Six men were arrested in Indonesia for plotting to launch a rocket attack against Singapore from an island near the city-state. No motive for the planned deed has yet been determined, but it is certain that the incident had nothing to do with Islam. Perhaps the men were lone wolves who were mentally ill, suffered from anomie, felt marginalized, and were bullied in school. And they may have been suddenly radicalized online.
In other news, Black Lives Matter protesters blocked the motorway route into Heathrow Airport and caused other disruptions in cities across England.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Caroline Glick, Dean, Fjordman, KH, MC, Nick, Reader from Chicago, RL, Seneca III, 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.
Dear DNC: Why Did You Put a Sharia Supremacist on Convention Centerstage?
by Diana West
Dear DNC,
Doubtless, I would reach more people if I wrote the following message in a private, hackable email, but I am concerned Russian cyber-trolls are distracted this week by heaps more breaking scandal about Hillary Clinton’s loyal services to what some people like to call “Mother Russia.”
Between that Hillary-approved uranium deal transferring 20 percent of US uranium to Russian control (netting $145 million for the Clinton Foundation) and, now, her success in getting US investors to fund Russian military research in Russia’s very own “Silicon Valley,” I am afraid my little email might languish unread on some cold NSA server.
If anyone in Russia is reading, though, do pass along a suggested name change for that Russian R&D hub Hillary has done so much for: “Clinticon Valley” has a wonderful ring to it, don’t you think? Or, maybe better — Clinticonovna Valley.
My subject today, though, is the Constitution-waving Khizr Khan (above), who caused such an uproar at the DNC as the father of a fallen US officer in Iraq, Capt. Humayun Khan, killed in action in 2004, that he now wishes to exit the limelight and has even scrubbed his own website, the one listing his immigration legal services in the (strictly legit!) sale of visas to foreign millionaires.
| — Hat tip: RL | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump Backtracks on ‘Video of Iran Payment’
US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has backtracked on a claim that he saw video footage of a US cash payment to Iran.
He made the claim at a rally. His team admitted it was incorrect, only for Mr Trump to repeat it at another rally.
The money was paid at the same time US hostages were freed, but the president said it was a payment linked to the landmark Iranian nuclear agreement.
Mr Trump said the video he saw was of the hostage transfer, not the payment.
The White House announced in January it was making payments to Iran — a total of $1.7bn (£1.3bn) to settle a decades-old dispute over a failed military equipment deal — as part of the nuclear accord.
A newspaper this week revealed that $400m of that was delivered in cash, flown to Iran at roughly the same time as four Americans were released in a prisoner exchange.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Four Pulled From Vernon Home After Explosion
VERNON — Volunteer firefighters crawled into the wreckage of a house that exploded and collapsed Thursday afternoon and dug through the debris with their hands to rescue a woman and two boys.
Another team of Vernon volunteer firefighters rescued a man trapped in the front of the shattered house.
Seven people, including four children, were injured when the house at 4 East Street exploded about 4:15 p.m. A 7-year-old boy appeared to suffer the most serious injuries, police said.
The explosion blew out the home’s walls and caused the second and first floors to collapse. The house’s front door was blown 50 feet across East Street into a neighbor’s yard. Shattered glass littered the roadway in front of the house. The cause of the blast is under investigation.
The first Vernon police, firefighters and EMTs to arrive went to work treating the people outside the house and trying to figure out how many more people needed help. There was smoke, dust and confusion in the air…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
John McCain’s 1969 “Tokyo Rose” Propaganda Recording Released
Vero Beach, FL — (TRUNEWS) U.S. Senator John McCain recorded a Tokyo Rose-style propaganda message that was broadcast on North Vietnamese radio in 1969.
TRUNEWS, a nonprofit Christian digital news app, obtained the bombshell audio recording and released it today on the organization’s daily newscast hosted by Rick Wiles. TRUNEWS acquired the audio recording in cooperation with WeSearchR.com, a new media company founded by Charles Johnson.
