Almost forty people were shot in Chicago during a three-day period this week, the youngest being a 4-year-old girl. The latter was one of twelve people shot over a twelve-hour period. Law enforcement officials admit their puzzlement over the violence, since Chicago has one of the nation’s strongest gun control laws.
OK, so I made that last sentence up. But still…
In other news, the Libyan coast guard rescued eighty migrants off the coast of North Africa.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Insubria, JD, KS, Reader from Chicago, SS, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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Finnish Public Debt to Fall Within EU Limits in 2019
The European Commission predicts that Finland’s public debt to GDP ratio will decline enough next year to bring it back within limits set by the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls to 3.9 Percent
The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent for the first time since 2000, with the economy gaining 164,000 jobs in April, according to data released Friday morning by the Department of Labor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Americans: Greatly Armed “Obstacles”
Soros has infused his Open Society Foundations with a gift of $18 billion.
“The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.” — —George Soros
On October 20th, 2017, the National Rifle Association reported,
“This week it was announced that hedge fund billionaire and radical left-wing activist George Soros has infused his Open Society Foundations with a gift of $18 billion.”
According to a New York Times report, Soros funneled the money to the organization over the course of several years. The paper also called the Hungarian immigrant’s gift, “One of the largest transfers of wealth ever made by a private donor to a single foundation,” and pointed out that Open Society is now the second largest “philanthropic” organization in the U.S.
Gun owners will likely find the New York Times’ characterization of Soros’ political arm generous, given that the organization has routinely targeted Americans’ Second Amendment rights. Further, the group’s global reach has imperiled gun owners throughout the world.
On the domestic front, in 2000, Open Society published a widely circulated report entitled, “Gun Control in the United States.” The publication called for a host of new federal and state gun restrictions.
Americans have known for years what George Soros and others are all about, and still they stand by and act as if he has a lawful right to attempt to strip Americans of their right to keep and bear arms.
[Comment: Soros is the main money man, via Open Society, pushing for elimination of the 2nd Amendment. Americans — never give up your 2nd Amendment — globalist tyranny over the USA will surely follow.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Christians Share Stage With Muslim Extremists at Council on American-Islamic Relations Fundraisers
So far this year, the regional branches of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have held several annual fundraising banquets — each touting the uplifting theme, “Living our Faith, Defending Our Freedom.” While these fundraisers seem innocuous at first glance, CAIR’s latest two banquets — on April 7 (by CAIR-Oklahoma) and April 21 (CAIR-Cleveland) — continued a long line of such events which reveal CAIR’s underlying extremist ideology. They have all featured radical Islamists speaking alongside well-meaning non-Muslim activists brought in to sanitize the host’s extremism.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An antifa group in Los Angeles celebrated May Day by holding a small march, hanging a Trump effigy, and advocating for “revolutionary violence” against the “capitalist state” in order to “create real political power.”
“We must carry out military actions against the enemies of the people!” a member of the L.A. cell of the Red Guards said in a speech published on the group’s blog.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Latest Poll: Republicans Likely to Gain at Least Six Senate Seats in November
Morning Consult, founded in 2013, is not the typical political opinion pollster. Instead of polling small samples designed to reflect the general public’s opinion on political issues (ranging from 500 to 1,500 contacts and then extracting results), the company surveys 5,000 people every day.
For its latest survey, “2018 Midterms,” the company said the results were compiled from surveys of more than 275,000 registered voters across the United States from February 1 through the end of April. And it’s bad news for Democrats hoping to take back the Senate.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly 40 Shot Over 3 Days in Gun-Controlled Chicago
Nearly 40 people were shot during the first three days of this week in gun-controlled Chicago.
The wounded included a 15-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, while the deceased included a 21-year-old mother.
