Two Chinese tourists have been arrested in Germany and will be charged with a criminal offense. The pair made the mistake of executing a sieg-heil salute in front of the Bundestag building in Berlin.
In other news, the British government has decided to cap its Brexit fee at €40 billion, which is far less than the amount demanded by Brussels.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, JD, Nick, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Death of Retirement: Can the UK Afford the State Pension?
On New Year’s Day 1909, more than half a million people aged 70 and more, who had worked all their lives, had passed a means test and were of good character queued up at their Post Offices for an old age pension of five shillings a week (25p) — around £20 in today’s money.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The discussion of the trade agreement, known as NAFTA rarely if at all, ever mentions some of the most dangerous elements of its provisions.
What we hear is whether it is good for American jobs, business, or balance of trade among Canada, Mexico, and the United States. These issues are important, but they pale in comparison to the implications for the independence and freedom of the American people — this is the crucial aspect of NAFTA that is being purposely ignored, and hidden from the public.
Hiding the truth is to be expected when considering the history of all the “free trade” tactics back to the 50s. It was always about trade — nothing else. The prospect of the loss of sovereignty and the freedom of the citizens was never allowed to enter into the dialogue. The discussion was always centered on trade and how marvelous it was going to be for everyone.
NAFTA was introduced and promoted back in the 90s, and we were sold a bill of goods that we’d have enormous prosperity with jobs of all kinds. There would be so many jobs, we would be hard pressed to fill them.
The purpose of this strategy was to keep the American people so enamored with the prospect of all the inherent goodies which would flow into the deal that they wouldn’t look any deeper into the trade agreement.
This strategy is standard Modus Operandi in the globalists’ bag of tricks. They resort to the same tactics every time, tactics and lies which will suck the people into accepting and promoting issues which will later prove to be very disastrous, but it will have advanced the globalists’ agenda. Here are the tragic real figures from three years ago.
[Comment: Read. It. All. ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Baltimore’s ‘Nobody Kill Anybody’ Weekend Leaves at Least 2 People Dead
Baltimore activists’ attempt for a murder-free weekend proved to be too much to ask of the city, with at least three people shot, two of them killed, in less than 72 hours since guns were ordered to be put down.
Activist Erricka Bridgeford promoted the campaign as a “Baltimore ceasefire” and “Nobody kill anybody” weekend that began on Friday and ends Sunday night, garnering the support of thousands on social media since May.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
It is a classic children’s book which has been adapted into 16 much loved films. But the newest big screen retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is set to cause major controversy after it was revealed it will use the n-word. The highly offensive word was repeatedly used in the Mark Twain tome, which was published in 1884.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Internet of Things: Did Obama Saturate the White House With Listening Devices?
Did Barack Obama, James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan weaponize the internet connected devices of the White House, to spy on the Trump Administration and gaslight him into submission? Today on TRUNEWS, Rick Wiles discusses the shortfalls of AG Jeff Sessions’ plan to prosecute leakers and subpoena journalists, and how anything short of imprisoning the Dark State elite will ultimately backfire on the President and his family.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
McMaster’s NSC Coup Against Trump Purges Critics of Islam and Obama
Derek Harvey was a man who saw things coming. He had warned of Al Qaeda when most chose to ignore it. He had seen the Sunni insurgency rising when most chose to deny it.
The former Army colonel had made his reputation by learning the lay of the land. In Iraq that meant sleeping on mud floors and digging into documents to figure out where the threat was coming from.
It was hard to imagine anyone better qualified to serve as President Trump’s top Middle East adviser at the National Security Council than a man who had been on the ground in Iraq and who had seen it all.
Just like in Iraq, Harvey began digging at the NSC. He came up with a list of Obama holdovers who were leaking to the press. McMaster, the new head of the NSC, refused to fire any of them.
McMaster had a different list of people he wanted to fire. It was easy to make the list. Harvey was on it.
All you had to do was name Islamic terrorism as the problem and oppose the Iran Deal. If you came in with Flynn, you would be out. If you were loyal to Trump, your days were numbered.
