Jean-Claude Juncker, the jovial and bibulous president of the European Commission, is apparently panicking over the prospect of more Brexit-style referendums in the EU. Austria may be the next to hold a referendum about EU membership if Norbert Hofer wins next month’s presidential election. Mr. Juncker is now pleading with EU member states not to hold any more consultative plebiscites asking their voters if they want to continue in the EU.
In migration news, Texas Governor Greg Abbott promises to sign a law banning “sanctuary cities” for illegal aliens in his state.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Fjordman, JD, Jerry Gordon, 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.
Banker Scaremongering in FT re €4 Trillion Italian Banking System as Referendum Looms
“Up to eight of Italy’s troubled banks risk failing if prime minister Matteo Renzi loses a constitutional referendum next weekend and ensuing market turbulence deters investors from recapitalising them, officials and senior bankers say.
Mr Renzi, who says he will quit if he loses the referendum, had championed a market solution to solve the problems of Italy’s €4 trillion banking system and avoid a vote-losing “resolution” of Italian banks under new EU rules.”
Financial Times
The Italian banking system looks vulnerable to collapse whether the referendum is passed in Italy or not. Were the referendum passed, it may allow senior Italian and international bankers to further ‘kick the can down the road’ and delay the inevitable.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece is Not India? Hellenic Banks Plan “Tax on Cash Withdrawals” To Combat Black Economy
Greek banks have proposed a series of measures to combat tax evasion, strengthen the electronic transactions and limit the use of cash in the economy, and as KeepTalkingGreece.com reports, one of the measures proposed is a special tax on cash withdrawals.
Bankers reportedly stress that cash money can easily and largely be channeled in the black economy. Therefore, a tax on cash withdrawals will drastically reduce cash transactions and by extension the black economy.
The bankers suggest that also credit and debit cards as wells as new technologies enabling cash-less transactions even for small amounts and mobile phones can be used for the purchase of a transport ticket or a newspaper at the kiosk.
The bankers proposal to the government also includes:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India’s Modi Admits Plan Shifting Nation to “Cashless Society”
Well who could have seen this coming? Just as we noted, the slippery slope towards full government control in a cash-less society is where Indian PM Modi is heading following his chaos-creating demonetization efforts of the last two weeks. While massive opposition protests are planned tomorrow, Modi remains indignant, as Reuters reports, “we can gradually move from a less-cash society to a cashless society…this is the chance for you to enter the digital world.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the nation’s small traders and daily wage earners to embrace digital payment channels, as a cash crunch following the government’s surprise ban on high-value bank notes drags on…
But, as GoldMoney.com’s Alasdair Macleod explains, the economic consequences of Mr. Modi’s action are far more significant…
“Two weeks ago, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised an estimated 86% of rupees in circulation, offering conversion into a bank account or into smaller currency notes until 31 December, after which these notes will have no redemption value.
“Together with forgeries in circulation, it could be over 90% of all circulating money. The terms of redemption are so inconvenient for anyone other than black-marketeers, that for all purposes $50bn equivalent of rupees have been eliminated from the economy at a stroke, pending the introduction of new currency notes.
“The sadness in all this is that Modi should have foreseen the extent of the disruption to the poor and rural communities, but has obviously forgotten the hard lessons of life learned in his youth as a lowly chai wallah. It could be that the Reserve Bank went along with it as a government puppet, consoling itself with the thought it would be a good way to write off obligations, believing a significant quantity of notes is likely never to be redeemed by black-marketeers and tax evaders. It effectively reduces the central bank’s obligations to the private sector at the expense of those the state likes least. However, the $10-20bn equivalent the state will make from it is less important than the disruptive economic effect and the likely impact on the rupee’s future purchasing power.”
“…the likely outcome of Modi’s clumsy attempt to eliminate means of payment using cash. It is almost certainly going to backfire. Indians have little respect for government as it is, and this action will only convince them with renewed purpose to have as little to do with the government and its money as possible. When the new Gandhi notes come into circulation, they will likely be rejected as the preferred money by growing numbers of a rightly suspicious public. This means that the rupee’s purchasing power will diminish more rapidly than if Modi had not disrupted what had become a relatively stable monetary situation.”
[Comment: Indians are not above storming the parliament and hanging bankster politicians.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Demon’ Asteroid Playing Chicken With Earth Orbit
‘If Apophis were to hit a city, goodbye to that city and the surrounding region for 100 miles’
A giant asteroid dubbed Apophis (named after an ancient Egyptian demon) is headed on a trajectory that could cause it to crash into Earth and prove catastrophic to all life, says a scientist at the University of California Berkeley.
“It would create a crater over two miles wide,” explained Alex Filippenko. “If Apophis were to hit a city, goodbye to that city and the surrounding region for 100 miles.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fake News: Media Spreads False Ivanka Trump Quote About Macing the Donald
Yesterday, the a big story going around was a quote attributed to Ivanka Trump. How did it start circulating as fact?
There has been a lot of discussion about so-called “fake news” as of late. I don’t disagree that there is a lot of bulls*** floating around on the internet.
It’s also true that some of the false stuff you see can be traced to pro-Trump or right-wing websites. But there is plenty of it going around on the left as well. Yesterday, the a big story going around was a quote attributed to Ivanka Trump. How did it start circulating as fact?
