After another gang-rape of a woman in the southern Swedish city of Malmö, Swedish police advised women to stay inside or only venture out in pairs if they wanted to avoid being raped. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in response to this flagrant dereliction of duty by law enforcement.
In other Swedish news, a 30-year-old Australian was stabbed to death in the city of Gothenburg.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Bill Keezer, Charles Low, Dean, Dora, JD, PJ, Reader from Chicago, SS, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Tax Reform Reaction: AT&T is Giving Bonuses to 200,000 Employees
Telecom giant AT&T was quick to respond to news of U.S. tax reform, announcing it would give some employees bonuses once the legislation is signed into law.
AT&T said in a press release Wednesday that it would give more than 200,000 of its U.S. workers who are union members a special bonus of $1,000. The company also increased its capital expenditures budget by $1 billion in the U.S.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bancorp Join Businesses in Praising GOP Tax Reform
Following the footsteps of other major corporations, Wells Fargo and Fifth Third BankCorp praised the Republican tax reform plan Wednesday hours after the bill passed through congress.
Fifth Third Bancorp and Wells Fargo announced they wold be raising the minimum wage for their workers to $15 an hour, giving credit to the Tax Reform plan that will lower corporate tax rates.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
It was a quiet day at a Lenexa, KS Costco, when a bad guy with a gun made his way into the store, claiming he was there to “kill people.” Fortunately, for the Costco shoppers, an off-duty Kansas police captain (a good guy) was also shopping at Costco with a gun.
Captain Michael Howell was on his day off when he saw the gunman burst into the store with a pistol in Lenexa, Kansas, and begin screaming ‘I’m going to kill people’.
But as gunman Roland Hunt made his way further into the store, Captain Howell was in hot pursuit with his gun drawn on Sunday.
The cop, who has worked for the Kansas City Police Department police for 22 years, can be seen stealthily trailing the man in the video.
He later shot the gunman dead when 58-year-old Hunt turned his revolver on the officer. Neither Howell or any other customer was hurt.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Obama administration’s decision to let the Iranian proxy Hezbollah build a criminal empire in the Americas in exchange for a coveted nuclear deal provides a glimpse into the strategic thinking of the former president. A recent Politico article laid out the bare bones of the transaction.
Many of the particulars in the Politico article had been in open-source circulation for months, though largely unnoticed by the press. In fact one of Politico’s sources, David Asher, had already laid out the same facts in testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in June, 2017. The emphasis of Asher’s congressional presentation crucially differed from Politico’s journalistic account: Asher saw as operational penetration what Politico viewed through the lens of foreign policy choice.
By May 2010, Brennan, then assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, confirmed in a speech that the administration was looking for ways to build up “moderate elements” within Hezbollah…
The Obama administration must have been dazzled by the prospect of engagement, at the tantalizing chance of building up ‘moderate’ elements in Hezbollah. But in exchange for these political goals, Asher noted, it would be necessary to allow Hezbollah to build an operational capability that could penetrate the US homeland through a massive system of espionage rings, smuggling networks and money laundering syndicates based in Latin and Central America. Although the cost was steep — tons of addicting drugs, a growing number of infiltration routes and loads dirty money that collectively made up the Iran “Action Network”. Asher told the Committee what Iran stood to gain…
What went wrong with the Obama deal?
In hindsight the success of the Iran nuclear deal implicitly hinged upon the hidden assumption of a third and possibly a fourth Obama term through Hillary Clinton. Her defeat not only exposed the huge costs of the deal but undermined the future payoffs themselves. The eagerness of the Resistance to bring down Donald Trump stems from one single fact. He threatens to ruin their meticulously crafted multi-year plans…
Read Wretchard’s whole analysis.
| — Hat tip: Bill Keezer | [Return to headlines] |
Censorship of Conservatives: Twitter Begins Purging Right-Leaning Accounts
Social media giant Twitter has begun their censorship in the form of a purge. Focusing on right-leaning accounts, Twitter has begun suspending well-known conservative users from their site.
