Just three days after a similar false alarm in Hawaii, Japan broadcast an alert today of an imminent incoming ballistic missile attack. The Japanese government was able to issue a correction in just three minutes, however, in contrast to the 38 minute time lapse in Hawaii. The cause for the erroneous alert in Japan is not yet known.
In other news, in an operation organized by the Italian coast guard, 1,400 migrants were rescued today off the coast of Libya.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Anton, Dean, Dora, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, Seneca III, Srdja Trifkovic, 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.
Antifa Thugs Find a Champion and Leader in Stanford Professor
A new class of violent thugs prowls our streets. Donning black clothes, masks and red bandanas, the so-called Anti-Fascist movement, or “antifa,” issues threats and commits acts of violence, intimidation, and vandalism against those it brands as “fascists.” The group represents one of the most extreme elements in the intensifying political turmoil of the past few years.
Fringe figures, such as white nationalists, are by no means the only target’s of antifa’s violence. At college campuses across the country, antifa has disrupted lectures by mainstream conservatives and libertarians, often brutally assaulting event organizers and attendees. At UC Berkeley, in February, 2017, antifa caused $100,000 in damages in an attempt to derail a scheduled appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos, violently punching, kicking, beating, and pepper spraying Trump supporters. At the University of Utah, antifa operatives stockpiledfirearms and viciously attacked attendees of Ben Shapiro’s campus lecture. The Department of Homeland Security and FBI have designated these actions by antifa as “domestic terrorist violence.” Like other recognized terrorist organizations, antifa is a non-state entity that employs violence against civilians to advance a political agenda.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Group Proposes ‘Law Enforcement Incineration Day’
An Antifa student group at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) has proposed that “Law Enforcement Appreciation Day” be rebranded as “Law Enforcement Incineration Day.”
“Instead of #LawEnforcementAppreciationDay how about #LawEnforcementIncinerationDay,” the group Autonomous Student Network (ASN) Austin tweeted on January 9, accompanied by a photo of a policeman engulfed in flames.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Barnyard Terms Were Okay in Obama’s Reign
From The Atlantic (magazine) essay on Obama’s foreign policy in 2013:
[…]
“Mess is the president’s diplomatic term; privately, he calls Libya a “s*** show,” in part because it’s subsequently become an isis haven—one that he has already targeted with air strikes. It became a s*** show, Obama believes, for reasons that had less to do with American incompetence than with the passivity of America’s allies and with the obdurate power of tribalism.” […]
NB: Obama always blamed others. This time it’s our allies’ “passivity”]
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
End Judicial Tyranny With One Single Word
Currently, judge-shopping, an action elevated to an art form by advocacy groups and lower government entities in liberal circuits, will most likely engender a ruling devoid of legal merit but coinciding with the philosophy of the plaintiff. The activist judge delivers a ruling, which then is arrogantly applied to the entire nation and interpreted as blocking the sitting president. These rulings are most often overturned, but the glacial pace of the courts allows the ruling to stand for an inordinate time, often running out the clock on the original E.O.
There is talk of resolving the situation by appointing strict constitutionalist judges, as Trump is now doing, and “packing” the court. “Dilution” would be a better term, for the sitting liberals will still enjoy their lifetime appointments, and it is axiomatic that impeachment is all but impossible, requiring two thirds of the Senate to agree. While appointments are helpful by improving the odds of finding a judge prepared to fulfill his duties honestly, they do nothing to alleviate the judge-shopping or the inordinate delays.
There is a relatively simple answer: Congress can deliver a fix already contained within the Constitution but requires the defining of a single word. This word is found in Article 3, Section 2, which deals with judicial power and jurisdiction:
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The solution is for Congress to define “public Ministers” to include the president and vice president of the United States and all Senate-confirmed Cabinet ministers. This would allow the Executive Branch to ignore lower-court rulings for E.O.s and various acts of Congress signed by the president and avoid the interests of the nation being held up by a single unelected lawyer of either political persuasion. Some time limits for appeals should be built in to allow an issue to reach SCOTUS in a reasonable time less than the current two-year hiatus.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Someone Needs to Sort Out the Tech Idiots on Censorship
Unless our leaders throw a bit of elbow, these poor innocent businessmen will continue to truckle to the liberal activist agenda as the path of least resistance. Then one day they will wake up, like the National Football League, to find out that their customers are leaving in droves. We can’t let this happen to them!
Lately, it seems that Twitter and Google and Facebook are really starting to bite into conservative muscle with, e.g., curation algorithms designed to shut up “s — people.” If you ask me, this could really impact the 2018 midterms and the Trump re-election bonanza in 2020, unless someone up at Trump Tower decides to Do Something about It.
