A woman threw a corrosive liquid, possibly acid, at a group of employees of the local transportation authority on the street in Chattanooga today. Five victims were hospitalized, one with serious burns. The attacker reportedly targeted one woman in particular, while the other victims were collateral damage. The suspect has not yet been apprehended.
In other news, judicial authorities in Spain are considering prosecuting Catalonian protesters for sedition as a result of their participation in a pro-independence demonstration earlier this month.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Charles Low, Insubria, JM, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Six-Figure Pensions for University of California Teachers Surge 60% Since 2012
Back in January 2017, the University of California system of schools approved their first in-state tuition hike in six years. And while one might hope that the extra millions of dollars raised as a result of those hikes would go toward a better education for students, in reality, a large chuck will go to fund the exorbitant pensions of retired teachers.
As the Los Angeles Times recently pointed out, there are over 5,400 retirees in the UC system drawing over $100,000 per year, a 60% surge since 2012. Moreover, there are nearly 3 dozen former teachers drawing over $300,000 per year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Teachers Demand $3,200 From Each Kentucky Household to Fund Pension Ponzi for 2 Years
We have written frequently over the past couple of weeks about the disastrous public pension funds in Kentucky that are anywhere from $42 — $84 billion underfunded, depending on which discount rate you feel inclined to use. As we’ve argued before, these pensions, like the ones in Illinois and other states, are so hopelessly underfunded that they haven’t a prayer of ever again being made whole.
That said, logic and math have never before stopped pissed off teachers and/or clueless legislators from throwing good money after bad in an effort to ‘kick the can down the road’ on their pension crises. As such, it should come as no surprise at all that the Lexington Herald Leader reported today that Kentucky’s 365,000 teachers and other public employees are now demanding that taxpayers contribute a staggering $5.4 billion to their insolvent ponzi schemes over the next two years alone. To put that number in perspective, $5.4 billion is roughly $3,200 for each household in the state of Kentucky and 25% of the state’s entire budget over a two-year period.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Teacher Arrested in Berkeley
An infamous “anti-fascist” teacher was arrested again Tuesday in Berkeley after an Antifa “Victory March.”
Police in riot gear arrested Yvonne Felarca, a Berkeley middle school teacher and Antifa activist, for resisting arrest and battery, according to Campus Reform. Felarca spearheads the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary (BAMN).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chattanooga Transit Employee Hospitalized After Woman Throws Liquid
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Police are searching for a woman who threw an unidentified liquid, injuring five Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority employees.
News outlets report one employee was hospitalized with serious injuries after sustaining burns when the liquid was thrown in her face Tuesday morning. Sgt. Victor Miller with the Chattanooga police homicide unit says the woman appeared to be the target, while the other four had less serious injuries from being splashed by the liquid.
Chattanooga Fire Department Capt. David Thompson Jr. said in a statement the substance has yet to be identified but was determined to be non-life-threatening.
More than 15 fire companies and hazardous material crews responded to the scene.
Authorities are reviewing security cameras to try to identify the woman, who had fled immediately
| — Hat tip: JM | [Return to headlines] |
Five Hospitalized After Unknown Liquid Thrown in Chattanooga Woman’s Face Tuesday
The Chattanooga Fire Department and a hazardous materials team responded to the scene of where a Chattanooga woman had an unknown liquid thrown in her face early Tuesday morning. Four other bystanders were also affected, and the Chattanooga Police Department’s Violent Crimes Bureau is now investigating due to the unusual nature of the assault.
The incident happened right in front of the headquarters for the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) on Sholar Avenue just after 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Police say the suspect was described as a black female of light complexion, between 5’3” and 5’5” in height, wearing rubber gloves, a hair net or scarf, a blue short sleeve t-shirt, and khaki pants.
Police call this a “targeted incident,” and says the four other people were not intended targets. Chattanooga Police spokesman Rob Simmons says the incident is being considered an aggravated assault…
| — Hat tip: JM | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Freedom Party Expels Local Official Over Nazi Memorabilia
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) said on Wednesday it has expelled a local party official for hoarding Nazi memorabilia, in embarrasing revelations less than three weeks before national elections.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Catalonia Referendum: Protestors to be Investigated for Inciting Rebellion Against State
THE Spanish court will investigate charges of sedition over independence referendum protests earlier this month, a judge has ruled.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: After Embarrassing Setback, Aarhus Light Rail Gets New Opening Date…Maybe
Following a last-minute cancellation of an extravagant opening ceremony, the Aarhus Letbane light rail network is now expected to begin operation at the end of October.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Discovery of 10,000-Year-Old Petroglyph in Norway Described as ‘Sensational’
A petroglyph of a boat discovered in northern Norway has been estimated to date back 10,000 to 11,000 years.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
EU Probes Luxottica-Essilor Merger
Weighing if costs to consumers will rise
(ANSA) — Brussels, September 26 — The European Commission said Tuesday it had opened a probe into the merger between Italian eyewear giant Luxottica and French lensmaker Essilor over fears it may reduce competition on the lens market. It said it would shortly extend the probe to the frame-making market.
