New contingents of American tanks and troops have arrived in Germany and Poland. President Obama said that they were sent there to protect Europe against the increased risk of a Russian invasion, but Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country regards them as a threat.
In other news, a passage from the Koran that denies Jesus is the son of God was sung in Arabic in front of the congregation at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, CrossWare, Fjordman, JD, LP, Nick, Reader from Chicago, 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.
Assange Agrees to US Extradition if Obama Commutes Manning Sentence
WikiLeaks announced Thursday that its founder Julian Assange has agreed to be extradited to the United States if President Barack Obama grants clemency to incarcerated former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Billionaire George Soros Lost Nearly $1 Billion in Weeks After Trump Election
Hedge-fund manager’s ex-deputy, Stanley Druckenmiller, profited by bet on market rally
Billionaire hedge-fund manager George Soros lost nearly $1 billion as a result of the stock-market rally spurred by Donald Trump’s surprise presidential election.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Le Pen Has Coffee at Trump Tower… But Trump Won’t See Her
French far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen was spotted at Trump Tower on Thursday, but a spokesman for the US president-elect said she would not be meeting him — nor any members of his transition team.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
From We the People to Obama: ‘See Ya’ (Much) Later, Agitator!’
Obama’s “citizen being the most important office in a democracy” claim is irony written in stone when considering that it was Obama who blatantly ignored a full 50% of the U.S. citizenship, other than when he stopped to smear them as “bigots” and “racists” for eight, uninterrupted years.
The Greeks concealed themselves in a hollow, wooden statue to sneak into Troy.
It worked.
Having hit a brick wall as self-crowned ‘King of the World’, Obama seeks to sneak back into power on a high-kicking pony called Citizenship of which he self-crowns himself as King.
It will fail.
Born to and inspired by an assortment of malcontents, Obama was a Community Organizer Citizen posing as president. He is merely returning full-blast to the life of one now that his policies came to a classic full-stop circa November 8.
Above all else Obama has been and still is the proverbial One Trick Pony. Obama was society’s supposed Agent of Change sent to set the world afire with discord when his own pants are ablaze.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
George Soros Lost Nearly $1 Billion in Weeks Following Donald Trump’s Win
Billionaire George Soros lost nearly $1billion after the stock market surged following Donald Trump’s surprise November 8 election win over Hillary Clinton.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Identity of “Former Intelligence Officer” Behind Fake Trump Dossier Revealed
No surprise: former MI-6 officer
While we learned earlier that John McCain was responsible for handing over the 35-page “dossier” of compromising, if arguably fake, revelations about Trump’s connections to Russia over to the FBI, the identity of the actual creator, who was said to be an ex-British intelligence service, remained a mystery.
No longer.
Courtesy of the WSJ, we now know his name: the former MI-6 officer, now working for a private security-and-investigations firm “who produced the dossier of unverified allegations about President-elect Donald Trump’s activities and connections in Russia” is Christopher Steele, a director of London-based Orbis Business Intelligence… and before readers google him, beware, there is a male gay porn star with the same name, who may or may not be into “golden showers.”
The real Chris Steele is profiled below, courtesy of LinkedIn.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Man Faces Jail Time for Alleged ISIS Recruitment
He wanted to “live in a tent” with ISIS — but is facing federal lockup instead.
An Arizona man accused of acting as a recruiter for ISIS told friends he wanted to live in squalor with the terrorists — and praised them for “forcibly” taking over cities in Iraq, it emerged at his Manhattan federal trial Thursday.
“Allah is great. Mosul falls by the hands of the state,” Ahem Mohammed el Gammal said after ISIS took over the Iraqi city in 2014.
[Comment: It is a curious phenomenon, rhyming slogans from folks who harm the body politic. “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” ]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meningitis Vax Tied to Bell’s Palsy Risk
a 1,000-percent increase in reports of the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) to VAERS when the vaccines were administered simultaneously
In a study using data from nearly 49,000 people between the ages of 11 and 21 years, Hung-Fu Tseng, Ph.D., from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Pasadena, California, and colleagues evaluated the safety of quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine.
A significantly increased risk of Bell’s palsy, which causes paralysis or weakness of facial muscles, was found when the vaccine (Menveo) was given along with another vaccination. The condition typically occurred five to 10 weeks after vaccination.
Overall, the risk of Bell’s palsy increased 2.9-fold in the 12 weeks after vaccination among those administered concomitant vaccines. Bell’s palsy has previously been noted as a complication of hepatitis B,2 smallpox and influenza vaccination (seasonal and H1N1) as well.3
Research published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics also revealed an increased risk of cranial nerve palsies following vaccination, especially combinations of vaccines.4
In 59 percent of the cases, the palsies were identified as serious, which suggests, the authors noted, “that a cranial nerve palsy may sometimes be the harbinger of a broader and more ominous clinical entity, such as a stroke or encephalomyelitis [inflammation of the brain and spinal cord].” They continued:5
[…]
Serious Adverse Events Revealed When Menactra Is Administered Along With HPV Vaccine
Bell’s palsy is not the only adverse event that’s been revealed when meningococcal vaccines are administered along with other vaccinations, particularly Gardasil human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
The CDC recommends both Menactra and Gardasil for all 11- to 12-year olds in the U.S. and, although they may often be administered simultaneously, this concomitant use was not studied for safety in Gardasil’s initial clinical trials.