The tech war on conservatives and conservative ideas is one thing and one thing only: it is injustice, straight up, and someone needs to teach those persecuting it that censoring conservatives ain’t gonna fly. It doesn’t matter that conservatives and Alt-Right orcs are monsters. Too bad. We have a First Amendment and freedom of the press, and the whole point of freedom of speech is to allow speech you absolutely hate.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
York County Shooting: Deputy ‘Hanging Onto Life’ After He and 3 Others Were Wounded
4 South Carolina officers shot after domestic violence call; 1 ‘hanging onto life’
The man suspected of firing the shots, Christian Thomas McCall, first struck one deputy near the home outside the city of York and then hit the others a couple hours later, York County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Trent Faris said.
McCall, 47, was injured when officers returned fire during the second exchange, which ended a nearly six-hour ordeal in which officers were looking for him, Faris said.
The wounded officers were taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds, including two by helicopter, Faris said…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
European Union Launches Anti-’Fake News’ Commission
The European Union has appointed 39 so-called experts to a “High Level Group” for an investigation into fake news and “online investigation,” a news release from the European Commission states.
Dr. Madeleine de Cock Buning will chair the investigation, which will be taskedin advising the EU on the “phenomenon of fake news, defining the roles and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders, grasping the international dimension, taking stock of the positions at stake, and formulating recommendations.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germans Being Mass Brainwashed by TV to Submit to Islam
Germans are being mass brainwashed by television to surrender their culture and submit to Islam.
This is what capitulation looks like.
Watch and share this shocking video: youtu.be/kYmTFL9nbRQ
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Model Puts Virginity Up for Sale
‘Wants to move to UK, study at Cambridge’
(ANSA) — Rome, January 16 — An 18-year-old Italian model has put her virginity up for sale sale to the highest Internet bidder because she wants to move to the UK and study at Cambridge, The Sun said Tuesday.
‘Nicole’, who also wants to buy her parents a house, chose an escort agency for the auction, the British tabloid said.
She has claimed bidding has already started at 890 pounds, it said.
The part-time model told The Sun Online: “I decided when I was 16 that my virginity was precious.
“I was in a relationship with a man much older than me, but I decided I would only lose my virginity to the man I love and the man I want to marry in the future.
“He told me he wanted to stay with me all my life, that he loved me, and that he wanted to have a family with me but I was only 16 and I was scared so I decided to split up with him.” In the wake of the split, The Sun said, Nicole “began to think about her education and claims she would like to move the UK, to study business at Cambridge”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Final OK to ‘Sex Pest’ Judge’s Dismissal
Bellomo accused of harassing female students
(ANSA) — Rome, January 12 — The self-regulatory body for Italian administrative magistrates, the council of president of administrative justice, on Friday gave the final OK to the dismissal of alleged sex pest Francesco Bellomo from the Council of State. The Council of State is Italy’s top administrative court. Bellomo has been accused of using his authority to pressure female students into sex at a prestigious law school for would-be judges and for making some pupils attend the courses in mini-skirts, high heels and make-up.
He is also reportedly under investigation for insisting that his trainees not be married.
Investigations into the case are underway in Bari and Piacenza.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Padoan Worried by Promises to ‘Dismantle’ Work Done
Implementing reforms should be priority minister tells Handelsblatt
(ANSA) — Berlin, January 15 — Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has said he is worried about the pledges being made by parties currently in opposition ahead of the March 4 general election, saying many would see the achievements of the centre-left-led governments of the last few years reversed. “I see with concern that there is a proliferation of promises in the election campaign to dismantle the work that has been done,” Padoan told German business newspaper Handelsblatt.
“Whoever takes the responsibility of government in the coming months should put first implementation of the reforms and structural changes that have been launched in this parliamentary term.
“We have sown a seed that will bear fruit over time, if tended well”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Relations With France Stronger With New Treaty — Gentiloni
Italy relations complementary to Germany-France — Macron
(ANSA) — Rome, January 11 — Premier Paolo Gentiloni said relations with France will be stronger thanks to a new treaty Rome and Paris are working on after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. “I think it is very important that we have decided to give a more stable, more ambitious framework to the historic relations between Italy and France,” Gentiloni told a news conference, “with the idea, which had emerged at the (recent) Lyon summit, to put a group of people at work for a Italo-French bilateral treaty. “We have always cooperated in an extraordinary way, but we are convinced that this can make our relations even stronger and more systematic”. French President Emmanuel Macron echoed those sentiments about thee new ‘Quirinal Treaty’, named after the resident of the Italian president. “There is a structural Franco-German relationship and it is at the origin of Europe,” Macron told a press conference. “When France and Germany are unable to agree, Europe cannot move forward. “But that relationship is not exclusive. The tie with Italy has another history — cultural ties, a special, specific relationship.
