This morning a pipe bomb exploded in a garbage can along the route of a USMC marathon run in New Jersey. This evening a bomb went off in a garbage can in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The first explosion caused no injuries; the second injured at least 25 people. Neither incident had anything to do with Islam.
In other news, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she will no longer use “Wir schaffen Das” (“We can do it”) as her immigration slogan.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Fjordman, JD, MM, Nick, Reader from Chicago, 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.
55,000+ People in CA Are Being Served Illegal Levels of Arsenic in Tap Water
Prolonged exposure to arsenic linked to bladder, liver and kidney cancer
A recent report sheds light on how more than 55,000 California residents are being served up illegal and unsafe levels of arsenic in their tap water. California was found to be in noncompliance 3 years ago with the law regulating safe amounts of arsenic in water, with residents still being exposed to it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
90-Year-Old Florida Man Arrested for Second Time in a Week After Feeding the Homeless Again
Not everything has to be regulated. Not everything has to be codified and signed off on by the red tape gurus. Life CAN happen just fine without such interference. And when the government is stopping a man from feeding the hungry, rest assured something is very wrong with the regulations, the codes, and the local bureaucrats.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
At Least 25 Injured After Explosion in New York City, Emergency Workers Confirm
At least 25 people were injured after an explosion in Manhattan Saturday night, emergency workers confirmed to Fox News.
The blast was heard on West 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in the city’s Chelsea neighborhood. Police counterterrorism officers, a bomb squad and firefighters rushed to the scene.
All of the injured were expected to survive, the FDNY added. The blast may have originated in a garbage can which was found mangled, investigators added.
A witness described the explosion as “very forceful,” telling Fox News it sent a “big cloud of black smoke” into the air as people ran from the scene. Another said a fireball shot into the air as a nearby building shook. Witnesses said they did not smell gas beforehand.
A National Guard member near the scene told Fox News the explosion was so loud that he put on his uniform and raced to the area.
Witnesses say FBI and Homeland Security officials are also at the scene.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Bayer Buys Monsanto: The Empire Strikes Back
This is the largest corporate cash buyout in history.
Mega-giant Bayer put $66 billion on the table, and mega-giant Monsanto said yes.
Think GMOs, crop seeds, pesticides, medical drugs.
Keep in mind that one of the consultants on the European side of this deal is the Rothschild Group.
But that’s not all. Dow and DuPont are planning to merge. Recently, another biotech giant, Syngenta, was swallowed up by the state-owned ChemChina. And this just in: two major Canadian fertilizer manufacturers, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc. are merging.
Consolidation, monopoly. The Empire strikes back.
The global rebellion against GMOs and pesticides, particularly Monsanto’s Roundup, is one of the reasons for these deals. But lurking in the background is another factor, exemplified by the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty.
If the TPP passes, corporate tribunals will take over the adjudication of disputes in which a nation rejects importing toxic pesticides, medical drugs, or GMOs. These tribunals will decide whether that nation is permitted to refuse importation.
Of course, the tribunals will favor mega-corporate interests. But now, with the mergers involving Bayer, Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, Syngenta, and ChemChina, the devastating clout of the tribunals will be that much more powerful.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Creepy Clowns Are Terrorizing Children, Parents and Schools All Over America
An epidemic of creepy clown sightings is sweeping America, and authorities don’ t know who or what is behind it. In some instances, clowns with horrific expressions painted on their faces have been spotted standing on the side of the road, lurking near the edge of the woods or just roaming about town staring at random people. But in other instances there have been reports of clowns actually attempting to lure children with gifts, and there have even been some reports of children running away from creepy clowns that were chasing after them. While doing research for this article, I came across recent creepy clown sightings from South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, California, Alabama, Georgia and West Virginia. This is truly a nationwide phenomenon, and many believe that it will get even worse as Halloween approaches.
This creepy clown trend appears to have begun with a very disturbing case at an apartment complex in South Carolina…
[…]
Authorities say that their investigation into this incident found that the clowns were approaching children with the intent “ to persuade them into the woods further by displaying large amounts of money” .
At least one child that personally interacted with these clowns testified “ that they had candy and they would give it to them if they came there” .