In 2007, only a year after Gardasil was approved, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) analyzed reports of serious adverse events reported to VAERS after individuals received Gardasil alone or along with Menactra.6
They revealed a 1,000-percent increase in reports of the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) to VAERS when the vaccines were administered simultaneously. Reports of other serious adverse events were also significantly increased, including:
Respiratory problem reports increased by 114 percent
Cardiac problem reports increased by 118 percent
Neuromuscular and coordination problem reports increased by 234 percent
Convulsions and central nervous system problem reports increased by 301 percent Reports of injuries from falls after unconsciousness (vasovagal syncope) increased by 674 percent
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Popular novelist and author, David Balducci, has coined a phrase that seems to be on the money when describing what is going on in the dissemination of news and information in our country today. It is the term, “Perception Manipulators”.
That phrase, along with the phrase “fake news”, has reached epidemic proportions in our country today. This past presidential election was inundated with “fake news” and “perception manipulators”, which was mostly championed by the Democrats (a/k/a Liberals and Progressives). Day after day, week after week, the drumbeat, by the liberal media and the Democrats, of negative stories about Donald Trump, filled the airways and newspapers with stories about the “evil” intentions of Donald Trump. It didn’t matter if the stories were true or not, whatever it took to make Trump look bad was the goal of these less than honest “perception manipulators”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rudy Giuliani to Head New Cyber Security Committee for Trump
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced on “Fox and Friends” Thursday that he will be heading up a new cyber security committee for President-elect Donald Trump.
The committee is set to meet with Trump on a regular basis to bring together leaders of the private sector to share their thoughts on the best cyber security methods.
“It’s his belief, which I share, that a lot of the solutions are out there. We’re just not sharing them. … My belief is, as always, that the answer to cyber security is gonna be found in the private sector,” Giuliani said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Nature of Constitutional Law
Natural Law vs. Common Law
In the effort to know, understand and uphold the U.S. Constitution, the first step is the most important step. You cannot head east by setting your first foot down headed west.
The Declaration of Independence established the basic foundations for everything.
The opening preamble to the Declaration reads as follows;
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
The preamble establishes both the purpose of the declaration, “to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station;” our independence, and under what legal foundation, “to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them;”
– From this moment in history forward, everything the Founders created in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights that followed, was erected upon this founding principle and set of laws, “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” The modern term for this set of laws is Natural Law, a set of inalienable universal laws which apply to all of mankind, endowed by our Creator, existing as part of the natural condition and beyond the authority of legislators, magistrates or governments.
Today’s law professionals will tell you that you have “constitutional rights” and that our “Common Law” courts exist to protect these rights. If this were true, our Constitutional Republic would not be on the brink of extinction today.
What Americans have is “natural rights” that are “endowed by our Creator” — which are protected by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Common Law is “the part of English law that is derived from custom and judicial precedent rather than statutes, often contrasted with statutory law.” Because Common Law is derived from custom and judicial precedent, it is the mortal enemy of Natural Law, which means, the mortal enemy of Natural Rights as well.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Oh Yes, It’s Totally Appropriate That Trump Destroyed CNN During His Presser
I’ve embedded the entire video of Trump’s presser yesterday, although for this piece I’m focusing mainly on his beatdown of CNN and BuzzFeed, which starts at 1:07:45. Once you get to it, stick with it for awhile, because Trump takes a few questions on other subjects but comes back to the matter several times.
He’s got harsh words not only for the media but also for the intelligence community, which he smacks down for constantly running to the press every time they talk to him. To demonstrate this, Trump explains that before his last intelligence briefing, he didn’t tell anyone on his staff that it was happening — not even his longtime personal assistant, who always knows about his appointments — and went and took the meeting under those circumstances. Sure enough, as soon as the meeting was over, the press knew about it.
In other words, it had to be the intelligence officials who leaked the information because no one else could have, and Trump made it clear he’s going to put a stop to that when he’s president.
But back to CNN and BuzzFeed. The case against BuzzFeed is now so airtight, even most of the lefty media aren’t trying to defend what they did. Publishing an unsubstantiated memo based on a totally bogus dossier, which had only been shared with Trump as an example of how to recognize completely false garbage, and failing to explain that was a journalistic capital offense as far as I’m concerned. BuzzFeed should shut down and cease operations in shame today as far as I’m concerned. The organization is a total disgrace.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Who Was Behind CNN’s “Fake News” On Trump?
This is a classic CIA blackmail operation where the CIA under Director John Brennan uses someone else’s dirt for the blackmail, and postures themselves as ‘innocent’ in presenting it to Trump.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow’s January 3 show, “Let me tell you, you take on the Intelligence Community, they have six ways from Sunday to get back at you. So even for a practical, supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he is being really dumb to do this.” He was referring to President-elect Donald J. Trump’s criticism of the Intelligence Community. Asked what the Intelligence Community could or would do to Trump, Schumer said, “I don’t know. From what I am told, they are very upset with how he has treated them and talked about them.”