“And it is not in competition, nor inferior, but perfectly complementary to the Franco-German relationship.
“The relationship is strong at all levels and we wanted to give it a new form with the Quirinal Treaty”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Reopen Brothels Says Salvini
Regulate, tax sex work ‘like in civilised countries’
(ANSA) — Rome, January 15 — Italy should reopen its brothels, closed by a 1958 law, League leader Matteo Salvini said Monday.
Repeating an election campaign vow ahead of the March 4 general election, Salvini said “regulating and taxing prostitution like in civilised countries, reopening brothels — I’m ever more convinced about it”. Anti-immigrant, anti-euro leader Salvini has often advocated reopening brothels and regulating sex work as a handful of other European countries do. Salvini’s League is part of a centre-right alliance going into the March 4 election, along with the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi and the Brothers of Italy (FdI) party of Giorgia Meloni.
The League, in its previous incarnation as the once-secessionist Northern League, has filed legislation to reintroduce brothels on several occasions but the laws have never passed.
As recently as April 2014 the northern Lombardy region, long run by the League, approved a referendum on a partial repeal of the so-called Merlin law, which outlawed brothels in 1958.
The idea behind the repeal — which never made it to the referendum stage — was to take prostitutes off the streets and bring them to work in a safer environment behind closed doors.
Those in favour of the referendum, which was proposed by the League, included Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia party and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), with the New Center Right and the centre-left Democratic Party opposing.
Centre-right lawmakers said the issue was a “battle to overcome an obsolete and hypocritical law”.
Sponsored by Socialist Senator Lina Merlin, the 1958 law was passed over strenuous opposition from right-wing and monarchist parties.
It abolished State regulation of prostitution and made exploiting prostitutes a crime.
Merlin modeled her law on the example of French activist and ex-prostitute Marthe Richard, who got similar legislation passed in her country in 1946. She also sought to incorporate the principles of a 1949 UN convention against human trafficking and the exploitation of sex workers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Gentiloni Chides M5S Rome Govt
‘Need powers other capitals have, not election chat’ says Raggi
(ANSA) — Rome, January 12 — Premier Paolo Gentiloni on Friday chided the 5-Star Movement (M5S) administration in Rome for allegedly not showing “the maximum efficiency” in coping with a string of woes — prompting Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi to say she needed powers similar to those wielded by other European mayors to deal with problems properly, rather than hearing the premier’s “election chatter”.
The anti-establishment group also told Gentiloni he should stick to being premier and not campaign for his centre-left Democratic Party (PD) ahead of the March 4 general election.
Gentiloni said that Mayor Virginia Raggi’s M5S administration “has not shown maximum efficiency”.
He said “this city cannot simply be governed by facing a string of emergencies that emerge every week..with which even the most efficient administration would struggle.
“And I don’t think we are in a situation where we can have maximum efficiency”.
The government “is there for” Rome and the central government is working with the municipal administration despite “suspicions”, Gentiloni said. “We are the government and we can only have a spirit of collaboration on Rome even though this time the help was greeted by suspicious reluctance,” he said. He said the government “appreciates the effort to give the city a long-term approach and urges everyone to have for Rome the universal ambition that this city deserves”. Rome is in the midst of a trash crisis, the latest in a string of woes to hit the administration led by Raggi.
It has also been hit by appointments probes, poor public transport and urban blight.
Raggi was elected in a landslide in June 2016 to become Rome’s first woman mayor and her administration has been seen as a test bed for the M5S’s ambitions to lead Italy.
In response to Gentiloni’s perceived criticism, Raggi said that “in order to govern this city you need the powers all Europe’s major capitals have, and not chat ahead of the general election”. She said “we’re in the election campaign, therefore the principle that those who shout the loudest wins is back, those who offend and attack their opponents, ignoring programmes. “Today it is the turn of Gentiloni against Raggi”.
Raggi said “I have asked the premier several times for the executive to finally work to enact the law that set up Roma Capitale in 2010.
“The government has never replied.
“In general, I avoid rows but I don’t like lies.
“If Gentiloni is really in good faith, as appears, he should work on the enacting decrees of the Roma Capitale law.
“That is the real long-term perspective”.
Raggi went on: “Over the last few months, as he well knows, there has been fruitful collaboration with some ministers, not ‘hyped’ on the TV and in newspapers, which has led to good results for the citizens.
“I hope that we can set aside rows motivated only by election mania”.