Whether people are dressed as clowns or not, attempting to abduct children in no joke.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dec. 1: When 4th Amendment Will be Destroyed
Exclusive: Craige McMillan warns of reg that’ll create ‘surveillance megatropolis’
Why Dec. 1? Why not leave it for the next administration?
“The Obama administration, ever fond of backdoors, is planning to make meaningless the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. How? By altering the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. According to an article in Wired Magazine authored by Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden
“The new plan to drastically expand the government’s hacking and surveillance authorities is known formally as amendments to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the proposal would allow the government to hack a million computers or more with a single warrant. If Congress doesn’t pass legislation blocking this proposal, the new rules go into effect on Dec. 1…
“Oh, Dec. 1? No, you figure it out. But the fact is, once the FBI places their botnet software on your computer, they can plant any evidence they wish on that computer, and they are “you” when they transfer money or post statements of insurrection on Web forums and social media, or engage in other illegal activity. With apologies to Sauron, “One warrant to rule them all.” Rest at link.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Just 5.7 Percent of Clinton Foundation Budget Actually Went to Charitable Grants
The Clinton Foundation spent a hair under $91.3 million in 2014, the organization’s IRS filings show. But less than $5.2 million of that went to charitable grants
Just 5.7 percent of the Clinton Foundation’s massive 2014 budget actually went to charitable grants, according to the tax-exempt organization’s IRS filings. The rest went to salaries and employee benefits, fundraising and “other expenses.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
London’s Islamist-Linked Mayor Tells U.S. Audience: ‘Immigrants Shouldn’t Assimilate’
London’s Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan has continued his pro-Hillary Clinton tour of the United States by declaring that immigrants into the West should not be forced to assimilate.
His comments come hot on the heels of the Chicago press exposing his connections to radical Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Mr. Khan, who was elected to be London’s mayor in May 2016, has also used his trip to claim that Republican candidate Donald Trump is “playing into the hands” of the Islamic State.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Motorcyclist Killed by Cop Didn’t Intentionally Ram Cruiser
(WRC-TV) A man who D.C. police say was fatally shot by an officer after he rammed his motorcycle into a police vehicle did not intentionally hit the cruiser, according to witnesses.
Police said the motorcyclist, 31-year-old Terrence Sterling, of Fort Washington, Maryland, purposely drove his bike into the passenger side of a police cruiser early Sunday morning as an officer was trying to get out of that side of the car.
The officer fired his service weapon, hitting Sterling, police said. Sterling was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
However, witnesses told police a different account of the crash.
Several witnesses said the collision was unavoidable and Sterling did not intentionally strike the cruiser. They also said the officer was not trying to get out of his car, but instead rolled his window down and shot Sterling from inside the car after the crash.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New videos have surfaced of a Yale professor being protested and yelled at by students for sending an email telling them to ignore people dressed in offensive or racist Halloween costumes last year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Pipe Bomb-Style Device’ Explodes Along Military 5K Route in Seaside
SEASIDE PARK — An explosive device went off in a garbage pail Saturday morning along the route of a 5K run and walk to benefit military soldiers.
Multiple devices were also found “wired together” in the same garbage pail, but they did not detonate, according to Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
The explosion occurred along the route of the Seaside Semper Five Marine Corps Charity 5K at around 9:30 a.m.
The device is being described as a “pipe bomb-style device” based on a preliminary investigation by officials from the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad, Della Fave said.
Bomb squad officials are examining the remaining undetonated devices.
“We’ve evacuated within a four-block perimeter. Traffic into Seaside Park is closed, but (motorists) are allowed to go to Seaside Heights,” Della Fave said…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Police: Multiple Victims Stabbed, Suspect Dead in St. Cloud Mall Incident
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Officers were sent to Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on a report of a stabbing Saturday night, according to St. Cloud police.
It happened just after 8 p.m. There are multiple victims with stab wounds, police said. All victims were transported to the St. Cloud Hospital to be treated.
The suspect is dead at the scene and the mall is still in lockdown, according to St. Cloud police. Officers are conducting a security sweep and speaking to witnesses.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Poll: Trump Catching Clinton in Critical Electoral College Vote
A Reuters poll released Saturday shows Hillary Clinton’s once-significant Electoral College lead dropping sharply in recent week — with much tighter races in Florida, Ohio and other key states that will decide the national contest.