And if you warned about Obama holdovers undermining the new administration, you were a target.
One of McMaster’s first acts at the NSC was to ban any mention of “Obama holdovers.” Not only did the McMaster coup purge Harvey, who had assembled the holdover list, but his biggest target was Ezra Watnick-Cohen, who had exposed the eavesdropping on Trump officials by Obama personnel.
Ezra Watnick-Cohen had provided proof of the Obama surveillance to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. McMaster, however, was desperately working to fire him and replace him with Linda Weissgold. McMaster’s choice to replace Watnick-Cohen was the woman who helped draft the Benghazi talking points which blamed the Islamic terrorist attack on a video protest.
After protests by Bannon and Kushner, President Trump overruled McMaster. Watnick-Cohen stayed. For a while. Now Ezra Watnick-Cohen has been fired anyway.
According to the media, Watnick-Cohen was guilty of “anti-Muslim fervor” and “hardline views.” And there’s no room for anyone telling the truth about Islamic terrorism at McMaster’s NSC.
McMaster had even demanded that President Trump refrain from telling the truth about Islamic terrorism.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
McMaster Worked in Think Tank Backed by Soros Funded Group That Helped Obama Sell Iran Nuclear Deal
TEL AVIV — White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster served at a UK-based think tank financed by a controversial, George Soros-funded group identified by the Obama White House as central in helping to sell the Iran nuclear deal to the public and news media.
From September 2006 to February 2017, McMaster is listed as a member of International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), where he served as consulting senior fellow. The IISS describes itself as a “world-leading authority on global security, political risk and military conflict.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pence Slams Times Story About 2020 Bid as ‘Disgraceful and Offensive’
Vice President Pence on Sunday dismissed a New York Times story saying he and other top Republicans are running shadow campaigns to defeat President Trump in 2020, calling the report “disgraceful and offensive.”
“Today’s article in the New York Times is disgraceful and offensive to me, my family and our entire team. The allegations in this article are categorically false and represent just the latest attempt by the media to divide this administration,” Pence said in an official White House statement.
The Times story published Sunday suggests Pence, Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are visiting early-voting states and taking other actions that indicate at least a preliminary 2020 effort.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What we as Americans must understand is our government, which is a republic not a democracy, requires attention by the people. It is not a fool proof system. It requires attention by people of a high moral character. Benjamin Franklin warned that we could use the laws of this country to destroy it from the inside. He warned: “When we the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” Little by little we have allowed the government to take our tax dollars and through a welfare system, “vote themselves money”. People have learned to play the welfare system to the max. A person who knows how to make it work can make almost double the average working person without ever having to work for it. Muslim immigrants are coming here with two, three and four wives and immediately going on welfare. Even though in America you cannot have more than one wife, we allow this type of immigration. But it goes far beyond that today. The American taxpayer financially supports multitudes of foreign governments even governments that hate us! If pressed to prove that this is something that the Constitution allows the Federal government to do, Congress would not be able to do so.
This has occurred because the general population no longer holds the politicians feet to the fire in requiring them to govern within the confines of the Constitution. Far too many members of Congress pay no attention to the confines of the Constitution when writing laws. Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) stated in a town hall meeting during the Obama administration that Congress pays no attention to the Constitution when writing laws: Pete Stark said during a townhall meeting that Congress could do basically whatever it wanted to do. He didn’t say anything about working within the framework of the Constitution, Amendments or Constitutional Conventions. He implied they could pass laws willy nilly regardless if the conflicted with the Constitution or its’ Amendments. He should never have been elected & should have been voted out long ago. [2] Why do we have members of congress that pay no attention to the Constitution? We the people have not paid attention to what they are doing in D.C.! In the last election Congress had an approval rating of 11% but we returned over 90% of them to D.C. George Washington set the example of two terms. We have people that have been in D.C. for 40 plus years. Because of this we have people that are what is called the ‘establishment’. Nothing gets done in D.C. unless they say it’s OK. We should have new people going there every election. Allowing 40 year carriers encourages corruptness and we have it big time. George Washington warned about the corruption of those with political ambition: “No compact among men … can be pronounced everlasting and inviolable, and if I may so express myself, that no wall of words, that no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the one side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Trump Must Hang’ Prof Not Coming Back
The professor who tweeted “[President] Trump must hang” and “justice = the execution of two Republicans for each deported immigrant” will not be returning to teach in the fall, according to a Saturday report.