A single tweet from a loony radical feminist, that’s how.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Investigates Possible Facebook ‘Declaration’ By OSU Attack Suspect
Federal investigators are examining a Facebook post that may have been written by the Somali-born Ohio State University student who injured 11 people Monday when he plowed his car into a group of pedestrians, then attacked bystanders with a butcher knife, law enforcement sources told Fox News.
One law enforcement source described the Facebook post, written earlier Monday, as a “declaration” against unfair treatment of Muslims. Fox is told that authorities believe the post was made by the same Abdul Artan behind today’s attack at OSU, but have not yet confirmed it.
ABC News reported that the post read, in part, “I am sick and tired of seeing my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters being killed and tortured EVERYWHERE. … I can’t take it anymore.”
Law enforcement sources told Fox News that the FBI is combing through Artan’s digital history and devices to see if he had contact with any suspected terrorists and for any traces of terrorist propaganda.
One source told Fox News that Artan’s use of a car in the attack recalls a recent article in ISIS’s propaganda magazine Rumiyah, which included a blanket call to followers to mirror July’s mass casualty attack in Nice, France…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Fidel Castro Supporter Colin Kaepernick Greeted by Thunderous Boos in Miami [Video]
As he took the field the stadium broke out into an insane amount of booing
Miami Dolphins fans mercilessly booed San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick Sunday afternoon in Miami.
Kaepernick has been in the news recently after a tense exchange over the merits of recently deceased Cuban dictator Fidel Castro with a local Florida reporter. Miami, which has a large Cuban population, didn’t let Kaepernick forget about it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Flashback: George Soros Financed Hillary Clinton’s Recount Lawyer Marc Elias
The lawyer representing Hillary Clinton’s recount efforts recently led legal battles against state voting laws with an infusion of funding from billionaire George Soros.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Is This the Democrats’ Real Strategy in Launching Recounts?
One theory is that Stein is simply hoping to disrupt the electoral college process to push the 2016 election into the hands Congress while drawing the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency into question.
As Edward Foley, an expert in election law at Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University, pointed out to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, electors from around the country have to meet by December 19th to cast their electoral college votes. To the extent recounts in WI, MI and PA have not been completed by that time, which experts assign a high probability that they will not, there is a chance that the electoral votes from those three states wouldn’t be counted leaving neither candidate with the required electoral votes to win the presidency (electoral count would be Trump 260 versus Hillary 232).
If the electoral college process fails to select a President then the election would be left in the hands of Congress to decide. Given that the Senate and House are both controlled by Republicans, in theory they would then choose Trump/Pence, though in this election cycle nothing is a certainty. Moreover, even if Trump/Pence are chosen, the whole process of being appointed by Congress, combined with a loss of the popular vote, would then cast a dark shadow over their administration.
[Comment: Stein is likely following bankster orders.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jill Stein Getting Rich Off of Exploiting the Election
Yet Stein has raised nearly $5 million, but has cleverly made it clear there are no guarantees and she will keep the money. Her website says:
We cannot guarantee a recount will happen in any of these states we are targeting. We can only pledge we will demand recounts in those states.
If we raise more than what’s needed, the surplus will also go toward election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform.
Stein seems to be tapping into the division in the US created by the elections. She is using this to raise money for the Greens while pretending this is about integrity.
She has raised more than is necessary already, and if the state declines to do a recount, she keeps the whole pot. So this is a win-win for her anyway we slice it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mr. Trump Don’t Appoint Betsy Devos for Secretary of Education — She’s a Communist
With HUNDREDS of Education researchers in this country he picks the rich Bush Charter/Voucher women who if she cared one red penny about our children she would have refused the offer. If confirmed we will now see the rise in school-to-work education and confirmation that she is not only a supporter of a New World Order but is also a socialist/communist at heart…
Who are the Non-Americans who recommended Betsy DeVos? She has no background experience to hold this position other than the money she has given to ruin our children’s futures. Her kids went to private schools! To prove my point Sen. Lamar Alexander stated on the DeVos appointment “she is an excellent choice”.
As Secretary of Education will the DeVos Foundation STOP and DESIST from the funding of any organization/foundation of which has ANYTHING to do with education or are we faced with another “pay to play” using our children as the collateral? Signing an agreement didn’t work with Hillary in relationship to her appointment and the family Foundation.
Mr. Trump this is one area that you OWE all the hard working Americans and their children in this one appointment — one that is more important than all the others.
By nominating Betsy DeVos, the Trump administration has demonstrated just how out of touch it is with what works best for students, parents, educators and our local communities. Just this one time I agree with NEA President Lily Garcia when she stated, “She (DeVos) has consistently pushed a corporate agenda to privatize, de-professionalize and impose cookie-cutter solutions to public education.’’
DeVos is EVERYTHING Donald Trump stated during the campaign process that is wrong with America — she is an ultra-wealthy heiress who uses her money to game the system and push a special-interest agenda that is opposed by the majority of voters.
Things You Need To Know About Betsy DeVos:
She sits on the Board of Directors of Jeb Bush’s foundation ExcelinEd which strongly supports Common Core, Charter, Choice and Vouchers for our children?