Meanwhile M5S Rome Council Whip Paolo Ferrara said the premier should stick to his job and not engage in the electoral campaign. Ferrara said on Facebook: “Gentiloni should stick to being premier, not (taking part in) the election campaign. “Their (Gentiloni’s Democratic Party, PD) efficiency in governing is the 13 billion euros of debt (Raggi) inherited. “Gentiloni’s statements are disgraceful.” “The efficiency he talks about is by chance that shown in the past decades by PD governments? “The efficiency that led Rome to have 13 billion euros in debt? “The premier should stop waging an electoral campaign.
“Indeed, he shouldn’t waste time and should appoint a debt commissioner for Rome”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ferrero Buys Nestle’ US Candy Business for $2.8 Bn
Will get 20 historic chocolate brands
(ANSA) — Turin, January 16 — Italian confectionery giant Ferrero on Tuesday bought the US sweets business of Swiss-based multinational Nestlé for $2.8 billion in cash. In 2016 Nestle’s US operations generated a turnover of around $900 million. Nutella maker Ferrero will get more than 20 historic American brands, including iconic chocolate brands including Butterfinger, BabyRuth, 100Grand, Raisinets and Wonka. It will also get exclusive rights on the Crunch brand in the US as well as on candy brands SweeTarts, LaffyTaffy and Nerds.
Ferrero, which makes Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Tic Tac and Kinder, beat US chocolate group Hershey in the contest to buy Nestle’s US chocolate business.
Reuters said that Nestle agreed to sell its U.S.
confectionery business in “a small step on its path towards healthier products”.
The U.S. unit has been underperforming rivals for years, suffering from consumers’ preference for healthier snacks like fruit and nut bars and premium brands like Lindt.
Ferrero will become the third-largest chocolate company in the United States and the world.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Moscovici Shd Debate Me Says Di Maio
‘Sorry’ at alleged interference in election campaign
(ANSA) — Rome, January 16 — Anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio said Tuesday he wanted a public debate with European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici and said he was “sorry” at the Commissioner’s alleged interference in the Italian general-election campaign. “I ask for a public debate with Moscovici, in that we think that the recipe of staying within the (Maastricht) parameters has not worked, but I don’t think public debt should rise,” Di Maio told CorriereLive.
“We want to make deficit investments as a high multiplier to repay the debt and, among other things, Moscovici comes from a nation that has breached 3% for years,” Di Maio said. He said Moscovici’s alleged interference “makes me a bit sorry” and added “it happened in the referendum and didn’t do any good”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Man Nabbed for Beating Wife in Front of Daughter
Tunisian, 45, near Vicenza
(ANSA) — Vicenza, January 16 — A 45-year-old Tunisian national was arrested Tuesday for allegedly beating his Italian wife in front of their daughter near Vicenza.
The alleged domestic violence took place over several months in 2015 in a small town in the Val del Chiampo.
The girl was 15 at the time, police said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Eye-to-Eye With Gentiloni But Open to All — Moscovici
We’ll work with democratically elected govt — Commissioner
(ANSA) — Strasbourg, January 16 — European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Tuesday that the Commission was willing to work with whoever forms the government in Italy after the March 4 general election. “It’s no secret that there is a very clear convergence of views on European directions and the decisions to take on the eurozone with (Premier) Paolo Gentiloni, (Economy Minister) Pier Carlo Padoan and the (current) government,” Moscovici said on the fringes of a meeting of commissioners in Strasbourg.
“This does not mean anything regarding the choices that the Italian people will make.
“The Commission and myself will work with the government democratically elected by the Italians, as usual”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Election: Matteo Salvini Says ‘Brexit Should be an Example for Italy’
Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party in the run as the next Italian Prime Minister, said Brexit should be an example for Italy.
In an interview with Italian TV channel LA7, the politician was asked if he still thought Brexit looked like a “breath of fresh air”.
He said: “When citizens get to choose they are always right, no matter what they choose.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Katainen Hopes for Stable Pro-EU Govt
‘Don’t want to interfere in election campaign’
(ANSA) — Strasbourg, January 16 — European Labour Commissioner Jyrki Katainen said Tuesday he hopes the March 4 Italian general election produces a stable pro-EU government.
“I’d rather not interfere in the Italian election campaign,” he said. “It is a very delicate situation. “I hope Italy is led by a stable pro-European government, and that this type of ideas are supported by the majority of Italians”.
Katainen stressed “it’s up to the Italians to decide what direction to take”.
He was speaking after European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici was accused of meddling in the campaign by making statements which irked the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the anti-migrant, anti-euro League.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Letter From Germany (II): The Duopoly is Back
by Srdja Trifkovic
This past week has been unseasonably lovely in southern Germany, with crystal blue skies and the temperature in the fifties. I was enjoying the view of the Alps from the southern wing of Neuschwannstein, the famous fairytale castle built by Wagner’s mad friend King Ludwig, when the news came that Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian counterparts, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) would almost certainly form another “grand coalition.”
