A man named Michael Christopher Estes has appeared in a federal court, charged with leaving an explosive device at the regional airport in Asheville, North Carolina last week. The device consisted of a nail bomb made of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil contained in a Mason jar, with a detonator and an alarm clock used as a timer.
In other news, a Muslim preacher in Australia has denounced parents for allowing their children to listen to music on the car radio.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, Charles Low, Dean, Insubria, JD, PJ, 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.
Italy: Banks’ Bad Loans Down to 172.8 Bn in August — BoI
Down from 173.13 billion in July
(ANSA) — Rome, October 10 — Italian banks’ bad debts dropped to 172.8 billion euros in July, down from 173.13 in July, the Bank of Italy said Tuesday in its Banks and Money report.
Italian bad loans amounted to 199.66 in August 2016, the central bank said. “In August lending to the private sector, adjusted to take account of securitizations and other loans transferred and derecognized from banks’ balance sheets, expanded by 1.1% on an annual basis (1.4% in July),” it said. “Household lending grew by 2.7% (unchanged compared to the previous month), while that to non-financial corporations fell by 0.1% (it grew by 0.3 per cent in July)”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s GDP Still 7% Down on 2007 Level — CGIL
Other countries have already regained lost ground says union
(ANSA) — Rome, October 10 — Italy’s fall in GDP during the economic crisis was bigger than the EU average but the recovery has been slower, according to a new report by trade union CGIL and the Fondazione Di Vittorio foundation. It said Italy’s GDP in 2017 was still 7% lower than the pre-crisis level in 2007.
In France and Germany, meanwhile, GDP is 5.2% and 9.4% higher than 2007 respectively, the report said. Even Spain, which was also badly hit by the crisis, has almost regained all the lost ground — its GDP was 0.5% down on the 2007 level last year. According to projections in the report, Italy’s GDP will still be five points down on the 2007 level in 2018.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
This is What the Death of a Nation Looks Like: Venezuela Prepares for 2,300% Hyperinflation
Back in January 2016, we showed what the collapse of Venezuela looks like, when in addition to charting Venezuela’s imploding currency (which back then was trading at a positive expensive 941 bolivars to the dollar), we presented what at the time was the IMF’s latest Venezuela inflation forecast, which stunned us as it surged from 275% in the just concluded 2015 to a whopping 720% at the end of 2016.
Fast forward nearly two years until today, when the IMF released its latest estimate of what it believes will happen to Venezuela’s economy in the coming year and a half. What is striking, besides the fact that Venezuela has somehow still managed to avoid bankruptcy, is that the IMF now expects Venezuela’s hyperinflation to reach a staggering 2,349% in 2018, after rising by “only” 626% this year, the highest estimate for any country tracked by the IMF. While the South American country stopped reporting economic data in 2015, the IMF estimates that last year inflation clocked in around 254%, a number which is set to soar in the coming years for obvious reasons.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The nation is still reeling from a series of major disasters in recent weeks, and now another one has hit us. At this moment, an enormous “firestorm” is consuming tens of thousands of acres in eight counties in northern California. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph are rapidly driving 15 large wildfires across Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Yuba, Nevada, Calaveras and Butte counties, and the devastation that is taking place is being described as “like Armageddon”. Ultimately, it looks like this is going to be one of the worst months for wildfires in the history of the state, and all of this comes on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma and the Las Vegas shooting. Ever since late August, it seems like all hell has broken loose in America.
So far at least 1,500 structures have been destroyed, at least 20,000 people have been evacuated and at least 73,000 acres have been burned. The smell of smoke has reached San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco, and California Governor Jerry Brown has officially declared a state of emergency.
If these wildfires were just consuming isolated parts of northern California, this wouldn’t be such a big story. The reason why this crisis is getting so much attention from the national media is because some of these fires are raging “unchecked through high-end resorts, grocery stores and tree-lined neighborhoods”…
[Comment: Globalists seek to “re-wild” America. Stopping public from removing dead wood makes fires bigger and contributes to this goal. Globalists see to cram the population into stack ‘em pack ‘em cities where they can be more easily controlled.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Asia Argento Accuses Weinstein of Rape — New Yorker
In France when she was 21 in 1997
(ANSA) — New York, October 10 — Italian actress and director Asia Argento has accused Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, fallen from grace amid a swirl of sexual molestation reports, of raping her at a Miramax party in France in 1997, when she was 21, the New Yorker reported Tuesday, detailing other accusations from more women against the once-powerful film mogul.
Contacted over the phone by ANSA, Argento said: “It’s all true, everything the New Yorker wrote. Now leave me in peace”.
Argento was among three women who told the New Yorker Weinstein raped them.
Lucia Evans, a former aspiring actor, and one unnamed women also accused Weinstein of forcing them to engage in sex or sex acts, in the piece authored by Ronan Farrow. The son of actress Mia Farrow, Ronan Farrow previously helped reignite his sister Dylan’s accusations that their father, Woody Allen, groomed and sexually assaulted her as a child, an allegation Allen denies. Four other women told the magazine that Weinstein touched them without their consent in a way “that could be classified as an assault”.
Others including actors Mira Sorvino and Rosanna Arquette alleged sexual harassment on the part of the Hollywood mogul. Farrow also revealed audio from 2015 New York Police Department sting operation in which Weinstein allegedly admits to groping Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, a model who reported his behavior, and said he was “used to” behaving that way.
Weinstein, 65, was sacked by Miramax earlier this week after the New York Times reported a history of alleged sexual harassment over the decades. Nearly a dozen women told the NYT he had molested them.
On Tuesday Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow told the NYT Weinstein molested them when they were young actresses.
George Clooney on Tuesday called his alleged behaviour “indefensible”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Coulter: Media ‘Strangely Reluctant’ To Pursue Specifics About Vegas Shooter
Friday on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Company,” conservative commentator Ann Coulter questioned the media’s reluctance to aggressively pursue details about Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Coulter called it strange and suggested the media were content with knowing just the race and sex of the individual.
“[N]ow that’s what I find most interesting — [the media] seem strangely reluctant to pursue this,” Coulter said. “They’ve decided, ‘He’s a white man. We got our story. Don’t look for any other facts.’“
She denied she was a conspiracy theorist and said there were some other details that the news media could pursue.
“I think the media wants to say it’s a white male,” she added. “They decided that from day one and any other information might change that narrative. And they simply don’t want to know. But as I pointed out in my column this week — this is how conspiracy theories arise. You won’t tell us this stuff. Oh and the woman shouting ‘you’re all going to die’ 45 minutes before the concert started. Do we know — OK, it’s probably just a crazy woman, but could we find out?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump Challenges NFL Tax Breaks
President Donald Trump called for the United States to end special tax breaks for the NFL, after the organization continued to allow players to disrespect the national anthem.
“Why is the NFL getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our Anthem, Flag and Country?” Trump asked. “Change tax law!”
[Comment: NFL got the tax breaks in the first place by claiming that, like churches, they show no political favoritism. ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Says Men From Plano Went to Fight With ISIS and Their Parents Lied About it
They were raised in a two-story brick house on a quiet Plano residential street, across from a church and a park. They went to good schools and enjoyed video games and music like their friends.
But Arman, 27, and Omar Ali, 26, would not follow the path of most Plano kids leaving home to start a life.
After some college study, the brothers moved to Egypt and then traveled to Syria to fight alongside ISIS terrorists, according to federal court records.
Now, their parents are charged with lying to the FBI about their sons’ activities in the Middle East. Mohommad Hasnain Ali and Sumaiya Ali pleaded guilty in federal court in June to making a false statement regarding international terrorism. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FBI: Man Left Explosive Jar at N. Carolina Airport
RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal agents have accused a man of planting a mason jar filled with explosive chemicals and nails at a western North Carolina airport last week.
