Czech President Miloš Zeman launched his re-election campaign by poking fun at the media with a bit of deadpan humor. Mr. Zeman told the press that he was an agent for Putin, Trump, China, and Israel. There’s no word as yet whether any reporters got the joke.
In other news, German police are searching for the contacts of a of an Islamic State operative who was arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack on a mall in Essen.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, Reader from Chicago, Upananda Brahmachari, 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.
Iceland Exits Capital Controls Eight Years After Banking Crash
Iceland is back.
The government at a hastily called press conference on Sunday in Reykjavik announced that effective Tuesday it will lift almost all of the remaining capital controls, allowing its citizens, corporations and pension funds full access to the global capital markets.
The move ends an eight-year struggle to clean up after the 2008 banking collapse, which triggered the worst recession in more than six decades and enveloped the north Atlantic island of 340,000 people in political turmoil.
The controls are being lifted as Iceland is booming, helped by a record surge in tourism. The economy is even at risk of overheating with money flowing back into the economy as the controls have been eased in steps.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Enter Berlusconi: A Man, A Ban, And His Plan to Restore the Lira
Markets wincing at every twist in Marine Le Pen’s electoral fortunes have helped revive political risk in the heart of the euro zone.
Yet they may be overlooking a subtler threat to bondholders, in the form of billionaire Silvio Berlusconi’s comeback plan.
If he succeeds, that puts a Le Pen-esque plan on the agenda in another one of the euro area’s biggest economies. A key difference with France, as Bloomberg Intelligence analysts wrote last week, is that in Italy there is broad public antipathy toward the single currency.
That’s why economists including Deutsche Bank AG’s Marco Stringa are calling Italy, not France or Greece, the “main risk” to euro-area stability. The country’s 10-year bonds have sold off faster than those of any developed-world peer so far in 2017.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bringing Chaos to America: Obama “Running a Shadow Government” From Washington DC
There is a great deal of concern in some circles about the stealth maneuvers of state that may be in the works.
Unlike other former presidents, who’ve sailed into the sunset, become mostly a fixture for autographs and nostalgia, and who’ve by and large stayed out of politics, former President Obama has set up shop in Washington, D.C. and he plans to stay in the game.
He is not only inside the beltway, but just a few blocks from the White House. His top advisor and perhaps his closest confidante, Valeria Jarrett, has moved in with him.
At this time, it’s not exactly clear what they have in store for America, but Obama 2.0 is taking shape, and many are already calling it a “shadow government.” …
If there is a shadow government in the works, and there are apparently several competing shadow networks, then Obama’s is certainly tied to the purse strings and upstart flavor of George Soros, surely the foremost patron of instigation during the Obama Administration.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Can Merkel Bring Trump to Reason?
Angela Merkel is planning a dual strategy for her first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump on Tuesday. She wants to foster close personal relations with the new U.S. president, but she also wants to make clear the Berlin is armed for a trade war against Washington.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
CIA “Weapons” Let Hackers Use Your Computer, Phone, & TV to Spy on You
With the WikiLeaks disclosures Tuesday about the hacking capabilities of the CIA, it is now known that the agency can hack at least on par with the NSA and with even less accountability. One element of that is the ability to remotely access devices — such as computers, mobile devices, and televisions — – — – to watch and listen to targets. Of course, since the CIA has lost control over its hacking tools, others now have that same ability.
As The New American reported Wednesday:
On Tuesday, WikiLeaks released the first part of a “new series of leaks on the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency” that shows the CIA has been secretly building an arsenal of hacking tools and an army of hackers to rival — if not exceed — the hacking capabilities of the NSA. The leaked documents also show that the CIA — in a move reminiscent of the Keystone Kops — “lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal,” allowing it to fall into the hands of hackers who have even less moral constraint than the CIA (if that were possible).
The arsenal of cyber “weapons” developed by the CIA includes malware, viruses, trojans, malware remote-control systems, and weaponized “zero day” exploits. “Zero day” exploits refer to those vulnerabilities that hackers discover but are not known to the manufacturer of the hardware or software — therefore the developer has “zero days” to patch the vulnerabilities before they are used as exploits. By exploiting these vulnerabilities, hackers at the CIA developed ways to penetrate the systems running the vulnerable software and firmware to gain control over mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets, SmartTVs, and computers running Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and other operating systems.
Once the hackers have control of those devices, they can remotely activate the cameras and microphones, turning the devices into surveillance apparatus owned and operated by the subjects (read: victims) of the surveillance — all without any indication to the owners of the devices that they were being watched and listened to. No light. No indicators. Pure, surreptitious surveillance.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Colonizing Mars Might Require Humans to Radically Alter Their Bodies and Minds
In 2016, two astronauts finished nearly a year of work on the International Space Station. NASA’s Scott Kelly and Russia’s Mikhail Kornienko were studied closely for changes in their physical and psychological health.
NASA touts the mission as part of its “Journey to Mars”, in which it hopes to send humans to the Red Planet by the 2030s. But a recent paper published in the journal Space Policy argues that there are so many aspects to a Martian colony that it is all but impossible to simulate the parameters on Earth.
“We can not simulate the same physical and environmental conditions to reconstruct the Martian environment, I mean such traits like Martian microgravitation or radiation exposure,” Konrad Szocik, a cognitive scientist at the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszow, Poland and lead author of the paper, said in an e-mail. “Consequently, we cannot predict physical and biological effects of humans living on Mars.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cotton, Schiff Doubt Justice Will Meet Monday Deadline About Evidence on Trump’s Wiretap Claim
A key Democrat and Republican on congressional Intelligence committees doubted Sunday that the Justice Department would meet a bipartisan request to provide evidence by Monday on whether former President Obama ordered a wiretap on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
“I don’t expect to see any evidence,” California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told ABC’s “This Week.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Good News From CIA Leak: Encryption Works!
The media have spun the recent story about CIA-developed hacking tools by claiming either that there’s nothing to worry about, or that the problem is so severe that it is no longer possible to protect our privacy through encryption. In reality, privacy is under attack, but encryption still works.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lawyer: Accused ISIS Supporter Now Denounces Group
More than 400 days of jail have served as a wake-up call for accused ISIS supporter Khalil Abu Rayyan and caused the 22-year-old to undergo a metamorphosis that includes denouncing the terrorist group.