The finer points of the deal may not be finalized until Easter, but its outline is clear: the centrist duopoly is back, and Germany will continue her steady decline into postnational, liberal-totalitarian decrepitude. Of course my German friends and I have known all along that the two establishmentarian machines would eventually get together again, their theatrics notwithstanding. There is no real difference between Angela Merkel’s position on various key issues—most importantly on immigration—and that of the SPD leader Martin Schulz. For instance, during the September 4 televised debate, Merkel agreed that integrating over a million migrants she admitted into Germany in 2015 was “a very big task,” but defended her decision to allow an indefinite number of refugees then, and her determination to stick to that policy in the future. The only objection Schulz had to Merkel’s approach was that she should not have acted without prior agreement from other European countries. In principle, though, they sing from the same page. “People who flee from ISIS, from mass rape and mass violence, come here and we are ready to protect them,” Schulz said. “We are proud of that in Germany.”
As for those Germans who are not “proud of that,” Merkel and Schulz also agree on the need for the draconian new censorship law, the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG), ostensibly designed to eliminate “hate speech.” The German government passed it six months ago, but gave social network providers until the end of 2017 to get ready for its enforcement. NetzDG targets social networks and media sites with more than two million members, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The law requires those sites to monitor and immediately remove any “hate speech, fake news and illegal material,” however defined, or face multimillion euro fines. NetzDG gives the networks 24 hours to act after complaints of offensive material have been filed…
| — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic | [Return to headlines] |
The death of a homeless former soldier has sparked outrage among veterans charities who say more must be done to look after ex-servicemen.
Ex-squaddie Darren Greenfield, 47, who fell on hard times after leaving the Army, died on the streets of Edinburgh just a week before Christmas.
He was a regular face in the Scottish capital as he often spent time sitting on the steps of Waverley train station.
The Who Dares Charity, set up by two former soldiers to help people suffering with PTSD, said: ‘It is a sign of the times that a soldier is left to die on our streets. It is an utter outrage.’
Mr Greenfield had served with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, the oldest tank unit in the world that is based in Tidworth in Wiltshire, from 1986 to 1990.
He then served with the Royal Army Pay Corps from 1990 — 1992, and then the Adjutant General’s Corps from 1992 — 1998, when he left the Army.
The news of his death sparked fury among campaigners who are calling for more to be done to help veterans adapt to civilian life.
Military charities said at least 13,000 former soldiers are homeless — a record high…
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ISIS Fanatic Planned Simultaneous London Terror Attacks With ‘Death Squad by Allah’, Court Hears
An Isis supporter planned to launch simultaneous terror attacks at Big Ben, Westfield shopping centre, Heathrow Airport, on public transport and numerous others targets, a court has heard.
While allegedly plotting how to mount bomb and car attacks, Umar Haque is accused of brainwashing children he taught at an Islamic school and mosque and making them act out atrocities.
The 25-year-old and three co-defendants denied terror offences at the opening of their trial at the Old Bailey.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Helsinki, Finland-based F-Secure reported a security issue affecting most corporate laptops that allows an attacker with physical access to backdoor a device in less than thirty seconds. The issue allows the attacker to bypass the need to enter credentials, including BIOS and Bitlocker passwords and TPM pins, and to gain remote access for later exploitation. It exists within Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT) and potentially affects millions of laptops globally.
The security issue “is almost deceptively simple to exploit, but it has incredible destructive potential,” said Harry Sintonen, who investigated the issue in his role as Senior Security Consultant at F-Secure. “In practice, it can give an attacker complete control over an individual’s work laptop, despite even the most extensive security measures.”
Intel AMT is a solution for remote access monitoring and maintenance of corporate-grade personal computers, created to allow IT departments or managed service providers to better control their device fleets. The technology, which is commonly found in corporate laptops, has been called out for security weaknesses in the past, but the pure simplicity of exploiting this particular issue sets it apart from previous instances. The weakness can be exploited in mere seconds without a single line of code.
F-Secure says that the essence of the security issue is that setting a BIOS password, which normally prevents an unauthorized user from booting up the device or making low-level changes to it, does not prevent unauthorized access to the AMT BIOS extension. This allows an attacker access to configure AMT and make remote exploitation possible.
To exploit this, all an attacker needs to do is reboot or power up the target machine and press CTRL-P during bootup. The attacker then may log into Intel Management Engine BIOS Extension (MEBx) using the default password, “admin,” as this default is most likely unchanged on most corporate laptops. The attacker then may change the default password, enable remote access and set AMT’s user opt-in to “None.” The attacker can now gain remote access to the system from both wireless and wired networks, as long as they’re able to insert themselves onto the same network segment with the victim. Access to the device may also be possible from outside the local network via an attacker-operated CIRA server.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Killing of Key Serb Politician in Kosovo Triggers Break-Up of Belgrade-Pristina Talks
“A leading Serb politician in Kosovo has been gunned down in front of his party’s office in Mitrovica. The killing of Oliver Ivanovic sparked outrage in Belgrade, which suspended talks with Pristina in protest.