Court documents released Tuesday accuse Michael Christopher Estes of attempted malicious use of explosive materials and unlawful possession of explosives at an airport.
The criminal complaint written by an FBI agent says investigators found a mason jar containing ammonium nitrate, nails and a shotgun cartridge Friday at the Asheville airport. Authorities rendered the device safe after it was left near a terminal entrance.
Estes was arrested Saturday, and the complaint says he admitted leaving the explosive at the airport. He was being held Tuesday at the Buncombe County jail. An FBI spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a message asking if Estes had a lawyer.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
It’s Columbus Day Today, And His Statue is Covered in Los Angeles
A statue of Christopher Columbus was covered Monday, Oct. 9.
The statue, located in Los Angeles’ Grand Park, is located near the entrance of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse off Hill Street. A white cover now shrouds the statue, CBS LA reported.
The display is now surrounded by a chain-link fence, which was set up for the monument.
Officials in Los Angeles did not say whether they would cover the statue. Some statues of Columbus in New York and other cities have been damaged.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Las Vegas Shooter’s Suite Reportedly Shows Paddock Wired the Rooms for Live Web Streaming
Las Vegas Police brass are fuming that crime-scene images from inside Stephen Paddock’s suite at Mandalay Bay were leaked, including photos reportedly divulging an Ethernet cable snaked along the baseboards of the room’s floor.
On Tuesday, police and FBI confirmed Paddock captured the chaos of the shooting inside his Mandalay Bay hotel suite on video cameras. True Pundit also reported FBI officials confirmed the Bureau is investigating whether and where Paddock likely streamed live footage.
FBI sources had said the Mandalay Bay shooter may have used the hotel’s WiFi or hard-wired internet backbone to stream the footage offshore.
Now, one day later, images have surfaced reportedly showing a long Ethernet extension cord strewn along the carpet and baseboard of the room, according to police photos that have gone public. The wiring — and other evidence withheld by federal agents — helps back investigator’s beliefs that the suspect hard-wired a live feed of his rampage on the hotel’s internet backbone.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Man Accused of Raping 12-Year-Old Girl Awarded Joint Custody of Her Child
A convicted sex offender accused of raping a woman when she was only 12 years old was recently awarded joint custody of her child.
Christopher Mirasolo, 27, of Brown City, Michigan, allegedly held the victim, her sister and a friend “captive” in a vacant home for two days in 2008 — threatening to kill them if they told anyone what happened, The Detroit News reports.
Mirasolo, who was 18 at the time, was arrested one month later when the victim discovered she was pregnant.
Nine years later, a judge granted Mirasolo parenting time and legal joint custody of the victim’s 8-year-old son after a DNA test concluded he was indeed the father of her child.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
I didn’t expect that I would be getting “the Trump treatment” this early in the campaign. Last week, I wrote an article about the Las Vegas shooting that posed 16 questions that I did not feel were being addressed by the mainstream media adequately enough. That article was picked up by Zero Hedge, and it has now been read more than 1.6 million times. All along, I have never claimed to know exactly what happened in Las Vegas. But I feel very strongly that there is nothing wrong with asking questions. In the old days, that is what real journalists would actually do. Unfortunately, the art of critical thinking has almost entirely disappeared from the field of journalism, and so it is up to us in the alternative media to ask the hard questions that “professional journalists” used to pursue. The emails have been pouring in from many others that also have serious questions about what happened in Las Vegas, but according to the Idaho Statesman, it was improper for me to ever raise any of these questions at all…
Of course the overwhelming majority of the emails that I have been receiving have been extremely supportive. Like me, most people out there have very serious questions about what happened in Las Vegas, and so many have encouraged me for being courageous enough to ask questions that other politicians would never dare to ask.
At the heart of the Idaho Statesman’s criticism of me was the fact that I suggested that Stephen Paddock may not have acted alone. And it turns out that Clark Country Sheriff Joseph Lombardo agrees with me.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
NC Airport Bomb Suspected Wanted ‘To Fight a War on US Soil’
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A man who authorities say planted an explosive device that contained ammonium nitrate and fuel oil at a regional North Carolina airport Friday said he was preparing to “fight a war on U.S. soil,” according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
The suspect, Michael Christopher Estes, is charged with attempted malicious use of explosive materials and unlawful possession of explosive materials in an airport.
During his first appearance in federal court Tuesday, he waived his right to a preliminary hearing. A federal judge assigned an attorney to Estes, fin ding that he is indigent.
The criminal complaint, filed by FBI agent James A. Anderson and read in court Tuesday, states that Asheville Regional Airport police officers found “what appeared to be an improvised explosive device” early Friday morning outside the airport terminal.
More: Feds unseal charges in foiled NYC terror plot; concerts, subway targeted
After he was taken into custody, Estes waived his rights and agreed to answer questions, the complaint states. Estes “admitted that he placed the explosive device at the Asheville Airport,” the complaint states. “He also explained that he bought the precursor materials at Walmart and Lowe’s.”
“Estes described how he created the device using ammonium nitrate and the Sterno as a fuel source and then rigged the alarm clock to strike the matches and cause the flame necessary to trigger the device,” the complaint states. “Estes admitted to putting the nails in the device as well.”
Estes claimed that he did not actually set the alarm clock, though.
On Friday, a TSA officer tested the substance in the device and it was positive for ammonium nitrate, a “widely used and regulated bulk industrial explosive,” the complaint states. A bomb dog approached the device and “signaled,” indicating “the presence of an explosive material.
“The device at the airport consisted of a Mason type jar with a lid that was locked down by an incorporated locking device,” the complaint states. “There were prills — pellets or solid globules of a substance formed by the congealing of a liquid during processing — inside the jar and two plastic cups containing an unknown liquid substance, believed to be the fuel source,” the complaint states. “There were pieces of cold compress packs inside the jar.”
More: Explosive device thrown at U.S. Embassy in Ukraine
Once ammonium nitrate forms into prills, it can absorb the fuel oil needed for an explosion, the complaint states.
“The jar was filled with steel wool that was then wrapped around nails and one shotgun cartridge,” the complaint states, noting that it was a 410 gauge. “There was an alarm clock taped to the outside of the jar. There was then a grouping of matches taped to the striker arm positioned between the bells, and the bells were removed.”
The clock was set to go off at 6:00.
Video footage from the airport showed an individual walking onto airport grounds at 12:39 a.m. on Friday. He was wearing black clothing and a black cap and carrying a bag.
“Based on a review of the video, the individual walked near the entrance to the terminal, went out of sight momentarily, and was then seen departing the area without the bag,” the complaint states.
An airport maintenance worker said a man had come out of a wooded area across the street and to the east of the airport. Investigators found a bag in the woods with Gorilla Tape, consistent with the tape used in the device, as well as Sterno Firestar Gel, believed to be the likely fuel source for the explosive device, the complaint states.
There also was a bag containing shotgun shells.
Investigators went to Walmart and Lowe’s stores near the airport and found that some of the items in the bag were bought at each store.
The bag found in the woods was bought at an REI store by someone using a membership number assigned to Michael C. Estes.
Officers arrested Estes on Saturday.
No one was injured in the Friday incident. The airport’s Terminal Drive and part of a terminal were closed for about two hours.
In the complaint, investigators noted that the type of device found at the airport, called “AN/FO” — for ammonium nitrate and fuel oil — explosives, has been used “in a number of terrorist-related incidents around the world in the past.
“When AN/FO comes into contact with a flame or other ignition source it explodes violently,” the complaint states. “Shrapnel or nails or ball bearings are often items added to the device so as to increase the devastation inflicted by the explosion.”
