Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/8/2016

A total of seven people have now been arrested in connection with the car full of gas cylinders that was parked outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Three women were arrested today, and one of the three stabbed a police officer before being shot. She is said to be the daughter of the man who owned the car loaded with gas cylinders.

In other news, the FPÖ (Austrian Freedom Party) caused controversy by proposing to celebrate the 333rd anniversary of the breaking of the Siege of Vienna on September 12th.

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

Thanks to Apollon Zamp, Dean, Fjordman, JD, Reader from Chicago, The Observer, 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
» The False Promises Behind Quantitative Easing
» The Percentage of Working Age Men That Do Not Have a Job is Similar to the Great Depression
» Wall Street’s Latest Retail Fleecing Product Exposed — Structured CDs
 
USA
» 5,300 Wells Fargo Employees Fired Over 2 Million Phony Accounts
» A Dog is Re-Elected Mayor for a Third Term, Proving Politicians Are Useless
» Charges Dropped Against Man Who Beat Wife’s Would-be Rapist
» Hillary at Commander-in-Chief Forum: Gun Control Part of Fight Against Terrorism
» Insider: Why the World is Against Obama
» Insider: Hillary is Trying to Fix the Election
» Islamic State Makes Terrorism Threat Facing U.S. Gravest Since 9/11 Attacks
» Louisiana Officials Demand That Self-Reliant Locals Stop Surviving the Flood Without Permission
» Nancy Pelosi Begs Paul Ryan to Not Use Hacked Documents Against Dems, But Wait, There’s More!
» Report: Hillary Campaign is Pressuring Media to Not Cover Her Health Issues
» Vet Confronts Clinton: ‘I Would Have Been Prosecuted’ For Mishandling Intel
» Why You Should be Paying Attention to America’s Quiet War on Cash
 
Europe and the EU
» EU Court: Linking to Pirated Stuff Doesn’t Breach Copyright… Except When it Does
» ISIS Plotting to Kill Christians in Chainsaw Murder Spree at Belgium Shopping Center
» ‘ISIS Jihadis Plotting Attack on UK ‘ Dawn Raids in London Foil Planned Terror Attack
» Norwegian Hairdresser Could be Jailed for Refusing Salon Entry to Woman With Hijab
» Outrage as Austrian Populists Celebrate Historic Turkish Defeat
» Paris Attacks: Two Suspects Charged in Austria
» Three Suspected Female Militants Seized in France, Policeman Stabbed
 
Russia
» Siberia: Russian Arctic River Mysteriously Turns Blood-Red
 
Far East
» Air China Warns of Nonwhite Crime in London
» North Korea Bans Sarcasm Because Kim Jong-un Fears People Only Agree With Him ‘Ironically’
 
Latin America
» Mexico Considers Bill to Revoke Treaties if Trump Wins Election
 
Immigration
» European Union to Provide Debit Cards, Cash to Refugees in Turkey as Part of Migration Deal
» Migrant Crisis Could Spark European War, Slovenia PM Suggests
» Professor: Germans Need Integration Classes to Assimilate Into Islam
 
Culture Wars
» Record Numbers Exit Church of Denmark After Atheist Ads
 

The False Promises Behind Quantitative Easing

Why are governments still clinging to an approach that simply doesn’t deliver?

With QE still ongoing (albeit tapered), it is no longer part of a “rescue” package — it has now become the new normal — despite a complete lack of positive results. Since end-2007, the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet expanded from about $890 billion to more than $4.5 trillion! And yet, U.S. growth rates have remained in the vicinity of 2 percent since 2010 (see chart below). Europe is no different. The European Central Bank (ECB), which first embarked on QE in March 2015, raised the monthly amount for asset purchases from EUR60 billion to EUR80 billion, and expanded the range of assets to include corporate bonds — but despite that, the growth outlook remains dim with 1.4 percent in 2016, and 1.7 percent in 2017 (source: Bloomberg). So why are governments still clinging to an approach that simply doesn’t deliver?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Percentage of Working Age Men That Do Not Have a Job is Similar to the Great Depression

Why are so many men in their prime working years unemployed? The Obama administration would have us believe that unemployment is low in this country, but that is not true at all. In fact, one author quoted by NPR says that “ it’ s kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940 “ . Most Americans don’ t realize this, but more men from ages 25 to 54 are “ inactive” right now than was the case during the last recession. We have millions upon millions of strong young men just sitting around doing nothing. They aren’ t employed and they aren’ t considered to be looking for employment either, and so they don’ t show up in the official unemployment numbers. But they don’ t have jobs, and nothing the Obama administration does can eliminate that fact.