Ivanovic, 64, was fatally injured by an unidentified assailant in front of the office of his Citizens’ Initiative Party, Serbian state television reported…”
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Days After Hawaii Alert Gaffe, Japan Issues False Alarm About a Missile Launch
TOKYO (Reuters) — Japanese public broadcaster NHK issued a false alarm about a North Korean missile launch on Tuesday, just days after a similar gaffe caused panic in Hawaii, but it managed to correct the error within minutes.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the mistake.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Aussie Far-Right Activists Threaten Vigilante Justice Against ‘African Gangs’
It’s been billed as a battle for the streets of Melbourne, and new foot soldiers are on the frontline.
Far-right activist groups in Melbourne are threatening to use vigilante justice to combat so-called African gangs.
Sudanese migrants have been blamed for a series of high-profile crimes in the city, but community leaders say they’re under attack.
Victoria Police spokesperson Adrian Healy told Newshub they’ve “noticed an overrepresentation of South Sudanese youth offenders”.
“We’re working with community leaders; it’s one of the tactics we’re using to address the problem.”
But they’re not the only ones joining the fray.
Far-right activists met on Sunday, planning to show up at crimes in Melbourne and do what they say police cannot.
Kane Miller from the “True Blue Crew” says it’s about time the community got involved “because it’s clear to see the police can’t save us all”.
Crime is down in Victoria but fear is up, after a series of offences this summer blamed on young offenders of African descent.
It’s sentiment stoked by Australia’s Prime Minister, who’s blamed Victoria’s Labor government for a gang problem he says is out of control…
| — Hat tip: Anton | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Apologises for Child Abuse ‘Shame’ In Chile
Francis pained at ‘irreparable damage’ caused by clergy
(ANSA) — Santiago, January 16 — Pope Francis apologised for child sex abuse by the clergy on the first full day of his visit to Chile on Tuesday.
“Here I feel bound to express my pain and shame at the irreparable damage caused to children by some ministers of the Church,” he said as he addressed Chile’s government authorities including President Michelle Bachelet, representatives of civil society, and the diplomatic corps at the La Moneda Palace in Santiago.
“I am one with my brother bishops, for it is right to ask for forgiveness and make every effort to support the victims, even as we commit ourselves to ensuring that such things do not happen again”.
Chile’s Catholic Church has been struggling to keep up with a changing and modernising, increasingly skeptical and secular society for years.
Then, in 2010, it was was plunged into crisis when evidence emerged that it covered up for a prominent and powerful priest, something of a father figure for the Chilean elite, who had sexually abused minors in his high-class Santiago parish over decades. In February 2011, after several years of a Catholic canonical investigation, the Vatican found tKaradima guilty of sexually abusing minors and psychological abuse in Chile.
It sent him to a “life of prayer and penitence” and to “lifelong prohibition from the public exercise of any ministerial act, particularly confession and the spiritual guidance of any category of persons.” But the Chilean Church has yet to fully recover from the scandal. Many of the local faithful are still furious over a 2015 decision by Pope Francis to appoint a bishop who had been one of Karadima’s proteges. Bishop Juan Barros, appointed to lead the faithful in the southern city of Osorno, has always denied he knew that Karadima was Chile’s worst clerical sexual predator.
But many Chileans have shown they are skeptical of Barros’s claims. Francis’s visit has also been disrupted by attacks on churches by political groups protesting against the government and the Vatican and campaigning for Indios rights — nine attacks in all, with the three latest coming on Monday night.
Another three churches were firebombed in Chile last night in protest against Pope Francis’s visit to the South American country, sources said Tuesday.
Two of the churches are in Cunco, 700km from Santiago, in the Araucania region, which Francis will visit tomorrow. According to fire services the two churches went up in flames at the same time. The other fire was at the parish of the Mother of Divine Providence at Puente Alto, on the outskirts of the Chilean capital. According to eye witnesses a group of five people threw firebombs against the door, and the flags of Chile and the Vatican were burned.
The Argentine pontiff arrived in Chile for a three-day trip Monday. He will go on to a three-day trip in Peru.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Rebel Ex-Policeman Among Dead in Venezuela Shoot-Out
Officials in Venezuela confirmed Tuesday that a rebellious police officer who led a brazen helicopter attack in Caracas last year was among those killed in a violent shootout with security forces.