The wire service’s weekly tracking poll of more than 15,000 Americans projects that Clinton — “if the race was held today” — has a 60 percent chance of winning by 18 electoral votes, compared to having an 83 percent chance last week.
Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, or her Republican rival, Donald Trump, will need 270 electoral votes — from a total of 538 across all 50 states, based on how many members of Congress each state has.
The Reuters’ State of the Nation poll, done by the Ipsos firm, also shows Trump projected to win Florida, if the November election were held now.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
President Obama finds yet another way to stick it to America. It is bad enough to have to endure the daily disregard for the law on behalf of presidential candidate Mrs. Clinton. The onslaught of attacks against GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump by Alynski inspired network talk show hosts and news anchors is nauseating. We have endured a president who consistently bad mouths “We the People” of the United States to anyone around the world who will listen. Then the White House occupier touts that the biggest problem America faces is climate change.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Mainstream Media Bet the Farm on Hillary — And Lost
The MSM has forsaken its duty in a democracy and is a disgrace to investigative, unbiased journalism.
The mainstream media bet the farm on Hillary Clinton, confident that their dismissal of every skeptical inquiry as a “conspiracy” would guarantee her victory. It now appears they have lost their bet. Let’s do something radical and be honest for a moment: the mainstream media has smoothed the path to Hillary’s coronation in countless often subtle ways.
MSM “Opinion” hacks have unleashed unrelenting attacks on legitimate inquiries with accusations of “conspiracy” and obsequious kow-towing headlines such as “Can we please stop talking about Hillary’s health?”
Suggestions that the Clinton Foundation engaged in “pay to play” during Hillary’s term as secretary of state are glossed over; yes, it looks bad, the MSM reluctantly admits, they they hurry to add that no impropriety can be proven in court.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Wells Fargo CEO Refuses to Resign After Massive Fraud Exposed
It’s not just a few bad apples. Wells Fargo, one of the largest banks in the world, has been fined $185 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators for secretly opening accounts without authorization from customers to boost sales goals and subsequently receive bonuses.
Around 5,300 employees were fired in connection to the fraud, which saw Wells Fargo customers receive numerous bank services they never asked for, like credit cards, online banking, deposit accounts, and debit cards. Employees who wanted to increase their sales numbers used privileged customer information to apply and/or acquire the products and services without the customers’ knowledge.
Among the violations cited by the CFPB were:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Who is Obama’s Boss? And Why it Matters.
Here is another question that has the same answer: who is in charge of destroying economies?
Who keeps pushing new economy-destroying trade treaties, like the upcoming TPP? Who is in the business of killing jobs and hope?
Who demands that these treaties must be ratified?
Who is breathing down Obama’s neck, as he stages a last-ditch effort to ratify the TPP and further bury US sovereignty under the weight of global corporations?
Who demands that more US jobs disappear overseas and never come back?
One group has been virtually forgotten. Its influence is enormous. It has existed since 1973.
It’s called the Trilateral Commission (TC).
Keep in mind that the original stated goal of the TC was to create “a new international economic order.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Who the hell is Huma? “The short” of it: Huma Abedin, according to Vanity Fair Magazine, January 6, 2016, “…has served in several positions, with increasingly important-sounding titles. She has been Hillary’s ‘body woman,’ her traveling chief of staff, a senior adviser, and a deputy chief of staff when Hillary was secretary of state. Now, based in Brooklyn, she is the vice-chair of Hillary’s 2016 presidential campaign.” Huma Mahmoud Abedin was born July 28, 1976, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Huma’s mother, Saleha, was born in Pakistan. Her father, Syed Zainul Abedin, born in India, was associated at that time with the Muslim Students Association at Western Michigan University. The MSA was founded in 1963 by the Saudi Arabian Muslim World League, dedicated to spread the conquering doctrine of Islam across the entire planet-Earth.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Being Loaded Into an Ambulance at the Scene of a Mysterious Blast on 23rd St.
The Fire Department was responding to reports of an explosion in Chelsea on Saturday night.