The Chicago Tribune reports that twelve people, including the 4-year-old girl, were shot during one 12-hour period stretching from “Tuesday through early Wednesday.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UC-Berkeley Report on Free Speech Concludes That 2017 Riots Were Conservatives’ Fault
A panel convened by UC-Berkeley to study free speech on the campus concluded that the violence associated with conservative speakers in 2017 was the fault of the conservatives themselves — not the leftist thugs who perpetrated the riots. The university’s Commission on Free Speech sent its report to Chancellor Carol Crist on April 10.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Liberals Deny Summer Jobs Grants to Nearly 2,000 Christian Groups — But Not These Muslim Ones
Justin Trudeau doesn’t like Christians, or at least Christians who “mean it”. Prior to the last federal election, he banned any pro-life Christians from running as Liberal candidates.
Of course he does have pro-life MPs, even cabinet ministers:
The vast majority of practicing Sikhs and Muslims are pro-life, and Trudeau doesn’t ban them.
Just pro-life Christians.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Belgian Islamic Party Founder Fired From Bus Driving Day-Job for ‘Islamic State’ Comments
One of the founders of the Belgian Islamist party Partij Islam has been fired by his regular employer after he said he wanted Belgium to become an Islamic state.
Anderlecht municipal councillor Redouane Ahrouch, who also serves as the treasurer for the Partij Islam, was fired by the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (STIB) earlier this week after the Islamist politician made “remarks in contradiction with the values of the company”, Belgian radio broadcaster RTL reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Catalonia MPs Vote to Allow President to Govern From Abroad
Catalonia’s parliament has voted to change regional laws so that it can elect former leader Carles Puigdemont as president. The slim majority of separatist lawmakers voted in favor of allowing Puigdemont to be sworn in without being present and to govern from abroad, AP said. The move could be blocked in court. Puigdemont is currently on bail in Germany awaiting extradition to Spain. He is accused of rebellion and misuse of public funds in organizing an unauthorized referendum last year on Catalonia’s independence. Spain’s constitution says the country is indivisible.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elliott Wins Telecom Italia Showdown, Takes Over Board
Activist fund takes 10 seats on board
(ANSA) — Rozzano, May 4 — Activist hedge fund Elliott won a showdown with controlling stakeholder Vivendi at a meeting of shareholders of Telecom Italia (TIM) on Friday. Elliott’s list won the most votes and landed 10 seats on the board, with Fulvio Conti, Alfredo Altavilla and Luigi Gubitosi coming in, among others. French entertainment group Vivendi is now in a minority position with five representatives. Elliott revealed that it had a 9% stake in the former Italian monopoly operator earlier in the year, saying it wanted to revamp the board and increase shareholder value.
The Italian government’s investment holding took up a 5% stake in April on the grounds of Telecom’s strategic importance.
Vivendi, owned by French financier Vincent Bollorè, controls 24.9%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU on Brink: Italy’s Rebels Demand Euro Referendum — ‘We Need Plan B’
ITALY’S anti-establishment Five Star Movement is ready to strike at the heart of the European Union proposing a referendum on the eurozone, a move that could spark the exit of Italy from the bloc.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Collusion: Soros Group Uses Facebook Ads, Leaflet Drops to Interfere in UK Local Elections
Far-left activist group HOPE Not Hate (HNH) has been campaigning in Britain’s local elections in support of the Labour party, using sponsored social media posts and leaflet drops in actions that may beg questions about the interference of foreign money in British politics.
The group — which has taken cash off billionaire banker and open-borders activist George Soros and had an income of nearly a million pounds in 2016 — has released leafletspromoting the policies of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and Green party nationally, whilst appearing to mock UKIP and even the Tories.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Cardinal Slams Move to Put Crosses in Government Buildings
A German Roman Catholic cardinal has slammed the Bavarian conservatives’ plan to put crucifixes in government buildings saying the plan will cause “agitation” and “division”.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who heads the German Bishops’ Conference, complained that Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder had not come to him before announcing the move last month. The German Bishops’ Conference also released a warning statement which said that the German state is secular in nature and must remain that way, Il Giornale reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian-Arab Bourse: ‘Halal Certificates Good for Business’
Cosmetics, pharma and food, not only in Muslim countries
(ANSAmed) — BARI, MAY 4 — Discussion on how certifying products as ‘halal’ can be good for business was discussed as part of the Italian and Arab Enterprise Bourse with participation by the head of the WHAD-World Halal Development certifying body, Annamaria Aisha Tiozzo.