[Comment: Recommended reading. you don’t need to appoint anyone — just abolish the Department of Education. Break it up and let each State manange its own system and compete with each other. Then let the people of each State decide wether of not to have a State Department of Education. They may decide to break that up also and let education be managed locally.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
President-Elect Trump: Beware, Gen. Petraeus is ‘Damaged Goods’
But the problem of the security clearance isn’t the only reason President-elect Trump should use caution is dealing with Gen. Petraeus, a man who served his country well for many years only to tarnish his reputation while working for a corrupt administration. There is evidence that he had knowledge of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s shenanigans with her home-cooked Internet server and her alleged pay-to-play schemes.
About 1,000 emails between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former commander of the U.S. Army’s Central Command (CENTCOM), Gen. David Petraeus, were reported to be missing from the tens of thousands of emails turned over to the State Department by Clinton’s minions in December 2014, according to Fox News Channel’s industrious chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge last month.
Herridge reported that a number of documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch provided interesting communications between two of President Barack Obama’s top officials.
The documents reveal that Mrs. Clinton — the Democratic Party’s presidential heir apparent — advised Petraeus that he should begin sending official emails to her using a private Internet address rather than her State Department “Dot-Gov” email address which is meant to be utilized for all of her government work, including emails containing classified information.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Ohio State Attack Copies ISIS Killing Style
Machete attack near OSU engineering building
At least nine people have been hospitalized amid an active shooting and machete attack at Ohio State University, an attack which copies the methods used by Islamic militants during recent terrorist attacks.
“A high-ranking faculty member who spoke to NBC 4 Columbus said that one of his colleagues was in Watts Hall at the time and was slashed in the leg with a machete,” reported the Daily Mail on Monday morning.
If true, this report sounds similar to recent ISIS-inspired attacks in Europe.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Somali-American Teen Wears Burkini in Miss Minnesota Pageant
Burkini is a full-body wetsuit covering torso, limbs and head worn by Muslim women
The 19-year-old St Cloud college student was born in a refugee camp in Kenya, which borders Somalia, and moved Minnesota as a young child.
A burkini is a full-body wetsuit that covers the torso, limbs and head and is worn by some Muslim women. The garment became the centre of a controversial debate in France earlier this year, after officials in at least six towns on the Mediterranean coast banned women from wearing it on beaches.
Halima Aden starts off Miss Minnesota USA’s swimsuit segment to big cheers from the crowd. Announcer: “She’s making history tonight.” pic.twitter.com/OUvbHv6xct
– Liz Sawyer (@ByLizSawyer) November 27, 2016
“This pageant is so much more than just beauty. Their whole message is about being confidently beautiful, so I didn’t think that I should allow my hijab to get into the way of me participating,” Aden told Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) ahead of the competition.
“This is a great platform to show the world who I am. Just because I’ve never seen a woman wearing a burkini (in a pageant) it doesn’t mean that I don’t have to be the first,” Aden continued.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Election: Illegal Voters and ID Laws
Hillary Clinton won 14 of the 20 U.S. states that require no identification from voters before casting their ballots-which include all the most heavily Third World invader-overrun states in the Union such as California, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, and Nevada, supporting Donald Trump’s recent claims that there has been voter fraud in the 2016 election.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why Our Founders Gave US the Electoral College
by Kelleigh Nelson
The Electoral College was created for two reasons.
The first purpose was to create a buffer between population centers and the rest of the country.
The second, as part of the structure of the government that gave smaller less populated states a voice in the selection of President.
Without the electoral college giving a voice to the smaller states, the large populated areas (as those on both coasts) would always elect the president. Today, those areas are heavily populated with welfare recipients, sanctuary cities, and we cannot discount illegal alien voters, who vote largely democratic for the free stuff they receive from the federal government. The electoral college is a buffer that allows all states to have a voice.
America is a Constitutional Republic Based on Laws
One of the inherent weaknesses in a government based ONLY on the will of the people is the potential for mob rule. This was often the downfall of direct democracies, where all the people decided on public matters directly rather than through representatives. We were created as a representative Republic, NOT A DEMOCRACY! In designing the electoral college, the founders sought to insulate the selection of president from the convulsions of the multitudes. The college was essentially an extra layer of security helping to guarantee that the president would be a truly capable individual.
Upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: “A republic, if you can keep it.”…
The first reason that the founders created the Electoral College may be difficult to understand today. The founding fathers were afraid of direct election to the Presidency. They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power. Alexander Hamilton wrote about it in the Federalist papers. I know they were right!
[Comment: Recommended reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Wikileaks’ Julian Assange Announces Release of More Than 500K U.S. Diplomatic Cables From 1979
Over 500,000 U.S. diplomatic cables from 1979 have been released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.
Not much has been heard from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange since his Internet access was cut off at Ecuador’s London embassy in mid-October, but he made up for lost time on Monday. Reporters around the world now have access to cables on everything from the Iranian revolution and Grenada’s coup to Saddam Hussein’s rise in Iraq.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wisconsin Officials Agree to Proceed With Vote Recount, But Not Without ‘Full Payment’
The Wisconsin Elections Commission agreed Monday to go forward with requests to recount residents’ votes for the 2016 presidential election and said the process will begin as soon the campaign for Green Party candidate Jill Stein or the other petitioner “make full payment” by Tuesday.