Twitter began enforcing their new censorship rules to combat “hateful and abusive content” (aka, anything not leftist in nature according to conservatives) Monday and a number of well-known far-right organizations and users were suspended. The changes to the policy were announced last month and broadened Twitter’s “hateful conduct policy” to permanently suspend any account — covering usernames, profile bios, and display names — that displays “violent threats, multiple slurs, epithets, racist or sexist tropes, incites fear or reduces someone to less than human.”
According to Fox News, this will presumably include countless accounts bearing Nazi flags, swastikas, and similar symbols, but it certainly won’t stop there. Conservatives fear they will be shut down simply for disagreeing with the communist rhetoric Twitter allows.
Twitter’s crackdown on free speech is surely a simple way for them to continue to promote only the hardened communist ideals which have killed 100 million people in the past few decades.
So far, the mainstream media is calling this “purge” one of only the extremist hate groups. However, anyone with at least a few functioning brain cells understands that once censorship begins it will continue an in all likelihood, disproportionately affect those who disagree with the standard vein of mainstream opinion.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Eric Holder Doubles Down With Second Threat Against Firing Mueller
Eric Holder just doubled down on threats…this old radical is off his rocker. He might be shaking in his boots that his corruption will be exposed too. We know there’s plenty of it to go around… Benghazi is just one of many…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Illinois Lost 1 Resident Every 4.3 Minutes in 2017, Dropped to 6th Most Populous State
Illinois is drowning under a mountain of debt, unpaid bills and underfunded pension liabilities and its largest city, Chicago, is suffering from a staggering outbreak of violent crime not seen since gang wars engulfed major cities from LA to New York in the mid-90’s. Here is just a small taste of some of our posts on Illinois’ challenges:
- Illinois Pension Funding Ratio Sinks To 37.6% As Unfunded Liabilities Surge To $130 Billion
- Illinois Unpaid Vendor Backlog Hits A New Record At Over $16 Billion
- The State Of Illinois Is “Past The Point Of No Return”
- “What The Hell Is Going On In Chicago” And Other Highlights From Trump’s Speech To FBI Grads
Given that, it’s hardly surprising that the Prairie State lost a net 33,700 residents in fiscal year 2017, according to the Census Bureau. Also not surprising is the fact that the mass exodus from Illinois was the largest of any state in the country with lower taxed, lower cost of living states like Texas and Florida posting the biggest gains.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Supporter Planned Lone-Wolf Style Terror Attack in Virginia
NORFOLK, Va. — A Suffolk man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.
“Lionel Williams planned to conduct a lone-wolf style terror attack,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “He adhered to a radicalized version of Islam, publically declared his allegiance to ISIS on social media, and ordered an AK-47 assault rifle the day after the San Bernardino terrorist attack. What started with radicalized internet postings escalated to attempts to help ISIS buy weapons and ammunition, and ended with a plan to kill law enforcement officers here in Virginia. I want to thank the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office and the Suffolk Police Department for their extraordinary work on this case.”
According to court documents, Lionel Williams, 27, attempted to send money to a person he believed was an ISIS financier on two occasions, believing the money would be used to kill. In court documents, Williams admitted his interest in ISIS began in 2014. On Dec. 3, 2015, the day after the San Bernardino terrorist attack, he bought an AK-47 assault rifle. In March 2016, he publicly declared his support for ISIS on social media, described his hope that ISIS would take over the United States, and stated he would decapitate any law enforcement agents he caught surveilling him. After donating money to an individual he believed to be an ISIS financier — but was actually a persona adopted by an FBI employee — Williams was told his donation had helped purchase a rocket-propelled grenade. He responded with an Arabic phrase meaning, “Praise be to Allah, and Allah is the Greatest.” Later in 2016, Williams began discussing plans for a “martyrdom operation” with a woman living outside the United States, asked an FBI confidential source to send him specific types of AK-47 ammunition, and told an FBI employee that his plan was for a local operation. Williams was arrested and charged shortly thereafter. After his arrest, he told agents he supported ISIS and believed he was part of a “holy war.”