California State University, Fresno President Joseph Castro announced that history professor Lars Maischak would not be returning to teach at the school in the fall semester, according to The Los Angeles Times. But while the professor will not be returning to campus, his contract does not expire until May 2018, and he is tasked with converting 2 courses into online formats.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Beyond Hope’: Sadistic Ottawa Rapist Branded Dangerous Offender
Abdirahman Ahmed’s trail of terror has ended after an Ottawa judge branded the sadistic rapist a dangerous offender, sending him to prison for an indeterminate sentence.
The designation is for life and comes after Ahmed committed horrific rapes — one at knifepoint in an alley — in 2011 and 2009.
The high school dropout originally from Kenya pleaded guilty to the vicious sex crimes, and also pleaded guilty to a severe, foot-stomping beating of another inmate at the Ottawa jail in 2015. Ahmed, 32, also pleaded guilty to assaulting a guard — he threw his urine on a correctional officer — at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre.
“Based on all of the evidence on this sentencing hearing and without any evidence of Mr. Ahmed’s treatability beyond a hope for change, I cannot risk the safety of the community,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Lynn Ratushny said in her decision.
The judge said his release would now rest in the hands of the parole board.
The lengthy dangerous offender application was successfully argued by Assistant Crown Attorney Peter Napier…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Tourists Arrested for Hitler Salute in Germany
Two Chinese tourists were arrested in Berlin for making Hitler salutes outside the German parliament on Saturday.
Criminal proceedings have been started against the middle-aged men for using symbols from a banned organisation.
The pair have been released on bail of €500 (£450; $600) each.
Germany has strict laws on hate speech and symbols linked to Hitler and the Nazis.
The men — aged 36 and 49 — could face a fine or a prison sentence of up to three years, according to police.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
DNA Clue to Origins of Early Greek Civilization
DNA is shedding light on the people who built Greece’s earliest civilizations.
Researchers analysed genetic data from skeletons dating to the Bronze Age, a period marked by the emergence of writing, complex urban planning and magnificent art and architecture.
These ancient Aegean people were mostly descended from farmers who had settled the region thousands of years earlier.
But they showed signs of genetic — and possibly cultural — contact with people to the north and to the east.
The work could also provide clues to the origin of Greek language. Like the majority of languages spoken in Europe today, Greek belongs to a family known as Indo-European.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘EU Membership for Poland is Rather Like a Teaser Rate on a Bad Loan’
Brexit, the near victory of Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election, rumblings in Italy — it is all a sign the EU system is not working, and Poland might be wise to reexamine the EU, Steve Keen, professor of Economics at Kingston University, says.
Poland and the EU probably don’t need each other, according to European Council chief Donald Tusk.
“There is a question mark over Poland’s European future today,” the former Polish prime minister said at a press conference in Warsaw on Thursday.
The follows last month’s approval by the Polish parliament of controversial reforms to the judiciary, handing the government control over the country’s courts, and the EU’s threats to strip Poland of voting rights.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Sweden Minister Departs Job Over Party Controversy
Former Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg has left his job as Vice Chairman of investment firm Kinnevik.
Borg’s position on the company’s board was untenable after accusations he used foul language and was aggressive towards other guests at a party, according to some commentators, while others have called the decision an overreaction by the firm’s board.
The ex-MP’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the company has been terminated with immediate effect in light of the reports, which emerged on Friday after tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet cited details from several anonymous sources at a party attended by Borg.