Those claims are from defense attorney Todd Shanker, who is asking a federal court judge in Detroit on Monday to sentence Rayyan to 15 months in prison on weapons charges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
His claim that Geller, Gaffney, Pipes and I are actually responsible for any suspicion Americans have of Islam or Muslims is also self-contradictory: on the one hand I am a “moron” and Gaffney is a “wackjob,” and all of us are “fringe figures,” yet somehow we have managed to amass enough nefarious power to make “Islamophobia” enough of a serious concern that he has to run around the country giving talks about it.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Team Trump, GOP Downplay Looming CBO Report, Question Group’s Competence, Earlier Findings
Trump administration officials and other key Washington Republicans on Sunday downplayed the impact of the upcoming Congressional Budget Office report on the GOP’s ObamaCare replacement plan, suggesting the nonpartisan group has miscalculated before on such complex legislation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Seattle Temple Holocaust Denial Graffiti Vandalism Matters
by Jerry Gordon
Early Friday morning, March 10, 2017 Holocaust graffiti was discovered by an off-duty Seattle police officer on the façade of a major Reform Jewish Temple in the Capitol Hill District of Seattle, Temple De Hirsch Sinai. According to a Buzz Feed report, the graffiti read: “Holocaust is fake history!” A dollar sign appeared to be used in place of the letter S in the graffiti.” The Seattle Police Department (SPD) undertook an immediate bias crimes investigation and established patrols for both the historic sanctuary on Capitol Hill as well as a companion one in Bellevue, Washington. Later that morning, a thoughtful neighbor in the Capitol Hill district of Seattle hung a sign over the anti-Semitic graffiti with a comforting statement expressing community support for the temple, “Love wins.”Because of the heightened security, a suspicious box left at the door of the temple Friday afternoon was investigated by the SPD and found to contain a donation of old books…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Left Wants a Non-White America
In 2015, Dr. Teixeira helped put together a useful and graphics-filled guide to the increasing power of non-white voters, broken down by state, over the course of the next few decades.
Why is the left’s most important think tank tracking this?
Dr. Teixeira himself furnishes the answer. In 2002 he coauthored a book called The Emerging Democratic Majority, which argued that the Democratic Party would soon be winning election after election largely because of the increasing non-white vote. When President Obama won reelection in 2012 despite Mitt Romney winning as much of the white vote as Ronald Reagan had in 1980, Dr. Teixeira explained to the Washington Post that he had seen it coming: “It’s always nice when your assessments seem to be pretty close to the mark. This has been going on for a while, and has been confirmed in the 2010 Census.”
In 2016, after Donald Trump won, Dr. Teixeira wrote a short essay for Vox called, “Trump’s coalition won the demographic battle. It’ll still lose the war.” The title says it all.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Brampton, Ontario Mayor: Criticism of Muslim Prayers in Public Schools “Hate Speech”
Brampton, Ontario Mayor Linda Jeffrey is dismissing critics who object to Muslim students having Friday prayer sessions in public schools as purveyors of “misinformation and hateful speech.” Jeffrey was responding to critics in a letter she released Thursday as Toronto-area parents in the Peel District School Board are preparing a full-scale protest on Saturday to demand that public schools not promote one religion over another.
The parents have organized a “Canada First” movement and plan a “Walk to Oppose Religion in Schools” this weekend at Celebration Square near Square One in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto. They are also opposed to the motion introduced by local Liberal Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid that would ban “Islamophobia” and potentially make their protest subject to hate crimes legislation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Although these motions against “Islamophobia” are not legally binding, extremists have already started demanding them as laws.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
“My Julian”: Pamela Anderson Defends Assange in Strange Poem
In terms of unlikely pairings it’s quite difficult to go past Pamela Anderson — former Baywatch star, animal rights activist and unofficial ambassador for Russia — and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
The pair have been rumoured to be dating ever since Pammy started popping around with vegan treats to the Ecuadorian embassy where Assange has been holed up for almost five years claiming diplomatic asylum following sexual assault and rape allegations in Sweden.
Now Anderson has written a blog post/poem to defend her relationship with Assange/add fuel to the fire/gossip column inches, and it is … muddled.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Britain: February 2017
by Soeren Kern
Muslim pupils outnumber Christian children in more than 30 church schools, including one Church of England primary school that has a “100% Muslim population.” — Sunday Times.
Six Muslim men shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they were sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court for a total of 81 years for sexually abusing two girls — including one who became pregnant at age 12 — in Rotherham.
A Chatham House survey of more than 10,000 people from ten European countries found that an average of 55% agreed that all further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Article by “Finnish Woman” Published in is Terror Propaganda Magazine
The writing of a female member of the terror group Islamic State — who is reportedly from Finland — has appeared in the online terrorist propaganda publication Rumiyah. The woman, credited as Umm Musa al-Finlandiyyah, reportedly converted to Islam and became radicalised a couple of years ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bob Geldof Booted Off Stage After Brexit Rant
Multimillionaire Sir Bob slammed his stunned guests over Brexit, causing some to storm out midway through his ‘cringeworthy’ performance, at the Intrinsic Financial Services conference in Heathrow.
Bob Geldof was booted off stage at a corporate gig by Gabby Logan after ranting about Brexit.
The multimillionaire told his City worker audience that the ‘public hated’ them and did not trust them, forcing an embarrassed Logan to cut him off.
She told the former Boomtown Rat: ‘Thankyou Bob. I think we’ll end it there.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Carlos the Jackal Faces Trial Again in France
Carlos the Jackal, the perpetrator of headline-grabbing attacks in the 1970s and early 1980s, goes on trial in France on Monday for the deadly bombing of a Paris shop more than 40 years ago.
With attention in France now focused on the ever-present threat of jihadist attack, the trial in Paris will reach back to a time when Europe was repeatedly targeted by ruthless groups sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
Carlos, 67, a Venezuelan whose real name is Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez, describes himself as a “professional revolutionary” and was dubbed “Carlos the Jackal” by the press when he was one of the world’s most wanted terror suspects.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Czech President Pokes Fun at Media, Declaring Himself ‘Agent of Putin, Trump, China and Israel’
The Czech Republic’s conservative Euroskeptic president has declared that he is an agent of his Russian counterpart, as well as other leaders and nations, during a press conference where he announced his intention to run for a second term.
Speaking in Prague during a televised event on Friday, Milos Zeman launched his 2018 re-election campaign, vowing not to change his often-criticized conservative platform, which includes prioritizing Czech interests over pan-European ones.
Zeman is often at odds with the government of Social Democrat Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, which supports Brussels on issues like anti-Russian sanctions and immigration.
Though the president has limited authority in the Czech Republic, Zeman, 72, who won the office in 2013, remains one of the country’s most popular figures, especially in rural areas.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Apology Not Enough, Actions Will Have Consequences: Turkish FM
An apology from the Netherlands regarding its refusal to permit a Turkish minister to enter Ankara’s Rotterdam consulate will not be enough to normalize relations, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu said March 12, adding that the country’s actions would have consequences.
