Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/17/2017

Four American women visiting France were sprayed in the face with hydrochloric acid in an unprovoked attack by a woman. All four victims were treated and eventually released from the hospital. French authorities say the alleged perpetrator has a history of mental illness, and they are not treating the incident as terrorism.

In other news, Turkey, the United States, and the United Nations all oppose next week’s independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Charles Low, Dean, DV, Fjordman, JD, JP1683, Reader from Chicago, SS, 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.

USA
» “Dangerously Vague” — New US Law Blurs the Line Between Hate Speech and Hate Crime
» Campaign Update: 3 Major Events and the All-Important September 30th Deadline Within the Next 14 Days
» Dozens Arrested as Second Night of St. Louis Protests Turns Violent
» High-Ranking CIA Agent Blows Whistle on Deep State, Shadow Govt
» Hillary Clinton: White Women Voted Against Me Because the Men in Their Lives Told Them To
» Is Diversity Tearing the United States Apart?
» Is Google Coming for Your Cryptos?
» Officials: Home Explosion Victim Identified, Cause of Death Ruled Homicide
» Protests Grip St. Louis for 3rd Day After Ex-Cop’s Acquittal in Fatal Shooting
» SPLC Won’t Label Antifa a Hate Group
» Statue of Francis Scott Key Vandalized… National Anthem Now Deemed ‘Racist’ By Vandals [Video]
» The Party’s Over: Republicans and Democrats Are Both Finished
» Trump Will Pull Out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, Says the White House
» Unapproved Thought is Violence
» Zuckerberg to Spend $1 Billion on Video Content
 
Europe and the EU
» Anna Soubry: If White British Community Learned More From Muslims Then UK Would be a Better Country
» Catalan President Gives Instructions on Twitter After Referendum Website Blocked
» Finland: Turku Commemorates Victims With Flower Ceremony
» France: 4 American Tourists Attacked With Acid in Marseille’s Train Station ID’d as Boston College Students
» France: Woman Arrested After ‘Spraying Four Americans Tourists With Acid’ At a Marseille Train Station Causing Burns to Their Faces and Legs
» German Election: Trouble for Merkel as Chancellor Faces Populist Resurgence Ahead of Vote
» Group of Tourists ‘Sprayed With Acid by Stranger at Busy French Train Station’ As 14 Firefighters Rush to Scene
» Horror: Four American Women Hospitalized After Acid Attack in France; Update: Terrorism Ruled Out
» Interior Minister: Finnish Authorities Have Foiled Many Planned Attacks
» Jihadists Eye ‘Train Derailments & Food Poisoning in Europe’ — French Media
» Nazis March Through Central Gothenburg
» Oktoberfest 2017: World’s Biggest Beer Festival Opens in Munich
» ‘One Powerful President for Whole of EU’ Fury at Juncker Plot to Merge Major Roles
» Pics: Anti-EU and Juncker Protests Erupt in Poland
» Revolt Against EU: Farage Warns Europe Must Stand Up to ‘Brussels Bully Boys’
» Two Dead in Swedish Train Accident.
» UK: Explosion That Was Heard Across Manchester Was Caused by a Nail Bomb Say Police as They Probe Who Planted the Crude Device
» UK: Girl, 14, Raped in ‘Horrendous Attack’ In South London
» UK: Gang Members ‘Filming Rape Attacks on Schoolgirls as Young as 13 in South Birmingham’
» UK: Nigel Farage: Terrorists Are Known to Authorities in ‘Nearly Every Single Case’
» UK: Soldiers Drafted in and Extra Armed Police on the Streets as Theresa May Raises Terror Level to Critical After ISIS Claim Tube Bucket-Bomb Attack Was Carried Out by a Cell of Several Jihadis
» UK: Terror Cops Hunt ‘Woman in Niqab’ Mastermind of London Bomb Attack After Refugee Raid
» What if ISIS Attacks the Vatican?
» Winton Capital Sets Up Climate Change Prediction Market
» Year of Terror: Timeline of ISIS Attacks in Great Britain
 
North Africa
» Egypt Court Sentences Mursi to 25 Years in Qatar Spy Case
 
Middle East
» Ankara Accuses Barzani of ‘Dissolving Iraq’
» Iraq: Nassiriya: An ISIS Double Attack: At Least 74 Victims, Including Iranian Pilgrims
» Saudi Arabia: School Textbooks (Still) Teach Intolerance of Christians and Jews
» The Islamist Front in Syria Crumbles: Psychosis of a Defeat at Idleb
» Turkey, US Urge Barzani to Cancel Planned Independence Referendum
» Turkey Summons German Envoy Over ‘Terror’ Rally in Cologne
» UN Chief Comes Out Against Kurdish Independence Referendum
 
South Asia
» Lahore Catholic NGO to Help Rohingya in Trouble
» Myanmar: Members of Some Rakhine Ethnic Groups Talk About the Violence They Suffered. For Them, Peace With the Rohingya is Not Possible
» Myanmar: Al-Qaida and Islamic State Claim to be Defending the Rohingya
» Pakistan Man Sentenced to Death for Ridiculing Prophet Muhammad on WhatsApp
» Rohingya ‘Extremists’ Trying to Build Stronghold — Myanmar Army
» Roots of the Ongoing Jihad in Western Myanmar
 
Far East
» China’s Economy Slowing Down Again
» Kim Says North Korea is Nearing Goal of Military ‘Equilibrium’ With US
 
Australia — Pacific
» German Man Caught With ‘Nearly 400 Pills’ In Drug Crackdown as Thousands of Rowdy Revellers Descend on Australia’s Biggest Electronic Dance Festival Defqon.1
» Islamist Extremist Tells University Students Ex-Muslims Should be Killed Under Sharia Law During Debate With Atheist Who Feared for His Safety
» Islamic Group Wants Taxpayers to Fund Muslim Hotline for Parents Worried About Youths Being Radicalised
» Police Unmask, Arrest at Melbourne CBD Protest
» Two People Arrested During Violent Clashes Between Opposing Protestors at ‘Make Victoria Safe Again’ Rally
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Ethiopia: 55,000 People Displaced Amid Ethnic Clashes.
 
Latin America
» Kelly Told Trump Mexico Was on the Verge of Collapse Like Venezuela: Report
 
Immigration
» Flashback: Juncker: No Matter How Bad Migrant Crisis, Terrorism Gets, We’ll Never Give Up on Open Borders
» Floyd Mayweather Jr. Defends Trump, Slams Leftists, Ungrateful Immigrants
» Hungary Builds a Wall, Cuts Illegal Immigration by Over 99 Per Cent
» Hungary’s Prime Minister Follows Through on Promise to Build Border Wall…george Soros Will be Furious When He Sees the Stunning Number of Illegal Immigrants He’s Kept Out So Far
» Is Romania Ready to Deal With Its Rising Migrant Numbers?
» Italy Allegedly Paying Libyan Warlord, Former People Smuggler to Halt Migrants
» Maryland Will Not Allow Illegal Aliens to Vote in Local Election
» No Amnesty is a Good Amnesty
» Parsons Green Terror Suspect, 18, Revealed as ‘Refugee Taken in by Foster Couple’
» This Land is Their Land
» UK: Parsons Green Attack: ‘Iraqi’ Refugee Suspected of Trying to Bomb Tube ‘Was Spoken to by Police Several Times’
» UK: Syrian Refugee Investigated After Attack
» Unwelcome in Israel, African Refugees Dream of Home
 
Culture Wars
» Google Hit With Class-Action Gender Pay Lawsuit
» If I Were the Devil, I’d Enact Hate Speech Laws
» Leftists Never Fight
» PC, The Military, And the Police
 
General
» Muslim Grooming Gangs
 

“Dangerously Vague” — New US Law Blurs the Line Between Hate Speech and Hate Crime

The standard categories of crime are quite enough without adding to them a government laundry list of prejudices and aversions

Eleven years ago, this essay argued against hate-crime laws.

One argument read “People can eventually be accused of hate crimes when they use hateful speech. Hate crimes laws are a seed that can sprout in new directions.”

This has now come to pass, I am sorry to say. This week, the Congress passed S. J. Res. 49, and President Trump signed it, making it part of the U.S. legal code.

The law rejects “White nationalists, White supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups…” But why? Because of their ideas? Because of their expression of these ideas?

No government that stands for freedom and free speech, whose charge is to protect rights, should be singling out specific groups by name and by law declaring them as outlaws or threats because of their philosophies. If they have committed a crime, such as defamation of character or incitement to riot or riot itself, then charge them and try them. But American government has no legitimate authority to single out some of its citizens in this way. This, furthermore, is an exceedingly bad precedent. Who’s next?

[Comment: This is what the founders called “pretend legislation”. Legislation that violates the constitution. For sure, this new “law” will be used in lawfare against islam critics, gender critics, globalist critics…etc…]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Campaign Update: 3 Major Events and the All-Important September 30th Deadline Within the Next 14 Days

We are entering do or die time for my campaign for Congress, and if you are interested in helping the campaign we really need to hear from you. As I have discussed in previous emails, we have created an enormous amount of buzz all over Idaho’s first congressional district, and everywhere we go we are converting voters over to our side. If we can get this message out to everyone in the district effectively, we will definitely win. So in order to do that, I am traveling all over the state holding events, and you can find out the details about three big ones coming up below. We also have our all-important FEC fundraising deadline coming up on September 30th, and if anyone out there was considering contributing to the campaign, now is definitely a key time to do so. Big conservative organizations all over the nation will be evaluating the strength of our campaign based on the numbers we report, and they will make decisions on whether to fund us or not based on how well we do. We really need your help, and if you can possibly do so, I would like to ask you to donate to the campaign today…

http://www.michaelsnyderforcongress.com/contribute.html

We also have three big campaign events coming up. The first is at Athol Baptist Church on September 18th at 7 PM. People will be coming up from Couer d’Alene and coming over from places such as Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry, and we are hoping to pack the place out. And we are also hoping to gather as many of our volunteers from all over north Idaho as possible so we can start to get organized in a major way.