Estes told investigators he “staged” in the woods near the airport a couple of days before placing the device at the airport.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
New Video Emerges Clearly Capturing Apparent Overlapping Gunfire at Las Vegas Concert
Another video has emerged that appears to show evidence of overlapping gunfire from multiple locations during the Las Vegas Shooting.
Las Vegas, NV — A new video has emerged from the night of the Las Vegas shooting that appears to show overlapping gunfire coming from multiple locations, which clearly contradicts the mainstream narrative of what occurred on the night 59 people were killed and over 500 were injured.
The video is under 3 minutes long and was filmed by an individual who appears to be hiding near a gate during the shooting. While crowds of people can be seen running from the area, the person filming the video is staying low to the ground with a group of people who are encouraging others to take cover, instead of running out into the open.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Update: The New York Times has just responded to the latest Project Veritas bombshell by dismissing the target of the undercover video, Nick Dudich, as a “recent hire” in a “junior position” who “misrepresented his role.” The NYT confirmed that it looked as though he had “violated our ethical standards” and said they’re “reviewing the situation.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Physicians Are Waking Up to Maelstrom of Technocracy’s Twisted Agenda
Having just completed my keynote speech on Technocracy to the annual convention of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), I can say with complete certainty that this particular group of medical professionals is wide awake to the perils of Technocracy.
The AAPS was founded in 1943 and is the only national organization “consistently supporting the principles of free market in medical practice.” Based in Tucson, Arizona, it also has local chapters in eleven key states, including Texas, California, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Whereas the medical industry used to be medical professionals using technology, it has now become a technology industry that uses medical professionals. With each passing year, the technological behemoth grows larger and the micro-management of physicians becomes more acute. This is a very clear expression of Technocracy’s drive toward Scientific Dictatorship…
Technocracy inevitably and always leads to Scientific Dictatorship, as we now see in the medical profession. However, this purpose was revealed long before. In 1938, The Technocrat magazine stated:
Technocracy is the science of social engineering, the scientific operation of the entire social mechanism to produce and distribute goods and services to the entire population.
It could not be more clear. The ‘scientific operation’ of society seeks to be the exclusive distributor of goods and services to the entire population, and healthcare is one our most important service industries.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rohrabacher, Rand Paul Discussed Assange Offer
Republican California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher met with Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul last Thursday and discussed leveraging Paul’s close relationship with President Donald Trump to let the president know that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is willing to divulge information about the source of leaked emails.
Rep. Rohrabacher told The Daily Caller about the meeting during a phone interview Tuesday.
“Rand Paul says the president calls him every now and then. I wanted to make sure that when [Trump] calls him that [Paul] knew enough about the Julian Assange offer that I found something of value for the president to look at,” Rohrabacher told TheDC.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
To Win the Second Amendment War
As it stands, conservatives are doing nothing more than defending an existing arrangement. Progressives are out to change it. Let us not be deluded by any protestations that their agenda is to refine rather than eliminate the Second Amendment.
We know the progressive strategy: disengage with the enemy until a (real) shooting crisis occurs, at which point initiate a political blitzkrieg that links that shooting to a lack of gun control. This aggressive tactic is working, and conservatives must counter it with something similar.
Here is a suggestion: as soon as the next mass shooting takes place, conservatives should unite around the following message.
“Our government is incapable of protecting us from such attacks, as proven by the countless times it has failed to do so. Until it is able to afford adequate protection against mass shootings, the people must be permitted to protect themselves as best they can. The government must assist the citizens by doing two things.
“First, encourage gun ownership. Second, and even more importantly, train all people on proper gun use and gun safety.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Viewing Enemy Regimes as They Are, Not as We Wish They Were
During his first press conference after taking office in January 1981, US President Ronald Reagan called détente a “one-way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue its own aims.” Echoing this remark while addressing reporters later the same day, Secretary of State Alexander Haig said that the Soviets were the source of much support for international terrorism, especially in Latin and Central America.
The following day, both Reagan and Haig were criticized for their remarks, with members of the media describing the president’s words as “reminiscent of the chilliest days of the Cold War,” and appalled that the administration’s top diplomat was accusing the Russians of backing terrorist activities.
Nearly four decades later, in spite of the successful defeat of the Soviet empire, the White House is still frowned upon when it adopts a tough stance towards America’s enemies. Today’s outrage is directed at President Donald Trump’s warnings about — and to — North Korea and Iran. The Washington Post called his recent “fire and fury” threats to Pyongyang a “rhetorical grenade,” for example, echoing top Democrats’ attacks on his remarks for being “reckless” and “irresponsible.”
Critics of Trump’s attitude towards Tehran go equally far, describing his opposition to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the nuclear deal with Iran — as “rushing headlong into war.”
Trump’s detractors, however, are just as wrong as those who berated Reagan in 1981. Experience has shown that soft rhetoric and so-called “smart diplomacy” have served only to enable North Korea and Iran to produce more nuclear weapons and better ballistic missiles.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
What Was Going on With Mgm Resorts in September?
On Tuesday, September 5th, 2017, the board of MGM Resorts International decided to approve a $1 billion share repurchase program. At a net worth of $17.7 billion today, the program represented a significant portion of its current market cap. By the end of the week, MGM’s CEO, James Murren, had coolly divested himself of 80% of the shares he owned in his company. The divestment came just days before the ex-dividend date on September 8th, 2017.
The sales were originally disclosed in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Murren had previously divested 57,269 shares on July 31st and August 9th, 2017.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
White House Wants to End Social Security Numbers as a National ID
US government is examining the use of a “modern cryptographic identifier.”
Rob Joyce, the White House cybersecurity czar, said on Tuesday that the government should end using the Social Security number as a national identification method.
“I believe the Social Security number has outlived its usefulness,” said Joyce, while speaking at The Washington Post’s Cybersecurity Summit. “Every time we use the Social Security number, you put it at risk.”
One problem with the Social Security number, he said, is that a victim of identity theft cannot get it changed after it has been stolen.
Joyce’s comments come a month after the Equifax hack, in which hackers gained access to the Social Security numbers of as many as 143 million Americans.
“It’s a flawed system that we can’t roll back after a breach,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The FBI is discounting ISIS’ claim that the Las Vegas attack was jihad. But is the FBI really trustworthy?
The Islamic State says Steven Paddock converted six months ago. He filmed himself killing; jihadis do that and post it online. The attack was meticulously planned, as jihad attacks are, and Paddock likely had an accomplice. Paddock made numerous trips to the Middle East. Over 200 of his foreign financial transactions were flagged for possible “covert terrorism financing.”
Contrary to the ignorant, misinformed and delusional talking heads in the media, ISIS does not take responsibility for events that are not theirs. This has led even the New York Times’ terrorism expert to give credence to ISIS’ claims. The Philippines attack at Resorts World Casino was theirs. And there again, ISIS’ initial claims of responsibility were dismissed.
The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday that “the FBI investigated the Orlando mass shooter for 10 months — and found nothing.”
The Orlando jihadi who opened fire on gay nightclub revelers at the Pulse Nightclub called 911 during the attack and pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State. The FBI investigated the Orlando mass shooter for 10 months and found nothing.
The FBI was warned of the Muslim Boston bombers — multiple times — and did nothing. Their inaction led to the Boston Marathon bombings.
And in another case, an FBI translator married the ISIS fighter that she was supposed to be investigating.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why You Shouldn’t Believe Anything the FBI Says About the Vegas Shooting
No matter how the Vegas shooting investigation looks, the FBI is playing a large role. The forensics, in particular, would be checked by FBI techs and labs.
Vital lab analysis of weapons and ammunition and bullet-angles and cartridges and residue. Weapons Paddock had or didn’t have. Ammunition he had or didn’t have. Modifications he made or didn’t make to those weapons. How many different kinds of bullets were found in victims? What weapons did those bullets come from?