The 1969 North Vietnamese radio broadcast has never been heard in the United States of America. In fact, there has never been any knowledge that such a recording existed. The audio recording was found in a misplaced file in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The broadcast was recorded by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, a branch of the CIA that monitored international shortwave and foreign radio broadcasts.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Presidential Election: Psychopathic Narcissists Want to Run the Asylum
To hell with her emails — Hillary’s election fraud is TREASON
We are going to see more bread and circuses, more corruption on display…and we’re going to see a presidential election dominated by two psychopaths. We’ve never seen so much pathology from two major party presidential candidates in any previous presidential election… Trump at least was the people’s choice…a hideously bad choice, but at least there was a genuine popular movement supporting him. Whereas Hillary is the product of a criminal machine. They used voting machine fraud; they had the AP and the big news organizations call Hillary the winner (of the Democratic nomination) before the California (primary) election to discourage Bernie Sanders voters; Google has changed its algorithms to massively favor Hillary: If you type in Hillary Clinton c-r-i, looking for Hillary Clinton crime cabal etcetera, which millions of people are looking for, instead you get “Hillary Clinton crime policy” which nobody has ever looked for.
What we’re seeing is a completely rigged election. This has nothing to do with democracy. We are living in a criminal oligarchy in the United States.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Senate GOP on Edge Over Trump’s Falling Polls
New polls showing Hillary Clinton opening up big leads over Donald Trump in two key battlegrounds has sparked alarm among Republicans who worry he will sink their Senate majority.
Trump has had a bad two weeks, and the damage is starting to show in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, two crucial swing states.
Republican strategists and neutral political experts say if Trump loses by 8 points or more in states with competitive Senate races, he will likely take Republican incumbents down with him.
Trump’s drop in the polls isn’t confined to New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, Madonna noted.
A nationwide Fox News poll published Monday showed Clinton beating Trump by 10 points.
The latest numbers are causing alarm among Senate Republicans, who must defend 24 seats in November while Democrats only need to protect 10. If Clinton wins the White House, Democrats need to pick up a net of four seats to recapture control of the upper chamber.
“It scares them. Any Republican in cycle is looking at the polls right now and it makes them very nervous,” said Brian Darling, a former Senate Republican aide.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Black Lives Matter Protests Stop Cars and Trams Across England
Black Lives Matter protesters blocked roads in Nottingham, Birmingham and the M4 at Heathrow, in a day of anti-racist activism.
Campaigners lay on the slip road to the airport in London, tram tracks in Nottingham and on a road near Birmingham airport on Friday morning.
The co-ordinated act came a day after the fifth anniversary of the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by police.
Police arrested 19 people in connection with the protests.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Does French Culture Have a Future?
by Pierre Manent
This interview of Pierre Manent, former director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, was conducted by the newspaper Il Foglio in the wake of the ISIS murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel.
Il Foglio
What do you think and feel about the recent attack at a French church? No priest had been killed in odium fidei (out of hatred for the faith) since the Second World War.
Pierre Manent
Imagine this scene: a mid-week mass, an almost empty church, two parishioners, three nuns, a very old priest with a mild, fine face who is immolated at the foot of the altar on which he has just celebrated the memorial of Christ’s sacrifice. This heart-wrenching scene sheds light on the state of Christianity in Europe. The Catholic Church lives from the faith and zeal of a few, old and young. It is the object of hatred with two faces: the cold and hissing hatred, the contempt of the class that speaks and writes; and the murderous hatred of Muslim fanatics. The French as a human whole do not know what to do with the Church, what to think or what to say of it. The President of the Republic rushed in to express his sympathy for “Catholics,” but then immediately changed the subject, since he didn’t know what to say about Catholics or the Catholic Church. Only the mayor of the little worker’s town, a communist, knew to speak of “our priest.”
Il Foglio
France looks exhausted. … What are France’s mistakes, especially those of the elite media and intellectuals, and what is the nature of its malaise?…
| — Hat tip: KH | [Return to headlines] |
France: Council Bosses Order Halal Supermarket to Sell Pork and Alcohol or Face Being Shut Down
A halal supermarket has been told to start selling pork and alcohol, otherwise it will be shut down.
The Good Price discount mini market in Colombes, Paris, has been told by the local housing authority that it must act as a “general food store”.
Authority officials argue not all members of the community are being catered for by the supermarket.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
France Cancels Europe’s Top Flea Market Over Terror Fears
The Lille flea market, considered one of France top annual events, has become the latest to be cancelled amid fears it may be targeted by terrorists.
One of Europe’s biggest flea markets, in the northern French city of Lille, has been cancelled over security fears in the terror-hit country, mayor Martine Aubry said Friday.
The annual market attracted 2.5 million visitors over two days in 2015, and Aubry said there were “risks we cannot reduce. Therefore I think we must cancel the 2016 flea market.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Sees More Anti-Muslim Acts After Terror Attacks
While the government and religious leaders are preaching unity between communities the country is still witnessing several acts of Islamophobia with mosques targeted.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Attackers Were ‘Advised by ISIS’: Report
The perpetrators of two attacks in Germany claimed by the Isis terror group were given advice on the separate assaults by members of the jihadist organisation, German media reports.