On Tuesday, January 10, we saw the response. It was obvious, based on what this top Senate Democrat had said, that the CIA used CNN to air unsubstantiated charges against Trump. CNN didn’t delineate the bizarre sexual nature of those charges; that was left to a left-wing “news” organization by the name of BuzzFeed, which posted 35 pages of scurrilous lies and defamation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Grieving Families Slapped With Carbon Tax for Cremation
Two grieving Alberta families have each been slapped with a $100 carbon tax bill after having a relative cremated, just days after the tax was introduced in that province.
The $100 fee was handwritten on Ed Connon’s bill when he paid to cremate his 93-year-old mother, Margaret Connon, who died Jan. 7. The funeral home staff had no explanation for him.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium Charges Two for Aiding Jihadis
Belgian prosecutors have charged a man and a woman with providing fake papers to jihadis involved in Paris and Brussels attacks. The two were detained in a house raid, officials said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Brexit Must be Worse’ Malta Demands EU Punishes Britain After Decision to Leave
MALTA is insisting the European Union offers a Brexit deal WORSE then the UK’s current arrangement with the bureaucratic bloc.
Prime minister Joseph Muscat said he hopes to punish Britain for it’s momentous decision comes just after his nation took out a six-month EU presidency.
He said: “We want a fair deal for the United Kingdom but that fair deal has to be inferior to membership.
“We can see no situation where whatever is negotiated ends up being better than the current situation that the United Kingdom has.” …
EU boss Jean-Claude Juncker declared himself as a “global winner” during the same press conference. He boasted he has deliberately used his time as EU chief to force “irreversible” federalisation on European nations.
The EU 27 is set to hold a special summit in Valletta in February to discuss the post-Brexit future.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Handed Potential Brexit Boost as Now Austria Demands EU Free Movement Changes
BRITAIN has been handed a potential boost ahead of Brexit negotiations after Austria demanded its own changes to EU free movement rules.
Austrian chancellor Christian Kern yesterday took aim at Brussels’ fiercely-protected immigration principle as he set out a 10-year plan to overhaul the country’s economy and boost jobs.
Mr Kern, who has faced a surge in support among voters for the rival far-right Freedom Party, called on the EU to allow Austrian citizens to be favoured over foreign nationals when applying for jobs in areas of high unemployment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus Peace Talks: Can Cypriots Heal Their Divided Island?
Abdullah Cangil is a 66-year-old Turkish Cypriot, living in Morphou — a border town on the divided island of Cyprus.
His three-bedroom house is surrounded by orange and lemon trees. The chirping of birds can be heard all around the garden. He says he planted the trees here himself, as he reaches to one of them to grab a few mandarins to offer me.
Mr Cangil moved to this house in 1974, after Turkey invaded Cyprus in response to a coup aiming to unite the island with Greece. This was followed by a population exchange.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Members Face Paying ‘Brexit Tax’ To Fund Shortfall
The European Union could impose taxes on citizens of member states under radical proposals announced yesterday to help make up a funding shortfall in the wake of Brexit.
A report commissioned by the European Commission, European Parliament and member states called for effective federal taxes to be paid directly to Brussels to fund the EU budget.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Everyone Will be Muslim Because of Our Stupidity’ Catholic Leader Blasts ‘Weak’ Church
A PROMINENT figure in the Catholic church has controversially suggested that everyone will “soon be Muslim” because we live in an increasingly secular society amid increased migration.
Monsignor Carlo Liberati, an Italian Archbishop, gave the warning after observing the growing number of detention centres opening up in Europe, suggesting it was a sure fire way to have the Islamic faith become mainstream.
He said: “In 10 years we will all be Muslims because of our stupidity. Italy and Europe live in a pagan and atheist way, they make laws that go against God and they have traditions that are proper of paganism.
“All of this moral and religious decadence favours Islam.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A former MI6 officer who produced a dossier making lurid allegations about Donald Trump is “terrified for his safety” after he was unmasked by a US publication.
Christopher Steele, 52, fled from his home in Surrey on Wednesday morning after realising it was only a matter of time until his name became public knowledge.
[Comment: Pfft. ]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Extremist Female Prisoners Threaten to Kill Cellmates Who Do Not Convert
A pair of female prisoners have been charged with making death threats against other inmates
The two radical Muslims, known only as 35-year-old Nadia A.M. and 29-year-old Vanessa C., have also been accused of “proselytising” and are due to appear in court today.
The women, who have been described as “incredibly violent” by their cellmates, are currently being held at the Fleury-Mérogis prison near Paris, Europe’s largest prison and a well-known hotbed of Islamist activity…
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Capital’s First Modern Mosque Expected by End-April
After years of delays, the Greek capital’s first modern Muslim house of worship is slated for completion by the end of April, as work at the site has gotten back on track.