And depending on that evidence-were there multiple shooters, for example?
Should you believe the FBI’s analyses?
Are you kidding? The scurrilous reputation of the FBI in its handling of forensics is astonishing. Read on. Note: I’m saving the best for last:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Austria’s Burka Ban Causes an Arrest of Man Dressed as Shark
A man dressed as a shark was arrested in Austria and officials cited the countries Burka ban. The man was working as a mascot for a McShark electronics store in Vienna when the arrest occurred.
New restrictions came into effect in Austria at the beginning of the month banning the wearing of the full Islamic veil and other items concealing the face in public places and buildings. This ban extends to medical masks and scarves as well, making the shark costume an obvious “no-go.” The restrictions are aimed at “ensuring the cohesion of society in an open society,” according to officials, and violations will be punished with a fine of up to ‚¬150. Even though the wording of the law was meant to be religiously-neutral, there is still a grey area in which Austrians appear to be exploiting in order to make a point.
When the police saw the young man in the shark costume, he was asked to remove it. The employee protested saying he was “just doing his job,” so the police arrested him and slapped him with a fine. Apparently, the man in the shark suit was reported to police by a member of the public who wanted to make a point of the new piece of legislation. The McShark electronics company is now reviewing its policy on using mascots to ensure they comply with the new law.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Christian Duty to Fight Satan’s Soros Plan to Bring Migrants Into Europe’ — Hungarian MP
A Hungarian MP slammed billionaire George Soros and supporters for attempting to dilute the spirit of Europe with “the forced settlement of tens of millions of migrants.” He claimed there is a Christian duty to fight what he called “Satan’s Soros” plan.
The lawmaker in question, Andras Aradszki, who represents the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), claimed that “Soros and his comrades want to destroy the independence and values of nation states,” as cited by the Budapest Beacon.
According to Aradszki this is happening “for the purpose of watering down the Christian spirit of Europe with the forced settlement of tens of millions of migrants.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prominent British Green politics campaigner and former Green party leader Natalie Bennett has refused to accept that “anything significant had happened” on New Year’s Eve 2015/16 in Cologne, Germany, whilst speaking on British radio Tuesday morning.
Engaged in a conversation on mass migration to Europe with LBC host Nick Ferrari, Bennett was promulgating the repeatedly debunked notion that the majority of the millions of young men who had come to the continent over the course of the migrant crisis were “well educated”.
Challenging the claim, host Ferrari brought up the Cologne attacks, which Bennett dismissed as “entirely debunked… fake news”. When Ferrari countered in some amazement that the situation in Cologne had been so serious the police chief of Cologne had been forced out of his post over it, Bennet refused to back down, insisting “it’s fake news… there was no final account that anything significant had happened”.
Whilst Bennett claimed the events of New Year’s Eve 2015/16 were fake and later debunked, in fact, the complete opposite was true — and an initial cover-up by the state authorities was broken down and the true events revealed to have been more significant than originally thought.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Commission Didn’t Object to 0.3% Adjustment — Padoan
Request made via letter says minister
(ANSA) — Luxembourg, October 10 — The European Commission made no objection to Italy’s request for it to make a budget adjustment of 0.3% in 2018, far less than previously agreed, Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Tuesday. “Italy has requested and obtained a structural adjustment of 0.3% instead of what had been planned,” Padoan said at the end of an ECOFIN meeting.
“The European Commission said that it received this request (in a letter) and did not object”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
French Nuclear Plants Vulnerable to Terror Attacks, Experts Say
in the first pargraph of this online news article: International experts warned on Tuesday about security shortcomings at French and Belgian nuclear plants that make them vulnerable to attack, in a worrying new report commissioned by the Greenpeace group.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Somali Torturer Gets Life
Found guilty of murder and violence in Libya camp
(ANSA) — Milan, October 10 — A Somali man who killed, tortured and raped dozens of people in a Libya detention camp was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday. Osman Matamudd, 22, who was also sentence to solitary confinement for three years, was arrested in Milan in September.
He was found guilty of multiple homicide, abducting hundreds of fellow Somali nationals for ransom, and sexual violence against dozens of young women and girls. The sentence was issued by the Milan Court of Assizes chaired by Giovanna Ichino after about five hours of deliberating.
Matamudd, who has consistently professed his innocence and claimed to have been the victim of torture himself, said “now I hope in heaven”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Govt Puts Election-Law Bill to Confidence Vote, Sparking Outrage
Opponents say move affront to democracy
(ANSA) — Rome, October 10 — The cabinet has authorized a confidence vote on a bill for a new election law, sources said Tuesday, sparking the outrage of parties opposed to it. Democratic Party (PD) Lower House Whip Ettore Rosato had said earlier in the day that he had called Premier Paolo Gentiloni to tell him that the government should put the bill to a confidence vote to render less arduous its path through parliament. “After a meeting of the coalition parties, I called Premier Paolo Gentiloni to tell him that the opinion of the majority is that it would be opportune to have a confidence vote,” Rosato said, responding to a question put by ANSA.
“The bill is the fruit of a tough balance between the ruling majority and the opposition and putting it to secret votes would put the text as a whole into difficulty”. The bill, nicknamed the Rosatellum 2 after Rosato, would harmonise the present differing laws for the House and the Senate.
It would introduce a system that is two-thirds proportional representation and one-third first-past-the-post system aimed at favouring the emergence of a winner.
There are fears the next general election, expected early in 2018, could be inconclusive with the current laws.
The bill has the backing of the ruling PD, Silvio Berlusconi’s opposition centre-right Forza Italia, the Northern League and the small centrist Popular Alternative (AP) group.
But the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) has rejected it, saying the bill is designed to stop them winning, and some small groups on the left are also against.
M5S Lower House whip Simone Valente said Tuesday that a confidence vote would be a “subversive act against democracy, the freedom to vote and citizens’ sovereignty”. “All of this is with the complicity of the Northern League and Forza Italia which, on paper, are in the opposition, but actually are part of a big, shameful shady deal against the public,” he said.
Roberto Speranza, the coordinator of the leftwing MDP group, also warned against putting the bill to a confidence vote.
“Putting the the election law to a confidence vote shortly before parliament is dissolved (for elections) goes beyond the limits of democracy,” said Speranza. “We are playing with fire here — a law that takes away the citizens’ sovereignty to choose those elected gets approved by taking sovereignty away from parliament. I don’t want to believe that it is true”. President Sergio Mattarella, meanwhile, welcomed parliament’s effort to pass a new election law, while expressing no judgement about the bill being examined, sources at the head of State’s office said on Tuesday. The president hopes that a new election law is passed with the broadest possible support and is not making any assessments about an eventual decision to put a bill to a confidence vote, which regards the relationship between the government and parliament, the sources said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Moroccan Woman Killed in Asti, Husband Turns Self in
46-year-old man confesses to murder — sources
(ANSA) — Asti, October 10 — A 46-year-old Moroccan man turned himself into to Carabinieri police and confessed to killing his wife at their home in the northern city of Asti late on Monday, sources said Tuesday. He said he stabbed the woman, also Moroccan, after a row.
The man does not have a criminal record and has been living in Italy for years.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Multicultural Malmo: Cemetery Staff to be Trained in Dealing With Armed Funeral Guests
All 230 employees of Malmö cemetery administration are to be trained in dealing with armed funeral guests, in response to a “new phenomenon” in the increasingly multicultural Swedish city, in which mourners carry weapons and don bulletproof vests to say their final goodbyes.