The minister said Ankara demanded a written apology from the Netherlands, even while adding that an apology would not be sufficient and that Turkey would take further action.
He also reiterated that the Dutch ambassador to Turkey, Cornelis van Rij, could not re-enter Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Exploring Titan With Balloons and Landers
Building upon the success of the ESA’s Cassini-Huygen mission, this plan would involve a balloon that would explore Titan’s surface from low altitude, along with a Mars Pathfinder-style mission that would explore the surface.
Ultimately, the goal a mission to Titan would be to explore the rich organic chemical environment the moon has, which presents a unique opportunity for planetary researchers. For some time, scientists have understood that Titan’s surface and atmosphere have an abundance of organic compounds and all the prebiotic chemistry necessary for life to function.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: in Bordeaux, Muslims Fight Against Radical Islam
Bordeaux city hall and the region’s Muslim federation have joined forces and launched a program as part of a raft of measures to counter radical Islam in France. Elizabeth Bryant reports from Bordeaux.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: in Pictures: A Sneak Peek at the Eiffel Tower’s Bulletproof Glass Enclosure
FRANCE 24 takes a sneak peek at plans for the future bulletproof glass enclosure to be built around the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, as part of a security upgrade in response to the ongoing threat of terrorism in the country.
The nearly 3-metre-tall enclosure was announced by Paris officials last month, and will replace the landmark’s current security perimeter — made up of safety barricades — which was first put in place in 2012.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Le Pen Pulling in Support Among Young Voters
Marine Le Pen is supported by a quarter of young voters in France, a poll has revealed, matching support within the age group for her liberal rival Emmanuel Macron.
The 18 to 24-year-old age bracket is usually notably liberal and broadly opposed to all expressions of nationalism, including Brexit and the election of U.S. President Donald J. Trump.
Yet in France, some 24 per cent of this group told pollsters they intended to vote for the populist candidate and her Front National party in the first round of the presidential vote on the 24th of August.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Geert Wilders’ Security Detail Has Robbed Him of His Freedom
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — With his flamboyant shock of blonde-dyed hair and fiery anti-Islam rhetoric, Dutch politician Geert Wilders comes across a man who doesn’t mind the limelight.
Yet for the past dozen years, the right-wing populist has spent much of his time holed up in anonymous safe houses or in a heavily guarded wing of Parliament.
Tight security surrounds Wilders night and day, and he hardly ventures outdoors. For his handful of campaign events ahead of a March 15 election, he traveled in convoys of armored cars.
“It’s a total lack of freedom. That’s how I would say it,” Wilders, who leads the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
The elaborate protection apparatus that surrounds him is a reaction to death threats from extremists enraged by his fierce criticism of Islam.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
German Police Detain Suspect Over Night Club Attack Threat in Offenburg
Following a possible attack threat in the southern Germany city of Offenburg, police have taken a suspect into custody. The major police operation comes on the heels of a terror threat on a shopping mall in Essen.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Minister Says Threatened Attack on Mall Linked to ISIS
A threatened attack against a mall in the western city of Essen is linked to the Islamic State extremist group, Germany’s interior minister said Sunday.
Thomas de Maiziere told public broadcaster ARD that Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, had received “tips of an attack and passed them on” to local security authorities in Essen.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Hunts Possible Contacts of Mall Attack Plotter
German police were searching Sunday for possible contacts of an Isis fighter believed to be behind a terror plot against a major shopping mall.
Authorities had ordered the Limbecker Platz mall in the central city of Essen shut on Saturday over “concrete information regarding a possible attack”.
Although there was no announcement of arms or explosives being found, Essen police said two men had been detained for questioning in the nearby town of Oberhausen.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Prudent Merkel Meets Unpredictable Trump Amid Tense Ties
Europe’s most powerful leader, Angela Merkel, meets for the first time on Tuesday America’s flamboyant President Donald Trump, whose arrival in the White House has sent shockwaves across the Atlantic.
While former US president Barack Obama had labelled Merkel his “closest international partner”, there has been little known contact between the German leader and Trump since he took office.
Trump’s criticism of Germany over issues ranging from its record trade surplus to Merkel’s liberal refugee stance, as well as his backing for Britain to leave the European Union, have not gone unnoticed in Berlin.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State German Magazine Tells Fighters to Kill ‘Apostate’ Imams
The German-language Islamic state magazine Rumiyah has called on supporters and Islamic State fighters in Germany and Austria to murder moderate Imams who they consider “apostates.”
The magazine was released in several languages earlier this week through the various internet channels Islamic State uses to broadcast propaganda to its sympathisers, MEMRI reports. One of the methods used was a “telegram” app, an encrypted messaging service that ISIS often uses and is generally the first place the group takes credit for terror attacks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Tiziano Renzi Steps Down as Rignano PD Chief
‘Suspended self’ on Monday
(ANSA) — Florence, March 10 — Tiziano Renzi, the father of ex-premier Matteo Renzi, has “suspended himself” from the post of secretary of the Democratic Party (PD) in Rignano near Florence, the Corriere Fiorentino newspaper said. Renzi senior sent a WhatsApp message to Florentine area secretaries saying “I embrace you all. Enjoy your work, long live the PD”. Tiziano Renzi, under investigation for suspected influence peddling in a probe into suspected graft at civil-service procurement agency CONSIP, said he had stepped down on Monday. On that day a Rignano PD executive meeting was postponed indefinitely. The CONSIP probe has embarrassed former PD chief Matteo Renzi, also because of the alleged involvement of his right-hand man, Sports Minister Luca Lotti, who is suspected of revealing judicial secrets in tipping off CONSIP head Luigi Marroni that there was an ongoing investigation into the agency.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Radicals Occupy Naples Hall Where Salvini Set to Speak Sat
‘Rich kids who like street fighting’ says League leader
(ANSA) — Naples, March 10 — Dozens of protesters from the anti-racism network and radical and anticapitalist squats on Friday occupied a Naples conference hall where anti-immigrant and anti-euro Northern League leader Matteo Salvini is due to speak tomorrow.
The demonstrators shouted slogans and raised placards against Salvini, who said “I’m used to it, there are rich kids around who like to fight in the streets”.