The tender for the 887,000-euros project, financed through the Public Investment Program, was signed with a consortium of Greece’s four biggest construction firms on October 10. Work, however, did not commence until November 4 as the site at a former navy facility in Votanikos was occupied by protesters from the far-right, which vehemently objects to the presence of a working mosque in the predominantly Christian Orthodox country. The project has also met with resistance from the Church of Greece.
While it will have a spring as dictated by Islamic religious convention, it will not have a minaret and broadcasted prayers.
With the foundations now being laid, the consortium says it expects to deliver the site in end-April, thus ending a saga that exposed Greece to criticism for failing to comply with European directives concerning religious freedoms.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Looks to ‘Sweep Away’ Soros-Linked Organisations
A Hungarian MP has announced a proposal to “sweep away” non-governmental organisations linked to Hungarian-born left wing financier billionaire George Soros and his Open Society Foundations.
The move was announced Tuesday by Szilárd Németh, Vice President of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party, who said the activities of Soros-affiliated groups were linked to the promotion of mass migration. Németh stated he will introduce legislation to effectively ban their activities in Hungary, the Budapest Business Journal reports.
| — Hat tip: CrossWare | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Attack on George Soros Prompts NGO Anger
Hungary’s centre-right Fidesz government has been accused of undermining basic democratic norms and harking back to the country’s totalitarian past for launching an offensive against non-government organisations.
At the centre of the furore is 86 year-old Hungarian-born philanthropist George Soros.
His Open Society Foundations (OSF) are active in 100 countries, and have supported civil groups in Eastern Europe and the Balkans since the mid-1980s. When they were in opposition, leading Fidesz figures were themselves beneficiaries of the OSF.
Fidesz officials and pro-government media accuse the NGOs of representing an unelected, meddling, liberal elite whose time has gone.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iceland Forms Coalition Government After Months of Talks
For a country of just 300,000 inhabitants, forming a government in Iceland has been strangely laborious.
But on Wednesday, after more than two months of negotiations among seven political parties, this island finally up its mind — a three-party coalition, no less, whose leadership includes a lawmaker who used to play with a punk rock band called Dr. Spock.
“It took a long time, so everybody is just relieved that we have a government and that there is somebody to rule the country,” said Fridrik Palsson, a businessman in the capital, Reykjavik, who supported the conservative Independence Party.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Koran Passage Denying Jesus is the Son of God ‘Sung in Arabic at Scottish Church Service’
The congregation at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow, heard the Islamic version of the Virgin Mary’s conception of Jesus, sung from the Koran’s Surah 19 to mark the feast of the Epiphany.
The verse, sung in Arabic at the cathedral, claims that Mary was “ashamed” after she gave birth to Christ and that Jesus miraculously spoke from his crib and claimed he was a “servant of God” — both details which were not recorded in the Bible…
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Mass Murderer Breivik Claims Prison Isolation Has Made Him ‘More Radical’
Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, said on Thursday that his more than five-year prison isolation has radicalised him, a key point in his lawsuit against the Norwegian state over his prison conditions.
“I’ve become more radical. I was radical to start but these past five years I’ve become much more radical,” the 37-year-old said as he gave evidence against the state, which has appealed a lower court ruling that found it guilty of treating him “inhumanely”, primarily because of his isolation from other inmates.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Must Go — Furious Protestors Demand Demand Angela Leaves as She Received Honorary Award
PROTESTERS have taken to the streets of Brussels to protest for beleaguered Angela Merkel to step down as German Chancellor just before she receives an honorary award.
Angry campaigners held placards with slogans reading “Merkel not welcomed” and “Merkel must go” following a spate of terror attacks against Germany.
It comes just before Mrs Merkel is handed a honorary doctorate from Belgian KU Leuven and UGent universites in Brussels.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Over Half a Million Now Waiting for Apartments in Stockholm
A reminder of the Swedish capital’s housing crisis has been served by the latest figures from Stockholm’s Housing Agency (Bostadsförmedlingen), which show that the number of people waiting to rent an apartment through them grew by almost 40,000 in 2016.
At that pace, it would take almost 50 years for all of the 556,000 people on the waiting list to earn a standard long-term contract, known as a “first hand” contract in Sweden.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Court Convicts Man of Rape After He Removed Condom During Sex
A man has been convicted of rape by a court in Switzerland for having sex without a condom with a sexual partner who believed he was wearing one.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: Schools Try to Smooth Waves in Muslim Swimming Controversy
How do schools cope with Muslim families who want to prevent their daughters from attending swimming lessons? Swiss public television, SRF, talked to school principals and an imam about the controversy. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)
On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights upheld a decision by Swiss authorities to fine Muslim parents who had kept their girls from mandatory swimming lessons during school hours.
In 2010, Basel City authorities fined the couple CHF1,400 ($1,382) for pulling their nine- and seven-year-old daughters from swim class. The family had argued that it was against their religious convictions to send their girls to co-ed swimming lessons on account of the required attire.
