‘Closure, Indifference’

‘You are treated like a burden, instead you are a gift’

(ANSA) — Vatican City, April 19 — Pope Francis on Tuesday asked forgiveness from refugees for the “closure and indifference” with which they are “too often” treated.

“Too often we have failed to welcome you! Forgive the closure and indifference of our societies that fear the change in lifestyle and mentality that your presence requires,” the pope said in a video message for the 35th anniversary of the foundation of the Jesuit-run Centro Astalli service for refugees. “(You are) treated like a burden, a problem, a cost, instead you are a gift,” Francis added.

The pope has made solidarity with refugees and asylum-seekers a central theme of his papacy and on Saturday he visited the Greek island of Lesbos to show support for thousands of asylum-seekers there.

Three Syrian families including a total of six children subsequently returned with him to Italy and will be looked after by the Sant’Egidio Catholic community in Rome while their asylum applications are being processed.

Pope Francis tweeted Tuesday that “the privileged way to peace is to recognise in the other not an enemy to fight but a brother to be welcomed”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

SCOTUS to Throttle Obama ‘Upside Down’ Tyranny?

To even the least legally-sophisticated observer, Barack Obama’s Executive Order which would have unilaterally modified existing law to allow select illegal aliens to avoid deportation, was seen as an unlawful, unconstitutional intrusion into matters specifically assigned to Congress by the Constitution.

Simply put, the President, regardless of how precocious, is not supposed to be making or changing laws unilaterally and requiring government departments to follow his version of the law.

Separation of powers and balance of powers are concepts that the Community Organizer from Chicago apparently forgot, or chose to ignore, in his haste to grow the Democrat Party by importing tens of millions of illegal aliens who could be counted on to vote Democrat for untold generations, as a way of saying GRACIAS!

However, Obama’s tyrannical plans may have been exposed by the SCOTUS on April 18 when the eight current justices reviewed Obama’s dubious actions in the light of day.

As reported: Justice Anthony Kennedy got right to the point, when he said it appears “as if the president is setting a policy and Congress is executing it.” He concluded: “That’s just upside down.”

God Bless Justice Kennedy for seeing the truth and telling it like it is!

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Univision Promotes Trump Hate Movie

Univision host Jorge Ramos has publicly backed a new Mexican movie which portrays white Americans as mass murderers who hunt and shoot Mexicans-and who use Donald Trump’s comments on illegal alien criminals as their justification. The movie-called Desierto (“Desert”) portrays a drunk white vigilante killing illegal immigrants with a hunting rifle as they cross the border into America, while Trump’s speech serves as a voice-over.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Children Are Asked to Choose What Gender They Are Before They Start School

Parents have been left furious after receiving a letter instructing them to help their four-year-olds choose a gender before they start primary school.

Brighton and Hove City Council sent a letter to hundreds of families telling them which school their child would attend in September but asked them to respond with which gender their child preferred.

Along with the main text in the letter, there was also a note next to the tickbox for male/female explaining that the national recording system only gives two options for gender but to help their child choose a gender they most identified with.

[Comment: More DNA denial propaganda and brainwashing. This is child abuse.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

7 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/20/2016

  1. Lot’s of stuff to absorb. It seems to me we’re getting closer to the edge of the cliff!!

  2. 5 Million US Immigrants Fear Supreme Court Will Overrule President Obama????

    They aren’t US Immigrants, they are illegal aliens, US Immigrants would be lawfully here (not violating US immigration laws) and would have nothing to worry about with SCOTUS overruling an Imperial Presidents illegal and unconstitutional treasonous dictate

    • Illegals have become frightfully aggressive in the southwestern United States of late. As if legals opinions are becoming less and less relevant to their advance on all fronts and behinds. A potential American version of Merkel in the offing. President Trumpenhower is a man with a plan.

  3. *** Pope: “the change in lifestyle and mentality that your presence requires” ***

    Viciousness cloaked with an authority absurdly conferred.

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