The protesters were still in the conference centre late Friday and they said they would continue to occupy the hall until Salvini cancelled his rally.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Lombardy to Set Autonomy Vote Date With Veneto- Maroni
Central govt ‘won’t allow’ at same time as local elections
(ANSA) — Milan, March 8 — Lombardy Governor Roberto Maroni said Wednesday that his administration is set to agree on the date for a referendum on the autonomy of the region at the same time as Veneto. He said the vote date would be agreed on with Veneto Governor Luca Zaia as central government was not willing for it to be held together with upcoming local elections.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Introduces Flax Tax for Rich Foreigners
Fixed tax of 100,000 euros a year
(ANSA) — Rome, March 8 — The Italian inland revenue service, L’Agenzia delle Entrate, on Wednesday applied a new flat tax aimed at attracting wealthy foreigners to Italy. As of today, people who have resided abroad for a number of years and opt to move to Italy can activate a flat tax of 100,000 euros a year.
The agency published details of the measure with a check list on Wednesday.
It could be taken up by thousands of people, according to estimates, and seeks to offer competition to countries such as Britain (which is gearing up for Brexit) and Spain, which have used tax incentives to attract wealthy people.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Sole 24 Ore Offices Raided, 10 Probed
Benedini, Treu, Napoletano among those under investigation
(ANSA) — Milan, March 10 — Tax police on Friday raided offices of business daily Il Sole 24 Ore group in a probe where 10 people are under investigation for false reporting and misappropriation to the tune of 3 million euros. Among those probed for false reporting are the former chairman of the group, Benito Benedini, former CEO Donatella Treu and the editor-in-chief of the Il Sole 24 Ore daily, Roberto Napoletano, judicial sources said.
The probe is focused on the suspected fictitious registration of tens of thousands of digital subscriptions, police said.
Il Sole said in a statement it had complete faith in the judiciary, which it was sure would get to the bottom of things, and was weighing actions to safeguard shareholders.
Napoletano, the editor-in-chief, voiced “full, total and absolute confidence in the investigating magistrature” and said “I am certain I will be able to demonstrate in all fora the full correctness of my conduct which I have shown all my life”.
Il Sole 24 Ore is Italy’s leading financial daily. The group also controls a business radio station.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Privacy Watchdog Fines 5 China Money-Transfer Firms
To the tune of 11 mn euros
(ANSA) — Rome, March 10 — Italy’s privacy watchdog on Friday fined five money transfer companies a total of 11 million euros for illicitly using the personal data of more than 1,000 people without their knowledge. Tax police established that a multinational, with another four companies, collected and sent to China sums of money traced back to Chinese businesspeople.
Police said the firms not only broke money laundering norms but also privacy norms — hence the intervention of the watchdog. The companies have 30 days to pay the fines.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Anti-Far Right Clashes in Naples Trigger Political Storm
Fierce clashes between police and masked protestors in Naples triggered a row over whether the Italian city’s leftist mayor had encouraged activists bent on preventing a rightwing rival from speaking there.
A debate that exposes several faultlines in national politics followed running battles on Saturday involving a small group that broke away from a protest by several hundred people marching against Northern League leader Matteo Salvini.
They began hurling stones, flares, smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at riot police, who replied with baton-and-shield charges and tear gas.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Naples Riots: Furious Clashes Erupt as Police Fire Tear Gas at Hard-Left Protesters
POLICE clashed with rioters in Naples this afternoon during a furious protest against the visit of far-right politician Matteo Salvini.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Deports Tunisian With Links to Berlin Market Attacker Anis Amri
The expelled man’s phone number was allegedly found in the contact list of Amri, who killed 12 people in December. Italy says it has deported 153 suspected religious extremists since 2015.
The document added that the man was in contact with Anis Amri, the Tunisian terrorist who drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin in 2016, killing 12 people and injuring 56 others.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Luther is Famous, But We Know Little About Him
Don’t you know Martin Luther? Why not? Admittedly, the man last made headlines 500 years ago. What’s more, there is very little information about him and his life, and it usually consists of half-truths and legends.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Neanderthals Munched on ‘Aspirin’ And Woolly Rhinos
The Neanderthal at Spy Cave dined heavily on meat, including the woolly rhinoceros and wild sheep — an unsurprising discovery, given that the bones of woolly rhinoceroses, reindeer, mammoths and horses were found within Spy Cave, and wild sheep lived throughout Europe during that time period, the researchers said. This Neanderthal also ate edible gray shag mushrooms, the analysis showed.
In contrast, the Neanderthals from the cave in El Sidrón were largely vegetarian.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands Bans Turkish Ministers as Dispute Escalates
Turkey’s president stood firm behind his blistering comments that accused the Dutch government of “Nazism and fascism” and vowed on Sunday the Netherlands would “pay the price” for barring Turkish ministers from the country, a move that has dramatically swelled tensions between the NATO allies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New Belgium Legislation Threatens Foreigners With Deportations
A new Belgian law has granted extraordinary powers to the government regarding deportation of expatriates on mere suspicion of their involvement in terror activities without a criminal conviction.
The law, which was quietly passed by the parliament, also allows Brussels to deport foreigners who are legal residents of Belgium for ‘presenting a risk to public order or national security’ without the involvement of a court.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Must Limit Faith in EU, Polish FM Says
The Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski’s comments follow an EU summit in Brussels during which former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was elected to a second term as the European Commission’s president.
Of the EU’s 28 countries, only Poland did not vote in favour of Tusk on Thursday.
[Comment: I would go further: place no faith in the EU.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Realizes It’s Been Financially Supporting Hundreds of Terrorists for Years
Close to every person who left Sweden to fight for terror groups in the Middle East received welfare to support themselves abroad, according to a new government report.
A study of 300 Swedish citizens who fought in Syria and Iraq between 2013 and 2016 shows jihadis are getting increasingly good at getting away with welfare fraud. The individuals often use a person in Sweden to handle paperwork and create the illusion that they’re still in the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s Erdogan Says Netherlands Acting Like a ‘Banana Republic’
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday the Netherlands was acting like a “banana republic” and should face sanctions for barring Turkish ministers from speaking in Rotterdam, fuelling a row over Ankara’s political campaigning abroad.
Erdogan is looking to the large number of Turks living in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, to help secure victory next month in a referendum that would give the presidency sweeping new powers.
In a speech in France, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the Netherlands as the “capital of fascism” as it joined other European countries in stopping Turkish politicians holding rallies, due to fears that tensions in Turkey might spill over into their expatriate communities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Rallies Row: Germany and Netherlands Harden Stance
Several EU leaders have criticised Turkey, amid a growing row over the Turkish government’s attempts to hold rallies in European countries.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Germany and the Netherlands of “Nazism” after officials blocked rallies there.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Danish prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has postponed the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim following rising tensions between Ankara, The Hague and Berlin
The government of Turkey’s president Recip Tayyip Erdogan could face a total ban from EU states as Denmark joined the Netherlands and Germany in turning away his ministers.
Danish prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has stepped into the escalating row by announcing his government had postponed the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim.