Below I have reproduced the campaign email that we just sent out. This email list is the primary way that we keep everyone up to date on the campaign, and so if you would like to stay in the loop please go to https://www.michaelsnyderforcongress.com/ and sign up to get the emails. As you can see from this example, we sure do have a whole lot going on…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Dozens Arrested as Second Night of St. Louis Protests Turns Violent

Police in St. Louis are bracing Sunday for a third day of protests following the acquittal of a white former police officer in the fatal shooting of a black man.

A small group of protesters who refused to disperse Saturday night clashed with cops as protests turned violent for a second night in a row.

The protesters broke windows at dozens of businesses and threw objects at police, who moved in and made nine arrests. More than 30 protesters were arrested Friday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

High-Ranking CIA Agent Blows Whistle on Deep State, Shadow Govt

A CIA whistleblower, Kevin Shipp, has emerged from the wolves den to expose the deep state and the shadow government which he calls two entirely separate entities.

“The shadow government controls the deep state and manipulates our elected government behind the scenes,” Shipp warned in a recent talk at a Geoengineeringwatch.org conference.

Shipp had a series of slides explaining how the deep state and shadow government functions as well as the horrific crimes they are committing against U.S. citizens.

Some of the revelations the former CIA anti-terrorism counter intelligence officer revealed included that “Google Earth was set up through the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and InQtel.” Indeed he is correct, the CIA and NGA owned the company Google acquired, Keyhole Inc., paying an undisclosed sum for the company to turn its tech into what we now know as Google Earth. Another curious investor in Keyhole Inc. was none other than the venture capital firm In-Q-Tel run by the CIA according to a press release at the time.

Shipp also disclosed that the agency known as the Joint Special Ops Command (JSOC) is the “president’s secret army” which he can use for secret assassinations, overturning governments and things the American people don’t know about.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hillary Clinton: White Women Voted Against Me Because the Men in Their Lives Told Them To

Hillary Clinton has expanded on her earlier claim that sexism helped torpedo her 2016 campaign, stating more specifically this week that white women were scared off by their husbands, brothers, boyfriends and male employers.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Is Diversity Tearing the United States Apart?

By Victor Davis Hanson

America is experiencing a diversity and inclusion conundrum—which, in historical terms, has not necessarily been a good thing.

Communities are tearing themselves apart over the statues of long-dead Confederate generals.

Controversy rages over which slogan—”Black Lives Matter” or “All Lives Matter”—is truly racist.

Antifa street thugs clash with white supremacists in a major American city.

Americans argue over whether the USC equine mascot “Traveler” is racist, given the resemblance of the horse’s name to Robert E. Lee’s mount “Traveller.”

Amid all this turmoil, we forget that diversity was always considered a liability in the history of nations—not an asset.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Is Google Coming for Your Cryptos?

The big boys, Apple and Google, are now actively developing a payment API for cryptos to use within their browsers. This is a double-edged sword and possibly indicates a shift in tax policy.

I don’t trust either Apple or Google at all. The news from Coindesk about Apple and Google developing a payment API on the heels of multiple avenues of officaldom cracking down on cryptocurrencies is enough to give you whiplash.

This is absolutely a Trojan Horse designed to look like it legitimizes cryptos like Bitcoin but immediately puts them at risk of seizure by anyone with malicious intent.

First, it’s not like any code developed by these people is exploit-proof. Let’s get serious, security on Android, iOS and Windows is a joke. Google took Linux and made it worse than Windows. It’s actually an astounding feat of bad engineering.

Microsoft, Apple and Google are all very tight with the U.S. government.

It’s part of the reason why Russia continues to crack-down on use of their software. Putin knows it’s all spyware.

Second, if your cryptos are stored in your browser then they can be stolen from you. Forget petty thieves. I’m thinking much bigger than that. Do you really think any of these companies would not comply with an IRS decree to seize your assets directly off of your computer?

If you do, then I have a nice piece of water-spanning real estate to sell you connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Moreover, let’s see how this “standard” develops.

[Comment: Globalist controlled government want their crypto to be the only kind available. ]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Officials: Home Explosion Victim Identified, Cause of Death Ruled Homicide

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) — Authorities have released the name and cause of death of the victim in the fatal home explosion on the South West Side Wednesday, September 13.

The Dane County Medical Examiner’s office has identified the victim as 50-year-old Lee Anne Pirus of Madison.

Officials say Pirus’ body was recovered from the scene in the 7800 block of Stratton Way shortly before 9:15 a.m. on Friday. The explosion was reported to authorities just after 2:00 p.m.

Authorities say an autopsy was completed on Saturday, and preliminary results show that Pirus’ death was the result of homicidal firearm trauma and not injuries sustained in the explosion and subsequent fire. Additional testing and examination is ongoing.

The death remains under investigation.

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Protests Grip St. Louis for 3rd Day After Ex-Cop’s Acquittal in Fatal Shooting

For a third consecutive day, hundreds of activists are marching through the streets St. Louis to protest the acquittal of a white former city police officer in the death of a black motorist. Two previous days of protest ended with clashes and vandalism.

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

SPLC Won’t Label Antifa a Hate Group

To the SPLC, targeting conservatives and giving Antifa a pass is good for business

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) president Richard Cohen offered the Washington Examiner the SPLC’s views on Antifa, a violent, far-left movement responsible for many recent attacks on free speech.

They’re merely “wrongheaded” for using violence to achieve their ends, Cohen says. “We oppose these groups and what they’re trying to do.” But he won’t label Antifa a hate group, despite the group’s efforts to censor conservative speakers and disrupt lawful protests, because they don’t discriminate according to race, sex, religion, or other factors. Cohen offers flimsy reasoning:

There might be forms of hate out there that you may consider hateful, but it’s not the type of hate we follow.

Cohen’s euphemistic idea of “hate” conveniently allows the SPLC to avoid condoning Antifa violence without offering any real challenge to the far-left, but it can’t erase Antifa’s actions. Antifa, or “anti-fascist action,” has its origins in the 1920s and 1930s during the resistance to the rise of fascism in Italy and Spain, and National Socialism in Germany, but it quickly died out as a political movement after World War II…

Today’s SPLC is drastically different from its predecessor. With a gift shop sporting SPLC-branded water bottles and postcards and net assets topping $315 million, the organization has morphed into a moneymaking venture aimed at targeting conservative nonprofits by labeling them “hate groups” on its ever-growing HateWatch list. By lumping legitimate organizations in with neo-Nazis, SPLC’s smears have damaged numerous groups which dared to disagree with its leftist agenda. Politico’s Ben Schreckinger notes the strategy’s effectiveness:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Statue of Francis Scott Key Vandalized… National Anthem Now Deemed ‘Racist’ By Vandals [Video]

Baltimore’s beautiful statue of Francis Scott Key was damaged by vandals…At this point, any statue is fair game.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Party’s Over: Republicans and Democrats Are Both Finished

Never before have we seen the leadership of both major political parties so humbled

Stick a fork in the Democrats and Republicans.

Wednesday night’s latest round of deal making between President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders is the latest evidence that the major political parties have lost all semblance of real power.

Never before have we seen the leadership of both major political parties so humbled. That power vacuum is currently enabling the president to act without any loyalty to his own party, while working with whomever he pleases on whatever issues he wants.

It’s why we have a Republican congressional leadership, headlined by a Senate Majority Leader with an 18 percent approval rating in his own home state, that could not deliver on its party’s seven-year-long promises to repeal and replace Obamacare.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Will Pull Out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, Says the White House

Denies claim that he is considering staying in

Donald Trump is still planning to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement unless the UN can offer ‘better terms,’ despite claims to the contrary, the White House has said.

Two members of a recent international meeting said that a White House representative had said the US would maintain the accord, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Saturday.

But the White House says that’s nonsense — and that Trump is still planning his climate exit unless he gets the changes he wants.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the initial remarks about Trump reversing his decision to pull out of the agreement were made at an international meeting in Montreal.

That meeting had seen ministers from 30 countries, including Canada and Britain, discussing US climate-change goals with White House senior adviser Everett Eissenstat.

[Comment: Fire Eissenstat.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Unapproved Thought is Violence

Twitter cofounder Evan Williams has said: “I thought once everybody could speak freely and exchange information and ideas, the world is automatically going to be a better place, I was wrong about that.”

Yet, we cannot speak freely, can we? Say the wrong thing and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will label you a hatemonger. The nation’s founders envisioned free speech as a guardrail against the republic veering down an embankment, thinking that if speech were free, someone would be there to call BS when the nation went places not intended or imagined.

Yet, today, every progressive (read Democrat, liberal, or leftist) has his nose pressed into everybody else’s business lest someone think or say something that might melt a snowflake. We can’t have anyone ever offended, or embarrassed, or in any way made uncomfortable by unapproved thought.

It is in this way, the language has changed. Whereas the word “violence” has always meant actions that include actual physical violence, progressives have transmogrified “unapproved thought” from a mere difference of opinion into an integral component of the definition of violence.

Therefore, the violence of unapproved thought can now be met with actual violence because actual violence is not really violence if it is committed against someone with the wrong ideas and the gall to speak those ideas aloud.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Zuckerberg to Spend $1 Billion on Video Content

Facebook spending big for propaganda framework

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is poised to spend $1 billion on creating original video content for the social media platform through next year, according to a report.

The social media giant is willing to spend $1 billion through 2018 to quickly expand its reach and influence through original video content, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Zuckerberg hinted last year that video would soon dominate social media.