According to NPR, “ nearly 100 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked” in the 1960s.

In those days, just about any dependable, hard working American man could get hired almost immediately. The economy was growing and the demand for labor was seemingly insatiable.

But today, one out of every six men in their prime working years does not have a job…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Wall Street’s Latest Retail Fleecing Product Exposed — Structured CDs

Wall Street is an industry that should have been allowed to go down in flames back in 2008. Bailing out these career criminals and sociopaths was one of the gravest errors in American history. An error that we as a nation continue to suffer from to this day.

As an example, yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reported on the industry’s latest scheme to pocket the hard earned savings of those dwindling Americans who still have a few pennies left — structured CDs.

What follows are some key excerpts from this must read article, Wall Street Re-Engineers the CD-and Returns Suffer:

Mary Bailey, a 79-year-old widow in Arlington, Mass., made a big deposit for her grandchildren at her Citizens Bank branch when a financial adviser there sold her on a newfangled $100,000 certificate of deposit. It would, he said, double her savings in six years, according to a later state enforcement action.

So she was irate when her first statement showed the CD’s value had fallen to $95,712, thanks to upfront fees. “This was not a CD as I know a CD,” Ms. Bailey says.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

5,300 Wells Fargo Employees Fired Over 2 Million Phony Accounts

Everyone hates paying bank fees. But imagine paying fees on a ghost account you didn’t even sign up for.

That’s exactly what happened to Wells Fargo customers nationwide.

On Thursday, federal regulators said Wells Fargo employees secretly created millions of unauthorized bank and credit card accounts — without their customers knowing it — since 2011.

The phony accounts earned the bank unwarranted fees and allowed Wells Fargo employees to boost their sales figures and make more money.

“Wells Fargo employees secretly opened unauthorized accounts to hit sales targets and receive bonuses,” Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in a statement.

Wells Fargo confirmed to CNNMoney that it had fired 5,300 employees over the last few years related to the shady behavior. Employees went to far as to create phony PIN numbers and fake email addresses to enroll customers in online banking services, the CFPB said…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

A Dog is Re-Elected Mayor for a Third Term, Proving Politicians Are Useless

As millions of Americans struggle to decide whether to elect a volatile narcissist or a calculated warmongering criminal as their next leader, one Minnesota town is doing politics right — they just re-elected a dog to his third term as mayor.

Duke, a nine-year-old Great Pyrenees, was first elected mayor of Cormorant, Minnesota in 2014. The first time he won, it was by accident. The small town of just over 1,000 people held an election in which residents could pay $1 to vote. Duke won the race with twelve write-in votes and was treated to an official inauguration.

The town’s voters were evidently happy with the 2014 fluke. Duke has been re-elected twice, most recently at the end of August.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Charges Dropped Against Man Who Beat Wife’s Would-be Rapist

(WNBC) Charges against the Bronx cab driver who beat the attacker trying to rape his wife have been dismissed at the urging of the dead man’s family.

The family of Earl Nash asked that manslaughter charges against 61-year-old Mamadou Diallo be dropped Wednesday during a court appearance.

Diallo had been accused of beating Nash to death with what appeared to be a tire iron on May 31.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hillary at Commander-in-Chief Forum: Gun Control Part of Fight Against Terrorism

She said this after forum host Matt Lauer brought up “terror attacks on our soil.”

During MSNBC’s September 7 Commander-in-Chief Forum, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested more gun control is part of the fight against terror attacks in the United States.