It comes after Erdogan warned the Netherlands it will “pay” after his country’s minister’s were barred from speaking in Rotterdam.
EU leaders are joining in opposition to hosting Ankara’s political campaigning among Turkish immigrants and there are calls in some quarters for the Union to take a united stand against Erdogan.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will do everything possible to prevent Turkish political tensions spilling onto German soil following rising tensions between Ankara, The Hague, Berlin and other European capitals.
Meanwhile, four rallies in Austria and one in Switzerland have been cancelled due to the growing dispute.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: 5,500 Cases of FGM in 2016 Alone, Not a Single Prosecution
by Robert Spencer
Why no prosecutions? Probably because they would be seen as “Islamophobic.” FGM is widely reputed to be a “cultural” practice, but actually it is sanctioned by Islamic law: “Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr ‘clitoris’ [this is called khufaadh ‘female circumcision’]).” — ‘Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Do So Many French Youngsters Support Marine Le Pen?
It may also be that the free market ideology that is dominant in Britain also promotes a more globalist mindset, which mixed with progressivism is sometimes called ‘neoliberalism’. But things are very different just 22 miles away, where young French voters are enthusiastic about the Front National, something that would be inconceivable over here.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Georges Lemaître Should be as Famous as Einstein
In 1927, Lemaître proposed that the Universe is expanding, deriving the notion mathematically from Einstein’s theory of relativity. When Einstein and Lemaître met that same year, Einstein told him “Your calculations are correct, but your physics is atrocious.” Einstein did not question the math, but he could not accept the finding. When Edwin Hubble discovered astronomical evidence of expansion two years later, Lemaître’s theory was confirmed. Einstein, along with the rest of the physics community, was convinced.
At the same time, a more existential question was born: If the universe is expanding, does that mean it originated from a specific point in time and space? In 1931, in a now legendary paper published to the journal Nature, Lemaître answered “yes.” The universe began as a “primeval atom,” he argued. Today, this idea is better known as the Big Bang.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Deadly Attack on Security Forces in Southern Tunisia
Four attackers on motorcycle attacked on Sunday a security checkpoint in the southern Tunisian city of Kebili, killing one guard, according to the country’s interior ministry. Two attackers were killed in the ensuing shootout.
Since its 2011 revolution, Tunisia has experienced an increase in jihadist attacks that have cost the lives of dozens of members of the security forces and also 59 foreign tourists.
The country has been under a state of emergency since November 2015, when a suicide bombing in Tunis claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed 12 presidential guards.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s Capital Set to Grow by Half a Million in 2017
Cairo’s population is set to grow by 500,000 this year, more than any other city in the world, adding to the pressure on an Egyptian economy struggling to recover from six years of political turmoil.
Greater Cairo, a metropolitan area including the cities of Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia, is home to some 22.8 million people and will gain another half a million in 2017, a Euromonitor International report released last week shows.
That represents a quarter of Egypt’s 92 million. The national natural population growth of 2.4 percent per year is double the average of other developing countries, said Mohamed Abdelgalil, adviser to official statistics agency CAPMAS.
Stinging poverty in southern Egypt leads many families to have several children in the hope they can become sources of income. Those children eventually migrate to larger cities for job opportunities scarce in their hometowns.
“Egypt’s population is expected to reach 160-180 million in 40 years. Where will all these people go?” said Abbas.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco Upholds Jail Term for Frenchman Who Signed Arabic Terror Confession
A Moroccan appeals court on Wednesday upheld a guilty verdict for a Frenchman arrested in anti-terrorism raids last year. Thomas Gallay had claimed he signed a confession in Arabic that he could neither read nor understand.
The 37-year-old Frenchman was sentenced to four years for giving a total of €70 to two Moroccan members of a terrorist cell.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Military-Grade Tech to Monitor Eggplants Rather Than Explosives
On a rooftop in the Jewish-Arab Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa, a former military technologist and an ex-journalist sit in a transparent bio-dome where their robot is busy learning how to grow food.
Its inventors intend it to become the industry standard for commercial and amateur indoor farmers who want to grow pesticide-free, water-efficient crops via hydroponics — a method of growing plants without soil.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
It was a scene most Israelis will never forget: Jordan’s King Hussein, who just about two years earlier had signed a historic peace deal with Israel, arrived in a peripheral Israeli town to comfort the parents of seven schoolgirls killed by one of his soldiers.
In the years since, Hussein, then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the other leaders who signed the Israeli-Jordanian peace pact have passed on, and the warm, hopeful ties have given way to a cold peace. And Saturday night, Ahmed Daqamseh, the Jordanian soldier responsible for the 1997 killing of the Israeli schoolgirls, was released from jail.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Al Qaeda-Linked Group Claims Deadly Attack in Syrian Capital
An Al Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for twin blasts near holy shrines frequented by Shiites in the Syrian capital Damascus that killed at least 40 people.
The Levant Liberation Committee said in a statement Sunday that the attack was carried by two of its suicide attackers, claiming that they targeted pro-Iranian and pro-government militiamen.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As Trump Makes Threats, Iran Makes Friends
Nigerian carpenter Bashir Muhammad has never been to Iran, but he would fight to the death for the country.
“If Iran wants our help, we are ready to go and help it, even with our blood,” he said. “Donald Trump needs to know that Iran has followers all over the world ready to help defend it against America.”
Touring the narrow unpaved streets of Zaria in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north, Muhammad shows Iran’s success in building enclaves of fervent support way beyond the Middle East and the limits of any harsher foreign policy planned by the U.S. president to contain it. The 30-year-old is among an increasing number of converts to the Shiite brand of Islam that Iran has been exporting since its 1979 revolution.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Assad Says Wrong European Policies Towards Syria Led to Spread of Terrorism
DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — During a meeting with the European Parliament’s (EP) delegation, headed by Javier Couso, the deputy chairman of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee, Assad stressed that wrong policies, including support of extremism and terrorism and economic sanctions, have led to the spread of terrorism and a massive refugee influx to the European countries, according to the SANA news agency.
The Syrian president also noted the scale of disinformation conducted by some Western media outlets during the years of conflict in Syria, the news agency reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Lawmakers Call for Withdrawal of Bundeswehr Troops From Turkey
Cooling relations between Berlin and Ankara have spurred cross-party calls for German troops to leave the Incirlik air base. Incirlik has been the Bundeswehr’s key base in its fight against the so-called “Islamic State.”
The Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister-party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, cited the worsening relations and escalating war-of-words between Berlin and Ankara as reason to pull troops out of Incirlik, a key airbase located by the Syrian border.