“We’re entering this new golden age of video,” Zuckerberg said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you fast-forward five years and most of the content that people see on Facebook and are sharing on a day-to-day basis is video.”

[Comment: Golden age of globalist propaganda video masked as truth.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Anna Soubry: If White British Community Learned More From Muslims Then UK Would be a Better Country

If white Britons learned more from the Muslim community the UK would be a better country, according to Conservative MP Anna Soubry.

Speaking at an Eid-ul-Adha celebration event in Parliament, the former minister praised the success of Halimah Khaled — the first person of colour and first Muslim to be elected mayor in her Nottinghamshire constituency— and said lessons could be learned from her positive engagement with the largely white community.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Catalan President Gives Instructions on Twitter After Referendum Website Blocked

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has taken to Twitter to explain how voters can use proxies to access the referendum instruction website ahead of the controversial vote on October 1.

The official website for the Catalonia independence referendum was blocked in Spain on Wednesday following a Barcelona court order amid the Spanish government’s ongoing efforts to stop what it calls an“illegal” ballot.

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

Finland: Turku Commemorates Victims With Flower Ceremony

The south-western city of Turku has marked the one-month anniversary of a suspected terror attack with a ceremony by the River Aura. Meanwhile residents of Helsinki have been remembering a man who died a year ago after being attacked during a neo-Nazi demonstration.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: 4 American Tourists Attacked With Acid in Marseille’s Train Station ID’d as Boston College Students

Four American tourists were hospitalized after a woman attacked them with acid in Marseille’s main train station in France on Sunday, the city’s prosecutor’s office said.

The four American women, said to be in their 20s and identified as Boston College students, were in the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles train station when the acid attack happened, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Two of the women had the corrosive liquid sprayed in their face, leaving one with a possible eye injury.

The Boston College students, identified by a student newspaper as Courtney Siverling, Charlotte Kaufman, Michelle Krug and Kelsey Kosten, were hospitalized after the attack. The women, two of which were treated for shock, have since been released.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: Woman Arrested After ‘Spraying Four Americans Tourists With Acid’ At a Marseille Train Station Causing Burns to Their Faces and Legs

A woman with ‘deep psychological problems’ was in custody in the French city of Marseille Sunday after spraying four American tourists with acid and burning two in the face.

The horrifying attack took place shortly after 11am at the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles station, where the party from the US was preparing to board a train.

The 41-year-old attacker used a cleaning substance containing hydrochloric acid that she is thought to have picked up from a local DIY store.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

German Election: Trouble for Merkel as Chancellor Faces Populist Resurgence Ahead of Vote

The AfD has experienced a late increase in support which has put the party in third place after Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats and her coalition allies, the SPD.

With the latest gains, the AfD is almost certain to enter Germany’s national parliament for the first time next Sunday, making the nationalist party the coalition’s main opposition.

The AfD’s surge has come following leader Alexander Gauland’s calls for Germans to feel proud of Nazi military achievements.

The 76-year-old is also under police investigation after calling for Germany’s national integration commissioner, Aydan Özoguz, who is German-born and of Turkish heritage, to be “disposed of in Antolia”.

German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said this week: “We will have real Nazis in the Reichstag for the first time since the end of the Second World War.”

However, Mr Gauland dismissed the warnings, telling his supporters: “Don’t believe anything the other parties and politicians say about me.

“Remember, when you are in the voting booth no one is looking over your shoulder, no one can see where you put your cross.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Group of Tourists ‘Sprayed With Acid by Stranger at Busy French Train Station’ As 14 Firefighters Rush to Scene

A group of tourists have been allegedly sprayed with acid at a busy French train station.

The four holidaymakers were targeted by a stranger at Marseille’s Saint-Charles station as they travelled between the city and Paris this morning, it is claimed.

Two women, aged 20 and 21, were taken to hospital after apparently being hit in the face by the corrosive substance shortly after 11am, according to local media.

The other two tourists are said to be suffering from shock.

A 41-year-old woman, who has yet to be named, has since been arrested by police.

Fourteen firefighters were dispatched to Saint-Charles — Marseille’s main railway station and one of France’s busiest stations — following the alleged attack…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Horror: Four American Women Hospitalized After Acid Attack in France; Update: Terrorism Ruled Out

UPDATE: AP now reports that the acid attack will not be investigated as an act of terrorism. The assailant has a history of mental health issues and did not try to flee the scene after the attack. The American women who were assaulted have been identified as Courtney Siverling, Charlotte Kaufman, Michelle Krug and Kelsey Korsten. They’re all students at Boston College. The director of the BC’s Office of International Programs said, “It appears that the students are fine, considering the circumstances.”

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

Interior Minister: Finnish Authorities Have Foiled Many Planned Attacks

Finnish authorities are now monitoring more than 1,000 individuals, including hundreds with suspected ties to terror groups, Interior Minister Paula Risikko tells Yle.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Jihadists Eye ‘Train Derailments & Food Poisoning in Europe’ — French Media

French police have issued a confidential note based on an analysis of “jihadist propaganda,” warning of possible lone-wolf attacks causing trains to derail and even food poisoning, Le Parisien newspaper reports, citing the document.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Nazis March Through Central Gothenburg

The Nazi group Nordic Resistance Movement paraded through the streets of Sweden’s second-largest city on Sunday.

According to the police, around 50 people participated in the march through central Gothenburg, many of them waving Nordic Resistance Movement (Nordiska motståndsrörelsen, NMR) flags.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Oktoberfest 2017: World’s Biggest Beer Festival Opens in Munich

The drinking has begun as wet weather and enhanced security did not dampen the spirits of beer enthusiasts at the 184th Oktoberfest which opened in Munich on Saturday.

Oktoberfest is hoping more people will come to the festival this year after attendance in 2016 dipped in part due to concern over terror attacks.

Security has since been bolstered at the festival, with backpacks as well as large bags now being banned.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘One Powerful President for Whole of EU’ Fury at Juncker Plot to Merge Major Roles

EUROPEAN Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has sparked anger by unveiling plans to merge the Commission and Council leaders creating “one powerful president”.

The shock idea was part of Mr Juncker’s pitch for the future of Europe in his State of the European Union speech this morning.

Mr Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg: “Europe would function better if we were to merge the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council.

“Europe would be easier to understand if one captain was steering the ship.”…

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage called it the most “open and honest and truly worrying” speeches he has ever heard from the EU chief and accused him of a European power grab.

He said: “The message is very clear: Brexit has happened, new steam ahead. One powerful president for the whole of the EU. A finance minister with fresh powers.

“A stronger European army in a militarised European Union. And more Europe in every single direction and all to be done without the consent of the people.

[Comment: Try to do with paper what Hitler tried to do with force.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Pics: Anti-EU and Juncker Protests Erupt in Poland

Thousands of people from across Poland have descended on the European Commission offices in Warsaw to protest the European Union’s (EU) growing interference with Polish laws.

The demonstration, organised by the Solidarity trade union, was held against the EU’s opposition to lowering the retirement age, and many attendees held signs depicting and denouncing the unelected Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

People on the march this Saturday held banners reading “Keep your hands off Poland” and “Poland respects women”.

The Solidarity union, which battled Communist authorities in the 1980s, called the anti-EU event as tensions between Poland and the bloc mount over issues of sovereignty and migrant quotas.

Now, Poland’s right wing government wishes to bring in a new law lowering the retirement age for workers, but the EU has attempted to block the move, prompting claims Poland’s sovereignty is once again being encroached upon.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Revolt Against EU: Farage Warns Europe Must Stand Up to ‘Brussels Bully Boys’

NIGEL Farage hinted there will be a revolt against the European Union as he praised the eastern bloc for continuing to stand up to Brussels’ “bully boys”.

The former UKIP leader has rejoiced that Britain will leave EU “in the nick of time” after Jean-Claude Juncker laid out his plans for the future of the bloc this week.

And he suggested a number of states in the eastern bloc could soon follow in the UK’s footsteps as they contine to be “bullied” by EU officials.

The Brexit champion even hinted a revolt could be brewing against the bloc in the wake of Brexit.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Two Dead in Swedish Train Accident.

Two people were killed after being struck by a train in central Sundsvall, Swedish police said on Sunday.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Explosion That Was Heard Across Manchester Was Caused by a Nail Bomb Say Police as They Probe Who Planted the Crude Device

A bomb which exploded outside a café was packed with nails and screws.

It was left under the shutters of The Lounge in Pendleton, Salford, earlier this week.

It damaged the shutters, canopy, windows and pavement outside the cafe.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Girl, 14, Raped in ‘Horrendous Attack’ In South London

A 14-year-old girl has been raped in a “horrendous attack” in a park in south London, the Metropolitan Police says.

The teenager was attacked in a secluded part of Avery Hill Park between 09:00 and 13:00 BST on 4 September.

The attacker is described as black, aged in his 20s, of slim build with short black hair and a moustache.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Gang Members ‘Filming Rape Attacks on Schoolgirls as Young as 13 in South Birmingham’

Gang members are allegedly targeting schoolgirls as young as 13 for rape and sexual exploitation in south Birmingham — with some of the attacks being filmed and shared.

Police have made a number of arrests after claims children are being groomed into warped relationships, then encouraged to pose for sexually explicit pictures.

It is understood detectives are also investigating allegations that rapes have been videoed by gang members and then shared among themselves.

The alleged exploitation is said to involve schoolgirl victims in and around south Birmingham.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Nigel Farage: Terrorists Are Known to Authorities in ‘Nearly Every Single Case’

Nigel Farage slammed his country’s leaders in the wake of a terrorist attack in London Friday night, saying they have enabled terrorists through neglect.