Elections Supervisor Ross Hein set out the timetable following the recount requests Friday by Stein and Independent Party candidate Rocky De La Fuente.
Stein has argued that the recount — joined over the weekend by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton — is to ensure that Russia or anybody else has not tampered with the country’s election system.
However, Stein is also seeking recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
She has raised $6.2 million toward her goal of $7 million and made her official request in Wisconsin on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Canada Celebrates Hijab-Wearing News Anchor While Christian Crosses Are Banned
Former CNN host: “Any guesses which channel told me it was “inappropriate” for me to wear my cross on air?”
Former CNN host Lara Baldesarra responded to the news that Canada was celebrating its first hijab-wearing Muslim news anchor by asserting that she was warned against wearing a Christian cross while on air.
Toronto’s CityNews network “suddenly has its first hijab-wearing news anchor on commercial television,” with Ginella Massa asserting that it “shouldn’t be a big deal.”
With network bosses lauding the move as a big leap forward for “diversity,” Massa used the spotlight to go on an anti-Donald Trump rant, claiming that his presidency will lead to Islamophobia and “hatred” towards Muslims.
However, when it comes to “diversity,” Christian presenters who want to display their religious faith while on air haven’t been made to feel quite as welcome.
Former CNN host Lara Baldesarra responded to my sardonic tweet that “the reaction to a Christian wearing a giant cross would be just as sympathetic,” by tweeting, “Any guesses which channel told me it was “inappropriate” for me to wear my cross on air?”
It is not clear which network Baldesarra is referring to, although there is no record of her working for CityNews, so she presumably means CNN told her not to wear the cross.
While hijab-wearing Muslims are being welcomed as hosts on western news networks (UK’s Channel 4 also has one), presenters who show even subtle signs of their Christian faith are dissuaded from doing so.
[Comment: Toronto’s CityNews makes CBC look right wing.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ballooning Surplus Germany Prepares for Trade Conflict With Trump
Germany’s current account surplus is higher than ever before and the country is concerned that it could become a target of US president-elect Donald Trump’s ire as a result. Berlin is already making preparations for the possible conflict.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Massive Police Presence at Winter Wonders
There will be a sizeable police presence at the Winter Wonders Christmas fair this year. Two mobile police stations have been erected. Brussels police will patrol in plain clothes and in uniform and will be assisted by dogs.
The police hope that their beefed up presence will contribute to heightened security at the event that opened on Friday and runs until 1 January. Mobile police stations have been set up on the Muntplein near the ice rink and on the Brandhoutkaai. Visitors seeking information can head here as well as members of the public wishing to make a complaint. It’s also here that missing children can wait for their distraught parents.
The terrorist threat level stands at 3, the second highest level.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jean-Claude Juncker begs EU leaders not to hold more Referendums as he fears they will vote to LEAVE too
EUROPE’s top bureaucrat has urged EU leaders not to hold any more Referendums — as he fears other voters will also choose to LEAVE the bloc.
European Commission chief Jean Claude Juncker said it would be “unwise” for member states to give people a say as they could follow Britain’s lead.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark Forms New Coalition Government
Danish liberal prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Sunday agreed to form a new government with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservative Party. Rasmussen has led a one-party, minority government for the last 17 months. The three parties agreed to cut tax for the wealthy and increase defence spending, but still rely on support from the migration-hostile and EU-sceptical Danish People’s Party even though it is outside government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jean-Claude Juncker has urged EU leaders not to hold referendums on their membership of the bloc because he fears their voters will also choose to leave.
The European Commission president said giving people a vote would be ‘unwise’ as they could seek to replicate Brexit.
His remarks come as one of the contenders to become Austrian president has threatened to hold a referendum if the EU integrates further.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Geert Wilders on Track to Become Next Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Geert Wilders, chairman of the Party for Freedom (PVV), has been celebrating on Twitter today. The reason? His party is now the biggest party in the Dutch polls. With elections coming up in March 2017, the populist politician seems to be on track to become the Netherlands’ next prime minister.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Half of Returning Jihadists Still Devoted to Cause: Report
A new government report shows that a quarter of those who return to Germany from fighting in Syria or Iraq cooperate with German authorities, while half remain loyal to their cause.
One in four jihadists who returned to Germany after going to fight with terror groups in Syria or northern Iraq cooperate with authorities, according to a new government report seen by Die Welt and reported on Monday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Police Mull Helicopters, CCTV to Fight New Year Sex Crimes
As Cologne prepares for New Year’s Eve a year after a spate of sexual assaults, officials are considering ramping up security with helicopters, video surveillance and restricted entry to certain places, according to a media report.
A group of experts from state and federal police have been analyzing the events of New Year’s Eve last year under a project called “Silvester” — meaning New Year’s Eve in German. Their final report is set to be discussed at a conference of interior ministries starting on Tuesday, and Cologne’s Express newspaper obtained a copy of the police recommendations, the newspaper reported on Monday.
More than 1,000 women came forward after New Year’s Eve to report robberies or sexual assaults in Cologne, while other cities had similar reports of groups of men surrounding and harassing women that night.