First responders arrived a 135 W. 23rd St. near Sixth Ave. at about 8:30 p.m, a witness and FDNY spokesman said.
A witness said he felt and heard the blast while entering the 23rd Street subway station with his family.
Ryan McMillen turned around and saw the back of an SUV “totally blown out.”
“Everybody started running and screaming,” McMillen said.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Another French Teenager Remanded in Custody Over Terror Plot
A 15-year-old French boy has been arrested in Paris and remanded in custody on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack, a source close to the investigation said on Friday.
He is the third French 15-year-old in just five days to have been remanded in custody and placed under formal investigation for terrorism.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Will Veto EU Army, Says Defense Secretary
The UK would exercise its power of veto to block the creation of an EU army while it remains a member of the European Union, according to Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Le Pen Says She is ‘Candidate of the People, ‘ Eager for Presidential Vote
Far-right National Front party leader Marine Le Pen on Saturday said she was eager for France’s presidential election campaign to start, portraying herself as the “candidate of the people” and mocking her opponents’ primaries as cockfights.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Migrants Gang Rape and Gag Teen at Eiffel Tower Raising France Safety Fears
The 19-year-old French girl was lured to the monument on the proviso of a ‘date’ set up through Facebook.
She responded to messages from who she thought was a 17-year-old Tunisian boy and initially met him close to her home in the Paris suburbs.
Last Sunday evening she turned up for another date where she expected to have a picnic with the boy at the Champs des Mars, the park where the Eiffel Tower is, and was attacked.
A source close to the case, said: “It was a warm night, and she expected to eat strawberries and grapes, and to drink Coke, but then the attack took place.”
The woman was dragged under a bush behind where a blanket had been laid out.
She was then assaulted by three men who then gagged, beat her up and tied her up.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is said to have recently run away from her mother’s home in the Paris suburbs.
She was only found when a couple who were jogging early on Monday morning heard the victim making a muffled sobbing noise.
They raised the alarm after finding her in deep shock, naked and crying.
Police then used computer data to quickly trace the three men to a hotel in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.
They were caught there just before they tried to flee to Germany on Monday.
None of them had any official papers and all claimed they were 17 year olds from Tunisia and were seeking asylum.
However, early checks suggest they are likely to be a lot older and possibly from Algeria…
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Senior Official Says UK Exploring National Internet Filter to Block IP Address and Websites
GCHQ’s cyber boss went to Washington on Tuesday armed with a long wishlist for the UK’s eavesdropping nerve centre: chief among them was to scale up DNS filtering to block “known malware and bad addresses”. The scheme, which is still in the early planning stages, would see major United Kingdom service providers working alongside GCHQ in a voluntary capacity to help filter malicious website domains that could potentially be used by hackers or state-sponsored rivals to infect computer systems.
[Comment: Camel’s nose. Use a good pretext to get the law passed. Will then be expanded to include sites telling the truth and exposing elites plans such as mass migration to destroy nation states. Will end up becoming a China Firewall 2.0]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Alleged Hacker Lauri Love Loses Extradition Case. Judge: Suicide Safeguards in Place
Defence set to appeal decision
It was ruled today that Lauri Love, the alleged hacktivist from Stradishall, Suffolk, should be extradited to the United States to face charges of crimes carried out as part of online protests following the suicide of Aaron Swartz.
Handing down her judgment at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this afternoon, District Judge Nina Tempia ruled that Love, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, should be handed over to the US authorities. Judge Tempia, who chose not to read out her judgment in court, informed Love directly that she had decided to extradite him.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Black Lives Matter Protesters Who Closed London City Airport Profiled
GUY ADAMS investigates the nine Black Lives Matters protesters who blocked London City Airport recently. He discovers they are all the product of wealthy families.
[Comment: Products of a communist indoctrintion “education”.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Natalie Jeffers, 36, one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter UK, is the sole director of Matters of the Earth, which has received around £100,000 in grants and funding — the majority from taxpayers.
[Comment: These groups also get a lot of money from Soros.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Visegrad Group of EU States ‘Could Veto Brexit Deal’
A group of Central European EU members known as the Visegrad Four is ready to veto any Brexit deal that would limit people’s right to work in the UK, Slovakian PM Robert Fico says.