Without citing its sources, German weekly Der Spiegel said the two men exchanged messages with individuals using different phone numbers, including some that were registered in Saudi Arabia.
The Afghan teenager who in July went on an axe rampage on a train, wounding four tourists from Hong Kong and a German passer-by, had reportedly discussed how he would carry out the attack with his Isis contacts.
In one of the exchanges, an Isis contact suggested that the teen, named by German media as Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, could drive a car into a crowd, but the Afghan rejected the idea as he did not have a driver’s licence, the report said.
The teen said he would instead get on a train and carry out his attack onboard.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Minister: Donald Trump is a ‘Hate Preacher’
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier labelled US Republican presidential candidate a “hate preacher”.
Steinmeier said on Thursday that he was concerned about the worldwide spread of the “behemoth of nationalism”, specifically referring to Donald Trump as well as to supporters of Britain leaving the EU, and Germany’s far-right AfD party (Alternative for Germany).
He called their words “an incendiary for the society [which] we can — we must — wipe out in the voting booth”.
However, Steinmeier is far from the first European politician to be concerned by the prospect of a President Trump.
Earlier this week, French President Francois Hollande didn’t mince his words, saying Trump “makes you want to retch”, criticizing his recent “hurtful” comments directed at the Muslim parents of a slain US soldier.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Is France ‘Letting Terrorists Win’ By Cancelling Events?
French authorities have cancelled a series of events this summer over security fears. Are they handing victory to the terrorists, as many argue?
These are incredibly tough times for authorities in France.
After each terror attack the government and president vow defiance and promise the killings and horror won’t change France.
But clearly fearing further loss of life the powers that be have then encouraged local authorities to, if needs be, cancel events, many of which have held a treasured place on the country’s cultural calendar for years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel’s Approval Rating Plunges Following Attacks in Germany
Senior members of Angela Merkel’s party defended her refugee policy after the German chancellor’s approval rating plunged in the wake of a series of attacks that unsettled the public and sparked political opposition.
Voter support for Merkel slumped 12 percentage points to 47 percent in July, the second-lowest of her third term that started in 2013, according to an Infratest dimap poll this week for ARD public television. Two-thirds said they oppose the chancellor’s handling of the refugee crisis. Support for Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer, one of her biggest political adversaries during the refugee crisis, rose 11 points to 44 percent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Rightwing Takes Aim at EU Accords
Switzerland’s rightwing strongman Christoph Blocher launched a campaign on Friday against the government’s efforts to clinch an economic “framework treaty” with the European Union.
A set of bilateral economic accords already exists. However, those accords are now endangered by Swiss voters’ narrowly approved decision to curb immigration in a February 2014 initiative pushed by Blocher’s Swiss People’s Party.
The Swiss government now faces a February 2017 deadline to determine how it will implement the will of the people. The set of accords that govern Swiss-EU relations contain a “guillotine” clause to nullify all if one is eliminated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s EU Bid Faces ‘Reset’ Call as Austria Sours on Accession
The European Union said it is up to the Turkish government to make progress in its talks to join the EU after Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern signaled the bloc should consider ending the negotiations with Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Holidaymakers heading to Heathrow have been stopped by Black Lives Matter protesters who are blocking off roads to the airport.
Long tailbacks have built up after the protesters spread banners across arterial routes and started lying in the road at the entrance to the hub.
It is believed the group are taking part in a national day of action as part of #BlackAugust, a campaign to raise awareness of racism.
A group of protesters had earlier blocked the main road leading to Birmingham Airport and Black Lives Matter campaigners said further action was planned in Nottingham.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Heathrow Airport Traffic Blocked on M4 in Black Lives Matter Protest for Black August
As thousands of holidaymakers made their way to the airport on Friday morning, they were met with long tailbacks after the protesters spread banners across arterial routes.
Police have drafted in cutting equipment to saw through the chains which the protesters have used to lock themselves to each other and concrete blocks covered with what appears to be tubing.
Helmets were placed on the protesters and a sheet held up blocking their view as specialist equipment was used to hammer through the chains.
It is believed the group are taking action as part of #BlackAugust, a campaign to raise awareness of racism…
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: Obama Builds His Legacy
Why did the Obama administration decide to escalate its attacks against Israel last week?