The attackers were normally described as being of North African appearance and the BKA reported that most suspects came from either Algeria, Morocco, or Iraq.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s Chinese Investment Problem
European firms are being snapped up by China companies, and that’s causing headaches in Berlin.
In the conflict between Beijing, Berlin and Brussels over skyrocketing investment by Chinese firms in European high-tech industries, China has a major advantage: It has a plan. Germany doesn’t. Neither does the European Union.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Court Upholds Conviction for ‘Bookkeeper of Auschwitz’
A German federal court has upheld the conviction of a former Nazi SS officer known as the “Bookkeeper of Auschwitz”, his lawyer said on Monday, in a ruling welcomed by victims’ representatives.
Oskar Gröning, now 95, was found guilty in July 2015 of being an accessory to the murders of 300,000 people at the camp and sentenced to four years in prison.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Pilots’ Strike Pushes Lufthansa to Cut 1,700 Flights
A renewed pilots’ strike will ground around 1,700 flights at European aviation giant Lufthansa on Tuesday and Wednesday, the group said, as a long-running and costly battle over pay drags on.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Juncker’s Desperate Plea: Don’t Hold Any More Referendums as Voters Will Choose to Leave
The beleaguered European Commission president gave the desperate cry to members as the EU superstate dream slips from Brussels’ grasp following Britain’s momentous Brexit vote.
Terrified Mr Juncker admitted he knows European’s have a “lack of love” for the Brussels club.
His desperate plea come as Austria’s presidential favourite, Norbert Hofer, threatened to hold a referendum to cut ties with the crumbling bloc if he takes power this weekend.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Failed Asylum Seekers Squatting in Amsterdam Office Building
A group of failed asylum seekers known under the name We Are Here is squatting in another Amsterdam building. The group of about 30 failed asylum seekers tookup residence in an office building on Reigersbos in Zuidoost, the group announced on Facebook.
Before moving into this building, the people were living in buildings on Rijswijkstraat. They come from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan, according to Het Parool. They’ve been put out on the street by the municipality of Amsterdam about 20 times, according to them.
The group has been moving from empty building to empty building in the Dutch capital since September 2012. Their goal is to be treated like all the other Amsterdam residents.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Faces Life Sentence in Hungary After Border Riot
The man stands accused of using a megaphone to threaten Hungarian border police. The charge of terrorism has drawn concern from human rights groups.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
This is How Unequal German Society Has Become
Over the past 25 years, German income disparity has increased markedly. New data traces this progression since German reunification.
Measuring the after-tax income of German households in terms of Gini coefficients, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation released a report on Monday which showed that German income inequality reached a peak of 28.8 in 2013.
A Gini coefficient of zero represents absolute equality, while 100 represents absolute inequality.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Victory for Hardline Fillon is Not All Bad News for Le Pen
After winning Sunday’s rightwing primary runoff vote François Fillon’s next challenge will be to take on Marine Le Pen. His hardline views on identity and Islam may help him, but his economic plan “to tear the house down” may not.
Most opinion polls say the far-right Marine Le Pen will almost certainly make the crucial second round runoff vote in next year’s French presidential election.
And opinion polls, granted they are not that reliable these days, also suggest that given the lack of an outstanding, unifying candidate on the French left, Le Pen will probably face François Fillon after he beat Alain Juppé in the second round of the rightwing primary on Sunday.
In the post-Trump, post-Brexit world, experts say a Le Pen victory in next year’s presidential election is no longer a far-fetched idea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gotcha: ISIS Fighters Gunned Down by Israeli Soldiers After Attack
The four ISIS gunmen used a machine gun and mortar ineffectually in their first ever attack on the occupied Golan Heights.
But the jihadis — believed to be a group called Shuhada al-Yarmouk affiliated to ISIS — were quickly obliterated as Israel snuffed out attack with massive air-power…
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Aleppo: Syrian Army Cuts Rebels in Two
Syrian government forces have split the U.S.-backed Islamist terrorist forces in Aleppo into two, marking the latest development in their campaign to recapture Syria’s largest city by the end of the year. Bashar Al-Assad’s forces are backed by the Russian air force, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iranian and Iraqi army units, Palestinian Al-Quds and Fatah brigades-and are in alliance with Kurdish armed forces.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen Rebels, Allies Form a Government, Deepening Rift
Yemen’s Houthi rebels and allies from the ousted president’s party have formed a new government, deepening divisions in the Arab world’s poorest nation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Fukushima Nuclear Plant ‘Clean-Up Costs Double’
Japan’s government estimates the cost of cleaning up radioactive contamination and compensating victims of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has more than doubled, reports say.
The latest estimate from the trade ministry put the expected cost at some 20 trillion yen ($180bn, £142bn).
The original estimate was for $50bn, which was increased to $100bn three years later.
The nuclear meltdown at Fukushima was triggered by an earthquake and tsunami.
The powerful quake and waves that followed left more than 18,000 people dead, tens of thousands more displaced and well over a million buildings destroyed or damaged.