She did this after forum host Matt Lauer brought up “terror attacks on our soil.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Insider: Why the World is Against Obama

Barack Obama is often treated poorly by foreign leaders

Dr. Steve Pieczenik reveals why Barack Obama is treated with contempt and disdain whenever he travels around the world.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Insider: Hillary is Trying to Fix the Election

Former State Department official warns of Hillary’s sinister plans

Dr. Steve Pieczenik outlines how Hillary Clinton is trying to steal the election and subvert the will of the American people.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic State Makes Terrorism Threat Facing U.S. Gravest Since 9/11 Attacks

The terrorist threat facing the U.S. and its European allies is “bigger, wider and deeper” than at any point since the Sept. 11 attacks 15 years ago, the White House’s top counterterrorism official said in a grim review of global threats Wednesday.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Louisiana Officials Demand That Self-Reliant Locals Stop Surviving the Flood Without Permission

Locals who were not affected by the flood began cooking and donating food. Others helped flood victims to begin gutting their homes so they could start to rebuild. This community in the bayou pulled together to show the world that a real emergency response begins at home, undertaken by the very people who were affected. They didn’t wait around bemoaning the lack of FEMA, Red Cross, and government aid. They got to work.

They opened up their own shelters in local businesses that were not affected. They distributed immediate relief to those who were displaced. They performed their own rescues, organized the response, and used social media to coordinate their efforts.

They made just about everyone in America who heard about their efforts feel a wave of pride. In fact, they were so effective at their own free-market local disaster relief that they rendered the government’s assistance all but unnecessary.

And that is when the government said, “Oh, no. We can’t have that.”

Of course, the government doesn’t want citizens to realize that they are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves. If people realize that they can perform independently and that it is much better than performing within the strictures of government regulations, they will be a heck of a lot harder to control.

So, they stepped in and uttered the scariest words ever.

“We’re from the government and we’re here to help.”

Like a horde of modern-day carpetbaggers, they began “helping” by forcing people who were struggling to rebuild to purchase permits. That’s right. They forced people to ask for permission for the right to repair their own property…

But that isn’t the worst of it.

They also decided to charge fees to the Cajun Navy before they were “allowed” to continue rescuing people.

I couldn’t make this up.

The Libertarian Republic reported:

No good deed goes unpunished. The Cajun Navy is a group of volunteers that operates at its own expense to rescue people trapped in flooded areas in Louisiana. They use their own boats. They risk their lives. And now that people have noticed that they are far more effective than government rescue efforts, there are plans to require them to pay a fee before they are allowed to do any good. “Don’t worry. It’s just a small fee,” legislators explain. “Maybe only fifty dollars. That would be worth it to put authority behind the Cajun Navy, wouldn’t it?”

When the Cajun Navy members said, “No thanks” to the government who wanted to train them to do what the government wasn’t even able or willing to do, they were treated like criminals.

That’s right. The government deployed the police to prevent these good Samaritans that we all wish now were our own neighbors from continuing with their efforts.

Louisiana State Senator Jonathan Perry is the engineer of the licensing requirements.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Nancy Pelosi Begs Paul Ryan to Not Use Hacked Documents Against Dems, But Wait, There’s More!

Nancy Pelosi has resorted to begging for mercy in the wake of the DNC hacked email scandal.

But, what she offers as a reason is almost as dumb, and wildly ironic, as her “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it” line.

The House minority leader sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan in which she asked him to refrain from using the hacked materials, that show rampant corruption in the Democrat Party, against opponents in the 2016 election because “defending our democracy is more important than any advantage or disadvantage in this election,” the New York Times reported.

[Comment: She looks younger every day.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Report: Hillary Campaign is Pressuring Media to Not Cover Her Health Issues

Clinton team is in lock-down over coverage “bleeding to the mainstream media.”

A report citing Clinton campaign aides and surrogates suggests that Hillary’s team is actively pressuring the mainstream media not to cover her ailing health, but to instead dismiss any questions over her coughing fits and stumbling as ‘a bunch of baloney’.

Following three major coughing spells in public over the last week, the mainstream media began to report on Hillary’s health, mostly spinning the situation in her favor, but still acknowledging the questions being raised about her physical fitness.

Speaking with The Hill, Clinton surrogate Jim Manley said that Hillary’s campaign is engaged in pressuring the media to back off reporting on the matter.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Vet Confronts Clinton: ‘I Would Have Been Prosecuted’ For Mishandling Intel

“Had I communicated this information not following prescribed protocols, I would have been prosecuted and imprisoned”

A US Navy veteran confronted Hillary Clinton during the Commander in Chief forum Wednesday over her handling of confidential information.

During the event’s question and answer segment, the former naval flight officer argued that Clinton was given preferential treatment by the FBI and DOJ in response to her use of a private email server.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Why You Should be Paying Attention to America’s Quiet War on Cash

Banks and governments aren’t motivated by some noble vision for society

Government campaigns of intimidation — like the wars on drugs, terror, and poverty — have been used to extort the public for decades. Despite the previous failures of institutional “wars,” a new war on cash is being waged that threatens freedom in a more subversive way than ever before.