British police arrested an unidentified 18-year-old suspect in the London train bomb attack Friday morning that injured 30. ISIS claimed responsibility for the terror attack.

“I don’t think at any stage of this that our leaders have really contemplated the scale of the problem that we face,” the former United Kingdom Independence Party leader told “Fox & Friends.” “I think part of the reason for that is that they themselves are responsible for much of it.”

“I think we’re always behind the curve.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Soldiers Drafted in and Extra Armed Police on the Streets as Theresa May Raises Terror Level to Critical After ISIS Claim Tube Bucket-Bomb Attack Was Carried Out by a Cell of Several Jihadis

Armed police have flooded London’s streets as the terror threat level was raised to critical amid fears the Parsons Green bomber could strike again, Theresa May announced tonight.

The introduction of Operation Temperer will see soldiers replacing police at key sites including nuclear power plants to free up extra armed officers for regular patrols.

Scotland Yard said it is making ‘excellent’ progress in hunting the suspected terrorist who set off a crude bucket bomb on a packed commuter train by Parsons Green tube station in west London at 8.20am.

Mrs May said in a statement from Number 10: ‘The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has now decided to raise the national threat level from severe to critical — this means their assessment is that a further attack may be imminent.’

Minutes later Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley suggested there might have been more than one person involved, stating that police were ‘chasing down suspects’.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Terror Cops Hunt ‘Woman in Niqab’ Mastermind of London Bomb Attack After Refugee Raid

Last night police were also searching for a “woman dressed in a niqab” suspected of masterminding the Parsons Green Tube attack.

A source said she was wearing women’s Islamic dress and carried a Lidl shopping bag containing the bucket bomb.

It was left at a drop-off point and later picked up by another terrorist, who then left it on the train.

The “female” suspect is said to be part of a network of at least four people thought to be behind Friday’s explosion.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

What if ISIS Attacks the Vatican?

One day before the Friday terrorist bombing of a London Underground train, a group of former top Mossad and IDF officials and terrorism experts played out an even scarier possible scenario: an ISIS attack on the Vatican.

Playing roles for the IDC Herzliya International Institute for Counter-Terrorism conference, panelists simulated a meeting of ISIS’s core leadership trying to plot a mega-terrorist attack in order to stay relevant while it loses its foothold in Syria.

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

Winton Capital Sets Up Climate Change Prediction Market

One of Europe’s largest hedge funds is looking to move into the gambling industry in the UK, as it sets up a new venue where players can bet on the effects of climate change. The project is hoping to tempt climate scientists to put their money where their models are.

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

Year of Terror: Timeline of ISIS Attacks in Great Britain

The Parsons Green bombing marks the fourth time Islamic State has claimed terrorist atrocities in the UK, though fortunately this time no lives were lost. On the other three occasions, the victims were not so lucky. Read more (c) Stefan Wermuth MI5 launches inquiry into whether it could have prevented Westminster terrorist attack

Until 2017, Great Britain had been spared the kind of atrocities which have occurred across the rest of Europe, as well as the US and the Middle East. Even with the Lee Rigby murder and several killings committed by far-right extremists, since the 7/7 bombings in 2005, which killed 56 people, the UK had been relatively peaceful. This year, however, Britain has suffered five major terrorist attacks, four of which have been claimed by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt Court Sentences Mursi to 25 Years in Qatar Spy Case

An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted president Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood to 25 years in prison in a final ruling over a case accusing him of spying for Qatar, judicial sources said.

Mursi, democratically elected after Egypt’s 2011 revolution, was overthrown in mid-2013 by then-general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, now the president, following mass protests against his rule. He was immediately arrested.

Egypt’s Court of Cassation reduced Mursi’s sentence in the Qatar case to 25 years in its final ruling, from an original 40 years.

Mursi is already serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted for the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ankara Accuses Barzani of ‘Dissolving Iraq’

Turkey has accused Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader Massoud Barzani of “dissolving Iraq,” vowing to take “all necessary actions” to contain any fallout from the independence referendum at a national security meeting just days before the Sept. 25 vote.

“If you opt for the disintegration of Iraq, we will not tell you ‘OK, go ahead.’ We have told them many times. We have told them in our bilateral talks,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Sept. 17 before departing for New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly.

With just a week left until the referendum, Ankara has hardened its stance against the planned vote in recent days, linking the issue to Turkey’s national security.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq: Nassiriya: An ISIS Double Attack: At Least 74 Victims, Including Iranian Pilgrims

The jihadists hit a security checkpoint and a restaurant on the outskirts of the city. Over 90 injured, six militants killed in the clash with security agents. The area is an important means of communication used by Shiite pilgrims to reach the holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala.

Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) — At least 74 people, including several Iranian citizens, were victims of the twin bombing claimed by militants from the Islamic State (IS, formerly Isis) in Iraq. Jihadist militants hit near the southern city of Nassirya, causing over 90 wounded some of them seriously. They targeted a security checkpoint and a restaurant.

The agents stopped another attack on a second restaurant, triggering a shootout with the attackers; six extremist militias were killed.

Abdel Hussein al-Jabri, deputy head of the Department of Health of the Shiite majority in Dhiqar province, speaks of dozens of victims including seven Iranian citizens. It is the worst attack on Iraqi territory perpetrated by the men of the “Caliphate” since the liberation of Mosul in recent weeks, a longtime stronghold of jihadists in the country.

Local sources report that the attackers were disguised as members of the security forces of Hashed al-Shaabi, a Shiite paramilitary alliance that fights — alongside the army and the police — Daesh [Arabic acronym for IS] in northern Iraq. Nassiriya is about 345 km south of the capital Baghdad and is largely inhabited by Shiite Muslims.

Abu Ali, one of the dozens of people present at the time of the attack, reports that he was heading to the Fadek al-Zahra restaurant together with his wife when, a short distance away, he saw a group of paramilitary groups trying to force their way inside. “We continued to walk in the direction of the venue,” he continued, thinking that they were Iraqi troops. A few seconds later we heard gunshots and people screaming. “ “My wife — he concludes — shouted ‘terrorists’ and fled.” The assailants then fled after killing most of the customers present at the time in the restaurant.

The carcasses of burnt-out vehicles still lie at the scene of the twin attack, including dozens of cars, trucks and public transport vehicles. The affected area is crossed by an important communication channel used by Shiite pilgrims and foreign visitors, especially Iranians, to reach the holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala, to the north.

The Islamic State has claimed the attack in a statement on Amaq webite, often used by jihadists to relaunch propaganda and calls to holy war. The text exults for the death of “dozens of Shiites”.

The Iraqi Parliament has condemned the “cowardly” gesture that has targeted “innocent people”. MPs have not spared criticism of security members inside and around the city, for failing to prevent the massacre.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi army’s offensive against Jihadist militias continues, which last week took control of the city of Tal Afar. Now the next goal is the Al-Qaim jihadist bastion, on the border with Syria. Along with the town of Hawija, in the province of Kirkuk, 300km north of Baghdad, it is one of the last IS strongholds in Iraq.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Arabia: School Textbooks (Still) Teach Intolerance of Christians and Jews

Saudi Arabia’s school religious studies curriculum contains hateful and incendiary language towards religious and Islamic traditions that do not adhere to its interpretation of Sunni Islam, Human Rights Watch said today. The texts disparage Sufi and Shia religious practices and label Jews and Christians “unbelievers” with whom Muslims should not associate.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

The Islamist Front in Syria Crumbles: Psychosis of a Defeat at Idleb

Two Saudi preachers from the Islamic tribunal have resigned. The Ahrar el Sham group withdrew last July. The Damascus Liberation Organization is just another name for al Qaeda. Retaliatory clashes increase, suspicions grow. Contacts with Russians and Iranians in an attempt to save themselves from an imminent attack by the Syrian army.

Idleb (AsiaNews) — The Damascus Liberation Organization (Haiya’at Tahrir Al Sham), which gathers many Islamist groups fighting Syria’s Assad under its umbrella, is crumbling. In July there was the withdrawal of the Ahrar el Sham group (the Liberators of Damascus), among the first to fight in the civil war. On September 11, there was the resignation of the Saudi preachers and judges of the Islamic Sharia, Abdallah Al Muhaissni and Mosleh Al Ilyani, which has triggered a domino effect, feeding the hypothesis that it is the beginning of the organisms’ dissolution.

Haiya’at Tahrir Al Sham was set up on January 28 this year, and comprises a myriad of militia opponents of the Syrian government at Idleb. For the most part it is made up of non-Syrian people, united by Islamic terrorism, called “holy war” against all those who distance themselves from Takfiri integralism.

Over the past few months, the dissension between Koranic lawmakers and combatants has grown resulting in numerous mutual criticism and disagreements about how to conduct military operations against the movement of Ahrar el Sham and the use of weapons — rather than convictions — to impose unity within the group on other factions and secure a “revolutionary legitimacy” for Abi Mohamed Al Golani, leader of Al Nusra, and his followers.

In fact, the cause of the turmoil, disagreement and the refusal of all factions to remain united under a single flag is the Al Nusra Front, the biggest and most dominant component in the group, which has been classified as a terrorist organization. The turmoil has sharpened with growing rumors — backed by intelligence reports — of an imminent Syrian Army attack on Idleb as soon as Operation Deir Ez Zor ends. The attack should take place with a Russian-Turkish-Iranian cover.

The resignations of Abdallah Al Muhaissni and Mosleh Al Ilyani have opened the door to discussions between the supporters and opponents of the Ahrar of Damascus, led by Abi Saleh Al Tahan, who has cut all ties with the Nur Eddin Al Zenki Movement out of fear of becoming embroiled in the imminent attack of the Syrian army at Idleb.