Almost 4,000 roads, 78 bridges and 29 railways were also affected.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
At the start of the fighting season in Sudan, US Ambassador and Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, Donald Booth, published a column on November 22, 2016 in the Sudan Tribune on the Darfur Crisis addressed to the Chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), Abdul Wahid al-Nour, Peace in Sudan must not be held hostage to Abdul Wahid. Ambassador Booth chided Abdul Walid for not joining other Darfuri armed resistance groups in refraining from resistance operations and joining peace negotiations with the Islamist Republic of Sudan regime in Khartoum of President Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled for 27 years following a military coup…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Fidel Castro the restless revolutionary had no time for pleasure, despising holidays as ‘bourgeois’ and claiming to live in a fisherman’s hut. His only luxury was the cigars that he continually chomped.
Or so he insisted to fellow Cubans who endured decades of abject poverty, crumbling housing and food rationing during his long rule. However, the reality — carefully kept from public consumption thanks to his iron grip on the media and public discourse — was very different.
A prodigious womaniser and food connoisseur who kept some 20 luxurious properties throughout the Caribbean — including a private island he used to visit on his beautiful yacht — Castro was a complete fraud.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ecuador Prosecutor Sees No Quick Embassy Exit for Assange
Ecuador’s prosecutor said on Monday it does not see a quick way out for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up in the country’s embassy in Britain for four years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuelan Currency Lost Half Its Value in November
Bloomberg reported last Thursday that Venezuela’s currency — the bolívar fuerte or “strong bolivar” — has lost 45 percent of its purchasing power so far this month, with six days to go. The underlying cause was put simply by Professor Milton Friedman, a member of the “Chicago School” of economic free market thinking and winner in 1976 of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences: “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon … and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
10 Injured: Suspect Dead, 1 Arrest in Ohio State Car & Knife Attack
An Ohio State University student plowed a car into a campus crowd, then jumped out and started stabbing people with a butcher knife before being shot dead by police Monday morning, officials said.
Nine people were taken to hospitals after the ambush, and one was in critical condition. The incident was initially reported as an “active shooter” situation, but the suspect did not shoot anyone.
A police officer was on the scene within a minute and killed the assailant. “He engaged the suspect and eliminated the threat,” OSU Police Chief Craig Stone said.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News the suspect’s name is Abdul Artan, an 18-year-old student at the university. He was a Somali refugee who left his homeland with his family in 2007, lived in Pakistan and then came to the United States in 2014 as a legal permanent resident of the United States, officials said.
The motive was unknown, but officials said the attack was clearly deliberate and may have been planned in advance.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Asylum Report: 8 Out of 10 Want to Stay in Sweden
Although most asylum seekers in Sweden are happy with the accommodation provided for them, although many are worried about the long waits to be granted residence permits, according to a survey.
An overwhelming majority — 84 per cent — also stated their wish to remain in Sweden permanently, although only half believe they are likely to succeed.
The survey, conducted by Expressen, asked 1,691 people in 18 asylum centres across Sweden, finding that the majority wish to establish a permanent life for themselves in the country. Seven per cent said that they would prefer to return to their home countries once the situations there allow this.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Attack at the Ohio State University Campus
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)- The Latest on an attack at the Ohio State University campus (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Authorities say the officer who killed an attacker at Ohio State University was a university police officer who’d been on the job for less than two years.
Department of Public Safety Director Monica Moll identified the officer as 28-year-old Alan Horujko. She says he started on the Ohio State police force in January 2015.
Ohio State Police Chief Craig Stone says it was fortunate there was a nearby gas leak that the officer had gone to investigate. Stone says it helped position Horujko to respond to the attack so quickly.
Those injured in the attack included an Ohio State faculty member, four graduate students and three undergrads.
Authorities say they were able to get photos of the suspect’s vehicle driving onto campus and confirmed only one person was in the car.
___
4:10 p.m.
A director of public safety says a man who drove a car into pedestrians and began stabbing people at Ohio State was a student at the school.
Ohio State Department of Public Safety Director Monica Moll also identified the now-deceased suspect as Abdul Razak Ali Artan.
A U.S. official earlier told The Associated Press that he was born in Somalia and living in the United States as a legal permanent resident. The official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Authorities say Artan was shot to death by a police officer Monday morning shortly after he drove up onto a curb into pedestrians, got out of the car and began stabbing people with a butcher knife.
Nine people were injured, including one critically.
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3:20 p.m.
A U.S. official has identified the suspect in the Ohio State attack that injured nine people as a man of Somali descent.
The official identified Abdul Razak Ali Artan as the now-deceased suspect. He was born in Somalia and living in the United States as a legal permanent resident. It was unclear when Artan came to the U.S.
The official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A second law enforcement official confirmed that authorities believe the suspect’s name is Abdul Artan. That official also wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Authorities say the suspect was shot to death Monday by a police officer after driving up onto a curb and into pedestrians and attacking people with a knife.
– Associated Press writers Alicia A. Caldwell and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Fire Rips Through Migrant Camp in Greece
A refugee tries to save his belongings as a fire burns at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, early Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. Police say two people have died on the Greek island of Lesbos and two others were seriously injured after a fire raged through a refugee camp used for migrants facing deportation back to Turkey. (AP Photo)
[Comment: This is the first time I’ve come across the internet magazine Fire Fighter Nation.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Fleeing War’ Yet Only 7 Per Cent of Asylum Seekers Would Actually Return After Conflict
Only seven per cent of newly arrived asylum seekers in Sweden intend to return to their homeland, even if the situations in their homelands are significantly improved, a new report has found.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Records Highest North Africa Migrant Numbers
Pressure on Italy’s shelter and asylum system has increased following the spike of new arrivals.