Oscar Perez was among the seven who died fighting against police and soldiers Monday in a small mountain community outside of Caracas, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
5 Times Mass Migration Fallout Proved Trump Ambassador Hoekstra Right
The U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Peter Hoekstra has been under attack from the mainstream media after pointing out how mass migration has caused major problems for the country.
Ambassador Hoekstra has been under constant attack from the press in the Netherlands and abroad — choosing to focus on one incorrect comment about politicians being set on fire — instead of the wide issue caused by mass migration in the nation.
Here are five times that mass migration has caused chaos in the Netherlands, with some of the incidents having a lasting effect today.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Group Torches ICE Fliers at UT-San Antonio
group of University of Texas at San Antonio students recently rounded up and torched promotional materials put out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The group in question, Revolutionary Horizon (RH), describes itself as a “revolutionary group that primarily consists of students at the University of Texas at San Antonio,” adding that it is “anti-racist” and “anti-fascist.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Calais Migrants Try to Cross Chanel 115,000 Times
Officials said there were now about 500 migrants in Calais compared with about 7,000 before the Jungle was razed to the ground in October 2016.
Charities said the number was closer to 700 plus 300 further up the coast near Dunkirk.
But figures show, although there is just a tenth of the number of migrants in Calais, attempts to cross the Channel fell by only 31 percent, from 167,000 in 2016 to 115,000 last year.
Officials said this suggested migrants might have moved out of Calais but were still trying to stow away in lorries and trains crossing the Channel from the port.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In 2015, the Obama administration insisted the southern border was secure, yet dozens of illegal aliens from terrorist nations entered the United States through Mexico and were being held in a Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center.
The detainees were nationals of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and they were seeking asylum in the U.S.
One of the detainees released from the ICE processing center said he arrived in El Paso after traveling from South America to Juarez, Mexico. He is a national of Bangladesh, his name is MD Nasir Uddin and he claims to be a refugee seeking asylum.
Just last month the U.S. issued a terrorism alert warning that militants in Bangladesh may be targeting westerners. “The U.S. government continues to receive information that terrorist groups in South Asia may also be planning attacks in the region, possibly against U.S. government facilities, U.S. citizens, or U.S. interests,” the bulletin states. “Terrorists have demonstrated their willingness and ability to attack locations where U.S. citizens or Westerners are known to congregate or visit.” Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been known as the headquarters of Al Qaeda’s global leadership and the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism offers all the juicy details.
The fact that individuals from these three terrorist nations have made it all the way to the U.S. through the Mexican border is downright alarming. Judicial Watch contacted officials from several Homeland Security agencies — including ICE and the Border Patrol — but none would comment on the 54 Afghans, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis held in El Paso. — Judicial Watch Even more alarming is the stunning new evidence that reveals how the lawless Obama regime, who thumbed thier noses at our nation’s immigration laws, has put our national security at risk. Under the direction of the Obama regime, ICE was not even following the proper procedures to vet illegal aliens who were known terrorists or had ties to terror.
[Comment: More proof of how much comrade obama hates the USA.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU Backtracks on Deal, Demands Unlimited Mass Migration for Years After Brexit
The European Union (EU) is to demand that migrants who come to the UK for years after Brexit be allowed to stay permanently, a move which could disrupt negotiations.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, has drawn up new negotiating guidelines, demanding that unlimited mass migration from the bloc should continue throughout the agreed two-year so-called ‘Brexit transition period’.
The negotiating directive, seen by The Times, urges the EU to resist the UK applying any new immigration controls after it leaves the bloc — EU citizens and their families, including non-Europeans, would be eligible for automatic residency rights for an indefinite period if they arrived in the UK after Brexit but before 2021.
Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory cabinet minister and a Eurosceptic, told the paper: “We should smile and do nothing.”
Poland and other Central and Eastern European states reportedly pushed for the new stance, as they were concerned at Britain’s ability to restrict mass migration after March 2019…
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
France Demands UK Let Out Homes to Refugees From Calais
President Emmanuel Macron revealed the port will no longer be “a secret gateway to England” for illegal migrants.
During a speech in Calais, he said police and other agencies will finally stop them boarding trains, lorries and ferries heading for the UK. But it is expected to come at a price to the British.
The issues will be thrashed out by President Macron and Prime Minister Theresa May during a UK meeting tomorrow.
Mr Macron’s interior minister Gerard Collomb has confirmed a reform of the Le Touquet agreement, which sets Anglo-French policy over Channel port migrants, would include Britain sharing more costs and taking in a greater number of migrants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In Germany, Almost Half of Lawsuits Against Asylum-Denial Successful
Some 44 percent of lawsuits brought by rejected asylum applicants have won in German courts, leading politicians on the Left to criticize the evaluation process for asylum seekers.