“It’s not just on the hospital trauma wards in Malmö that staff have to deal with a threatening atmosphere after someone gets shot,” SVT reported Sunday, in a piece which notes growing concern amongst church and cemetery employees over the rise in weapons making an appearance at funerals in the city.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Political Correctness in Service of Terrorism
Political correctness gives Muslim terrorists freedom while paralysing our societies and making the West defenceless.
The attacks in Spain, knife attack in Finland, unexplained “incident” in Germany — and all that just within 2 days. Violence caused by jihadi ideology continues. Belgian and French citizens are also fearing for their safety. To be honest, there isn’t a country in Europe where people can feel safe.
How is this possible that after 9/11 the Western world is not able to identify the enemy and talk about danger when looking at facts?
It’s because in Europe and North America, along with the rise of Islamic terrorism, a whole propaganda apparatus was created, aiming at convincing people — from Warsaw to Washington — that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. It’s enough to mention reports on attacks in New York — subsequent versions were being edited, any statements that could link Islam to the attacks, were gradually being deleted.
The anatomy of political correctness
The communication strategy as reaction to the attacks is based of few main pillars:….
| — Hat tip: PJ | [Return to headlines] |
Populist Leader Praises Brexit in Latest Austria Televised Debate Before Sunday Election
Austrian populist leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) Heinz-Christian Strache praised the UK and Brexit in the latest televised Austrian election debate and hit out hard against his main rival Sebastian Kurz.
Mr. Strache declared that “Britain will be better off after Brexit” during the debate and slammed the European Union (EU) and its role during the height of the migrant crisis in 2015. He went on to accuse Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) leader, and current frontrunner, Sebastian Kurz of not doing enough in the EU to represent Austria’s interests, Kronen Zeitung reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
It has been a hectic day for Spain where moments ago separatist Catalonia appeared to step back from the brink of officially declaring independence — with potentially dire consequences — even as Puigdemont asked for a mandate to delare indpendence for Catalonia but proposed to suspend the result of the referendum vote “for weeks”, in an attempt to achieve dialogue with the Spanish government “to arrive at an agreed solution to advance with the demands of the people of Catalonia.”
“With the results of October 1, Catalonia has won the right to be an independent state,” Puigdemont said. “If everyone acts responsibly, the conflict can be resolved with calm.”
As Bloomberg summarized the speech, “it sounds like Catalan President Puigdemont is trying to catch Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at his own game. Rajoy has always said he won’t talk as long as the Catalan government is acting outside the Spanish Constitution’s framework. Puigdemont is basically saying — fine let’s do that — but if doesn’t go our way we’ll resume with our plans.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Police Set to Arrest Catalan Leader “Immediately” If He Declares Independence
Spain’s D-Day is here: the country’s biggest political crisis since an attempted military coup in 1981 is about to get a resolution — one way or another — and as Bloomberg reports, Spanish police are ready to arrest Catalan President Carles Puigdemont “immediately” if he declares independence in the regional parliament, according to two people familiar with the government’s plans.
In what may be a preview of a possible upcoming civil war should today’s event be handled incorrectly, Bloomberg writes that while a final decision on whether to act has not yet been taken, Spain’s National Police force has elite officers deployed in Catalonia who are prepared to join a raid if Catalan police try to shield Puigdemont. If Puigdemont makes a statement that falls short of immediate independence, the government in Madrid may stay its hand. Puigdemont has called a press conference for 1 p.m. in Barcelona.
The National Police and the Civil Guard “have sufficient officers in place to overcome any resistance they might meet” Bloomberg’s sources note. A government press officer declined to comment other than to say that any such decision would have to be ordered by a judge.
Also today, Puigdemont is due to address the regional legislature at 6 p.m on Tuesday with many of his supporters looking for him to announce a new republic to follow through on the makeshift referendum held on Oct. 1. With his core supporters demanding he make good on the illegal vote for independence and officials in Madrid urging Rajoy to finally crack down on the separatist campaign, Puigdemont’s rebellion may be running out of road.
Already armed police have cordoned off the Catalan parliament, hours before the much anticipated independence speech:
[Comment: The BORG never let any leave the collective.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Government to Hold Emergency Cabinet Meeting Wednesday About Catalonia
There is a lot of confusion as to what is going on in Spain at this moment, with The Spain Report noting that “TV presenters asking politicians and guests if there has been a declaration of independence or not, and that “Spain confused.”
Wikipedia took a more pragmatic approach, and defined Catalonia’s independence as lasting all of 9 seconds: from the moments Puidgemont announced independence, to his declaration literally 9 seconds later he was suspending the outcome of the Catalan referendum.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Hungarian Revolt: When the World United Against Communism
[…] It all began on Oct. 23, 1956, with the memory of a long-dead general.
A poetry club laid a wreath in Budapest at the foot of a statue of General Józef Bem, who had fought for Hungarian freedom in the 1830s and 1840s.
This act, meant to commemorate the general on his birthday, emboldened the Hungarians who were living under the tyranny of the Soviets. When the people saw that the communist secret police didn’t throw the students in jail, Farber said, the control of fear was broken and more people joined the protest.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Town Calls Halt to Biggest Mosque in North Italy
At Sesto San Giovanni near Milan
(ANSA) — Milan, October 10 — The town council of Sesto San Giovanni near Milan on Tuesday revoked permission to build what would have been the biggest mosque in northern Italy. The council pointed to “serious and repeated breaches of commitments made in 2013 and 2015 conventions by the Islamic Cultural Centre”. The council passed the motion revoking a land grant with only the centre-left Democratic Party voting against.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Two Inmates Under Investigation for Planning Attacks in France
Two radicalised inmates in a French prison have been placed under formal investigation on suspicion of plotting attacks, only days before their expected release from jail, a judicial source said on Tuesday.
The two men, who were due to be released mid-October after completing sentences for non-terrorist crimes, were known in jail for being radicalised, the source added.
Charles-Henri M., 28 and from Cameroon, and Maxime O., 22 and from France, were taken from their cells in the Fresnes prison, just south of Paris and questioned for over four days before being placed under investigation on charges of criminal association linked with terrorism plans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK to Imprison People Who View ‘Far-Right Propaganda’ Online for Up to 15 Years
People in the United Kingdom could face up to fifteen years in prison for repeatedly viewing “far-right propaganda” or “terrorist material” online, according to a report.
According to the Guardian, “A new maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment will also apply to terrorists who publish information about members of the armed forces, police and intelligence services for the purposes of preparing acts of terrorism,” while the “tightening of the law around viewing terrorist material is part of a review of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy following the increasing frequency of terrorist attacks in Britain this year.”
[Comment: Globalist owned puppet politicians get to decide what is “far-right” (hint — any ideas that go against their globalist agenda).]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A blind woman who cannot leave the house alone or carry out basic day-to-day tasks such as making a cup of tea has been told she is fit to work.
Hazel Macrae, 62, suffers from epilepsy, Type 2 Diabetes and osteoarthritis and was claiming Employment Support Allowance (ESA) when she was told she would have to undertake a back to work assessment.
Ms Macrae, from Newcastle, filled in a questionnaire explaining she is unable to leave her home without the help of her partner or son because she is afraid of falling, can’t use a pen, pencil or telephone and would be unable to ‘move safely’ in a workplace.
She was also required to meet with a health professional to undergo a face-to-face assessment where she was asked a series of questions about her daily activities.
Echoing the award-winning Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake — which was shot in Newcastle — Ms Macrae has been told she has ‘limited capability for work’ and her ESA has been moved from the Support Group to Work Related Activity Group, and reduced by £15 per fortnight.
Ms Macrae, who has artificial eyes, will now have to regularly meet with a work coach to discuss how she can get back into work.
She said: ‘They think they can support me back into work but I can’t do it.