In addition to his prison sentence, Williams was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Declares Mistrial in Bundy Case, Faults Federal Prosecutors for Withholding Evidence
New trial scheduled for February in 2014 Nevada standoff
A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case against rancher Cliven Bundy and co-defendants accused of leading the 2014 Nevada standoff, admonishing the prosecution for failing to turn over “potentially exculpatory” evidence to the defense.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro also dismissed the jurors after seven weeks of testimony on charges brought against Cliven Bundy, his sons Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and Ryan Payne in Las Vegas federal court.
“The judge is obligated to disclose all evidence that might be favorable” to defense attorneys, she said.
She said the federal prosecution had failed to disclose information in five areas: “records about surveillance and snipers at the Bundy Ranch; unredacted FBI logs about activity at the ranch in the days around the standoff; threat assessments about the Bundys dating to 2012; and internal affairs reports about the BLM,” according to the Arizona Republic…
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Declares Mistrial in Bundy Case, Says Government Willfully Withheld Evidence
In a shocking verdict, Judge Gloria Navarro dismissed jurors Wednesday, declaring a mistrial in the Bundy Ranch case saying U.S. prosecutors willfully withheld critical and “potentially exculpatory” evidence from the defense.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Over Half of the 23 NFL Players Still Kneeling During the National Anthem Are From One Team
Are you one bit surprised by the fact that the one team still doing the most kneeling during the national anthem is the Seattle Seahawks? Seattle happens to be home to many, many social justice warriors so this protest is perfect for the city of Seattle.
Daily Caller reports:
The national anthem protest has mostly subsided 15 weeks into the NFL season, and the players on just one team outnumber those around the rest of the league who are continuing to kneel.
Twelve players on the Seattle Seahawks knelt for the national anthem ahead of their game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. Only 11 other players among the other 31 teams in the NFL are also continuing to protest, according to a breakdown by CNS News.
The only other team with multiple players kneeling on Sunday was Colin Kaepernick’s former team, the San Francisco 49ers. The Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs each had one player kneel.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Police: Security Officer Wounded, Gunman Dead in Cincinnati Hospital Shooting
CINCINNATI — A lone gunman opened fire inside a Cincinnati hospital Wednesday afternoon, striking a security officer before killing himself, police said.
UC Health officials said the shooting happened at University Hospital Psychiatric Emergency Services in the 3200 block of Burnet Avenue.
Police believe the shooting happened near the building’s entrance — either in the entryway or in the lobby.
The lone gunman walked into the building about 2 p.m., and fired “multiple shots,” according to Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac.
Isaac said an unarmed security officer — who works for UC Health and is not affiliated with the Cincinnati Police Department — was shot.
The security officer is being treated at University Hospital for his injuries. Isaac called his injuries “very serious,” but said he is expected to survive.
Isaac said that after the gunman wounded the officer, he turned the gun on himself. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Metal detectors are in place at the hospital’s entrance, and Isaac said security knew right away that the man was armed.
“I thank him (the security guard) for what he does every day. It’s a very dangerous life, and I hope all of the best for him,” said Marie Richinger, who was at the hospital at the time of the shooting.
Cincinnati police did not fire any shots during the incident, Isaac said.
The shooting was initially reported as an active shooter situation, prompting a massive police response.
So far, police have not released a motive for the gunman’s actions.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Senate Democrats Target Homeschool Families in Last-Minute Tax Reform Hit
As the Republican Party edged closer to passing historic tax reform, Democrats in the U.S. Senate used a last-minute procedural protest to attack homeschool families. Their petty complaint struck the short title of the tax reform bill, one provision of the endowment tax, and the extension of college savings plans to homeschool expenses.
The homeschool attack proved particularly revealing. The Republican tax bill would extend the use of 529 tax-advantaged saving plans — originally intended to foster saving for college tuition — to K-12 public and private schools, as well as homeschooling. Rather than complaining that 529s should only be for college, the Democrats struck the homeschool provision, leaving the K-12 school extension in place.