“It is necessary to carefully assess whether the operation will bring higher prices,” said Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Luxottica shares closed 1.5% on the news of the investigation.
In a statement, Leonardo Del Vecchio’s group said “we will show the EC the benefits of the merger to consumers”.
On January 16 Luxottica and Essilor announced the 50-billion-euro merger deal to create an eyewear giant with over 140,000 employees and sales in some 150 countries.
Luxottica, the world’s leading spectacles maker, and Essilor, the top manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses, would have jointly reported net earnings of over 15 billion euros, based on 2015 annual results posted by the two companies, and a net combined operating profit EBITDA of about 3.5 billion euros.
The companies said the merger, one of Europe’s largest cross-border deals, should bring medium-term annual revenue benefits and cost cuts of between 400 and 600 million euros.
Following the operation, Italian holding company Delfin — which is Luxottica’s main shareholder and will also be the top shareholder of the new entity — will hold a stake of 31% to 38% in the new company.
Delfin is owned by Luxottica’s founder and executive chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio.
Shares in the companies surged after the merger announcement.
The merged group will be reportedly listed in Paris.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Joins Other EU Big Guns in Upping Web Tax Drive
France, Germany, Spain also sign joint document
(ANSA) — Brussels, September 26 — Italy, France, Germany and Spain have signed a joint document renewing calls for the European Union to introduce a system to raise more tax from Internet giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. The document has been released three days before the summit at Tallinn, where the heads of State and government will discuss a ‘web tax’. The digital economy has “profoundly” changed the way to do business and “the way in which it must be taxed” the document said. As a result “a profound revision of the current taxation system” is needed to ensure it is “efficient, fair and transparent”. Rome, Berlin and Madrid have backed and French proposal to tax the Internet companies revenues instead of their profits. Estonia, which holds the EU duty presidency, is proposing taxing internet companies in the EU states where they make their profits, not at their tax residence.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fincantieri Strikes Deal for New Cunard Cruise Ship
113,000-ton vessel will carry 3,000 guests
(ANSA) — Trieste, September 25 — Fincantieri and Carnival Corporation said Monday that they have signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for the construction of one next-generation cruise ship for the iconic luxury brand Cunard.
The ship, which will be built at the Monfalcone yard and join the Cunard’s fleet in 2022, will weigh 113,000 tonnes and carry 3,000 guests, a statement said. “With this agreement we once more link our company’s name with Cunard’s, a real icon of the cruise market, confirming us as a shipbuilder able to combine tradition and innovation like no one else in the world,” said Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono.
“It is a lasting journey that, besides the construction of the two authentic ‘queens’ like “Queen Victoria” and “Queen Elizabeth”, stresses the importance of our partnership with Carnival. In fact, for this Group we have built 63 ships, representing today almost two-thirds of their fleet, with other nine to come in the coming years. A cooperation which can be defined as historical, based on relationships of mutual respect and trust”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Wilders Reports Social Media Threats to Police
Far right politician Geert Wilders has reported 10 threatening Tweets to the police and promised to report more next week. He tweeted on Wednesday that on his way to parliament this morning, he stopped by the police and reported a series of social media threats. ‘The rest weren’t yet ready and we will do them next week,’ he added. Wilders, whose PVV party came second in the last general election, has lived under 24-hour armed police protection since 2004 due to death threats.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden the World’s Seventh Most Competitive Economy: World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has rated Sweden as the seventh most competitive economy in the world, beating larger EU nations like the UK, France and Spain.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Vatileaks’ Evidence. Financial Affairs Shake the Vatican Once Again
The situation after the accusations of the former auditor of the Holy See, Milone and the Vatican’s reply. The deputy of the Secretariat of State, Becciu, “He was spying on me”
“I have not resigned voluntarily. I was threatened with arrest. The head of Gendarmerie used intimidation to force me to sign an already ready letter.” Libero Milone, the former Vatican Auditor General, tell his truth in an interview published yesterday by Corriere della Sera, Wall Street Journal, Reuters agency and SkyTg24, three months after his resignation. The former auditor of the “sacred budgets” says he was accused of “misappropriation of funds: for peculation, as he is a public official”; he claims that one of the two invoices that were submitted to him was fake. It was a 28,000-euro bill for “environmental investigations, to clean up the offices from potential wiretapping”. Moreover, he is charged of “having sought improper information about Vatican representatives’.