‘There are no jobs that I can do. They have said that I can use my hands and I’m expected to apply for all jobs going.
‘They asked me if I can move my hands and I said yes. I can’t even make a cup of tea myself because of the boiling water. If I used a white stick I would not have the confidence to go out of the house by myself.’
Ms Macrae has lodged an appeal and could face a tribunal — for the second time.
Two years ago the Department for Work and Pensions said she could go back to work and after losing an appeal was forced to take them to a tribunal, which she later won.
She said: ‘My health hasn’t got any better since two years ago so I don’t know why this has happened.
[Comment: UK gov. needs the money they pay her to pay for the new refugee.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hairdresser ‘Laughed as He Told Victim of HIV Infection’
A hairdresser accused of deliberately infecting a string of lovers with HIV told one alleged victim ‘I ripped the condom. Burn. I got you,’ a court was told.
Daryll Rowe, 26, who was HIV positive, sent a series of abusive texts after the pair met on Grindr and had sex.
In the days after they met Rowe called the man and laughed down the phone as he told him he had sabotaged the condom.
The alleged victim claims he was horrified as he had had insisted Rowe wear a condom believed the pair had engaged in safe sex.
Weeks later he began to suffer from a sore throat, swollen glands and fatigue and later tested positive for HIV.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnian Court Acquits Ex-Srebrenica Commander of War Crimes
Naser Oric immediately prompted anger from Serbian leaders
(ANSA-AP) — SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnia’s war crimes court on Monday acquitted the wartime commander of Srebrenica, who was accused of committing atrocities against Serbs during the 1992-95 Balkan conflict. The acquittal of Naser Oric immediately prompted anger from Serbian leaders, with Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin saying the court ruling “threatens security, trust and reconciliation in the whole of the Balkans.” Oric was accused of war crimes against three Serb prisoners of war who were murdered in villages around the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in the early days of the conflict. A panel of judges presiding over the trial ruled Monday the prosecution did not present evidence proving the case against Oric. Oric is seen as a hero by many Muslim Bosnians for his role in defending Srebrenica, where Serb forces massacred some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in 1995. The killings, the worst single atrocity in Europe since World War II, is the only episode of Bosnia’s war to be defined as genocide by two U.N. courts. Serbs continue to claim the 1995 Srebrenica slaughter was an act of revenge by uncontrolled troops because they say soldiers under Oric’s command killed thousands of Serbs in the villages surrounding the eastern town. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said “it is clear that we will have to fight for justice ourselves.” Still, he urged Serbs not to “utter a hard word against Bosniak neighbors so that we build friendship with them, and build a future together with them.” Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik said that Oric’s acquittal showed there was no justice for Serbs. He called on Serb judges and prosecutors to abandon their posts in Bosnia’s top court and prosecution office and urged all Bosnian Serb political representatives “to gather around the cause of declaring the (two institutions) illegitimate.” Oric had previously been tried by a U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, where he was also acquitted in 2008. The Bosnian war pitted the country’s three main ethnic factions — Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims — against each other after Bosnia split from what was then Yugoslavia. More than 100,000 people were killed in the conflict before a peace deal was brokered in 1995. ___ AP Writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade, Serbia. SABINA NIKSIC/
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kosovo: Thaci Attacks Special Court for UCK Crimes
‘Created for Serbia’s and Russia’s sake. Broken promises’
(ANSA) — PRISTINA — Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci has harshly critised the international community, which — he said — urged Pristina to create a new Special Court for UCK crimes (Kosovo Liberation Army, independent Albanian guerrilla which fought against the Serbs in the late 1990s) mainly to satisfy Serbia and Russia.
Speaking at a round table which was held yesterday in Pristina, Thaci — who in the past was among the UCK leaders — spoke of the Special Court as a “historical injustice” done to Kosovo, emphasizing that he had consented to its creation in order to maintain strategic partnership with US, EU and NATO. But in essence it was a scam, the president commented. According to president, the international community had promised, in exchange for this assent, to accelerate Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe, to step up visa liberalization, to support Pristina’s membershio of UNESCO, to let Kosovo form their own armed forces and facilitate recognitions of its independence. “Pristina maintained its promise by accepting the creation of the Court, but the international community has not even maintained one of its promises”, Thaci said, adding that Kosovo’s European path was made even more difficult. “As a president, I am committed to establishing the truth and achieving reconciliation, but the Special Court, while trying to do justice, is an injustice done to Kosovo”, Thaci said. According to president, the creation of this Special Court was dictated more by the political necessity of the international community than by a genuine desire for justice. To protest against these allegations, the British ambassador to Pristina Ruairi O’ Connell, attending the round table, left the room. The first accusations from Special Court for UCK Crimes, which is based at The Hague, are expected by the end of the year, and Thaci — along with other current state managers former UCK members — is likely to be impeached.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
CNN and Qatar Airways: Taking Fake News to New Heights
by Bruce Bawer
[…] A shot of an airplane, and views of the earth from the sky.
“That’s why we’ll continue to fly the skies. Providing you with everything we can. And treating everyone how they deserve to be treated. We do this because we know that travel goes beyond borders and prejudice.”
Back to shot of people together, smiling, walking here and there, in the city and countryside.
“That travel teaches compassion. That travel is a necessity. That travel is a right for all. Remember that this world is all of ours to explore. And it’s a strange thing for us to be apart.”
The commercial is in heavy rotation on CNN International, which I’ve been watching more than usual lately because of the coverage of hurricanes. …
It does not seem coincidental, then, that Qatar Airways chose this time to start running a commercial that criticizes “borders” and “boundaries,” and suggests that everybody should be free to go everyplace. …
Still, CNN’s readiness to run the new Qatar Airways commercial takes the network’s shamelessness to a whole new level. This is — or is supposed to be — a news network, and yet it is regularly running an ad in which Qatar Airways, and consequently its owner, the government of Qatar, profess to believe that it is “a right for all of us to go where we need to go” and “feel the things we want to feel.” The airline, and the government, claim to oppose “prejudice” and to like “compassion.”
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
by John R. Bolton
[…] I have previously suggested that disaffected Sunni Arabs in Iraq and Syria might combine to form their own secular (but religiously Sunni) state, which the Gulf Arabs could help support financially. Indeed, while substantial issues remain about allocating the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Kirkuk between Kurds and Arabs, the Kurds themselves are largely Sunni, which suggests considerable confluence of interest with their Arab fellow Sunnis. Helping a new Kurdistan and a new Sunni state might overcome the current split among the Arabian peninsula’s oil-producing monarchies and focus their attention on Iran, the real threat to their security.
Unfortunately, but entirely predictably, our State Department opposed even holding the referendum and firmly rejects Kurdish independence. This policy needs to be reversed immediately, turning U.S. obstructionism into leadership. Kurdish independence efforts did not create regional instability but instead reflect the unstable reality.
Independence could well promote greater Middle Eastern security and stability than the collapsing post-World War I order.
Recognizing that full Kurdish independence is far from easy, these issues today are no longer abstract and visionary but all too concrete. This is no time to be locked into outdated strategic thinking.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Mr. President, Don’t Put America at Risk With Flawed Iran Deal
by John R. Bolton
[…] Some say that trashing the deal will spur Iran to accelerate its nuclear-weapons program to rush across the finish line. Of course, before the JCPOA, Iran was already party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which barred it from seeking or possessing nuclear weapons, but which it systematically violated. JCPOA advocates are therefore arguing that although one piece of paper (a multilateral treaty, no less) failed to stop Iran’s nuclear quest, the JCPOA, a second piece of paper, will do the trick, with catastrophic consequences if we withdraw. Ironically, these same acolytes almost invariably concede the JCPOA is badly flawed and needs substantial amendment. So they actually believe a third piece of paper is required to halt Iran. Two are not enough. This argument flunks the smile test: Burying Iran in paper will not stop its nuclear program.