Make no mistake: this was an… attack on the families of approximately 1.5 million American children who are educated at home, perhaps in an attempt to privilege teacher’s unions…
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Suffolk Man to be Sentenced for Attempting to Help ISIS
SUFFOLK, Va (WAVY) — A federal judge is expected to hand down the sentence Wednesday morning for a Suffolk man who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges.
Prosecutors say 26-year-old Lionel Williams tried to help ISIS by providing material support and resources to the terrorist organization last year.
Williams pleaded guilty to the terrorism charges in August. Investigators say Williams’ interest in ISIS began in 2014. Federal authorities say he pledged his support to ISIS on social media — describing his hope that the terror group would take over the U.S.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Young Kazakh Man, A Brooklyn Resident, Gets Prison Sentence for Plot to Aid ISIS
A Brooklyn, N.Y., resident has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring to support Islamic State, despite his mother’s efforts to stop him from joining the terror group.
A federal court in New York issued the sentence Wednesday for Akhror Saidakhmetov, nearly three years after the now-22-year-old Kazakh citizen was arrested while attempting to board a plane to Turkey. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State. He wanted to fight for ISIS, federal prosecutors said, and will be deported from the U.S. after serving his sentence.
Mr. Saidakhmetov was one of three Brooklyn roommates arrested in 2015 for attempting to aid or join Islamic State in Syria. The others were Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, and Abror Habibov, 30, both Uzbek citizens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trudeau’s appalling remarks in year-end-interview show that he’s taking a shockingly naive approach to people who fought for one of the most brutal terrorist organizations the world has ever seen.
As parts of Justin Trudeau’s year-end-interview with CTV News have been released, he is facing growing criticism for his approach to the threat of returning ISIS fighters.
This section in particular has raised concerns:
“The prime minister also expressed his personal belief that former ISIS fighters can be de-radicalized in the event that they return to Canada. In a recent interview on CTV’s Question Period, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he believed the likelihood of reintegrating former ISIS fighters is “pretty remote.
However, rather than support Goodale’s common-sense view, Trudeau said, “There’s a range of experiences when people come home. We know that actually someone who has engaged and turned away from that hateful ideology can be an extraordinarily powerful voice for preventing radicalization in future generations and younger people within the community.”‘
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Man Stabbed to Death in Sweden
An Australian man has been stabbed to death in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.
Swedish police have confirmed the man was been found on the street with stab wounds on Wednesday morning (local time).
The man, in his 30s, was badly wounded and died in hospital, the Newspaper Expressen reported.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was “providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man who died in Sweden”.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment,” it added.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Catalan Independence With Islam in the Background
The issue of proclaiming the declaration of independence by the Catalan authorities was covered at length by the European media, however the fact that behind push for autonomy there are also local Muslim communities gets almost no coverage in Europe and Poland not at all.
The average European has no idea that Catalonia has become an important bridgehead of expansion of Islam on our continent over the past years. The main sponsor of this process are Quatari authorities (actively supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hezbollah), ready to pay a lot of money with a view to building a future Islamic sphere of influence here.
For years leftist groups holding the rule of power in Barcelona have deliberately forced for nearly 30 years the migration of Muslims from Morocco and Pakistan, wanting to not only acquire cheap workers for the dynamically developing Catalan economy but also the advocates of the process of full separation from Madrid.
A few bright sparks, with Jordi Pujol at the helm of the Catalonian government until 2003, thought that instead of Hispanics from the poor countries of South America, naturally oriented to Spanish traditions and culture, it is better to invest in Moroccans or Pakistanis. Those who, if they have to learn a new language, will learn Catalan first, which will automatically bind them to the province and its social system. It was believed that in this simple way the demographic gap resulting from the dramatic aging of native Catalans would be filled.