Banks and governments around the world are cracking down on the use of paper money, and in turn, eliminating any anonymity left in the current system. Through strict rules on cash transactions and civil asset forfeiture laws, for example, the system has already instituted penalties for using cash. But as payments evolve into a purely digital network, the consequences of this new paradigm are being brought into the spotlight.

The ability to track, record, and mediate transactions of all individuals is a power dictators throughout history could have only dreamed of. Those who value privacy are turning to alternatives like cash, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals, but these directly threaten central bank dominance. This ongoing tug-of-war in financial innovation will determine whether we enter an age of individual empowerment or centralized enslavement.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

EU Court: Linking to Pirated Stuff Doesn’t Breach Copyright… Except When it Does

Confused? Don’t worry, that’s the idea

The EU’s bizarre, home-brewed doctrine of copyright evolved further today, with a ruling that URLs linking to infringing material are not themselves an infringement, except when they are. Confused? You should be — and perhaps that’s the idea.

Today’s Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) verdict in the Svensson case, or GS Media vs Sanoma, was anticipated across the EU, and hinged on the opinion of a former Belgian minister once heavily criticised during the Dutroux paedophile scandal, EU Attorney General Melchior Wathelet.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Plotting to Kill Christians in Chainsaw Murder Spree at Belgium Shopping Center

The Islamic State terror group is plotting to use chainsaws to kill Christians at a shopping center in Belgium, according to the son of a radical Muslim cleric who made the startling confession to police.

According to the British news site Mirror, a radicalized teenager, who remains nameless and is believed to be the son of radical imam Shayh Alami from the Belgian city of Verviers, was arrested by authorities after he was seen in a short video walking down the street and calling for Muslims to murder all Christians.

The Mirror reports that after the teen was arrested, he admitted to authorities during questioning that IS (also known as ISIS or ISIL) is recruiting lone wolf jihadis to carry out a chainsaw attack at a local shopping center.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘ISIS Jihadis Plotting Attack on UK ‘ Dawn Raids in London Foil Planned Terror Attack

CRACK counter-terror officers today staged a dawn raid at a London home and smashed what is believed to have been an ISIS-inspired plot to bring carnage to British soil.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Norwegian Hairdresser Could be Jailed for Refusing Salon Entry to Woman With Hijab

In a landmark case, a Norwegian hair salon owner could be sentenced to six months in jail Thursday, for refusing entry to a Muslim hijab-wearing woman.

Merete Hodne claims the religious headscarf to be a totalitarian symbol of “evil”.

Twenty-three-year-old Malika Bayan reportedly went to Hodne’s salon in the town of Bryne in October last year to enquire how much it would cost to color her hair, but Hodne told her to leave.

The hairdresser defended her actions, which garnered national media attention, afterwards on Facebook. “I refused to take two hijab-clad ladies in my salon. Do not want evil through the doors where I can decide. Lawful? Maybe not. But we still have freedom of speech?” she posted.

Bayan told TV2 that she found Hodne’s treatment highly offensive. “It is disturbing that she treats people this way in a free country. Norway is my country. She talks about that Islam is oppressive to women, but it is she who oppress me,” she said.

The hairdresser was served a fine in April for discrimination over the incident, but after refusing to pay, Hodne now faces a court appearance Thursday in the first case of its kind in Norway.

Hodne told Norwegian channel TV 2 that Islam is “evil”, comparing the hijab as a symbol to the Nazi swastika. She also claimed that she would be discriminating against her male customers if she had to ask them to leave because the hijab clad woman could not show her hair in front of them while at the salon…

           — Hat tip: The Observer [Return to headlines]
 

Outrage as Austrian Populists Celebrate Historic Turkish Defeat

The populist anti-mass migration Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has stirred up controversy by celebrating the 333 year anniversary of the end of the Turkish siege of Vienna.

The second siege of Vienna is one of the defining pieces of Austrian history as it was the final time the Islamic world would try and conquer Europe through military means. Everything from the croissant to coffee came to Europe as a result of one of the most famous battles in European history.