The deputy of the Secretariat of State, Monsignor Angelo Becciu, replies (to Reuters), “Milone’s accusations are false. He was spying on the lives of his superiors and staff, including me. If he had not agreed to his resignation, we would have had to consider legal steps.” Milone then reveals “they have seized documents covered by state secrecy”, and hopes that these classified papers will “leave the Vatican”: a statement made on the eve of the release of a book that will open a new Vatileaks scandal.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Magneti Marelli to Build Car Parts Factory in Morocco
37 mn euros in investment, production by 2019
(ANSA) — Turin, September 26 — Magneti Marelli, a company owned by the Italian subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), will be building a production plant in Morocco. The plant, specialized in car parts production, will be built in the Tangiers area and will start production by 2019. Initial production will focus on shock absorbers for cars and commercial vehicles. Total investment will be around 37 million euros and the initiative aims to support Magneti Marelli customers in the North African area.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Why Israel Doesn’t Really Know How to Deal With the AfD
the Israeli government has stayed largely quiet on the Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) march into the national parliament, despite the upset it has caused among Holocaust survivors.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
The father and uncle of notorious ISIS recruit Mohamed Elomar have been jailed for at least two years over a plot involving a $1 million Iraqi bribe.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: Kurdish Referendum: High Christian Turnout for Free and Fair Poll. Fears for Turkish Response
High turnout among population, even Christian, and without any force or pressure to vote. AsiaNews source: a vote that calls for a redrawing of regional power balance, after Saddam, extremist violence and Isis. The “courageous dialogue” demanded by the Chaldean patriarch for a political solution. Fears over Erdogan’s “grave” threats.
Erbil (AsiaNews) — “The turnout was high and the vote free and fair” in the Kurdistan referendum on independence from Baghdad, held on 25 September, even among Christians resident in Iraqi Kurdistan. Most of them “are favor an agreement with the Kurds, a position they have expressed “without external conditioning, pressure, or force “, says an AsiaNews source frm the Catholic community in Erbil, on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press. He relates that the vote took “in full conscience and freedom.” However, he adds, there are fears because of the threats coming from outside, particularly from Turkey and Iran, “very serious” words that cast a shadow “over the future of the region”.
The referendum was sparked by the ever deteriorating and complicated relationship between Erbil in Baghdad, which even today, by the mouth of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, has demanded “the cancellation” of the vote. According to the regional authorities the referendum is not an attempt to break ties with the Iraqi people but clarify positions, roles, competences and freedom of action with the central government. From the point of view of coexistence that has become increasingly difficult over time.
Initial result indicate a “yes” victory that varies between 80 and 90% of voters. “Even Christians — the source says — are largely favorable, and only an Assyrian party, with its leaders in Baghdad, was contrary.” Within the same Christian minority “there was a high turnout”, also as a result of “strong ties” that have been created in recent years “with the Kurds and the local people”.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein to the rise of the Islamic State (IS, formerly Isis), through Islamic extremist violence, many events have changed regional relations, balances and dynamics. “14 years after the end of the regime — the source says — it is not possible to continue this, especially in a security perspective. What is needed is clarity on the political agenda and agreement on a shared way forward, otherwise it would be better to promote a new road, in the name of good neighborly relations. “
There is a “an atmosphere of happiness” on the streets of the cities and villages because of what everyone judges “a democratic expression of the will of the people”. At the same time, with the passing of hours, there is a concern about “the warnings coming from Baghdad”, but above all the threats from Iran and Turkey. “Erdogan’s words — the source says — about starving the Kurdish people are unacceptable.”