In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Mr Fico said Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia would be uncompromising in negotiations.
His comments come a day after the EU’s first major meeting without the UK.
Brexit, though not formally discussed, overshadowed the Bratislava summit.
At the end of the summit, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker repeated that Britain could not achieve full access to the EU market that it would ideally like, if it closed off free immigration for EU citizens.
At the same news conference, Mr Fico underlined that he and other Central European leaders whose citizens make up much of the EU migrant population in Britain would not let those people become “second class citizens”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Crusaders! Infidels! Dogs! Get Out!’ US-Backed Rebels Force US Commandos to Leave Syrian Town
“Five or six” US special forces troops had to withdraw from the town of al-Rai on Syria’s border with Turkey, after allies from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had driven them out, calling them “infidels” and “crusaders,” several media outlets have reported.
The Turkish military, which last month openly crossed the Syrian border to fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), has admitted that US soldiers are providing a supporting and coordinating role in the operation being carried out between the Syrian towns of Azaz and al-Rai, Reuters reports.
At least two videos circulated on Twitter on Friday evening appeared to show that they were not welcome in al-Rai.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Powell Says Israel Has 200 Nukes Pointed at Iran in Leaked 2015 Email
In a private email exchange last year leaked this week by hackers, former Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed Israel’s nuclear weapons capability with a friend, saying the country has 200 warheads.
Though Israel is widely believed to have developed nukes decades ago, it has never declared itself to be a nuclear state. The existence of its weapons program is considered classified information by both the Israeli and U.S. governments.
Powell, a retired Army general who has served as White House national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Associated Press on Friday through a spokeswoman he was referring to public estimates of Israel’s nukes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria War Report: End of the Islamic State? ISIS /Daesh Terrorists Killed in Russian Air Strikes
The Russian Aerospace Forces have eliminated 250 ISIS terrorists and 15 vehicles armed with machine guns near the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on September 14.
Russian warplanes conducted airstrikes north of the city where a group of terrorists was preparing offensive on the Syrian army positions.
Photos of the Syrian S-200 air-defense system deployed in southern Syria appeared in pro-government social media accounts on September 14. According to reports, the same system was used against Israeli aircraft on September 13 when Syria claimed to down an Israeli drone and a warplane over the country. However, the claim of the Syrian military has not been confirmed with video or photo proofs.
[Comment: Russia will be effective against ISIS/Daesh. That’s the reason for the recent lie by the UN that the Syrian military was responsible for the chemical attacks. The lie gives a pretext to broaden the war. Elites want to directly use western military and blood to force change and create and Islamic State of Syria — their proxy army of ISIS/Daesh is losing.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Military ‘Certain’ Strike Mistakenly Hit Syrian Forces, Official Says
The U.S. military halted an air raid against the Islamic State terror group in eastern Syria on Saturday after learning it struck a Syrian military unit by mistake, a U.S. Central Command official confirmed to Fox News.
The official said the U.S. military was “certain” about the outcome of the strike. Officials had been watching these forces “for a few days” thinking they were ISIS.
Syria and Russia said the U.S.-led coalition had struck a Syrian military base in Deir el-Zour that was surrounded by ISIS fighters, enabling them to advance. The U.S. is not known to have directly struck Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces at any point during the five-year civil war.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Putin: US Campaign Shows Russia’s Importance
Vladimir Putin says the prominence of Russia and himself as an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign indicates the country’s growing importance.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments about Putin’s power and support have brought rebuke from critics who suggest he would take a soft line in dealing with the Kremlin. Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton has said Trump’s attitude toward Putin is unpatriotic and “scary.”
In Kyrgyzstan on Saturday, Putin said “so far as the use of Russia and the president of Russia in the U.S. presidential campaign, I want to hope that this is connected with the growing influence and significance of Russia.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kashmir Protests: Boy’s Funeral Draws Thousands
Thousands of people have defied a curfew in Indian-administered Kashmir to attend the funeral of a schoolboy whose body was found riddled with pellet wounds, local media report.
Police reportedly fired teargas at mourners. Kashmir is under lockdown as protests against Indian rule continue.