There have been more migrants arriving in the country following an agreement between the European Union and Turkey to curb the number of people sailing to Greece.
As of November 28 of this year, 171,299 boat migrants had reached Italy, compared to the previous record of 170,100 for all of 2014.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants are being taught how to attract women and sexually arouse them in German seminars run by a pickup expert known as ‘Mr Flirt’, it has emerged.
Horst Wenzel usually makes his living teaching German men how to approach women but is volunteering his skills to help the country integrate more than a million refugees who have arrived in the last two years.
The 27-year-old teaches asylum seekers lines including ‘You have a beautiful voice’ and gives tips on how to arouse women.
Hostility towards asylum seekers has been on the increase ever since groups of foreigners — mostly young men from northern Africa — robbed and groped dozens of women on New Year’s Eve in Cologne.
‘Finding a relationship is the best way to integrate, and that’s why I’m giving these classes,’ Wenzel said.
Most of the hostility towards refugees in Germany targets young male asylum-seekers from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, who make up the majority of the migrants reshaping Germany.
Kadib al Ban, the Syrian with the flowery pick-up lines, remained somewhat unconvinced. ‘I’d happily have a German girlfriend,’ he said. ‘But when I get married, I want to have a girl from my country who shares my culture and my traditions.’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
One Suspect Dead, 9 Injured After Attack at Ohio State University Involving Car, Butcher Knife
An 18-year-old Somali man was behind an attack involving a car and butcher knife on the campus of Ohio State University Monday that left nine people injured, law enforcement sources told Fox News.
After the suspect plowed his vehicle into the crowd, officials said he got out of the vehicle and began attacking people with a butcher knife before he was shot and killed by a campus police officer.
Two law enforcement sources told Fox News the attacker, identified as Abdul Artan, came into the United States as a Somali refugee, and was granted status as a legal permanent resident.
The motive behind the attack is still unclear, according to law enforcement sources, but investigators are not ruling out anything at this point.
Ohio State Police Chief Craig Stone said the attacker purposely drove over a curb and into pedestrians.
“This was done on purpose,” he said.
Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs said police were looking into whether it was a terrorist attack.
Monica Moll, the school’s public safety director, told reporters the attack took place in front of Watts Hall, the location of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, around 9:52 a.m.
A campus officer nearby engaged the suspect, who was attacking people with a butcher knife, and shot and killed him within minutes.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Refugees Refuse to Live in Eastern Europe and Flee Lithuania EU Relocation Programme
MIGRANTS who have settled in Lithuania under the European Union relocation plan are fleeing over claims they will starve to death in the Baltic.
[Comment: If there’s no free stuff for migrants, then the migrants will self deport.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Police Smash Terror Cell ‘Smuggling ISIS Jihadis to Europe Posing as Migrants’
Spain’s interior ministry said ISIS was using the group to sneak fanatics into Europe via Turkey among migrants fleeing Syria’s civil war.
Officials also said they may have links to the Paris terror attacks last November.
The four are under investigation for links to two people detained in Austria last year with suspected connections to the Paris attackers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
SPLC Moves to Kill Debate on ‘Refugee’ Resettlement
Labeling journalist ‘Islamophobe’scares off major sponsor for conference
The Southern Poverty Law Center is teaming up with local Detroit media to paint a Maryland-based journalist as an anti-Muslim “extremist” and “Islamophobe” simply because he has produced fact-based research on the U.S. government’s refugee resettlement program.
James Simpson has been invited to speak at the annual Business Roundtable Breakfast in Oakland County, one of several counties in Michigan that have been pummeled with refugees from the Middle East over the last eight years of the Obama administration…
Dick Manasseri, spokesman for Secure Michigan, said his group has submitted a letter to the Free Press’s op-ed page based on the First Amendment rights of all Michiganders to speak out.
“It’s just as a statement in support of freedom of speech, even though we do have Shariahvilles in Michigan we don’t live under the Shariah in Michigan, we have a right to express ourselves, and James Simpson is just presenting information,” Manasseri told WND.
“This is standard protocol for them, they do it all the time, and they’re given credence by the mainstream media, which is pretty low,” said Manasseri. “We’ve experienced this before.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Suspect Dead, 9 in Hospital After Ohio State Car-and-Knife Attack
An Ohio State University student plowed a car into a campus crowd, then jumped out and started stabbing people with a butcher knife before being shot dead by police Monday morning, officials said.
Nine people were taken to hospitals after the ambush, and one was in critical condition. The incident was initially reported as an “active shooter” situation, but the suspect did not shoot anyone.
A police officer was on the scene within a minute and killed the assailant. “He engaged the suspect and eliminated the threat,” OSU Police Chief Craig Stone said.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News the suspect’s name is Abdul Artan, an 18-year-old student at the university. He was a Somali refugee who left his homeland with his family in 2007, lived in Pakistan and then came to the United States in 2014 as a legal permanent resident of the United States, officials said.
The motive was unknown, but officials said the attack was clearly deliberate and may have been planned in advance.
“This was done on purpose,” Stone said.