Whatever the reason for the split within Ahrar Al Sham, its withdrawal reveals that the Damascus Liberation Organs is just another cover name, another alias of Al Nahra, formerly Al Qaeda. In the latter body there are no members of Al Nusra. Meanwhile, the Damascus Ahrar army has called for Idleb Sharia’a Tribunal to return the weapons and ammunition in their possession before the union, delivered 9 months ago to the unit’s weapons depot.

Armed clashes between the Ahrar and the Organization have also intensified in the last few weeks, with battles in the desert areas of Ikarda, Maarat Al Naasan and Fua in the Idleb hinterland, which only ended after lengthy mediatios. Ahrar’s chief of staff, Hashem El Sheikh, had threatened to resign from the body if attacks against the Damascus Ahrar Movement were continued. So far no resignations have taken place.

Exiles of the Ahrar Movement have circulated rumors that talk about the submission of Hashem El Sheikh to Al-Golani and that the latter has strongly criticized Turkey, their most direct ally, proposing a rapprochement with Iran before it is too late. These rumors pushed Hashem El Sheikh to open a profile on Instagram to voice his point. Al Golani did not deny that he had opened contact channels with Iran, but justified his doing so to free members of the Organization being held prisoner by Iran.

Meanwhile, Koranic legislator Ayman Harosh, close to the Ahrar of Damascus, revealed that Al Nusra has held secret encounters for more than two days with Russian personalities. These meetings are held in the house of Ahmad Al Darwish in the village of Abu Dali in the northeast hinterland of Hama. A statement issued by Ahrar of Damascus has denied the news, despite it containing names and details. But suspicions abound and apparently, everyone is worrying about the uncertain future and how to save their own skin. Since no one trusts anyone anymore, it can be assumed that the wave of defections will grow in the coming days.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey, US Urge Barzani to Cancel Planned Independence Referendum

Turkey and the United States have once again called on Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, to cancel a planned independence referendum scheduled to be held on Sept. 25.

“Mr. Barzani knows very well what we think about this issue,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told private broadcaster A Haber late on Sept. 15, as he added that Turkey would announce its official position on the referendum after its National Security Council (MGK) and cabinet will be convened on Sept. 22.

President Erdogan commented on Barzani’s statements, saying that “they were really wrong.” “He has been aware of our sensitivity regarding Iraq’s territorial integrity for years. I don’t find it appropriate at all that he engages in some operations,” he also said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey Summons German Envoy Over ‘Terror’ Rally in Cologne

Turkey on Saturday summoned the German ambassador to Ankara to condemn what it called a rally organised by supporters of Kurdish militants in Cologne, the foreign ministry said.

“We condemn the permission given for the organisation of an activity by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) terror group’s extensions in Germany and their spreading terror propaganda there today in Cologne,” the ministry said in the statement.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UN Chief Comes Out Against Kurdish Independence Referendum

The U.N. says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opposes the Sept. 25 independence referendum planned by Iraq’s Kurds for the enclave in the country’s north.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Sunday that Guterres believes any unilateral decision to hold a referendum now would detract from the need to defeat the Islamic State extremist group.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Lahore Catholic NGO to Help Rohingya in Trouble

The ten-day mission involves the distribution of various items to a hundred families, moved by the need to help “Muslim brothers”. Refugees “are ordinary, peace-loving people caught between rival groups.”

Lahore (AsiaNews) — A lay Catholic of Lahore is leaving for Thailand next week to help Rohingya Muslims fleeing Buddhist-majority Myanmar amid a security crackdown.

During his ten-day mission, Samuel Pyara, president of Bright Future Society (BFS), plans to help a hundred families with medicine, food items and clothes.

Pyara will visit refugee camps along the border between Mae Sot, in Thailand’s Tak province, and Myawaddy, in Myanmar’s Kayin State. In 2015, he handed out relief items in the same area to some fifty displaced families.

“There are many challenges,” he told AsiaNews. “These people are usually living in the jungle, starving with their children. Many of them become victim of snake bites. Especially the children looked pale and terrified. The terrain is very rough. It is a painful experience.”

“We are very much concerned about the plight of our Muslim siblings who are in dire need of support. Several Christian-led organisations and minority wings of political parties held protests and press conferences against the ongoing tyranny [in Myanmar]. I am doing this for humanity.”

Like most Pakistanis, Pyara has no idea about armed militant groups in the Rohingya community like the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which attacked some 30 police and military outposts on 25 August in Rakhine State.

The counteroffensive by Myanmar security forces caused the Rohingya exodus. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, some 370,000 have crossed the border into Bangladesh.

Some 30,000 people from other Rakhine ethnic groups have also been displaced. The latter accuse the Muslims of atrocities against them.

Pyara spoke about the situation of other minorities in Myanmar who have long been in conflict with the military.

“Based on my conversation with displaced families, I believe that they are ordinary, peace-loving people caught between rival groups. Christians in Kachin State also need international action but we are helpless, as journalists and aid workers are being denied entrance in Myanmar.”

In his views, Bangladesh holds the key to solving Rohingya crisis. “Rohingya are ethnic Bengali-speaking Muslims and must be accepted by Bangladesh. This is the only solution of their plight,” he said.

Founded in 1996, BFS works for disaster victims, human rights, elderly, disabled children, poor students and sets up clean water facilities.

Last year it conferred the Good Samaritan award to Abdul Sattar Edhi, who is considered the ‘Mother Teresa of Pakistan’, a few months before his death.

On 20 September before his departure, Pyara plans to give the same award to colleagues of Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Ruth Pfau, who started Leprosy treatment in Pakistan, and died last month.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Myanmar: Members of Some Rakhine Ethnic Groups Talk About the Violence They Suffered. For Them, Peace With the Rohingya is Not Possible

The area’s Buddhist and Hindu tribal groups are one tenth of Muslims. Some 25,000 have been displaced and are now in camps set up by the army. Ongoing violence has undermined peaceful coexistence. Fear of possible Islamist infiltrations in the country is widespread. Mizzima News blames the Islamic State for the attacks against military outposts. This is part of an attempt to disrupt Aung San Suu Kyi’s peace policy.

Yangon (AsiaNews) — Whilst the international community is putting pressures on the Government of Myanmar to end violence in Rakhine State, many Burmese and members of ethnic groups evacuated from northern villages complain of atrocities committed by armed Rohingya militants.

More than 400 people have died as a result of the fighting that broke out on 25 August, when militants of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked dozens of police and military posts. The attacks led to what the government calls a legitimate military campaign against “Bengali terrorists”.

At the same time, the violence has sparked an exodus of residents. The state is home to about 750,000 Muslims originally from Bangladesh, and about 75,000 tribal Buddhists and Hindus. So far, about 125,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh, whilst more than 25,000 non-Muslim residents have been evacuated with state assistance.

At a camp set up by government and army, evacuees accuse Rohingya of starting the crisis, and defend Burmese security forces. Aung Tun Hla is one of them. Speaking about what happened in his village during the first hours of clashes, he is quoted as saying: “Around 9am on 25 August 2017, more than 20,000 persons besieged our Taungbaza Village. At that time, we informed the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) about our situations [sic]. When the Tatmadaw evacuated us from the village, those persons attacked even the Tatmadaw. So, the Tatmadaw let us choose the way to go to safe place.”

“The Tatmadaw performed counter-attacks against them,” Aung Tun Hla says. “So, we arrived at the foot of the hill and saved [our] lives. [. . .] If there are Bengali terrorists, we [will] never live in our native villages. We cannot live there together with them similar [sic] to the past. Our ethnic people would like to live here separately. Those Bengalis are crafty. In the past, they raped our ethnic women. We had found they killed a few people [sic]. We would not let them live in the region.”

Phyu Phyu Hlaing, a woman from Buthidaung township, says more ore less the same. They “besieged our village from four directions. When hay [they] besieged our village, all of our villagers went to the monastery.”

Ngwe Hlaing is also from Buthidaung Township. “Buthidaung Bengali terrorists raped two girls of our village in 2008 and then killed them. Our villagers had bitter experience over those terrorists [sic]. On 25 August 2017, those Bengali terrorists attacked [. . .] At night, we heard information that those Bengali terrorists raided the police outpost in Phaungdawbyin Village. [. . .] So, we could not live here peacefully.”

“Our village is always posed [sic] threats by Bengalis,” said Soe San Maung of Thinbawhla. “On the starting day of [the] crisis, they besieged our village in the morning. They threatened us not to live here [sic]. They committed same acts many times. In 1990, a family from Thayagon Village was killed. All six family members were killed. They totally killed the people as massacre acts [sic]. So, we do not live here together those Bengalis.”

Some analysts argue that Myanmar’s influential military is using tensions between Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic groups to assert their power. Yet, among locals there is fear and a strong feeling of possible Islamist infiltrations in the country.

Citing intelligence sources, Mizzima News, a news organisation founded by exiled Burmese journalists, reported that on 23 and 24 August, India and Bangladesh intercepted three phone calls between ARSA military chief Hafiz Tohar and some Islamic terrorists in Pakistan.

According to some sources, these calls played a key role in the armed group’s offensive against Myanmar’s security forces.

They indicate that ARSA and its supporters, the Islamic State and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, want to cause problems for Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, which has pledged to establish an inter-ministerial committee to implement the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Rakhine Commission, headed by Kofi Annan.

“The ARSA is determined to thwart Daw Suu Kyi’s good intentions to implement the Kofi Annan report. They want to brutalise the discourse in Rakhine and help re-militarise the area so that the narrative of torture and extra-judicial killings help them boost the level of jihad and find recruits,” a top Bangladesh intelligence official told Mizzima News.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Myanmar: Al-Qaida and Islamic State Claim to be Defending the Rohingya

Al-Qaeda calls on Muslims in neighbouring countries to take up arms since their defence is mandated by Sharia. This reflects a strategy of “defensive jihad”. Rohingya militants are numerical inferior and poorly equipped and might give in to radical infiltrations.