More than 80 people, nearly all anti-government protesters, have died in more than two months of violence.
Nasir Shafi was found dead after going missing on Friday in Srinagar.
An almost complete curfew is now in place in Kashmir, part of the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Philippine Abu Sayyaf Militants Free Norwegian Hostage
Islamist militants in the Philippines have released a Norwegian man taken hostage along with two Canadians who the group beheaded, officials say.
The Abu Sayyaf jihadists freed Kjartan Sekkingstad in southern Sulu province on Saturday. Unconfirmed reports say a large ransom was paid.
The group of four hostages was seized from a resort a year ago. A Filipina woman was freed in June.
Abu Sayyaf is fighting for an independent Islamic state.
It often attempts to raise money from ransom payments.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Wing Flap Found in Tanzania Confirmed to be Part of MH370
A wing flap that washed ashore on an island off Tanzania has been identified as belonging to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian officials said Thursday.
The flap was found in June by residents on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, and officials had previously said it was highly likely to have come from the missing Boeing 777. An analysis by experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane, subsequently confirmed the part was indeed from the aircraft, the agency said in a statement.
Several pieces of wreckage suspected to have come from the plane have washed ashore on coastlines around the Indian Ocean since the aircraft vanished with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Yachters Fight Back Against Real-Life Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates who target vulnerable vessels have plagued the oceans for centuries but violence and piracy against yachts cruising the Caribbean is on the rise.
The region’s yachting fraternity is fighting back, using social media and online forums to unite, to warn fellow mariners of incidents and danger hotspots, and to raise money to get victims back on the water.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bavaria Accuses Migration Office of Security Flaws as Oktoberfest Starts
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian allies accused the Federal Migration Office (BAMF) on Saturday of severe security flaws, saying its officials were not detecting forged passports when checking the identity of refugees.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DHS Accused of Sitting on Damning Border Report as Immigration Issue Drives Presidential Race
Federal lawmakers seeking to pinpoint the number of illegal immigrants who successfully sneak across the southern border ordered up a report from the Department of Homeland Security, but the agency refuses to release it and instead cites a misleading statistic that overstates the number who are nabbed, sources told Fox News.
DHS denied it is holding back the report, but sources say it was completed in November and that it shows roughly half of adults who attempt to cross the border make it — approximately 250,000 in total.
But that number is at odds with DHS’ official estimates. The agency claims authorities catch 80 percent of adults trying to sneak in, but critics say the figure is padded to make it appear border security is more effective than it really is.
“The Obama administration knows that the number of illegal aliens successfully getting across the Mexican border is 158 percent higher than they are telling people,” said John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, who is familiar with the report. “The administration has made fraudulent changes in the numbers to hide this.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Furious Locals in Huge Street Brawl at Island Overwhelmed by Migrants
The police smashed protesters with tear gas as the European migrant crisis continues to escalate into violence.
Tense scenes unfolded on the ‘migrant hotspot’ island of Chios, on the same night a violent brawl broke out in a German city between migrants and locals.
The demonstration blamed the growing crime rate on the nearby migrant camp.
The island has been hit hard by the migrant crisis as some 32,292 migrants have arrived via the Turkey-Greece sea route this year alone according to the United Nations.
UNHCR reports that 3,316 migrants are still stranded in reception camps on Chios — significantly higher than 1,000 official capacity.
They are largely trapped on the island because the European Union deal with Turkey for migrant readmission has stalled in recent weeks.
Recent reports suggested that Chios could be braced for even more migrant and refugee processing centers, despite authorities acknowledging the “dangerously explosive climate”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Drops ‘We Can Do It’ Rallying Cry on Migrants
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she would no longer use “we can do it” as her rallying cry to welcome and integrate migrants in the belief it has become a mere slogan.
Merkel first used the much-repeated phrase at the end of August last year to lay out her welcoming stance on migrants, after saying Germany could cope with an influx of around one million refugees, many fleeing the war in Syria.
But as the worst migrant crisis in Europe since World War II has continued Merkel has come under pressure and her approval ratings have plunged.
Last week she called on her ruling coalition to resist pressure to change its refugee policy after a stinging defeat in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to the upstart anti-migrant AfD in regional elections.