Today, Catalonia has become the main place of settlement for Muslims in Spain. The population of over 500,000 (compared to 7.4 million province residents) is more than all the voters of parties such as Partid Popular (PP), Podemos oder Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (CUP) pushing for the independence of Catalonia. In 2012, in the Girona region, the second most popular name was Mohamed, and in the Segarra Lerida region in 2014, over 55% of children were foreigners. The Municipality of Salt Girona, where out of 30,000 inhabitants 12,000 are Muslims, is being described by the security experts as “the new Mecca of radical Salafists”.
| — Hat tip: PJ | [Return to headlines] |
EU Triggers “Unprecedented Nuclear Option” Against Poland; Sanctions May Follow
Yesterday we reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron had publicly agreed to back Article 7 proceedings against Poland for refusing to comply with EU immigration quotas and changes to its judicial system. The only thing that was missing was the official triggering of the so-called “nuclear option” Article 7.
On Wednesday morning, in a historic development — one which may herald the future fracturing of the EU — the European Commission launched an injunction against Poland for a “serious breach” of European common values and rule of law. The European Commission said it decided to take the next step in its infringement procedure against Poland for breaches of EU law by the Law on the Ordinary Courts Organisation, referring Poland to the EU Court of Justice. And while only a warning now, Article 7 could lead to sanctions and a suspension of EU voting rights.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Left-wing billionaire donor George Soros is illegally bankrolling a campaign to repeal the Eight Amendment of Ireland’s constitution, which protects “the right to life of the unborn,” according to an independent government watchdog.
Ireland’s Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO), has ordered left-wing organization Amnesty International to return a donation of more than $162,000 from Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF). The donation is in violation of the 1997 Electoral Act, which bars foreign organizations from giving donations of more than $100 for “political purposes,” according to SIPO.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Police Arrest Alleged is Militant in Ice Rink Truck Attack Plot
BERLIN (Reuters) — German police arrested a 29-year-old man they said was an active member of Islamic State who was plotting a truck attack on an ice rink.
The arrest, a year after Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck and drove it into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people, comes as security services have warned of growing numbers of radical Islamists in Germany.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Suspected Taliban Member Arrested
A young Afghan man who is “strongly suspected” of being a member of the Taliban has been extradited to Germany by French authorities. He reportedly arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker in 2015.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nigel Farage is Coming to Dublin to Promote Irexit
Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage will be in Dublin in early 2018 to promote Irexit.
The former Ukip leader will be in Ireland to promote the idea that Ireland would be better off outside the European Union.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Decries ‘Demographic Winter’ Of Nations That Have ‘Chosen Sterility’
In his homily at Tuesday morning Mass, Pope Francis reflected on the blessing of fertility and the dangers of going down the path of self-imposed barrenness as some modern nations have done.
The Pope reminded his congregation in the chapel at his Saint Marta residence in the Vatican that the very first commandment God gives to man is to “be fruitful and multiply.” Fruitfulness in the Bible is always a blessing, he continued, because “where there is God, there is fruitfulness.”
In the ancient world, sterility was seen as a curse and fecundity as a blessing, Francis noted. And yet some countries today “have chosen the path of sterility and suffer from that grave disease that is a demographic winter.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Protests Rage in Sweden After Cops Tell Women to Stay Inside to Avoid Gang Rapes
Hundreds of protesters raged against Swedish police Tuesday after the nation’s law enforcement warned women to “stay inside or walk in pairs” to avoid the slew of gang rapes that have plagued the country this fall.
Police issued the warning Sunday after a 17-year-old was gang raped early Saturday morning in Malmo, Sweden, by an unknown number of attackers, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday. The first of the series of rapes occurred on Nov. 4, followed by another just a week later. Malmo police have opened a preliminary investigation into the rape, and they have defended their comment, claiming their words are being taken out of context.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Girls Could be Flown Aboard for FGM During Christmas; 1,000 New Cases Reported in 3 Months
Girls may be forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) abroad during the Christmas holidays, authorities have warned after more than 1,000 new cases were recorded in just three months.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
A terror accused of plotting an assasiantaion, buying a rucksack and delivering it to be fitted with improvised explosive devices’.
Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, faces trial next summer over the alleged plot.