This was not the first time that a Muslim family had a problem with the swimming lessons that are a standard part of the Swiss curriculum.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Islamic Organization DITIB Admits Preachers Spied in Germany
Germany’s largest Islamic organization has admitted some of its preachers acted as informants for the Turkish government. The statement is likely to further strain German-Turkish relations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: University Students Want Plato and Descartes Banned Because They’re White
STUDENTS are trying to have philosophers such as Plato and Descartes removed from their syllabus — because they’re WHITE.
Their ideas are said to have underpinned civilised society across the Western world.
But students at a prestigious London university have demanded figures such as Plato be dropped from courses because of the colour of their skin.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Tanks Roll Into Germany to Protect Against Potential Russian Invasion
U.S. Tanks rolled into Germany this weekend.
The deployment — which also includes 3,500 U.S. Troops — is to protect Eastern Europe against a potential Russian invasion.
In the dock area of the German city of Bremerhaven all around is American military hardware just off the boat — everything from Humvees to tanks.
The official name for this display of military muscle is Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Its purpose is to reassure America’s nervous European allies that the U.S. military will stand with them against any aggressive moves by Russia. Moves, like the 2014 invasion of Crimea, when Russian troops arrived in what had been Ukraine — and seized it for the Kremlin.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Tanks and Troops in Poland a Threat, Russia Says
Russia says it views the arrival of more than 3,000 US soldiers in Poland as a threat to its own security.
The troops are part of President Barack Obama’s response to reassure Nato allies concerned about a more aggressive Russia.
It is the largest US military reinforcement of Europe in decades.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that the move “threatens our interests and our security”.
“It’s a third country that is building up its military presence on our borders in Europe,” he said. “It isn’t even a European country.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Mechkov called the deployment a “factor destabilising European security”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Islamic Extremists Get Local Official in Yogyakarta Removed Because He is Catholic
The authorities in Bantul Regency dismissed Yulius Suharto, head of Pajangan sub-district. He was appointed on 30 December. His fall is due to a broad campaign by fundamentalists and radical Muslims. He has been re-assigned to a sub-district where most residents are not Muslim.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — The authorities in Bantul Regency (Yogyakarta special province), central Java, removed from office Yulius Suharto, head of Pajangan sub-district, following a massive lobbying campaign launched on social media by Islamic extremist groups and radical Muslims who targeted him because he is Catholic.
The decision to dismiss the sub-district chief was made on Monday as a result of the unrelenting campaign against the official (pictured).
In a statement, the authorities state that the decision is backed by scores of officials and citizens in Pajangan, ostensibly opposed to a Catholic holding the top office in the civilian administration of a predominantly Muslim area.
Bantu Regent Suharsono noted that Yulius Suharto’s removal was done in accordance with the law, in response to demands from regency and municipal leaders. Most officials welcomed the decision to remove the official because he was not Muslim.
Yulius Suharto is expected to be transferred to Bambanglipuro, a sub-district where most people are not Muslim, local sources said.
Last October, Pajangan saw fierce protests by Islamic extremists against the installation of a large bust of Jesus in front of the St Yakobus Alfeus Church.
Extremists were particularly incensed by the presence at the ceremony of women wearing hijab. When the images of veiled women at a Christian ceremony went viral, many of Indonesia’s extremists and Jihadi movements were enraged.
Yulius Suharto’s appointment as Pajangan sub-district chief was made on 30 December; his removal will come into effect on 30 January.
Yulius Suharto is not the only Catholic official in the crosshair of Islamic extremists. In recent weeks, the case of Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, governor of Jakarta, has been front-page news.
Ahok is on trial for blasphemy for allegedly insulting the QurÊ3/4Än and Islam. At a rally in September, he supposedly quoted from the 51st verse of Al Maidah, the fifth surah (chapter) in the QurÊ3/4Än, to ask Muslims not to use it “the wrong way”. The verse in question advises Muslims not to take Jews and Christians as friends.
As one of the few Indonesian political leaders to fight for freedom of conscience, the governor last June opposed the obligation imposed on female students in Jakarta to wear the Islamic veil.
In July 2015, he got involved in the struggle for the civil rights of the Ahmadi minority, which is considered heretical by majority Sunnis.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Another Secular Activist Goes Missing. The Fifth in a Week
Samar Abbas is the president of the Civil Progressive Alliance Pakistan. He disappeared on a business trip to Islamabad. Others who have disappeared include a well-known professor of Rawalpindi and three Lahore bloggers. Activist: “alarming trend of disappearances of the Punjab intellectual class”.
Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) — In Pakistan another secular activist, critic of religious extremism and violent fringes present in political and military circles has disappeared. Samar Abbas, 54, president of the Civil Progressive Alliance Pakistan (CPAP) is the fifth activist to have disappeared into thin air, after the same fate befell a famous university professor and three bloggers last week. Many now fear the security forces and terrorism are behind the mysterious disappearances.
Syed Talib Abbas, secretary general of CPAP, reports that the activist has disappeared while on his way from Karachi to Islamabad for a business trip. “The family — reports — received news of him until last Saturday [January 7], but then lost all contact and his phone is disconnected.”