But in an interview published Saturday with the Wirtschaftswoche financial weekly Merkel said her “we can do it” exhortation no longer resonated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Faces Setback in Berlin Vote Due to Migrant Fears
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives look set to suffer a second electoral blow in two weeks in a Berlin city vote on Sunday as a growing number of voters are expected to express their unease with her refugee-friendly policy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Receive More Cash Than Retired Austrian Farmers
An Austrian conservative politician has slammed the ruling coalition in Vienna after revealing that new migrants receive more benefits than retired farmers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Says EU Can Take a Million Migrants a Year, Should Force Through Mandatory Quotas
The European Union has the capacity to absorb a million refugees a year, and could force through new asylum rules by majority voting if consensus cannot be reached, Sweden’s migration minister said in an interview on Friday.
“Europe as a continent must bear its responsibility for the global refugee crisis,” said Morgan Johansson, minister for justice and migration in the centre-left government.
“We are the world’s richest continent and it is obvious that if anyone can actually handle this, it is Europe with its 500 million inhabitants,” he told Reuters.
Sweden punches above its weight on migration issues in the EU because of its historically liberal policies and the fact it accepted more asylum seekers last year than any other country, in proportion to its 10 million population.
But Johansson’s comments highlighted the gulf separating Sweden from much of the EU at a time when central European states are fighting the imposition of quotas stipulating how many refugees they should take, and German leader Angela Merkel is under fire at home for her open-door policy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Three Migrants Get Into UK by Hiding in Bus Full of British Soldiers
The trio, who are reportedly all men, were found on Thursday afternoon when the coach pulled up at their barracks near Windsor Castle, Berkshire.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turn Migrant Vessels Back to Libya: Johnson
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Thursday he favoured turning migrant vessels back towards Libya as a “deterrent” measure that would take the immigration heat off Italy.
“We are determined in the UK to help Italy. We recognise this is a European problem,” Johnson told a joint press conference with Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni in Florence.
Johnson noted that British vessels HMS Diamond and HMS Enterprise were participating in the Rome-based EU military taskforce dubbed Operation Sophia, launched in 2015 with the aim of neutralising refugee smuggling routes in the Mediterranean.
Johnson said Operation Sophia was designed “to help turn back some of these boats … and I think personally they should be turned back as close to the shore as possible, so they don’t reach the Italian mainland and they are more of a deterrent effect” to other vessels bent on heading for Italy from north Africa.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium Minor First to be Granted Euthanasia
A terminally-ill 17-year-old has become the first minor to be helped to die in Belgium since age restrictions on euthanasia requests were removed two years ago, officials say.
The head of the federal euthanasia commission said the teenager was “suffering unbearable physical pain”.
Belgium is the only country that allows minors of any age to choose euthanasia.
They must have rational decision-making capacity and be in the final stages of a terminal illness.
The parents of the under-18 year olds must also give their consent.
Euthanasia commission head Wim Distelmans said the teenager was “nearly 18”. He said doctors used “palliative sedation”, which involves bringing patients into an induced coma, as part of the process.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gender-Aware Swedish TV Gives Kids’ Trucks a Sex Swap
Sweden’s public service TV company is making its children’s shows less sexist — by changing the sex of airplanes.
SVT, the Swedish equivalent of the BBC or PBS, wants children’s programmes it buys from abroad to have a good gender balance, and has therefore changed the sex of several characters — mostly animals or machines.
Thus Jett from Korean kids’ hit Superwings — a male airplane in the original — has discovered his female side in the Swedish version. Similarly, Ted the truck in Canadian animation Trucktown has switched out a chromosome for his move over to Sweden, where she is known as Linn.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Yes, A Four-Year-Old Child Allowed to Undergo Sex Change
“… another major hospital in Melbourne had 250 children who were being assisted by the gender dysphoria unit.”
Get ready.
Yahoo 7 News, Australia, reports: “A four-year-old who identifies as transgender has begun to transition before their first day at school, hoping to complete the full transformation by 2017.
“While the child is the youngest on Australian record to change their gender, the New South Wales government has revealed ‘hundreds’ of other children are being referred to the state’ s hospitals for gender dysphoria.”