He had been charged with preparing acts of terrorism following his arrest on November 28.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The “Islamophobia” Industry Strikes Again
The Runnymede Trust report’s solitary reference to the fatwa against Salman Rushdie states: “In Britain… many Muslims felt unsupported in their reaction to Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses and faced a backlash from those who they felt prioritized freedom of speech above respect for minorities.” Apparently, Britons who stood up for Rushdie’s right not to be slaughtered for writing a novel were guilty of Islamophobia.
Much of Runnymede’s report is devoted to the high levels of Muslim poverty and unemployment in the U.K. — but instead of seeking reasons for this problem in Islam itself, it blames this problem primarily on “institutional racism,” while avoiding the ticklish question of why Hindus, whom one would also expect to be victims of “institutional racism” in Britain, are economically more successful than any other group in that nation, including ethnic British Christians.
The Runnymede report points out that domestic violence and child abuse are also committed by Westerners; the difference, needless to say, is that while FGM and honor violence enjoy widespread approval in Muslim societies and communities, where they are viewed as justifiable (if not compulsory) under Islam, domestic violence and child abuse are universally condemned in Western society and are never defended on cultural or religious grounds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Who Will Win the Catalan Election 2017? Latest Polls
Madrid sacked local Catalan leaders, including Carles Puigdemont, and dissolved the regional parliament after it declared independence from Spain in October.
The unilateral declaration came after a majority of voters backed independence in an illegal referendum, which Madrid tried to stop from happening on October 1.
Scenes of police violence marred the referendum as officers tried to seize ballot boxes and clashed with pro-separatist protesters on the streets.
Ahead of the election tomorrow, the latest polls suggest that neither the pro-independence group nor the pro-unity camp will win an outright majority.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Three hooded figures dressed in black broke into the Madrid office of WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon at dawn on Monday morning, in what police are describing as a “very professional” operation they are treating as an attempted robbery, according to Spain’s largest newspaper, El País. Garzon heads Assange’s legal defense, in particular working to avoid extradition to Sweden and preparing to face charges thought to be pending by U.S. authorities.
The intruders covered security cameras with tape, and there were no signs that anything was taken — however police are analyzing Garzon’s computer equipment to determine whether or not any files were taken or copied. “They have not taken what they have been looking for,” Garzon told El Periodico, and told Ser magazine that his clients’ security “has not been affected,” and that the people “acted very quickly.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Governments Cede West Jerusalem to Israel
Last week in Istanbul, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recognized East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. They made the announcement with a barrage of angry rhetoric, of course. Israel is a “racist” state, and the Trump administration’s recognition earlier this month of Jerusalem as Israel’s capitalis “an attack on the historical, legal, natural and national rights of the Palestinian people, a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts, an impetus to extremism and terrorism, and a threat to international peace and security.”
Look past the bombast at the main point. By recognizing East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, the OIC is effectively ceding West Jerusalem to the Israelis and implicitly recognizing it as Israel’s capital.
The vast majority of media organizations around the world that don’t specialize in the Middle East didn’t report this, but it’s important. The OIC includes 57 member states and extends far beyond the Middle East, from Sub-Saharan Africa through South Asia and all the way to Indonesia. Everything it says emerges from a broad consensus among governments ruling Muslim-majority nations, including most of the Arab states. (Syria has been suspended for reasons that are probably obvious.)
Foreign policy analysts who opposed Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital had a hard time understanding what strategic objective the president was attempting to advance, partly because, in all likelihood, he wasn’t trying to advance one. His interests were largely domestic. Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all promised to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US Embassy there, as the US Congress has required by law since 1995, but none of them followed through. Trump did. He alone fulfilled four presidents’ campaign promises.
That doesn’t mean a strategic objective wasn’t advanced, though, even if the president doesn’t understand it and didn’t articulate it. He, along with the OIC now, punctured a delusion on the Palestinian side that makes peace in the short and medium term all but impossible.