Iran’s ability to “rush” to have nuclear weapons existed before the deal, exists now, and would exist if America withdrew. The director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said recently it would take a mere five days for Iran to resume its pre-deal level of uranium enrichment. This rare case of regime honesty demonstrates how trivial and easily reversible Iran’s JCPOA concessions were. What alone deters an Iranian “rush” is the threat of preemptive U.S. or Israeli military strikes, not pieces of paper.
Nor will U.S. withdrawal eliminate valuable international verification procedures under the JCPOA. In fact, these measures are worse than useless for nonproliferation purposes, although they serve Iran well. By affording the appearance of effective verification, they camouflage Iran’s active, multiple violations of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231: on uranium-enrichment levels, advanced-centrifuge research, heavy-water production and missile programs. The International Atomic Energy Agency recently admitted explicitly it has no visibility whatever into weapons and ballistic-missile work underway on Iran’s military bases.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Sex Slavery and Women Trafficking for Jihadi Fund Rising Are Essential for ISIS and Boko Haram
From Boko Haram to Islamic State, sex slavery and trafficking fund extremism: Report.
Zeenat Aman | HENB | London | Oct 10, 2017:: Allah made Islam so beautiful that it can’t stay a moment without thinking beautiful curves of women or planning sanctified and secret sex under Burkqa. From the common Muslims to the highly revered Jihadis, the provisions of sexual aggression over the non-Muslim girls are permitted in practical Islam. From kitchen to war field sexual satisfaction is an important component in the advancement of Islam. But, Jihadis are always top priority for providing them beautiful Sex Slaves in ‘collective seclusion’. Sodomy and Pedophile activism are also very much inclusive in the taste of the great Jihadis of ISIS and Boko Haram.
Offering kidnapped women and girls to jihadist fighters as sex slaves or wives helps militant groups lure and retain members, while sex trafficking can bankroll their extremist operations, a UK-based think-tank said on Monday…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Hindu Nationalists Warn of an Islamic Plot of ‘Love Jihad’ To Seduce Hindu Women
Fighting the “love jihad”.
The Economist OnLine | New Delhi | Sept 30, 2017:: The older woman’s slaps come quick and hard, followed by a shrill, “Have you no shame?” The younger woman sits still, eyes downcast, holding a hesitant hand to her stinging cheek as if in disbelief. Captured earlier this month in the city of Aligarh, 140km south-east of the Indian capital, Delhi, this little act of violence was mild by the standards of videos that go viral across India’s 1.2bn mobile phones.
Yet the scene was widely shared, and for compelling reasons. The two women were complete strangers. The older one happens to be Sangeeta Varshney, a prominent local member of India’s ruling party. The younger woman, who is Hindu, had been spotted sitting in a teahouse with a man who is Muslim. In a later interview on television, Ms Varshney explained that as a mother and a Hindu herself, she had a God-given right to hit the other woman. This was, she continued, a clear-cut case of “love jihad”.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
North Korean Hackers Reportedly Stole US and South Korea War Plans
North Korean hackers may have stolen a trove of documents from South Korea, including plans to assassinate communist dictator Kim Jong Un.
South Korean lawmaker Rhee Cheol-hee, who sits on the defense committee, confirmed the hack to BBC. The hackers stole 235 gigabytes of documents, 80 percent of which are yet to be identified.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Elite Police Officers Will Soon Carry Machine Guns as Part of a ‘Hardened Response’ To Terrorism
As a part of Sydney’s plan to ‘harden’ its response to terrorist violence, elite police officers of the NSW Public Order and Riot Squad will soon be carrying machine guns.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
An Islamic preacher from western Sydney Nassim Abdi has slammed Muslim parents for allowing their children to listen to music on the car radio as they went to a mosque.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Sydney chicken supplier and restaurant chain Red Lea has abruptly stopped delivering non-halal products including pork-based bacon and ham to attract more Muslim customers.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Jade Hunia, from Melbourne, has been handed down a sentence of seven years and six months after stabbing an off-duty police officer in the face while drunk and on four sets of bail.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Angela Merkel Red-Faced on Immigration — ‘Admit You Failed!”
The questions came during a press conference where the CDU leader and Horst Seehofer, leader of its Bavarian sister party the CSU, announced an agreement on immigration today.
The “Union” parties have agreed an immigration cap of 200,000 migrants a year and tougher immigration rules, after disagreeing on Merkel’s migrant policy since November 2015.
Chancellor Merkel agreed to compromise with the more right-wing Mr Seehofer on limiting immigration in order to accelerate talks with other parties as she builds her new ruling coalition.
But she was put on the spot by an awkward question from a journalist as the agreement was announced.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Conservative Parties Say They Agree on Migrant Limit
CDU-CSU want annual number of migrants to 200,000
(ANSA) — BERLIN — Germany’s conservative parties say they have agreed on a law limiting the number of migrants allowed to enter the country every year.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party and its sister party, the Christian Social Union — AP reports — say they want to limit the annual number of migrants to 200,000. However, Andreas Scheuer, the CSU’s general secretary, said Monday the number can be increased or lowered by parliament in reaction to future refugee crises.
The migrant issue had been one of the biggest stumbling blocks between the two parties as they head into coalition talks with the pro-business FDP and the Greens to form a new government following last month’s election. Germany took in more than 1 million migrants between 2015 and 2016 but the numbers have drastically gone down since then.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s “Open Doors” Are Closing: Merkel Seeks New Limits on Refugees
After German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted late last year that she had “lost control” of Germany’s refugee crisis after adopting an “open door” policy that fueled an unprecedented spike in crime, her weakened ruling coalition announced Monday that it would seek to impose new restrictions on the number of refugees admitted to the country.
Germany famously admitted nearly one million refugees from Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and other war zones in 2015, a five-fold increase over the previous year.
Migrants repaid Germany for its openness by committing 142,500 crimes during the first six months of 2016, including several high-profile sexual assaults…
To be sure, WSJ says the policy change is purely symbolic, adding that it would likely be scuttled by the time Merkel’s party successfully forms a governing coalition. Instead of representing meaningful change, the announcement is largely a sop to more moderate-leaning conservatives.
[Comment: Just pablum and propaganda to mollify the masses.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New German Coalition in Peril as Potential Partners Clash Over 200,000 Annual Migrant Limit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed to a proposal from coalition partner and leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) Horst Seehofer to limit the number of asylum seekers in Germany to 200,000 per year — but other coalition partners are not as positive on the policy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ohio: Somali Muslim Refugee Convicted of Vehicular Homicide of 7-Month-Old Boy in Stroller
Muhuba A. Mohamed, 32, was found guilty Thursday of aggravated vehicular homicide by Common Pleas Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt in the June 2, 2016, crash.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Richard Von Coudenhove-Kalergi and the Genocide of the European Peoples
You have most likely asked the question: why is the European Union engaged in such self-destructive behaviour? Normally, admitting a hostile dependency class into your member states at an astronomical financial cost is unthinkable. The loss of social cohesion as a host society grapples with the needs of millions of hostile dependants is deterrent enough. The deluge of migrants, however, continues without any sign of relenting. Why would the elites of some of the most powerful EU member states allow this to continue? Why would EU officials condone and even encourage this activity? Who set this apocalypse in motion? What are some of the underlying ideas that prompted such a radical set of policy changes? Part of the answer may be found in the ideas and writings of one man: Richard von Coudenhove— Kalergi…
Prominent individuals financed Kalergi’s Pan-European movement. In 1924, one of Kalergi’s friends, Baron Louis Nathaniel de Rothschild, introduced him to Hamburg banker Max Warburg. Warburg financed the first three years of the movement to the tune of 60,000 gold marks. After their initial meeting, Kalergi and Warburg remained in constant intellectual dialogue thereafter. He was then introduced to Max’s brothers Felix and Paul Warburg; the American financier Bernard Baruch in 1925; and the German industrialist Robert Bosch who set up the Pan-European Development Fund.[8] Further financial and promotional support of the movement was garnered from the Thurn und Taxis, Wittlebachs, Hapsburgs, and Kalergi families.[9]
Kalergi founded the Pan-European Union (PEU) in 1946 and is seen as the founding father of the European Union. He was awarded the first Charlemagne prize in 1950, which has since been renamed the European Prize Coudenhove-Kalergi. This award is now presented every second year to “leading personalities for their extraordinary commitment in the European unification process.”