A remarkable 273,000 lawsuits were filed in the first nine months of 2017, and judgments have been handed down in roughly 100,000. Of these decided cases, 44 percent were won by migrants, while the numbers are even higher among those coming from countries such as Syria (69 percent) and Afghanistan (61 percent).
These statistics reflect only court decisions based on substantive content and do not include suits alleging formal or procedural error.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 1,400 Migrants Saved, Two Bodies Recovered
In central Med
(ANSA) — Rome, January 16 — Rescue services on Tuesday rescued 1,400 migrants in the central Mediterranean and recovered two bodies in 11 operations. The migrants were on seven dinghies and three small boats, plus one large boat, the services said.
Taking part in the operations, coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard, were motor launch CP319 of the Lampedusa Coast Guard, a unit from the EUNavMedFor mission, a Finance Guards boat and a NGO boat, the services said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘S***hole-Gate’ Might Lead to Government Shutdown as Democrats Balk at Deal
The Democrats’ critics on the left are demanding that the minority party use all of its leverage to stymie the Trump agenda, even if that means forcing a government shutdown. Fortunately, more mainstream party members can now use Trump’s “S***hole”“ comment as a pretext to drop their support for an immigration compromise in the hope of eventually coaxing Republicans into a better deal.
Meanwhile, the GOP had concluded that it would be unable to reach a long-term spending accord by the Friday deadline, which means that chances of a government shutdown have increased this week as yet another “stop-gap” deal is the only option. The government has been operating on short-term spending authorizations since the last two-year budget expired in September. The current short-term spending bill expires Friday at midnight.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Some 1,400 Migrants Rescued at Sea, Two Bodies Recovered: Italy Coastguard
ROME (Reuters) — Some 1,400 migrants were plucked from overcrowded boats off the coast of Libya on Tuesday, Italy’s coastguard said, and two bodies were recovered.
Vessels belonging to the Italian coastguard and finance police, the European Union anti-smuggling operation, Sophia, and ships run by humanitarian groups took part in 11 rescue operations, a statement said.
No details about the nationalities of those rescued were given, nor was there further information about the deaths.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Time to Repeal the Disastrous 1965 Immigration Act
Question: If someone sells you on something with false advertising and it does the exact opposite of what was promised, are you not entitled to return the product and get a refund? In fact, if the product caused you harm, should you not in addition be compensated for damages?
Consider that when Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) was pushing the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 (S.500) on the Senate floor, he said, “First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually.”
Actually, he was right. We now absorb more than a million immigrants annually.
Kennedy next stated, “Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration remains substantially the same.”
The average yearly number of immigrants prior to ‘65 was 250,000. Even with Common Core math, that’s still less than one million-plus.
Kennedy also claimed, “Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset.” His brother, Senator Robert Kennedy (D-N.Y.), chimed in, “In fact, the distribution of limited quota immigration can have no significant effect on the ethnic balance of the United States.”
Yet as the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) wrote in 2015, “[i]n 1965, whites of European descent [constituted] 84 percent of the U.S. population, while [h]ispanics accounted for 4 percent and Asians for less than 1 percent. Fifty years on, 62 percent of the U.S. population is white, 18 percent is [h]ispanic, and 6 percent is Asian. By 2065, just 46 percent of the U.S. population will be white, the [h]ispanic share will rise to 24 percent, Asians will [constitute] 14 percent — and the country will be home to 78 million foreign[-]born, according to Pew projections.”
Kennedy again: “Contrary to the charges in some quarters, S.500 will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most populated and economically deprived nations of Africa and Asia. In the final analysis, the ethnic pattern of immigration under the proposed measure is not expected to change as sharply as the critics seem to think.”
Since the 1965 act took effect, 85 to 90 percent of our immigrants have hailed from the Third World. Moreover, the MPI tells us, “Compared to almost entirely European immigration under the national-origins system [prior to ‘65], flows since 1965 have been more than half Latin American and one[] quarter Asian.”
Kennedy summed up, saying the charges he was refuting above were “highly emotional, irrational, and with little foundation in fact. They are out of line with the obligations of responsible citizenship.”
They were actually something else: true.
In fact, it’s hard to imagine a short statement containing more untruths than what the real Lyin’ Ted packed into his immigration bill defense. It’s not just that he was wrong — it’s that the outcomes were the precise opposite of what he’d promised.
[Comment: According to Mexican Law, children born to Mexican parents are automatically Mexican even if the child was born in another country. And international law indicates that Mexican law would supercede any claim American law that would make such children naturalized American citizens. ie — — it is not legal to say those children are naturalized American citizens.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
I bet Japan and Hawaii are saying my old man can beat up your old man.