He has since been reported to police over the accusations, reports Aftonbladet.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police arrested a knife-wielding man wearing a Paris Saint-Germain football shirt after he tried to breach security at the Eiffel Tower last night.
The man, who is aged around 19 and has a history of psychological problems, forced his way past security guards and then shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’, a legal source said.
[Comment: This unnamed “legal source” must have accessed the fellow’s medical records.]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
France: Eiffel Tower Knifeman ‘Wanted to Kill Soldier’
A man arrested at the Eiffel Tower after brandishing a knife in front of tourists and security forces has told investigators he wanted to kill a soldier, sources close to the case told AFP on Sunday.
The intruder, who is aged 18 and has a history of psychological problems, was arrested late on Saturday at the Paris monument after bursting past security and shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Greatest”).
Armed soldiers who are permanently stationed at the Eiffel Tower surrounded him and ordered him to drop his weapon, which he did without attacking anyone, one security source said, asking not to be named.
In custody, he said he wanted to commit “an attack against a soldier and had been in contact with a member of the jihadist group Islamic State who encouraged him to take action,” a separate source told AFP.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Fearing Major Terror Attack as Hundreds of Jihadis Return to Country From Syria
According to the interior minister Gerard Collomb, an unknown number of the 271 French nationals have been detained and others are being investigated by the authorities.
Mr Collomb has revealed that 700 French militants have travelled to Iraq and Syria over the past few years and an unknown number of them have been killed.
The interior minister said that due to the high number of returning radicalised fighters, the threat of terrorist attacks in France remains “very high”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Minister: Hundreds of Jihadis Have Returned From Iraq and Syria
Hundreds of jihadi militants have returned to France from Iraq and Syria, France’s interior minister said on Sunday.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Gerard Collomb said that an estimated 271 radical Islamists who fought for militant groups have returned from war zones after being members of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).
[Comment: I generally do not like to link to Newsweek. Its a purveyor of fake news — remember their Madame President issue. However, I think this is a good article.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Germany in Three Days and France in One Hour’ Shock Threat to EU From Erdogan Backers
Newspaper Yeni Söz, closely aligned to the government, made the outlandish claim on the front page of its daily newspaper.
Carrying the provocative headline “Turkey can occupy Europe within 3 days”, the move is the latest in a political spat between Ankara and Berlin.
Turkey has been vying to join the EU for more than a decade, with official negotiants to become a member dragging into their 12th year.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempted to use the migrant crisis as a bargaining chip, striking a deal with Brussels over the crisis in exchange for political sweeteners, which included kick-starting their membership bid.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Chinese Tourists Detained Over Nazi Salute in Berlin
German police have detained two visitors from China who took pictures of themselves giving the Hitler salute at the Reichstag building in Berlin. They could face charges under Germany’s strict laws on Nazi symbols.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Report: UK to Cap Brexit Fee at 40 Billion Euros
London will agree to pay up to 40 billion euros to quit the EU, not a cent more, according to a report. It’s much less than the EU wants.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A secret ISIS unit responsible for attacks in Paris and Brussels is training Britons in Syria to launch a fresh wave of terror in the UK.
An ISIS fighter captured by Kurdish forces in Syria revealed how jihadists were inducted into the al-Kharsa brigade when they arrived in the terror group’s so-called caliphate.
The would-be bombers were put through a harsh training programme at a secret camp before returning home to launch attacks.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Police Say Situation ‘Completely Unacceptable’ After 550 Per Cent Rise in Grenade Attacks
The number of hand grenade attacks in Sweden has risen by 550 per cent in just three years, with police describing the situation as “completely unacceptable”.
Police data shows that in 2014 the Swedish force investigated eight grenade incidents, none of which involved a detonation.
But last year this figure inflated by a massive 550 per cent, as officers saw a total of 52 grenade-related incidents, 27 of which involved detonations.