The populist FPÖ are now stirring controversy for celebrating the 333rd anniversary of the siege as critics accuse them of further inflaming a tense relationship between Austria and Turkey, reports Kronen Zeitung.

The FPÖ announced that they will be holding an event named, “Protect the West. Then As Now” on the 12th of September to commemorate the lifting of the second siege of Vienna at the luxurious Palais Ferstel.

[It is now seen as a provocation that causes outrage when Austrian Christians celebrate that Turkish Muslims were beaten back from their siege of Vienna in 1683. Curiously, it is not considered a provocation to Europeans that Turkish Muslims, their NATO “allies,” every year celebrate the brutal Islamic conquest of Christian Europe’s greatest city, Constantinople. This Jihad conquest was followed by days of massacres, attacks on churches, rapes and pillaging.

It is thus considered OK for Turkish Muslims to annually celebrate the rape and mass murder of European Christians. It is not OK for European Christians to celebrate that they resisted Turkish Muslims who invaded their lands and intended to rape and massacre them.]

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Paris Attacks: Two Suspects Charged in Austria

Two men have been charged in Austria in connection with last November’s Paris attacks which killed 130 people.The state prosecutor in Salzburg told the BBC that the men — Moroccan and Algerian nationals — were suspected of being accomplices of the attackers.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Three Suspected Female Militants Seized in France, Policeman Stabbed

Three women arrested on Thursday in connection with a car laden with gas cylinders found abandoned near Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral were likely planning an imminent attack, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

The minister said one of the women had stabbed a police officer during the arrest before being shot and wounded. A source close to the investigation said the attacker was the missing 19-year-old daughter of the car’s owner.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Siberia: Russian Arctic River Mysteriously Turns Blood-Red

The locals blame the mining plant, which they’ve named Nadezhda, saying she’s having her time of the month. You have to love Russian humor. A river outside Russia’s Arctic city of Norilsk has inexplicably turned blood-red, puzzling locals and prompting authorities to launch an investigation into the cause of the anomaly. The Daldykan River near Norilsk in Siberia lost its natural color on Tuesday, as locals posted jaw-dropping images of the crimson river on social media.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Air China Warns of Nonwhite Crime in London

The inflight magazine of Air China, Asia’s third largest airline, has advised its passengers to avoid the Indian, Pakistani, and black areas of London, and said that women should never go out alone for fear of being attacked.

The article, written in Wings of China in English and Chinese, added: “We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when travelling.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

North Korea Bans Sarcasm Because Kim Jong-un Fears People Only Agree With Him ‘Ironically’

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North Korea has forbidden people from making sarcastic comments about Kim Jong-un or his totalitarian regime in their everyday conversations.

Even indirect criticism of the authoritarian government has been banned, Asian media reported.

Residents were warned against criticising the state in a series of mass meetings held by functionaries across the country.

“One state security official personally organised a meeting to alert local residents to potential ‘hostile actions’ by internal rebellious elements,” a source in Jagang Province told Radio Free Asia’s Korean Service.

“The main point of the lecture was ‘Keep your mouths shut.’“

The caution was also issued in neighbouring Yangang Province, sources revealed…

           — Hat tip: Apollon Zamp [Return to headlines]
 

Mexico Considers Bill to Revoke Treaties if Trump Wins Election

Mexico is to consider revoking a series of treaties — including the 1848 agreement that transferred half its territory to the United States — if the Republican candidate wins the presidency and rips up the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to a Bill to be presented to Congress.

The initiative, to be proposed on Tuesday by Armando Ríos Piter, a left-wing senator, follows last week’s much-criticised meeting between Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto and US presidential contender Donald Trump, which inflamed public opinion and sparked a cabinet rift.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

European Union to Provide Debit Cards, Cash to Refugees in Turkey as Part of Migration Deal

Up to one million refugees in Turkey will receive debit cards and monthly cash transfers to help pay for food and housing under a new €348-million ($393-million) humanitarian program from the European Union announced Thursday.

The humanitarian program, the largest ever from the EU, is part of a €3 billion package of assistance that the EU promised Turkey to support some three million mainly Syrian refugees the country hosts.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Migrant Crisis Could Spark European War, Slovenia PM Suggests

Slovenia’s centrist Prime Minister has predicted “conflict” in Europe if the migrant crisis escalates again, defending the construction of border fences.