What was the purpose of the State Department’s shockingly hostile assault last Wednesday following the Israel Land’s Authority’s announcement that it is publishing tenders to build 323 apartment units in Jerusalem’s Gilo, Har Homa, Pisgat Zeev and Neve Yaakov neighborhoods?
The statement needs to be seen to be believed…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Coup Bid: Fethullah Gulen’s Lawyers Fear Attack on His Life
Lawyers for US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen say they fear an attack on his life, in the wake of the failed coup attempt on 15 July in Turkey.
Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for Mr Gulen, accusing him of orchestrating the coup attempt. It has called on the US to extradite him.
Mr Gulen denies any involvement.
Turkey has cracked down heavily in the wake of the coup attempt. On Friday the governing AK Party ordered an internal purge of Gulen supporters.
More than 270 people died in events surrounding the coup attempt.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Six Indonesians Arrested for ‘Plan to Fire Rocket at Singapore’, Police Say
Indonesian police have arrested six people they say were planning to attack Singapore.
The men, aged between 19 and 46, were arrested at several locations in nearby Batam island on Friday.
The plot allegedly involved firing a rocket from Batam, just south of Singapore, at Marina Bay — an upmarket, waterfront area.
Singapore officials said they were aware of the plot and security had been stepped up.
Indonesian police spokesman Boy Rafli told BBC Indonesian that the suspects were now being questioned. It is not clear whether the men had the ability to carry out such an attack.[…]
[No JIM here, move along folks nothing to see…..]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa Local Elections: ANC Suffers Major Setback
South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has suffered its worst electoral setback since apartheid ended in 1994.
With 98% of the votes counted after Wednesday’s municipal elections, the party has lost the key battleground of Nelson Mandela Bay to the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).
The two parties are in a close fight for Johannesburg and Pretoria.
But the ANC is still in the lead nationally, with 54% of the vote.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuelan Asylum Claims in U.S. Soar as Turmoil There Deepens, Report Says
Reeling from the political and financial turmoil in their native homeland, Venezuelans are seeking asylum in the United States at unprecedented rates.
The number of Venezuelans seeking to make the United States their permanent home through political asylum has skyrocketed to 10,221 between October 2015 and June 2016 — nearly triple the number that did so in the same period the previous year, according to a report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.
Only China, with 11,826 applications, and Mexico, with 10,749, surpass Venezuela in the number of citizens seeking refuge in the United States.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Case in New Florence, Mo., Murder Delayed by Change of Judge
MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo. • The murder case here against a man from Mexico who re-entered the United States illegally has been delayed by his request for a change of judge.
Pablo Antonio Serrano-Vitorino, 40, of Kansas City, Kan., is accused of having murdered a man from New Florence, Mo., on March 8 while fleeing the scene of four murders in Kansas. He also faces four counts of first-degree murder in those killings.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Increasing Violence by Asylum Seekers Against Swedes
by Ingrid Carlqvist
“If you disagree with the establishment, you are immediately called a racist or fascist, which we definitely are not. At times I felt that this was what it must have been like to live in the old Soviet Union.” — Karla, on why her family had left Sweden for Mallorca.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Jihadist’ Headed Italy Trafficking Gang: Police
Italian authorities said on Friday they had broken up a people trafficking gang based near Naples headed by a Tunisian national they suspect of jihadist links.
The alleged gang leader’s suspected backing for radical Islamism was uncovered during an investigation into the group’s provision of false job contracts from local textile factories to enable illegal immigrants from North Africa to obtain work permits, a statement from the ROS police special operations unit said.
Arrest warrants have been issued for eight suspects. They included the Tunisian, who was said to have become radicalized in the last year and to have praised the recent terror attacks on Paris on social media.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Break Through Italy’s Border With France
Rome: More than 100 migrants broke through police barriers at the Italian border town of Ventimiglia and made their way into France, the local Italian police chief says.
They stopped on rocks near the port at the French Riviera town of Menton after breaking through in the afternoon and were still there on Friday evening under the surveillance of French police, said Ventimiglia police commander Giorgio Marenco.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Refugees Surge Into US; Obama on Track to Hit Target Amid Security Concerns
The pace of Syrian refugees entering the U.S. has surged in recent weeks, government figures show, putting the Obama administration on track to meet its target of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees before the end of September -— and reviving Republican concerns about the security implications.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Now we see the real purpose in Black Lives Matter come to the fore–disruption, pure and simple. Another tool of the same people that have created the immigration mess and for the same purposes.