A campus lockdown was lifted about 11:30 a.m., some 90 minutes after the violence unfolded on the Columbus, Ohio, campus, where 60,000 students are enrolled.
“This car just swerved and ran into a whole group of people,” said Nicole Kreinbrink, who was walking down the street when she saw the car hit people who had evacuated an academic building during a fire alarm.
“All these people were running and screaming and yelling,” she added.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Governor Abbott to Sign Law Banning Illegal-Alien Sanctuary Cities
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (shown) has said he’ll sign a law banning sanctuary cities in the Lone Star State. In a November 27 reply to an inquiry from a Twitter user who asked whether he would respond to overtures from political candidates who want Travis County to stop cooperating with ICE agents and make Austin a sanctuary city, Abbott tweeted back: “I’m going to sign a law that bans sanctuary cities. Also I’ve already issued an order cutting funding to sanctuary cities.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Saxo’s Jakobsen Warns “Change Will Not Come Because We Want It… It Will Come Because We Need It”
TradingFloor.com: You have mentioned elitism in several prominent pieces and venues, and emphasised last time we spoke that “the world has become elitist in every way”. What do you mean when you say “elitist”?
Steen Jakobsen: Well, there is the social context, of course, in which a very small part of society owns the huge majority of the world’s assets. This is admittedly a simplistic version, but I think in the greater socioeconomic context, elitism refers to the idea that there is only one model.
In the US, but also internationally, you see this [political order] that is based on flipping favours between minority and special interest groups. As this order consumes itself through both lobbyism and the very nature of its setup, we end up electing politicians who reflect this… we have a system that employs frontmen, front-figures, instead of relying on a broader, better-educated, more practical consensus.
So intellectually-speaking, elitism means that we have very little room for discussion about our societal consensus and whether it is working, whether it is right. Take, for example, quantitative easing and monetary policy in general… everyone told us we had no alternative, but where did that idea come from? Where was the honest conversation about that?
We can see very clearly that QE has misallocated capital to an enormous extent, creating bubbles in both bond and housing markets across the globe. So, no, I don’t think we have had any honest conversations about this…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
After the blow up against Trudeau on his insane comments about Castro I hope the conservative-type media “around the world” will keep on Trudeau’s case and make him sweat as much as possible over every move he makes.His Castro statement was ignorant and disgusted many Canadians.
On Sunday, a large crowd booed Justin when he tried to say a few words at the Grey Cup game in Toronto. After a year of his rule Canadians are fed-up with “Dear Leader” and they’re not afraid to show it anymore.
The thing is that while Canada is a large country,the population is only a tenth of that of the USA with most of the population in the southern Ontario area and that is where the nation’s media operates from. The MSM is basically all from Toronto and they control the news through-out the country. Canadians are starting to turn against the MSM (especially the CBC ) but it will take a while and any attention from foreign media of Trudeau’s gaffes and mistakes is most welcome from Canadians like me . It makes it harder for the CBC and others to lie or cover-up for Trudeau and the government when the “whole world” is reporting on it. Because of CastroGate little Justin has decided to cancel his trip to Cuba for the old dictator’s funeral. The CBC will no doubt have something like 5 hour coverage of it so Justy can stay home and watch it on his big-screen TV instead !
It may be that 2017 will be the year that Canadians are inspired to “Make Canada Great Again” ! .Many of us believe that Canada IS great,it’s just that our big government and media are rotten .There are Trump-haters in Canada but there are Canucks who believe Trump will be great for the United States of America. And North America too.It will be very interesting when President Trump comes to Ottawa next year . I hope there are a few American flags flying from a crowd of well-wishers at the airport.
It’s so easy to get depressed but there is hope and I hope 2017 will be a good one for all – wherever you live in the world.
And..during that same Grey Cup event I mentioned earlier, ex-prime minister Stephen Harper (a real sports fan ) wandered into a bar and was greeted with a cheer or two,handshakes,smiling faces and a few “how you doing ? ” from a few of the patrons. It was quite a startling contrast to the scene with Trudeau being booed ! 🙂
Reported in the BBC today; More evidence Germany’s security services compromised?
“An employee of the German intelligence agency (BfV) has been arrested after making Islamist statements and sharing agency material, German media report.
A BfV spokesman quoted by Reuters news agency did not confirm a report in Die Welt newspaper that the man was suspected of planning a bomb attack on the BfV’s Cologne office.
“There is no evidence to date that there is a concrete danger,” he added.
The BfV said the man, a German, had previously “behaved inconspicuously”.
“The man is accused of making Islamist statements on the Internet using a false name and of revealing internal agency material in Internet chatrooms,” the spokesman added.
Die Welt also reported that the man was caught by an agency informant, with the pair having online conversations about a possible attack.
Image caption German media reported the man was planning an attack on the agency’s Cologne office
BfV did not confirm what part of the intelligence agency the accused worked in, though German news magazine Der Spiegel said the man was recently hired to observe the Islamist situation in Germany.
It also reported that the man’s family had no knowledge of his conversion to Islam, which the publication said took place in 2014.
The BfV – the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution – is Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. Its counterpart, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), deals with foreign intelligence.
There are an estimated 40,000 Islamists in Germany, including 9,200 ultra-conservative Islamists known as Salafists, the head of the BfV told Reuters news age.”