The activist Mona Aurangzeb believes that “the forced disappearance of members of the intellectual class of Punjab is an alarming trend. The state is giving the impression that no matter who you are: if you raise your voice or create problems, you have to pay the price. “
The head of the Alliance is the latest in a series of mysterious disappearances. Before him, on January 6 Salman Haider, a well-known poet who teaches at Fatima Jinnah Women’s University in Rawalpindi disappeared in Islamabad.
Two days earlier in Lahore cousins Waqas Goraya and Aasim Saeed went missing, both bloggers. Finally, on January 7 the blogger Ahmed Raza Naseer, who suffers from polio also went missing, perhaps kidnapped while he was in his Skeikhupura shop, near Lahore.
The news of the disappearance of the fifth activist in the space of a week is raising questions about personal security and freedom of expression. An article appeared in The Express Tribune, called “Disappearing freedom in Pakistan.” “At this point — it says — it would be premature to assign blame and responsibility. However it would be useful to examine the recent history of enforced disappearances in Pakistan, and the lack of public outrage about this horrible phenomenon. “ And then it invites the public “at least to think intelligently about what these disappearances are trying to achieve and what allows them to move forward with such inexplicable ease.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Scores Flee After Hindu-Muslim Violence Breaks Out in Southern Nepal
The clashes follow the death of a Hindu man, punished by Muslims for refusing to join the festivities of Mohammad’s birthday. Hindus fear new violence; Muslims fear arrest for murder. “Pray for peace,” Kathmandu pastor says.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) — More than a hundred Hindu and Muslim men fled a village in southern Nepal without leaving a trace.
The flight began last month after the killing of a Hindu man in the village of Bidhyanagar triggered a wave of sectarian violence between the two religious communities.
Hindus fled because the village has a Muslim majority, and fear more attacks. Muslims went into hiding to avoid police arrest for the sectarian violence.
“All religious groups are free to profess their faith and we have to respect each other,” Fr Ignatius Rai, pastor of Assumption Cathedral in Kathmandu, told AsiaNews. “Violence and murder in the name of religion must be condemned”.
The situation precipitated the day of the Mawlid, the birthday of Muhammad, which fell on 12 December last year, when Munnalal Yadav, a Hindu, was beaten to death by some Muslims for refusing to accept an invitation to take part in the celebrations.
The victim’s brother, Tilakram Yadav, 52, was also seriously wounded. “I was not able to escape because of my injuries,” he said, “but more than 100 people have already fled. The whole village lives in fear of revenge and further clashes between Hindus and Muslims.”
“My husband and my son managed to escape soon after the riots,” said Nazima Badhai, 60. “In the village there are only women with children and some very old people. We are poor and sick and we cannot move. If someone were to attack us,” she added resignedly, “we would not know how to defend ourselves. We hope the state will protect us.”
The village of Bidhyanagar is located in Kapilvastu district. It is home to 124 families, 100 Muslim and 24 Hindu. It has seen sectarian violence in the past.
Several people were injured in the latest clashes. After police intervened to restore order, six people were arrested, but investigations are stalled due to the escape of many suspects.
Similar incidents also took place on Mawlid in the village of Matehiya, Banke District (southwestern Nepal), resulting in the death of two people, which triggered further violence and damage to homes and places of worship.
Whilst the son of Hindu man killed in Bidhyanagar calls for justice for his father and punishment for the guilty Muslims, Fr Rai urges everyone “to pray for peace and tolerance.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Beijing ‘May Retaliate’ If US Tries to Block China’s Access to South China Sea Islands
The US cannot block Chinese access to the man-made islands in the South China Sea as suggested by the secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson at Wednesday’s Senate confirmation hearing, Chinese experts said on Thursday.
Any attempt to do so would only prompt China to step up military build up and even set up Air Defence Identification Zone in the disputed waters, they added.
The former ExxonMobil CEO said that China’s “illegal” building of islands and equipping them with military assets was “akin to Russia’s taking Crimea” from Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Overseas Investment Soars to Record, Study Suggests
China’s foreign direct investments soared 40 percent to a record US$190 billion in 2016 from a year earlier, according to a study released on Wednesday by the Berlin-based Mercatur Institute for China Studies and the Rhodium Group.
Chinese investments in the European Union rose 77 per cent to over US$37 billion in 2016, with Germany accounting for 31 percent of total Chinese investment in Europe, according to the study by the institute and Rhodium, a consultancy specialising in Greater China and India.
Chinese investors were particularly interested in acquiring technology and advanced manufacturing assets, the report said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Says Committed to Peace as Carrier Passes Near Taiwan
China said Wednesday it was committed to promoting peace and stability in Asia, even as it sent an aircraft carrier battle group through the Taiwan Strait amid heightened tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled island.
The statement in the preface to a Cabinet report on China’s policies on Asia-Pacific security cooperation follows heated criticism from the U.S., Japan and others over Beijing’s increasingly robust assertions of its maritime claims, particularly in the South China Sea.
The report made no direct reference to such concerns while casting Beijing as a force for economic development and conflict reduction.