Plenty of Palestinians want the conflict to end and will grudgingly live alongside Israel even if it means giving up the dream of sovereignty over the entire land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. According to a survey published in August, 53 percent of Israelis and 52 percent of Palestinians support a two-state solution…
| — Hat tip: Bill Keezer | [Return to headlines] |
39 Filipinas ‘Forced Into Prostitution’ In Kuwait
The women were employed to provide massage services, but were allegedly forced into sexual activities and given drugs to boost their hormone levels
Five men — a Kuwaiti, two other Arabs described as “bedouin,” and two Filipinos — were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of trafficking 39 Filipino women into prostitution, forcing them to work in a brothel disguised as a massage parlor.
The women were employed by a company to provide massage services in the Kuwaiti towns of Mahboula, Abu Halifa and Salmiya. However, they were forced into sexual activities and were given drugs to boost their hormone levels, Arab Times reported.
They were also allegedly raped by the five men.
The suspects have denied all the allegations against them. However, police say that during their investigation, they found the purported massage parlor and hormone pills.
The men will be referred to the Criminal Court on charges of running a brothel. They could be sentenced to terms of 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
| — Hat tip: Bill Keezer | [Return to headlines] |
The Obama administration “derailed” a massive investigation into drug trafficking and other illegal activities by the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah over fears that it could anger Iran at a time when Obama was attempting to secure a nuclear deal with the nation, according to a 14,000 word report from Politico.
The article paints a clear picture of an administration that was willing to do whatever it takes, including allowing cocaine to flow into the United States, (which led to an unknown number of deaths of Americans by overdose) to pass a nuclear deal that many in his own party didn’t even support.
The law enforcement campaign that the Obama administration specifically and purposefully derailed was known as “Project Cassandra” and was launched in 2008 after the DEA had confirmed that Hezbollah was now in the business of selling drugs, and lots of them.
Politico reports:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Announces Detention of Norwegian Citizen on Espionage Charges
by Joseph Fitsanakis
Authorities in Russia have announced the arrest of a Norwegian citizen, whom they accuse of receiving classified information relating to Russia’s Armed Forces. The detainee has been named as Frode Berg, 62, from Kirkenes, a small town in Norway’s far north, located 100 miles from the Russian city of Murmansk…
[…]
According to reports in the Russian media, Berg was arrested two weeks ago by officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the agency responsible for domestic security and counterintelligence. He is now in detention and is accused of receiving classified information relating to the Russian Navy. It is believed that Berg received the classified documents from an unnamed Russian national, who was arrested by the FSB in early December and now faces charges of high treason…
[NOTE: Read between the lines…]
| — Hat tip: Bill Keezer | [Return to headlines] |
Rampant Pedophilia in Pakistani Madrassas
A recent Associated Press probe provided accounts of the rampant pedophilia, allowed to go unchecked due to a combination of factors, among them the fact that most of the victims are from poor and vulnerable families. Those who do try to complain are often bribed or threatened into silence.
Islamic judicial officials, and even civil court judges, usually urge those accused of sexual abuse to offer “blood money” to the victim or the family in exchange for withdrawing the complaint and “forgiving” the perpetrator.
Well-connected violators reach out to community leaders, particularly in rural areas, and persuade them to pressure parents of victims into keeping silent by accusing them of bringing shame to their villages or warning them that they will be subject to counter-charges of blasphemy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A young man was filmed smoking a bong branded with welfare agency Centrelink’s logo in front of one of its outlets in Melbourne soon after walking out of the building.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Melbourne’s police officers have been warned they could be lured into violent ambushes after a string of terrifying attacks by African youth gangs in the city’s west.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A schoolgirl got more than she bargained for when she and her friends fawned over an Australian possum and it jumped on to her skirt and wouldn’t budge when her friends beat it with sandals.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Wisconsin Priest Comes Out as “Gay” During Sunday Mass… Gets Standing Ovation… Wait… What?
So, what exactly, is the Catholic Church’s stance on openly gay priests?
In 1992, the Vatican under Pope John Paul II published the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which stated, among many other things, that “homosexual tendencies” are “objectively disordered.” One of the principal theologians who shaped the document was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would succeed John Paul II as Pope Benedict XVI. He too would take a hard-line stance against homosexuality.
Two decades later, Pope Francis has signaled what many believe to be a softening on the matter.