At first, the grenade attacks were mostly directed at cars and homes linked to criminals and their relatives — but from two years ago perpetrators began to target the nation’s “society and state”, an expert at Sweden’s National Police Department told SVT.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘There Will be Attacks’: Secret ISIS Camp Trains Britons to Launch Attacks on UK Soil
AN ISLAMIC State unit that trained the jihadis who launched the Paris and Brussels attacks has been training British fighters to attack targets in the UK, according to a fighter captured by the Kurdish forces in Syria.
The jihadi said that potential European suicide bombers were put through a tough training programme in Syria before being sent home to carry out attacks.
The fighter told The Sunday Times: “It takes seven months to be trained in al-Kharsa bridge.
“It is very hard. Every European who crosses the border to Syria, they are offered the opportunity to join.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Woman ‘Barred From French Vacation Home Pool Over Burkini’
A report has alleged that a woman vacationing with her family in France was kicked out of a vacation home pool due to her full-body swimsuit. The owner then reportedly tried to retain the deposit for pool cleaning fees.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Berlin Christmas Market Attacker Anis Amri Buried in Tunisia
After a spat with Italian officials over the terrorist’s body, Amri’s family members held a funeral in his hometown in Tunisia, they told DW. His remains had been held in Italy for months before being transferred.
On December 19, 2016, Amri drove a truck into a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, killing 12 individuals including one Italian. After fleeing across Europe, the Islamist was shot by a police officer in Italy during a routine control.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Plans to Close Broadcaster Al-Jazeera’s Offices
Israel has announced plans to close the local offices of Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based international news network. Israeli officials have long accused the broadcaster of bias against the Jewish state.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Afghan Official: Taliban Kill 30 Locals in Northern Province
An Afghan official says that at least 30 people including women and children have been killed by Taliban fighters in northern Sari Pul province.
Zahir Wahdat, the provincial governor for Sari Pul, says Sunday that the victims are mostly civilians and some local security forces. The shootings took place Saturday morning after the Taliban seized control of the strategic Mirzawalang area in Sayad district.
Wahdat says Afghan forces retreated form the area after they couldn’t gain ground or air support from the central government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UP ATS Arrests Bangladeshi Jihadi Terrorist Associated With Ansarullah Bangla Team
Banhladeshi Jihadi terrorist belonging to Ansarullah Bangla Team, with a mission of ‘Killing Hindus’, caught in Uttar Pradesh.
Rudresh Shrimali | HENB | Muzaffarnagar | Aug 6, 2017:: In a very timely and tight operation, the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested a Bangladeshi national from Kutesara village of Muzaffarnagar district over allegedly carrying out terror activities.
Officials released his photo, and Uttar Pradesh IG (ATS) Asim Arun told the media in a press release that Abdullah had been staying in Muzaffarnagar’s Kutesra area.
As per available reports, the suspect, identified as Abdullah, was allegedly arranging fake IDs and giving shelter to other terrorists in India as if a ‘safe haven for the terrorists’. He was associated with Bangladesh terror group ‘Ansarullah Bangla team’. The Ansarullah Bangla Team is a Bangladeshi militant outfit which is said to be behind the recent attacks and murders of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh. Ansarullah Bangla also claims that Bangladesh must be a 100% Islamic state converting all non-Muslims in that country.
Abdullah was residing in Muzaffarnagar since the past one month and earlier used to live in Saharanpur in 2011. As per the preliminary inquiry, it was found that Abdullah was arranging fake Ids and passports for the Bangladeshi terrorists so that they can safely live in India to carry out their terror activities.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
China Says N. Korea Sanctions ‘Necessary’ But Urges Dialogue
N. Korea’s neighbors and the US have stepped up pressure on Pyongyang following the passing of a US-drafted resolution for new sanctions. The measures approved by the UN are the toughest sanctions on North Korea to date.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Holds Drill to Shut Down ‘Harmful’ Websites
China has carried out an internet drill to practise closing down websites the authorities consider to be harmful.
State run media said Thursday’s exercise was also aimed at forcing internet data centres to hand over contact details of website owners.
China already operates a strict internet censorship regime.
Analysts say it appears to be tightening controls ahead of an important political meeting later this year.