Yangon (AsiaNews/RFA) — Al-Qaeda’s general leadership issued a statement this week describing attacks against Rohingya in Myanmar as part of an ongoing global campaign against Muslims conducted “under the guise of fighting terrorism,” and vowed to come to their defense.

The statement makes clear that al-Qaeda believes it has a religious and legal obligation under Sharia to come to the defense of the Rohingya, who have been humiliated and victimized by savage treatment.

“Helping the Muslims of Arakan is a Sharia obligation and a legal necessity,” al-Qaeda wrote. The statement criticizes the hypocrisy of the West, which has not come to the defense of the Rohingya and sat by as the slaughter of Muslim innocents continues.

In particular, the statement calls on Muslims in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines to “set out for Burma, to help their Muslim brothers, and to make the necessary preparations — training and the like — to resist oppression against their Muslim brothers, and to secure their rights, which will only be returned to them by the use of force.” Al-Qaeda calls on Myanmar to be punished for its crimes.

The statement, made public on Tuesday, says that owing to the Rohingya’s qualitative and quantitative inferiority, the religious obligation to fight is no longer an abstract one that the Muslim community must respond to, but a personal action: “The obligation turns from a general obligation, to an individual obligation.”

The statement’s timing is important. Al-Qaeda has long been opportunistic and identified the suffering of Muslims and the inaction of the West. But this was a particularly fast response, and far quicker than their reaction to the civil war in Syria.

Al-Qaeda has been patiently waiting in the wings, watching its rival, the Islamic State (IS), get pummeled by a coalition of forces. In some places, such as Indonesia, it has successfully branded itself as a moderate alternative to IS. Across Southeast Asia, Jemaah Islamiyah’s social networks remain largely intact, if not more robust.

With IS having lost 80 percent to 90 percent of its territory in Iraq and Syria and its caliphate collapsed, it has to turn to smaller conflicts, relying on its still robust cyber network and media operations. IS will try to network smaller localized conflicts, such as in Rakhine (Arakan) and in the southern Philippines, where it recently released a video about the pro-IS militants who seized Marawi city.

Yet, networking “defensive jihads” would be a new strategy for IS whose leaders grew their central organization, declared a caliphate, and then tried to expand by declaring “provinces” -wilayat- of the Caliphate.

Long-term strategy

In contrast, al-Qaeda has long espoused a network approach, and its long-term strategy has always been to network defensive jihads. Indeed, Osama bin Laden used the name the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders in his original 1996 fatwa. In many ways, al-Qaeda leaders think they are in a better position to do this than their IS rivals.

IS has taken to social media as well, issuing a number of “posters” on Telegram and other communication apps both to raise awareness of the plight of the Rohingya and to demand revenge against the Myanmar government. But to date there has been no major statement with theological justification, similar to al-Qaeda’s.

As important, al-Qaeda has long-standing institutional links to some other Rohingya militant organizations, such as the Rohingya Solidarity Organization. Harakah al-Yaqin/Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) both have roots tied to Bangladeshi militant organizations, such as Jamaat-e-Islami dating back over two decades. There are alleged ties between the antecedents to ARSA, with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), the pro-IS affiliate that staged the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery attack that killed 20 civilians.

Through its pogroms, Myanmar has made itself a target of both al-Qaeda and IS. Both organizations seek to legitimize themselves as the vanguard organization in the defense of Muslim rights around the world.

And with such competition, there is always concern for outbidding. But as the two organizations vie for primacy, they have every incentive to take up the mantle of the Rohingya and strike first in their defense.

There are no longer just calls for solidarity. The Rohingya crisis is attracting the attention of militants.

While there is a concern that Southeast Asian militants will make their way to join the Rohingya, the far greater concern is that South Asian IS and al-Qaeda cells will do so. Institutionally and geographically, they are closer and in a much better position to direct their activities there.

The al-Qaeda statement is not good for the average Rohingya. It will only reinforce the suspicion among Myanmar security forces that ARSA is a terrorist organization tied to the global Islamist jihadist community, determined to establish an Islamic State.

To date, there is no evidence that ARSA wants anything more than the restoration of legal protections and citizenship rights of its people and has not publicly called for secession or jihad. Its stated ends are limited and reasonable.

Concerns

But the concern is threefold. First, what if a terrorist attack against Myanmar interests is carried out in the name of the Rohingya, or as revenge for attacks on the Rohingya? There have already been two separate attempts by pro-IS cells in Indonesia to blow up the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, most recently by JAD in November 2016.

Last week, demonstrators hurled a Molotov cocktail at the embassy. There is no evidence that ARSA had anything to do with any of these, but any such attack would have an immediate impact on them and be further justification by the Myanmar security forces to carry on with their brutal clearing campaign and scorched-earth tactics.

Second, can such a resource poor and nascent insurgency afford to turn away men and resources? ARSA’s Sept. 10 declaration of a one-month ceasefire was tactically and strategically clever.

It will use this time to recruit from amongst the swelling ranks of nearly 800,000 refugees. Vulnerable, needy, and with nothing to lose, they are easy recruits. But ARSA remains woefully under-armed.

The influx of foreign aid, personnel and expertise will improve their capabilities, but militarily they will remain weak.

Third, will ARSA, as a result of its own strategic calculations or the changing external security environment, embrace a more radical ideology and asymmetric tactics? There is no insurgency that I can think of where either al-Qaeda or IS injected itself that did not become more violent and radical.

In many ways, ARSA has every incentive to eschew such support.

Strategically, it has garnered international sympathy by portraying itself as an ethno-nationalist struggle against a brutal regime. Tactically, it is dependent on the Bangladeshi security forces not cracking down on their operations.

Self-defense is one thing, but common cause with militants who have engaged in terrorism in Bangladesh, is likely to cross a line. But it’s clear that transnational jihadists are starting to weigh in and that will not be good for the already suffering Rohingya.

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and the author of “Forging Peace in Southeast Asia: Insurgencies, Peace Processes, and Reconciliation.” The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the US Department of Defense, the National War College or BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistan Man Sentenced to Death for Ridiculing Prophet Muhammad on WhatsApp

A Christian man has been sentenced to death for blasphemy by a court in eastern Pakistan after a close friend accused him of sharing material making fun of Islam, the defendant’s lawyer said on Friday.

Nadeem James, 35, was arrested in July 2016, accused by a friend of sharing material ridiculing the Prophet Mohammad on the WhatsApp messaging service.

Blasphemy is a criminal offence in Muslim-majority Pakistan, and insults against the Prophet are punishable by death. Most cases are filed against members of minority communities.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Rohingya ‘Extremists’ Trying to Build Stronghold — Myanmar Army

Myanmar’s top general has blamed Rohingya people for the crisis that has led to hundreds of thousands crossing into Bangladesh.

Gen Min Aung Hlaing said the Rohingya “has never been an ethnic group”, and accused “extremists” of trying to form a stronghold in northern Rakhine state.

The UN has warned that offensive against the Rohingya — most of whom are Muslims, while Myanmar is 90% Buddhist — could amount to ethnic cleansing.

On Saturday UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi had “a last chance” to halt the army offensive before the situation becomes “absolutely horrible”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Roots of the Ongoing Jihad in Western Myanmar

By Dr. Andrew Bostom

Aided by regional promoters of jihad Bengladesh and Pakistan, as well as Saudi Arabia, and even assisted by jihadist manpower from “moderate Muslim” Indonesia, the 2017 jihad terrorist organizations in Arakan/Rakhine wage the same World War II-era jihad of their Bengali Muslim colonist forbears from the “Muslim Liberation Organization,” and “The Mujahid Party”, dubbed “Rohingya” beginning in August, 1951.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China’s Economy Slowing Down Again

In the second half of the year growth will be 6.7. In the first half, it was 6.9. Next year it should drop some more, to 6 per cent, the lowest level in 30 years. This stems from lower industrial output and less credit.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — New data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that the country’s growth rate is slowing down. Analysts believe that this is the result of tighter government credit policy.

Data on investment, industrial output and retail sales point to the slowdown. During the first eight months of this year, investment in fixed assets grew at the slowest pace in almost 18 years, up 7.8 per cent from a year ago, NBS data show.

Industrial output in August registered the weakest growth of this year, up 6 per cent from a year ago. Retail sales rose 10.1 per cent from the same month in 2016, the smallest gain in six months.

This reduction is strictly dependent on the government’s campaign to cut excess industrial capacity and slim down the credit-fuelled economy. The second quarter slowdown is expected to continue.

Some analysts estimate that the growth rate could go as low as 6 per cent in 2018, which could be the country’s slowest expansion in nearly three decades. China’s gross domestic product grew at 6.9 per cent in the first half of this year.

Some analysts Like Larry Hu, cited in Caixin, expects China’s GDP growth to slow to 6.7 per cent in the second half of the year from 6.9 per cent in the first six months, before slipping further to 6.0 per cent in the full year of 2018.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Kim Says North Korea is Nearing Goal of Military ‘Equilibrium’ With US

North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un said his country is close to achieving military “equilibrium” with the United States as a way to make American leaders “dare not talk” about military options for dealing with Pyongyang.