In spite of newspaper articles or rumors on the eve and during the vote, he states, “no one was forced to vote and the majority freely chose yes, but even those who opposed it could express their preference without intimidation of sorts. To testify, there are also reports from Europe, the United States and the United Nations observers who were present throughout the in the polling stations, as well as the phone calls I made personally with friends and relatives in Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk. “
In this context, the position promoted in recent days by the Chaldean patriarchate and Christian leadership is also strengthened, hoping for “a courageous way forward and dialogue” between Erbil and Baghdad for the future of the region and its people. “We Christians — says the source — want to be together, but it needs a political solution that embraces all the souls of this land. No one wants division and Barzani himself wanted to keep the flag of Iraq together with that of Kurdistan. “ However, the source concludes, it is increasingly “important and urgent that Arab, Kurdish, Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Turkmen leaders” find a courageous way forward to live in harmony, making a decisive break from a past of violence. “(DS )
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Counterterrorism Director: ISIS Stil Able to Inspire Terror Attacks
The Islamic State is still able to inspire terror attacks around the world, even though U.S. strikes have made it harder for the terrorist group to direct those attacks, National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas Rasmussen told a Senate committee on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hindus Were Killed and Dumped in Mass Graves by Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar
They are Hindu-killers in Myanmar. They are most communal and dangerous. How Rohingya Muslims can get refuge in India? Kick them out.
Hindus recount massacre in Myanmar by brutal Rohingya Muslims as mass graves unearthed.
AFP | Cox’s Bazar | Sep 27, 2017:: Rika Dhar watched as her husband, two brothers and countless neighbours were brutally hacked to death with machetes by masked men who stormed their Hindu village in western Myanmar and frogmarched the terrified inhabitants to the hills.
“After the killing, they dug three large pits and threw them inside. Their hands were still tied behind them and their eyes blindfolded,” said 25-year-old Dhar in a Hindu camp inside Bangladesh where she fled with her two children.
Eyewitnesses told AFP the bloodshed occurred outside their small Hindu village in Kha Maung Seik in northern Rakhine state, where Myanmar authorities have exhumed 45 corpses from mass graves since Sunday.
The army says the grim discoveries are evidence of a massacre by Muslim Rohingya militants on August 25, the same day the insurgents launched coordinated raids on police posts that unleashed a surge of communal bloodshed.
The military’s sweeping reprisal has left hundreds dead and sent nearly half a million Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh, where they have described a campaign of army-led violence the UN says amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar’s army has rebuffed the accusation and defended its operation as a proportionate crackdown on the Rohingya “extremist terrorists”, while highlighting the plight of other groups, such as Buddhists and Hindus, swept up in the unrest.
On Wednesday the army lifted its tight net over the conflict zone to fly reporters to the area in northern Rakhine where the mass graves of Hindus, including many women and children, were exhumed earlier this week.
It is the first time the military has organised a press trip to the area, where media restrictions have made it difficult to verify a whirlwind of accusations over who is driving the violence.
Displaced Hindus in Bangladesh and Myanmar, unable to contact their families, fear the worst as search efforts continued Wednesday for around 50 other villagers.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Media commentator Peta Credlin has slammed feminists for failing to speak up about a Muslim man in his mid-thirties marrying a 14-year-old girl at a Melbourne mosque last year.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
New Species of Giant Rat Discovered is So Big it Can Crack Coconuts With Its Teeth
A new species of giant rat has been discovered which is so strong it can crack open coconuts with its teeth.
Measuring one-and-a-half feet long and weighing more than a kilo (2lbs), it is five times bigger than your average rodent.
The elusive creature lives in 30ft trees on Vangulu in the Solomon Islands. It had only ever been spotted by natives, leading to suspicions it was mythical.
Mammalogist Dr Tyrone Lavery first heard rumours of the giant, possum-like rat that lived in trees and cracked open coconuts with its teeth on his first trip there in 2010.
After seven years of searching and a race against deforestation destroying the rat’s would-be home his team finally found it.
Lead author Dr Lavery, of The Field Museum, Chicago, said: “The new species, Uromys vika, is pretty spectacular — it’s a big, giant rat.
“It’s the first rat discovered in 80 years from Solomons, and it’s not like people haven’t been trying — it was just so hard to find…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
A Muslim school leader says girls who wear shorts will be cursed by the Prophet Mohammed. Almir Colan, who sits on an Islamic school board in Melbourne, says women shouldn’t imitate men.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
As Boat Arrivals Slow, EU Set to Create ‘Legal Routes’ For Mass Migration
The European Union (EU) has announced plans to allow huge numbers of migrants from the third world to migrate legally, now that migrant flows to Italy and Greece have been brought “under control”.