“Accessible in terms of price and procedure”, halal certification is not obligatory in all Muslim-majority countries but having it “opens up a huge market” with clients in Europe as well, she said. Halal products have been prepared according to Islamic law and is free from pork products, alcohol and certain other prohibited ingredients. They include food as well as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. “Having halal certification,” Tiozzo said, “helps a great deal to widen one’s market, but we should not forget that while it is true that Saudi consumers have the laregst pro capita spending on cosmetics, which can be as much as 40,000 euros per year with an average of 30,000 per man, it is also true that the best market for ‘halal’ certified products is still Europe.” A company that wants to export cosmetics at the moment does not need to certify it as ‘halal except for in a very small number of countries. “However,” Tiozzo noted, “it has a big opportunity because statistics show that halal-certified cosmetics have grown at a steady +15% for the past ten years and that 30% of those who buy halal cosmetics are not Muslim.” Moreover, “putting a halah certification on a product makes it possible to increase the price, since the consumer is willing to accept a slight rise if what they are buying has been certified.” Issuing the halal certification, however, must be a body that complies with the standards of exporting countries for which, in some cases, specific accreditation is required. Created from Islamic food regulations, halal certification covers food but also anything that enters the body including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, which does through the skin.
The only case in which the certificaton also pertains to clothing is for leatehr shoes and for clothing that must not be made from any byproducts of pigs, which are considered ‘haram’, prohibited’ and ‘nagis’, impure. The standards to be complied with for the certification cover both the product itself and the entire production chain, with the need to certify that there is no contamination or human error in handling the merchandise. “There are actually two certifications,” Tiozzo said. “One of the process, and thus also the production site, and another that of the product, which ascertains that all the ingredients are halal.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italians Should Have Say on Euro — Grillo Tells Putsch
Is it necessary to come out of Europe? M5S founder asks
(ANSA) — Paris, May 4 — 5-Star Movement (M5S) founder Beppe Grillo has mooted the idea of a referendum on whether Italy should have the euro as its currency in an interview published Friday by new French magazine ‘Putsch’. “I have proposed a referendum for the eurozone,” Grillo was quoted as saying by the monthly.
“I want the Italian people to have their say.
“Do the people agree? Is there a plan B? Is it necessary to come out of Europe or not?”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Govt With M5S Till Dec, No Technocrats Salvini Says
Immediate electoral reform, block VAT, reject EU budget
(ANSA) — Milan, May 4 — Anti-migrant Euroskeptic League leader Matteo Salvini on Friday called for a government between the centre right and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) until December and reiterated his opposition to a technocrat-led executive. “If it’s a technocratic government, a ‘purpose’ one or an institutional one, the mandate must be given starting from those who won (the March 4 general election), and I rule out any Monti-style technocrat,” he said. “And I reiterate the invitation to the M5S to make a limited-time government together to do a few things well”.
As for who should head the executive, Salvini said he had “names in his head including people who are not from the League”.
He said he would like to see a winner’s bonus “for the list or coalition that comes first.” Salvini said the caretaker government of Premier Paolo Gentiloni should not be extended, and “another government” was needed.
He said that media had touted premier names “to which I saw no: I will never back governments led by lady’s companions of the European Commission”.
Salvini called for an immediate electoral reform and a block on VAT hikes, and said the new EU budget should be rejected.
He said it was better to reject the EU budget than to hold a referendum on the euro as advocated by M5S founder Beppe Grillo.
The League leader added: “Never with the PD, never with Renzi”.
Asked if his chief ally, Silvio Berlusconi of the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, agreed on a government with M5S support, Salvini said “why not?”.
Ex-premier Berlusconi and the M5S have been scathing in their criticism of each other.
M5S leader Luigi Di Maio said he would only form a government with the League and not also with Berlusconi.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: I Didn’t Kill Pamela Says Oseghale
Oseghale denies accusation
(ANSA) — Ascoli Piceno, May 4 — A Nigerian drug pusher who has been accused of killing and dismembering an 18-year-old Roman woman near Macerata at the end of January on Friday said he didn’t kill her. Innocent Oseghale said of Pamela Mastropietro,” I didn’t kill her and I didn’t dismember the body. Still less did I propose her to (fellow Nigerian pusher Lucky) Awelima for sex”.