Miro Cerar, who leads the nation’s Modern Centre Party, told Die Welt that Europe is “divided” and risks falling apart under the strain of the migrant crisis.

“Should the Balkan route be opened again, it will spark a conflict in the region — in Central Europe and the Western Balkans,” Mr. Cerar said.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Professor: Germans Need Integration Classes to Assimilate Into Islam

Germans must integrate with migrants, says professor

Germans need “integration classes” so they can better assimilate into Islamic culture, says a German professor.

“The motto must be: integration classes for all,” said professor Annette Treibel of Karlsruhe University, translated from German. “Integration, how does it work? Education, work and culture.”

The professor is hosting a conference in Rostock to tell Germans how to “welcome” Muslim migrants and adjust to cultural changes.

In other words, thanks to “multiculturalism,” Germans must now give up their own culture and assimilate into Islam.

[Comment: Hitler admired islam too, especially it’s ruthless: http://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-ataturk-in-the-nazi-imagination-by-stefan-ihrig-and-islam-and-nazi-germanys-war-by-david-motadel-1421441724]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Record Numbers Exit Church of Denmark After Atheist Ads

(London Independent) Thousands of people have left the Church of Denmark following a nationwide advertising campaign by the country’s atheist society.

Between April and June, 10,000 people left the church — the highest number of registered withdrawals since 2007.

A campaign by the Danish Atheist Society is being held responsible for the number of leavers — double that recorded between January and March.

The campaign’s banner advert includes phrases such as “Why believe in a god?” , “Why should faith cost something?” and “Did Jesus and Mohammed speak with a god?”

[Comment: Or perhaps it was the watered down Christianity that is being preached?]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

5 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/8/2016

  1. This has to be a security nightmare for all security forces throughout the western world this weekend due to the fifteenth anniversary of the dreadful 9/11 attacks.

    I would hope that the prayers of all right minded people are with them as they continue to strive to protect their citizenry from any attackers opportunistically out to make a name for themselves.

    A dangerous, almost impossible task which goes largely unrecognised by most, particularly by their political masters who may deign to pay them
    Scant lip service when circumstance forces them into doing so.

  2. “Why should faith cost something?”

    Some (many?) countries of Europe force you to tithe to the church if you are registered as this or that Christian. This goes against the church/state divide, and is behind many people leaving. It’s been going on in Germany for a long time.

  3. “Lone-wolf recruitment – from your neighbour Norway’s Breivik to Jihadi terror across Europe – all begin with the word, whether written or electronic.”

    Simon Wiesenthal Centre Urges Swedish Prime Minister to Cancel Neo-Nazi Associates Stand at Gothenburg Book Fair.
    In a letter to the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed shock that “the far-right – reportedly xenophobic and antisemite magazine – Nya Tider (New Times) had hired a stand at the Gothenburg Book Fair, to be held 22-25 September and expecting 100,000 visitors, especially youth”

    The letter noted that “the original ban on Nya Tida was reversed on 31 August by the Fair’s President, on grounds that the Stand and its scheduled Presentations, if banned, would constitute a breach of contract. Ironically, the Fair’s 2016 theme is “Freedom of Expression”, apparently including the freedom to incite, which would arguably make the Fair responsible for the consequences.”
    Samuels explained that “for 12 years I have monitored hate on the shelves of the Frankfurt Book Fair, with the support of its management. Incitement to hate and violence is prohibited in Germany, and a violation of exhibitors’ commitment to the Fair. Certainly, Gothenburg contracts should do no less.”
    The Centre cites the claims of the EXPO IDAG website – “That New Times editor Vavra Suk – who is scheduled to lead events from his Stand C01: 39 at the Fair – was former editor of National Today, which in 2011 co-organized with the Swedish Resistance Movement a seminar discussing Jewish conspiracies.

    – Its replacement, New Times, allegedly supported Holocaust denier Richard Williamson, writers who defend Jew-hater, Ahmed Rami of Radio Islam and French convicted antisemite, Dieudonné. The New Times was allegedly present at neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance meetings and noted for extolling the notorious Greek Golden Dawn.”

    The letter was shared with Getachew Engida, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, who is featured as a keynote speaker at the Fair.

    For further information contact Shimon Samuels + 33 609 770158, email:csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

    The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

  4. re. the red Siberian river: “Nadezhda” means Hope in Russian. The Russian humor gets more and more ironic/darker!

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