Beijing also recently began cracking down on VPNs (virtual private networks) which allow internet users to circumvent censorship and surveillance.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Bike-Sharing Services Attract More Than 100 Million Users in the Past Year
Hu Weiwei, co-founder of market leader Mobike, says a tenth of China’s urban dwellers now choose to cycle as their main mode of transport, up from 5 per cent just 12 months ago
China’s nascent bike-sharing industry has attracted more than 100 million users just a year after its debut in the country’s tech scene, as startups backed by Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding touted free rides and carpeted urban sidewalks with millions of bikes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two brothers accused of trying to take down an Etihad flight allegedly planned on setting their devastating gas bomb off at Sydney Airport if they could not get it onto a plane.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A Muslim group in Queensland has complained to the Australian Federal Police for using the term ‘Islamic-inspired terrorism’ to describe an alleged plot to bomb a passenger plane.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Potential radicals at risk of joining IS are being encouraged by a Queensland panel of experts to study and work instead as part of the continued war on terror.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Khaled Merhi, the fourth man arrested over the alleged plot to blow up an Etihad flight, was charged with possessing a prohibited weapon on Saturday and released from jail.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
8 Killed After Gunman Attacks Church in Southern Nigeria
Nigerian authorities say at least eight people are dead and 18 others critically wounded after gunmen attacked a church in southern Nigeria.
Garba Umar, police commissioner of Anambra state, said a lone gunman attacked St. Philip Catholic Church early Sunday.
But worshippers refuted the police account of the number of attackers and death toll. Parishioner Uche Nonoso told The Associated Press that two gunmen carried out the attack and more than 15 were killed at the church while others died en route to the hospital.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
35% GDP Collapse: Venezuela’s Unprecedented Slide in Numbers
LONDON — The South American state of Venezuela is in deep trouble.
The country, which was once hailed by many on the Western left as a shining example of socialism in action, is crumbling, both economically and politically.
The scale of the country’s fall can be seen in cold, hard data, some of which is truly shocking.
In 2017, Venezuela’s economy is 35% smaller than it was in 2013 in terms of gross domestic product and 40% lower in GDP per capita terms, as noted by Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann, who was the country’s minister of planning in the early 1990s, in a piece for Project Syndicate.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Post-Olympic Crackdown on Disillusioned Rio Slums Dwellers
Brazilian troops seek out gangs raiding five slums in Rio de Janeiro, one year on from Olympic Games glamour. Little remains of this except economic downturn, corruption, risen homicide rates, and public distrust.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Terrorist Attack’ At Venezuela Military Base, Official Says
Ruling party chief Diosdado Cabello said Venezuelan troops quashed a “terrorist” attack at a military base Sunday, shortly after a small group of men dressed in fatigues released a video declaring themselves in rebellion.
The South American nation has for months been in the throes of a political crisis with protests that have left more than 120 dead, nearly 2,000 wounded and over 500 detained. The political standoff heightened this week with the installation of an all-powerful constitutional assembly that opposition members fear Maduro will use to tighten his grip on power, install a one-party state and remove foes from office.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Migrant Boat Follows NGO Vessel Off Libya
A ship carrying far-right campaigners who aim to turn migrant boats back to Africa followed an NGO rescue vessel with an AFP reporter on board on Saturday in waters off Libya.
The activists’ “Defend Europe” mission has been financed by a crowd-funding initiative organised by young anti-immigration campaigners from France, Italy and Germany.
Their 40-metre (130-foot) ship named C-Star, hired by “Generation Identity”, arrived on Saturday in an area where tens of thousands of migrants have been rescued from unseaworthy trafficker boats over recent months and years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Asylum Centers, EU Police Operations: Discord in Germany Over How to Solve Migrant Crisis
Former European Union Parliament president and current leader of the German Social Democrats Martin Schulz has rejected proposals from members of his own party to create asylum centres in Libya.