[Comment: Article proved a good history of the Kalergi plan — most GoV readers already familiar with this plan.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: EU Backs 4 Mln Additional Emergency Aid for Refugees
Stylianides at Obrenovac centre to assess humanitarian situation
(ANSA) — BRUXELLES, 09 OTT — The European Commission has backed an additional 4 million euros in humanitarian aid for Serbia to assist refugees and asylum-seekers. The new projects include food distribution in reception centres, the protection of the most vulnerable people and educational activities.
While in Serbia to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides announced the new funding. The Commissioner visited the Obrenovac reception centre and met with government officials. “Obrenovac reception centre is proof of commitment to all actors and immense hospitality of Serbian people”, he wrote on his Twitter account.
It is Stylianides’ fourth official visit to Serbia. Brussels and Belgrade cooperation “has allowed an effective response to the refugee crisis”, he said. The Commissioner pointed out that the EU is fully committed to improving reception conditions, providing food, education and health services. “The additional projects announced today will address the needs of the most vulnerable population especially during the upcoming winter season”, Stylianides explained.
Since 2015, EU has provided more than 80 million euros to help the country managing the migration flows.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Multiculturalism is Splintering the West
by Giulio Meotti
The European Union’s official statistics on terrorism are dramatic:
“In 2016, a total of 142 failed, foiled and completed attacks were reported by eight EU Member States. More than half (76) of them were reported by the United Kingdom. France reported 23 attacks, Italy 17, Spain 10, Greece 6, Germany 5, Belgium 4 and the Netherlands 1 attack. 142 victims died in terrorist attacks, and 379 were injured in the EU. 1,002 persons were arrested for terrorist offences in 2016”.
These countries all tried to integrate Muslim communities, but all came to the same dead end. “As long as that continues, the failure of integration will pose a mortal threat to Europe”, the Wall Street Journal wrote after a suicide bombing that killed 22 people in Manchester. According to a new book by the French reporter Alexandre Mendel, Partition: Chronique de la sécession islamiste en France (“Partition: A Chronicle of the Islamist Secession in France”), multiculturalism is leading to the separation of European societies.
It is also leading to constant waves of terror attacks. Last August, on a single day, Islamists killed 20 Europeans in Barcelona and Finland. A month later, they slaughtered two girls in Marseille, and in Birmingham a Shiite boy was brutally wounded. That is the deadly harvest of Europe’s multiculturalism. It is the most romanticized, seductive European ideology since Communism.
[ Books:
Alexandre Mendel, Partition : Chronique de la sécession islamiste en France; French; October 11, 2017
Alexandre Mendel, La France djihadiste — en ce moment a 15 minutes de chez vous; French; April 20, 2016
https://www.amazon.com/France-djihadiste-moment-minutes-French/dp/B01A88906S ]
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
No Retreat: Aussie Rugby Star Reaffirms Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage
Rugby star Israel Folau has defied his public critics by restating his opposition to same-sex marriage as Australia’s ballot on the matter reaches its final stages.
As Breitbart News reported, Folau was on the receiving end of ferocious criticism last month when he took to Twitter to voice his public opposition to any plans to change existing laws and allow homosexuals to marry.
Now he has returned to the debate and publicly re-stated his personal opinion in a move that will reignite the abuse that marked the Wallaby fullback’s last step into the heated same-sex marriage debate. Not that he appears to care.
“I’m going to stand firm on what I’ve said, that’s what I believe in,” said Folau, who is a devout Christian, Rugby.com.au reported. “I guess it doesn’t change anything for me and my mindset is still first hand with what’s going on here with the Wallabies.
“It hasn’t really had an effect on me at all, so I stand firm on what I believe in and what I said.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Summoning the Demon, ‘ ‘Tower of Babel’: Debate Over AI God Heating Up
Anton Skripunov (RIA Novosti) — Anthony Levandowski has set up a religious nonprofit organization called Way of the Future and devoted to the worship of artificial intelligence (AI).
“Our mission is to develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on artificial intelligence and through understanding and worship of the Godhead contribute to the betterment of society,” the organization’s founding documents say.
Support for AI
The new god is seen by US media as an almighty bot that will cater to all of its adherents’ wishes. What will make it different from biblical God, however, is that it will be genuinely kind and will not punish mortals.
AI is God: Ex-Google Engineer Creating New Religion
Speaking about Levandowski’s idea, Pastor Christopher Benek, the Christian Transhumanist Association’s leader, said that “I totally think that AI can participate in Christ’s redemptive purposes,” as quoted by the Guardian, by ensuring it is imbued with Christian values.
[Comment: What could possibly go wrong? The term “Christian transhumanist” uses two words that are mutually exclusive.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
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Wonderful Sweden
https://samnytt.se/elever-saknas-efter-skolstart-befaras-
blivit-forda-utomlands-for-tvangsgifte/
In Gothenburg, Sweden, school benches are empty since the start of the term. The pupils missing are feared to have been brought abroad for forced child marriage. In the whole country there are hundreds missing for probabely the same reasons.
On preserving the Second Amendment: There is no logical argument that can stand against the plainly worded – none! A thing is either what it claims to be or it isn’t. There can be no middle ground. Pretty simple really, and those who attempt to argue for the Second Amendment need to step back and realize the simple reality that those who take to arguing against it can evolve no logical argument for its removal or even its modification because the Second Amendment is what it claims to be!
‘As a part of Sydney’s plan to ‘harden’ its response to terrorist violence, elite police officers of the NSW Public Order and Riot Squad will soon be carrying machine guns.’
If history can teach us something, then you first have a Republic, then Imperium, then you get flooded by barbarians, and it all ends in dark ages where people build castles and fortified cities against the free roaming criminals…
…after that we can expect renaissance, then republic, and the wheel keeps on turning…
Seems to be Humanity’s lot doesn’t it! A recurring nightmare in which the players roles are almost set in stone with few exceptions to the rule and limited avenues of hope.
A united Europe with Christianity is a monster promising another failed soviet under the Marxist god of bureaucracy….followed by the usual arrests and gulags for dissidents.
Came across two interesting bits of information re: the LV shooting. Firstly, one of the victims says he was shot by someone IN the crowd and that there were multiple shooters on the ground. Says he told the FBI but has not had any followup from them. Then I come across this:
a video shows what appears to be a security guard opening fire into the crowd. http://www.onenewspage.com/video/20171006/9020349/Las-Vegas-Shooting-Video-Shows-Security-Guard-Open.htm
Look closely at the 0:05 mark and see what you think.
It is such a quick glimpse but it sure looks like something happens there.
Latest on the Vegas hoax:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-11/vegas-hotel-worker-warned-police-shooter-massacre-began
Still no credible CCTV footage. It is also claimed the shooter used the freight elevator. I have to believe access to that elevator is closely controlled and monitored.
My vote is that this is a gun grab and scare to sell body scanners that is failing to get real traction because the patsy is a hardcore ISIS convert.