In 2013, when asked about gay priests, he famously replied, “Who am I to judge?” He has continued to call for the Catholic Church to treat LGBT people with dignity and respect, and to fight discrimination against sexual minorities. — RNS
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — The Rev. Gregory Greiten told his congregation Sunday, “I am Greg. I am a Roman Catholic priest. And, yes, I am gay!”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Poor policemen/ women ( don’t forget ) , are following orders. Yes, indeed they cannot do anything. Remember Nuremberg : a bunch of Nazis claimed that but we did not listen to them. We hanged them anyway.
Here we have double standard. WE blame them. We should blame the Big Fish, the superiors, nay the superior follows the laws enacted by Traitors. They are called Traitors because they gear every law to empowering muslims through cowardice.
If one does not obey he she will lose their job. Cure: If all of the force , army, and navy go on strike , but it must be all and at once, or they will lose, . . . go on strike until insane laws are replaced by sane logical laws.
Muslims who are the worst give the best lessons, ironically.
The more victims the better: Either they / we will capitulate abjectly I(possibly), who knows, or the lion will find his honor again, wake up in a roar, and sink his fangs where it makes a difference. Not like wear a wristband With “please don’t rape me.’
But he will rape her because he knows how debased those who came with that idea are. The judge will not sentence him because he is of different culture; but actually he is a frightened jelly fish.
In the photos there seems to be a bit of Mohammad coefficient.
Police man seems to have a good grip of one the ones in the car that drove into pedestrians in Flinders Street, Melbourne, Australia
Seems a bit young to have a heart problem, though drugs could be a part of the problem
It seems the vehicle traveled at speed, no braking, through a red light, and was only stopped when it hit a tram barrier, curtailing its deadly mission.
Earlier this year, January 2017, Bourke street, Melbourne car terror , 6 killed 30 wounded.
It seems that serious contemplation of islam can make any one crazy.
The response seems to be, just something to live with.
It seems like a refugee, possibly having dual citizenship.
When it was read out in the radio news bulletin they said of Afghani descent.
“We don’t, at this time, have any evidence or intelligence to indicate a connection with terrorism,” Mr Barrett said.
Perhaps not, but at the very least this bozo drank the kool-aid on offer in Afghanistan before he left.
The Bourke Street January 2017 car terror also drove down Flinders street.
That was the problem, not enough concrete bollards.
No worry, simply put up more concrete bollards, and more surveillance, bag inspections, random car stops etc.. will suffice for the governmental bureaucracy. Does not matter what it costs.! !
The public should expect that every large city will have “events” happen now and again, and another “memorial plaque/seat/garden” will suffice.
Australia has found a good solution: it is sending its mentally disturbed migrants to the U.S. And we’re accepting them.
Cuba did the same years ago and emptied all its prisons in the process . And they were all happily accepted except by the old established generation of Cubans who had been there for years.
Bollards are fine when you’re on a footpath or a pedestrian mall. Flinders Street, however, carries through traffic and this particular attack occurred when the driver did not respect the red lights (perhaps they don’t have them in Afghanistan) at a wide T-intersection where a lot of people were crossing towards the railway station at the top of the T. They’ll have to start installing popup bollards that activate on red lights–now, that’ll be incentive not to run ’em.
I think they have those in D.C. Can’t get past them without a card of some sort. Or so the Baron tells me. I haven’t been there in years.
It was an Afghan Mujahideen I hope the Australian Liberals feel sufficiently enriched!
“Rampaging Youth Gangs” in Melbourne ….
I’ve heard that Africa is a very big continent. Are there no flights in that direction?
GET THEM OUT, for God’s sake. Why are we so bloody stupid??
Women of the West are not having children to replace those who are dying of old age.
Vacuums get filled by devilish replacements. The ladies seem to think “Go forth and multiply” is a math quiz?
Joe Creho,
Good question. Why are we so stupid as to keep letting them in? Let them foul their own nests; God knows we don’t need anymore of these people and we should be deporting any of them that cross the line in any way (no matter how small).