The migrant crisis has become the focus of the ongoing campaign for next month’s German federal election as the two largest parties, the SPD and the CDU, greatly differ on how to solve the crisis in the Mediterranean.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Calais Migrant Camp Built Nine Months After Jungle Demolished
The migrants — believed to be mostly Ethiopians, Iraqis and Afghanis — have set up shelters while others are sleeping rough in nearby woodland.
France’s highest court has ordered the government to fit sanitation and water points to improve the conditions for migrants.
Yet Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart has so refused to implement the orders, saying it puts locals “under the threat of the creation of another jungle”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland ‘Will Accept Migrants From Europe — But Not Africa or the Middle East’
In 2015, EU member states adopted a solidarity plan to relocate 160,000 asylum-seekers from refugee camps in Italy and Greece.
The ruling party in Poland at the time, Civic Reform, agreed to take in 6,200 refugees.
However, there was a parliamentary election that year which took place during the migration crisis and the Eurosceptic party, Law and Justice, was elected.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pressure Growing on NGO Ships Colluding With People Smugglers as Renzi Demands Punishment
Italian former prime minister Matteo Renzi has demanded penalties for NGOs shown to be cooperating with people smugglers after NGO Jugend Rettet had their ship confiscated by the government on suspicion of collusion with smugglers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Road Rage in Multi-Cultural Denmark: “I’ll F*** Your Goat!”
West Europe is changing rapidly as a result of mass-immigration from the Islamic world. This includes the level of aggression in public spaces.
Denmark experiences increased problems with reckless drivers of a Middle Eastern background. One bus driver described his interactions with migrants in the Leftist newspaper Politiken:
“A guy makes the world’s biggest three-point turn, and is about to drive into me. We get eye contact and I shake my head. He screams something through the open window. At first, I can not recognize the words, but then I hear them …
[Comment: In good old Blighty, if two grown men are at a loose end, they’ll put on the kettle & have a cup of tea & a chocolate biscuit … in other parts of the world, their actions prove Theo van Gogh right. Isn’t multiculturalism great? NSFW!]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
A charity boat operating in the Mediterranean allegedly colluded with people smugglers to accept multiple ‘deliveries’ of migrants, investigators have revealed.
Photographs captured by undercover officers show the criminals ‘escorting’ vessels packed with asylum seekers before being transferred to aid boats bound for Italy.
The images emerged after Italian authorities carried out their first seizure of a rescue boat on suspicion of aiding illegal immigration.
One photograph appears to show a smuggler waving off a boatload of migrants after travelling alongside them to within the reach of rescuers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisian Fishermen Stall ‘Racist’ Anti-Migrant Ship’s Progress
Fishermen at a Tunisian port on Sunday prevented a ship carrying far-right anti-immigration activists from docking, dealing a fresh blow to a controversial mission aimed at disrupting the flow of migrant boats from north Africa to Europe.
Faced with the prospect of being blocked by the fishermen in Zarzis, the ship, the C-Star, moved up the Tunisian coast, and was expected by opponents tracking its path to try to land at either Sfax or Gabes on Monday.
Chartered by extremist group “Generation Identity”, the C-Star passed through waters off Libya on Saturday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Columbia Trains Teachers in Neo-Marxism
A school affiliated with Columbia University trains future teachers in feminist, neo-Marxist and other social justice-oriented theories, according to its 2017 course catalog.
The Teachers College at Columbia offers a variety of courses and programswhich teach graduate students to incorporate social justice principles into their future students’ coursework.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The World the Libs Would Build
by Lee Duigon
Princeton University is looking to hire a “men’s engagement manager” to exorcise the campus from “aggressive masculinity.” In college-speak “aagressive or hyper masculinity” means “any masculinity.” Colleges are down on masculinity.
It makes one wonder what kind of world our leftid brain trust would build for us, if only we’d just shut up and let ‘em do it. What kind of cage would they put up around us, if they could—and call it “justice”?