“China is committed to promoting peace and stability in this region. It follows the path of peaceful development and the mutually beneficial strategy of opening up,” the report said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Communist Chinese Dictator to Push Globalism at World Economic Forum
A mass-murdering communist dictator, some billionaire crony capitalists, mega-bankers, and a gaggle of out-of-touch globalist politicians walk into a summit. Unfortunately, there is no punch line, and it is not a joke — it is actually an accurate description of the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, the controversial annual gathering of globalists and establishment types.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lessons in Respect at China’s Confucius Kindergartens
Children in scholars hats bow before a statue of Confucius, the Chinese sage once reviled by Communist authorities but now enjoying a revival as parents look to instil his values in their offspring.
With central government backing, hundreds of private schools dedicated to Confucian teachings have sprung up across the country in response to growing demand for more traditional education.
At a new institution in the central city of Wuhan, about 30 students aged two to six chant: “Our respect to you, Master Confucius. Thank you for the kindness of your teaching and your compassion”.
Five-year-old Zhu Baichang admits he does not understand all the maxims he enthusiastically recites, but says: “It’s very interesting.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Council of Europe Worried About Slovenia’s Asylum Rules
Slovenian government plans to toughen asylum rules have caused concern at the Council of Europe, its Secretary-General, Thorbjørn Jagland, said Wednesday.
In a letter to Slovenia’s Prime Minister Miro Cerar, Jagland wrote that although it is “understandable” that countries which have seen influx of refugees and asylum seekers “amend their approaches,” it’s “vital” that national reforms “uphold important human rights guarantees.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: This is Why Hardly Any North African People Were Deported in 2016
A look into why it is so hard for Germany to deport rejected asylum seekers from North Africa.
This is because there are various barriers in the way of enforcing deportation orders, the Interior Ministry explains.
Of the more than half a million rejected asylum applicants, 52,000 were issued orders to leave the country. Most who are denied asylum receive temporary status as “tolerated”, due for example to health reasons. In other cases the country of origin will not accept the person, or the rejected applicant was missing identification documents — this is the most common reason, according to the government.
The main suspect in the Berlin truck attack, for example, could not be deported as he should have been because Tunisia did not issue the necessary paperwork until after the attack.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Afghan Migrant Caught ‘Masturbating in Front of Girl in Swimming Pool’
AN AFGHAN migrant who was caught masturbating in front of a girl at a German swimming pool has been arrested by police.
Police in Düsseldorf arrested the 27-year-old man, who has not been named, after he started pleasuring himself in front of a young girl in the Düsselstrand swimming pool.
The girl, who police described as being “under 14”, had dived into the pool when she noticed the man pulling down his trunks and masturbating.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel’s Migrant Clampdown Promise on Course to Fail as Half a Million Await Deportation
Mrs Merkel pledged to commit to deporting rejected asylum seekers following the Berlin Christmas market attack by Tunisian Anis Amri which killed 12 people last month.
The under-fire Chancellor announced there would be a “national effort” to facilitate the deportations of more than 500,000 who have had their asylum claims rejected.
However, it can be revealed that just 52,000 people were told to leave and of that just a fraction have actually left the country due to red tape.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Ends Visa-Free Path for Cubans Who Make it to US Soil
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama announced Thursday he is ending a longstanding immigration policy that allows any Cuban who makes it to U.S. soil to stay and become a legal resident.
The repeal of the “wet foot, dry foot” policy is effective immediately. The decision follows months of negotiations focused in part on getting Cuba to agree to take back people who had arrived in the U.S.
“Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities,” Obama said in a statement. “By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. The Cuban government has agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered removed, just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea.”…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Revealed: The Secret Route Migrants Are Using to Enter Europe
A SECRET route being used by Vietnamese migrants to enter Europe has been discovered by border guards.
The route passes through Lithuania — far to the north of the well-trodden migrant paths across the Mediterranean and through the Balkans.
Border guards said criminal organisations are smuggling people from Belarus, which is not in the European Union, into Lithuania, which is a member.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Home Secretary Amber Rudd Speech on Foreign Workers Treated as ‘Hate Incident’ By Police
Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s speech to the Conservative Party conference on foreign workers was treated as a “hate incident” by police.
In her speech in October 2016 the Tory minister proposed tougher rules on foreign workers to stop immigrants coming to the UK “taking jobs British people could do”.
Her comments were reported to West Midlands Police by Joshua Silver, a physics professor at the University of Oxford.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Army to Take Part in ‘Sex Seminar’
Members of the German army are set to take part in a “sex seminar” later this month, to discuss sexual orientation and identity.
The Defence Ministry announced plans this week to hold the seminar, which is called “Sex orientation and identity in the army”, and is scheduled for January 31st.
The event will begin with a keynote speech from Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen herself, followed by a workshop and a podium discussion with high-ranking representatives from politics, economics, and lobby groups.
“The Bundeswehr [German army] is reflective of society and just as diverse as Germany itself,” the Defence Minstry wrote in a statement.
“The sexual orientations of the population are also represented among troops. Whether homo-, bi- or transsexual, the capabilities of all members of the Bundeswehr are needed and should be systematically used.”