The CSU’s spokesman for foreign and security policy, Florian Hahn, told the German “Bild am Sonntag” newspaper that “amid this heated atmosphere, it has become increasingly uncertain that the Turkish government can and will guarantee the protection of our soldiers in Incirlik.” Germany should not allow its troops to become a mere bargaining chip in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power games, he added.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Man Raises Turkish Flag at Dutch Consulate in Istanbul
An unidentified man has raised a Turkish flag at the Dutch consulate in Istanbul on March 12 after lowering the Dutch flag amid a row between the two countries that was touched off by the Netherlands’ refusal to allow a Turkish minister to enter the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.
The Dutch flag was raised again nearly after 30 minutes.
According to Turkish sources, the flag was raised within the Dutch consulate’s initiative and it was impossible to enter the consulate from outside amid tough security measures.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Soccer’s World Cup in Qatar Likely to Have Pakistan Army Guard
Qatar is looking to Pakistan for military support at the 2022 soccer World Cup, hoping to tap the ally’s experience in fighting terrorism.
The Gulf country’s prime minister met Pakistan’s army chief in Qatar Tuesday and expressed interest securing assistance for the 32-team competition, Pakistan’s army said in a statement. The support will include training and even the provision of military personnel for the month-long event.
Pakistan’s proposed role is part of a discussion of wider military cooperation between the Muslim-majority countries. With the World Cup attracting as many as a million fans, and more than a billion watching on television, security is one of the biggest concerns for organizers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Gangster’s Paradise Assad’s Control Erodes as Warlords Gain Upper Hand
Bashar Assad’s power over the areas of Syria under government control is slipping. Armed militias are growing stronger and the country’s president can do nothing to stop them.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s Erdogan Warns Dutch Will Pay Price for Dispute
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the Netherlands it will “pay the price” for harming ties after two of his ministers were barred.
The two ministers were blocked from addressing Turkish expatriates in Rotterdam on Saturday, with one of them escorted to the German border.
The Dutch government said such rallies would stoke tensions days before the Netherlands’ general election.
Turkey’s ties with several EU countries have become strained over the rallies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
They are descendants of Africans brought to the Ottoman Empire as slaves and domestic workers and said to number up to 100,000. Bradley Secker spent time with those identifying as Afro-Turks in western Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Putin is Paying Women to Have More Children… Inside Russia’s Super Families
Surrounded by her brood of 18 children, Nadezhda Osyak winces as she recalls the pain of childbirth: ‘It doesn’t get any easier. It’s called labour for a reason.’ Nadezhda is a youthful brunette in her early 50s whose trim figure belies her astonishing maternal accomplishments.
‘I gave birth to 15 naturally,’ she says, ‘and three by caesarean. Those three were like a holiday.’ She and her husband, Ioann, a priest in Russia’s Orthodox Church, had their first child in 1984, just before Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union, and their 18th in 2009, by which time communism and the USSR were already distant memories.
Their motive for having such a big family? ‘Love,’ says Father Ioann, patting his wife’s hand and gazing moistly at her while she blushes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As a Part of Islamic Taqiyya, PM Nawaz Sharif Greets Hindus in Pakistan on Holi Eve
Holi Taqiyya of Nawaz Sharif to suppress the ongoing persecution upon Hindus in Pakistan.
Prem Dalpat | HENB | Karachi | March 12, 2017:: While Hindus in Pakistan are being persecuted brutally by the Islamists on day alternative and number of Hindus are planning to leave Pakistan for saving their dignity and lives; Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday mocked the minority Hindu community members on the eve of Holi through Islamic Taqiyya by promising the safeguard of their equal rights.
In Islam there is no equal rights between Mumin and Kafir, Muslims and non-Muslims. Knowing it fully well PM Sharif deceived the minority Hindus in Pakistan by saying there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion.
In his message, Sharif said Holi announces the advent of the spring season and change in weather conditions. But, Hindus face always a dark season in Pakistan.
Though he said the festival always gives a message of hope and better future and reflects changes in societies like changes in the season. But, Islam gives only a message of hatred and the future of world is endangered in the celebration of death of Jihad and ISIS like terrorist groups.
Quoting false assurance of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Culpable Constitution of Pakistan, Sharif said there would be no discrimination in Pakistan on the basis of religion. But, taking this shield of Taqiyya in Islam, no minorities in Pakistan are being protected Pakistan.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Indians Are Certain They Invented the Zero. But Can They Prove it?
Now, a small but ambitious team of Indian and international scholars called Project Zero wants to go deeper. In the past year, they have been asking the question: What made the invention of zero possible in India?
Scholars at Project Zero say the key may lie in early Hindu and Buddhist philosophical discourses about the concept of “emptiness” and “void,” which began many centuries before the mathematical zero came about.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India Elections: Decisive Victory for Modi’s BJP in Uttar Pradesh
Narendra Modi’s party has won a landslide victory in one of India’s key states, a boost for the prime minister halfway through his first term.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took control of northern Uttar Pradesh state — India’s most populous — with the biggest majority there since 1980.
Mr Modi personally led the campaign against regional rivals the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj party.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Saudi Arabia, China and Islamic State Are Courting the Maldives
As Riyadh and Beijing nurture grandiose plans for military bases, New Delhi fears the archipelago could become a breeding ground for the terrorist group.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
After $225 Billion in Deals Last Year, China Reins in Overseas Investment
China struck $225 billion in deals to acquire companies abroad last year, a record-breaking number that signaled to the world that Chinese business leaders were hot to haggle. Now, China — with a worried eye on the money leaving its borders — is telling some of its companies to cool it down.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As North Korea’s Arsenal Grows, Experts See Heightened Risk of ‘Miscalculation’
Over the past year, technological advances in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs have dramatically raised the stakes in the years-long standoff between the United States and the reclusive communist regime, according to current and former U.S. officials and Korea experts.
Pyongyang’s growing arsenal has rattled key U.S. allies and spurred efforts by all sides to develop new first-strike capabilities, increasing the risk that a simple mistake could trigger a devastating regional war, the analysts said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Myanmar Violence: 20,000 People Seek Refuge in China
At least 20,000 people from Myanmar have fled across the border to China after violence erupted between ethnic rebels and the security forces.
Thousands entered border camps and are receiving humanitarian assistance, China’s foreign ministry said.
Earlier this week, about 30 people were killed on Myanmar’s border with China after rebels launched a surprise raid.
The violence is a blow to efforts by Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to end decades of conflict.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea Tried to Sell Nuclear Weapons Material to Make Miniaturized Warhead: U.N. Inspectors
The regime of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un tried to sell a specialized material used in the miniaturization process for nuclear warheads, according to U.N. weapons investigators, who are attempting to document the regime’s nuclear weapons program and activities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
South Korea’s Park Leaves Presidential Palace After Impeachment
Ousted South Korean leader Park Geun-hye has now left the presidential palace, two days after judges upheld parliament’s decision to impeach her.