“The four-year-old is reportedly being supported throughout the transition by the education department, and is part of the Safe Schools program.”
Yes, the Safe Schools program. Safe for whom?
Deputy Secretary of School Operations Gregory Prior made this announcement at a budget hearing, which presumable means the four-year-old child is receiving public funds for the sex change.
No mention of how the parents of the four-year old came to their decision. No mention of the “discussion” with the child that led to this decision.
The New South Wales government doesn’t just stand aside; it supports this madness.
A four-year old. He/she comes up with this idea out of the blue? He/she expresses it in what terms?
He/she is supposed to understand the medical procedures and the consequences?
The doctors go along with this?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“Angela Merkel announced that she will no longer use “Wir schaffen Das” (“We can do it”) as her immigration slogan.”
– I guess she thinks it time to switch over to her new slogan: “alluh smackbar”
(I purposely misspelled it as as sign of disrespect!)
No, it’s now “We can pretend we can do it, and lie all the time”
After the elections in Berlin today (Sunday) surely this clearly deluded woman must be a little nearer to an ignominious exit from European political life?
Here in the UK we have seen the rapid exit of the parsimonious, porcine,snake oil (PR) salesman Cameron
And nobody actually misses him one iota, in fact it is a blessing not seeing him on TV, pink chops slobbering banal, hackneyed nonsense. It can be done Germany!
Take her down a peg or two, or three, or four, what have you got to loose? A face like a bulldog suffering from Alzheimer’s
Chewing a wasp?
Ok, so UK got rid of Cameron and installed Theresa “Sharia” May. So what?
As Crooked Merkel would say: “What difference does it make?”
No we got rid of Cameron by voting out of the corrupt EU !
I think she decided to abandon “Wir schaffen Das” when she heard that it had been appropriated as the official slogan of the Islamist rapists.
Why oh why don’t we have more stringent pressure cooker control?
Indeed, there should be a three day stand down period for people seeking to buy a pressure cooker to enable suitable background checks etc. Lethal kitchenware should be controlled.
One can imagine gangs of illegal Amish canners operating their illegal pressure cookers in remote farm locations.
Not to mention the use of the word “pressure” which suggest aggression and negativity. The new word everyone should use is “encouragement”.
The new line of “encouraging cookware” will be available soon in all EU stores. A special line with built in timers will be offered to Muslim customers!
Could be an interesting Oktoberfest, ya? Merkel spreads as much chaos as the Marxists in Germany after the Great War. Lenin brainstormed that calamity; Soros is doing the heavy lifting in 2016. Merkel and Rodham are going to be giggling like sorority girls if she wins in a cold November. The bombs can’t wait!
I absolutely love how the leftist De Blasio refuses to mention any suggestions of any conclusions about if this is even an act of terrorism, or even mentions the word terrorism. I was waiting for the obligatory “Islam is a religion of peace” statement from him. Obvious case of mental illness (De Blasio, that is, muslims know exactly what they are doing). I cannot think of a bigger turn off for voters than the continual denial of Islamic involvement in terrorism for the democratic party. Contrast this with how quickly they jump to conclusions regarding police shootings of black criminals. No problem with jumping to conclusions there.
Every time a shell landed near the trenches in the Somme, it was important to convene an investigation to ask “was this an act of warfare or a lone German attack.”
Bizarro world.
We should elect people selected at random from the phone book. They would be smarter.
To William Palmer – That was SO FUNNY ! Thank you for this
sense of humour! It lightens a very depressing global outlook!
Neither incident had anything to do with Islam.
In other news, …
Wow this is starting to remind me of Paul Harvey saying Page 2 and Good Day! The whole site is the rest of the story. (I know we never know the rest of the story.)
merkel announced that she will not use “wir shaffen das” as her colonization slogan.
I can’t think of an appropriate new slogan for Merkel.
The best I thought of is “Our Solemn CDU-SPD Promise: Germany a Sewer by 2018.”
A bit more awkward is “The Schweinehunden German Elite Faithfully Destroy the Fatherland.”
Perhaps most accurate of all for Merkel: “The Safe Choice – CDU-SPD: We Kiss Every EU, Muslim, and African [Derrière].”