Prosecutors on Thursday said Oseghale raped, murdered and dismembered Mastropietro, whose body was found in two suitcases near Macerata on January 31.
On February 4 a neo-Nazi shot and wounded four North Africans in the Marche city, in supposed retaliation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Election Law Designed to Stop us Governing — Grillo
‘We are in post-democracy’ M5S founder tells Putsch
(ANSA) — Paris, May 4 — 5-Star Movement (M5S) founder Beppe Grillo has said that the current election law was designed to ensure the anti-establishment group does not take over the reins of government. “Today we are in post-democracy. There has been a coup that is the other way around. They used democracy to destroy it,” Grillo said in an interview with French monthly Putsch.
“In reality, we have found ourselves at an impasse, as we knew we would, because of an election law,” he said referring to the so-called Rosatellum system, approved in 2017 with the backing of the Democratic Party, Forza Italia and the League.
“The law was specially designed to stop us from governing.
“So what is democracy? “I don’t know, but democracy should allow those who get the most votes to govern”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 2 Moroccans Deported on Jihadi Charges
From L’Aquila
(ANSA) — L’Aquila, May 3 — Two Moroccans, a 51-year-old and his 27-year-old son, were deported from Italy Thursday on suspicion of supporting jihad, at the orders of the prefect of L’Aquila in Abruzzo.
The father and son did not have direct contact with ISIS, police said.
However, they were suspected of being “close to the deepest radicalisation”, they said.
They had been expelled from L’Aquila Islamic cultural centres for their radical conduct which “even expressed itself in physical attacks”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Polish President Wants Referendum to Ask Poles About Constitution
Poland’s president on Thursday said he would ask the upper house of parliament to call a referendum in November to consult citizens on potential changes to the nation’s constitution.
“I will submit a proposal to the Senate that a consultative referendum on the constitution take place on November 10 and 11,” Andrzej Duda said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sex Assault Scandal Postpones Nobel Prize in Literature for 2018
May 4 (UPI) — The Swedish Academy said Friday it will hold off on announcing its Nobel Prize in Literature until next year, over allegations of sexual assault.
In a statement, the Academy said it will award its 2018 Literature prize along with the 2019 winner — a move the organization has done five times previously.
This year will mark the first time since 1943 — in the midst of World War II — the prestigious prize has not been given out. The Nobel Prizes are announced in October.
The delay comes as the Academy struggles to contain damage from a sexual abuse scandal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Romanian businessman and former tennis champion Ion ?iriac mentioned in late November 2015 that many abroad wondered how 30,000 protesters could take down his country’s government.
Look, we’re not doing that bad. In the last three years, in all of Europe, no one’s had our economic growth. … People are asking me, “?iriac, what’s going on in your country?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Theresa May Set for ‘Hard Brexit With No Compromise’ After Local Election 2018 Triumph
THERESA May is set for a hard Brexit and has been urged to pursue with “no compromise” after Labour lost their momentum and the Tories saw off Jeremy Corbyn’s challenge with a better than expected local election result.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Last Sunday, Muhammah Abdul Ghaffar, Bahrain’s ambassador in France and the First Secretary of the American’s UNESCO delegation and his spouse, were robbed in Paris, Le Point reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British voters are more concerned about crime than at any point since 2011, with the issue being one of the most widely cited concerns for people in London, a new poll has revealed.
Crime rose by eight percentage points nationwide in just one month, with 23 per cent naming it as a concern, the highest level in seven years. It surged to 36 per cent in the capital, which has experienced a crime wave under Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Video: Mourners at Stabbed Burglar’s Funeral Throw Eggs, Rush Reporters, Arrests Made
A huge funeral procession for a burglar killed by an elderly man he was in the process of robbing has ended in violence, arrests, and “terrifying scenes”.
Mourners at the commemoration of career criminal Henry Vincent, who was known to target the elderly, threw eggs and attacked journalists, and one man was arrested for throwing rocks.
The traveller community of Mr. Vincent promised “the funeral of all funerals”, and on Thursday produced a procession of around ten limousines adorned with flamboyant floral tributes.