Ms Park arrived at her home in southern Seoul amid waving supporters.
She has been impeached over her role in a corruption scandal involving close friend, Choi Soon-sil.
In her first words since Friday’s ruling, Ms Park said in a statement: “Although it will take time, I believe the truth will certainly come out.”
She also apologised to her supporters for “failing to fulfil my duty as president”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
South Korean Stores Feel China’s Wrath as U.S. Missile System is Deployed
A wave of anti-South Korean sentiment has broken out across China after the South’s embrace of an American missile defense system Washington began shipping this week that China says can be used to spy on its territory.
The government-controlled news media, in brassy editorials, has urged boycotts of South Korean products. Students, retirees and taxi drivers have led protests against South Korean businesses. Tourism officials have ordered several mainland travel agencies to cancel group trips to South Korea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Struggling With Japan’s Nuclear Waste, Six Years After Disaster
Six years after the largest nuclear disaster in a quarter-century, Japanese officials have still not solved a basic problem: what to do with an ever-growing pile of radioactive waste. Each form of waste at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, where three reactors melted down after an earthquake and a tsunami on March 11, 2011, presents its own challenges.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ethiopia Rubbish Landslide Kills 48 in Addis Ababa
At least 48 people have been killed in a landslide at a vast rubbish dump on the outskirts of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, officials say.
They say dozens of people are still missing since the landslide on Saturday night at the Koshe landfill. A resident said 150 people were there at the time.
The area has been a dumping ground for Addis Ababa’s rubbish for more than five decades.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
2 Die in Crush at Massive Argentine Rock Concert
A crush of people at a massive open-air rock concert left two people dead and a dozen more injured, Argentine officials said Sunday. Olavarria Mayor Ezequiel Galli said officials had been expecting 160,000 to 170,000 for the concert by Indio Solari, but far more showed up. Solari is wildly popular in Argentina and gives few concerts.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Journey to Colombia’s Coffee Belt
In the northern reaches of the Andes — where the coffee bean is as
central to life as corn is to small town Iowa — a welcoming spirit prevails.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Haiti: Bus Fleeing Fatal Accident Strikes Crowd, Kills at Least 30
A bus driver, who was allegedly fleeing from the scene of an earlier fatal accident, plowed his vehicle into a group of street musicians in Haiti on Sunday, killing at least 34.
Officials said 17 others were injured at the second crash site in the Haitian city of Gonaives, Sky News reported. Earlier, the bus hit two pedestrians, killing one.
Police at the scene of the second incident had to control an angry crowd, which attempted to light the bus on fire — with people still inside.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuelans Are Trapped by a Chronic Passport Shortage
Of all the shortages that plague Venezuela today — of food and medicine, even money — the lack of passports is in some ways the cruelest. For sheer hardship, it can’t match the kind of suffering inflicted by a scarcity of, say, drinking water or high-blood pressure pills, but it has the surreal effect of making people feel like they’re trapped, like they’re prisoners in their own dysfunctional land.
The government doesn’t publish such statistics, but Tomas Paez, author of “The Voice of the Venezuelan Diaspora,” estimates close to 2 million have left in the past 18 years.
That may not seem to be much when compared to nations like Colombia or Mexico, but Venezuelans, it should be noted, were never migrants on any kind of meaningful scale prior to Chavez’s ascension in 1999.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ACLU Launching People Power to Resist Trump Immigration Policies in ‘Freedom Cities’
The American Civil Liberties Union is launching an ambitious plan to create a swath of “freedom cities” capable of resisting Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
The civil rights organization, which has emerged as one of the Trump administration’s major foes, plans to leverage individual cities’ local authority to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Chancellor Calls for EU Countries Who Refuse to Take Migrants to Have Funding Cut
The Austrian Chancellor has called for European Union (EU) countries who refuse to take in migrants to have their funding cut as punishment — despite his own country being one of three to refuse its migrant quota.
Speaking to Die Welt ahead of a summit of EU leaders taking place this week, Christian Kern said he would push for countries who refuse to play an equitable part in the EU project to lose a portion of their subsidy payments as a consequence, citing the mandated quota of migrants from Italy and Greece as one area in which countries are not pulling their weight.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Eight Iraqis Saved From Refrigerated Truck in Spain
Eight Iraqis, including four children, were found crammed inside a refrigerated truck in a service area in eastern Spain, police said on Saturday, adding that they had been trying to reach Britain.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Iranian Economist and Afghan Dentist Crowned Refugees of the Year
Economist Bahar Mozaffari and dentist Ramin Akhi want to encourage immigrants to lead an independent life and seek higher education.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Forever Young: Swedish Minister Taunted for Posing With Overage ‘Refugee Kids’
Swedish Justice and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson has landed in hot water after posting an unflattering picture of himself surrounded by grown-ups he claimed to be “unaccompanied refugee children,” all of whom appeared to be taller than the minister. Ironically, Johansson’s boss Stefan Löfven has already treaded these hot waters before.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Merkel Bombshell: Chancellor Didn’t Shut Border Because of How it Would Play on TV News
The Chancellor had actually finalised plans to shut the border with Austria in September 2015 and was mobilising hundreds of guards when she got cold feet, according to Robin Alexander in his new book ‘Driven By Events: Merkel’s Refugee Policy’.
The high-profile political reporter claimed Mrs Merkel was concerned “for historical reasons” about how German guards acting aggressively on borders may appear to the rest of the world.
Mr Alexander said: “For historical reasons, the Chancellor feared images of armed German police confronting civilians on our borders.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Investigation Opened Into Possible New Human Trafficking Route
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Police in eastern Spain opened an investigation into a suspected human trafficking route after discovering two trucks carrying Iraqi migrants in less than a month.
A civil guard spokeswoman told The Associated Press Sunday that an anonymous tip led officers to find eight Iraqis of Kurdish ethnicity, including four children, in the back of a refrigerated truck on a highway near the town of Teruel on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Says All Deals With EU in Jeopardy if No Visa Liberalization
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday deals with the European Union, including an agreement on stemming the flow of migrants, would be jeopardized if the bloc failed to implement promised visa liberalization for Turks.