Kim’s comments Saturday came a day after the rogue country fired its latest missile over Japan, a test the United Nations Security Council strongly condemned as “highly provocative.” The U.N. slapped North Korea with new sanctions just days ago in response to a powerful Sept. 3 nuclear test.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

German Man Caught With ‘Nearly 400 Pills’ In Drug Crackdown as Thousands of Rowdy Revellers Descend on Australia’s Biggest Electronic Dance Festival Defqon.1

A German national has allegedly been caught with a large amount of illegal pills at the Defqon.1 dance festival in Sydney on Saturday. He was allegedly in possession of 396 capsules.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Islamist Extremist Tells University Students Ex-Muslims Should be Killed Under Sharia Law During Debate With Atheist Who Feared for His Safety

An Islamist extremist group leader told a Sydney university crowd ex-Muslims should be killed where Sharia law applied during a debate with an atheist activist who feared for his safety.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic Group Wants Taxpayers to Fund Muslim Hotline for Parents Worried About Youths Being Radicalised

A Muslim group wants taxpayer funds to set up a hotline for parents worried about their children being radicalised. The Islamic Council of Victoria is seeking $3.5 million.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Police Unmask, Arrest at Melbourne CBD Protest

POLICE flexed their new powers to unmask thugs who tried to hide their identity during Left and Right-wing protests in the city yesterday.

One masked man sparked a violent altercation after he refused to remove his mask as two opposing groups of demonstrators were involved in a loud stand-off on the steps of parliament.

A man, 24, and a woman aged 27 — who was charged with assaulting a photographer — were the only two arrested as hundreds gathered outside the State Library in a show of force against people they called “Nazis”.

Supporters of the Campaign Against Fascism and Jews Against Fascism blocked city streets for hours as they marched down Swanston St to confront their rivals at state parliament on Spring St.

That group was calling on the Andrews Government to take stronger action on violent criminals and gang-­related crime, and dozens of police were on hand to keep the groups apart.

Police made it clear last week they would enforce new laws that made it illegal for protesters to hide their faces.

The laws came into effect on Wednesday and include a violent disorder charge for those who commit thuggery in large groups.

Police pounced on the masked protester after noticing him outside the library before the march began. The youth screamed obscenities at journalists as he was led out of the crowd and questioned.

“This is not ethical,” he whined. “You’re invading my privacy.” Police took his details and released him…

           — Hat tip: JP1683 [Return to headlines]
 

Two People Arrested During Violent Clashes Between Opposing Protestors at ‘Make Victoria Safe Again’ Rally

A man and woman were arrested in Melbourne on Sunday during a ‘Make Victoria Safe Again’ rally, which was met by a larger group of anti-racism protesters.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Ethiopia: 55,000 People Displaced Amid Ethnic Clashes.

The provincial government of Ethiopia’s restive Oromia region says 55,000 ethnic Oromos have been displaced by ethnic Somalis in the neighboring Somali region after a week of unrest in which dozens were killed.

The statement from Oromia Sunday follows claims by Somali regional officials earlier this week that more than 50 people were killed in an attack against ethnic Somalis in Aweday town.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Kelly Told Trump Mexico Was on the Verge of Collapse Like Venezuela: Report

White House chief of staff John Kelly likened Mexico to Venezuela during a conversation with President Trump this month, telling Trump that Mexico was similarly on the verge of collapse, according to The New York Times.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Flashback: Juncker: No Matter How Bad Migrant Crisis, Terrorism Gets, We’ll Never Give Up on Open Borders

Jean-Claude Juncker has vowed that no matter how bad terrorism or the migrant crisis gets, the European Union (EU) will never give up on open borders. The European Commission president said terrorism could be countered with better intelligence-sharing between member states.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Defends Trump, Slams Leftists, Ungrateful Immigrants

And that’s probably why you’re only just now hearing about it

The following interview didn’t receive much fanare in the mainstream media, and it’s no wonder why.

Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. gave a lengthy interview Monday to Hollywood Unlocked. While much of what Mayweather spoke about concerned boxing, he also took time to share his views on President Trump — namely that people have judged him unfairly.

A portion of the interview is featured above (warning: strong language) and the The Daily Wire summarized other pertinent parts of the boxer’s interview:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary Builds a Wall, Cuts Illegal Immigration by Over 99 Per Cent

Hungary has slashed illegal immigration by over 99 per cent after rolling out a series of powerful border fences in response to the European migrant crisis, possibly providing a lesson as to the potential impact of constructing President Trump’s much-discussed southern wall in the U.S.

Speaking on the second anniversary of the government’s move to seal Hungary’s border with Serbia — which is also an external border for the European Union — Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Chief Security Advisor, György Bakondi, announced that the fences have caused illegal immigration to collapse from 391,000 in 2015, to 18,236 in 2016, to just 1,184 in 2017.

“The system of technical barriers is the key to the success of border security, and without it, it would be impossible to stop the mass arrival of immigrants”, the security chief explained.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary’s Prime Minister Follows Through on Promise to Build Border Wall…george Soros Will be Furious When He Sees the Stunning Number of Illegal Immigrants He’s Kept Out So Far

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán promised the citizens of Hungary he would build a wall to protect them from the influx of mostly male unvetted refugees. He ignored the threats from the bully leaders of the European Union and neighboring countries and built the wall anyhow. Today, Hungary is reaping the rewards of a committed and strong leader.

Hungary has slashed illegal immigration by over 99 per cent after rolling out a series of powerful border fences in response to the European migrant crisis, possibly providing a lesson as to the potential impact of constructing President Trump’s much-discussed southern wall in the U.S.

A razor-wire fence built along Hungary’s southern border with Serbia and Croatia has helped to sharply reduce the number of migrants from the hundreds of thousands who last year moved up from the Balkans towards northern Europe, especially Germany.

Hungary says it has registered 19,140 asylum applications in 2016 and more than 14,000 migrants have crossed its southern borders illegally.

Speaking on the second anniversary of the government’s move to seal Hungary’s border with Serbia — which is also an external border for the European Union — — Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Chief Security Advisor György Bakondi announced that the fences have caused illegal immigration to collapse from 391,000 in 2015, to 18,236 in 2016, to just 1,184 in 2017.

In February 2017, Prime Minister Orbán took his war against George Soros public:

Hungary’s populist prime minister on Friday lashed out against billionaire financier George Soros, claiming he and groups backed by him want to secretly influence the country’s politics.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Is Romania Ready to Deal With Its Rising Migrant Numbers?

Migrants have been crossing the Black Sea to Romania in increasing numbers.

On Tuesday night a small boat carrying 157 migrants from Iraq and Iran was found off the Romanian coast.

Three days before, the coast guard had intercepted a rickety boat with 97 migrants on board, 36 of them children.

On September 3rd another fishing boat carrying 87 migrants was stopped by the border police.

These are just the latest in a series of search and rescue missions, which saw over the last month 480 migrants reaching the Romanian shoreline.

Migrants took the 200-km-long journey across the perilous Black Sea, igniting fears that Turkish smugglers are opening up a new route for illegal entry into the European Union.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Allegedly Paying Libyan Warlord, Former People Smuggler to Halt Migrants

Libyan warlord Ahmed Dabaschi is a former people smuggler who now prevents migrants from leaving Libya and some claim the Italian government has paid him to do it.

Dabaschi, also known as “al Ammu”, or “the uncle”, is one of the most notorious warlords in the Libyan city of Sabratha. Until recently, he was active in smuggling migrants out to sea where they would often be rescued by NGOs patrolling off the coast. The warlord has now turned his attention to preventing such crossings over the last three months, ?Rheinische Post reports.

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

Maryland Will Not Allow Illegal Aliens to Vote in Local Election

City Council was in favor of allowing illegals to vote

Non-U.S. citizens won’t be allowed to vote on local matters in College Park, Md., despite city council officials voting in favor of a proposal that would have allowed it earlier this week.

The College Park City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday night to allow legal permanent residents and illegal immigrants to participate in municipal elections. One council member did not vote.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

No Amnesty is a Good Amnesty

by Ann Coulter

Donald Trump is being told that amnesty for “Dreamers,” or DACA recipients, will only apply to a small, narrowly defined group of totally innocent, eminently deserving illegal immigrants, who were brought to this country “through no fault of their own” as “children.” (Children who are up to 36 years old.)

Every syllable of that claim is a lie, and I can prove it.

To see how DACA will actually work, let’s look at another extremely limited amnesty that was passed in 1986.

Farmers wanted temporary guest-worker permits for their cheap labor, so that they could continue pretending that the Industrial Revolution never happened and refuse to mechanize. (And, boy, did that work! We haven’t heard a peep about “crops rotting in the fields” since then.)

The agricultural amnesty was supposed to apply to — at most — 350,000 illegal aliens. It would be available only to illegals who were currently in the country doing the back-breaking farm work that no American would do. Without them, crops would wither on the vine. They were saving us from starvation!

Talk about deserving. Are any Dreamers saving us from starvation?

But instead of guest-worker permits, then-Rep. Charles Schumer — from the lush farmland of Brooklyn — decided to grant full amnesty to any illegals who had done farm work for at least 90 days in the previous year.

That’s pretty restrictive, isn’t it?

In the end, “up to 350,000 farm workers” turned into 1.3 million.

[Comment: Recommended reading. DACA is the US version of the globalist population replacement plan for western nations.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Parsons Green Terror Suspect, 18, Revealed as ‘Refugee Taken in by Foster Couple’

Neighbours claim ‘problematic’ teen was arrested TWO WEEKS ago

A TEEN suspected of being the Parsons Green bucket bomber is thought to be a refugee fostered by an elderly couple who were honoured by the Queen.

The 18-year-old — the youngest to be arrested over a terror attack in the UK — — is being quizzed by cops after he was seized in Dover on Saturday.

A second man was arrested late last night police confirmed today.

The 21-year-old man was arrested in Hounslow shortly before midnight last night.

The 18-year-old reportedly “froze” as he was surrounded by cops at 7.50am after being tracked by facial recognition technology following the London Tube attack that injured 30.