Meanwhile, victim Richard Osborn-Brooks, 78, has been forced into hiding, and is now selling his house since the break-in.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UKIP Suffers Massive Losses in English Local Elections
With 148 of 150 councils reporting, it has been a grim result for UKIP in yesterdays’ English local elections. Losing 123 seats, leaving them with only 3 councillors remaining from any gains from the last time these seats were up in 2014’s elections.
“Like the Black Death” UKIP’s general secretary said, blaming leadership turmoil and financial crises for the losses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Exposes Iran’s Nuclear Lies, and the Limits of U.S. Intelligence
Advocating for a pact in 2015, John Kerry said American agencies had “absolute knowledge” about the regime’s past nuclear efforts. Oops.
Since Iran and six world powers reached an agreement to pause Iran’s enrichment of uranium and allow weapons inspectors into declared facilities, Israel’s prime minister has argued the deal would give Iran a glide path to a nuclear weapon. On Monday he announced that he had proof.
If the West can verify the new Israeli intelligence that Iran had preserved its design and research work into a nuclear weapon, that’s a big deal — particularly now in light of the May 12 deadline that President Donald Trump has imposed on U.S. negotiations with Europe to come up with fixes to strengthen the nuclear bargain. The trove of data would be a blow not only to Iran’s credibility but also to the reputation of American intelligence gathering.
As negotiations with Iran came to a close in summer 2015, John Kerry, then secretary of state, assured reporters that American intelligence agencies had “absolute knowledge” about Iran’s past efforts to build a nuclear weapon.
It was a strange remark. As the intelligence assessments before the 2003 Iraq War showed, intelligence is never absolute. What’s more, the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, still had its own outstanding questions for Iran. Indeed, that agency could not give Iran a clean bill of health on the possible military dimensions of its nuclear program nearly six months later.
Now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is claiming that his country’s spies have purloined a warehouse full of videos, files, blueprints and designs for nuclear weapons compiled between 1999 and 2003. If verified, the new Israeli intelligence would show there were many details the U.S. didn’t know back in 2015.
| — Hat tip: KS | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia Inks Deal With Vatican to Build Christian Churches
For the first time in history, Saudi Arabia has entered into a joint agreement with the Vatican to build churches for Christians living in the officially Muslim nation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Cuts Off Funding for Syria’s “White Helmets”
The Trump State Department has frozen funding to the controversial Syrian aid group known as the White Hemlets, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which provided the sole evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly used chemical weapons on his own people in an April 7 attack on the city of Douma, according to CBS News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dashcam footage from a police car shows the moment a 27-year-old international student hits speeds more than 120km/h over the speed limit.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Moutia Elzahed, the wife of jailed Islamic State extremist Hamdi Alqudsi, held up her index finger — which was covered completely in a black glove — to awaiting crowds.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary: it is a Moral Duty to “See Through” The Anti-Migration Constitutional Amendment
On Friday morning’s edition of the Kossuth Radio programme “180 Minutes”, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that it is a moral duty to “see through” the anti-migration amendment to the Constitution.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Coast Guards Rescue 80 Migrants in Open Water
Libyan coast guards rescued 80 undocumented migrants, including 28 women and 11 children, on Friday off the coast of northwestern Libya, local authorities said.
[Comment: Article dated May 4, 2018.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Turn Historic Greek Park Into Hellhole
Pedion tou Areos is one of the most famous parks in Athens. It is situated near the National Archaeological Museum and thousands of Greeks, as well as tourists, used to have walks inside it.
Unfortunately, we have to use the phrase “used to” here, as this happened a long time ago. The situation of the park nowadays is gruesome, Greece’s Skai news reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Orban Attacks EU Budget Proposal on Migrants
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday spoke out against the European Commission’s budget proposal, in an interview with Hungarian public radio M1.
“It’s unacceptable that cohesion funds and agricultural funds are cut to give more to countries that accept migrants,” Orban said.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
So, Trump’s missile attacks inside Syria were a set-up by the so-called White Helmets?
Someone has to be brought before the International Criminal Court.