Cavusoglu, speaking to CNN Turk television, said Turkey would present a final text to the bloc “and either it will all be canceled, including the visa liberalization and migrant deal, or it will all be implemented.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What the Politicians You Elected Have Done to America, Part 10
Since the UN launched Agenda 21 in 1992 the push for total control of the entire population of the world has been underway. What I have covered in these columns is just the tip of the iceberg of what they are attempting to do. This can be easily done to a population that is uninformed. This is why our education system does not teach about our history and does not teach on how to evaluate good and bad. They simply tell you what is good and what is bad. These things are not taught in our public schools and are only briefly discussed in our places of so-called higher education. It has become more brazen in the latter years because anyone with conservative views, patriotism or a belief in nation sovereignty is ridiculed and mocked. Many have actually been failed in a class because of their conservative views and when taken to court the school wins. A professor at Polk State College has allegedly failed a humanities student after she refused to concede that Jesus is a “myth” or that Christianity oppresses women during a series of mandatory assignments at the Florida college.
According to a press release from the Liberty Counsel, a non-profit public interest law firm, Humanities Professor Lance “Lj” Russum gave a student a “zero” on four separate papers because the 16-year-old did not “conform to his personal worldviews of Marxism, Atheism, Feminism, and homosexuality.” The law firm has called for a full, private investigation of the professor and the course curriculum.
The course description for the class, “ Introduction to Humanities,” claims that students “are under no obligation to agree with classmates, authors, or the instructor, in fact, the instructor will often occupy the space of ‘Devil’s Advocate’ for the purpose of lively discussion.”
“The point of this is not to ‘bash’ any religion, we should NEVER favor one over another, they all come from the same source, HUMAN IMAGINATION and [sic] they demonstrate that humanity is one,” a copy of Russum’s class outline, riddled with grammatical errors, says.[1]
Even in cases of patriotism a school can demand that no American flags can be displayed on even tee shirts during Cinco de Mayo as it could be offensive to illegals that are attending the school: So, in order to keep from ticking off the Mexican kids at the American school celebrating a Mexican holiday, the American kids had to hide the symbol of their own culture they had opted to wear, a flag of the country that the Mexican kids were celebrating the Mexican holiday in. Did you get all of that?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Deradicalization Programs Are Failing All Over the Globe
Justice Department Enlists ‘Reformed’ ISIS Fighter in Risky Deradicalization Scheme
The Justice Department has enlisted a former Islamic State fighter in what they say is an effort to combat radicalization.
But the program, centered around Brooklyn native Mohimanul Alam Bhuiya, is fraught with considerable risks as so-called “deradicalization” efforts around the globe have failed spectacularly, and recent high-profile cases of former terrorists-turned-therapists experiments have not ended well.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The International Potato Center (CIP) launched a series of experiments to discover if potatoes can grow under Mars atmospheric conditions and thereby prove they are also able to grow in extreme climates on Earth.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saturn’s Titan Moon May Offer a Glimpse of Life as We Don’t Know it
Conditions on Saturn’s largest moon could make Titan the best place in our solar system for us to test ideas about the diversity of life in space.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Merkel Bombshell: Chancellor Didn’t Shut Border Because of How it Would Play on TV News…
I don’t believe that for a second! Obviously a PR to make Merkel look nice again.
Barn Swallow:
I completely agree with you, but for a different reason: The chancellor sent out a sick siren call: ” We Can Do It!” “We Will Manage!”
I believe she is very ill, but no one had the guts to stop her. The rewriting of history has begun!
Why Georges Lemaître Should be as Famous as Einstein: The universe began as a “primeval atom,” he argued. Today, this idea is better known as the Big Bang.
Some look at the expanding Universe, and wonder, and the only conclusion they can come up with the observation is The Big Bang.
Others look at the Heavens, and know that it is The Lord who stretches out the heaven. The same heaven that can be rolled up like a scroll, or folded up like a garment. That implies there are certainly more than 4 dimensions, and that our space and time is more like a film reel than is directly perceivable by “looking at the screen”
The Moon is pulling away from the Earth, and there are strong signs that the Earth is actually constantly growing. It might be the millions of tons of stardust falling down, yet there are still water related mist-eries in the center of the Earth.
And why does The Lord stretch the heavens? Maybe he wants to make room for all those fruitful and multiplying beings?
The ‘BIG BANG’ theory had to come about to give credence to the Evolution theory for which there is absolutely no evidence of such a thing occurring. And if such a thing was a natural occurrence, at what point did we begin to evolve and then stop evolving? And why is it that after nearly two hundred years of searching, we find no evidence of current life or fossils at the point of ‘evolving’?
My sources tell me that Man is far more ancient than what the current keepers of Human history would have us believe, and we, that is Sapien Sapien, started life as we are today and we all share the common ancestry of the one male and the one female.
My sources also tell me that the once great establishment called the Smithsonian Institute took to dumping thousands of ‘backroom’ exhibits in the Atlantic Ocean during the 1950s/60s that had been handed to it over centuries of finds and that could not be explained via the evolutionary theory but did so, simply because that institute did not wish to upset the current ‘scientific’ status quo.
Such is the world of deceit that we all live in.
Hi, I see it quite similarly. I actually came to the Bible because I discovered a few “evolution frauds” – Had the “scientific establishment” not censored valid scientific proofs, I might still believe our high school textbooks, big bang and evolution… But then again – if the “Schoolbook Scientists” had an open mind about “mysterious artifacts”, lets say jewelry made of artificial plastic found in bronze age graves in Bohemia, they would have to change their beliefs quite significantly – and that is really hard. But hard or easy – scientists should look only at the evidence, and disregard any belief systems.
Now at least I know, that the “scientific establishment” is professing themselves to be wise, yet they are becoming fools more and more day by day – so long they refuse to see valid evidence which contradicts their “theories”. I guess it’s nothing new under the Sun 🙂
“The number of children maimed, killed or recruited to fight in the Syria conflict has increased dramatically over the past year, with children as young as seven forced to act as frontline fighters, prison guards, suicide bombers and executioners.”
Anything to do with Islam?
Berlusconi and the Lire? What about the Franc, the Gilder, the Kroner, etc. I say, bring them all back and watch their nations prosper.
As far as I know, no kroner have been absorbed into the euro yet. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark still have their own currencies. Although Finland is on the euro — did the Finns use kroner?
The Finns used the markka https://www.suomenrahapaja.fi/eng/about_money/the_history_of_finnish_money
Yes, that is correct about not being absorbed in the EU, but the Danish, Greenland and Faroe Island’s Kroner are pegged to the Euro, so it may as well be called that silly term that appears to be about to come to an end.
Norway, I believe, still pegs their Kroner to the U.S. Dollar while Sweden appears to battle on regardless with its own version of the Kroner.
The Finns used the Makkra? I think that is how it is spelt, until 1996.
Actually, Islam has robbed Geert Wilders of his freedom. Mr. Wilders wouldn’t need a security detail if the animals weren’t trying to murder him.