Army Chief of Staff Volker Wieker is expected to attend, as are the military bishops and the head of the Federal Anti-discrimination agency.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
It’s Up to Us, The John Does of America
The history of population reduction, of the falsely alleged “genetically inferior,” via eugenics goes back farther than most Americans are aware, and it involves many of our past leaders. So, let’s do a short refresher course of Planned Parenthood and the elitists who promoted and funded eugenics.
Margaret Sanger (1922), was the first president and founder of Planned Parenthood. The origins of Planned Parenthood date to October 16, 1916, when Sanger, her sister Ethel Byrne, and Russian immigrant, Fania Mindell opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S. in the Brownsville section of the New York borough of Brooklyn.
At a March 1925, international birth control gathering in New York City, a speaker warned of the menace posed by the “black” and “yellow” peril. The man was not a Nazi or Klansman; he was Dr. S. Adolphus Knopf, a member of Margaret Sanger’s American Birth Control League (ABCL), which along with other groups eventually became known as Planned Parenthood.
Sanger spoke of sterilizing those she designated as “unfit,” a plan she said would be the “salvation of American civilization.”…
In a 2009 New York Times Magazine interview, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told Emily Bazelon that, “…I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.” The “Populations” Ginsburg and the rest of the Political Elite referred to is clearly defined in the documentary film Maafa21.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Now That Assisted Suicide is Legal in Canada
Without a clear strategy that has suicide prevention (whether assisted or not) as its goal, Canada will undoubtedly follow the path of other jurisdictions where both assisted and unassisted suicides are on the rise.
Parliament felt last summer that it had to follow the Supreme Court’s 2015 Carter vs. Canada decision by allowing Canadians access to assisted suicide. Although this feeling was incorrect, Parliament at least attempted to limit the applicability of the law by restricting it to the terminally ill and those approaching the end of their lives.
This restriction is, however, artificial and was immediately challenged by so-called “Dying with Dignity” on behalf of a woman who is not terminally ill but still wants access to assisted dying. The organization’s website states that many prominent legal scholars have called Bill C-14 unconstitutional and warned that it would be very vulnerable if challenged in court. The law discriminates against Canadians who do not fall within its scope but still wish to be assisted in committing suicide. As has happened in other jurisdictions, our Supreme Court will therefore doubtlessly find in the coming years that Parliament’s restrictions cannot be maintained.
Additional parliamentary action is therefore required to affirm the government’s support for all Canadian citizens, whether mentally ill, physically handicapped or terminally ill. We must not allow for a utilitarian view of human life to gain any foothold in our society, one that judges the viability of a life by the degree of autonomy a person has. Can and should our society uphold a double standard, where some people are judged worthy to receive counseling and treatment to prevent suicide and where the elderly and sick are instead abandoned, assisted in committing suicide without even trying to understand the reasons, address their needs and show them we appreciate their existence?…
We must not ignore the strong link between mental disorders and the expressed wishes for assisted suicide. Researchers have concluded that suicidal thoughts appear linked exclusively to mental disorder.2 Chochinov and Breitbart found a statistically significant association between clinical depression and the desire for hastened death.3,4
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
I submit that unplanned parenthood is hardly a prescription for the perpetuated existence of the human species.
I desire a future where the living don’t envy the dead.
And I submit that over population is not a European or Anglosphere problem. So why does Planned Parenthood have a reputation for killing off both populations future?
“In other news, a passage from the Koran that denies Jesus is the son of God was sung in Arabic in front of the congregation at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow.”
Let me hang a bit of explanation on this one for those unfamiliar with the the workings of Roman Catholicism and, therefore, some of what’s been imported into similar or allied sects:
The church _formally_ teaches (in religious education and in schools) that a Christian is supposed to do certain things in the area of inter-personal relationships (i.e., the social realm). These are “officially” laid out as “spiritual and corporeal works of mercy.”
The corporal works of mercy are easy to understand. It’s stuff like feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and bury the dead. And, from a personal viewpoint, they make a great deal of practical sense. If someone gets hungry enough he/she may take what you have at your expense; leave the dead unburied and disease spreads.
The spiritual works of mercy are vague. It’s stuff like instruct the ignorant. So, in regard to what? And, for that matter who, when and most important why?
Re “Alberta families hit with carbon tax after cremating their dead”, a kafkaesque situation brought on by the unthinking, windmill building, solar power advocating, moslem-hugging embarrassment of a Prime Minister, voted in by most Canadian city dwellers.
On constitutional law versus common law: It was from English common law that our basic rights within criminal codes (right to a trial, presumption of innocence, the concept of actus reus and mens rea, etc.) were formed and came about over hundreds of years and were generally based on the law of the land at the time and when circumstances presented, were added to/altered by judges in setting precedence.
The United States Constitution embodies much of those laws while breaking from the tradition of English common law practise because it enshrines into statute what is generally accepted as being unwritten, but is accepted practise within common law.
There is an article at ‘Quadrant online’ which explains what common law is and how common law can be used by activist judges. It is a well detailed and long article but gets to bones of the problem when relying on ‘living law’ as compared to having law made into statute and in plain english.