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Total Solar Eclipse Comes to Oregon First
Why should I be surprised that the solar eclipse will first be seen on Oregon’s coast as it travels over the mountain toward Oregon State Capitol of Salem and then up the canyon towards the deserts of Eastern Oregon . When it comes to the United Nations Regional government land use planning and other New World Order plans of the globalists, Oregon was long ago designated as a test state for all their socialist’s policies so I find it ironic that Oregon is on the map again.
There will be several eclipses that pass over the US in the 21st century but in the midst of the confusion and incivility in our world and especially in Washington, D.C., it seems reasonable to believe that there are those that may be expecting something unusual to happen like maybe all the progressive liberal Democrats will suddenly disappear or born again Christians rescued by divine intervention from this mess.
And then there is the woman in Portland, Oregon who claims to be a transgender male. She has undergone testosterone treatments to deepen her voice and enable her to grow facial hair while presenting herself as a very masculine person, yet, she is pregnant and will soon have a biological child with her homosexual husband. The couple has two adopted children, one of them claims to be very excited about her “daddy’s” pregnancy. This was reported June 20 2017. We don’t make this stuff up folks!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Re the UK State Pension. We can afford it. What we can’t afford is the massive hit that public sector pensions has on the economy; the accumulated burden now more or less doubles the national debt. Why people earning very good salaries get their pensions subsidised by those who can’t afford to save for their own pensions is one of the great mysteries of life.
I got a nice letter from the taxman this year explaining just what all my money was spent on.
If half of the unnecessary and frivolous things on that list, such as foreign aid, were no longer being paid out of the public purse, then there would be plenty money for the pensions of British citizens.
Simple maths.
Spend it now on things you don’t need (and no one wants) and you won’t have it later for the important stuff.
Public union members donate to campaigns of those who will increase their bennies and get out a high voting block on election day. Then, when they retire they invariably move to lower taxed lands. As I’m sure you know, it’s no mystery.
Poland ‘Will Accept Migrants From Europe — But Not Africa or the Middle East’
There already are many Germans who are fleeing their country and relocating in Eastern Europe, where however there still exists a great hostility to them.
But, they’ve comprised a large section of the tourist population since 1989 and they will bring their money and expertise with them.
And this time they will learn to speak Polish, Czech, Hungarian, etc.
Let’s hope they don’t bring their Marxist belief system with them to destroy Catholic Poland again.
Perhaps like in this hilarious clip “when Hitler find the thru about Polish Camps..” :https://youtu.be/4nyjpzbRKkw
ps…”And who bribed the New York Times?” “…:-))
Libyan Asylum Centers, EU Police Operations: Discord in Germany Over How to Solve Migrant Crisis
‘There is a country we can learn from. Australia had a similar problem. But the country managed to decide itself who is allowed to come, and didn’t leave this decision to people-smugglers’
The Aussie idea was to place all the migrants in a large prison-type complex on a remote and under-civilized island (belonging to Papua New Guinea – enough said) where the locals are free to rape and pillage them, while allegedly guarding them. Many of the inmates have committed suicide. It certainly got Australia a BAD NAME among potential boat people, and the flood became a trickle.
However, human rights organisations were up in arms and the Manus Island facility is to be closed down.
‘Germany in Three Days and France in One Hour’ Shock Threat to EU From Erdogan Backers’
Bluster? It’s mainly to whip up national hatred for the West. I suggest that Turkey will play an important role in containing Iran, if/when the war in Syria ends. Otherwise, as Kissinger seems so anxious to point out, there will be an Iranian Shia swathe of territory from Tehran to Beirut. Bad as Erdogan is, I’d rather deal with him than the sly Arabs any day of the week!
Just for the record, Iranians are not arabs.
George Washington warned about the corruption of those with political ambition: “No compact among men … can be pronounced everlasting and inviolable, and if I may so express myself, that no wall of words, that no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the one side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other.”
Also read Mark Levin’s new book: ‘Rediscovering Americanism’.
What a brilliant article! There ought to be term limits on politicians. And nepotism too.
The only remedy to apathy is a non-Left education, an honorable media and the fear of God! We have lost all three!