Five hours later, armed police raided a home in posh Sunbury-on-Thames that belongs to Ron and Penny Jones, who received an MBE in 2009 for fostering hundreds of kids.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

This Land is Their Land

By Suketu Mehta

Immigration is inevitable. When will the West learn that it promises salvation — not destruction?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Parsons Green Attack: ‘Iraqi’ Refugee Suspected of Trying to Bomb Tube ‘Was Spoken to by Police Several Times’

A teenager suspected of being the Parsons Green bomber had been spoken to by police a number of times, neighbours of his foster family claimed today, amid questions over what authorities knew.

The 18-year-old refugee, believed to be Iraqi, was a “problem” to foster parents Penny and Ron Jones and they had been contacting officials saying that they were unable to cope, it was said.

Neighbours of their house in Sunbury-on-Thames, south west London, said that he had been brought home by officers just two weeks before the attack and they regularly saw plain clothes officers at the property.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Syrian Refugee Investigated After Attack

Police raided the home of a Syrian refugee Sunday in connection to Friday’s bombing on a London subway train that injured dozens.

Two men, aged 18 and 21, were arrested Saturday for alleged involvement in the attack. The 18-year-old man has been identified as an Iraqi refugee who arrived in the U.K. three years ago, the Evening Standard reported. The suspect lived at the home of Ron and Penelope Jones, who also served as foster parents for the Syrian refugee.

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

Unwelcome in Israel, African Refugees Dream of Home

Labeled ‘infiltrators’ and denied long-term solutions, thousands of largely Eritrean and Sudanese migrants live in limbo

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Google Hit With Class-Action Gender Pay Lawsuit

Google faces a new lawsuit accusing it of gender-based pay discrimination. A lawyer representing three female former Google employees is seeking class action status for the claim.

The suit, filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court, follows a federal labor investigation that made a preliminary finding of systemic pay discrimination among the 21,000 employees at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. The initial stages of the review found women earned less than men in nearly every job classification.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

If I Were the Devil, I’d Enact Hate Speech Laws

Hate speech laws are loved not only by the do-gooders who demand them. If I were the Devil, I’d love laws that limit free speech, too.

“If I Were the Devil,” a famous monologue originally written by Paul Harvey in 1965 that he reworked over a 20-year period, didn’t mention hate speech laws. But listen to his final version, and feel the chill of its truths when you realize just how much Satan has achieved.

Then imagine how much more the Devil could accomplish if he could silence, under the banner of a moral imperative to limit speech, not just Paul Harvey, but all Christians.

Christian speech, like all speech here in America, though (for the time being, at least), is protected by the Constitution from the Devil and anyone else who’d like it silenced. Christianity is also protected, and it’s no coincidence that religion and speech are mentioned in the same amendment.

As Alexis de Tocqueville noted a few decades after the creation of that document: “the Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”

The Devil’s been busy during the years since, constructing his idea of a “wall of separation” in both the minds of Americans and the streets of America. He’s also been working, as Harvey emphasized in his monologue, to make unlimited sexual “liberty” society’s focus instead of the kind of self-governing, virtuous liberty the framers had in mind.

[Comment: Recommended reading.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Leftists Never Fight

Senator Dianne Feinstein revealed both the Democrat’s anti-Catholic bigotry and view of work when she said:

“And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to the big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.”

She was addressing a Catholic woman who has been nominated to the judiciary. Can you imagine what would happen if a Republican questioned a liberal woman’s suitability for the judiciary because of that woman’s religious beliefs? Apparently, according to Democrats, not only can one be black only if one toes the line set by the rich white liberals who run the DNC, but one can only be a woman if one bows to the altar of the DNC leadership.

The obvious problem has been discussed extensively; namely the Constitution specifically says that one can’t have a religious test for office. Hence the Democrat’s “no Catholics need apply” rule is a clear rejection of the Constitution and the rule of law.

However, there is even a more deeper indictment of Democrats in the last part of the quote.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

PC, The Military, And the Police

After decades of affirmative action, including gender quotas, the data are now in. Why are they being ignored? How much more damage will be done?

I’m going to focus this commentary on women in the police and military forces. The politically correct policy for years has been to integrate women into jobs for which, as it turns out, they are clearly less suited than the men who would otherwise have filled those critical positions. Moreover, the policy is to expand the program, by allowing women into the elite military forces such as the Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs, forces for which only a small percentage of male applicants qualify, and possibly no women could. The claim is that the standards will not be lowered, but in fact, they already have been.

The extreme price which has been paid includes the death of female Navy pilot Lt. Kara Hultgreen, who was killed while attempting to land on an aircraft carrier, but crashed instead. Critics of the policy noted that Hultgreen was pushed through her training program only because the Navy had been pressured to certify women pilots in what has been called the most difficult and dangerous occupation in the Navy. Political correctness won. The nation, and Hultgreen, lost.

That is the case with other occupations in the U.S. Navy. One qualification for sailors used to be that, in the event of an emergency, a sailor must be able to carry a wounded sailor to safety, including climbing from the lowest compartment of a sinking ship, to the surface deck. Because few (or no) women could do this, the requirement has been eliminated. Currently, the physical fitness standards for women include a minimum performance of 11 pushups, compared to 33 for men, at age 35. That is triple for men, compared to women.

The Marine Corps is also being pressured to lower its standards to accommodate women.

[Comment: Recommended reading.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Muslim Grooming Gangs

The young girl, still a child, was held down while the man raped her. And then another man, and another. Throughout this gang rape by queues of men, she was held hostage, locked up for days on end so she couldn’t escape. While held prisoner as a sex slave, she had to listen to the screams of girls in neighbouring locked rooms while they had to endure the same ordeal. Men ejaculated and urinated in the girls’ mouths, violating them in every orifice. You might think the perpetrators were members of Boko Haram in Nigeria, or ISIS in Iraq or wartorn Syria. After all, sex slavery and ‘marriage’ of prepubescent girls is legitimized, and indeed encouraged, in the Koran; Mohammed married Aisha when she was six and consummated his marriage when she was nine. But these horrors were not being perpetrated in the Middle East or Nigeria; the girls were being treated like human toilet paper in towns across the United Kingdom. Violent sexual abuse of children is an extremely emotive topic and the authorities and media normally spare no effort in dealing with it. But when it involves a minority group it has, until the last few years, been the ‘third rail’ of politics and journalism, to be avoided at all costs. The issue is the organized pimping and gang rape of young schoolgirls by Muslim gangs. If the UK police and media had not looked away, tens of thousands of young girls, some as young as 11, would not have had their lives ruined in one of the most shameful episodes in the last century.

The Sikh Experience

The earliest indications were in the 1980s. Muslim men, the vast majority of whom were of Pakistani heritage, were befriending Sikh schoolgirls, impressing them with expensive cars and plying them with alcohol and other drugs. The following are extracts from a BBC documentary Inside Out with the words that one 13 year-old victim had to say about her experience, together with words of the presenter:

He seemed like a really sweet guy. I started skipping school just to go out with him. Then he’d buy me stuff and pay for my stuff, and then he bought me a phone to stay in contact with him. He made me feel like I was a centre of attention. He spent weeks, slowly gaining her trust, but he had a hidden agenda. He’d take me out to a hotel, and gave me a drink. I don’t know what happened after that.

Next morning, ‘Jaswinder’ (not her real name) woke up naked, and realized her drink had been spiked. The man she thought she could trust had taken obscene photos of her, and threatened to show them to her parents unless she agreed to have sex with other men. The blackmail and abuse continued for over eighteen months. Jaswinder claimed that the man who forced her into prostitution initially hid his true identity.

He didn’t say he was Sikh, but the way he acted and talked, and his appearance . . . He had a gold Khanda, and he had a kara; his appearance was just like a Sikh.

By wearing sacred symbols of Sikhism, she said he had deceived her into thinking he was from the same religion; in fact he was a Muslim.

[Comment: Recommended reading.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

13 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/17/2017

  1. Ah, the ‘mental illness’ wheeze is getting tiresome.

    In a day or 2 it’ll come out she an Islamist sympather – in the meantime the Ministry of Tourism spins desperately to come up with ‘the mad cleaning lady’ trying to disinfect the Amis.

    A simple technique that could devastate Europe’s tourist industry.

    • I believe these low-level terror techniques are already having an impact on Western European tourism.

  2. If you ain’t got no socks you can’t pull ’em up. Does anyone feel safe working or sharing with a Muslim? Especially a practicing one. Muslims will at some point in our children’s lives be ‘fighting’ for their own separate independent state within – you name it.

    • When I was living in a ‘moderate’ Muslim country, I eventually bought a set of clippers and began cutting my own hair.

      I did that because it was faster, the quality was better, and mostly importantly, I did not have to worry about an Ummah member with a straight razor near my carotid artery.

      • Yes! In Ireland even the smallest country villages has at least one Turkish or other Muslim barber shop situated strategically in your face. For the towns and cities multiply that. These barbers look so alien and hostile. The customers looked depressed. Personally I would be sweating blood.

  3. The vocabulary used to describe the despicable perpetrator will
    Hardly bring any comfort to the physically and mentally scarred
    American exchange students.

    My advice to anyone thinking of going to France is to steer clear
    As there will be more of this to come.

  4. I dare say the Muslims know we will have to neutralise them if we are to survive. Laughing their posteriors off at the mentally ill kufar. I imagine the situation is too good to be true. Diversity rocks our Babylon.

    • Yes, that is why nearly all Mosques have hidden caches of weaponry, including explosive devices and hand launched anti-tank missiles in all the large Western cities.

    • What I get from that article is that Noor, by supplying any kind of response to an internal investigation, that response be it written or oral, cannot be used as ‘evidence’ in a court of law.

      But that does not mean he will not be charged with murder and in the first degree, and IMHO, if going on all that is known of that incident has been made public and there is nothing more to add, then Noor has to be charged.

Comments are closed.