Under new proposals unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday, 50,000 refugees will be delivered to EU nations over the next two years from Africa, using the bloc’s resettlement process which was introduced following the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Lorry Firm Stops UK Deliveries Due to Calais Migrant Violence
A Dutch logistics firm has said they will stop making deliveries to the UK because of the risk of attack by migrants and asylum seekers as trucks pass through Calais.
Reining Transport, which has around 500 drivers and annual revenues of €55 million, has stopped trips via Calais to the UK from September due to the violent attacks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis called for a week of action and prayer for refugees, starting on the anniversary the Christian fleet defeating the Islamic invasion of Europe.
Francis called for the week of prayer as part of a two-year initiative, Share the Journey, launched with Caritas Internationalis (CI) — a Catholic relief and social services organization — on Wednesday to aid refugee families and spread Catholic social teachings, according to America Magazine. The week of prayer will begin Oct. 7, the anniversary of the 1571 Battle of Lepanto when the Christian fleet formed by countries of the Holy League and various Papal states defeated the Ottomans and ended the Muslim conquest of Europe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Acid attacks are common in Muslim majority countries.I would suggest that the attacker is a Muslim and that this is terror related.
On the Austrian FPO local official de-legitimized because of some Nazi era paraphenalia.
Did anyone bother to ask this person why he would hoard such things prior to making him persona non gratis at the FPO office?
Sometimes, old memorabilia is hoarded to remind those who choose to hoard such items of what life was like during that era.
It seems that guilt by association or in this case, possession of ‘tainted articles’ is still enough reason to hang the possessor.
On Catalonia; Spanish authorities seem determined to bring about a real rebellion and one that they themselves will have caused. To secede from the state is not to rebel, but to deny the authority of a tyrannical government determined to destroy the entire country.
The problem with Catalonia is they are completely controlled by SJWs.
Their plan is to secede, then turn around and join the EU and retain the Euro.
They also plan to flood themselves with Nafri parasites, which is the last thing Europe needs.
I am actually surprised at how serious this whole Catalonian independence situation has become.
Tis the type of thing we are told never happens anymore, but if the Spanish government can be arresting politicians and seizing polling equipment like this, it certainly evokes thoughts of what other anarchy may lay in wait for Europe as well.
Rodents Of Unusual Size are nothing new; plenty of two legged ones have been busy invading Europe from Africa and the worst parts of the Middle East for the last several years. Although I doubt those are industrious enough to chew holes into coconuts; cutting their way into UK-bound lorries and ripping the clothes off any female foolish enough to stray too close are the limits of their ambitions.
It is every citizen’s duty to work him-or-herself to an early grave to rescue the clever ones on board with their defined benefits. That’s why God created chumps. It’s their destiny.
Western citizens are merely tax slaves for their new immivader overlords.
The AfD supports the nation-state of Germany and the nation-state of Israel. It opposes gay “marriage” but supports civil unions. It’s against Muslim migrations to Germany. Of course, Bibi isn’t against them. Leftist Jews of course oppose a strong German state and even a strong Jewish state to comply with Marxist Doctrine and to continue the breakdown of Western culture.
“After seven years of searching and a race against deforestation destroying the rat’s would-be home his team finally found it.”
Perhaps Frau Merkel might like to invite the Rat to relocate to Germany, along with other refugees.
Has there been a worse Pope in living memory than the current one?
Yep, Pope Joan, ‘John’ at the end of the dark ages she gave birth to a son,having completely tricked the ruling elete. This led to the chair which is used during the crowning of popes now. It has a hole in it something like a commode , three picked Cardinals fondle his crown jewls ,and assure the rest that he is indeed a man.
I must point out that “Pope Joan” is now generally considered to be a medieval legend, with no historical basis. I recommend the Wikipedia entry on the topic; it is fascinating.
Catalonia. Protests=sedition? Pin the word sedition on a group and suddenly they are criminals and then you’ve got censorship. A great way to shut people up.
Immivader parasites cost the US net $116 BILLION per year:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/record-135-billion-a-year-for-illegal-immigration-average-8075-each-25000-in-ny/article/2635757
Good stuff.
Poland is being attacked by “Euroracists” in Brussels, officials driven by “a sense of leftist ideological crusade” and “convinced about Western Europe’s superiority over a backward Central Europe,” a Polish MEP has said…
http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/327860,%E2%80%98Euroracists%E2%80%99-attacking-Poland-MEP
Hi Dymphna,
What are your views regarding this piece of news?
https://www.thelocal.se/20170925/sweden-democrats-accused-of-silencing-sex-crime-victims
Thank You.